Effective Prayers： Because of a Righteous Life - Part 4

That's where we find ourselves this morning, the spiritual warfare. So you can turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6. One little word shall fell him. Remember that. Pack that away in the back of your mind, because we're going to need that before the message is over. Ephesians chapter 6. Finally, in verse 10. Ephesians 6:10. Finally, Paul's wrapping up this epistle. Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil that having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breast plate of righteousness. And that's where we're at. We're still dealing with the breast plate of righteousness. Now, I want you to think with me. Have you ever noticed judgment? Judgment day? I'm going to give you just a few verses. Judgment day is real. It is appointed unto every man to die. And then the judgment. Listen, Isaiah 3. Don't turn to these. Just listen to them. This is an Old Testament. Isaiah, tell the righteous. This is Isaiah 3, 10 and 11. Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. That's what's going to happen. You tell them now that deeds is what comes up at the judgment. Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. Now, let me give you another. This isn't exactly, typically in our thinking, a picture of judgment. Many of you know this verse, but just listen. This is Ezekiel 18. And God says this, if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him. For the righteousness that he has done, he shall live. If he does what's just and right. Now see, we could look at that and say, well, no one does that. No one keeps his commandments perfectly. Yeah, but you're missing it. That text in Ezekiel is not just a theoretical statement. That's an actual statement that if somebody is wicked and they turn and they begin to do what is just and right, they're going to live. None of the transgression he's committed shall be remembered against him. For the righteousness that he has done, he shall live. Now see, we can get a little bit unsettled because we begin to feel like, well, wait, this is giving a pretty prominent place to works, it sounds like. But just listen. I was just reading, I read a big chunk of Revelation this morning, and this verse, Revelation 2:23, all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart. Listen to what Jesus says to the churches in Asia. I will give to each of you according to your works. In Matthew 16, Jesus said, for the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father. And you know, when you get to the end of your Bibles, the dead were judged by what was written in the according to what they had done. Is imputed righteousness, imputed the merits of Christ, imputed to us? Is that a reality? Of course, that's a reality. Think about a man who's wicked and he turns and he does what's righteous and his transgressions are not held against him. How does that happen? Something happened. Those sins have to be forgiven. Of course, imputed righteousness is a biblical doctrine. You can't have a wicked person turn and none of his transgressions be remembered, unless there is a truth about the righteousness of God, like we find in Romans 3, the righteous who believe. It's as we find in chapter 5 of Romans 17. It's a free gift of righteousness. That imputed reality, it's foundational, but God doesn't stop at imputed righteousness. And you know what one of the greatest proofs of that is, is judgment day. Have you ever noticed, there's not a verse in our Bibles that say that on judgment day, you're going to be judged according to your faith. Not a one. There's not one that says you're going to be judged according to your imputed righteousness. So where am I going with all this? Just this, we're in a battle with the devil and Paul says, you want to do battle with the devil? You need to have the breastplate of righteousness on. Now, we considered imputed righteousness. It's absolutely essential that we understand that doctrine. It's foundational to the gospel. But what we need to recognize is this, even in Ephesians, when Paul's using the term righteous, he's not talking imputed righteousness. When he talks about true holiness, true righteousness, he's talking about putting on the new man, which is created in the image of God. Put off the old man, put on the new. That's how he talks. He talks about walking in the fruit of light, goodness, righteousness. That's how he talks in Ephesians. And so when he comes to tell us that we need to gird ourselves up, last week, I looked at two aspects of this. Now, just very quickly, just in way of review, I want you to look at what James said about Abraham. He said, hey, was Abraham justified simply by faith? Our brother, Martin Luther, didn't so much like James because he felt like there was too much works there. But James actually says, was Abraham justified just by faith? He said, was he not justified also by works and even Rahab? You see, the thing he's saying is this, faith without works is dead. What happens is our works complete our faith. Why? Because if you truly believe something, it's going to show in the way you live. That's always the case. And that's basically what he's saying. Listen, true Christianity is always God at work. True Christianity is an action of God. It is an activity of God. True Christianity is not dead religion. God is at work and God is doing things. The whole thing is the action of God. And any notion that it's mainly something that we do and we're trying to do and pull ourselves up by our own efforts. Listen, here in Ephesians, what Paul says is this. He says, we are his workmanship, God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before him that we should walk in them. What you need to remember is this, that if God saves us, we are his workmanship. What does that mean? He's the craftsman. We're on his tool bench and he goes to work on us. And what does he go to work to do? That our lives might spill forth with these good works, which he actually ordained. We heard about this love that God had for us and being blown away. I've been blown away by that. You come to recognize, wow, Christ thought about me on the cross. But even beyond that to blow our minds is we were chosen before the foundation of the world. That's here in Ephesians two. And the end of God through before the world began, God hadn't only chosen a people. He also was putting together the fruit that would be on the tree. He had ordained the things that he wants us to do. Now look at, we're not passive in this because remember what it says in the Philippian letter, we're to work on our own salvation with fear and trembling. But why do we work out our salvation with fear and trembling? All in our own power, all in our own strength, never. His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. That's what he's doing. And so you know what, when you get to judgment day, there's going to be good works there. Why? Because that's what God saves us to do. Or we saw it over in Titus chapter two to be, he gave himself a people of his own possession, zealous of good works. This is, this is what we're up against. We're not passive in this. So the question is this, how does this help us in our battles with the devil? How does, and I want you to look at a verse, first Timothy 5.14. Now this is, this is only in review because I dealt last week with the glory of God, but I want you to see it again. The question that we're seeking to answer, how does putting on the righteousness, practical righteousness, me doing good, me doing good deeds, which is what I'm going to be judged for in the end. And you remember this, I love coming back to this, but I was hungry and he fed me. Those on his left, I was hungry, he didn't feed me. You see, that's the issue. It's not intention. It's what you actually did. And brethren, we're all headed there. We're all in this room. We're headed towards that day of judgment. And what we're told is it's not going to be intention. It's not going to be, you know, well, I hope to get it right. If I was in a car accident, I was hoping that I would repent at the end. It's not, well, you know, I wanted to help them, but I just never got around to it. But what I'm interested in is this. How does it shield us? How does practical righteousness shield us? Oh, it shields us. Obviously it shields us on the day of judgment. How does it shield us in the way of put on the breastplate of righteousness? I mean, we're at war against cosmic powers. And Paul says, put that on. Okay. Look at first Timothy 5.14. It almost just, you know, a text out of the blue. I would have younger widows, marry, bear children, manage their household. See, this is all good. You know, when you think about fruit, you don't have to simply think about going to the foreign mission field and invest her life in them, manages her household well. But notice this, give the adversary no occasion for slander. Isn't that interesting? Who is he going to slander? Who is he talking to? As I said last week, the devil's a talker. And you remember from the book of Revelation that he is an accuser of the brethren. And so he's constantly accusing, constantly slandering. So do you recognize what's happening here? If you have a woman who doesn't tend her household well, she doesn't remarry. She just goes around being, it gives the devil an occasion to slander. This is what I was talking about before, that by this, our father is glorified. You remember how Jesus said in John 15, by this, your father is glorified that you bear much fruit. And so prove to be my disciple. You see brethren, one of the ways that we want to glorify God. And in fact, that's what we're told to do. Let your light so shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who's in heaven. We want to give glory. And the devil is very happy to have us have a life full of sin and wretchedness and worldliness. Why? Because he's a talker and he's just going to put you down to Christ. Like I said, last time, you have to remember what happened in the book of Job. That still happens today. You know what? When you don't live up to the light you have, when you don't live in the power of the cross, when you don't live righteously, you give the devil reason to talk. And one of the ways that we do battle with the devil by righteous lives is we close his mouth. The second thing, testimony. And what we looked at was, we looked at two texts primarily. The one from second Timothy, where you have the master of the house and he goes and he pulls a clean vessel out of the cupboard. And you know, in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver. And then I specifically talked about wives. Again, be subject to your own husband so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives. And so basically what I was showing is this twofold. If your life is righteous, Christ will take you off the shelf and use you. If your life is dirty, you don't get used. Full testimony to the watching lost husband. And I would say that of all of us to the watching lost world. Same thing. Now listen, you know what the devil does? The devil is the devil. The devil is the bird that in the parable of the soils is plucking up seed. In fact, listen to what it says. The seed that gets thrown along the path, that's those who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved. You see what the devil's doing? He's doing things. He's trying to, there in second Corinthians chapter four, it says he blinds the eyes of unbelievers. You know, one of the ways he blinds the eyes, you know, one of the ways he plucks the seed, just ungodly professing Christians, that is such an easy way for him to pluck the seed out of hearts because you know what? Gives no credibility to it. There's no reality. Look, you look at that. They're just as willing to laugh at a crude joke as the rest of the people at work. They're just as willing to pilfer paper and paper clips. And just like the rest of the people, they're just as willing to go along on their breaks as the rest of the people. They're just willing to gossip. And you see what happens? It kills. And so there's another thing. Brethren, think with me here. If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable youth set apart as holy, useful to the master, the house ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions, pursue righteousness. Why? For usefulness. You know what? People that are running well and living righteous lives, they're the ones, people sloppy, people whose lives are are not a good example. They're not the ones that the Lord is using. And they're not the wives that are going to win the husband. It's clearly Peter says there's a certain kind of life that wins the lost. And so the devil is trying to snatch seed out. So you know this, the devil is all about us losing our testimony. That was my second point last time. When you have a righteous life, you not only silence his mouth, you give God glory, but you also, listen, he is the strong man and he is trying to keep his goods safe. And what happens is that if the Lord finds you an acceptable vessel to use, he will begin to use you. And what happens is power comes through you. It's very well Satan can lose his precious goods. Okay. Now I'm going to come to a third point, right? We're talking about righteousness, the breastplate of righteousness and fighting these spiritual forces of evil. That's what we're talking about. Now I want to show you something. Turn to Luke chapter four, Luke chapter four. You know this, but I just want us reminded. Luke 4:33. In the synagogue, there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon. So that's what we're dealing with. I mean, when we're, when we're dealing with spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, this is exactly what we're dealing with. These cosmic powers of this present darkness. Here it is. You have a demonic spirit, a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice. Now think with me loud voice, loud. See I'm raising my, this demon cried out with a loud, this demon is in a person. And listen, this man, there was a man who had a spirit with this demon. He cried out with a loud voice. Now let me tell you something. If you have the ESV, the English standard version, or the new American standard, you see an exclamation that just says, H-A. Ha. If you have the King James version or the new King James, it is untranslated. They, they didn't translate the word. And when you go look at the ESV, A-H, as well as H-A, it can be, ah, this, listen, look at the context. This demon is not laughing. Ha, ha, ha. This is a scream. If you've got eyes to see it. I mean, if, if, if we look at the original here, this is a cry. This isn't sarcasm like ha, ha, ha. He says, ah, have you come to destroy us? You see it there. Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. In other words, you are one who is able to destroy us. That's what's happening here. These, these fallen angels are not mocking. And you know, it's interesting. You often get an unclean demon and yet he speaks in a plurality. But what I want you to see is, you know, when a demon comes face to face with Christ, you see what's happening here. I mean, you know, go. I talked about one little word shall fell him. You know where that was. That was the demoniac, the whole legion. Go. And they went to the pigs. But I'll tell you what they said, even in that, don't throw us in the pit. Don't throw us in the abyss. Have you come to destroy us? You see what's happening. These demons are just trying to survive the stark reality. You know what they're being stared in the face with the stark reality of total destruction. You can see it from the text. And he says, he rebuked it, said, be silent, come out of him. And you know what? When Jesus has come out, they come out. When Jesus says go, they go. It's the Lord Jesus. This is what I want you to see. It is the Lord Christ who puts fear in these cosmic powers, the devil himself. It is Christ who shakes the foundations of hell and the devil knows it. Now think about what we're talking about. We're talking about righteousness and the devil. Satan attacks any of us. What would be really useful is to have Jesus show up just like he did there in Luke chapter four and confront the enemy of our souls. Wouldn't that be helpful? I mean, to have, I think of his disciples. You know what? Think about those guys. I mean, they come up. What's your name? Legion. There's whole bunches. I mean, I've heard demons speak out of people before. And there's shrieks and it is a terrifying thing. I can imagine that some of the contortions, I mean, you even see here, it threw him down, but it didn't do him any harm. I mean, people that have demons, voices come out of them, screams, hideous screams, multiple voices will come out of people, baritone voices out of women. It's, and you can imagine the disciples are, they're watching this all the time, but you know what? I'm sure they probably got to the place where, well, we got Jesus with us. I mean, he takes care of it every single time. And you notice that's one of the main things that Jesus did. In fact, when you get over to the book of Acts, that's one of the primary things. It says he went about doing good, casting out demons, healing everybody that had demons. I mean, he did this a lot. And what would be really useful to us is to have Jesus show up every single time that we're confronted, just like his disciples got used to. And I'll tell you, that's what the devil fears. He fears when Jesus shows up. What terrifies the devil is God showing up. It's when we can say the power of the Lord was there. I mean, that, listen, there's really only one thing the devil fears, not three. It's the power of God showing up. That's what brings Satan crashing down and the gates of hell thrown open before us. That's what it is. It's the naked power of God. It is not the things that so often people are after in churches. You know, you get churches and what happens? Well, they want the worship team. You know this. The devil does not shake at worship teams. He doesn't shake at buildings. He's not overly concerned about our Calvinism. That doesn't really stir him. That doesn't cause him a whole lot of a Charismatic church or anything else. It doesn't really bother him. Big crowds don't bother him. Full bank accounts don't bother him. He doesn't fear those things. Doesn't really fear prayer meetings even when, you know, everybody's praying for Aunt Margaret's sore knees and toes and back and neck. And brethren, I'll tell you what, the devil fears that which unleashes the torrents of God's power against him. That's what concerns him. And this is precisely where righteousness comes in. Now brethren, I'm going to give you a number of verses right here, and I want you to take this to heart because this is reality. The first one I want you to go to is James chapter 5. And we are talking right now, we dealt with the glory of God, how that by righteousness, we glorify God, we close Satan's mouth. Testimony. Righteousness gives us a good testimony. It makes us powerful witnesses to the gospel. When the devil's constantly trying to prove that we're just a bunch of... We're dealing with prayer. Prayer. Righteousness and prayer. You see, the thing is, what would really be beneficial to us, really beneficial, is that when we have to go up against the devil, Christ shows up. That's what would really be really beneficial. But you know what? We have it on good authority that there are people in scripture who are able to call Christ to the scene, to call God the Father to the scene when he's needed. Now notice this, James chapter 5, verse 16, the prayer of a righteous person, because that's what we're talking about. We're talking about putting on the breast plate of righteousness, how that enables us to resist the devil. Here is one of the... This is one of the primary ways. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James is no hyper Calvinist. He doesn't say, well, God's going to do what God's going to do and prayer's going to get answered, prayer's going to get answered, and it doesn't matter the righteousness in your life. God is righteous. He has an effectiveness in his prayer life. That's exactly what he's teaching. And you're going to see this over and over. I'm going to bring verse after verse. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. Don't you love that? Sometimes we get this idea, Moses, Elijah. You can look at these guys and you can think, well, they were superhuman. Nope, they weren't. They were made of the same stuff you and I are. They were flesh and blood given to sin. They were given to failure. They were given to faults. They were given to weakness. They were made of flesh and blood. That's what's being emphasized, but he was a righteous man. And in the same way, made of the same stuff we are, we can be righteous people. We can pursue righteousness. We can put on the new man created in the likeness of God, true righteousness and holiness. We can put on the Lord Jesus Christ. We can put on the armor of light. Notice this. He had a nature like ours. He prayed fervently that it might not rain. And for three years and six months, it didn't rain. He prayed again and heaven gave rain. He was just like us. You know what that's saying? You know, what do you want to say? I know what you want to say. Well, that was Elijah. You know, if we get talking about, well, you know, there was a man who he prayed and it didn't rain for three and a half years. Oh yeah, but he was a prophet. He lived back in the old Testament. He did lots of miracles. You write it off. And you see what James is not wanting us to do is he doesn't want us to write it off because he wants to tell us he was made of the same stuff. Why would he tell us this? You know what he's telling us? He is telling us that if we not become a prophet, he's not saying you got to become a prophet like Elijah. He's saying you need to live a righteous life like Elijah. You do see that that's what's being said. And that if you do, the prayer of a righteous person is very effectual. That's what's being said. God shows up. That's what happened with Elijah. Elijah didn't have the power in himself to make it not rain for three and a half years and then pray again. And there it is. And he prayed seven times. It was like a man's fist. And then, you know, Ahab, you better get home quick because the rain's coming. He didn't have the power to do that. God had the power to do that. And God has the power to defeat the devil. And the devil knows it. And you know what he really fears? Because the devil is not a hyper communist. The devil doesn't say, well, I just know that God can do what God's going to do. And it doesn't matter what people do. He knows better than that. He has seen the prayers of righteous people have often, you hear what the apostle said to that Roman church, Satan's head is going to be crushed under your feet shortly or God's going to crush it under your feet shortly. But it's under their feet, the Roman Christians. Really? Is that how it works? Yep. God uses means and we need to recognize that. And one of the means that he uses, and James is obviously hitting on his righteousness, righteous people who pray. The devil gets concerned about that is what causes him concern. People who have a special ability with God to draw down power from on high. Why? Because it defeats him and it advances the kingdom of Christ. Now I'm going to take you to another one that I've taken you to various times in the last few months, but I want you to see it again. Isaiah 58. Now go to the old Testament. Isaiah 58 verse seven. I'll give you just a second to find that. Isaiah 58 verse seven, share your bread. Now, what are we looking at? We're looking at righteousness. You see, we're looking at pouring ourselves out for others. We're looking at love. Love is really the fulfillment of righteousness because doing right is doing what God wants. God's law can be summed up. All the law and the prophets can be summed up in love. Love sums up the commandments. Love sums up righteousness. And you see a righteous life. Share your bread with the hungry. Why? I mean, doing this kind of righteousness, what's the benefits of it? Bring the homeless poor into your home. What are the benefits of Matthew 25? I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you clothed me. Over against those who didn't do it. But notice there's promises attached here. When you say, don't hide yourself from your own flesh. And then shall your light break forth like the dawn. Your healing shall spring up speedily. Your righteousness shall go before you. You see the righteousness there. It goes before them. They have a reputation. And what happens? That's what it means when something goes before you. It's like there's a reputation of righteousness among people who pour themselves out for others. Notice verse nine, then you shall call and the Lord will answer. Then, not anyway, regardless of how you live. No, then, based on living a life like that, then you shall call and the Lord will answer. You shall cry and he will say, here I am. I love that verse. I live. My faith clings to that verse. You want powerful prayer meetings. You want a powerful prayer life. You want that kind of righteousness in your life. It's righteousness. Isaiah connects with answered prayer. Okay, now turn all the way to the other end of your Bible. First John chapter three. Let's see it here. First John chapter three. First John chapter three, verse 22. You see, these are very conditional promises concerning prayer. And they're connected with righteousness. That's what I want you to see. Brethren, if we're going to be the kind of people that are able to call God to our aid and call down power from heaven, if we're able to be like the kind of effectual praying man like Elijah, what has to be true? Not just that we pray. Praying is good. Praying is necessary. You can never be powerful in prayer if you're not praying. But brethren, I'll tell you what these verses tell us. If we can waste a lot of breath, if there's not a real thing to do, whatever we ask we receive from Him. Because it's conditional. Because what? We keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. You see, there it is again. What pleases Him? Well, that we love one another. I mean, what is the commandment? You can sum all the commandments up in that. Snowball them all together. And what? They come down to this. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. You can basically sum up all the commandments in love. Keep His commandments, do what pleases Him. And then you ask and you receive from Him. Okay, now go to 1 Peter. Jump back a couple books. 1 Peter. I'm going to show you three verses from Peter that I know most of you have read them before, but I wonder, have you really read them? Have they caught your attention? Have you really applied them? Notice what they mean with regards to your prayer life. 1 Peter 3:12. Notice this, the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. What Peter's doing is he's quoting Psalm 34. But notice his ears are open to their prayer, the righteous. Now you think what John said, whatever we ask, we receive. Why? Because we keep His commandments, we do what pleases Him. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. His ears are open to their prayer. Now, I want to ask you, when you pray, do you see this reality? I'm asking you, do you have a pattern of answered prayer in your life? Is there a reality? Does God say, here I am when you pray? Have you seen that reality? You cry out to the Lord for something, He says, here I am. And you know He's saying that because of how fast sometimes, I mean, sometimes maybe He makes you wait a little longer to answering the prayer, but you see just a consistent pattern. Look up just a few verses at chapter 3 verse 7. Husbands, likewise husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life. Here's what I want you to see, so that your prayers may not be hindered. If you don't think that as Christians, unrighteousness hinders your prayers, you better read that right there. Men, you want to hinder your prayer life? Just don't live in the right way with your wife. Righteousness and prayer are connected. Go down to 1 Peter 4, go one chapter later to 1 Peter 4, 7. The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, here's righteousness in the life. Be self-controlled, is what we were talking about the other night. Denying self, self-control, buffeting the body, be self-controlled, sober-minded. Why? For the sake of your prayers. See brethren, this isn't just me arguing this way. This is the way scripture argues, for the sake of your prayers. What is that? You know what that means? It means for the sake of answered prayers. Do any of you pray just because you want to pray? Do any of you find your great delight in praying, no matter whether there's an answer to it or not? Do you come to prayer meeting just because, well, that's what you're supposed to do? And prayers, you know, you got to put a notch on your belt every time you do it, because after all, that's part of just what... Brethren, I don't know about you, but I pray because I want answers to my prayers. I don't want to waste my breath. I don't want to waste my time. I want God to answer. In fact, I get kind of desperate when I get into a stretch where it feels like, Lord, why aren't you answering? Brethren, that ought to be what we want. That's what Peter's saying to us. Men, live with your wives in the right way for the sake of your prayers. All of us be sober, be self-controlled. Why? For the sake of your prayers. Because you have a God who his eyes are going to and fro throughout this world. And you know what he's looking for? He's looking for righteous people. He's looking for people like Elijah. And when he finds men powerful prayers, you can say, oh, I know somebody in the church that seems like God's always answering their prayers. You know, they have that gift. No, uh-uh. Don't go there. I know some people have unusual amounts of faith. That is, there is a gift. But if you see somebody else in the church that it seems like their prayers are being answered, I suspect what you really find is not that they have a greater gift, but they have greater righteousness in their life. Brethren, there is a correlation you cannot get away from in scripture at all. Our prayers only become effectually threatening to the devil when God is pleased to answer our prayers. And it pleases God to answer them when he is pleased with the one who is praying them. That is the reality. You want to come face to face and square off with the devil. Cosmic forces. Cosmic powers. In the heavenly places even. I mean, this is an enemy that he's... we are no match. And yet when Christ shows up, they're screaming, don't throw me in the pit. Have you come to destroy me? You know what? If we're going to do battle against him, we want to be the kind of people... you know what we want to be? We want to be the kind of people he fears. And I'll tell you what he fears. He fears when Christians pour themselves out in love, when they're seeking to live righteous, when they're seeking to live self-controlled, when they're seeking to fight and put to death sin, the deeds of the body, and they come and they cling together in unity and they cry out. He's afraid of weak Christians who know they have a big God but are seeking to live righteous lives. He fears that. We can be ever so weak. We can have no... we can be nobodies. No buddies. No names. The world doesn't know about us, but I'll tell you what, if we're walking in righteousness, the devil knows all about us because he fears that. He's seen what righteous people and how effectual their prayers can be. Righteousness. Those who tolerate sin, they walk loosely, they live selfishly, they grieve the spirit regularly. You know what you're going to find in their prayer life? Powerlessness. Listen to this. You don't have to turn to this one, but maybe you know it. Psalm 66. This is the psalm that says, I cried to my heart, the Lord would not have listened. You see the connection? You cherish sin, the Lord isn't going to listen. And this is a man of God talking. This is just a lost guy off the street talking. Christian, don't walk around with your head in the clouds. Don't try to live in a fantasy realm. This is no fantasy. This battle is for real. It's the world out there that is living in the dream world and living in the fantasy world. They're the ones. They're out there chasing their money and chasing their fame and chasing their bigger TV and nicer house. They're the ones out there chasing the success and the security and the comfort and the retirement and all that while entirely oblivious to the fact that there is this existence and there is this presence of spiritual kingdoms. That is the reality. Brethren, do you realize people are being lost? People are dying. Cemeteries are filling up. People have seed being plucked up by the devil. People come under the gospel. This is the reality. These are the kind of things that are happening. There are spiritual battles in the world. There are souls to be rescued. There are souls being destroyed. Heaven is real. Hell is real. The advancing day of judgment we were talking about. It's coming. Our children, they hang by a thread. This is all real. We've got God to deal with. There is obviously a devil to deal with. This is the way that it is. Powers, darkness, spiritual forces of evil. And in the midst of all of this, you read there in Revelation, there's one on a white horse. The dispensationalists have it wrong. That is not the Antichrist. That is Christ. And he goes forth conquering and to conquer. That is a reality. This is how things really are. There really is a devil. He really is going around seeking to devour. And I'll tell you this, he's dangerous. He damns people. He wants to destroy people. He's full of wrath. That's what Revelation chapter 12 says, full of wrath. His wrath is aimed at the church, those who keep the commandments of God, the testimony of Christ. His enemy is us. His wrath is aimed. His time is short. That's what it says. But I'll tell you this, God is more dangerous, infinitely, that we might live righteous. He's purposed, created workmanship, created for good works. Christ gave himself zealous of good works. He's with us. He prompts us. He's given us spirit to put to death the deeds of the body. I mean, he's given us the tools that are needed for us to do this. He's given us a new heart. He wants us to go forth and he wants us to imitate Christ. And God's showing up. God has promised he will show up in our behalf. And if we're striving to live for him, if we're striving to do... Hey, I'll tell you this, one of the texts that I didn't even hit on is this. He said, you know what, those of you that believe in me, he said, the works that I do, you will do and greater works than these you will do. And he immediately goes into praying, praying in his name. Brethren, there's a real connection here with Christ showing up and God showing up and us seeking to do the things that Christ did. What did Christ do? Christ loved men. He loved women. He put his hands on lepers. This is what the enemy fears. One thing, there's one thing that's dangerous to him. It's not our reformed theology. It is not that. As important as that may be, the truth is, you know what, we can be orthodox, but if we're just worldly and orthodox, what is that to him? We're not going to turn the world upside down. We're not going to touch Manchester. We're those people that the devil sits up and takes notice of. I'll tell you this, we're only as dangerous as we're able to move God on our behalf to unleash his power. And he says, there's a way to live. He says, and I'll show up and I'll say, here I am. Oh, I love that verse. What terrifies the devil is when God shows up. That's what we want. Father, please make us, bend us, pound us, break us, discipline us. Just don't leave us. Make us the kind of people that can shake heaven and earth and call it to not rain for three and a half years. We're made of the same stuff, Lord, doing us what you did in Elijah. Brethren, you can have all the right doctrine. You can go to church regularly. You can avoid the R-rated movie. You can do all that. But what's that to the devil? Weak and ever so much the things that are not, like 1 Corinthians 1 says, the things that are not. Brethren, you can see this. If you simply strive to be righteous in your family, to love your husband, love your wife, love your children, be honest and faithful in your workplace, be self-controlled, just control yourself, but then pour yourself out for the hungry. Give. Okay. I've got one more. This one is, that one was prayer. This one is confidence, righteousness. Think about, we're thinking about righteousness and the devil. Righteousness produces confidence. You say, what do you mean? Okay, let me tell you what I mean. Turn to 1 John. I had 1 John 3 read last week, 1 John 4 read this week, because this is really where we find a good deal. If we really hear what John is saying, I want you to hear, I want you to see. 1 John 3. Now look with me at verse 21. Beloved, 1 John 3:21. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. Okay. Now I realize we haven't really picked up much of the context yet. We will. But why would our hearts condemn us? I mean, what is our conscience typically? Why does your conscience typically condemn you? What do you do or not? Yes, sin. I mean, God gave us a conscience to tell us when we're doing something wrong. But the reality is this. Righteousness is lacking. That's what sin is. This is a guilty conscience. That's what you have in verse 21. Accuses or excuses, condemns or justifies. That's the voice. We talk about the heart. We use heart interchangeable with conscience. No big deal. But okay, here's the thing. Be the kind of person who's full of doubts, no confidence, no assurance. Run out on the battlefield and do battle with the devil. You know what? You're done. You're already defeated. You cannot go up against the devil full of doubt, uncertain, no confidence. Why? Because you've got uncertainty and he's a liar and he's going to be right there and he's going to throw all sorts of things at you. You've got no certainty. What do you even have to stand on? You're done. You're defeated. But I want you to feel John's progression of thought here. Now, here's what I want you to do. I want you to jump back to 1 John 3:10. Watch this. By this, it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. John is not a gray area kind of guy. He is a man of absolutes. You're either one or the other. And it's true. I mean, I'm not saying John isn't being true. It's absolutely true. You are either a child of God or you are a child of the devil. And he says, you want evidence? By this, it is evident. Okay, John, what's the evidence of which one we are? Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. It's a practice. It's not perfection, but it's the practice. It's the bent of your life. It's habitual. That's what he says. Nor is the one who does not love his brother. So you see this righteousness and love. Righteousness has to do with what's right. Loving others is right. I mean, you don't want to divorce these two things. They go hand in hand. We're talking about righteousness. Living a life of love is a righteous life. But now let's keep following that we passed out of death into life. We know we have assurance. There's the confidence right there. You see, that's what John's dealing with. He wants us to know. He's seeking to establish confidence in us. Where does this confidence come from? What comes from righteousness? Because our conscience, our heart accuses us, condemns us if the righteousness isn't there. And notice this. We know we've passed out of death into life. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. You know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this, we know assurance. Again, confidence. We know love. He laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. Now, I want you to see a real good definition of what it means to hate. But if anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? He's going to talk about hating. Nobody that hates his brother. Hating a brother, that's murder. Murder has no part in life or in the kingdom. But this is what it means to hate. Sometimes we have this idea of hatred. That's doing the real cruel thing. That's attacking somebody. But you know, one of the greatest ways man can hate is just ignore. You don't pour yourself out for the hungry. You just ignore them. If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. By this, we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him. Did you catch that? You see, that's what he was dealing with when he talked about this confidence. That was what we looked at. That's verse 21. We have confidence. You see what's going on here? When you live this kind of righteous life of active love, not in word, not just good intention, none of that. You see that? When you live this active righteous life, it reassures you. And you know what? When the devil's right there to try to throw water, kind of like Pilgrim's Progress, you remember the devil? He was on one side of the fire and he kept throwing the water on the fire, but the flames only got bigger. The interpreter took Christian around and showed him there's somebody else throwing oil on the fire. The devil, he's right there. He's trying to slander. He's trying to accuse. He's trying to put doubt. He's trying to tear us down. He's trying to destroy us. He's trying to defeat us, but you know what? You know what God is saying through John? He's saying this, when you love people, he's going to be responsible to make sure that these verses prove true. I will put assurance in your heart. You'll go out on that battlefield and there'll be confidence. When the devil comes with Israeli accusations, he tells you you're not a Christian. He tells you this, that, and the other thing. You know what's going to happen? That lifestyle reassures you. The devil can throw all of his slander, all of his vileness at you. God says this. This is going to reassure you. Love, you know what love does? When love is poured out of your life, what love does is it demonstrates to you that you are real because you know that's one of the big things that happens when somebody gets converted, they're born again. New heart. You know what lost people do? You're sitting here lost right now. I know what's true about you. I know you're selfish. I know you live for you. It can look all different ways. You can have people that are really aggressive. You can have people that are depressed and they don't want to come out of their room, but really selfish. Lost people are really selfish. They live for themselves. They don't care about anybody else. They care about themselves, how good and feeds whatever is true in them. But you know what's being said here? What's being said here is that true love, when it's being demonstrated in your life, you know what it does? It demonstrates to you that you have the Spirit of Christ, that you've been born of God, that there's reality there. It shows you that you belong to the family of God. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him. Listen to this. Look at 1 John 4 17. Just the next chapter. 1 John 4 17. By this is love perfected with us so that we may, here's the word again, have confidence not just now today, but in the day of judgment. Because as He, Christ, is, so also are we in this world. You see what's being said? When I look at my life and I realize not perfectly, but something of way Christ lived, that's what the last half of that means. Because He is, so also are we in this world. You see, I look at Christ and I can say, well I'm not, there's a lot lacking, but you know what? I know how I used to live, and I know how I used to be, and I see the changes He's made in my life, and I recognize this. I do care. I want to see people rescued. I don't want to see them perish. I want to love the brethren. I want to see them make it to the end. I want to, I want to try to pour out my gifts for their sake. I want to use my money for their sake. And you really put it into action. Not just word only. You actually put it into action. You see what happens? You cannot live at odds with the character of Jesus. That's what's being said. You'll have no confidence for the day of judgment. You do have confidence for the day of judgment, because as Christ is, so are you in the world right now. But you know what? If you, if you're living at odds with the He is, at odds with the character of Jesus, and then you expect to have some kind of confidence as to your standing before God, it's not going to be there. Look, if the current of your life, the thrust of your life, the direction of your life is like His, when judgment day comes, you can go there with a degree of confidence. Because by the way, as we looked at right at the beginning of this message, judgment day is all about that. It's all about how you lived. I was hungry and you fed me. As much as you did it under one of the least of these, little have any confidence in the approaching judgment day. I'm just speaking how scripture speaks. You're in trouble. And what you need to be is saved from your selfishness, saved from your me-ism. You see, that's one of the greatest difficulties. You know what has to happen? Unless you forsake all that you have, you can't be His disciple. He basically tells you to come and surrender. And if you do, He will save you the way He saves you. And He's going to tell you, you've got to hate even your own life. You've got to die to yourself, but you come follow Him. And He says, you'll gain your life. And it's a life more. He'll forgive your sins, not in part, but the whole, they're nailed to the cross. That's how we sing it. Brethren, do you see it? When you love each other with love, that is more than just talk. And you didn't see that there, right? It says, if anyone has this world's good, sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk. You see, that comes short. Word, talk. Oh, it's so cheap, people talking. That's not it. Love is perfected. That's what we saw in 1 John 4. Love is perfected. What does that mean? That means that God's love is perfected when He pours it into you and it channels through you and goes out to others. That's when it goes full circuit. That's when it's completed. That's where it finds its perfection. Perfection doesn't mean absolute, without flaw. That's not what it means. Love is perfected when we, as objects of His love and His love for us, and the love that He pours in us for others, and it flows through us. And then not just word, it becomes deed. That is where love is perfected. This is true righteousness. And where this is, you know what happens to you? You experience a deep, unshakable confidence before God. When you have much talk and few deeds, I'll tell you this. When you find people in the church who are struggling with assurance, one of the places they need to look is how selfishly are they living their life? That's a reality. Because you know what you find right here? You find that God is promising that assurance and confidence go hand in hand. And what happens in our own problems, we're not considering others better than ourselves. We're not considering other people's problems, other people's needs. We can get into a place, we can go through a difficult season of life, and you can become very self-consumed. And then what happens is, what you see here is when there's just talk, or the deeds are lacking, even if there's talk or no talk, it destroys assurance. That's what you find. And we've all probably experienced this from time to time. Conscience condemns because we're selfish and we overlook the needs of others. And what he's basically saying is, put your money where your mouth is. Put your life where your mouth is. Don't be cheap talkers. Live this life. Brethren, I'm coming back to, we have to face the devil. We go up against him. And you know what? When you can come up against him and you can say with confidence, you know what? I know I'm not perfect, but I see what God has done in my life. And it brings assurance. I see that there's a resemblance to the Lord Jesus Christ and the way he walked and the way he loved. It's not perfect, but I see that. That my old selfish sinful ways, he's broken the power of that. When you get a deep sense of the reality that your own faith is real, I mean, it fills you with a confidence both today and for the day of judgment is what it says. Because then you're acting the way that people born of God ought to act. And look at 1 John 3, 7. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. What are the works of the devil? He's talking about the works of the devil in us. What were the works of the devil like when we were lost? Serving sin, serving him, serving self. See, he doesn't care if we really acknowledge him or not. You don't even have to believe he exists. He's not concerned with that. The works of the devil are this. He just, he wants you dishonoring God. That's what he wants. And as long as you're living sinful life, I mean, you know what? Just live it. Live just forgetting God, whatever it looks like, even if it's moral and religious, he doesn't really care. But the son of God, he came to destroy that. All are selfish living. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning. And who are the children of the devil? Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. And I'm just here to say this to you. For the sake of honoring God and closing the mouth of that accuser, put on the breastplate of righteousness. For the sake of your testimony and usefulness, put on that breastplate of righteousness. For the sake of your prayers, put up for the sake of confidence as you enter into the battlefield. Brethren, lack of assurance, lack of confidence on the battlefield is perilous. We want to be people that are assured and confident. And you know what gets you there? It's brother loving, lost the lost out there, loving, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked kind of righteousness that is a shielding breastplate as you take the battlefield. One of the reasons that we, one of the reasons oftentimes there isn't more assurance and more joy in the churches is precisely at this point because of a latent selfishness in God's people. Open up the bowels of your compassion. We need to let the righteousness flow. We need to give our lives to serve others. We need to put on Christ. We need to study him. See how he lived his life. He didn't live it selfishly. He came not to serve or he came not to be served. He came to serve and give his life a ransom for many. That's the example we have in him. You know what Jesus said? If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. The devil flees. The devil flees. Resist him. One of the ways you resist him is when you've got confidence. He flees from very confident people. He can't stand before that. So here's what I'm going to ask you in departing. So what are we going to do? Brethren, one of the things we need to be doing is strategizing as a church on how to pour ourselves out for the needy. Now we need to keep our eyes open to the needs among us. But you know what? We can't just become obsessed with our own four walls. We are the people who are called to be light and salt in this world. We're the people who in the end have a responsibility to make the orphans in their affliction. You've heard that's true in undefiled religion. I was in prison and you visited me. I was sick. So this is judgment day. Now right now what we're dealing with is this battle. How are we going to live? What are we going to do? If all it is is theory, all of it is is plans, all we do is put our good plans and intentions out on the table. You know what it becomes? It's just talk. You see what's being said. It can't just be talk. And when it goes beyond talk, then it becomes very reassuring and confidence giving. Confident people are typically joyful people and they are resolute and they can face off with the devil. So for the sake of your prayers, we need to put on righteousness. And I would just ask you this. What are we going to do? What are we going to do to demonstrate righteousness? Yes, it's good you're not beating your wife. We need to not beat our wives, men. But what are we going to do? We need to raise our children. We need to raise our children right. We need to direct them to the Lord. I recognize that. We need strong families. We need godliness in the families. What are we going to do beyond that? What's out there? What can we do in Manchester? How can we reach people? How can we pour ourselves out? How can we do what Mueller did in days past? How can we do what Whitfield and Wesley did in the days past? What can we do? I mean the same God that was their God is our God. We have the same God who the Philadelphians had, the Christ who opens doors. What doors? We need to go try pushing doors open. A lot of times doors are open. We just have to go push on them. Where are we going to go? What are we going to do? I just want to challenge us because I'm not exactly certain. I'm asking the Lord, Lord where do we go? What do we do? What are you going to have this church really be involved with and to absorb ourselves with and to give our money to in our time? How can we pour out our lives for Christ? The day is far gone. We are children of the day, not of the night. We don't go around carousing, wasting time like they do. We have an eye on eternity and it's coming. It's coming at us quick. You get one life. How are we going to do it? There's a devil who's seeking to resist us. Righteousness will help you fight this battle in a multiplicity of ways. Now, next time we go on to the next, it's the gospel. Our feet. Father, we beseech you to steer us, direct us. Lord, we don't want to be mere talkers. We want to be those who truly are loving, not just we don't want to see needs and wish them well and bless them and hope that they're warmed. As James talks about, we want to be those who have a real righteousness that accompanies our faith. Lord, I pray for these brethren. I want to be part of a church that is effectual in their prayers, fervent in their love, not just talkers. We know that we are your workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Lord, my hope is that you've ordained great things for us and that you'll give us amazing grace to work out our salvation with fear and trembling before you. And we trust you, that you're going to cause us to will and to do of your good pleasure. Move upon us, Lord, help us and put a flame under us. Light us on fire. Lord, fill this place with a church full of brand new Christians, babes in Christ. Lord, bring us a day of revival. Bring us a day of awakening. Bring us a day of the power of the spirit of God. Bring us a day of glory. I pray in Christ's name. Amen.