Putting on the Armor of God

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:05.759 I Am Yours, I am yours, I am yours s and me, 2 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:11.589 Lord, I am yours. Welcome to the Gospel Center pray life podcast being 3 00:00:11.630 --> 00:00:15.230 on the sidewalk out an abortion center is really a battle and I think it's 4 00:00:15.230 --> 00:00:18.510 important that we put on the armor of God. Join me as a teach 5 00:00:18.589 --> 00:00:25.059 through putting on the whole armor of God. Stay tuned. I felt show 6 00:00:25.660 --> 00:00:38.770 passish, touch your heart. Use Welcome to the Gospel centered pray life podcasts. 7 00:00:38.810 --> 00:00:44.130 Appreciate you guys tuning in today. It's just me and hopefully this this 8 00:00:45.289 --> 00:00:49.969 episode will be pretty short. I'm going to be focusing on the armor of 9 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:54.240 God and just kind of give you guys maybe a sneak peak and how I 10 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:58.719 prepare for Ministry on the sidewalk. I know different folks prepare in different ways, 11 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:02.920 but we always talk about preparation and talk about how you know you can't 12 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:06.469 give what you don't have. And the people that we encounter at the abortion 13 00:01:06.590 --> 00:01:11.349 center, they need Jesus, they need the Lord, they need vital relationship 14 00:01:11.390 --> 00:01:15.510 with Jesus and we can't give that if we don't have it. So one 15 00:01:15.549 --> 00:01:18.069 of the things I would say, by the way of preparation, first and 16 00:01:18.189 --> 00:01:22.459 foremost is you need to have a relationship with Jesus, and I trust that 17 00:01:22.659 --> 00:01:25.500 you guys who are listening to this podcast, you have a relationship with the 18 00:01:25.540 --> 00:01:27.859 Lord. You love the Lord, you know him. But we also have 19 00:01:27.939 --> 00:01:33.250 to be intentional about cultivating our relationship with Jesus. So we need to be 20 00:01:33.370 --> 00:01:37.569 ourselves in prayer, we need to be in the word ourselves even before we 21 00:01:38.450 --> 00:01:41.609 are going to the abortion center, before we even consider going to the abortion 22 00:01:41.650 --> 00:01:45.329 center, we need to have the word of God in us. That doesn't 23 00:01:45.329 --> 00:01:49.760 mean we need to have it all figured out perfectly and all the theological aspects 24 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:52.959 that that can be known, that we need to know them. I'm not 25 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.000 saying that. But we do need to have a solid foundation in the word 26 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:00.000 of God. We need to have a solid foundation in a relationship with God, 27 00:02:00.629 --> 00:02:04.870 because, again, you can't give what you don't have. And so 28 00:02:04.950 --> 00:02:07.909 as far as preparation is concerned, that's the most important preparation right that we 29 00:02:08.270 --> 00:02:13.389 are in our relationship with the Lord, consistent in our walk with him, 30 00:02:14.509 --> 00:02:20.460 that we are in prayer and in the word and in fellowship with other believers. 31 00:02:20.500 --> 00:02:23.939 I think that's a that's a vital part of preparing our hearts for ministry 32 00:02:24.699 --> 00:02:29.900 is that we ourselves are being ministered to, obviously in our relationship with the 33 00:02:29.979 --> 00:02:34.449 Lord and he ministers to us through his word, but ministered to in the 34 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:38.849 congregation, in the assembly of the saints. We need people sewing in our 35 00:02:38.930 --> 00:02:44.009 lives, pastors, leaders that are speaking the truth to us on a regular 36 00:02:44.050 --> 00:02:46.439 basis. Just like we need our daily bread in the word of God. 37 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:53.400 We need regular fellowship with other believers that can, number one, hold us 38 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:58.909 accountable if we start getting off the rails in some ways and that can encourage 39 00:02:58.949 --> 00:03:01.949 us. That's really what God's intention is with the body of Christ, as 40 00:03:01.990 --> 00:03:07.150 we're in the assembly of the saints, is accountability and encouragement, and so 41 00:03:07.830 --> 00:03:12.069 that's a that's a strong encouragement of that have for you guys as far as 42 00:03:12.110 --> 00:03:15.900 preparation is concerned and ministering out of a relationship with the Lord and also out 43 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:22.699 of relationship with other believers. But I want to talk about the armor of 44 00:03:22.819 --> 00:03:27.099 God and putting on the armor of God. We're preyed up, we know 45 00:03:27.250 --> 00:03:30.569 the Lord, we're in his word. Praise God for that. But there's 46 00:03:30.610 --> 00:03:37.250 sometimes when I'm just very intentional and some of you guys may be listen to 47 00:03:37.330 --> 00:03:39.090 this and you think what I'm going to share is maybe a little weird, 48 00:03:39.129 --> 00:03:46.719 a little, I don't know, maybe a little super spiritual, little charismatic 49 00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:51.280 or whatever, and that's fine. I believe it's biblical. So I'm willing 50 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:55.310 to have people misunderstand what I'm doing and all that. But you know too, 51 00:03:55.590 --> 00:04:00.669 I'm a handsone guy. You can tell me all day long, you 52 00:04:00.789 --> 00:04:04.469 can talk and you know I like to listen to preaching and listen to books 53 00:04:04.469 --> 00:04:09.150 and all that stuff, but really get it in me, I've got to 54 00:04:09.270 --> 00:04:13.979 do it. I've got to even act it out. Sometimes one of the 55 00:04:14.020 --> 00:04:17.100 most helpful things for me to be able to learn to do anything is to 56 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:20.779 watch somebody. I watch youtube videos all the time. If I want to 57 00:04:21.139 --> 00:04:25.529 learn how to repair something around my house, I watch a youtube video about 58 00:04:25.529 --> 00:04:27.410 it. You know, I read an article about it or something like that, 59 00:04:27.529 --> 00:04:30.329 but it's like I gotta see it done and then I got to get 60 00:04:30.370 --> 00:04:32.089 my hands on it myself. And in the same way, you know, 61 00:04:32.129 --> 00:04:35.370 as we're talking about being spiritually prepared and even talking about putting me on the 62 00:04:35.449 --> 00:04:42.959 armor of God, I get really into it. I guess just to say 63 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.279 I'll be riding down the road. Just kind of queue in on what I'm 64 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:49.000 talking about. As I'm headed to the abortion center, I'll be riding down 65 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:54.110 the road and praying through the armor of God. I'll do this every time 66 00:04:54.149 --> 00:04:58.069 I got to the abortion center, but I try to be intentional about it, 67 00:04:58.230 --> 00:05:00.029 especially on the days where I know it'll be intense, like I'm Saturday's 68 00:05:00.149 --> 00:05:03.829 out here at the Latree Abortion Center in Charlotte. There's a lot of pro 69 00:05:03.870 --> 00:05:08.339 abortion, opposition and a lot of things that can just they can happen, 70 00:05:08.899 --> 00:05:14.220 even some really not nice police officers that are out here. Most of them 71 00:05:14.220 --> 00:05:16.779 are pretty nice, but some of them are not so nice. So it's 72 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:19.379 a lot of spiritual warfare, a lot of stuff going on. So I 73 00:05:19.459 --> 00:05:24.129 like to be intentional, especially on Saturday's, putting on the armor of God 74 00:05:24.930 --> 00:05:30.250 and because said I'll do it physically, like praying through and putting on the 75 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:33.529 helmet of salvation. So I'm going to, I guess, kind of give 76 00:05:33.569 --> 00:05:38.399 you guys a glimpse into what it might look like in my vehicle on the 77 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.199 way to the abortion center, because that's how it is and I know they're 78 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:46.439 probably people at the stoplight while I'm there going down the road and stopping at 79 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:49.029 the stop like people look over at me like I'm some Weirdo doing some weird 80 00:05:49.350 --> 00:05:55.069 gestures with my hands, but to me it helps me because I'm that kind 81 00:05:55.110 --> 00:05:57.509 of guy, in the hands on kind of guy. And so as I'm 82 00:05:57.550 --> 00:06:02.430 praying through, certainly I'm praying through the scriptures, but I'm physically like kind 83 00:06:02.430 --> 00:06:06.259 of in an emotion of putting on my helmet or even the sword of the 84 00:06:06.339 --> 00:06:13.540 spirit, and I'm grabbing my sword and as I'm just praying through these different 85 00:06:13.579 --> 00:06:16.420 aspects of the armor of God, I'm doing physical gestures and things like that. 86 00:06:16.579 --> 00:06:20.290 That helped me to get into it and embrace the realities that the scripture 87 00:06:20.290 --> 00:06:26.490 speaks of. So I'm going to read real quick this scripture in a Fesian 88 00:06:26.569 --> 00:06:30.769 shapsticks wellknown passage of scripture. Many of you guys, maybe you do exactly 89 00:06:30.810 --> 00:06:32.240 what I'm talking about and you put on the armor of God and you like 90 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:36.360 I heard some people say that they stand in the mirror and they do this, 91 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:41.839 and okay, great, praise God for that, but maybe you have 92 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:45.079 no idea what I'm talking about and maybe you've just kind of looked at this 93 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:47.750 scriptures. I don't know, just one of those things that you teach kids 94 00:06:47.750 --> 00:06:50.750 about putting on the armor of God and Sunday school lessons at all that. 95 00:06:51.629 --> 00:06:57.829 But Paul, we have to understand Paul was a man who faced intense opposition. 96 00:06:58.670 --> 00:07:03.060 Intense opposition from socalled Christians, from Jewish people, from Romans, from 97 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:08.620 all kinds of directions and, of course, from demons. This man was 98 00:07:08.699 --> 00:07:15.060 under intense spiritual attack a lot because he was advancing the Kingdom of God. 99 00:07:15.139 --> 00:07:17.250 And listen, guys, understand that when you begin to advance the Kingdom of 100 00:07:17.290 --> 00:07:23.209 God, there's going to be opposition. If there's no ammosition, then you 101 00:07:23.329 --> 00:07:26.329 need to check and see if what you're doing is actually of the Lord. 102 00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:30.199 If you're not receiving any opposition in your life, that doesn't mean you're going 103 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:32.680 out and intentionally provoking people to make people angry at you. Of not talking 104 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:38.279 about that, but I'm talking about opposition that comes because you're standing for righteousness. 105 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:41.160 If you don't have any of that, then you might need to check 106 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:45.149 of whether or not you're standing for righteousness, because if you're going against the 107 00:07:45.189 --> 00:07:47.870 principles of this world, Jesus said, if they hated me, then they 108 00:07:47.910 --> 00:07:51.430 will hate you. Also, the servant is not greater than the master. 109 00:07:51.550 --> 00:07:55.990 If they hated the master, then they're going to hate you too. Again, 110 00:07:56.189 --> 00:08:00.259 that's not us trying to be unnecessarily provocative and get people to hate us 111 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:03.860 just to make ourselves feel more spiritual or something like that. That'd be really 112 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:07.779 a perversion of what I'm talking about. But when you stand for righteousness, 113 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:11.899 the world is going to stand against you and is not going to like you 114 00:08:11.019 --> 00:08:16.610 in certain areas, and so we need to have the armor of God on 115 00:08:16.529 --> 00:08:22.250 and again. Paul the Apostle knew this very well, receiving opposition from all 116 00:08:22.329 --> 00:08:26.800 angles, from all sides, and and of course that spiritual dynamic, and 117 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:31.120 he talks about that here, as he shares with us in e fhesians chapter 118 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:35.639 six, starting Verse Ten, Paul The Apostle says, finally, my brethren, 119 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:39.159 be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on 120 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.590 the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles 121 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:48.269 of the devil, against the tricker three of the devil, the wiles of 122 00:08:48.350 --> 00:08:52.230 the devil. If you think about whiles, I think about while Kyote back 123 00:08:52.350 --> 00:08:56.340 in the the merry melodies looney tunes cartoons, he was always going after the 124 00:08:56.419 --> 00:09:01.940 road runner and he was named while coyote because of his whiles. Right, 125 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:05.899 he always set up traps and of course those traps always backfired on him, 126 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:09.179 unfortunately for the enemy. He sets up traps and a lot of times we 127 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:11.169 fall right into him. We're not as sneaky as the road runner. And 128 00:09:11.409 --> 00:09:16.769 so Paul is encouraging us to actually put on the armor of God so that 129 00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:20.169 we can stand against these whiles, so that the wily devil doesn't get us 130 00:09:20.169 --> 00:09:24.759 called in his trap. And so that's what he's talking about here in verse 131 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:26.720 eleven. He goes on in verse twelve, for we do not wrestle against 132 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:31.799 flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of 133 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:37.720 darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. 134 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:43.070 And so he's talking about the spiritual dynamic, that there are these demonic powers. 135 00:09:43.549 --> 00:09:48.029 And we always say abortion is the devil's pride and joy. We mean 136 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:52.110 by that that this is something that the devil loves, right, he loves 137 00:09:52.190 --> 00:09:56.980 the destruction of the innocent. You Look at the story of Moses and how 138 00:09:56.539 --> 00:10:03.220 the devil really stirred up. I believe Pharaoh ultimately to have the the sons 139 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:09.889 of the children of Israel killed and because he wanted to limit their population and 140 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:13.649 want to keep them from rising up and and no longer being slaves, and 141 00:10:13.769 --> 00:10:16.610 so he killed them. And look at the time of Jesus and Herod, 142 00:10:16.649 --> 00:10:20.960 the King of Israel that time. How he had those killed, two years 143 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:26.720 and younger around the time of Jesus, because of the folks that told him 144 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:31.000 that there was this this king that was coming and that was actually ultimately going 145 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:33.440 to take his throw. At least that was his fear. And so he 146 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:39.029 kills those, those children, and those are just two manifestations among many manifestations 147 00:10:39.110 --> 00:10:43.350 of the devil trying to destroy the innocent, try to destroy the image of 148 00:10:43.429 --> 00:10:46.509 God. Rest really, that's what the devil is after. He can't, 149 00:10:46.909 --> 00:10:50.659 he can't hurt God, and so he tries to attack God in effigy. 150 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:54.100 If you think about it, people do that to the United States of America, 151 00:10:54.139 --> 00:10:58.379 they do that to other countries and other leaders. They can't kill a 152 00:10:58.580 --> 00:11:01.299 leader, they can't destroy a country, and so they'll burn their flag and 153 00:11:01.379 --> 00:11:07.929 effigy or they'll burn a picture of that leader in effigy because it's symbolic of 154 00:11:07.210 --> 00:11:11.570 who they actually really want to hurt. And that's really what the devil does. 155 00:11:11.649 --> 00:11:13.850 He can't hurt the Lord and so he tries to destroy the image of 156 00:11:13.889 --> 00:11:20.759 God and and certainly this thing, abortion is the number one a way that 157 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:24.840 the devil does this. He does this through other means, through drugs and 158 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:28.759 alcohol, sex trafficking, process you should all these other things that attack the 159 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:31.870 image of God, that that Mar the image of God. The Devil's involved 160 00:11:31.909 --> 00:11:39.789 in those things. But there is none more atrocious than abortion because we kill 161 00:11:39.950 --> 00:11:43.830 so many. Seventeen thousand babies are dying every week in the United States of 162 00:11:43.870 --> 00:11:48.860 America due to this one thing, abortion, and we share that tragic truth 163 00:11:48.899 --> 00:11:52.899 with the Church so that people understand that we, as the church, need 164 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:56.379 to stand against this evil. And when you, when you do stand against 165 00:11:56.419 --> 00:12:00.940 this evil, the devil's going to come and he's going to oppose you and 166 00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:05.690 there's going to be these spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. So he's 167 00:12:05.730 --> 00:12:09.210 talking about the spiritual realm that are going to oppose you. Now, for 168 00:12:09.330 --> 00:12:13.289 some of you guys, this might sound a little weird. You've never really 169 00:12:13.330 --> 00:12:16.240 read a whole lot about spiritual warfare and there's a lot of cookiness out there, 170 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:20.519 as it has to do with angels and Demons and and people think that 171 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:24.320 they can you release angels into this situation or that situation, or they think 172 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:28.919 that there's a demon behind every circumstance and behind every Bush and and you know 173 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:33.269 I'm not getting into that. But if we deny the fact that there's a 174 00:12:33.350 --> 00:12:39.070 spiritual realm and that there's a spiritual battle, that there is a devil and 175 00:12:39.230 --> 00:12:43.299 that there are demons and yes, there are angels and there's a heavenly battle, 176 00:12:43.340 --> 00:12:48.259 you can read about it in Daniel Chapter Nine. I believe it's Daniel 177 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:52.580 Chapters nine and ten, where you see just a glimpse of that spiritual battle 178 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:54.700 and you see it all through scriptures. This this common thread, that there 179 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:58.769 is this battle between light and darkness. If we deny that battle and we 180 00:12:58.889 --> 00:13:05.049 just think everything that is is in the realm of the natural then we deny 181 00:13:05.289 --> 00:13:09.250 a lot of the central truths of scripture. There is a spiritual battle, 182 00:13:09.690 --> 00:13:13.440 there is this kingdom of darkness that wants to advance and wants to blind the 183 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:18.559 eyes of those who don't know the Lord and does blind their eyes and blinded 184 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:22.759 our eyes at one point because we didn't know the Lord. So we have 185 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.360 to understand there is a spiritual battle here and I really do believe, and 186 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:28.830 I don't just say this because I'm part of this ministry, I say it 187 00:13:28.870 --> 00:13:33.710 because I believe it's true, that being on that front line at the abortion 188 00:13:33.830 --> 00:13:37.029 center is really the front line of the front line. There is spiritual warfare 189 00:13:37.149 --> 00:13:41.980 going on at a level that doesn't go on anywhere else in the world at 190 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:46.460 the abortion clinics. These are places of sacrifice, these are places of death, 191 00:13:46.659 --> 00:13:50.500 these are places, again, where the image of God is destroyed on 192 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:56.529 a massive scale and of course it grieves the heart of God and it delights 193 00:13:56.610 --> 00:14:01.129 the heart of the devil. And so they have, of course, where 194 00:14:01.210 --> 00:14:05.370 the enemy has these spiritual hosts of wickedness, the the and again, I'm 195 00:14:05.370 --> 00:14:09.009 not going to get into all the hierarchy of demons and all these theories about 196 00:14:09.049 --> 00:14:13.519 that, but just know that there is a there's a spiritual battle, and 197 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.600 there's a kingdom of darkness and there's a kingdom of light, and we, 198 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:20.720 because we belong to Jesus, have put ourselves on the side of the Kingdom 199 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:24.990 of light. by His grace and by His mercy. And so Paul in 200 00:14:24.549 --> 00:14:28.190 Ephesians, chapter six, verse thirteen, continue gone, says therefore. It 201 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:31.789 says the therefore, one man said. If you see therefore in scripture, 202 00:14:33.149 --> 00:14:35.710 you got to look back and see what it's there for. This, therefore 203 00:14:35.029 --> 00:14:39.539 is there. Is because he just said we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, 204 00:14:39.539 --> 00:14:41.340 against principalities and all these other things. So, because we don't wrestle 205 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:46.460 against flesh and blood, but against principalities and and rulers of darkness and all 206 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:52.250 of that, take up the whole armor of God. Now think we can 207 00:14:52.330 --> 00:14:56.250 make a lot of this word whole, the whole armor of God. You 208 00:14:56.330 --> 00:15:01.649 can maybe say, well, people just put on a partial covering of the 209 00:15:01.730 --> 00:15:05.649 armor of God. Maybe just you. Salvation is kind of what they focus 210 00:15:05.769 --> 00:15:07.399 on. Is just salvation and thank God he saved me, and that's it. 211 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:11.360 And I could be the case and I think he is encouraging us to 212 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:16.000 put on this armor of God, this whole armor of God. He talks 213 00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:20.360 about it in chapter six, verse eleven, and he talks about it again 214 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:24.110 here in verse thirteen. Because of that, take up the whole armor of 215 00:15:24.190 --> 00:15:26.669 God. So we shouldn't miss any of these pieces. I guess we could 216 00:15:26.669 --> 00:15:28.669 sum it up in that we need to have all of these things, not 217 00:15:28.789 --> 00:15:33.509 just focus on one aspect that you may be able to withstand in the evil 218 00:15:33.549 --> 00:15:37.539 day, having done all to stand. So if you want to stand, 219 00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:41.820 put on the armor of God, Verse Fourteen. Stand, therefore, having 220 00:15:41.899 --> 00:15:46.620 girded your waist with truth. So real quick I'm and I do want to 221 00:15:46.659 --> 00:15:50.450 break down some main point of this podcast is I want to break down how 222 00:15:50.490 --> 00:15:54.210 I pray through these different aspects of the armor of God. And so here 223 00:15:54.250 --> 00:16:00.529 he first mentions this, this belt of truth, or some few. It 224 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:07.080 says right here, gird your waste with truth. Okay, we're talking about 225 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:10.279 a belt here. And physically, if we're looking at armor, and quite 226 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:15.080 likely Paul speaking from the perspective of the Roman guards and the Roman soldiers and 227 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:18.909 what they wore, if you have a belt, what does a belt do? 228 00:16:18.389 --> 00:16:21.990 Of course, in This Day and age and some folks don't wear a 229 00:16:22.070 --> 00:16:25.230 belt. It's unfortunate because you see their pants hanging around their ankles. It 230 00:16:25.870 --> 00:16:29.789 holds your pants up right. But you could really say in a sense it's 231 00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:34.379 the centerpiece, it's it's at the center of your body from head to toe 232 00:16:34.659 --> 00:16:41.059 right. It really ties everything together, and understanding this aspect is I'm putting 233 00:16:41.059 --> 00:16:42.700 on the belt of truth. I'll be praying. Lord. I put on 234 00:16:42.899 --> 00:16:47.490 your truth. God, I believe that your word is true and I believe 235 00:16:47.490 --> 00:16:51.289 that your truth holds all things together. And so, Lord, I put 236 00:16:51.370 --> 00:16:53.409 on this belt of truth because I know the enemy is going to speak lies. 237 00:16:53.809 --> 00:16:56.889 He's going to try to speak lies against me, he's going to try 238 00:16:56.929 --> 00:17:00.840 to speak lies against God's people, he's going to try to speak lies against 239 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:04.039 those babies that are scheduled to die. He's already spoken lies. He's spoken 240 00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:07.519 lies into the hearts of these MOMS. And so, Lord, I know, 241 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:11.240 because the devil has spoken lies, I need to put on the belt 242 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:15.440 of truth, that I myself cannot be a deceiver, I myself cannot be 243 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:18.829 a manipulator. I need to be serious about bringing your truth. And so, 244 00:17:18.069 --> 00:17:21.789 Lord, I put on the belt of truth. And so that's how 245 00:17:21.829 --> 00:17:26.029 I'll be praying through as I'm talking, talking about again these different aspects of 246 00:17:26.069 --> 00:17:30.019 the armor of God. And so put on the belt of truth, and 247 00:17:30.180 --> 00:17:36.339 he says goes on in verse fourteen, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 248 00:17:36.380 --> 00:17:40.380 and this is awesome, this breastplate of righteousness. And you probably, 249 00:17:40.460 --> 00:17:44.220 as I said that, already have a picture in your mind of a breastplate. 250 00:17:44.289 --> 00:17:48.730 You've seen Roman soldiers, maybe you've seen passion plays and stuff, as 251 00:17:48.769 --> 00:17:52.450 Roman soldiers are involved in that, of course, and other aspects. You've 252 00:17:52.450 --> 00:17:56.569 seen maybe the movie gladiator or some other movies where folks have these these breastplates 253 00:17:56.690 --> 00:18:03.240 on. It's a it's armor, right, it's metal, whatever metal it's 254 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:06.759 made out of, probably iron or bronze or something like that that it would 255 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:11.680 be made of in those times, this breastplate of righteousness. The picture here 256 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:15.230 is that we have righteousness. Listen, guys, this, this notion, 257 00:18:15.430 --> 00:18:19.630 this idea that the children of God that were just center saved by grace, 258 00:18:19.829 --> 00:18:23.670 that were just were worms and we're dirt and we have no value in the 259 00:18:23.710 --> 00:18:26.779 sight of God, is not true, according to the scripture. Now, 260 00:18:27.140 --> 00:18:30.420 in and of ourselves, yes, we are worms. In and of ourselves, 261 00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:36.099 our righteousness, it is filthy rags. That's a reality. However, 262 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:40.940 in Christ we have the righteousness of God. The Bible says that God made 263 00:18:40.980 --> 00:18:44.450 him. This is a second Corinthians five twenty one. It says that God 264 00:18:44.529 --> 00:18:48.609 made Him who knew no sin, that's Jesus, to be sin for us 265 00:18:48.769 --> 00:18:55.089 that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And so if you're 266 00:18:55.089 --> 00:18:59.279 a child of God, you have righteousness. You are right chest. Now 267 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:03.359 that righteousness is not a self righteousness. You're not righteous because you're so wonderful 268 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:07.839 and so good and you've chosen to do everything right. No, you're righteous 269 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:11.589 because of the righteousness of Christ. And when we talk about the breastplate of 270 00:19:11.630 --> 00:19:15.789 righteousness, understanding that we're putting on the righteousness of Christ. Now, we 271 00:19:15.869 --> 00:19:22.190 already have the righteousness of Christ, but we're mate making a conscious acknowledgement that 272 00:19:22.349 --> 00:19:26.619 the righteousness of Christ is our guard right, and that's really what he's talking 273 00:19:26.619 --> 00:19:30.420 about. You think about what does a breastplate do? Well, it protects 274 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:33.859 all of your vital organs. Right, it's protects your heart, it protects 275 00:19:33.859 --> 00:19:37.690 your lungs, it protects your liver, your kidneys, even all of the 276 00:19:38.009 --> 00:19:41.970 vital organs that if somebody was to pierce those things, you would die very 277 00:19:42.009 --> 00:19:48.490 quickly. I think in particular, this helps us to guard our hearts because 278 00:19:48.529 --> 00:19:51.369 really, again, the enemy was going to speak lies and there's going to 279 00:19:51.410 --> 00:19:53.480 be people as you go out to the abortion center and you minister that's going 280 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:56.359 to speak things against you. Mom's going in who are going to say you're 281 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:00.000 just judging me and all these things that are just not true. You're a 282 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:04.400 liar, your manipulator or whatever. These people are going to throw accusations and 283 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:08.029 these things can really pierce your heart and they can really cause you to doubt 284 00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:11.910 your calling and and and doubt what you're even doing out there. So you 285 00:20:11.950 --> 00:20:15.990 have to put on the breastplate of righteousness to guard your heart. And so 286 00:20:15.029 --> 00:20:18.670 I'll do that again physically. I say, Lord, I put on the 287 00:20:18.750 --> 00:20:22.980 breastplate of righteousness. I acknowledge that my righteousness comes from you, that I 288 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:27.099 am right in the sight of God because of what Jesus Christ has done, 289 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:33.140 and I trust that righteousness to guard my heart from all of the stuff that 290 00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:34.890 the enemy wants to bring against me. And so I'm again, I'm putting 291 00:20:34.890 --> 00:20:38.369 on that breastplate of righteousness. Not all of these. I'm sure I could 292 00:20:38.369 --> 00:20:42.250 expound more and break it down more. I'm sure there's been a lot better 293 00:20:42.329 --> 00:20:47.089 Bible teachers than me that have broken down these different pieces of the armor of 294 00:20:47.130 --> 00:20:49.119 God. People that know historically all the ends and outs. I knew some 295 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:52.559 of that stuff, but I'm sure you can find better teaching, but I'm 296 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:55.079 just kind of giving you, guys, here's how I pray through. Here's 297 00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:57.799 how I think this through. So he talks again in verse fourteen about the 298 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:03.839 Breastplate of righteousness. He goes on Verse Fifteen saying having Shod your feet with 299 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:08.430 the preparation of the gospel of peace, these shoes that we're supposed to have 300 00:21:08.509 --> 00:21:12.470 shot our feet with or we're supposed to cover our feet with are so important 301 00:21:14.710 --> 00:21:18.549 the preparation of the gospel of peace. Listen, guys, this is a 302 00:21:18.700 --> 00:21:25.660 Gospel Ministry. We are not pro life activists. People call me that your 303 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:29.900 pro life protester activists. No, I'm not. I'm a I'm a Minister 304 00:21:30.019 --> 00:21:33.009 of the Gospel. I just so happened to do it at an abortion clinic. 305 00:21:33.089 --> 00:21:34.849 That's where the Lord has called me to so that's where I do it 306 00:21:34.930 --> 00:21:38.529 at. And we have to understand that our motivation needs to be bringing the 307 00:21:38.569 --> 00:21:41.930 Gospel. If you're motivated because you you feel like you're called to be some 308 00:21:42.009 --> 00:21:45.970 kind of pro life activist or something like that, I believe you're I believe 309 00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:49.039 you're coming short of the intention of God. I believe you're selling yourself short 310 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:52.759 and you're selling God short. This thing is not just about ending abortion and 311 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:57.240 and saving babies. This is about bringing the Gospel to people that don't know 312 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:02.670 God, to people who are in darkness, who are under these the power 313 00:22:02.710 --> 00:22:06.430 of these spiritual hosts of wickedness that Paul Talks about there in verse twelve. 314 00:22:07.109 --> 00:22:10.750 And so we've got to have have our feet shod with the preparation of the 315 00:22:10.750 --> 00:22:14.430 gospel of peace that we are coming to bring the Gospel. And I'll simply 316 00:22:14.670 --> 00:22:17.660 just say if you don't know how to share the Gospel, you ought to 317 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:19.339 know how to share the Gospel. And I think we've said it time and 318 00:22:19.420 --> 00:22:22.460 time again, Vicky and I both that if you don't know how to share 319 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:26.900 the Gospel, look at Ray Comfort stuff. He has stuff on Youtube. 320 00:22:26.940 --> 00:22:30.809 He has, I'm out of see, probably hundred thousands of videos of him 321 00:22:30.809 --> 00:22:33.490 sharing the Gospel with people one on one. He's even got a training course 322 00:22:33.569 --> 00:22:37.609 the way of the master, where he shares with you how to share the 323 00:22:37.650 --> 00:22:41.730 gospel effectively, how to do it biblically. You need to be prepared to 324 00:22:41.809 --> 00:22:45.359 share the Gospel quite possibly many of you that are listening are, but if 325 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.519 you're not, get prepared to share the Gospel. We've done podcast about that. 326 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:52.720 How we share the Gospel at abortion centers. But there's all kinds of 327 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:55.599 stuff out there that you can listen to, that you can take advantage of. 328 00:22:56.119 --> 00:23:00.069 Listen to Hell's best kept secret by Ray Comfort that as a I mean 329 00:23:00.150 --> 00:23:03.589 when you get saved. I think it should be like a requirement everybody listens 330 00:23:03.630 --> 00:23:06.589 to that message, hell's best kept secret when they get saved, so that 331 00:23:06.710 --> 00:23:10.509 they can understand the motivation behind sharing the Gospel, how to share the Gospel 332 00:23:10.630 --> 00:23:15.660 biblically and effectively, understanding that we're out there not just to ind abortion, 333 00:23:15.420 --> 00:23:18.539 not just to say babies, and I don't want to minimize that. Saving 334 00:23:18.579 --> 00:23:23.619 babies is obviously very important. It's why we're there in the sense that they're 335 00:23:23.619 --> 00:23:29.569 killing babies inside of there. But our ultimate motivation, or ultimate ministry, 336 00:23:29.930 --> 00:23:33.450 I guess I would say, is, is bringing the Gospel, and the 337 00:23:33.490 --> 00:23:37.609 Gospel changes the heart of a mother of ortion is no longer an option for 338 00:23:37.690 --> 00:23:41.250 her right. And so he goes on. After he talks about feet shod 339 00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:44.079 with the preparation of the gospel of peace. And he says here in Verse 340 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:49.319 Sixteen, Above all taking the shield of faith, taking the shield of faith, 341 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:56.190 this shield of faith. And what is it? Faith then? Faith 342 00:23:56.269 --> 00:24:00.950 in our own ability, faith in how smart we are, how we can 343 00:24:00.710 --> 00:24:04.349 do apologetics very well. We've studied apologetics. Would ever, know that's not 344 00:24:04.470 --> 00:24:07.670 what our faith is in. Our faith has to be in the Lord and 345 00:24:08.710 --> 00:24:11.660 our faith has to be in the word of God. Listen what he says. 346 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:15.940 He says above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you 347 00:24:15.980 --> 00:24:19.980 will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. I 348 00:24:21.579 --> 00:24:25.609 talked a little bit about these, these wiles of the devil, these fiery 349 00:24:25.609 --> 00:24:29.210 darts, these things that the enemy tries to fling at you. The devil 350 00:24:29.289 --> 00:24:33.210 wants these fiery darts to Pierce your heart, he wants them to penetrate your 351 00:24:33.329 --> 00:24:40.279 body so that these fiery darts ultimately catch you in flames, right to torment 352 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:44.720 you, to cause you problems, ultimately to neutralize you from the battle. 353 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:48.000 Listen, if the devil can't do anything but just make you doubt and and 354 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:52.910 and not have confidence in the Lord and not have confidence in his truth, 355 00:24:52.230 --> 00:24:55.869 he'll be happy to do that, just to neutralize you from the battle. 356 00:24:56.589 --> 00:24:59.869 But we've got to uphold this shield of faith. What the Bible tell us? 357 00:25:00.269 --> 00:25:03.150 Faith is the substance. This is Hebrews Chapter Eleven. Faith is the 358 00:25:03.349 --> 00:25:07.859 substance of things. Hope for the evidence of things not seen. Faith, 359 00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:11.299 and it goes on to say by faith we believe that God created the world. 360 00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:15.500 These things that we believe. And look at the men and women of 361 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:19.019 God in the Bible but also in the history of the church. These are 362 00:25:19.140 --> 00:25:25.289 people that upheld the shield of faith. They believed God, not just things 363 00:25:25.329 --> 00:25:29.049 about God, but they actually believed God. They put their trust in the 364 00:25:29.210 --> 00:25:33.170 Lord. Now, the basis of our trust in the Lord is his word. 365 00:25:33.690 --> 00:25:37.519 That's why I say we need to be in his word. This, 366 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:44.799 this shield of faith is is basically crafted by as much as we trust in 367 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:48.559 the Lord, the more we trust in God through his word, the the 368 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:51.390 thicker our shield gets, so to speak. So you got to be getting 369 00:25:51.430 --> 00:25:56.029 the word in you. I really encourage you be listening to messages, to 370 00:25:56.150 --> 00:26:00.230 preachers that are preaching from the Bible, but also obviously being in the scripture, 371 00:26:00.549 --> 00:26:03.500 listening to the scripture, getting the word of God in you so that 372 00:26:03.579 --> 00:26:07.900 when the enemy comes and I've seen this happen a lot where I get accusations 373 00:26:08.539 --> 00:26:12.660 pro abortion people here in Charlotte. They've said some pretty just nasty things about 374 00:26:12.740 --> 00:26:18.460 me, about my family, about up my kids all this other stuff, 375 00:26:18.500 --> 00:26:22.089 and they'll bring an accusation again. They're just a mouthpiece for the devil. 376 00:26:22.210 --> 00:26:25.410 My battle's not against them, it's against the devil, and so I know 377 00:26:25.529 --> 00:26:30.650 that they're a mouthpiece for him and when I oppose what they say, I'm 378 00:26:30.690 --> 00:26:33.960 opposing with the with the enemy speaking through them. So they might say things 379 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.319 like, and I've heard him say this, you're a horrible dad. How 380 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:38.799 in the world could you ever bring your kids out here? Because I brought 381 00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:45.000 bring my kids out sometimes, and or when I don't bring my kids out, 382 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:47.789 they've told me you're a horrible dad, leaving your kids at home alone, 383 00:26:47.829 --> 00:26:51.829 which obviously they're not. They're just bringing false accusations. But I hope 384 00:26:51.910 --> 00:26:55.509 hold that shield of faith and say no. By faith God has changed my 385 00:26:55.670 --> 00:26:59.069 heart. His word is in me. By faith I'm a good father. 386 00:26:59.150 --> 00:27:02.660 I've taken the principles of God's Word by His grace and applied them in my 387 00:27:02.740 --> 00:27:08.019 family. So I combat that lie and I will even directly contradict their lies 388 00:27:08.420 --> 00:27:11.900 when they speak them. I'm intentional about they say I'm this, I'll say 389 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:15.170 no, the word of God says I'm this. So I'm upholding that shield 390 00:27:15.170 --> 00:27:18.849 of faith, but I also wielding the sword of the spirit, which we'll 391 00:27:18.890 --> 00:27:22.650 talk about in just a second. But understanding that, the shield of faith 392 00:27:22.170 --> 00:27:27.809 it is. It is thickened by our trust in the Lord and US knowing 393 00:27:27.970 --> 00:27:32.440 him. You can't trust somebody that you don't know, right. So we 394 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:37.200 need to be in God's word, really strengthening our faith in him as we 395 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:40.400 get to know him more and more, and then we'll be able to quench 396 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:42.720 the fiery darts of the wicked one, his fiery darts as he flings them 397 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:47.470 at us. The words and other things that come against us will be quenched, 398 00:27:47.869 --> 00:27:52.549 extinguished by this shield of faith. Praise the Lord, all right, 399 00:27:52.589 --> 00:27:56.869 verse seventeen, and take the helmet of salvation, the helmet of salvation and 400 00:27:57.660 --> 00:28:02.660 our this is probably as I'm praying through. Probably start with that piece. 401 00:28:02.700 --> 00:28:06.220 I kind of start from the head and work my way down. It's kind 402 00:28:06.220 --> 00:28:08.420 of how I pray through. It's not necessarily the order to this is given 403 00:28:08.579 --> 00:28:11.660 here in the scripture, but I pray through in this way because it just 404 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:15.569 helps me and engage my mind more. And so I pray. Lord, 405 00:28:15.609 --> 00:28:21.490 I put on the helmet of salvation. Salvation belongs to you, Old Lord, 406 00:28:22.089 --> 00:28:26.769 but you've given salvation to me because of what Jesus Christ is accomplished for 407 00:28:26.849 --> 00:28:30.319 me. And so I put this helmet of salvation on. And what does 408 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:33.680 a helmet do? It guards your head, and so the breastplate of righteousness, 409 00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:40.400 it guards your heart from stuff sinking into your emotions and just messing things 410 00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:42.829 up emotionally. But the devil wants to get into your head, to the 411 00:28:42.950 --> 00:28:45.789 lies of the enemy. They want to seek into your head, they want 412 00:28:45.789 --> 00:28:51.029 to sink themselves into your head, and so this helmet of salvation is really 413 00:28:51.109 --> 00:28:55.390 helpful in keeping those lies out. And so there may be some lies that 414 00:28:55.390 --> 00:28:59.180 are spoken against us that you know you're not a good Christian. How can, 415 00:28:59.259 --> 00:29:02.339 how in the world could you judge me like this, because you know 416 00:29:02.500 --> 00:29:06.660 obviously you're not a good Christian in this and that all these lies and accusations 417 00:29:06.819 --> 00:29:10.170 to come. It's like, well, I'm not a good Christian in my 418 00:29:10.289 --> 00:29:14.529 own strength, but by God's grace he saved me he's given me his holy 419 00:29:14.690 --> 00:29:18.369 spirit and so, by His grace, I'm a believer in Jesus. His 420 00:29:18.529 --> 00:29:22.849 Salvation is begiven to me and I am a good Christian because what he's done 421 00:29:22.849 --> 00:29:27.160 in my heart, because of how he's transformed me. Again, salvation is 422 00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:33.480 not ours. I don't possess salvation. Know The Lord possesses me, and 423 00:29:33.640 --> 00:29:38.150 therefore I have salvation in the sense that I can look toward even now, 424 00:29:38.710 --> 00:29:42.670 I am saved and I can look toward the ultimate salvation of the Lord. 425 00:29:44.349 --> 00:29:48.670 So I put on this helmet salvation and confidence that the Lord's Word is true, 426 00:29:48.069 --> 00:29:52.509 that those that put their trust in him will be saved, and I 427 00:29:52.630 --> 00:29:55.539 stand against the lies and the wiles of the enemy and all the things that 428 00:29:55.619 --> 00:29:57.059 he wants to use to kind of pierce my mind and say, Nope, 429 00:29:57.380 --> 00:30:02.259 I belong to the Lord, and that's really this helmet of salvation. Think 430 00:30:02.299 --> 00:30:06.940 about it. In battle, the helmet often times will have even think about 431 00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:10.890 it. It's in terms of modern sports. Think about football, and they 432 00:30:10.890 --> 00:30:14.410 have on the helmet. What's on their helmet? Their team, right their 433 00:30:14.490 --> 00:30:17.170 team. There the colors of their team, their logo of their team, 434 00:30:17.650 --> 00:30:19.809 shows what team they belong to. This helmet of salvation shows what team we 435 00:30:19.890 --> 00:30:23.599 belong to. We belong to the to the Lord's team. Right, belong 436 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:27.680 to the Lord's Army, and often times armies will have on their helmet certain 437 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:33.799 designs and things like that that indicate what army they're a part of. And 438 00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:37.670 this really does establish for us our confidence in the Lord. We belong to 439 00:30:37.750 --> 00:30:42.869 him them because of his salvation. And then he says here in verse Seventeen, 440 00:30:42.990 --> 00:30:48.430 and the Sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, 441 00:30:48.630 --> 00:30:53.259 this is our this is our weapon. All these other things are protective gear, 442 00:30:53.940 --> 00:31:00.660 the shield, the helmet and breastplate, belt of truth, the feet 443 00:31:00.140 --> 00:31:03.650 shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, these shoes of the gospel 444 00:31:03.730 --> 00:31:07.609 of peace, but this sword, the sword of the spirit, it's our 445 00:31:07.690 --> 00:31:11.930 weapon. It's our offensive weapon to come against the enemies. We're not just 446 00:31:12.170 --> 00:31:18.839 called to be passive, we're not just called to be peace keepers, we're 447 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:23.759 called to be peace makers. Difference between peace keepers and peace makers is passivity. 448 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:29.599 A peace keeper as just somebody who's there just making sure things are going 449 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:33.230 right and if things don't go so right, typically a peacekeepers going to going 450 00:31:33.269 --> 00:31:37.549 to hit the road right there just a presence, they're just a warm body. 451 00:31:37.589 --> 00:31:41.990 A peace maker is someone who's actively going out and making peace where there 452 00:31:42.069 --> 00:31:45.309 is no peace. They want to bring the peace of God, not through 453 00:31:45.390 --> 00:31:49.420 Brute Force, but through proclamation, as far as we're concerned, proclamation of 454 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:53.099 the Gospel, proclamation of the truth of who God is, and so we 455 00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:56.619 can wield this sword of the spirit. It's understand guys. We're not called 456 00:31:56.740 --> 00:32:00.660 just to be passive. I see people and I've seen scenarios in which people 457 00:32:00.660 --> 00:32:04.049 are on the sidewalks at their abortion center and they're just kind of passive, 458 00:32:04.369 --> 00:32:07.569 just kind of hoping that people might come along and maybe take a loop piece 459 00:32:07.650 --> 00:32:10.490 of literature from them, somebody might come along and maybe engage in the conversation 460 00:32:10.609 --> 00:32:15.690 with them. They're just making themselves available to be there and listen. I 461 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:20.240 appreciate what they're doing, but listen, we need to be active, we 462 00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:23.359 need to be on the offensive. When we see women going into the abortion 463 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:27.680 center. We don't need to just suggest that they might want to come over 464 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:30.509 and talk to us or suggest that they maybe want to take a piece of 465 00:32:30.549 --> 00:32:34.150 literatures or pulling into the driveway of the abortion center. No, we need 466 00:32:34.190 --> 00:32:37.230 to be confident. We need to be wielding the sword of the spirit. 467 00:32:37.269 --> 00:32:38.710 Hey, please come over and talk with me. Hey, I have information 468 00:32:38.869 --> 00:32:42.589 for you. What I've got to say is very important. Please come over 469 00:32:42.670 --> 00:32:45.339 here. This is part of this mindset of wielding the sword of the spirit. 470 00:32:45.660 --> 00:32:49.339 You know, the Apostle Paul didn't just kind of float around on a 471 00:32:49.420 --> 00:32:52.980 boat somewhere and maybe wherever he ended up, he might share the Gospel. 472 00:32:52.180 --> 00:32:55.940 Now, this guy had a mission in mind and where God sent him he 473 00:32:57.180 --> 00:33:00.970 went and he was very proactive, not passive, very proactive about sharing the 474 00:33:01.049 --> 00:33:06.529 Gospel, this offensive tool, the sword of the spirit. Paul wielded it 475 00:33:06.730 --> 00:33:09.849 wherever he went and whatever scenario he was given, whether it be to gentiles 476 00:33:09.890 --> 00:33:13.880 or to Jews, he would wield the sword of the spirit. He would 477 00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:15.920 be speaking the truth of God's word, and that's what we need to be 478 00:33:16.039 --> 00:33:20.319 doing as well, out there on the sidewalk. We need to be active, 479 00:33:20.559 --> 00:33:23.200 we need to be peacemakers, not just peacekeepers. We need to be 480 00:33:23.359 --> 00:33:27.950 standing and wielding the sword of the spirit. Listen, bring Your Bible to 481 00:33:28.069 --> 00:33:30.069 the abortion clinic. People might think that's a little weird, a little, 482 00:33:30.390 --> 00:33:35.309 you know, street preachery or whatever. WHO cared years. We need to 483 00:33:35.349 --> 00:33:37.029 have the word of God in us. We didn't have a copy of the 484 00:33:37.069 --> 00:33:42.339 word of God in our hands. There's times where a man who's that's happened 485 00:33:42.380 --> 00:33:44.539 to me several times, a man out in front of the abortion center, 486 00:33:44.579 --> 00:33:46.500 he's just milling around in the parking lot. I got my Bible in my 487 00:33:46.579 --> 00:33:49.420 hand say hey, man, come over and talk to me. I'm want 488 00:33:49.420 --> 00:33:53.779 to share some scripture with you. Listen these people, many of them are 489 00:33:53.940 --> 00:33:58.289 spiritually hungry, even though they don't realize, and you shart sharing the word 490 00:33:58.329 --> 00:34:01.009 of God. And I've gotten in some pretty indepth conversations, broken down some 491 00:34:01.450 --> 00:34:07.769 pretty complex theological truths with men and women at the abortion center and I got 492 00:34:07.849 --> 00:34:10.599 my Bible there. I really think less. Maybe I'm old school. Forty 493 00:34:10.679 --> 00:34:15.159 one years old, so I don't think I'm that old, but I'm kind 494 00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:16.760 of old school in this way. Is that I hate reading the Bible on 495 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:21.360 my phone. I think it's I don't like. I don't think it's as 496 00:34:21.480 --> 00:34:24.230 good as if we have our Bible, Physical Bible, and even when we're 497 00:34:24.230 --> 00:34:27.789 out there on the sideway, having a physical Bible, you can open up 498 00:34:27.869 --> 00:34:30.429 to and show people what the Bible says. What the Scripture says, think 499 00:34:30.550 --> 00:34:35.389 the very powerful way to share the truth of God's word in that context. 500 00:34:35.909 --> 00:34:38.619 So I encourage you guys just with this and hopefully this was a blessing to 501 00:34:38.659 --> 00:34:43.420 you. Went actually a little longer than I thought of would, but you 502 00:34:43.500 --> 00:34:45.780 know, as always, want to encourage you guys to reach out to me, 503 00:34:45.699 --> 00:34:49.860 Danuel at Love Life Dot Org. I'd love to just encourage you along 504 00:34:49.900 --> 00:34:52.139 and loved you get you plugged in. Maybe you want to get trained to 505 00:34:52.179 --> 00:34:55.329 do sidewalk ministry. These past couple of podcasts that we've been doing about training 506 00:34:55.730 --> 00:35:00.130 have been really focused on the training that we do once a month, first 507 00:35:00.130 --> 00:35:02.369 Saturday of the month, and we've kind of who can each of those slides 508 00:35:02.449 --> 00:35:06.489 that we share in that training and broken them down and kind of get a 509 00:35:06.530 --> 00:35:08.639 little more in depth with those. And that's what this was as we talk 510 00:35:08.679 --> 00:35:14.239 about preparation and one of our slides we talked about preparation spiritual warfare and putting 511 00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:15.960 on the armor of God, and that's what this this podcast was designed to 512 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:21.869 do, to help you and encourage you and equip you to equip yourself as 513 00:35:21.909 --> 00:35:24.110 you put on the armor of God. So hope it was a blessing to 514 00:35:24.150 --> 00:35:28.110 you. I hope you'll reach out to me let me know, maybe some 515 00:35:28.269 --> 00:35:32.150 suggestions for other podcasts, other episodes that you might have in your mind, 516 00:35:32.190 --> 00:35:36.820 and maybe things that we can cover, subjects that we can cover. Please 517 00:35:36.860 --> 00:35:43.179 share this podcast, please encourage other people with the podcast and until next time, 518 00:35:43.780 --> 00:35:54.570 God bless give me our love for love, give me our love for 519 00:35:54.809 --> 00:36:07.320 gratitude. I know it will cost me my life. Nothing's too precious in 520 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:08.599 some you