Show me a man without hope and I'll show you someone who is mastered by depression & defeat & despair & gloom. Hope is the expectation that GOOD THINGS are going to happen to you based on the Word of God. Not based on what I think it will be, but based on the promises of the Word of God, I have a positive mental attitude. I've got what God is going to do for me and through me, based on the Scripture.
One man said, "If I were to inherit General Motors, Congress would outlaw cars." How many of you can see despair in that? A man went into a restaurant and said; "this water is cloudy", and the waitress said to him, "you have a poor attitude, the water is fine, the glass is dirty."
The man or woman who has hope can endure any crisis, because they know that God is taking care of them and something good is going to happen to them.
Let me tell you this brief true story. Years ago the S-4 submarine was rammed by another ship and quickly began to sink. The crew was trapped in this prison of death. Ships in the area began to rush towards the scene of the disaster off of the coast of Mass. The men inside of the submarine breathed very shallowly, didn't use any extra effort, so as to conserve the oxygen that was quickly being used.
A diver from one of the ships leaped down into the cold water and placed his ear against the vessel and listened. And he heard a tapping noise, (knock on pulpit) from inside the submarine. The man inside the submarine was beating out, "is there any hope?" "Is there any hope?" "Is there any hope?"
Many here today are asking that very same question, "Is there any hope?" "Is there any hope for my business? Is there any hope for my health? Is there any hope? I'm overcome by addictive habits. Is there any hope for my children? Is there any hope for my finances? Is there any hope for my future?
I HAVE AN ANSWER! There is a hope that is steadfast and sure. There is a hope that will drive the dark clouds out of your life. There is a hope that will totally destroy depression. There is a hope that will remove worry, that will remove anxiety, that will remove grief. There is a hope that will dissipate disappointment. There is a hope that will break the chains of misery and habit. And that hope is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. He is the healer of broken hearts. He is the supplier of every need. He is the bread of life. He is the forest of 10,000. He is the Prince of Glory. He is the King of all Kings, the Lord of all Lords. And when you know Jesus, YOU HAVE HOPE. And if you don't know Him, there's no place you can find it. Last week we talked about these 3 principles of warfare. There are 2 kingdoms at war, the warfare is supernatural and the warfare is in the heavenlies.
Today the 3 principles of warfare are; that the armor is the Lord's and every believer is called to arms. Every soldier must be trained in hand to had combat, and we put on the breastplate of righteousness, which God has made possible. Let's read the text. Eph. 6:11-13. (read)
I want you to leave today with the helmet of hope and the breastplate of righteousness. Let's pray.
Father, thank you for your Word, let it show us how to live life more victoriously and may it affect our lives in every dimension of our lives, that we may be more like Christ in all that we do and say. In Jesus name we pray and ask it. And all of God children said, praise the Lord.
The 4th principle of warfare is that the armor is the Lord's. Paul said, "Put on the whole armor of God." He was talking about the Helmet of Salvation, the Breast Plate of Righteousness, Loins of truth, feet shod with the gospel of peace, the sword of the spirit and the shield of faith.
The Armor Belongs to the Lord. I want you to hear this. It is God's armor. You can imitate it but you can't duplicate it. Some of you are wearing elaborate armor. The problem is, you designed it. And you fabricated it. It's phoney. And it's going to get you killed. Because our weapons are not carnal, they are not religious. They are spiritual weapons that God gives us, through the Word of God.
Some are wearing religious armor. Paul said, "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away." Paul plainly states, "turn away from religious ritual that is empty and meaningless and does not change you." I want you to hear this. People who act religious and people who talk religious---AREN'T. Jesus Christ was so common in His appearance. So common in His speech, so natural, that Judas had to kiss Him so the Romans would know Who to arrest.
I want to tell you something, if Jesus is not the Lord of your life, the Lord of your church. If He is not the Lord of your doctrine. You need a new life, a new church and a new doctrine. Because He is the Lord of all or not at all.
Ask the average person if they are saved and they say, I belong to such and such a church. Are you saved? I'm a Baptist. Are you saved? I'm a Methodist. I want to tell you something. There are no Baptist in heaven, no Methodist in heaven, no Catholics in Heaven, no Pentacostals in heaven. The only ones who are in heaven are the blood bought children of the living God who have accepted Jesus Christ and they are called believers and that's all that's there. I don't care how many churches you have joined, if you don't have Jesus as your Savior, you're not going to heaven. Being around the righteous will not make you righteous.
Any armor that's not God's armor is the wrong armor. Every believer is called to arms. There is no victory without a fight. You cannot gain your victory by rattling your saber. We are the only army that has ever marched, that was guaranteed the victory before the first shot was ever fired. In Rev. 19 Jesus is not leading a bunch of peace-nicks, He is not leading a company of cautious cowards, full of compromise and carnality. He is leading the army of God and they are returning to the earth to settle the score with sin and Satan. He's coming back to set up His throne and His kingdom on the face of the earth. He is going to rule and reign for a thousand years, from the city of Jerusalem and He is going to rule the nations with a rod of iron. I'M GOING TO BE A PART OF THAT. AND WE ARE GOING TO CLEAN SATAN'S CLOCK. AND THE VICTORIES OURS, IN JESUS' NAME.
If you're not on the Lord's side, you're on the wrong side. I've read the back of the Book. Did you ever read a novel and before you were done, you went to the back to see how the guy finished it. Folks, I've read the back of the Book over here, and WE WIN! We win, big time.
The next principle is, that every soldier has to be trained in hand to hand combat. Wrestling is a one on one event. It was not a clean sport in Paul's time.
How many of you ever went to Boot Camp. How many of you vaguely know what happens when you go to Boot Camp? Somewhere you raised your hand to the American flag and a mean looking sergeant up in front of that group of wide eyed kids and said something like, "I promise to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic". Does that bring back any memories for any of you?
That sergeant looked at you, like a killer shark looks at a fresh trout. (You're mine--baby) As soon as you put down your hand, his whole attitude towards you changes. He made you check in your designer jeans for floppy greens. The cap hit you on the nose and the sleeves hit you about the thumbs or maybe up at the elbow. The pants either drug on the ground or hit you just below the knees and this was your brand new gear.
He cut off your wonderful hair. He moved you into a monolithic barn, called a barracks. He told you what to do and he told you when to do it. He told you how long to do it and then he told you to do it over. And you do it for 18 hours and he marched you like an animal. Sweat, blisters and blood. And he laughed at you. He didn't ask if moma's little boy was doing alright. He put his nose right on your nose and said, "Get up and march you meathead." You wanted to choke him, but you were afraid. He marched you to the chow hall were you eat food not fit for human consumption. Moma wasn't there to say, "Would you like another biscuit, baby?"
You trained, trained, trained and trained. They trained you in weapons. They trained you in night combat. They trained you in psychological warfare. They trained you in hand to hand combat. WHY? So when the battle came and you were in the foxhole with your buddy and the enemy was coming over the hill. You didn't grab the manual and say, "Where is that chapter on hand to hand combat?" You knew what to do. And in the day of battle you looked your enemy in the eye and said, "Make my day baby. I'm ready. You are duck soup compared to that D.I. I had."
Do you hear that? Paul was a combat general. And he said to the army of God, "Put on the whole armor of God." Get disciplined. The Romans didn't always want to wear their armor because it was heavy and it was hot, but the generals said, "WEAR IT ALL OF THE TIME, because in sneak attacks you don't have time to run around and find it."
I see the army of God under attack and we are scrabbling around like chickens with their heads cut off looking for the gear. Where's my helmet Sally, I think I left it under the couch last night while I was watching that X rated show? Where is my breastplate of righteousness, I think I left that down at the Crystal Pistol last night. How did you know where that was?
Here comes a firey dart---(make noise like arrow)--Where's my shield of faith? He wants to kill us.
I want you to hear this---Here at the New Winchester Boot Camp we are going to train you. WE are going to train you, because if you can't do it well, you shouldn't be doing it. The Body of Christ is an ineffective army because we are undisciplined. We have the idea that we can do it well with no practice--that's not true. Our enemy is well trained. He is extremely well trained. He knows exactly what he is trying to do. HE'S TRYING TO KILL YOU!
The Bible says he has come to rob and kill and destroy. And if you are not ready for him, HE'S GOING TO EAT YOUR LUNCH. How many of you understand that. When a preacher says to open the Word of God and study therein, I'm not telling you that as some kind of religious act. I'm telling you that because the hope that we have is in the Scripture. And if you don't have the hope of the Scripture in your mind, your mind has absolutely no protection.
If your breastplate of righteousness, which protects your heart is not on when the fiery darts of satan come, he will go all the way through you. Some of you feel you are well prepared--when you are a dead man looking for a place to be buried. Some think they are religious, they think they are knowledgeable, they think they are good, they think they are holy. Your GOODNESS is your BADNESS.
You think you're ready, but you're not. And when the devil gets through with you, you'll come to church with a sword blade out each side, saying, "What went wrong? What went wrong? What went wrong?"
I'm telling you---get in the Book.
There are 3 dimensions of the righteous. And I say this in closing. FIRST, there is self- righteousness. When you think you are good by what you do, you are self-righteous. You are a legalist. The Pharisees were legalist. They kept religious rules, yet they were smug, arrogant, religious and lost. I say this, unless your righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees, you shall all like wise perish. Who said that? Jesus. And it's the truth. Legalist are concerned by what you do, not what you are.
Now I want you to know something. I would rather go fishing with a beer drinking, cigar smoking, tobacco chewing red neck, than to go with a pompous, self-righteous, goody two shoes legalist. Because I would have more fun. A legalist will criticize a Methodist for drinking beer and then go to the refrigerator and eat like a cultured hog. So fat you can't see their eyes. Who tie their shoes and black out. Who are big enough to get group insurance all by themselves.
A Baptist legalist will not move both of his feet at the same time, lest he be accused of dancing. But he watches dirty movies, cusses, and tells filthy jokes, criticizes the pastor, seldom reads the Bible, doesn't pray and sure won't tithe. But bless God, I don't dance.
That's not the Gospel, that's garbage.
The SECOND kind of righteousness, is imputed righteousness. Romans 4:22, "That which is given unto me on account of Christ at the cross." Imputed means, "Credited to my account." Let me briefly say, when I accept Christ, He credits to my account, RIGHTEOUSNESS. How many of you know that when you got saved that when you got up from the altar you were not PERFECT. You were still filled with imperfection. I'm full of faults. Am I saved, yes I'm saved. I'm full of hangups. How is it then that a holy God can hear me pray? Just like this. I have imputed righteousness. And all that my Father can see is the righteousness of His Son.
Now the LAST kind of righteousness is imparted Righteousness. Imparted righteousness is how you put on the breastplate of Righteousness--Imparted righteousness is what God is doing in my character. Imparted righteousness is the decision that I make day by day to live by the standard of God. Did you hear what I just got through saying? I'm depressed, should I get into the Word of God and let the hope of my salvation lift me and feel the joy of the Lord or should I go down to the Crystal Pistol and drink my sorrows away?
What am I going to do? It depends upon weather I am a godly man or a carnal man. A carnal man will bougie right on down to the Crystal Pistol. And on his way home when satan see him without his armor on, and zap, he's got you with a fiery dart and you go home and you and your wife fight and you're home drunk again, and late again. And she says, "What's that lawyer's number?"
Do you see how that starts? But if you would have gone by God's standard, you'd be happy.
If you will, as I close this message, imagine 20 million people. That's a lot of people. 20 million. That's how many people are dying of AIDS, right now. I have a cure for AIDS--righteousness. I have a cure for alcoholism--righteousness. I have a cure for drug addiction--righteousness. I have a cure for adultery--righteousness. I have a cure for abortion--righteousness. I have a cure for the greed that is ripping America's economy and destroying it for generations to come, it's righteousness.
The fact is that God would have spared Sodom and Gamorra if He could have found 10 righteous men.
Put on the Helmet, the Word of God that blesses us with hope. Put on the breastplate of righteousness by which we ward of the fiery darts and stand in the imputed, imparted righteousness that Jesus died on the cross to give you. Claim that righteousness, live in that righteousness and claim the victory that is already yours. You are not a loser. You are a winner, in Jesus Christ.
Can we stand.
