SPEAKER_00: We are not a battle with people.
SPEAKER_01: But it's a war with the devil and his spiritual army of darkness.
SPEAKER_01: It's a war over the truth.
SPEAKER_01: You may remember the devil fired the first shot in Genesis chapter 3 when he said, Did God really say?
SPEAKER_01: And he brought doubt and sin and guilt into the world.
SPEAKER_01: Last week we began to talk about this battle, and we looked at Paul's sort of rallying cry to be strong.
SPEAKER_01: Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
SPEAKER_01: We talked about having courage for the fight and where that strength comes from, where that courage comes from.
SPEAKER_01: We talked about the fact that we have a strong enemy who has certain tactics that he wants to employ against us, tactics of deception and temptation and accusation.
SPEAKER_01: And we looked at the fact that we are weak, even powerless to stand against his onslaught.
SPEAKER_01: And yet we find courage not in anything that we do, but in what Christ has done for us in winning the battle in the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Well, this week we come to another command, not the command to be strong, but the command to put on the whole armor of God and stand.
SPEAKER_01: And I think our temptation as we talk about the armor of God and standing, our temptation is to fall back on ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: Our temptation is to begin to think that, okay, now I'm gonna do this.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna put on the armor, I'm gonna fight.
SPEAKER_01: And I want us to remember as we begin to talk about this, that we are weak.
SPEAKER_01: And God's power is made perfect in our weakness.
SPEAKER_01: All that we're about to talk about does not require your strength, but it requires God's strength shining forth in your weakness.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna look at it again at Ephesians 6 this morning.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna focus in really just on the next verse, verse 11, but we're gonna look at the whole section in light of that.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna look at two things primarily.
SPEAKER_01: One, uh, what does it mean to stand?
SPEAKER_01: What is he even talking about when he calls us to stand?
SPEAKER_01: We'll look at that pretty briefly.
SPEAKER_01: And then we'll talk for the majority of our time on how can I do it?
SPEAKER_01: How can I stand?
SPEAKER_01: So, what does it mean to stand?
SPEAKER_01: How can I do it?
SPEAKER_01: So, what does it mean to stand?
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to stand as weak people in the face of the evil one, in the face of his lies and temptations and accusations?
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to stand?
SPEAKER_01: Well, simply put, I would say to stand for Paul is to maintain your faith in the face of Satan's lies.
SPEAKER_01: Fairly simple.
SPEAKER_01: To maintain your faith in the face of Satan's lies.
SPEAKER_01: So 1 Peter 5.8-9, Peter says, be sober-minded, be watchful.
SPEAKER_01: Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
SPEAKER_01: And then he adds, resist him, firm in your faith.
SPEAKER_01: And that word resist there in 1 Peter is actually the same root word as in Ephesians 6.
SPEAKER_01: It means to stand against.
SPEAKER_01: Peter says, stand against him.
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to stand against Satan?
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to resist him?
SPEAKER_01: According to Peter, it means to remain firm in your faith.
SPEAKER_01: It means to not give in, to not give up, but to stand firm in what you believe.
SPEAKER_01: You might ask, well, why pick out faith?
SPEAKER_01: In particular, when Satan's strategies are so varied, right?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he has lies on the one hand, but he also has temptations and accusations.
SPEAKER_01: Why pick out faith?
SPEAKER_01: Well, remember that Satan tempts us and he accuses us through his lies.
SPEAKER_01: He uses lies to get us to sin.
SPEAKER_01: He uses lies to get us to wallow in our guilt.
SPEAKER_01: And so when I'm tempted to get angry with my kids, as I was just yesterday, and I give in and I yell at them, in that moment I'm believing a lie, or multiple lies.
SPEAKER_01: In that moment, I'm believing the lie that I'm at the center of the universe.
SPEAKER_01: That's a lie.
SPEAKER_01: I'm believing the lie that children should be perfect without the need for patient parenting.
SPEAKER_01: That's a lie.
SPEAKER_01: See, the way Satan tempts us, the way he accuses us, is through lies.
SPEAKER_01: And hence what it means to stand firm, to maintain our faith in the face of the opposition, in the face of Satan's strategies, to continue believing in the God that we know, to continue believing in the God who saved us, continue believing in the God who is working in us so that we might stand.
SPEAKER_01: It's to not to buy into Satan's lies and give in to doubt and disobedience and despair.
SPEAKER_01: It means to stay firm in your faith, to keep believing in the God who is there.
SPEAKER_01: Well, how can we do that?
SPEAKER_01: How can we do that when we hear his lies so often?
SPEAKER_01: Well, Paul actually gives us the answer in this verse.
SPEAKER_01: It's pretty straightforward, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: He says, put on the whole armor of God that you may stand.
SPEAKER_01: Put on the whole armor of God that you may stand.
SPEAKER_01: And as we look at this, I want to break it down into three smaller questions.
SPEAKER_01: And those are, what is the armor of God?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, put on the whole armor of God.
SPEAKER_01: What does that even mean?
SPEAKER_01: What is the armor of God?
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to put it on, and how can I do that?
SPEAKER_01: What is the armor of God?
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to put it on?
SPEAKER_01: How can I do that?
SPEAKER_01: So, first, what is the armor of God?
SPEAKER_01: What's interesting, as we think about the armor of God, the armor of God is first and foremost the armor that God himself wears.
SPEAKER_01: It's God's own armor.
SPEAKER_01: Now that may seem like a funny statement, but if you have your Bible with you, flip to Isaiah 59.
SPEAKER_01: There in Isaiah, we're told, verses 15 through 17.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord saw it, that is all of the sin in Israel at the time.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord saw it, and it displeased him.
SPEAKER_01: That there was no justice.
SPEAKER_01: He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede.
SPEAKER_01: Then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.
SPEAKER_01: He put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head.
SPEAKER_01: See, the armor of God is God's armor.
SPEAKER_01: It's the armor that God uses when he goes into battle for his people.
SPEAKER_01: And in one sense, it's really just God's own character, isn't it, that he arms himself with.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, what righteousness is there, but God's righteousness?
SPEAKER_01: When it says that God puts on righteousness as a breastplate, it's just talking about his own character.
SPEAKER_01: God is righteous, a righteous God.
SPEAKER_01: And he comes in righteousness to save.
SPEAKER_01: And so, in one sense, when we think about the armor of God, it's just God Himself.
SPEAKER_01: So God says to Abraham in Genesis 15, I am your shield.
SPEAKER_01: So the armor of God is the armor that comes from God, certainly, because we're told to put it on, but that's because it's the armor that God himself first wears to do spiritual battle for us.
SPEAKER_01: As he clothes himself in his own character to fight on our behalf.
SPEAKER_01: And so, in one sense, the armor of God is the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: It's the good news of who God is as he fights for his people.
SPEAKER_01: That's the armor of God.
SPEAKER_01: Who God is as he fights for his people.
SPEAKER_01: When we think of the armor, don't think of yourself first.
SPEAKER_01: That's normally what we do.
SPEAKER_01: We think of the armor of God, we think who we need to be and what we need to do.
SPEAKER_01: But when we read about the armor of God, we need to think about who God is and what he has done for us already.
SPEAKER_01: And of course, it's not just about God in general, but it's also about God's Messiah, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: When Isaiah says God will come and bring salvation, who is it who comes to bring salvation?
SPEAKER_01: It's Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He's the one who puts on the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation to do battle with sin for us in the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah tells us as well that righteousness shall be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the belt of his loins concerning the Messiah.
SPEAKER_01: He's the one who came to fight for us and was armed for battle.
SPEAKER_01: This is why Paul in Romans chapter 13 can say this.
SPEAKER_01: He says, The night is far gone, the day is at hand.
SPEAKER_01: So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
SPEAKER_01: So there's the same image, the armor of light.
SPEAKER_01: Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.
SPEAKER_01: You see, for Paul to put on the armor of light is the same thing as to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So Paul could have said here in Ephesians 6, he could have said, put on the Lord Jesus Christ that you may stand against the schemes of the devil.
SPEAKER_01: Think about it.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, what will enable you to stand against the devil?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, your own strength?
SPEAKER_01: Clearly not.
SPEAKER_01: Your own character?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: An armor of your own making?
SPEAKER_01: Not at all.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel alone allows us to stand.
SPEAKER_01: God's work for us in and through Jesus, that's what allows us to stand.
SPEAKER_01: So God's armor is God's character and his saving work for sinners.
SPEAKER_01: Especially God's character and work as it's displayed in the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's his armor.
SPEAKER_01: It's God's character, God's saving work.
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to put the armor on?
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to put it on?
SPEAKER_01: Well, simply put, to put on the armor of God is to work God's character and saving work into your heart.
SPEAKER_01: How do we put the armor on?
SPEAKER_01: Well, Paul is saying, take the character of God, take God's work and work it more and more into your heart and life and thoughts so that it shapes you until you become like Him.
SPEAKER_01: And so really, you know, this isn't a new theme for Paul.
SPEAKER_01: This is something he's been saying throughout Ephesians.
SPEAKER_01: So in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32, he says, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.
SPEAKER_01: And he goes on, therefore, Ephesians 5, verse 1, be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.
SPEAKER_01: See, we are to be so shaped by who God is and what he has done that we become like him.
SPEAKER_01: Or Ephesians chapter 4, verse 22 to 24, Paul says, He tells us to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner and life, and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
SPEAKER_01: You see, for Paul to put on the armor of God is the same thing as to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's the same thing as to put on the new self created to be like God.
SPEAKER_01: It's all the same reality.
SPEAKER_01: It's being conformed to the image and likeness of God through the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: So the armor of God is God's saving work, his character and saving work.
SPEAKER_01: And as we don't God's armor, we begin to look like him.
SPEAKER_01: So Paul wants us to let the reality of the gospel sink in and seep in to every part of you so that it transforms you into his image, so that you become like him.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what does this look like?
SPEAKER_01: Let me give you some examples using the armor that Paul has here in Ephesians.
SPEAKER_01: Think about the belt of truth.
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to let the belt of truth, right, to let the truth of God sink into our heart and mind so that it changes the way you view life?
SPEAKER_01: Well, it might mean this.
SPEAKER_01: When Satan tempts you to look at others and all that they have, when he says, you know, look at what they own and look at how they dress and look at their talents and abilities.
SPEAKER_01: When he tempts you to judge people because of those things, when he tempts you to condemn them, you instinctively respond with God's truth.
SPEAKER_01: Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
SPEAKER_01: You see, your instinctive response is the truth of God to Satan's lies.
SPEAKER_01: That's what we want.
SPEAKER_01: We want the truth of God, the truth of the gospel to be such a part of our life, our instinctive reflex to life.
SPEAKER_01: That's the first thing that comes out when we hear Satan's lies.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what about the breastplate of righteousness?
SPEAKER_01: Well, remember first, this is about God's righteousness in bringing salvation through Jesus in the cross, but as we grow to be like our Father, we will reflect that righteousness in our own lives.
SPEAKER_01: And so when Paul talks about the new self, he says it's created after the likeness of God and true righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: We must reflect righteousness, the righteousness of God in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: It's not self-righteousness, that's not what he's talking about here, but he is talking about the renewed character of the one who belongs to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We will begin to reflect the righteousness of our Father in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And this is part of our defense against Satan.
SPEAKER_01: Think about it, as we disobey God, we we open the door to further attacks, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: So in Ephesians 4, again, 26 and 27, Paul says, be angry and do not sin.
SPEAKER_01: Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.
SPEAKER_01: You see what he's saying there?
SPEAKER_01: He's saying when you are, when you have sinful anger, you give the devil an opportunity to tempt you to further sin.
SPEAKER_01: Or to tempt the person you're mad at to further sin.
SPEAKER_01: You know how it is?
SPEAKER_01: Even giving in to a little irritation can lead to a greater anger, can lead to bitterness, can lead to speaking harshly, can lead to snubbing another person, can lead to judging them, right?
SPEAKER_01: A little irritation can begin to blow up and blow up and get bigger and bigger.
SPEAKER_01: And so Paul says, give no opportunity to the devil.
SPEAKER_01: Don't give in to these little things.
SPEAKER_01: Don't give in to petty jealousy.
SPEAKER_01: Don't give in to a lustful glance.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever it is, we must begin to obey God in the small things if we are ever to stand against the larger attacks of Satan.
SPEAKER_01: This is why in Romans 13, verse 14, when Paul says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, he then goes on to say, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying, Give sin not one inch in your heart and life.
SPEAKER_01: Cut it off at the very start.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what about the next piece of armor described the preparedness of the gospel?
SPEAKER_01: The preparedness of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: It's interesting, Paul doesn't say, shod your feet with the gospel of peace, but with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
SPEAKER_01: And I think what Paul means there is that we must be prepared to share the gospel of peace.
SPEAKER_01: I actually think that's what he means.
SPEAKER_01: Part of the reason I think that is because, again, I think Paul is echoing Isaiah.
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah 52, 7 that says, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's echoing that language of our feet, making us prepared with the gospel of peace, ready with the gospel of peace.
SPEAKER_01: We are to be a people who proclaim peace.
SPEAKER_01: A people, again, in imitation of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Ephesians chapter 2.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus himself is the one who brings us peace.
SPEAKER_01: Peace with God, peace with men.
SPEAKER_01: Ephesians 2.17, Christ came and preached peace.
SPEAKER_01: Peace to you who are far off, and peace to those who are near.
SPEAKER_01: You want to be ready for the battle with Satan?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Let the gospel of peace, peace with God through Jesus, sink deeply into you.
SPEAKER_01: So that you're ready to preach it to yourself and to others.
SPEAKER_01: What about the shield of faith?
SPEAKER_01: When Satan throws his lies and his temptations and his accusations at you, when he tries to lead you to disobedience and doubt and despair, where do you turn?
SPEAKER_01: Well, you don't cling to faith.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what he's saying here.
SPEAKER_01: You don't cling to your faith.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you cling to your faith, you might look at your faith and think, man, my faith is pretty weak at the moment.
SPEAKER_01: My faith is pretty small.
SPEAKER_01: How am I ever going to stand?
SPEAKER_01: You don't cling to your faith.
SPEAKER_01: Your faith clings to God.
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist says in Psalm 28, the Lord is my strength and my shield.
SPEAKER_01: In him my heart trusts, and I am helped.
SPEAKER_01: See, the problem is not when Satan attacks that God ceases to be our God or something like that, but we forget to take up our shield.
SPEAKER_01: We forget to exercise faith in God and the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: So what we should be doing, when Satan comes and when he accuses you and he says, look at your sins, you filthy sinner, we take up our shield, the shield of faith, the shield that faith takes up of God and the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And we say, Jesus died on the cross for my sins.
SPEAKER_01: When Satan says, Oh, but you're a worse sinner than everybody else, you take up the shield and you say, Jesus died for Paul.
SPEAKER_01: He was the chief of sinners.
SPEAKER_01: Certainly he died for me as well.
SPEAKER_01: When he tempts you and he says, Oh, oh, look at this house or this car or this game or this food, it will make you feel good.
SPEAKER_01: It will make your life worthwhile.
SPEAKER_01: You take up the shield and you say, At God's right hand are pleasures forevermore.
SPEAKER_01: When he tempts you and says, This grade or this degree or this job or this promotion will make you more important.
SPEAKER_01: It'll make you special, it'll make you a somebody.
SPEAKER_01: You take up the shield of faith and you say, Not to us, not to us, O Lord, but to your name, give glory.
SPEAKER_01: And besides that, I am of more value to my Father already than many sparrows.
SPEAKER_01: I don't need this job or this promotion for that.
SPEAKER_01: What about the helmet of salvation?
SPEAKER_01: Well, Paul stresses in Ephesians 2 that by grace we have already been saved.
SPEAKER_01: But we need to remember that.
SPEAKER_01: We need to take it up.
SPEAKER_01: You know, what's going to protect you when you are most vulnerable to the evil one's attacks?
SPEAKER_01: In your areas where you are most tempted, when you have sinned and you really are guilty, right?
SPEAKER_01: When you are experiencing trouble in life, which the devil uses to attempt to undermine your faith, where will you turn?
SPEAKER_01: Well, this thought.
SPEAKER_01: God has saved me.
SPEAKER_01: Not me, not my hand, not my strength, not my power, not anything that I have done.
SPEAKER_01: God has saved me.
SPEAKER_01: His mighty right hand has saved me from sin's guilt and sin's punishment and sin's power.
SPEAKER_01: That's where I need to run again and again and again.
SPEAKER_01: I need to remember what God has done for me.
SPEAKER_01: I need to meditate on it.
SPEAKER_01: I need to let it sink in.
SPEAKER_01: Let that thought permeate your heart and your mind, and you will stand.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what about the sword of the Spirit?
SPEAKER_01: Again, the Messiah first takes up this sword, doesn't he, on our behalf.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible tells us that the Messiah's word is his weapon.
SPEAKER_01: Says it in Isaiah chapter 11.
SPEAKER_01: It says the Messiah will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth.
SPEAKER_01: In Revelation, a sharp two-edged sword comes out of the mouth of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But right now, Jesus' word is doing his work in us.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews chapter 4 talks about it.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews 4 says, let us, uh let's see, verse 12, for the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
SPEAKER_01: And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
SPEAKER_01: See, Jesus' sword, his word is even now showing us our sinful thoughts, the motives of our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: In our battle with Satan, Jesus' word shows us who we are, so we can do the hard work of confession and repentance.
SPEAKER_01: See, the armor of God is God's character and saving work in the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it is.
SPEAKER_01: It's not anything we do, it's not what we have done or what we will do or who we are, it's who God is and what He has done in the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And we put that on as we allow the gospel to seep into our heart so that our knee-jerk reaction to life is shaped by the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: So that what we do and what we say, how we respond to situations and people, how we respond to Satan's lies and temptations and accusations, is with the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, how can I do this?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, how can I obey this command?
SPEAKER_01: How can I put the armor on to stand?
SPEAKER_01: How can I let the gospel sink deeply into me?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, what does that look like?
SPEAKER_01: Of course, that's the big question, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Essentially, I think, what it comes down to is knowing yourself well and knowing God in the gospel well, so that you can repent and believe moment by moment.
SPEAKER_01: Second by second.
SPEAKER_01: You know, we could say, well, what does it look like?
SPEAKER_01: How do you do this?
SPEAKER_01: Well, read your Bible.
SPEAKER_01: But you know, reading your Bible, and that's true, but reading your Bible is a means to an end, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: We read our Bibles so that we know ourselves well and know God well.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: The Bible shows us our hearts and it shows us our God.
SPEAKER_01: I could have said, well, you do this by prayer, right?
SPEAKER_01: By praying every day.
SPEAKER_01: And that's true, that's good, but prayer is a means to an end too, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Prayer is the means to the end of knowing our God well and knowing ourselves well, of communing and having fellowship with our God.
SPEAKER_01: Both of those things are just means of drawing near to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Because only Jesus can make us like Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So then what do we do?
SPEAKER_01: We repent and believe.
SPEAKER_01: You know, the same way you start the Christian life is the way you continue the Christian life.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't change.
SPEAKER_01: You repent and believe moment by moment.
SPEAKER_01: You know, repentance is not a one-time thing, but it's something we do daily, every second, as we notice the thoughts of our heart throughout the day.
SPEAKER_01: As we see the little thoughts come up in our minds, the sinful temptations, the little lies, we repent.
SPEAKER_01: What does that look like?
SPEAKER_01: It means three things, I think, simply.
SPEAKER_01: Uh seeing, owning, and confessing our sin.
SPEAKER_01: Seeing it, taking note, taking note of those little lies and those little lusts of our heart, recognizing them for what they are, being aware of what's going on in our mind and heart, owning them before God, right?
SPEAKER_01: Saying, These things are mine, God.
SPEAKER_01: I make no excuses for them.
SPEAKER_01: I can't blame anyone, I can't minimize them.
SPEAKER_01: They're mine.
SPEAKER_01: This is my sin.
SPEAKER_01: This is my anger, this is my lust, this is my selfishness, this is my pride, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_01: And then confessing it to God, telling him about your heart, seeing it, owning it, confessing it, and then believing in Jesus in light of it.
SPEAKER_01: And you may say, well, I do believe, right?
SPEAKER_01: What more do you want me to do?
SPEAKER_01: I believe in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I trusted in him, I trust in him.
SPEAKER_01: But like repentance, faith, or but believing in Jesus is something we do daily.
SPEAKER_01: Trusting in Jesus, we have to exercise every moment.
SPEAKER_01: Again, what does that look like?
SPEAKER_01: Well, in some ways, it's it's the same kind of thing.
SPEAKER_01: It's seeing, owning, and embracing your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Seeing him for who he is, in what he has done for you in the cross, in bearing sin, in praying for you now, in defeating the devil, owning him as true.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Savior, and then embracing him as your own.
SPEAKER_01: This is my Savior.
SPEAKER_01: He died for my sins.
SPEAKER_01: He's defeated the devil on my behalf.
SPEAKER_01: He's seated at the right hand of the Father right now, praying for me.
SPEAKER_01: So we constantly draw near to God in Jesus through repentance and faith.
SPEAKER_01: That's what we do.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to God with our sin.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to God to trust in Jesus in the midst of our struggles.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: As you see your selfish temptation, as you see you're tempted to worry or to impatience or to self-indulgence or to unbelief or to despair.
SPEAKER_01: You incline your heart away from self and to Jesus by saying, Oh Lord, look at my sin.
SPEAKER_01: Look at my sin.
SPEAKER_01: I hate my sin.
SPEAKER_01: Forgive me for this sin.
SPEAKER_01: Let me trust in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Let me believe in him.
SPEAKER_01: You know, in some ways, repentance and faith is just another way of talking about a lifestyle of dependence, active, ongoing dependence on grace.
SPEAKER_01: It's moment-by-moment confession.
SPEAKER_01: I am weak, but he is strong.
SPEAKER_01: And it may be all that we can say is, Jesus, I actually do want to do these things.
SPEAKER_01: I want to sin.
SPEAKER_01: Change my desires.
SPEAKER_01: Start with step one.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, I want to do this.
SPEAKER_01: I really do.
SPEAKER_01: Change this desire, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Help me, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I can't do it in my own strength.
SPEAKER_01: Prayer and Bible reading, as I mentioned, are important in this, but they're just tools.
SPEAKER_01: Tools not that we use to make ourselves strong, but tools that we use to commune with God in Christ, to draw near to Him, to get hold of Christ, that His strength might shine forth in our weakness.
SPEAKER_01: That having done all, we might stand.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Our Father in heaven, we confess again that we are weak, but you are strong.
SPEAKER_01: And we know that you have done everything for us in the cross.
SPEAKER_01: You, by your wisdom and power and might and righteousness and truth, came into the world and bore sin in the cross and defeated sin and conquered the devil and rose again that we might be freed from him and become like you.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, let us look to you to that end.
SPEAKER_01: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.