happy to be saved Ephesians chapter 6 if you will Ephesians chapter 6 I guess it'd be good if I turned on this mic here Ephesians chapter 6 in verse 14 and continuing on in the series here on the armor of God and notice there at the top of the back page of the bulletin. It's the breastplate of righteousness. That's what we're discussing here this evening. And I'm asking the Lord to just do a great work. And as I've been studying through these messages here, the Lord's teaching me all kinds of things. And I praise the Lord for that. And even the most familiar passages, many times those are the ones that we overlook, the familiar passages in Scripture, and we need to return to the basics. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 14, the Bible says this, stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth, notice, and having on the breastplate righteousness. Notice there in in verses 10 and 11 it says, finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put on the whole armor of God. you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Well when you talk about the whole armor of God you cannot leave out any piece, we cannot leave out the breastplate of righteousness, we can't leave out what we studied last week with having our loins girt about with truth. If you leave out any piece you have disobeyed the Word of God because it says put on the whole armor of God. So we're going to study this here tonight, the breastplate of righteousness and And let's go to Lord in prayer and ask him to be with us here this evening. Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you. We thank you for all that you're doing. And Lord, I pray that you would draw us closer to you tonight, that each one of us would see that we need to have this breastplate of righteousness on. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to learn this very practical truth tonight. And Lord, that we would lean upon you more than we ever have before. Lord, we thank you for who you are and all that you're going to do. Lord, if there's anyone here or under the sound of my voice in the live stream that does not know you as their Savior, I pray they'd come to know you tonight. And we ask all these things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, last week, of course, we were studying the loins girt about with truth. And of course, that means that our life should pivot around truth. If you remember last week, we talked about or used the illustration of the hips in the body, how the upper body and the lower body, they both pivot around that hip section there, and our life, spiritually, it should pivot around truth. Everything that we do, it should have truth just flowing from that. You say, well, how can I do that? Well, how about start with the word of God, amen? That is truth. The Bible says, thy word is truth, and we need to have the word of God just flowing over us all day, every day, studying the Word of God. Never allow yourself to believe the lie of the devil in which you come to the point where you say, well, I've been in church for this long. There's nothing more for me to learn. No, there's always something to learn. I have heard messages that have been preached and great messages, biblical messages preached on just very, very simple verses in the Bible that I've read over so many times. Well, how was it that I hadn't thought about that truth before? Because to me, Well, it was just part of a bigger picture. But God had so much truth there in just those few words or in just that verse. I've heard countless messages preached on the simple verse, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Well, you read that verse and you think, well, I know God's the creator and all that, but when you hear a message preached on that and everything that it means that God is the creator and who he is to us and all of those things, it's just an amazing truth. We should always be studying the Bible. If you desire to stand against the wiles of the devil, we must be truthful. We must be. And we must realize that the word of God is truth. So as we move on tonight into the breastplate of righteousness, we need to remember that just as each piece of physical armor is there to protect us on the outside, you think of the military and the armor that they wear, just as that is there to protect them physically, understand the armor of God is there to protect us on the inside. Everything that we study for this armor of God there, it is going to affect us. It's going to have a direct effect on who we are on the inside, the breastplate of righteousness. What is it there to protect? It's there to protect our heart, our will, our emotions. That's why it's there. You know, the devil does not want you to live for the Lord. He doesn't want you to do that. What's he going to do? He's going to do everything he can to pull you away from living for the Lord. So what's Satan going to do in order to pull you away from that? He's going to attack your heart. Because he knows that we are emotional beings. Some people are more emotional than others, amen? Don't be pointing fingers, but there's emotional people. They just are. Every one of us, we're emotional. And the devil knows we're emotional. The devil knows that when he can get our eyes set on something, we'll do all we can to get that item, no matter what it may be. What's he doing? He's attacking our will, he's attacking our emotions, he's attacking our heart. Let's look at some scripture here this evening and see what the Bible has to say about this. Look at Jeremiah chapter 17, if you will. Jeremiah chapter 17. going to turn to a lot of scripture tonight, Lord willing. If we need to know what the Lord says, it doesn't need to be just what I say. It's what the Bible says. Amen. Jeremiah 17 in verse nine, notice the Bible says this, thine heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Notice verse 10. I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. Notice there, the heart is deceitful. Satan knows that if he can get us to follow our heart, he can deceive us because the heart is deceitful. Well, I'm just doing what I want to do. You're following a deceitful master. You're following a path that is going to cause you to be deceived. Look at Proverbs chapter four. Proverbs chapter four and verse 23. Proverbs chapter four and verse 23. The Bible says this, very familiar verse, keep thy heart with all diligence. For out of it are the issues. It doesn't say the issues surround the heart. Well, your heart can be deceitful because of the issues of life. No, the issues of life come out of the heart. Why? Because the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. The Bible says that these problems that are there, they're in verse 23, I'm sorry, Proverbs 4, 23, yes. It says, keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. Look at Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter 22. Here in Matthew 22, the words of our Savior here in verse 37, Matthew 22, 37. Notice what the Lord Jesus Christ says. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. You can't do that if you don't have the breastplate of righteousness on, because Satan is attacking your heart. If you're not wearing what God has told you to wear, if you don't have that breastplate of righteousness on you, understand that the wiles of the devil, the darts that he's throwing, they're gonna go directly at your heart, and you cannot love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, if we do not have the breastplate of righteousness on. Satan always has been and always will be attacking our hearts. He tempts us with our wants. He tempts us with our desires. And understand our wants and desires, they may not in and of themselves be sinful. But if they take us away from the Word of God, or if they cause us to disobey God's command, they become sinful. You know, it's not wrong to have nice things. But if you have to disobey the word of God to have those things, those things have become wrong in your life. What do we see in the nation of Israel? As we studied the Bible, we find that they were continually following their desires and their thoughts. They were following their heart. And what we find is every single time Israel did what they wanted to do, every time they followed their heart, every single time they wound up in idolatry, every time. You know, the word idolatry is mentioned 132 times in scripture. Satan has always used idolatry to turn man's heart from God. And Satan will use man's desires to take the focus off of God. And before we think that we're, well, I'm just too smart or I'm too spiritual to let that happen to me. Well, let's be reminded the wisest man to ever live was caught up in idolatry. Think of Solomon. Think of this man. He was wise and understand though, his heart was not always with the Lord. There were times in which it was settled. in idolatry. Look at the book of 1 Kings, if you will. 1 Kings chapter 11 in verse 4. Didn't know we were doing a sword drill tonight, amen? 1 Kings chapter 11 in verse 4. When we're in the teen class, I give a verse and all I do is I give the reference and I say, go. And you ought to hear those pages flipping, amen? try that in here sometime. First Kings chapter 11 in verse 4. Notice what the Bible says about Solomon. For it came to pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart after other gods and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as was the heart of David Now we can go on, of course, about the multiple wives that he had and how that was sin, and it was sin. God does not condone the plurality of spouses, but understand here, if we look at it in where we are today, when it says that Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, is it wrong to be married? No. It's not wrong to be married at all. God provides a spouse for you and follow God's will in that and allow God to guard your heart in that while searching for a spouse and those types of things. Marriage is a wonderful thing. It may be better for me than it is for my wife, amen, but marriage is a wonderful thing. I'm glad I didn't hear any amens from the left side of me over here. But marriage, understand, marriage is a good thing, But if we were to allow our spouse to turn our heart from God, we've taken what God meant for good and we've used it for evil. Why? Because of our heart. You see, we are to be followers of Christ first. What keeps our heart in tune with God? Righteousness. Righteousness is what does that. This is why we have the breastplate of righteousness, the loins girt about with truth. Understand they will control the way that we conduct ourselves and the breastplate of righteousness will protect our will and our emotions. So I wanna take a few moments this evening and talk about some forms of idolatry that can sneak in and can force us away from righteousness. Notice, first of all, the types of idolatry, the types of idolatry. Look at letter A there on the handout. Notice worldly idolatry. You may say, well, wait a second, is there a difference in, is there a different kind of idolatry than worldly idolatry? Well, we'll get there, just hold on to your seat, amen. Worldly idolatry, well, what do you mean by that? You know, this world, they place their hope and their faith and try to look for peace and joy and things. They try to look for it in all kinds of things. People turn to what they call good luck charms. Though it may seem innocent, understand that's idolatry. Because we are taking our faith that should be in God, and our hope that should be in God, and we're placing it in an inanimate object. Not placing it in the God of heaven, who sent his son to die for us, but we're placing it in this thing that is not even alive. People carry around these things with them, they have them stored in certain places, and they claim, well, it gives me good luck. The reality is when we are relying on good luck or some good luck charm, when we are relying on some inanimate object to keep us safe or to help us prosper, what we are doing is we are placing our trust in an item and that trust should only be placed in Almighty God. Someone may say, well, this is my lucky rabbit's foot. Well, you know what's going to happen? It's going to rot, it's going to stink, and you're going to lose it at some point. You may say, well, this is my lucky coin. Well, it's going to get lost someday. Well, I wear this crucifix around my neck to give me grace. A piece of wood cannot give you grace. Well, it's made of pure gold. I can't give you grace either. Nothing can give you grace outside of God himself. How foolish it is of us who claim to be believers, who claim to know the Lord, who claim to have all of our trust in him, how foolish it is for others to see that we hold on to these little idols in our lives, and then we will stand up and say, well, you shouldn't trust in anything but God, but then we've got our trust in these little things that we consider to be innocent. It's idolatry. People say, well, this is my four leaf clover. Do you know how rare these are? Well, they're rare enough to where I could go on Amazon and have it on my porch tomorrow morning. That's how rare a four leaf clover is, amen. But we place our trust in those little things. How foolish is that? It's idolatry. Let's place our trust in God. Let's place our trust in His righteousness. What about this as well, not only these lucky charms, if you will, not the cereal, those can stay on the shelf and I'll buy those and eat those, amen, they're good. But I'm talking about these good luck charms, but also what about idol worship? You see, many times we will look at an Indian religion, one that has to do with this plurality of gods, of course, little G gods, and they'll have these idols all over their house, and we will We'll look at that and we'll say how foolish that is. We know the one true God. We know that the God of heaven is the only one who should be worshiped. How foolish it is to have all of those things that they're trying to earn some grace from. People worship trees or they worship some other object. It's foolish. Look at Romans chapter one, if you will. Romans chapter one. You may say, well, people they're worshiping the creation, that's exactly what they're doing, and they're doing what the Bible says that they shouldn't do, because when you worship the creation, you take the worship away from the Creator. Look at Romans 1 in verse 25, the Bible says this, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature, more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. You may say, well, I don't carry a good luck charm and I don't have any statues on my mantle at home. I don't worship the creation, so I must be doing okay in this area. I must have on the breastplate of righteousness because, well, I don't carry those things with me. You walk into my house and I don't have those things. I don't have a statue of Mary in the front yard or anything like that, no. So I must have the breastplate of righteousness on. Well, we've only gotten through the worldly idolatry. Next, I wanna look at what we're going to call Christian idolatry. Christian idolatry. Now, understand even as believers, ones that have trusted Christ as their personal savior, We are just as much in danger of falling into idolatry as anyone else is. What about the nation of Israel? God's chosen people. What happened to them? They fell into idolatry. Why? Because they followed their heart rather than following the righteousness of God. Let me say, well, what are you talking about, Christian idolatry? Well, as we look at these things, we're not looking at images or idols that the eye can see necessarily, but rather some other things that the Bible declares to be idolatry. Notice there, number one of our passage there on the handout under letter B, notice the first Christian idol we'll say is this, covetousness. That's idolatry. When we are coveting something, that means that we are saying to ourselves, I want or I must have. have the spirit of covetousness what we are saying, though the words may not come out of our lips, but what we are saying with our spirit and what God sees our heart saying is this, I cannot be happy unless I acquire, or unless I attain this." Look at Colossians chapter 3 and verse 5 if you will. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 5. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 5. The Bible says this, mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. Notice this list. Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and notice covetousness which is idolatry. See many times we We'll follow these things and we'll chase these things and we'll do all we can to acquire things. When the Bible says that's idolatry, it's covetousness. Why? Because it's taking our mind off of the Lord God. It's causing us to chase these things that are carnal and these things that are fleshly and we're chasing those things rather than allowing our mind to follow the Lord and say, God, if you want me to have that, you'll provide that for me. But Lord, if you don't, I know that whatever state I'm in there with to be content. As the Bible says, look at Ephesians chapter five in verse five, Ephesians five, five. The Bible says, For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Notice it's speaking of covetous there, covetousness being idolatry. You see, covetousness is what pulls a heart away from God when we feel as though we have to have something so bad that we feel as though we cannot be happy unless we have it. That's covetousness and it's impossible to be righteous if we are covetous. It's impossible. Look at some illustrations here of covetousness in the Bible. Look at Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3 verse 6 and 7. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6 and 7. Genesis three, verse six and seven, the Bible says this, and when the woman, notice, saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. Notice, she saw something. The covetousness does not happen just because we see something. I think every man in this room would attest to the fact that you drive past some truck dealerships, you see some trucks that you just have to have, amen. I finally get some amens out of the team group in the back. You drive past those things, you say, wow, some beautiful trucks out there. The covetousness sets in when we say, and I'll do whatever I have to do to get that. I'll work whatever hours I have to work. I'll miss church. I'll miss church activities. I'll take time away from my family and I'll sacrifice the time with almighty God so that I can have that. You see, it's one thing to look at something and say, wow, that's a nice vehicle. Wow, that would be nice to have. But to take that and say, my joy is only found in owning that, that's covetousness. That's what happened with Eve here. She saw it, she wanted it, she took it, didn't matter that God said don't take it. It was covetousness. Notice 2 Kings chapter five. 2 Kings 5, starting in verse 20. 2 Kings 5, starting in verse 20. Notice it says in verse 20, but Ghazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God said, behold, my master has spared name in this, uh, the Syrian, uh, in not receiving at his hands, uh, that which he brought, but as the Lord liveth, I will run after him and take somewhat of him and Ghazi, uh, followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him and said is all well. And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver and two changes of garment. And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents in silver and two bags with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants, and they bare them before him. And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand and bestowed them in the house. And he let the men go and they departed. But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, thy servant went no whither. And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed forever. And he went out of his presence a leper as white as snow. What happened? Covetousness. That's what happened. And God judged that. We'll get to that, to the judgment here in just a little while. Look at the book of Joshua, if you will. Look at Joshua chapter seven, Joshua chapter seven, Joshua seven verses 19 is where we'll start. Notice Joshua chapter 7, starting in verse 19. The Bible says, And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him, and tell me now what thou hast done. Hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonian garment and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight, then I coveted them. and took them, and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran into the tent, and behold, it was hid in his tent." Now, for time's sake, we won't continue down in that passage there, but what you're going to find is that this man Achan and his whole family, they were all destroyed. They were killed right there in the Valley of Achor, which is called even unto this day. Why? Covetousness. because of idolatry. Because he was following what a lot of so-called believers follow today, which is covetousness. Look at the book of 2 Samuel chapter 11, 2 Samuel chapter 11 starting in verse 1, It says, And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an evening, Ty, that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman, and one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers and took her, and she came in unto him, and he lay with her, for she was purified from her uncleanness, and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived and sent and told David and said, I am with child. And David sent to Joab saying, send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. What's happening here? We see that David, the man after God's own heart was caught up in covetousness, idolatry. Well, that could never happen to me. Most of the time it happens at some point of our everyday life. where we think, I just have to have that. You see, in every instance, greed is associated, which is a direct violation of God's law. Too often, we look at covetousness in a different light than what is laid out in the Bible. We seem to think that a desire to have is okay as long as we sugarcoat it in our lives. But understand, there is only one of two places that a believer can be in, and only God and ourselves know which one of these places we're in. You're either content or you're covetous. It's one or the other. Now there are going to be some days in which you're more content than others and there's many days in which we are more covetous than we are content. How can we ensure that we have on this breastplate of righteousness? By setting aside idolatry. By not following the evil things of our heart. Don't follow what your heart says to do. No, follow what God's word says. If we have the money to buy a new car, but don't have the money to tithe as God has told us to, understand we're covetous. If we can max out credit cards, but we refuse to be a giver, understand we're covetous. You see, in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 5, we are told to be content. Why is it that we have churches that are filled with disgruntled people? Because we're not content. Because we always have to have. Because we're looking at everything around us and say, well, I just have to have that. You know what you find with covetous people and discontent people? You find that no matter what happens in their life, they will find something to complain about. Notice not only covetousness, but notice the next one there that we see is, and this is number two there on your handout, that's this, stubbornness. You know, stubbornness is idolatry. You say, well, how can that be? Because it's worshiping ourselves and our own ideas. more than worshiping what God has said. This is when God or God-given leadership says that we should do something and we say, well, I'm not going to do that. Some people will say, well, I'm just hard-headed. This is just who I am. Well, that's true, but it's just as true to say that it's stubbornness and it's sin. Understand these are not the words of Pastor Combs. I don't want to say that stubbornness is a sin. You know why? Because I am incriminating myself, amen? Because we're all stubborn at times. I don't want to say that covetousness is a sin. Why? Because I'm self-incriminating. Understand, but the Bible says that it is sin. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 15, 1 Samuel chapter 15 and verse 23. 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 23. Notice, these are the words of God here in His Word. It says, is as the sin of witchcraft, notice, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. That's what the Bible says, because thou has rejected the word of God, notice he hath also rejected thee from being king, speaking of Saul there. Understand it is because of covetousness, it is because of idolatry, it is because of stubbornness. You know what stubbornness is defined as? Notice it is defined as being unreasonably obstinate and inflexibly fixed in opinion. There is very few things in this life that we are to be fixed in our opinion about. A couple of those things that we should be fixed in our opinion about is this, that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. That's not just our opinion, that's the truth from God's Word. We should also be fixed in that this is the Word of God. We have the Word of God, we can learn the Word of God. The King James Version Bible for English-speaking people is the Word of God that has been, of course, translated for us. on those things. When we say, well, I understand stubbornness is a sin, but I've just always been stubborn and I always will be. Well, then don't blame the Lord when you wind up in a mess like the ones we read about in scripture. I want you to look at Psalm chapter 78. Psalm chapter 78. Psalm 78 in verse 8. And then look down at verse 56 as well. Psalm 78 and verse eight, the Bible says this, it might not be as their fathers a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their heart aright and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. Wait a second there. So we see a stubbornness and rebellion. We see that equated with some ones who did not set their heart aright. What do we see there? They did not have on the breastplate of righteousness. They were not allowing God to guide their life with his righteousness. They were following their stubborn heart, that generation, and God is saying, don't be that way. Look at verse 56, notice, I'm sorry, yet they tempted and provoked the most high God and kept not his testimonies, but turned back and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow, for they provoked him to anger with their places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, He was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel. so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, and the tent which he placed among men, and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hands. And he gave his people over also unto the sword, and was wroth with his inheritance. The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not given to marriage. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. Awakened as one out of out of sleep and like a mighty man That that shouteth by reason of wine and he smote his enemies in the hinder parts He put them in to a perpetual reproach moreover. He refused the tabernacle of Joseph He chose not the tribe of Ephraim. Why? as we read in the beginning of that passage they became as their fathers like they were told not to become earlier in the chapter. Why? Because their fathers were rebellious. Their fathers were stubborn. Some people will say, well, I just learned this, my family is just this way. Well, the children of Israel were told, don't be like your family. Don't do that. Follow God. Instead, there in Psalm 78, because they were stubborn, they were taken captive. In the book of Jonah, we know that he was swallowed by a whale. In 1 Samuel, we know that the Lord rejected Saul because of his stubbornness. You see, too often we allow ourselves to get a pass on sin because it's just what we've always done. But in reality, it's God's desire for us to be new creatures. We are to be completely new. He desires that we follow Him. Our attitude is supposed to change. And though sometimes changing our attitude and outlook on life is hard, sometimes it's harder than stopping a train, amen? Takes a long time to stop a train. It may seem impossible. Well, I just don't know how I could change. I've just lived this way for so long. The Bible says with God, all things are possible. You can change. All of us can. But we have to make the decision whether or not we're going to put on the breastplate of righteousness, or if we're going to continue to follow our heart and live in idolatry. You know, in Deuteronomy chapter 21, We will read in that passage there and in the verses in there that the ones that were stubborn and the ones that were rebellious, you know what had to happen to them? They were to be stoned to death. Now, I praise the Lord that we don't live under that law anymore. Amen. None of us would be here today if we lived under that law. But you know what that should do? It should cause us to do some self-reflecting because if we're honest with ourselves and honest before the Lord, our response to the study and to the preaching and the hearing of God's word is not always what it should be. And many times we don't have a righteous response. personal devotions, or whether it is in a ladies' meeting, or a men's prayer breakfast, or here in church, whatever it may be when we're studying the Word of God, too often we come to the passage with a self-righteous attitude. saying, God, whatever you point to me that's what I'm going to change. I know it may be hard, but Lord that's what I'm going to do. That's the difference between righteousness of God and self-righteousness. That's the difference between righteousness and idolatry, and stubbornness, and these things that we're talking about here. What is our response to the preaching of God's Word? Do we treat it like a buffet? Do we just take what we want and leave the rest? Or do we allow the Lord to apply it all to our heart? You know what stubbornness says? Stubbornness says, I won't, even when God says do this. Stubbornness says, I don't have to do that. Notice number three there on your handout, the third one that we see there is yielding to temptation. That's idolatry. Exactly what it is just as stubbornness says I won't yielding to temptation says I will even when God says Don't do that. It is going against what God wants us to do in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 in verse 13 in 14 Notice the Bible says this there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry." What idolatry? Temptation. Don't yield to it. Don't say, well, Satan just, he just came and he just got the best of me. No, you gave into to that idolatry. You gave into that covetous spirit. You gave into that stubbornness and you allowed Satan to win in your life. Understand, yielding to temptation. If you're yielding to those things, you do not have on the breastplate of righteousness. You have not put it on. When we yield to temptation, understand we're worshiping ourselves. What do we see in those scripture passages that we read just a little bit ago? We saw that every single one of those people, they chased what they wanted. Eve grabbed the fruit that she wanted, even though God said, don't take it. Achan took the gold and the Babylonian garment and things, he took those, even though God said, destroy it all, he took it. He said, I want that. What were they doing? They were yielding to temptation. The way we act shows the way or shows who we love the most. There is a illustration of an Indian man. Indian man had two dogs and the village there, they would oftentimes get together this man's house. And one of the big things in the village there is they would do dog fights. Now, we're not for those, I understand that, but it's just the way of illustration. This is a true story here. This man, he had these two dogs and he would allow them to fight. And what he did is he used this to make some money for himself. So, the other people from the tribe, they would come to his house on the set time and they would they would place bets on on which dog was going to win and of course this man also would place a bet as well and it came to somebody's mind that every single time even though the owner is betting on different dogs every time the owner is on the winning side every time the one that he bets on wins Somebody came to him after he had stopped doing that and he had retired, if you will. Someone came to him and they said, how was it that you always won? You always chose the right dog, even though a different dog would win all the time, you always chose the one that would win. He said, well, that's easy. He said, I knew the fight was coming. I would feed the one that I was going to bet on. Now think about this. You may say, well, that's cruel. Yes, it is. But isn't that the way that we live our life as well? We feed ourselves carnal things a whole lot more than we feed ourselves spiritual things. We pick up our Bible and come in for Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, but then it sits on the side table the rest of the week. What dog are you feeding? You can't say, well I have the breastplate of righteousness on when all we're doing is feeding our carnal side. You can't say, well I'm wearing the breastplate of righteousness if all you're doing is yielding to temptation. If all you're doing is continuing on in your stubbornness. If all you're doing is living a life of covetousness. You cannot say that you're wearing the breastplate of righteousness when you are completely content in living that life apart from what God's Word says. Which side are we feeding? He can't be both. And notice number two there, and very quickly here, notice not only the types of idolatry, but notice number two, God's view of idolatry. Understand that what we do as God's children either brings Him joy or brings Him hurt. It's one or the other. There is no middle ground. When we break his law, he's hurt. When we keep his law, he's happy. It's one or the other. Notice God's view of idolatry. Notice letter A there. God is a jealous God. He's a jealous God. He hates idolatry, and he wants nothing to come between him and us as his children. God lets us know that by what he says there in his word. When you look at the Ten Commandments, what's he say? Thou shalt not have no other gods before me. Don't have any more gods. Why? Because he is God. Don't make any graven images, he says. He says, don't follow idolatry. You see, God warned us all the way back in the Old Testament how we are to live. And if we were living the way that God told us to live, if we would keep those gods out of our lives, understand it would be a whole lot easier to wear the breastplate of righteousness. God is a jealous God. Notice, let her be there. He punishes idolatry. When the children of Israel made the golden calf, what did God do? He judged them. You know, not one time could they hide behind the excuse, well, we made this golden calf because that's, well, that's just the way we were raised. You know, most of those people, all of those people were raised in captivity. They were raised in slavery. They were raised under the influence of the Egyptians who were idolatrous people. But yet, when they turned to idolatry, it wasn't the Egyptians that got blamed for it, it was them. You can't say, well, this is just the way I am because, well, of who my parents were. No, you have to decide the way you're going to live. You have to decide whether you're going to put on the breastplate of righteousness or not, and understand that you will be judged based on what you do. Some people say, well, this is just the way that I've always done things. Well, the reality is this, if you continue on that way then you'll continue getting the same punishment that you've always gotten as well. We answer for ourselves. The Kingdom of Israel was split because of idolatry. Find that in 1 Kings 11, verse 30-33. The children of Israel lost their country and went into captivity because of idolatry. Why do we see all these things happening to Israel today? Israel is all over the news all the time. Why? Because I can take you back to many instances where God warned them and what did they do? They kept turning to idolatry. Oh, that will never happen to me. Yes, it will if you do the same things that they did and turn to idolatry. That's exactly what will happen. Well, I'll never be taken captive the way they are. If that's your attitude you've already been taken captive by Satan himself. Understand, as we study this breastplate of righteousness, we can see that righteousness is what protects the heart. And as we have that breastplate of righteousness on, as we are wearing that, we've got the truth, we have our loins girt about with truth, and we have the breastplate of righteousness. Understand, we're building this suit of armor here, but we are told, put on the whole armor of God. Don't continue on in unrighteous practices. Don't do that. The armor is only helpful if it's worn. When we do not allow the Lord to have our whole heart, understand we live a hypocritical Christian life. When we live our lives apart from God's word, we're just as guilty as the ones who are discussed in the book of Mark chapter seven. Mark chapter seven in verse six. Let me read this very quickly and we'll be done. Mark chapter seven in verse six. Notice, he answered and said unto them, Will hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. If we're coming into the house of God and honoring God with our lips, but living apart from him as soon as service lets out and for the rest of the week, your heart is far from God and you're not wearing the breastplate of righteousness. Righteousness is the armor that protects the heart. Your heart will enjoy what you allow it to enjoy, whether that be spiritual or whether that be carnal. The question is not whether or not God will protect our heart. The question is whether or not we're going to put on the armor and allow Him to do that. Don't think that God has just left us in this cruel world to fend for ourselves. No, He's given us the armor. Let's just put it on. Amen? Let's live a righteous life.