[SPEAKER_01]: And so Ephesians chapter 6, we're going to start in verse 11, we're going to read down through verse 17.
[SPEAKER_01]: He'll be on the screen if you want to follow that way.
[SPEAKER_01]: It says, this says, put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the devil.
[SPEAKER_01]: For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil and the heavens.
[SPEAKER_01]: This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day having prepared everything to take your stand.
[SPEAKER_01]: Then how do we do that?
[SPEAKER_01]: Starting in verse 14, stand there for with the truth like a belt around your waist.
[SPEAKER_01]: Righteousness, like armor on your chest and your feet sandled with readiness for the gospel of peace.
[SPEAKER_01]: And every situation take the shield of faith and with it you will be able to extinguish all of the flaming arrows of the evil one.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: Take the helmet of salvation in the sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're taking notes this morning, the title of today's messages we talk about the breastplate of righteousness is, I am righteous.
[SPEAKER_01]: I am righteous.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on.
[SPEAKER_01]: Somebody declare that out loud with your mouth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Say, I am righteous.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: Glory to God.
[SPEAKER_01]: Father, we thank you, Lord, for
[SPEAKER_01]: You're word today, God, we thank you, Father, for just teaching us something new, God, imparting your wisdom into us, Father, we thank you for real, raw revelation of your word to come forth today in Jesus' name.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Paul says in verse 13, this is why you should take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to resist and in the evil day.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna go over this every single week because it's important that we understand.
[SPEAKER_01]: That word evil there is that word paneros, which means labor pain sorrow all right So he says that you may be able to withstand in the evil day in the days that is are you feel like you're laboring You know that are painful that are sorrowful these aren't talking about the evil days as in the end of all time type of days Okay, these are talking about just some troubling days when you're going through some troubling days You need to know that you can resist
[SPEAKER_01]: the against it and you can stand in the evil day, all right, and so Paul obviously makes it makes this clear understanding to us that there will be days of victory, there will be days of breakthrough, there will be days of blessings, but there will also be days when it's challenging when it's rough, when it's tough, when it's frustrating, when it's chaotic, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: And so the armor of God is given to us for two reasons in those evil day and the first one remember is to resist and the second is to stand.
[SPEAKER_01]: That word resist there is that word antihistomy which means to withstand, to set against, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: To withstand, to set against.
[SPEAKER_01]: This is all just, I'm briefly going over what we've discussed already.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Paul says, put on the armor of God so that you can resist, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: So that you can stand against whenever the evilness, the wickedness, comes against you, but it cannot touch you because it is blocked by that resistance.
[SPEAKER_01]: There is a supernatural resistance that is there that it does not allow it to touch you, amen, because you know what it means to resist, because you have put on the armor of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: It says the second part about the armor of God is so that you can want.
[SPEAKER_01]: Stand, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: So you can stand, which is that word histamine, which means to cause the stand to set in place.
[SPEAKER_01]: I like the second part of that definition, they're to set in place.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's getting our feet firm in a position understanding that we cannot be knocked down.
[SPEAKER_01]: We cannot be moved.
[SPEAKER_01]: We cannot be shaken, but we know what it is to resist to put up a block against the attacks of the enemy,
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so when we put on the armor of God, we can stand and we can resist in the evil day.
[SPEAKER_01]: So last week I taught you about the belt of truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Today we're gonna talk about the breastplate of righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: For some of you this is maybe your favorite piece of the armor, if you will.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's a wonderful piece of the armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now many theologians have argued about the breastplate and the main argument that you see is this.
[SPEAKER_01]: Does the breastplate represent the righteousness that Christ gives us?
[SPEAKER_01]: or does the breastplate is at the righteous life that we live for him?
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you think about it, the answer is actually both.
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe it's both.
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe the answer is yes.
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe that the breastplate of righteousness represents the righteousness that Christ gives us.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I also believe that it's the righteous life that we live for him.
[SPEAKER_01]: So first and foremost, I want us to understand this.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me just give you a teaching about righteousness before we jump into the breastplate.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we have no righteousness without his righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have no righteousness without his righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: The prophet Isaiah said that God looked for justice.
[SPEAKER_01]: for someone to cry out for those that who had been oppressed, but couldn't find anyone to intercede for them.
[SPEAKER_01]: You remember that scripture?
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe in Isaiah, like 54 or something like that, but he couldn't find God looked down upon the earth, couldn't find anybody to intercede for those that were being oppressed.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the Bible says this, that God himself put on righteousness like a breastplate.
[SPEAKER_01]: God himself did.
[SPEAKER_01]: He put on righteousness like a breastplate.
[SPEAKER_01]: So this is where Paul is getting this revelation in this understanding of a breastplate of righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: He knows the importance of the breastplate for the Roman soldier.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's remembering the revelation that he received understanding when it comes about, the prophet Isaiah that said, even God himself puts on righteousness like a breastplate.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Paul remembered this.
[SPEAKER_01]: He remembered that Isaiah said that when God looked upon the earth and he couldn't find anyone to stand up for anybody, couldn't find anybody to intercede.
[SPEAKER_01]: He couldn't find anybody to fight for the oppressed, to stand for justice.
[SPEAKER_01]: So God himself chose to put on righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: And Jesus came and he lived what we know to be 33 sinless years upon the earth.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he came in the flesh, but yet committed no sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now how is that?
[SPEAKER_01]: How can a man of flesh commit no sin?
[SPEAKER_01]: Because he became our righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: He became our righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, that we have the ministry of reconciliation, and we have been reconciled to God so that we might become the righteousness of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: So he, Jesus, who knew no sin, the Bible says became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.
[SPEAKER_01]: He never sinned.
[SPEAKER_01]: Can you believe that?
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Jesus never sinned.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, not one of us can say we've never sinned.
[SPEAKER_01]: Not one of us can say that we haven't sinned in the last month.
[SPEAKER_01]: I know you don't want to admit it.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's OK, because you said it was true that you've never sinned, but I say the last month and you're like,
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it's true.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't care how, you know, whatever, you know, spiritual you are, okay?
[SPEAKER_01]: You've had some thoughts cross your mind.
[SPEAKER_01]: You, you, you live, you've done some things.
[SPEAKER_01]: You've said some things, you know, I mean, the reality is we live with a sinful nature and we know what sin is.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's amazing to think about that Jesus didn't know sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: He knew no sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's an amazing thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, you say, well, pastor, that's because he was the son of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, had nothing to do with that.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's because the Bible says he was still tempted.
[SPEAKER_01]: So you can't say that because Jesus was the son of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's the reason he was the chosen one.
[SPEAKER_01]: He was God's son.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's why he didn't sin, that's false.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because the Bible clearly identifies the fact that Jesus was tempted.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so if he was tempted with sin and never sinned, then that means he chose not to sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, how many times have we been given opportunities to sin or not sin and we choose to sin?
[SPEAKER_01]: And in those moments, Jesus said, ah, I'm not doing it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I know who I am.
[SPEAKER_01]: I know what I'm here for.
[SPEAKER_01]: I know what I was sent to accomplish.
[SPEAKER_01]: I am not going to fall to this temptation into the weight of this world.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I am not going to sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: He was still tempted.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hebrews 415 says that while he was tempted, he chose not to sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: He was without sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, which listen is exactly why we can go boldly to the throne room of grace and we can find help in times of trouble because we have a high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus knows what it's like to be tempted.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's not out there without understanding of what it's like to be man.
[SPEAKER_01]: He was fully God and fully man for a reason.
[SPEAKER_01]: And part of the reason was for this of that, he could have the understanding of what it was like to be man and to be tempted.
[SPEAKER_01]: But he never sinned.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's the good news of the gospel.
[SPEAKER_01]: A man who tasted temptation overcame that temptation in every place that he was tempted
[SPEAKER_01]: So one day the father looked down at the sinless son and said, you are worthy to bear the sin of the whole world, not because you are a sinner, but because you are a spotless lamb.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: That should get you excited.
[SPEAKER_01]: Glory to God.
[SPEAKER_01]: Why did he cry until his sweat became drops of blood?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll tell you why, because the weight and the pressure of the sin of the ages rested on his shoulders, and yet he chose to remain the perfect spotless lamb of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: He who knew, no sin, became sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't know sin, but he bore it.
[SPEAKER_01]: all of those times of resisting the temptation and then coming to the place of knowledge and understanding on the cross at all those times I said no yet I still right now have to say yes to carrying it in the way of all of our sins rest of the uponish holders
[SPEAKER_01]: This is why a person that truly understands who they are in Christ and what Jesus has done for them won't ever take advantage of the cross.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you really understand who you are in Christ and what Jesus has did for you, you won't ever take advantage of grace.
[SPEAKER_01]: You wouldn't ever take advantage of His forgiveness.
[SPEAKER_01]: Why?
[SPEAKER_01]: Because you would understand righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: And let me tell you something.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you have the attitude of, well, I can sin and Jesus will still forgive me, you're probably actually not born again.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that's harsh, Pastor.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, it's just truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just truth.
[SPEAKER_01]: A child of God does not say, thank you for grace, but I'm just going to keep on sinning.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because hear me, those who are truly born again, don't want to sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: We are convicted of sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: And yes, we fall short sometimes.
[SPEAKER_01]: I get it.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we are convicted when we are tempted and we fall to that temptation.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a conviction that comes upon us because we have been born again, because we are the righteousness of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you do sin, there is a brokenness that comes about you that drives you to repentance.
[SPEAKER_01]: Father, I know I shouldn't have done that, but I'm coming to you now, and I'm asking for your forgiveness.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm asking for you to wash me clean and make me hold again.
[SPEAKER_01]: And Jesus doesn't ever say, oh, no, not today.
[SPEAKER_01]: Note that was way too big.
[SPEAKER_01]: Or I note that was too much of a mistake, or no, that sin was not way too, no, he don't never do that.
[SPEAKER_01]: But in his love and his grace is forgiveness, his mercy and in his righteousness, he looks upon us and he still calls us righteous.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we come to him and we repent and we say, Father, I'm sorry.
[SPEAKER_01]: And because he is righteous and we are made righteous in him, he says, it's okay, I don't see your sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: I just see the righteousness of Christ in you.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a beautiful thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: So therefore, then we can now come to the understanding that we don't have to live in condemnation.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we can fall short of the glory of God, repent, understand who we are in Him.
[SPEAKER_01]: He forgives us, he washes us clean.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the Bible says that he throws it away.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's gone.
[SPEAKER_01]: And even God himself don't think about it no more.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if he don't think about it no more, neither should we.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we don't have to stay in a place of condemnation where we feel guilty for the things that we have done, the sins that we have committed, the things that we have said, the things that we have done, we don't have to live in a place of condemnation because we took on the righteousness of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: Is everybody understanding this today?
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so you need to know that the only reason that you and I are living today is because the spotless limb died in your place.
[SPEAKER_01]: You are alive today, you are thriving today, you are full of life today, why?
[SPEAKER_01]: Because there was a spotless lamb that took your place.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah, come on, that ought to make you happy this morning.
[SPEAKER_01]: That ought to make you shout this morning.
[SPEAKER_01]: He was rich with love, he was rich with grace, he was rich with righteousness, and guess what?
[SPEAKER_01]: We were absolutely bankrupt.
[SPEAKER_01]: We had nothing.
[SPEAKER_01]: We had nothing to offer, but then justice came in, and just to said, I'll pay the bill for them.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: We were messed up, full of sin, full of mistakes, full of all kinds of things, wickedness to the core of who we were.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we looked at Jesus and we said, we have nothing to offer right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: And Jesus said, it's okay, I'll pay for all of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll pay for every bit of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: You can be absolutely broke.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna pay for it right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so amazing to think about such a good father.
[SPEAKER_01]: Why would he do that?
[SPEAKER_01]: Why would he be willing to do that?
[SPEAKER_01]: He's so good.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's so faithful to us.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was telling the people at prayer two weeks ago
[SPEAKER_01]: where some people that we thought we trusted, of course, we thought that loved us and that we loved them.
[SPEAKER_01]: I remember one time, we were slowly taking over my grandparents' church and stepping up into greater capacity and leading and preaching and all these kind of things.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the spirit of God was really moving, and this couple started coming to church, and they started to really be used by God in a mighty way, and we were getting connected, they were coming into our home, and all these kind of things, and all of a sudden one day out of the complete blue, they said, we need to talk to y'all.
[SPEAKER_01]: So they pulled us into my office after service, and the lady looked at me, and she said that the Lord told her to correct me,
[SPEAKER_01]: I thought, okay, here we go.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now I'm fine.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll receive correction if I need a receive correction, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: But she said, you talk about the goodness of God way too much.
[SPEAKER_01]: She said, you need a quick preaching about the goodness of God and that he's always so good.
[SPEAKER_01]: And she said, the Lord told me to tell you to stop preaching about how good God is.
[SPEAKER_01]: Me and Melissa looked at each other like,
[SPEAKER_01]: In that the point of Jesus, like in that the point of this whole thing is the goodness of God that leads us to what?
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm thinking myself, what are you talking about?
[SPEAKER_01]: And she says, you're not to preach on the goodness of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: I thought, how bizarre.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I realized instantly in that moment that there was a spirit of something that came over that woman instantly.
[SPEAKER_01]: And she was not speaking in her.
[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't her.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was a spirit that was coming against the word of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was coming against the truth that was being spoken.
[SPEAKER_01]: I politely said to her, Melissa, I remember, I politely said, I do not receive your word, but thank you.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I showed her out the office.
[SPEAKER_01]: Herner has been both.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I thought to myself, wow, like we can really get to a place where we have received salvation, we have received grace, where we can take on righteousness, but yet come to the understanding where we can be so caught off guard, where we no longer accept what Jesus has done for us.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we will verbally speak against it.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's someone who doesn't understand who they are in Christ.
[SPEAKER_01]: because you can't speak like that and know who you are in Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't line up, it doesn't make sense.
[SPEAKER_01]: To say that you can't talk about the goodness of God when our God is good, and the goodness of God is like who he is, that means that somebody just got tripped up with their identity, tripped up with their understanding, tripped up with the fact that they don't know what they're even saying.
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's why really came to the conclusion
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's amazing to me to think about that we serve such a good father, such a good savior that said, I know how empty you are.
[SPEAKER_01]: But yet I'm going to pay all of it in full.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen, and when it, when, when it looked like,
[SPEAKER_01]: the devil himself would be able to take you out and to lead you straight into hell because you had a bill that you couldn't pay Jesus walked in and said, Father, I know they can't afford it, but I'm gonna pay it for them anyways.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you need to know today that your account has been paid and full.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, that ought to make you shout this morning.
[SPEAKER_01]: Your account has been painted full, hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Listen, as far as the east is from the west, he removed your sin and he knew it no more.
[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't put a down payment on it.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, he didn't put partial payment on it, no.
[SPEAKER_01]: But he paid it in full, come on.
[SPEAKER_01]: Somebody looked to somebody and said, he paid it in full.
[SPEAKER_01]: He paid it in full.
[SPEAKER_01]: So now watch this.
[SPEAKER_01]: You who know sin are not even known in heaven by your sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: You who know sin are not even known in heaven by your sin, but you are known in heaven by his righteousness that has been applied to your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when you sin, not even heaven knows the fact that you have sinned, because heaven's not looking upon you as a sinful person, heaven sees righteousness in you.
[SPEAKER_01]: He says righteousness applies to your account.
[SPEAKER_01]: So listen, you and I were far from righteousness, but then he came and he applied his righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: So now if all that's true, what about the breastplate?
[SPEAKER_01]: There's two things I want to give you this morning if you're taking notes.
[SPEAKER_01]: Two facts about the breastplate of righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now that we have a clear foundation understanding the righteousness of God, and who we are in Him.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, we need to understand what the breastplate is all about, because the breastplate is identified as the breastplate of righteousness, or it is the chest piece of righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: So number one is this, is that the breastplate is not about surviving holiness.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's about desiring holiness.
[SPEAKER_01]: So many people think that, man, I just got to add a live hole in, and it's just like a fight every day, and like, no, no, no, no, no.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not trying to survive a life of holiness.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's about desiring holiness.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like wanting to live a life separate, like set apart.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like that's what this thing is all about.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like there should be such a desire within us that we desire the holiness that God has called us to.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that we're not just in this like fight for it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not today, I feel holy tomorrow, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, no, like, because people have said that, yesterday, I felt real holy today, not so holy at all.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, where did the holiness go?
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, because he never became unholy.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, he never removed himself from holiness.
[SPEAKER_01]: So like, if we're in a place where we don't feel so holy, like, what happened, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it's not a matter of God stepping out of his position,
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a matter of us, not understanding who we are.
[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody got that?
[SPEAKER_01]: So I want you to understand that the Lord made you righteous and then he empowered you to be righteous.
[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't make you righteous and then step back and say, oh, that's it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, good luck.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, he made you righteous and then he empowered you to be in a constant state of righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: hear me.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sin no longer has the right to control your life.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sin no longer has the right to have control over you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sin no longer has the right to have dominion over you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because a lot of times people say, oh, you know, I just can't get away from this.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I guess it's just who I am and what I'm always going to be caught up in.
[SPEAKER_01]: And no, it's absolutely not.
[SPEAKER_01]: He took and bore that sin.
[SPEAKER_01]: He became your sin so that you might become the righteousness of Christ, Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: So you can be an alcoholic in a drug addict and get totally set free and be sober for how long now.
[SPEAKER_01]: Glory to God, come on somebody.
[SPEAKER_01]: Why?
[SPEAKER_01]: Because it's coming to the understanding that I'm not just trying to fight for this thing, but it is who I am.
[SPEAKER_01]: He has made me righteous, hallelujah, and it's his righteousness that empowers us to live righteous lives.
[SPEAKER_01]: So the breastplate of righteousness is absolutely necessary.
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you look at the Roman soldier without the breastplate across his chest, he's completely open and vulnerable.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, shoot an arrow at him, he's done.
[SPEAKER_01]: Javelin, sword, whatever, as the kids would say in this day's, he's cooked.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's cooked.
[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't stand a chance without something covering the most important part of your body, because under the breastplate covers the most precious organs of the body.
[SPEAKER_01]: the lungs, so forth.
[SPEAKER_01]: It protects all of those things.
[SPEAKER_01]: See, the devil would have taken us out, but it was the righteousness of Jesus that stood in our defense.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it's important to understand when it comes to the breastplate that it is the righteousness that stands on our behalf, that no matter what comes against the attack of our heart,
[SPEAKER_01]: We're still righteous.
[SPEAKER_01]: So the breast play is a covering to protect us.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when the evil attack comes our way, we can remain who we are, and we can remain righteous because righteousness stands guard in our place.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you wanna know what the breast play to righteousness is, that's what it is.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's your righteous protection.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's what rightfully belongs to you that protects you.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's God's righteous defense.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: So listen church, there are days when you wake up and you feel all kinds of victorious.
[SPEAKER_01]: When you feel like you're on top of the world and there are some days like a Monday morning after a long weekend, you know, when you don't wanna go to work, come on, gonna get some real people in here.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's like, man, that's the last thing
[SPEAKER_01]: Right?
[SPEAKER_01]: And there are some days when, you know, maybe Tuesday was amazing, but Wednesday, you kind of feel like the way to the world is on your shoulders.
[SPEAKER_01]: And let me say it this way.
[SPEAKER_01]: There are days when you feel super righteous, like, you know, like Bible man back in the day.
[SPEAKER_01]: the Lord a long time, you remember Bible man back in the day.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes you feel like Bible man, you just feel full of righteousness, that you're super righteous, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: But then there are other days when you feel like you've got to hide and cover up the mess you're in or the mess you made.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when the devil tries to come in those moments, it's the breastplate of righteousness that says,
[SPEAKER_01]: It's the breastplate of righteousness that defends and says, you have no place, but it's the righteousness that stands up and says, yeah, you may feel that way, but the enemy's not gonna come in.
[SPEAKER_01]: The enemy is not going to have his way.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, yeah, you feel sad, or yeah, you feel this way, or yeah, you said this, or yeah, you did that, but righteousness is taking its place, and righteousness is going to guard your heart from the enemy coming in and stealing away what the Lord has done on your behalf.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when you wake up in the morning and you put on the arm of God, you need to understand that when you put on the breastplate of righteousness, you are literally taking his righteousness as a shield around you.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you're saying, it don't matter how I feel today, the righteousness of God is going to stand up for me.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to always block and defend any attack that comes my way.
[SPEAKER_01]: Nothing is going to steal my heart today because I know that the righteousness is standing up for me.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: So number one, the breastplate is not about surviving holiness.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's about desiring holiness.
[SPEAKER_01]: And number two is this, different, but follow me.
[SPEAKER_01]: The breastplate can't be broken.
[SPEAKER_01]: Do I have any Marvel fans in here?
[SPEAKER_01]: One, whoa, all right, okay, well, you know, you got this character, a black Panther, right, Chachada, rest his soul, all right, anyways.
[SPEAKER_01]: But you got black Panther, you know, he's got this, he's got this armor on him, you know, he's got this, it's all over him,
[SPEAKER_01]: That vibranium, you know, if you understand the movie, the story, whatever, but, you know, it's like he can get absolutely shot with a bullet or whatever and it just bounces off of him because of this amazing armor, you know, it's that's not really armor, but it is that that is that he's wearing, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: And this vibranium that absorbs all of this energy and then it can be released, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: So like he can get like 15 blows and then all of a sudden who, you know, this, like, you know, release all of this energy off.
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, I think about, I think about it, just like that, I think about the breastplate, just like, like a vibranium powerful force that you can get all of the bullets in the world hitting you.
[SPEAKER_01]: But they're never going to penetrate the armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: actually the more that you're strengthened, come on somebody, the more that comes your way, the more that you're able to stand in fight.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me take it this route.
[SPEAKER_01]: The more that you've been through the next time you go through something you realize, I'm much stronger.
[SPEAKER_01]: because I've got this covering over my life, and I know what it's like to be in battle, and I have come to the conclusion that nothing compares this armor, that nothing can stop or penetrate the righteousness of Jesus in my life.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_01]: The armor cannot be broken.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, the scripture says, you know this scripture,
[SPEAKER_01]: is roaming around seeking who he can devour.
[SPEAKER_01]: You'll know that scripture.
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe that the enemy is, when he is roaming around seeking who he can devour, I believe oftentimes he is looking for a king or a crack in the armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: Where can I slip in?
[SPEAKER_01]: Where can I get in through that crack where I can get at them?
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's looking for those holes, if you will, those cracks in the armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: But what the devil fails to understand is that the breastplate of righteousness is not even yours to begin with.
[SPEAKER_01]: but it's the fathers.
[SPEAKER_01]: And everything that he does is perfect.
[SPEAKER_01]: And everything that he makes is blameless.
[SPEAKER_01]: And everything that he puts together is without spot and without wrinkle.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so when he establishes his righteousness upon your life and you take it on like a breastplate, there is no such thing as a crack in your armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: Come on now, it no matter how many times you get hit, but there is nothing that can separate your armor
[SPEAKER_01]: Because that's how amazing His righteousness is.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's how powerful His righteousness is.
[SPEAKER_01]: We put on the righteousness of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: So therefore, it's His breastplate of righteousness that we carry, which means this.
[SPEAKER_01]: It will never be broken.
[SPEAKER_01]: If it's God's righteousness, it will never be broken.
[SPEAKER_01]: If it was an our own strength, our own power, something
[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to crumble apart.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we put on his breastplate of righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: And his breastplate of righteousness never fails.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah, Josh.
[SPEAKER_01]: It never fails.
[SPEAKER_01]: So no matter how many attacks come our way, we can continue to stand firm in who Jesus has called us to be, knowing who we are, knowing who He's created us to be, because we know that no matter what attack comes our way, we have the righteous plate of God surrounding us and covering our chest.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when the enemy is looking for someone to take out,
[SPEAKER_01]: He won't find any weak points or crack in your armor.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's something to be happy about.
[SPEAKER_01]: When he's looking around and he sees Josh, Oh, Josh, and he looks, but he can't find anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: He can't find anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: What happened to your button?
[SPEAKER_00]: Just kidding.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's designed for leisure.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, yeah, for leisure.
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, that's an interesting way of saying it.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a little sketchy way of saying it, too.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, oh, for leisure.
[SPEAKER_01]: What does that mean?
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, well, you've got the breastplate of righteousness over you, my friend.
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, all right, no leisure.
[SPEAKER_01]: Glory to God.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it.
[SPEAKER_01]: But when the enemy comes looking, he looks at Josh and he realizes there is no crack there.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's no there's no there's no there's no there's no separation there's no Kink in the armor so when the enemy who's looking to come and devour somebody comes across you and you're armored up with the righteousness of Jesus he looks at you and makes no other choice but to turn away
[SPEAKER_01]: because he realizes that in his power and the limited authority that he thinks he has, he thinks he can penetrate the armor of God.
[SPEAKER_01]: But he doesn't stand a chance against the righteousness of Christ Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: So remember, the breastplate is not yours.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's God's.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now knowing that, you got to catch this and I conclude this way, but it is the righteousness of God, the Father that stands up in our defense.
[SPEAKER_01]: So when the enemy tries to accuse you, when the enemy tries to harm you, when the enemy tries to take you out, listen to me, you don't have to stand up for yourself, but it's
[SPEAKER_01]: when the enemy is attacking and he's accusing and the enemy is raising up voices of the accuser to come against you, to harm you, to take you out.
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to try to stand up against him.
[SPEAKER_01]: but it's the righteousness of Jesus within you that stands in your place.
[SPEAKER_01]: It says, I don't care what you say about them, I don't care what you think about them, I don't care what you know about them, but they are righteous in my sight.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah!
[SPEAKER_01]: The righteous man may fall many, many times, but he gets back up again.
[SPEAKER_01]: Why?
[SPEAKER_01]: It's always been about his righteousness.
[SPEAKER_01]: His righteousness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's message.
[SPEAKER_00]: We pray you were inspired, challenged, and marked by the word you heard.
[SPEAKER_00]: If this message blessed you today, we encourage you to subscribe to the Church of the City podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: There you can find more faith-filled messages to uplift you and help you on your journey of faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: For more information about Church of the City, head on over to www.cotcdfw.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: And until next time, remember this, the best is yet to come.