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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
The Breastplate Of Righteousness | Chris Cody | Campmeeting 2024 | Wednesday AM
01:07:59
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message.
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About the time I had, I had discerned and figured out that I was called to full time ministry. I didn't know what that would look like. I did know in my spirit that I would pastor. And it always was followed up, at least for a time. But my childhood pastor, I remember vividly going to his retirement party. And so I haven't started in ministry yet. And he is just coming to the end of that season. And he stood up and he said, you know, everyone, pastoring has been the loneliest thing I have ever done. And that did not edify me. That did not bless me, because we all, you know, people have different personalities. But if you know me, I'm people people. I'm not going to make it in solitary confinement. And that gave me something to overcome. But I'm so glad to have found out through fresh oil Fellowship, through Dr. Dufresne. You know, when God put Dr. Dufresne in my life, I had no idea if he was all I got. Oh, my. But then to realize Pastor Nancy was in that package. Stephen and Morgan and Grant were in that package. And all of you, y' all are just the gift that keeps on giving. And I am just. I'm just honored to be a part. Amen. And don't, don't be content to stay out on the fringes. Amen. Like she said last night, get in the room. Partake. Amen. Of all that's in. Of all that's in the room. Well, let's open our Bibles this morning to Ephesians, chapter six. And on your way there, if you're going from left to right, I'm going to stop in First Corinthians 10 on the way. You don't have to join me there, but that's where I'm going to begin. I'm not going to be able to. And I'm not trying to say anything new today. I certainly will not be able to say it better, you know, than what we've heard. But it will come out different. You know, I can say that with confidence. It'll come out different. I thought, could I even try to be like Pastor Craig? I just, I just. Yeah, I just threw the. I just threw the thought away really quick. I just. So you got me. You got me this morning. But when Pastor asked me last night to take the service this morning, I immediately checked my heart and heard the Lord say, just pick it up and carry the ball forward. Just pick it up and take it forward. And so I know where to begin. I know, I believe, where I'm supposed to end up. Everything that's going to happen in between those two points, we'll just have to find out together. Father, we thank you for the great privilege of getting to break bread around this table together. Holy Ghost, we're looking to you to unveil the word of God to our spirits, to enlighten and to renew our mind. Father, I am. I am a product, as we all are, of your dealings, of your dealings. I'm where I am today because of your dealings with me in my life. And that is, as we heard the first night, the goodness of God. And so, Father, as we go through tonight, this morning's time of ministry, you're always dealing with us and God. I pray that we're always reminded that, Father, all your dealings are only good. They're only good. And I just thank you. By the end of this service, Father God, you're going to use me and you're going to use the people to bring their part. And at the end, the people will be helped and you will be glorified. Help me, Father. Help me to help them in Jesus name. And everybody said Amen. A few years ago, the Lord highlighted this passage to me. It's meant a lot to me over those last couple of years. We'll just begin reading in verse number one. We were just singing about the rock. Amen. Our rock. Look at First Corinthians 10:1 says, Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. You know, they were all in this boat of deliverance and journey together, right? And they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And they did all eat the same spiritual meat or the same spiritual food. You know, we're all eating this week of the same, same food, but unfortunately we don't. Digestive systems are not all healthy and they're not all the same. And we wish the potentially the outcome could all be we could all leave with the highest. And the best experience tells us that that's not going to be the case, unfortunately. Amen. And it's all about our approach to the Word, how we respond to the Word. Amen. But he offers victory to everyone. Amen. We've all got the same covenant we heard about. We've got the same blood, the same Savior, the same Holy Ghost, the same access to the Father. We all have angels. We all start out on an equal playing field. Doesn't matter where you come from, what side of the tracks, what color of skin you are. Amen. What your social status is. Hallelujah. Come on, we can all win. I said we can all win. If you're gonna be around me, you're gonna find out our family is one of the most competitive families you will ever be around. And it's so my youth, my son, everybody knows, you know, like, all my kids all came out of the womb. Angels, you know? But you know, Rex, you know, everybody, he's so oh. Oh, he's so oh. And he is. Until you start competing and then something Cody like comes over him. And we don't apologize because we were born to win, right? Not lose. Hallelujah. Verse 4. And all did drink of the same spiritual drink, the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. Come on. For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Come on. But with many of them. Here's the verse. But with many of them, God was not well pleased. Now, I trust you're like me. If I'm anything, I'm sincere. I want to please him. The idea of not pleasing him bothers me. That bother you Bothers me. And thank God that our Father, as we've been hearing, he's easy to be entreated. A religion will make him impossible to please. But it's not, he said. He just wants to be believed. He demands to be believed. You want to know why? He's never done anything unworthy that would make anyone give any of them an ounce of cause to doubt him to any degree. Amen. But here is a nugget in a verse about pleasing the Lord that is not talked about a lot of times because we live in such a petting culture, And that is bread, petting, churches to accommodate the culture. But let me get through this verse here. But with many of them, God was not well pleased. Now, why? For they were overthrown. They were overthrown in the wilderness. So this tells me it is. It does not please God when we do not lay hold, when we do not experience victory. He didn't lead them out of Egypt to kill them like they accused him of, or to go bringing them from one hard place to a harder place. They really accused him over and over and over again of not being good. They actually called the Egyptians good. They at least fed them. They wanted to go back to slavery rather than walk on with a God into the unknown. Amen. This word overthrown in the Greek is catastrophe. It's where we get the word catastrophe. Catastrophe. Listen, if we lose in life, we lose in ministry. God calls that a catastrophe because Jesus paid. He paid more than enough. He gave it all. And like I said, we have everything we need, everything we need to overcome triumph. We're not supposed to go from crisis to crisis. We're supposed to go from glory to glory. Yeah, there's going to be battles, but that just ought to mean there's going to be victories. This is the way I see it. If he's. There's a verse in. I think it's in this same chapter that no test or trial is going to come unto man except that which is common to everybody. And in it, he will not allow us even to enter into a situation or circumstance that he doesn't already know that we've got the right stuff to be able to bear up under that victorious. And in it, he always makes a way of escape. Well, the Cody translation of that would just be my interpretation is if I'm in it, win it. That's right, because that's his. That's his plan. He would not let me enter into it if I could not win. He won't. He won't even let you fight a battle that you can't win. Come on. It's a catastrophe when we don't win. Amen. And I just refuse. As we go to Ephesians, chapter six to be overthrown. Well, my assignment today, I believe in taking the ball forward is to talk about the negative costs and the consequences of not grabbing hold of what's being preached. There's a cost, there's a price that we'll all pay if we don't do the work to become established in righteousness. There's a cost. If we just decide to play church and float along and kind of have this que sera, sera kind of an attitude. You're going to be overthrown in these days. Amen. Righteousness is a wonderful revelation, but God's not playing around. When Pastor Craig said everything is connected and founded upon righteousness, I mean, he's not lying about it. The very fact that we have an approach that we can talk to God, that God will hear us, is because Jesus fulfilled. I love that covenant passage, you know, God walking through that bloody mess of entrails, and he's basically saying, so be it done unto me as was done unto these animals if I fail to keep my promise to you. You know, if you read about Abraham up until this moment, Abraham is full of questions. God says you're going to have a son. How will I know? I haven't had one. I got a leisure here. I know what you're saying, but how do I know? And God repeatedly would come and say, no, you're going to have a son out of your own loyalty. And he kept. But he kept having questions. Genesis 15, he's got questions. And God says, okay. And he goes through. I won't re preach what was re preached about God. Now, God initiated the whole thing. Abraham. He didn't say, hey, I'd feel better about this if you'd kill some animals and make a covenant with me. It was God's idea. It was God's idea. We'll just fast forward through that. After that is accomplished, you will never see Abraham ask another question. You study it from Genesis 15, from this covenant moment. He never asks another question. And God is going to ask some whoppers of Abraham after this. So he went from questioning and doubting everything God said to I got it. Never have a question. You want to know why? In Abraham's mind, he's got God over barrel. Do you know, in covenant, you've got God over a bear. Now, that makes religious devils really mad. Really mad. But God willingly. The Bible says he came into this covenant so that man could have a strong, unshakable consolation and assurance that it is impossible for God to lie. Has he said it? Won't he make it good? Even to the tune of God saying, take thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest. Like you had to tell him all that? Take him up to the mount and offer him unto me there. No questions. I think wisely he snuck off. He didn't tell Sarah because their marriage, if you really study, it was never really the same after that. You did what with him? I know how she would be. Yeah, right. But I just love. No more questions. No more questions. If he knew, God had already told him. God already told him, that's your boy. And through that boy, the Messiah is going to come one day. So he knew, even if I kill him, he's got to be raised up. God has no choice in the matter. You know, when it comes right down to it, if you'll walk in the light of your side of the covenant, God has to heal you. He can't wake up on the wrong side of his throne one morning and be in a bad mood and say, I just don't feel like healing Pastor Michael this morning. That's the strength of covenant. That's why God did it. But all of it is based on our having received personally the gift of righteousness. If we don't receive individually, at some point you've got to introduce faith into this subject. I don't feel righteous a lot of the time. Abraham, he became the friend of God. God imputed righteousness to his account. Amen. Blessed him on credit because of his Faith. And Romans 5 tells us that we, having been justified, righteous, been made righteous through faith, through faith. Amen. And you're going to have to use your faith, believe that you are who God says you are. If you don't, you'll be overthrown. You're going to have to use your faith to believe what's written, to believe what's being proclaimed. Mix your faith or you're hearing the great spiritual, you're being served spiritual meat that will change your life. But you'll still be overthrown if you don't mix your faith. This is me. This is me. I'm living my life under a fountain of blood. God hears me when I pray. He heals me. He pays my bills. I love what Paul said. He didn't say God shall supply. He said, my God, my God. And you gotta step over there, honey, and go, my God. Amen. I feel sorry for you if you're trying to get everything through. Pastor Chris's gone. Cause he's my God. You get your own. I'm not sharing. He's my God. You know, when Dr. Savelle went to heaven, there was a favor vacuum. And I took it. Just let you know. Took it. Amen. You've got to believe that you have what God says you have. Amen. Amen. And that you can do what God says you can do. Amen. Ephesians 6:10. Ephesians 6:10. Paul says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on three or four pieces, your favorite ones. Put on the whole armor. Everyone say armor. Amen. Armor of God. That you may be able. Now, I'm just a simple person. I just take the word of God to face value. And I like to look at opposites as I read the Bible. So if I do this, I'll be able. But if I don't do it. Come on. If you don't do it, you're not going to be able to what? To stand? To stand. Amen. A lot of Christians are becoming casualties today. We're living in a time that's been long prophesied about. We are living in the Antichrist's earth. The earth and governments and culture made Ready and prepared for the deceiver of all deceivers in terms of human beings to step on the scene. I never thought I'd, you know, I knew I would because of prophecy, but I don't know that I ever saw, thought that I would live in a nation like I'm living in today. I'm going to stay off that. But listen, it saddens me as a pastor. My precious people, I want to do them proud today. But when, when they fall, when, when build day comes, when they've had chance after chance after chance, you've been teaching them, you've been teaching them and they've been distracted, they've been busy, they've been at the ball field. And then a time comes where if you don't have your armor clad, you've come to a moment of confrontation with demonic powers and they're not able to stand. Now think about who Paul's writing to. One of the strongest, largest, most powerful, spiritually influential churches of early church history. Mother Mary was a member of this church. The apostle John spent time in this church. Timothy spent a lot of time. Paul himself, raised up, was a spiritual daddy to this church. They were born again, they were spirit filled. And he's having to tell them, be strong, be strong and put on the whole armor of God so that you, I know you're blood washed. I know your name's written in the Lamb's book of life, but you're living down here where Satan is God. Little G. Amen. And you need to get up in the morning and know what to put on. I mean, in this very book he's writing to this same people and he says, put off the old man. Put him off. That means he wants to try to jump on you. The old man wants you to wear him today. I heard Pastor Nancy say some time ago, when you get up, every person's got to get up every day and choose their world, choose the realm they're going to live in that day. And she said that God told her, when you get up, amen, you better spend time with me. You better, if you don't spend time with me and get in the spirit, you will wear your flesh all day long. Amen. So he's telling this people, put on and put off and put on. Amen. Well, let's advance. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles, the strategies of the devil, the schemes of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able. He's going to say it again. To withstand. That's a different word. This word, withstand, means you're going to have to take a base stance like they taught my son in Jiu Jitsu class. You know, they're standing. You just get pushed over. But there's a way to stand. I watched him when they trained him. There's a way to stand. Nobody can push you over, but you've got to have a base, a foundation, and you better. You better be leaning into what's coming against you. Amen. I mean, we're doing a great job as pastors. If we just get our congregations just pay attention a little bit, you're not just going to work. You got devils and demons and deception and darkness and poverty and curse, and it's all defeated. Amen. And there's a table with your name at that table. In the presence of all these enemies, it's just shocking to me. It's so difficult to get people to pull up a chair. Amen. I know if you mentioned spiritual warfare, you know, especially in the time I came into the body of Christ, you know, it was. People were talking about it every day, and they were getting in airplanes with their fatigues and just doing weird stuff. Amen. But that doesn't mean there's not a real daily spiritual conflict. Amen. So that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand, stand therefore. Now stand, therefore having your loins gird about with truth. Amen. Now, in studying Rick Renner's history on the Roman soldier's outfit and armor that he would have worn, the belt of truth, he says, is the foundation of the whole. The whole outfit. What I'm trying to get to is this breastplate righteousness. But before they put the breastplate on, they would gird their waist about their loins with a belt, and upon that belt, the sword would hang. A lot of the other protective pieces were connected to and hung on or stood on. Amen. That belt, in fact, that breastplate of righteousness, actually the weight of it was offset as it rested on the belt of truth. Glory to God. You need to put a premium on truth. It's the only thing in these days and in any day that'll keep you free. You got to love the truth more than you want to love your lie or have your way or excuse your sin. God will let you have it any way you want it, but the outcome is set. You can choose anything you want, but you do not get to choose the consequence of the outcome. For every action, there's a reaction. Amen. And the wages of sin is death. Amen. Hallelujah. Well, let's make mention of this breastplate he talked about having on the breastplate of righteousness. Now, all of these pieces of armor listed here, I'm sure you've all got great teaching on the armor of God in your past is. The vast majority of it is defensive, though that we are not supposed to live in a defensive posture. The devil is defeated, but he's loose. He's defeated, but he's Roman. He's loose. Amen. And so we have. We have got to. Got to renew our minds. That's the helmet of salvation, is a renewed mind. You got to know something. Foundation of everything is your truth. But then you put on this breastplate of righteousness. Well, of course we know why they had one of those, you know, that's protecting all of your vital organs, symbolizing the most vital parts of your being. Your spirit, your. Your soul needs protection. God wants something standing between the enemy and his fiery darts and your precious spirit and soul. And he called that righteousness. What's going to protect your heart? Knowing I'm right with God, I have standing with the Father. You know, in legal terms, one of the first. If you want to bring a suit, you want to bring a case, many are thrown out because they didn't have standing. Their argument was never even heard because it was deemed that they did not have legal standing to come into that jurisdiction and even make an argument. We have standing with the Father. Righteousness will hold up all the way to the highest court of heaven. Our redemption was accomplished on legal grounds. The wages of sin is death. And somebody died. Somebody died. Even, you know, I. I got some great friends in here, and even if I wanted to step in their place and die for them, I only got one life to eat. If I've got my own sentence to have carried out in my life, then I can't step in for pastor. I can pay his. My sin costs me everything. I don't have anything left after I pay for mine to pay for his. That's why the virgin. That's theological too. But you got to believe in a virgin birthday anyway. Glory to God. So the breastplate of righteousness is a critical component. And you got to put it on every day. I said, you got to put it on every day or you will not be able to withstand. Paul said in Second Corinthians, chapter six, he says, you know, facing all he did and in his ministry life, he starts, you know, going out in this litany of different things. He did it by this and by this and in this and in this. And he gets down there, he says, and by the armor. New living translation says, by the armor of righteousness. On the left hand. Amen. And on the right. So he mentions it again, that righteousness, part of the flow of righteousness is defense in the most precious and vital, important parts, who you are as a human being. Not having this established in your life carries a cost. And it won't matter if you don't have the breastplate on, because you just are ignorant. You just don't know. It won't matter. The Lord's instructed me to tell you two stories today. Then I need to leave some time to minister to some people. But let's go first to Isaiah 54. I don't know if my blood pressure gets as high as Pastor Craig's when he's preaching. I don't know if that affects the anointing. Ramp it up. I want to live through it. So praise the Lord. All right, this verse is familiar to us. Isaiah 54, 17. No weapon. No weapon. It's all right if I preach a little in this place? Come on. No weapon that is formed against you. Stop. There will be. There will. He didn't say there won't be any. Weapons are going to be formed, crafted, meant, intended for you. They're going to be formed. Paul's whole Lesson in Ephesians 6 on the armor of God lets us know we're not going to just walk through life like brother Hagin said, on flowery beds of ease. Amen. Hallelujah. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper. And every tongue. Oh, man. I ring the. I ring a lot out of this verse. Praise God. Every tongue. You believe there's a few people out there that don't like me. It's a head scratcher. No weapon. Every tongue that rises up against you in judgment, criticism. Notice it says, you shall. You shall condemn. Not by fighting people. One translation says something to the effect of, you're going to just let your very life, God is going to work through you, and just through your very life, you will prove them wrong about what they said. Amen. How wonderful this is so far. And then it goes on and says, this is the heritage. A heritage means an allotted portion, an inheritance, something owed, something due to this is yours. This is mine. This is our heritage. That no weapon form can prosper. That every tongue that tries to condemn us and criticize us and slander us and say all manner of things against us falsely, God's going to use our very life to prove that wrong. Amen. And that's our portion, the servants of the Lord. Now we know we're sons and notice what's mentioned. And their righteousness is of me. Why do we have a right to expect that no weapon formed will prosper? Not because you're all that. So can I say something to you? Stop trying to be all that. Stop trying to be. Stop trying to be. I'm not putting this on my parents because looking back, I don't, I can't identify anything that they did to foster this. But I grew up feeling like I got a performance based approach to my parents, right? And I'm not putting that on them. But the sensing of if I get the good grade, if I do good, if I score the goal, then I get something that I don't get, that I'm not qualified to have if I don't perform, and this is something I have to guard against daily in my walk with God. God has asked some things of me. God no doubt will have asked some things of you. You know, one of the mysteries of this whole thing to me is the constant balance between works and grace, obedience and what righteousness has purchased us. And I don't pretend to have that all figured out. But I know, I know that God told me some 12 years ago or so, get up every day, six days a week, six, six a.m. and spend time with me. I don't have to tell you all that just about how I was wired. That's God asking a lot of me. Well, I get into this mode where if I'm doing that well now I can have an expectation that God will hear my prayer and I can have a victory and I can expect good things today. But if I don't, then God can't reach me. And that kind of mentality is an enemy of the cross. It is an affront to the blood, it's filthy rags, human pride. To think that in my own performing even of good and spiritual things, that now I have some, I have some right to expect God to do for me what he would not be able to do for me had I not walked the line. And yet if I just act like he didn't deal with me and just claim righteousness, it's a different ditch. It's a different ditch. I tried to Convince my own heart that that was the devil, that I didn't hear from God, that God's a good God, he knows how he wired me and he wouldn't make me do that. It just didn't work. But at the same time, I don't want, how about you parents? I don't want my children thinking that they have dad's love and affection and their approach and their standing and their sonship and who they are. If they walk Daddy's life in a works based legalistic thing, they are mine. They are mine by birth. And they will always be mine. Can I say this to you as a pastor? One of the things I've had to deal with is people that are not established in righteousness. You can't say anything to them. Because if you bring needed correction, they go to a, they go to a place. And God is endeavoring to raise up soldiers clad with armor who know who they are and know what their assignment is. And they can take an order and they can receive an instruction and their drill sergeant can come to them and say, you're not shooting that weapon right? You're not executing your walk, your faith right. And then not go. I know. And I had, so I had one precious lady. And the reason she said it was not because she was mad at me, but because she wasn't established in righteousness. Pastor, I just don't think you should say that if you're dealing with sickness for a long time and there's an issue there because God's a healer. I just told him that's just hard. It's so hard. And I just feel beat up when you say things like that. Well, see, I can't say anything to him. That mentality basically wants me to let her linger in less than in defeat and never address, hey, something's going on here. But they run to a beat up place, a self accusing. I've walked into hospital rooms, prayed up and ready to pray for that sheep of mine. I'm thinking about this precious one. I walked in there and when the moment she saw me, she started crying. It's not how you want to be received. Started crying. I said, honey, what's the matter? She said, pastor, I'm so sorry you had to get dressed and come here. I'm so sorry that I'm, I'm going through, I shouldn't be going through this. I don't know what's wrong with my faith. And I said, honey, you could stop that, stop that. I love you. I'm your pastor. This is what I do. I'm going to lay hands on you and it's going to turn. And it did turn. There's a reason why God gave you a pastor. While you're on your way. God gave you a pastor. But, you know, but if some of the most life changing, magnificent breakthroughs you could ever experience in your life, they're just on the other side of you hearing something you might not want to hear. A lot of times I go to the service and it's not what God wants for the people, it's what will they hear. What can I say? And the more someone is established in righteousness, in love, I can speak the truth to them and say, you're falling short here. You need to evaluate here. You need to talk to God about a possible open door. I don't know where it is, but God does. But you know, it's not right to watch your health go from health all the way down to death's door and never ask yourself some questions. It's how you end up a casualty. So you guys got that? You know, in the spirit. When I think in the spirit, this is what a lot of pastors see in the spirit realm, about the body of Christ. No, no, no, no, no, not that one, that one. Now, I just want to ask you a rhetorical question. In the Spirit, is that you? All the time. Now, if you just accepted Jesus yesterday, that's supposed to be you. God's will for you is that guy. That's how I want God to see me, in the Spirit. No flowery beds of ease right there. But I love it, man. He's leaning into it. He's leaning into it. But let's, let's shift over here because I'll preach all my time away. A lot of people aren't there and they're not established in righteousness. And weapons were formed, fiery darts were shot. And they landed. They landed. And we've got a couple more verses I at least need to reference, but I need to go to Romans 8. And there's help. Thank God. The Lord is our. He's the captain of our salvation, but he's also our great physician. And in any war, there's always going to be casualties. And thank God, there's healing and there's help. There's healing and there's help. Earlier this week, Pastor Nancy said that the devil's. One of his strategies is to turn us against ourselves, to turn us in against ourselves. And, you know, once he accomplishes that, if he does, he can just walk off and leave you Then. Because if you don't ever change that, if you don't ever recognize that and turn that, he doesn't need to spend a lot of energy and resources. He has put you on a wrong path. You are in a flow of self condemnation and he has rendered you an ineffective soldier. You're no threat to him as long as you are acute. You're doing his work for him against yourself. The Bible says in Romans 8:1, thank God, now there is therefore no condemnation to them or to those who are in Christ Jesus. Are you in Christ? How much condemnation is there now? There is a Greek word called. Well, I'm going to. I'll mess it up. It's in my notes. But it doesn't matter. What it means is. It means to know. It's. It's translated condemned self condemned in different places in the New Testament. And it basically means this. It means to know something against yourself and to hold something against yourself. And that's a good picture for us to understand. Am I yielding to condemnation? Well, let me ask you. Do you know something against yourself? Come on now. Well, duh. Everybody does. Not everybody does. Paul, who is used of the Lord to give us this greatest revelation of us being in Christ and the righteousness of God, he says in First Corinthians 4. Four, I know of nothing against myself. In the amplified says, I am not conscious of anything against myself and I don't feel guilty about anything. Come on. You know what I love about a preacher, the real preacher? They practice what they preach in another place. Paul says this. He says, you guys need to really receive me. You need to receive me because I have wronged no man. When I was reading my Bible years ago and I read Paul say, I have wronged no man, I went, I read acts, sir, You could see Stephen stand up in heaven and go, And Paul, apparently, by the Spirit, with the endorsement and inspiration of the Spirit, it's in the canon of our scripture, allowed Paul to write, I have wronged no man. Whoa. He must have really believed all that stuff he said about, I was crucified with Christ. I no longer live the life I now live. I live by faith in the Son of God, the one who loved me and gave himself for you. He believed it about himself. And he walked around, even though in other places, like he said, he wasn't flippant. He knew the old man. He knew what he did, what Saul of Tarsus did, but he really believed. He's not that man. He is not that man. He's the one that wrote by the Holy Ghost, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things have been made new. And he applied it to himself. Glory to God. Well, if you don't step into this flow, you'll be a constant prisoner of your past. You know, let me tell you these, and we'll go to the next thing here. I was raised in a loving home. It was broken when I was about 12. My mom and dad divorced. It was secular. It wasn't abusive. Like I said, it was a loving home. And I remember going to a youth camp, and I thought it'd be a good place to chase girls during the summer. And that's what I did. I got caught by one of the camp counselors and was basically put under house arrest and made to sit in the evening service down there at Falls Creek. You know, Falls Creek in Oklahoma, there. And I sat on the very back row. And I don't remember what the preacher preached, but I remember when he gave the invitation and stood up and went down and gave my heart to Jesus. But then, see, I went back to a secular home, and I lived a very secular life. And I did all the things that you might think that a rebellious, partying, reveling high school jock might do, and I just was sinful. And the cost of my sin began to pile up. And by the time that I got to my high school graduation, I was in a dark place. I was in a very broken place. I'd hurt a lot of people. I'd injured my own soul. I had. I was just so one of the most insecure people you could ever meet. And I didn't know I was. My name's written in the book, but I didn't know. And you know what? You don't know. My people are destroyed because of what they don't know. And about the time I think it started, about 17, I'm just walking along, minding my own business, and an unwelcome, uninvited thought from the outside would land on my mind and say, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you. And I would get these threats like this, and it would. I didn't know where they came from. It was confusing to me. And. But eventually the persistence of that and because of all the other mistakes I had, I began to entertain the idea of killing myself. And so by the time I got to being a college sophomore, I found myself drunk and suicidal at a frat party. I had a beer in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other. And I'd gotten off to the side in a hallway. Everybody else seemed like they're having a good time. And I'm crouched up against the wall and I didn't want to die, but I just couldn't think of a reason to live. But I found out that night God comes into frat parties. God goes to frat parties. And it's a longer story, but he extended me a hand and he said, oh, son, take my hand. He said, I'm not going to deliver you from all your junk at once because your dad has tried to bring you to church. When he had custody with us, you've known what you're doing is wrong. But if you'll take my hand, I'll lead you on out of here, back to where you once were, which I understood to mean normal. There was a time in my life I was normal and I wasn't and hadn't been. And then this is what captured my heart. And then on into the things that I have for you. And I just grabbed hold of him. So I had to tell you that in the aftermath of that he was true to his word. I was not delivered. Of all my trouble. One of my problems is a girl I thought in high school that I really wanted to be with abruptly ended a relationship with me. And that was kind of the cherry on the cake of the last straw that I could take. And I just took that and went off and I just began to be so self condemned and grieving and guilty and tormenting. And I was obsessed and marinating in this thought day and night all the time. And I couldn't get out of it. I couldn't see sky or grass or future. I couldn't see anything right. And I felt like I had done it to myself. I've ruined my own life. I've hurt all these people. And I just want to tell you this. We're going to go to Proverbs chapter 10 and because, see, a lot of times when you're. You don't have the breastplate of righteousness on. Remember I said the fiery darts will land sometimes and they do damage. But God knows how to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Go to Proverbs 10 with me. So begun to read my Bible. And one day God broke in on me. See, my mom couldn't help me, psychologist couldn't help me, nobody could help me. And God broke in on me one day and he said, son, I forbid you to think her name. Well, you might as well have told A heroin addict to go cold turkey. That's all I thought of. And then he said, I want you to go read Proverbs 10:7 and believe me, to do it in your life. Well, I didn't know what. I knew there was a proverb. I didn't know what Proverbs 10:7 said. So I had to go look it up. I went and looked it up, and it says, the memory of the who. That's a word for righteous. The memory, the just is blessed. Now, you can use that for taking tests and all that, but that's not what I needed. I was traumatized. I was out of my mind, right? I had given the devil a place. I was oppressed. The only way you can get oppressed is you're not established in righteousness. The weapons formed against me were prospering because I didn't know yet that I had a heritage, that it didn't have to be that way. Amen. Oh, praise God. And so I just set out, and you want to talk about when you've had a past and you want to move into righteousness. It's like she said, at the end of service, you're going to have a fight with your mind. You're going to have to be on it, answering and answering. And I had to fight Pastor Craig for 10 seconds of freedom in my thought life with her name not in it. I'd walk around, go, no, no, no, no, no. I refuse. No, no, no, no. I had to fight for it. And then I got a minute, and I got 10 minutes. I'm gonna accelerate this story one day. A whole day went by, and I went, whoa, whoa. I actually had a day here. And then two weeks went by. I'm starting to enjoy class. I noticed the sky was blue. I began to entertain. Isn't that stupid? Over a girl really is. There's a lot of girls. There's a lot of girls, right? And I didn't know in just a few months, I'm about to meet Mrs. 100 fold return. But I didn't know that right? Then one day, six months goes by, and I realize I hadn't thought about her. I get this knock on my door. Now. I had this encounter with God, and God told me, move home. Move home with your mommy. Because I was with a bunch of partiers. So I did. So I get this knock on the door, and it's this girl's mom. And she didn't know. She didn't think I was living there. She wanted. And I appreciate this. She was coming to Tell my mom, so that I wouldn't hear it through the grapevine, that she was engaged to somebody else. Well, she wouldn't expect me to come to the door. And then she told me that this girl is in the car in the driveway. And I went, she's over there. And before I knew it, I was over there. Opened the door, pulled her out of there, looked at her ring, hugged her, congratulated her, put her back in the car, shut the door. I went back into my house. I got a big, heavy door in that house. Went, thud. I stepped in the lobby and I went, I'm over it. I'm over it. Then in the midst of that, I'm believing him to do Proverbs 10:7. And all the trauma and all the guilt and all the shame and all the torment, he cleansed my memory. He left the knowledge of it intact so I could give my testimony. But when we give our testimony, we should not need counseling after we give our testimony, right? Some people don't know how to give their testimony. Some people, they. They just exalt the devil all the whole time. It's one of the greatest things God ever did. And why did. I didn't want this to feel disjointed with our subject. I hope it doesn't. The memory of the righteous, the memory of the just. God will bless that. And there are some people here today that you're getting a hold of this wonderful truth of who you are in Christ. But you're a little late. And there's been some fiery darts, self accusations, lies of the enemy, weights of guilt and shame. And if that's you this morning, God's going to minister to you. There's help for you. The other story I was supposed to tell you, I could tell it quicker than the other one. I'm in our building. I'm married. I'm in our building. I got my. I'm about to come into our new building building. I'm in Kentucky. I'm in the ministry. I'm in the will of God. And Dr. Dufresne had prophesied to me that when I move into the new building, I'll enter into the third phase of my pastoral ministry. Well, as we were approaching that moment, God began to deal with me and Pastor Mitch. This is the way God said it to me. He said, now, Chris, listen, you. You can't take this thing with you into this third phase of your ministry. I don't even know why he called it a thing. He knows all things. I mean, why do he called, but I knew what he meant. And what he meant was this I had inside me. I was wrought up inside. See, righteousness is a breastplate that protects your insides. And I couldn't tell you why. But I was wrought up like a top, twisted like a spring. And listen, I was in the will of God. I didn't have a girl on the side. I wasn't watching porn. I had a prayer life and a word life. And I'm moving forward. I'm not living in some gross sin. I don't drink alcohol. And yet on the inside of me there's a measure of joy and peace that I knew was available, but I didn't have it. You ever drove in a car that was severely out of alignment? You know what I'm talking about? Listen, can you keep that on the lane? In the lane? Yeah. Can you keep it on the road? You can, but what do you have? It's a lot of work. That was me. I'm in the will of God. I didn't all that I just rehearsed to you. But to stay there was intense for me. And I said, all right, God, what do you want me to do? Well, Dr. Jacobs happened to just live three hours from where I live. He said, I want you to call and go have lunch with Dr. Jacobs and tell him what you're going through and he'll deal with that. Well, you know what everyone? I didn't want to do that. I did not. I wanted him to esteem me, see me the way I wanted to be seen. Like I got it all to together. But I did it. See, this is the thing. If you want to progress in any spiritual truth, you have to respond to God's dealings with you. And we should. Because he's only good. He's only good. He's only good. I drove out there, we went to lunch, had some small talk, went back and sat on his. Sat down in his office and just sat next to him. And he said, alright, what's up? And I just told him what I told you. I got this thing. God said, I have a thing because I didn't have a better name for it. And I said, Dr. Is God is my witness. I'm in the will of God. I know I'm in the right office. I love my wife, she loves me. I don't have. I'm not looking at porn. I don't have a girl on the side. I have prayer life. I have word life. But on the inside of me there's a measure of joy and peace that it seems like is available, but I don't have it. And I said, doctor, is this spiritual warfare? Because if it is, I'll just keep fighting. But it seems to me that there's a measure of joy and peace I ought to be enjoying, but I'm not. And then in that prophet's office, he said, could I ask you some questions? He said, I just said, shoot, that's why I'm here. He said, your parents ever been divorced? I said, yes, sir. And he said, you ever been party two and named a sin? And I said, yes, sir, twice. He named, without knowing it, the two most traumatic, dark and hurtful things that I'd ever experienced in my life. That's the only two questions he asked me. And he said, son. Oh, he didn't call me son, Pastor. Whatever he called me, he said, sometimes through trauma or sin, even, not even of our own accord, the devil can take a place in us and we have to take that place back. Now, just in case you're asking what I'm. I said. I asked him. I said, well, wait a minute. All of that happened BC before Christ, you know. I said, isn't that all under the blood? And he took me. You got time for one more verse? Isaiah 26. He took me over here to Isaiah 26. Thank you for your time, everyone. Hallelujah. He read me this verse. Verse 12. Isaiah 26. 12. Lord, you have what? You'll ordain what we found out last night. Peace is afloat and an outcome of righteousness. You will ordain peace for us. For you have wrought. You also have wrought or worked all our works in us, O Lord our God. Now look at this mark, this other Lord's cap, lowercase L. He already acknowledged the Lord. O Lord our God. Other lords besides, you have had dominion over us, but by the only we will make mention of your name. They are dead, they shall not live. They are deceased, they shall not rise. Therefore, you, God, our Lord, has visited and destroyed them and made all their memory to perish. He said, could I pray for you? So that's why I'm here. He just simply laid his hand on my head and he said, come out. I didn't throw up any Alka Seltzer type foam out of my mouth. I didn't flop around like a fish on the floor. I didn't bark at him like a dog. He just prayed. That prayer put me in the car and sent me on my way. I got home three and a half hours later, went to bed. That night, you go to hell for lying. You know that. I went to bed that night, Pastor I laid my head down and I slept like I had slept for 14 years. Why God didn't decide to address this issue years before, I don't know. But he said, you can't go forward from where you are until you attain this next level of peace and joy. I've never been the same. I've never been the same, I said. I've never been the same.
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