We'll start reading in a moment from verse 10. But before we get there, I have a few things to say. Again, we're having revival services beginning on February 16. Just because we call them revival services doesn't necessarily mean that we will see revival. If we are to see true revival in our hearts, in our community, in the lives of others, if we are going to see souls come to the savior and lives changed, we need to prepare ourselves.

We need to sanctify ourselves as this verse reminds us from Joshua chapter three verse five. Before Israel went into the land, before they crossed the Jordan River into Canaan to defeat Jericho and many other cities afterwards, Joshua went through the camp and he said unto the people, sanctify yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. He said, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, clean up yourselves, get ready, and you'll see God do what? Great wonders on the morrow. But it was necessary for the people to prepare their themselves, to prepare their hearts, not so much just their belongings or gather up their stuff or but to prepare their hearts because it wasn't just a physical battle.

It was also a spiritual battle because the battle belongs to who? The battle belongs to the Lord. Most important battle we will face in this world is not a physical one. It is not between nations or powers. It is between the powers of righteousness and of evil.

It is a battle that we are already in. It's a battle that we need to prepare ourselves for, particularly as we look to the Lord to do great and mighty things in a few weeks in our revival services. If you're going to take a long trip, you don't just usually wake up the morning and go, oh, okay. Well, here, let's jump in the car and go. No.

You prepare yourselves. You make plans. You got stuff to get in order before you go. So when armies go to war and battle, they make preparations. They they make plans.

If you have a a big project to do, oftentimes, you have to get prepared. You have to make plans. When I get up here to preach on Sunday morning, See, let's see how I'm a, I've got six pages of notes here this morning. Okay? Usually, not more than six pages.

That's but that takes what? Preparation. And it's not just about the pages that are print the words that are printed on this page, but it's also about a preparation of heart for the Lord to use me and to use his word and to open up your heart to receive it. It takes preparation. There is a sanctifying process.

The next few weeks could be pivotal in your growth and service for Christ in the life of another who might be saved or restored because you sanctified and prepared yourself to have revival. Don't take these opportunities for granted. Whether it be revival services or or every Sunday, every Bible study, every ministry, every time of devotion you spend with God, It could be the week. It could be the day that God does something extraordinary in your life or in the life of someone else. If we will sanctify ourselves, set ourselves apart for this wonderful opportunity.

Prepare our heart before the Lord. We will see God do great and mighty things. We can sanctify ourselves or prepare for the battle by putting on the what? By putting on the whole armor of God. You wanna know how to prepare yourself to sanctify yourself?

Put on the armor of God. Paul spells it out for us out for us here in Ephesians chapter six. Beginning in verse 10, he says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, 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 to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore. Have your loins gird about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication of the spirit and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for your spirit that you have given to us to help us in understanding and declaring your word today. Lord, I pray that you would move in our hearts. I pray that you would challenge us, convict us, encourage us.

And if there be one here today that is yet to receive Jesus Christ as the Lord and savior of their life, that you might open their eyes and open their heart to receive him who died for them, Jesus Christ the righteous today. In Jesus' name, do pray. Amen. Yes. We are at war.

Second Corinthians ten three through five, Paul writes, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal of the flesh, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. We have powerful weapons and weapons that can bring down the mightiest of temptations, that can deliver the most lost and perishing soul Through the power of Jesus Christ, I can do what? All things through Christ who strengthens me. But we must put on the armor of God.

If we refuse to do so, if we if we are lazy and complacent, then we won't see the victories that we could see. We won't see the blessings that we could see. The rewards of the lives not only of ourselves but of others. The wonders that God promises here to Joshua. We must sanctify ourselves and we need to put on the armor of God as we wade into this battle for the souls of men and women, boys and girls, for the glory of our father in heaven, for our present blessings and future rewards as the servants of Jesus Christ.

It is already waging around us. We need to get in the fight, and we need to prepare ourselves for it. God has provided us armor, mighty tools in defeating the enemy. He is mighty. He is great.

He he is more powerful than we, but greater is he that's in what? Us than he that is in the world. And he has given us tools to help us, to aid us in escaping the wiles, the temptations of sin and Satan. He has given us tools to help us to avoid his darts, his missiles, which he so cunningly devises and cast at us every day. He has given us tools that are mighty in pulling down the strongholds of the enemy in our life and in the lives of others.

We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. He has overcome the world and he has given to us the victory. If we will claim it, if we will put on the armor of God last week, spent some time on the first one, the belt of what? Truth. The centerpiece that all the other pieces of armor connect to.

The truth is vital in this battle. How do we prepare ourselves for battle? By searching out the what? By searching out the truth. Sanctify them through thy truth.

Thy word is truth. However, one of the ways we're sanctified is by embracing, searching out, claiming the what? The truth. We lived in a world that is so confused and so messed up and so lost. And one of the reasons is they don't know the what.

They don't know the truth. They are so deceived. John eight thirty two, what did Jesus say? You shall know the truth and the truth shall what? Shall set you free.

Free from what? Free from all that confusion. Free from the snares of the devil. Free from the penalty of sin. If you will put your faith in who?

In Jesus Christ. Who is the the life, the what? The the truth and the way. The way of salvation. The way to freedom from sin and Satan.

And you cannot serve the Lord well if you do not know him or what he desires for you or why we are here or where we are going. That information is key, and it is also key that it's the right information, that it is truth. There are some very sincere people out there, very sincere about what they believe, work very hard to follow what they have been taught, but they are misled. And sincerity is not gonna put them on the right path if they are following a what? If they are following a lie.

We need the truth, the truth of who God is, who Jesus is, what he did for us that we might be saved, what He desires for His children, the place He has prepared for us, and the judgment of the lost. If we are deceived, we will make terrible mistakes. Take for instance Eve. What happened? She believed a what?

She believed a lie. It not only cost her, it cost all of who? All of us. Consider Joshua. If you have errant information, you will make bad decisions.

Joshua was in the land and these these people came on on donkey and camelback and they were malnourished and their clothes were haggard and their bread was moldy and they said to Josh, we've come from a far land to make peace with this mighty people. They didn't come from a far land, they came from the next hill over. But they had plod and they had planned and they fooled who? They fooled Joshua. And he made a covenant with them, a treaty with them, a pact with the people that God had told him not to make a pact with.

When he found out it was too late, he had already already made a covenant in the name of who? In the name of the Lord. He meant well, but he was misinformed. Now, it doesn't tell us in that passage that before he made his decision, he got on his knees and he talked to who? He talked to the Lord.

It doesn't tell us that. Because I think if he had, God would have told him what? God would have showed him, you are being deceived. No. He just accepted what they said and he was deceived.

And the Gibeonites were a thorn in Israel's side for many years to come because of it. When we do not have the truth, we make mistakes. We make bad decisions. Having that belt of truth, seeking it out, embracing it, following it is a vital piece of armor. If you know the truth, you're going to be hard to deceive.

Right? Yes. So put on the belt of truth. Number two, this morning, the breastplate of what? Of righteousness.

Righteousness is a term used in scripture to identify someone who is blameless before God, whose character is unassailable, whose conduct is holy, who does that which is by all means right and good. A righteous person. God is righteous. God always does that which is right and good. Why?

Because it is his nature. He is a righteous and a holy God. He cannot go against his own what? Nature. That's who he is.

Therefore, he's faithful and dependable and he always tells the what? The truth. He is a righteous God. While God is righteous, men are what? Unrighteous.

Unrighteous. Romans three ten through 12 say, as it is written, there is none righteous. No. Not one. There's none understandeth.

There's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of the way. They are together becoming unprofitable. There's none that doeth good. No, not one.

Now men can do good beneficial things for themselves, their families, for other people. But in the eyes of God, those good things are tainted by our what? By our sin. Isaiah sixty four six, but we are all as an unclean thing. All our righteousnesses are as what?

Filthy rags. We, like all fate as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind, have taken us away. Away from who? Away from the way of the Lord. Away from the path that God desires for us because we're an unclean thing.

God is righteous. We are not righteous. We often do that which is wrong because it is our what? It's our nature. God does what is right.

That is his nature. We as sinners often do wrong because that is our nature. Jesus told his disciples here in Matthew five twenty. He said, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now that probably caught the attention of his disciples because the most righteous people in Israel in the sight of men were who?

Were the scribes and the pharisees. They were the ones who who were intent on keeping the law, the letter of the law. They were very zealous and passionate about the law and in everything they did, particularly in public, with keeping that law. They appeared to the people to be of strong character and integrity. But Jesus knew their what?

Their heart. He knew their private sins and he called them out and he called them hypocrites because they were not righteous. They were still unrighteous in their hearts to the same degree as everyone else. Given the proper motivation or setting given the proper motivation or setting would reveal their unrighteousness in spectacular fashion. Because righteousness isn't just about what you do, it's about who you are.

And who they were was different from how they projected themselves, presented themselves before others. Sometimes people do that. I'm sure you've known a person or two that seemed like they had it all together. They really loved the Lord. They really cared for you.

They were faithful and then it all what? It all fell apart. They betrayed your trust. They turned away from their faith. Well, it wasn't where?

It wasn't in their heart. And eventually, the heart will reveal itself. We're all, the Bible says, unrighteous. We we look at the Pharisees and go, oh, what terrible people they were. But they're just like the rest of us.

We all have a heart problem. And we all come into this world with a broken relationship between us and our God who made us. A relationship which needs mending because we're unrighteous. The only way for us to be righteous is by acquiring the righteousness of who? The righteousness of Jesus Christ.

You will not be able to work it up in yourself because it's not there. We need the righteousness of Jesus Christ which is attained by what? By faith. By faith in him. Romans three twenty three, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference.

You look at the the the guy out on the street in the gutter or the fellow in the prison, guess what? They're sinners, so are we. There is no what? No no difference. We've all fallen what?

Short. We like to compare ourselves to somebody worse than us. Well, I look, I don't steal cars. Yeah. Well, good.

You don't steal cars. You ever lied? You have a tendency to to, you know, shade the truth just a little bit to do you ever dishonor your parents or take God's name in vain? Or do you ever steal, you know, some change out of your roommate's piggy bank to wash your clothes? You you know why I use that example because, well, you see, we we need to quit comparing ourselves to other people.

We we deceive ourselves by doing that. We need to be comparing ourselves to who? Jesus Christ. And we'll see that we don't measure up, but he did. He does.

And he who who did and does died on the cross for our sins and he paid the price not for his sins but for ours, and if we'll receive him as our Lord and savior, we also will receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We'll receive that which we do not have in ourselves. He will cleanse us and save us and change us. Second Corinthians five twenty one, for he that is God hath made him, Jesus, to be sin for us who knew no sin that we, in exchange might be made the righteousness of God in him. How are we made the righteousness of God by receiving the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins?

He was the sin offering brought by the God of heaven who exchanged his righteousness for our sin and then took the punishment thereof on the cross of Calvary so that we might receive in exchange for our sin his what? His righteousness and might be justified and declared righteous before the God of heaven. The breastplate is the piece of armor that covers the vital organs. In order to protect our vital spiritual organs, we must be people of integrity. That begins with repentance and faith in Christ whereby we receive not the righteousness of men, but the righteousness of who?

Of God via Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who comes to live inside of our heart. And then by putting on the blessed breastplate of righteousness putting on that breastplate of righteousness implies more than our standing before God, but the active and purposeful nurturing and application of that righteous. It's not enough to say, okay, I'm saved and I'm righteous before God. There's more implied in this putting on the breastplate than saying I'm a Christian. You need to put on the righteousness.

You need to purpose to nurture it in your life and apply it to your life. We must also actively put it to use in our daily life if we are to fend off the attacks of the enemy. If we are satisfied with the imputed righteousness and seek not practical righteousness, we betray our father and open the door wide to the to the enemy. What did our Lord have to say? First Peter one fourteen through 16, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves after the former lusts and your ignorance before you came to Christ.

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of come, in every aspect of life because it is written, be ye holy for I am holy. What does God expect? What does God ask? How do we do that? We put on the armor of God by applying, by living the righteousness of God, by not being satisfied with being like the world.

God wants God saved you to be salt and light, to make you different. God did not give us this righteousness at such a great cost. What cost was that? The sacrifice of his son. God did not give us this righteousness at such a great cost for us to ignore it and continue to live after the pattern of the unrighteous.

That's not why God saved us. He didn't save us just to take us to heaven. If the only reason he saved you was to take you to heaven, where would you be? Well, you'd be in heaven. But you're not.

Not yet. God saved us also to bring glory to him where? Here on earth. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. Put on the breastplate of righteousness.

Don't squander the incredible gift that God has given you. When I graduated from college and got married, I had an uncle and he had a car and he want a new car. Instead of trading in his old car, guess what he did with the car? He gave it to me. It was a nice car.

Now it had a few miles on it, had a few years on it. It was a Oldsmobile Sierra. Another word in there. I can't think of it, but but it was a nice car. Now how do you think he would have felt if he gave me a car and I set it in the driveway and I didn't drive it?

That would have been a what? Terrible waste. What a terrible waste it is when we who are the righteous in Jesus Christ do not pursue to be more righteous and like him than our likes. He saved us to give him glory by being and behaving differently, righteously, as led by our new nature, divine nature, and not the old sinful one. We put on the breastplate of righteousness by nurturing nurturing that righteousness.

First Peter two one through three, wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may, what? Grow thereby. How do you nurture it? You get into what? You get into the word of God.

So I encourage you to encourage you to read through it this year. Or maybe you have your devotions in different different portions of scripture in different way. That's okay. Just get into the word of God and then you'll grow. If you don't, guess what?

You're not likely to grow and you're not putting on the blessed plate of righteousness and you're exposed. Psalm one one through three, blessed is the man who walketh not in the council of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that giveth forth his fruit and his season, his leaf shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall, what? Prosper in the service of the Lord. But you need to meditate and delight in the word of God.

If your Bible sits dusty on the shelf and only comes down when you bring it to church, then you're leaving your breastplate sitting up there and you're not putting it on. And you wonder why you struggle. And while you don't feel fulfilled and full of the joy of the spirit that you should, we need to to nurture it by the word of God, and then we need to apply it to our daily decisions. Denying ourselves, taking up our cross, what, daily and following Christ. Deciding in our heart every day to do our best by the grace of God to do only those things which please him and reflect his righteousness and holiness.

That begins with getting up every morning and say, Lord, today, by your grace and power, I will follow you. Lead me by your spirit. Empower me through your word. I purpose today to do what is right. Daniel one eight, one of my favorite characters in scripture is a young man in a foreign land, lost his family, taken as a captive.

The king is telling him what to do. Pain of death if he doesn't do it. And yet we read this in Daniel one eight about this young man. And Daniel, what? Purposed.

Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. He was a humble man. He didn't make demands. He made what?

Requests and he trusted the Lord to grant those requests to help him because he purposed in his what? In his heart that he would not defile himself, that he would not just do what everybody else was doing. Putting on the breastplate means dedicating yourself to do what is right in advance. If you are double minded, uncommitted, toying with temptation, you are going into the battle with the breastplate laying on to the side and you are easy target for the enemy. Put it on.

Purpose in your heart to do that which is what? Right in the eyes of the Lord. If there is a chink, an exposure in your armor, the devil will find it. The lust of the flesh will find it. Put on the breastplate of righteousness.

Maybe your chink in your armor is laziness, lack of discipline. So many Christians don't go to church. One of the reasons is they just can't get up out of what? Bed. The devil is exploiting that lack of righteousness.

Maybe it's thought life or moral purity. That's a big one today. Psalm one zero one three, David said, I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me.

Sad that in our message tonight, we'll see that David slipped up in that regard. One day, he got up and he didn't purpose in his heart. Maybe it's lying, shading the truth. Maybe it's a tongue that's out of control. Maybe it's greed and selfishness.

The love of money is the root of all what? Evil. All kinds of evil. Maybe it's pride. I can handle it.

I got it under control. Maybe it's anger and bitterness that's taken root in your heart. Where is the chink in your armor? The area you've not confessed, not given over to the Lord nor trusted him with. You've been ignoring it.

You haven't purposed in your, what, heart to do what's right. You've you've you've given into it. You don't have to. You don't have to. You are victorious in Christ if you will claim the victory.

Commit your way to him. Delight yourself in the Lord. Purpose in your heart to be holy as he is holy. Get up every day and tell him about your conviction. And when you fail, confess it.

Trust him. Try again. Are you doing that each day? Are we preparing ourselves for battle by purposing in our heart to do what's right? By spending time in God's word, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness or we we just kind of coasting through life, just kind of going with the waves.

No, it's just the way it is. Not the way it should be. God wants to do great and mighty wonders among us, but we need to put on the what? The breastplate of righteousness. Do you find living righteously truly from the heart to be impossible?

Maybe you've yet to receive the righteousness of Christ. You're not gonna succeed at all without who? Without Jesus. You don't have it in you unless you have Jesus in you, and you need the Lord. You need to surrender in faith to him who will give you his righteousness and eternal life and change your life, and you can do that today.

As we sing this hymn of invitation a moment, you can come and receive Christ. I'll meet you down here. I'll show you from God's word how you can be saved and know it. But child of God, if you've already received Jesus Christ, if the righteousness guides already resides in you, then nurture it. Put it on.

Don't be satisfied with the unrighteousness in your life. Put on the righteousness of Christ each day. Put on that breastplate, piece of the armor. Sanctify yourself. And God will do wonders in your life and in the lives of others.

Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for the wonderful gift of God's grace to us, the forgiveness and righteousness, redemption, salvation that you bring to all who come to you in faith, not in themselves, but in Jesus Christ who died for them and rose again. And Lord, we pray if there's one here today that is yet to receive the righteousness of Christ by faith, by repenting of their sin and trusting you. I pray that today would be their day of salvation, that they would come as we sing this hymn of invitation before it is too late. And Lord, I pray for those who know you today, who are assured in their hearts that they have received the righteousness of Christ, your holy spirit, and have become your children, that we would act like your children, that we would not be satisfied with the unrighteousnesses in our life, that we might seek your strength and wisdom and guidance, and Lord, that we might purpose in our heart by God's grace and power to live righteous lives before you, to be a righteous people that you might give us the victory and do great and mighty things through us.

Lord, may we seek your face today. May we humble ourselves before you. And if there be any sin in our heart, Lord, may we confess it today before we leave this place. In Jesus' name, we do pray. Amen.