Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 784 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text

-- Brother Phil Enlow: Boy, we live in a world which is increasingly doesn't believe there is such a thing as truth. Sometimes you'll tell somebody what you believe and they say, well great, that's your truth. I mean literally, that's a statement you will hear people make. That's your truth. I've got a different truth. And truth to anybody means that's whatever I happen to believe--whatever makes sense to me, whatever sense I can make of the world, that's my truth. And you have no right to declare that there is such a thing as truth. But, I'll tell you, here and now, which is something you know surely, that there is truth.

( congregational amens ).

Truth is not whatever we happen to reason out in our punkin' heads. Truth is what God has said in His word. God has not left us without knowledge, without a standard by which to judge thoughts and things in our lives. We have the Word of the living God. And I'll tell you, it was...Eve's problem in the garden was she didn't stand upon truth. She allowed the devil to debate the truth with her and to reason about it. And our job is not to reason with the devil. Our job is simply to stand upon what the truth of God is. God has brought us out of a world that is founded upon lies.

What is it that gives the devil the power that he has over this world? Of course, it's sin. But, what has brought all of this about and what keeps the world under his power? It is the lie. He is a liar. He has convinced man that he can live without God. Worse than that, he has convinced man that he is his own god. He doesn't need someone to set an absolute standard of truth and to sit in judgment of what he does.

And, I'll tell you what, God has given us the truth of His Word. And, our problem, many times, is we forget this very first piece of the weaponry, and that's to stand, simply stand on what God has said. Praise God! God has called us by the truth. It says in chapter 4 the truth is in Jesus Christ. You follow the concept of truth through this whole thing, you will find that it is the Word of God that God has given to us. When God says something, it's something we can bank on. We can stand against every devil in hell, because God said it.

You think about what the battle really is about. You have somebody who cannot tell the truth on the one hand, and you have somebody, on the other hand who cannot lie. It doesn't make a bit of sense for us to not believe the one who cannot lie, to not believe Him. Whatever, well anyway, you know what I meant to say if I said it wrong. But you know, we struggle with this all the time. Oh, I don't know. I don't know if that's true or not. I don't feel it. I don't...we go by everything in the world except the objective standard of what God has said. If we will take our stand, God will honor us. Praise God! Praise God!

And "...the breastplate of righteousness in place...." (NIV). As I said earlier, where did we get our righteousness? Did we work real hard and then out there as a prize for our efforts, God declared us righteous? No. Every child of God, everyone who puts their trust in Jesus Christ, regardless of what they have done, regardless of what sins they are guilty of, the moment they put their trust in Jesus Christ they have the same righteousness that Jesus has.

How many of the attacks in your life involve you doubting your standing before God? A lot of 'em. Oh, what I did...I don't have any right. I don't have this. I'll tell you what, we need the moment we fall, if we do, when we mess up, we need to go to God. We need to reckon on the righteousness, the power of his blood to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and to get up and to put that over us.

That's another thing that is a key to this. God has not said, I'm going to dress you up and you will be invulnerable, has He? He's given us the job...excuse me, I'm gonna lose my voice here in a minute. He has given us the job of doing this for ourselves. There is a great storehouse of blessing and of truth that He has given to us in Christ Jesus, but it is not something that simply falls on us without our making some sort of an effort.

You know, I appreciate the thing...what I've heard Jimmy Robbins say and I need to do this more, myself, consciously. But, he gets up in the morning and consciously puts on the armor. Lord, I take your righteousness as a breastplate. I take your salvation. I take the sword. I take the belt of truth. He literally, just consciously reckons on what God has said in this passage of Scripture.

And if we want to be ready, that's what we need to do, because that's our problem. The devil catches us with our guard down and we're not...and suddenly we're not really reckoning on what God has said here and he catches us at a weak moment. And, God wants us to, at all times, to reckon not upon us, not upon our right through our own righteousness, but upon the righteousness which has been given to us through Jesus Christ.

When the devil condemns, well what did Jesus say? What did Paul say in Romans chapter 8? "Who is he that condemns?" Who is he that condemns? It's God that justifies. The judge of all the universe, the highest authority that there is, has declared everyone in Christ to be righteous. What devil in hell has a right to say different?

( congregational amens ).

But, God wants us to reckon upon that, not to take advantage of it and say, well, then, I can do as I please. That's not the right spirit. But, oh, we need to reckon on the fact that the devil has no right to accuse. The things that happen in our lives are between us and our Father. We have every right to go to him for the cleansing that he's provided.

( congregational amens).

That's one of the blessings. Praise God! He knows that we're young. He knows that we're growing. He knows that we're weak. He knows all about us. He knew that when He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. You didn't take Him by surprise. Praise God! He made plans for you and they're plans that no devil in hell can undo.

But oh, we need to reckon on 'em. We need to stand on that when the devil comes accusing you. When he tries to beat down your mind and say you're not worthy, you say, yes I am. I'm trusting in Jesus. I'm not trusting in what I do. I want to please Him. I want to grow, but I'm not trusting in that. I'm trusting in what He has given to me in Jesus Christ. I'm righteous because I was born of one who's righteous. There's a life in me that you cannot touch devil. It's gonna grow up and live forever. Praise God! Breastplate of righteousness, it covers over all our vital organs.

"...Your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace." Now the gospel of peace, of course, we mentioned earlier back in chapter 2 in verse 14, "For he himself is our peace...." And he talks about how he's broken down the barrier between Jew and Gentile. And it says, "His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both ..." that is Jew and Gentile, "...have access to the Father by one Spirit."

I'll tell you Jesus Christ is many things to us, but He is our peace. And, the biggest peace we need is not just some sort of emotion. I mean, don't go looking for some euphoric emotion where I'm just sitting here like I'm on a tropical beach and I haven't got a care in the world. That's not what he's talking about.

There is a relationship with God that has been established. We who were at war with God by virtue of being in the devil's kingdom have been brought near and that state of war has ended. We have peace with God. Praise God! We have a place to solidly stand before the devil and say, devil, God has made me right with Him and He has given me a peace with Him and I stand my ground against you.

If the devil can undermine that and cause you to go by your feelings or something else than the facts of what God has done, then your feet are kind of not in a very good place. You know, if you're gonna fight a battle your feet better be under you real good. And so, God has said, the peace that I can give you in your heart--not just an emotion, but a knowledge deep within of what He has done, that He has brought us together. We are in a state of peace with God and with one another. I'll tell you what, that will make you ready.

That's the problem. We go out, many times, in the morning, we're not ready. We just forget all about spiritual things and now, we've left church, now we're back in our regular lives. Almost like that's our real life. No! I'll tell you, it's all our real life. God wants us to get up in the morning and look up to Him and reckon on His promises and on His goodness and literally take to ourselves these blessings and reckon...I mean recognize what God has done, consciously. Consciously say, Lord, thank you for what you've done for me. It's all right and because I'm looking to you and I'm depending upon you this day, I'm ready. I'm ready, because the devil can jump out at you when you're not looking for it. But, God says we can be ready. God says we can be ready.

"In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith." Once again, that's a shield. That's something you've got to raise up. That's something we...we can't just sit there and say, oh, the devil is shooting these terrible arrows at me and I'm a poor victim. I just can't do anything about it. God has given us truth. You notice how every one of these things goes back to the promises and the truth of God's Word--every piece of armor. You look back through this entire book that Paul has just written about what we have in Christ, this is what he's saying it's for. It's...every bit of it arms us. It prepares us. It gives us what we need to be able to stand against the devil when he comes at us.

The shield of faith. I'll tell you, do you believe that God has forgiven your sins? Then why do you let the devil condemn you? Do you believe that you can do all things in Christ? Then why do we say, I can't do that? God wants us to learn to recognize when the devil is talking to us. When he's giving us his lies, we have every right to say, wait a minute, devil. I recognize where that's coming from. I recognize the source of wisdom. It's not from above, it's from beneath. It's designed to bring me down. I refuse it. I refuse to listen to it. I cast those evil imaginations down in the name of the Lord Jesus. God's Word is what I'm going by.

( congregational amens ).

And, you'll find the devil's thoughts cannot get to you and cannot defeat you. Praise God!

"Take the helmet of salvation...." You know I was just trying to cast about in my mind as I thought about this. It's a nice expression. But, trying to sort of figure it out in my mind, you know, what in the world is the connection? But, I'll tell you, the helmet, first of all, goes over your head, doesn't it? It's a protection, first of all, I believe for our minds.

But, salvation is what defines our relationship with God. We're not strong great individuals who are up here telling God what to do. We are objects of His mercy and His grace. Every day we are objects of His salvation. It is Him doing for us and in us and through us, what we could never do for ourselves.

But I'll tell you, if I step out...you know the Word warns us about being cocky. "...let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (KJV). But I'll tell you, if we come to the place where every day we recognize, Lord, I'm an object of your grace. You have declared that by your grace you are saving me.

Look at chapter 2. A scripture we read so many times. Verse 8 and 9, verse 8 in particular. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast" (NIV). I'll tell you, this principle of grace and faith--grace is the divine enablement. Grace is all that we need from God to be able to be His children. But it is a process of salvation. God gives us access to all of that grace through faith. We are objects of His salvation every day of our lives. Because He has promised that He has started a work. What's he promised about that?

( congregational response ).

That He's gonna finish it. And so as I think about living my life, I need to remember every day, Lord, you have promised...you thought about me from the foundation of the world. You planned to rescue me from my condition. You sent your Son. You put me in Him just as I put that marker in the Bible a while ago, you put me in Him. You lifted Him to a place where the devil could not touch. You have declared that you were gonna start this work and you were gonna complete it. There is an eternal purpose coming. There is a day coming when everything that's in Christ is gonna be brought together. There are ages to come.

Lord, this little thing that I'm experiencing right now is just a little blip on the radar screen. It's nothing compared to your purposes for me. I am the object of your salvation. I have every right to call upon your name every day for the grace and the strength that I need this particular day. Because you...it's not like you've sort of wound up my motor and started me off and said well now, good luck. I'll see you in heaven if you make it. He has absolutely brought us into a purpose and a plan in something that is eternal. Do you understand that? Do you know that God has done that for you? I'll tell you that gives you a place to stand, doesn't it?

-- Congregation: Yes.

-- Brother Phil Enlow: And, if we...and the thing is, He puts this on our minds, this knowledge, I am an object of His saving grace. I have a right to look to Him. I can never trust in myself because that's not salvation. Salvation is trusting in Him. It's abandoning all trust in self and trusting in Him instead. That is my position before Him today. He is my Saviour. He is my Lord. He is all that I need.

And I'll tell you, if we go forth and our day is armed with that knowledge, it's gonna make a tremendous difference in whether the devil can get to us at all. God wants us to know that we are objects of His grace and that what we have...what He has brought us into is certain. It's as certain in God's mind as if it has already happened. "For whom He did foreknow..."--What?--"...he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son...." (KJV). Moreover, whom he...anyway you remember, He also called...whom he justified, he called, he justified...whom he justified He did what? Glorified. God looks upon that as something that has already been done. Praise God! We've got something to shout about this morning.

( congregational amens ).

We've got a Saviour who can't fail. Jesus what? Never fails. Wonder about some of the songs we sang this morning? I believe the Lord planned those. Praise God! "...The helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit...." (NIV). This is where we literally say now wait a minute, devil. You're shooting at me or hitting at me. I've got something I can hit back. You say this, here's what God says. Take that!

That's what Jesus said. When the devil said, make yourself some bread...turn these stones into bread, He said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (KJV). He answered him right back with the Word. It's wasn't long before the devil said, I'm tired of this. He left Him. Praise God!

You know, it's not always a quick and easy thing. There are struggles. There are battles that we all go through and God ordains the time frame. In all of those things we need to learn to trust God. But, I'll tell you we have weapons against which the devil cannot stand. We are part of something that is certain, that is sure.

You read...you read through this book and you see how excited Paul was by the truth. Oh, it's just...he was in rapture over the glory of what God has done for us, just so eager to impart that to us. All of this is connected with all of that.

And, then he comes down to the end and he says, "And pray...." (NIV). And pray. We have a lot to learn in this area of praying and believing, but, I'll tell you there's a God who hears. There's a God who can do what He...do as He pleases. There's nothing that can stay His hand and, He's called upon us to pray. He's not just said, oh, I've got this eternal purpose just...you know, sign on and go to sleep. There's some fighting. There's some praying and I'll tell you, it's in the exercise of these things that we become all that He wants us to be. Praise God! It's not disconnected.

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert...." Be alert. God help every one of us to be alert and recognize that we live in enemy territory, but we have a...we have armaments. We have a God upon whom we can call. And, I'll tell you we can stand our ground and make the devil quit the field if we will trust...if we will stay upon our God.

Don't you...don't let the devil tell you that you're a second class Christian. You're just a screw up. You're just...you're not like everybody else. You're not like these heroes of faith in here. You're exactly like those heroes of faith. You're made of exactly the same stuff. I mean in that sense. We're just as human.

But, what made them heroes of faith was not because of who they were and what they were naturally. It's because they had a God and they knew who their God was and they trusted Him. Every one here can do that. Don't you let the devil tell you otherwise. "...Be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Now listen to what he says here, it's interesting.

"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." Here's the mighty apostle Paul as we can see with him. He's a man like us that God put His hand on. But, here's the mighty apostle Paul. You would think if anybody just didn't need anything, he had...just him and God. He had all that he needed. He could just go forth and just lick the devil just by looking at him. Preach the Word with power. He's telling these very Christians to whom he's been giving all this truth, he says, I need you to pray for me. We're connected. We're one in the spirit. Your prayers make a difference in what I do.

( congregational amens ).

Our prayers for one another make a difference. Do you believe that or are we just going through the motions? I pray many times when we come in on these prayer meetings, sometimes they are kind of, you know, there's just a handful and sometimes we don't have a lot of feelings. But, I tell you we need to come in here believing that we're not just here flapping our gums going through a form. If we will turn our hearts to God, there is a God who is listening. There is a God who will act in accordance with His plan and His will.

And, I'll tell you He's wanting us to exercise and as we do, we're gonna experience the blessings--these immeasurable blessings that God has given us in Jesus Christ. I'll tell you what--God wants us to realize that we are at war but that we have the...we have the captain of our salvation. We have the shout of a king among us!

( congregational amens ).

We have all that we need to stand. It's all been given us in Christ. Do you know who you are, this morning? Are you in Christ? If you're not, if this is all sounding weird and foreign to you, I would call...I would just encourage you to call upon the name of the Lord with all your heart to make this known to you, what it means to be taken from being a child of the world to becoming a child of the King. Coming to the end of yourself and saying, Lord, I turn my back on the world. I turn my back on my sins. I give it all to you, Lord. I can't do anything about it, but you've done it for me at the cross. I put my hope and my trust in you. You are my Lord. I confess you from this day forward. I'll tell you God will perform a miracle in your life. He will change you from...He will raise you from the dead. Praise God!

We see people raised from the dead all the time. Thank God! You know if we literally had a body down here and we prayed and all of a sudden they got up, everybody would say, WOW. But this is the kind of spiritual...this is the kind of resurrection we really need. It's people who are dead in trespasses and sins who are brought into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

But, if you're in Christ Jesus, don't you let the devil cheat you out of being the royal child of God that you are. We are His children. We are not down here somewhere. We are seated on a throne in heavenly places in Christ. He has given us authority over all the powers of darkness. That doesn't mean we're gonna go out here and just start emptying hospitals and throwing the United Nations people out. God has given us a spirit of things we're to do, but you know, within His call and purpose in our lives we have every right to stand up to the devil and say, devil, you have no right. I don't stand here because of who I am. I stand here because of who Jesus is. He is your Lord and master and I trust in Him this day.

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