0:07 welcome to backs of the Bible radio in
0:09 just a moment we'll join pastor and
0:11 best-selling author Warren Weir's be for
0:13 an encouraging message from God's Word
0:16 but first let me remind you to visit
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0:34 at back to the Bible org that's back to
0:39 the Bible org life is a battleground and
0:41 the sooner you accept that truth the
0:43 easier it's going to be to win the
0:46 battle Satan is after us because we are
0:50 seated with Christ in the heavenlies we
0:52 have all of the riches and the resources
0:56 of the resurrected Christ available to
0:58 us we are like the people of Israel who
1:01 have moved into the promised land the
1:03 land of rest the land of milk and honey
1:08 and they claimed their victory and then
1:11 when the next generations came along
1:14 they lost their territory why they did
1:17 not stand Ephesians chapter six is
1:21 telling us to stand verse 11 put on the
1:23 whole armour of God that you may be able
1:27 to stand against the wiles of the devil
1:30 that word wiles gives us our English
1:33 word methods the methods of the devil
1:36 the craftiness of the devil the same
1:40 word is used in Ephesians chapter 4 and
1:44 verse 14 that we henceforth be no more
1:47 children tossed to and fro and carried
1:50 about with every wind of doctrine by the
1:54 sleight of men and cunning craftiness by
1:57 which they lie in wait to deceive now
1:58 Paul tells us that we don't wrestle
2:01 against flesh and blood we wrestle
2:05 against the enemy Satan who uses flesh
2:08 and blood Ephesians 4:14 says we had
2:10 better grow up we had better mature
2:12 children are very naive they believe
2:15 anything or anybody children lack the
2:20 experience and the education to exercise
2:22 unfortunately some of God's children
2:25 have no discernment they'll listen to a
2:27 radio preacher or a television preacher
2:30 they'll read a book by some author and
2:33 not have the discernment to recognize
2:37 false doctrine Ephesians 4:14 says when
2:40 you grow up you're not going to be led
2:42 astray and tricked by the cunning
2:47 craftiness the cunning methodology the
2:51 strategy of Satan Ephesians chapter 6
2:54 tells us that we are able to stand if we
2:57 put on the whole armor of God
3:01 wherefore says verse 13 take unto you
3:04 the whole armour of God all of the
3:07 equipment remember we have three
3:09 responsibilities we must know the enemy
3:12 we must use the equipment and we must
3:15 depend on the energy that God provides
3:19 if we don't use all of the equipment
3:22 then Satan is going to attack us at some
3:26 unguarded place we need the whole armour
3:30 of God if we leave any piece out we're
3:32 exercising pride we're saying well now
3:35 God there is an area that I have got
3:36 under control
3:39 have you ever noticed that the people in
3:42 the Bible who sinned sinned in the areas
3:45 of their greatest strength what was
3:47 Abraham's greatest strength his faith
3:49 that's where he failed he lied about his
3:53 wife what was Moses greatest strength he
3:56 was the meekest man on the earth that's
3:59 where he failed he lost his temper he
4:02 smote the rock and he lost the privilege
4:05 of going into the promised land what was
4:08 Peters greatest strength Peters greatest
4:10 strength was his courage that's where he
4:13 failed he failed walking on the water
4:16 but most of all he failed when he denied
4:19 the Lord Jesus Christ what was David's
4:22 greatest strength his integrity he was a
4:24 man after God's own heart that's where
4:28 he failed he moved into duplicity lying
4:32 a double life you think there's an area
4:33 in your
4:35 that you've now conquered you think
4:37 there's an area in your life where you
4:39 don't need God's protection that's the
4:44 very area where Satan will attack you we
4:46 wrestle not against flesh and blood when
4:48 will we remember that and apply it our
4:52 conflict is not with people our conflict
4:55 is with the spiritual army of Satan
4:58 using people I know there are those who
5:02 deny the existence of demonic powers but
5:03 those of us who believe the Word of God
5:06 know that demonic powers exist Satan is
5:10 not omniscient he is not omnipresent he
5:12 doesn't know everything and cannot be
5:15 everywhere nor can he do everything but
5:18 he has such an army of demonic forces at
5:23 his control that he can operate in so
5:26 many places at one time and he can
5:29 accomplish his will Satan wants to rob
5:32 you of the inheritance that you have in Christ
5:33 Christ
5:35 remember the outline of Ephesians
5:37 chapters 1 2 & 3
5:40 we're seated with Christ our wealth
5:44 chapters 4 & 5 our walk were walking
5:47 with Christ now chapter 6 we're standing
5:51 with Christ and for Christ whenever the
5:52 devil finds a Christian who is
5:56 appropriating his wealth and practicing
5:59 his walk Satan is going to fight that
6:02 Christian now how does he do it well if
6:04 you'll examine the different pieces of
6:07 the armor you'll discover what it is
6:11 Satan wants to do stand there for says
6:15 Ephesians 6:14 stand therefore having
6:20 your loins girded about with truth Satan
6:24 is the divider you see the girdle of
6:27 truth speaks of integrity it speaks of a
6:31 soldier who is devoted to winning the
6:35 battle the finest armor is wasted on the
6:38 soldier who has no will to fight said
6:41 Geoffrey Wilson and this is true the
6:44 girdle of truth speaks of integrity not
6:45 the Word of God
6:49 the sword down in verse 17 the girdle of
6:51 truth says my whole life is pulled
6:54 together by truth I am a person of integrity
6:56 integrity
6:57 what does Satan want to do he wants to
7:00 divide your life a double minded man is
7:03 unstable in all his ways you cannot
7:06 serve two masters you cannot look in two
7:09 directions you cannot have your heart in
7:12 heaven and on earth at the same time
7:15 Satan is the divider if he can divide
7:19 your life you have lost the inheritance
7:22 in the Lord Jesus Christ well we need
7:25 the girdle of truth having on the
7:27 breastplate of righteousness Satan is
7:30 not only the divider he is the denouncer
7:34 the accuser oh how he loves to accuse
7:37 God's people how he loves to stand
7:40 before the throne of God and accuse them
7:43 if you don't have that breastplate of
7:45 righteousness you will not have the
7:48 answer to his accusations he will have
7:50 you thinking about things you did a long
7:54 time ago mistakes you made sins you
7:56 committed and he'll have you defeated
7:58 now where does he do this accusing
8:01 before the throne of God and in your own
8:05 conscience how he loves to remind you of
8:08 things in the past well we put on the
8:10 girdle of truth because Satan is the
8:13 divider and we put on the breastplate of
8:15 righteousness because Satan is the
8:19 denouncer he accuses God's people then
8:21 he talks about the shoes of peace and
8:24 your feet shod with the preparation of
8:26 the gospel of peace if you're going to
8:29 stand you've got to have the right kind
8:32 of shoes interestingly enough these are
8:35 shoes of peace can you imagine a soldier
8:38 wearing shoes of peace I thought that
8:42 soldiers wore shoes that led to war well
8:46 Satan is the destroyer Satan wants to
8:49 move in and bring war you see we as
8:51 Christian soldiers are not armed for
8:55 battle against good or good people were
8:58 armed for battle against Satan and we stand
8:59 stand
9:01 in peace he cannot destroy us we're
9:05 resting in the finished work of the Lord
9:09 Jesus Christ Satan is the destroyer he's
9:12 also the one who brings doubts
9:15 oh how he loves to throw doubts at you I
9:17 must confess there have been times I've
9:20 been seated on the platform in a church
9:23 service or a Bible conference and all of
9:26 a sudden some flaming doubt came into my
9:28 mind about something and I had to lift
9:31 up that shield of faith that's what he
9:35 says in verse 16 above all taking the
9:38 shield of faith with which ye shall be
9:41 able to quench all the fiery darts of
9:44 the wicked one these doubts that Satan
9:47 wants to throw at us thoughts that come
9:51 into our minds Martin Luther used to say
9:53 I cannot stop the birds from flying
9:56 around my head but I can stop them from
10:00 making a nest in my hair I can't stop
10:03 these fiery darts from being thrown at
10:05 me but I can lift the shield of faith
10:07 faith in what faith in the Word of God
10:11 faith in the God of the word our Lord
10:15 said to Abraham don't be afraid I am
10:19 your shield and Jesus Christ gives to us
10:22 victory Satan likes to throw doubts at
10:25 us and Satan likes to discourage he is
10:28 the discourage ur right now your mind
10:30 may be discouraged you may be ready to
10:32 quit you're going to write that
10:36 resignation and say I am through well
10:39 Satan is throwing that at you I notice
10:41 that we have to put on the helmet in
10:45 verse 17 and take the helmet of
10:48 salvation and that word salvation means
10:51 victory take the helmet of salvation
10:55 take it receive it God's handing it to
10:57 you in first Thessalonians five eight
11:01 this is called the hope of salvation and
11:05 for a helmet the hope of salvation when
11:09 a soldier loses hope he's lost the
11:11 victory he's lost the battle
11:14 now here we are standing our ground we
11:17 are not going to allow Satan to invade
11:20 and rob us of our inheritance we have
11:23 our wealth in Christ our riches in
11:26 Christ all of the resources that we need
11:30 are available to us now we put on the
11:33 helmet the hope of salvation and we know
11:37 that our Conqueror is coming and one day
11:44 the truth of the word of God must
11:47 penetrate our very lives so that our
11:52 actions and our motives are governed by
11:55 integrity truth it's amazing how much
11:58 Paul has to say about truth in his
12:00 letter to the Ephesians speaking the
12:04 truth in love the truth as it is in
12:07 Christ Jesus lie not one to another
12:09 seeing that you have put off the old man
12:12 he's talking about integrity that
12:16 settled conviction of life that directs
12:18 us in the right direction now the
12:21 opposite of integrity is duplicity
12:24 duplicity means being double in your
12:27 life being a dr. Jekyll and mr. Hyde
12:32 duplicity means hypocrisy and the only
12:34 way the soldier is going to win the
12:37 battle is that he is determined that he
12:40 is going to win he has pulled his life
12:42 together he's pulled everything together
12:44 he's focusing on that one thing it's
12:47 Paul in Philippians chapter 3 this one
12:51 thing I do it's at how much duplicity
12:53 there is in the world today duplicity
12:57 always leads to unfaithfulness in Isaiah
12:59 chapter 11 verse 5 we read about our
13:02 Lord Jesus Christ and righteousness
13:05 shall be the girdle of his loins and
13:08 faithfulness the girdle of his reigns
13:10 that's an interesting statement that our
13:13 Lord Jesus Christ wears the girdle of
13:17 righteousness why this one thing I do my
13:19 meat is to do the will of him that sent
13:23 me and to finish his work let's consider
13:26 this girdle of truth this subject of
13:29 integrity by way of explanation and then
13:32 secondly by way of illustration I want
13:35 us to meet a three winners and three
13:38 losers in the Battle of life the winners
13:40 won because they put on the girdle and
13:42 they had integrity the losers lost
13:46 because they practiced duplicity Matthew
13:50 chapter 6 verse 19 talks to us about
13:54 this matter of duplicity and integrity
13:57 when I was in grade school learning
14:00 mathematics our teacher said that we had
14:03 whole numbers that were called integers
14:05 and then we had other numbers that were
14:09 called fractions an integer is a whole
14:13 number integrity means a whole person
14:16 notice in verses 19 through 21 of
14:19 Matthew chapter 6 Jesus says where your
14:21 treasure is there will your heart be
14:24 also lay not up for yourselves treasures
14:27 upon earth but lay up for yourselves
14:30 treasures in heaven why for where your
14:32 treasure is there will your heart be also
14:33 also
14:35 don't have a divided heart then in
14:38 verses 22 and 23
14:40 he talks not about the double heart but
14:45 about the double mind Matthew 6:20 - the
14:48 lamp of the body is the eye if therefore
14:51 thine eye be healthy or single thy whole
14:54 body shall be full of light but if thine
14:58 eye be evil that is defective thy whole
15:00 body shall be full of darkness if
15:02 therefore the light that is in thee be
15:06 darkness how great is that darkness here
15:07 he's talking about a double-minded
15:10 person a person who's trying to look in
15:13 two directions now the eye represents
15:16 the outlook if your outlook is not
15:19 healthy then you are not going to be
15:22 healthy inwardly your outlook determines
15:26 your outcome and a double-minded person
15:30 is unstable in all of his ways James 1:8
15:32 tells us that so beware of the double
15:35 heart and beware of the double mind and
15:36 then in verse 24
15:39 beware of the double will no man can
15:42 serve two masters now here's a person
15:45 trying to submit his will to two masters
15:47 for either he will hate the one and love
15:50 the other or else he will hold to the
15:52 one and despise the other you cannot
15:54 serve God and Mammon or money wealth
15:58 treasure now the Lord Jesus makes it
16:00 very clear that we must have integrity
16:03 what causes worry in people's lives
16:07 duplicity they are double hearted and they
16:08 they
16:10 of the treasures of this world but they
16:11 also try to love the Lord they are
16:14 double minded they have one eye on
16:16 heaven the other eye on the world trying
16:18 to make the best of both worlds and they
16:20 are double willed one minute they're
16:22 serving God the next minute they're
16:26 serving Mammon and this does not work it
16:29 pulls your life apart the only way you
16:32 and I can have this beautiful integrity
16:34 is to practice that greatest of all the
16:37 commandments love the Lord thy God with
16:40 all thy heart we don't want to be double
16:42 minded with all thy soul and with all
16:44 thy mind we don't want to be double
16:48 willed and with all thy strength this is
16:51 integrity it means putting on the girdle
16:54 of truth and saying I am totally devoted
16:57 to the Lord I don't have another master
17:00 my outlook is only to look to him
17:02 looking unto Jesus the author and
17:04 finisher of our faith now by way of
17:06 illustration let's look at a number of
17:09 people in the Bible who put on the
17:12 girdle of truth that is integrity
17:15 the first war you find in the Bible is
17:18 in Genesis chapter 14 and Abraham got
17:22 into that war only because a lot his
17:27 nephew had been captured by the opposing
17:30 army in Genesis 14 we find Abraham
17:32 winning the war in delivering a lot now
17:36 why did a lot get into that mess why was
17:39 a lot found in the wrong camp well
17:42 because he was double minded in Genesis
17:46 chapter 13 you read about lot lot was
17:48 the kind of a person who tried to keep
17:52 his eyes on different parts of life he
17:54 had one eye on the heavenly City and one
17:57 eye on Sodom why because he has a double
18:00 minded approach to life he has a double
18:02 hearted and a double willed approach to
18:05 life he drifts off into Sodom when the
18:08 people of Sodom were taken captive lot
18:10 could do nothing about it he didn't have
18:12 any armor on he had no protection he
18:15 lost ground it was uncle Abraham the man
18:17 with the integrity who delivered him
18:20 I like that closing scene in Genesis 14
18:21 where the king of Sodom
18:24 comes and says to Abraham take all the
18:26 wealth that you want Abraham said I made
18:28 up my mind before this battle ever
18:30 started I wouldn't even take a shoelace
18:34 from you that's integrity Abraham didn't
18:36 go out to battle and say well I wonder
18:37 what I'm going to get out of this he
18:39 said I'm going out to rescue my brother
18:41 a lot
18:44 Abraham had integrity lot didn't I'm
18:47 thinking of Joshua Joshua chapter 5
18:51 before the Battle of Jericho Joshua was
18:53 out there looking the situation over and
18:57 it came to pass according to Joshua 5:13
18:59 and it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho
19:00 Jericho
19:01 that he lifted up his eyes and looked
19:03 and behold there stood a man over
19:06 against him with his sword drawn in his
19:08 hand and Joshua went unto him and said
19:11 unto Him art thou for us or for our
19:14 adversaries now that's integrity he's
19:16 not saying well I wonder which side he's
19:19 on and if I can pacify him I wonder if I
19:22 can do so little politicking here no he
19:23 said whose side are you on that's
19:25 integrity when you go out to fight the
19:28 battle when you go out to face the enemy
19:30 you'd better have on the girdle of truth
19:33 and be on one side or the other in fact
19:36 at the end of Joshua's life that's what
19:38 he was telling the people wasn't he in
19:43 Joshua chapter 24 verse 14 now therefore
19:46 fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity
19:51 and in truth that's integrity that's the
19:52 girdle of truth
19:55 no wonder Joshua won the battle no
19:58 wonder Joshua conquered the land and
20:00 defeated the enemy but you don't find
20:04 Aiken doing that in Joshua chapter 7
20:06 ache and one of the Jewish soldiers was
20:08 double minded he didn't go into the
20:10 battle to win a victory for the Lord he
20:12 was wondering what can I get for myself
20:15 he was double minded he was double
20:18 hearted part of his heart was loving the
20:19 things of the world and when he saw that
20:22 wealth there he stoled it and he buried
20:25 it he was double willed he was trying to
20:27 serve two masters and what happened it
20:30 killed him he was defeated and he caused
20:33 the defeat of the whole army when they
20:35 went to fight ai
20:37 I think of David and Saul you know why
20:41 God called David in His grace Psalm 78
20:46 verse 70 he chose David also his servant
20:48 and took him from the sheepfolds from
20:51 following the ewes great with young he
20:54 brought him to feed jacob his people in
20:57 Israel his inheritance so he fed them
21:00 according to the integrity of his heart
21:03 and guided them by the skillfulness of
21:05 his hands I don't care how skillful your
21:08 hands are if you don't have integrity in
21:11 your heart God can't use you now David
21:13 went from victory to victory because he
21:17 was a man of integrity he had put on the
21:19 girdle of truth but he was a man after
21:24 God's own heart but contrast him to Saul
21:27 contrast him to King Saul the first king
21:30 of the people Saul didn't have integrity
21:33 he had duplicity David came with
21:35 confessions but Saul had excuses
21:39 David sought the will of God Saul always
21:42 had some scheme some plot David stood
21:45 firm but Saul was always vacillating in
21:50 his instability and Saul was rejected he
21:52 was a liar he was practicing duplicity
21:55 Oh Saul had armor and Saul had a sword
21:58 and Saul was a big man and supposed to
22:01 be a great hero but Saul did not put on
22:04 the girdle of truth and therefore God
22:05 could not bless him
22:08 are you seeking to please the Lord and
22:10 to please him only are you double-minded
22:14 is there duplicity oh my friend confess
22:17 it and forsake it and follow the counsel
22:20 that joshua gave as for me in my house
22:24 we will serve the Lord no exceptions no
22:28 compromise I am on the Lord's side I'm
22:31 going to put on the girdle of truth and
22:39 thanks for being a part of our back to
22:41 the Bible listening family it's
22:43 wonderful to have you with us each day
22:45 so be sure to come back again for more
22:48 wisdom from God's Word back to the Bible
22:50 leading you forward in your relationship
22:52 with Jesus Christ that's all we have
22:55 time for today please join us again for
22:57 more back to the Bible you
