The Good Fight Series #3
Pastor David T. Elms 6/16/2026
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52:38
Summary
Pastor Elms uses the physical illustration of a bulletproof vest to explain the 'breastplate of righteousness,' emphasizing that living a holy and separate life is necessary protection for the believer's heart.
Key points
- •Righteousness is not merely a position in Christ but a piece of armor that must be consciously 'put on' every day through our conduct.
- •The breastplate protects vital organs; spiritually, righteousness protects our heart and affections from the devil's tricks and 'fiery missiles.'
- •True biblical righteousness avoids the two extremes of legalism (trying to produce your own protection) and cheap grace (living in sin while claiming God's covering).
- •Our outward apparel and lifestyle are declarations of an internal decision to be 'Godward' rather than 'worldward.'
- •While our best efforts at righteousness are 'insufficient' to save us, they are essential gestures of love and obedience to the Lord.
Scripture
Spiritual Warfare
Holiness and Separation
The Identity of the Church
Christian Conduct
Life application
This week, view your daily choices and boundaries not as restrictive rules, but as putting on a protective vest that keeps your heart safe from spiritual attacks. Be 'Godward' in your humor and interactions at work, letting others 'read' you as a letter written by the Spirit.
Reflection questions
- In what areas of your life have you felt like righteousness is a 'heavy' or 'uncomfortable' burden rather than a protection?
- Are you more prone to the trap of legalism (earning God's favor) or cheap grace (making provision for the flesh)?
- If you are an 'epistle read by all men,' what is your life currently saying to those you work or live with?
- How can you consciously 'put on' the breastplate of righteousness before you leave your house each morning?
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Full transcript
0:00Nathan come up here and preach next Tuesday night, but we'll see. All right, Ephesians,
0:04the sixth chapter. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. This is verse 10.
0:10And in the power of his might, put on what? How much of the armor?
0:15Three pieces? Man, y'all are ready to preach tonight. I feel it. The whole armor
0:20of God. Why? that you might be able to stand
0:26against the what? Boy, y'all are smart too. Y'all have a big word
0:32like wiles. Y'all think that's a road up in Palm County, don't you?
0:38Wiles Road, yeah. No, it's in your Bible. Wiles of the devil. The
0:44tricks. He's tricked. Trickster. He's tricky. that you may be able to stand against the
0:50tricks of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
0:54against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
0:59high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be
1:03able to withstand in the evil day. It sounds like we heard that before, doesn't
1:08it? Did you hear how I just enunciated there, Alex? And did you see me
1:12do that? Okay. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that
1:18ye may be able to withstand. We heard that in verse 11. And now it's
1:24verse 12. In the evil day, that's the day of the tricks, the wiles of
1:30the devil, and having done all to stand. And then it gives us the details.
1:35Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth. That was last week. Having on
1:41the breastplate of righteousness. That's this week. Your feet shod with the preparation of the
1:47gospel of peace above all taking the shield of faith We'll get to the above
1:52all y'all the above all is coming But don't get to the above all before
1:58God wants you to get there Don't run to the above all because God put
2:03an order to this process I want to get to the above all because I
2:08like those two words above all I ought to pay attention to above all but
2:13first comes these And above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be
2:19able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked, take the helmet of salvation, the
2:24sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer
2:29and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance. That's a word that
2:34I feel like you would like to say. Perseverance. Y'all sound English. Perseverance. all perseverance
2:40of the supplication for the saints and for me that utterance may be
2:45given unto me that i may open my mouth boldly to make known
2:51the mystery of the gospel i'm going to speak tonight lesson two iteration
2:57three on the good fight we're talking about the breastplate of righteousness nudge
3:02your neighbor and say i want to have a breastplate of righteousness amen
3:08you may be seated in the name of the lord hallelujah
3:14Now, Lord, we have given you this day and every one of these
3:19precious people that have come here tonight have done so past all of
3:25the pressures of the job, of the home place, of the highway. They
3:31have come here to gather up the mind and call it into captivity.
3:36We want to call into captivity every thought that would exalt itself against
3:42the knowledge of God. We want to do it in a manner, O
3:47Lord, that that helps us be strong in the Lord and
3:53in the power of his might. Acts, the second chapter, is one
3:59of our favorite verses, chapters, sections of the entirety of the Bible
4:04because it is where the church begins. I know there was a
4:10church in the wilderness. It was the children of Israel. But the
4:16church of the living God, the church that the lord wanted
4:22to come and re-position a people on the earth that would not
4:27be born by flesh but would be born of god that began
4:33the second chapter and in acts chapter number two verse 38 we
4:39know they asked peter what they must do to be saved and
4:45he said repent and be baptized Every one of you, in the name
4:51of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, that's not a favorite candy stick
4:56verse I have, that is, anyone who knows their Bible knows that this is officially,
5:02undeniably, the beginning of the church. Repent and be baptized every one of you in
5:08the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and ye shall receive
5:13the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promises unto you and to your children
5:18and unto all that are far off even as many as the Lord our God
5:24shall call and with many other words he did say. Verse 40. Save yourselves from
5:29this untoward generation. It was an urgent exhortation to separate from
5:35a world that is not God word. They are untoward. Big word
5:41that means wherever God was, they were looking in other directions.
5:47They were not peering toward godliness, God's ways. You all are special people on this
5:53Tuesday night because you came not to hear a preacher with platitudes, but you want
5:58to be turned toward the word of God, the ways of God, the plan of
6:04God. And you want it to be done in a manner that is clear and
6:10present so that you can adjust yourselves. The Bible said a man who goes
6:15to church or goes and hears the word and forgets it is like a
6:21man who goes and beholds himself in a mirror and forgets that you've got
6:27pepper in your tooth, your hair's parted in three places, and at my age
6:33you've got three extra antennas coming out of your right ear. I have a
6:38certain special spot in my house that the light falls with a great amazing
6:44of dexterity on certain segments of my body. I'm able to
6:50perceive all the antennas that come and I will go into that
6:56place because it is a idiosyncrasy of mine to not have extra
7:02antennas I want to be groomed and the Bible tells us if
7:08we go and hear the word and we do not pay attention
7:14to it it's as one who doesn't groom themselves and
7:19And listen, there are some ungroomed people in this world, but I hope none of
7:25you are them. Because we need to make ourselves presentable because how you carry yourself
7:31sends a message to everyone you're going to be with. I am prepared for you
7:37and I was expecting you. So when you dress in a manner that's just, you
7:43know, I think the big four-letter word is called slob, slob. when you dress
7:49like a slob it means you're really not expecting to meet anybody that you would
7:54be worried about impressing and there are some days to dress like that there are
8:00certain times where you just want to you know just dress in a manner that's
8:05sort of like pajamas but i hope you're not wearing your pajamas to the airport
8:11uh and this is not a coaching on how to get dressed right now but
8:16uh you know the bible said you've got to save yourself From this generation,
8:22the church will create an atmosphere to help you be encouraged to change, to
8:28adjust, to reconfigure, to reorder your thoughts, your directions, your actions. But you're the
8:34one who has to do the work. It involves doing something. Ephesians 4.22. I'm
8:40going to have the LXMers help me read. So we're going to find out
8:46how good they read. They're wonderful. They're not on, they're not
8:52being judged except by everybody in the room. Ephesians 4, 22 through 24. What does
8:57it say? That you put off concerning your former conduct. Okay. You put off something
9:02that they've never read and preached with me yet. So they're learning. So brother Allen,
9:08I'm glad you're starting this thing. You're showing all the rest of them how to
9:13do You've got to put off something. What did it say you put off,
9:19Alan? Former conduct. You have to put off some stuff. Some people say, well,
9:25I just said a prayer and on Sunday I'm good. God's righteousness did it
9:30all. And I want you to know God's righteousness does it all. But the
9:36way you access his righteousness is by putting off some stuff. You've
9:42got to put off your former conduct. You don't wake up and say, well, I
9:47got the Holy Ghost. All right. Nothing has to change. You put off your former
9:53conduct. What else does it say concerning the old man, which grows corrupt according to
9:58the deceitful lust. According to deceitful lust. And what does it say next? And be
10:04renewed in the spirit of your mind. All right. Whoa, this is powerful. He's writing
10:10to the church. He's not writing to the city of Ephesus. He's writing to believers
10:15at Ephesus. And he said, there's something you must do. You must be renewed. What
10:20does that mean? You were once new and you got to redo it. That's what
10:26you're doing tonight. You're renewing your mind. Renewed in the spirit of your mind. That's
10:31the reason I don't need you running the aisles right now. I'm not saying we
10:37got a big I'll run in church, but you know, that's sort of the one
10:43thing they say about Pentecostals. But there's no real scriptural saying you got to run.
10:48Okay, but you do have to worship, but I'm not needing you even jumping right
10:54now. I'm needing you to lend me your mind because the reason you worship on
10:59Sunday is because you have been working on putting off some stuff. And putting
11:05on some stuff by the renewing of your mind. Read on. And that
11:11you put on the new man which was created according to God. Put
11:17on the new man. You don't say, well, I've been baptized in Jesus'
11:23name. I've got the Holy Ghost, so I'm a new man. No, you've
11:28got to put him on. Created in what? In true righteousness and holiness.
11:34In true righteousness and holiness. Thank you. You get an A.
11:40True right. You like the pressure that I put on the Alex Emerson. I'm
11:46trying to scare people off. No, they love it. They love it. Last night.
11:52Wasn't it good last night? Was it good after I left too? Okay, that's
11:58awesome. That's when it really got good. All right, Colossians 3 9. Who has
12:04that sister Morgan? What does this say? Lie not to one another. Okay, we
12:10don't need you to lie. Seeing that you have put off the old man.
12:16Wait, he's writing to church members. Why do church members need
12:21to be told this? This is the church people at Colossae. The book of Colossians.
12:27This is the people that are in the church. And what does he say? Can
12:32you imagine me walking to this pulpit and saying, you guys need to stop lying.
12:38And that's what Paul does. Line up to one another why because just because
12:43you've been baptized in the name of the Lord filled with the Holy Ghost doesn't
12:49mean you don't have to put off some stuff and put on some stuff go
12:54ahead and Have put on the new man put on the new man, which is
12:59renewed in knowledge Okay renewed sounds like the mind again after the image of him
13:05that created him. We're trying to be like Jesus There's an image and an
13:11expectation of a perfect man. And that's my aspiration to be like Jesus. I want
13:17to be like Jesus on earth. I long to be like him all through life's
13:22journey from earth to glory. I only ask to be like him. And so we
13:28put read on. What does it say? So you put off the old man and
13:34you put on the new man and then go ahead. Verse 12. Put on,
13:40therefore, as the elect of God. So he's talking to the elect of God, and
13:46he just told him to stop lying. I thought with grace, all you needed was
13:52grace. I thought once you were saved, all you needed to do was be saved.
13:57This is the reason we've got to be friends with our Bibles, folks, because there's
14:03a change that you have to do. You have to save yourself. From
14:09an untoward generation. Go ahead, put on as the elect of God. Holy and
14:15beloved. Y'all are holy and y'all are beloved. Go ahead. Bowels of mercy. Kindness.
14:21Uh-huh. Humbleness of mind. Uh-huh. Meekness. Yes. Long-suffering. These are the things that you
14:26are to put on. Bowels of mercy. I mean, from your innermost core, you
14:32are driven by mercy. You are kind. Be ye kind one to
14:38another. You know I know that verse. I got enough arguments as a kid. I
14:44memorized Ephesians 4.32. I had to quote that one every time I got in a
14:50fuss with my brother or sister. And the humbleness of mind. That was more for
14:55my brother. And humbleness of mind. This is a smart church. You guys know it.
15:01You're sanctioned smart. You're credentialed smart. You're very intelligent people. Put on humbleness of mind.
15:08and meekness. Meekness is not weakness. And, oh, I know you don't want me
15:14to say this one. I don't even want to say this one. Why are
15:20you going to say it then? Because it's in the Bible. Long, y'all don't
15:26even like that word, suffering. This is called good teaching. That's not humbleness of
15:31mind, is it? Long suffering. We don't even know we're suffering until we're suffering,
15:37and then we don't feel very spiritual, do we? Then the Lord
15:43wants us to do that a long time No, I would
15:48rather rewrite the word and say and put on short-suffering I
15:54mean, let's go with the SS move short-suffering, but that's not
16:00what it says Romans 12 I mean Romans 13 verse 12.
16:06What does that say sister Mindy? The night is far spent
16:11we just had brother Easter preach on this It's almost morning
16:17time Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness. This is to the church
16:23at Rome. The church at Rome. Why is he telling the church, cast off the
16:28works of darkness? Now, he should have said that to the sinners that be at
16:33Rome. He should have said that to the Romans that are there in Rome that
16:39believed in many gods. But no, he's writing to the church at be at Rome.
16:44If you didn't know that, just go read the first three verses. It tells you
16:49this is all to the church at be at Rome. And he's saying, do something.
16:54Cast the works of darkness. And what else? And let us put on the armor
16:59of light. Put on something. Cast off something. Put on something. The armor of light.
17:04Read verse 14. Well, you can go ahead. Read verse 13. Let us walk honestly
17:10at the end of the day, not in rioting and drunkenness. Not in being
17:16drunk, not in fighting. Not in chambering and wantonness. Not in illicit behavior, chambering.
17:22That's not putting a shell in the gun. It's illicit. I know you thought you
17:27chambered something, but that's not what it's talking about there. Or in wantonness, the same
17:31thing. It has a sexual intuition there that has to do with the darkness that
17:36is in this world. And we don't talk about it. I don't want to talk
17:40about it much from this church, but it's everywhere. And so instead of making it
17:45a popular subject, we just need to realize the Bible deals with it. We've got
17:50to deal with it within ourselves. Save yourself from wantonness. Go ahead. Not in
17:55strife. Not fussing with everyone. And envying. I wish my wife was
18:01here right now. Sister Elms, are you watching online? Not in strife.
18:07Glory. Go ahead. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put
18:13on somebody. Woo! Woo! Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Go ahead.
18:19And make not provision for the flesh. Why did he say that after put on
18:24Jesus? It seems like we ought to have a shout out right there. Put on
18:29Jesus Christ. Shout out. But Paul knows the games people play. He knows this old
18:35flesh. And by the way, you don't have more of it than I do. That's
18:40the reason we all come under the word and renew our mind. Put on Jesus
18:45Christ and do what? Make not provision. What's the word provision provision? That's not
18:51fast. That takes time. When you provision something, that's a military word. When
18:57you provision something, that means you've got a list. You've got orders. You've
19:02got logistics. You've worked through that. And here's what he knows about the
19:08flesh. The flesh will provision for itself. You can be shouting and your
19:14flesh will already have a work. That it wants you to
19:19participate in in an after a dark hour. And while you're
19:25worshiping, your silly flesh will be trying to make provisions for
19:31itself. Make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust
19:37thereof. Thank you. Galatians 3.27. Who's got this one? All right,
19:43Sister Lucia. I mean, Lucina. Glory. Sister Green. For
19:49as many of you as have been baptized into Christ. Okay, this is a
19:54verse that everybody needs to know. Say it, church. For as many of you.
20:00For as many of you. Because there might not be some of you. Y'all
20:06don't have to say that part, but that's the reason it says, for as
20:12many of you. For as many of you has been baptized
20:18how? Into Christ. What do you do when you are baptized? You
20:23put on Christ. That's one of the most important verses. All of
20:29them are important. But this is why we insist on being baptized
20:35in Jesus' name. It doesn't say for as many of you has
20:41been sprinkled. Doesn't say it for as many of you as
20:47have been. One of the days that I regret the most as pastor here was,
20:52you know, people don't like foot washing services. Okay? People don't like foot washing services.
20:58But we have had them and we're still going to have them. We're still going
21:04to have them. It's not all the time, but we still have them. But people
21:09will miss church on foot washing services. I know. Hey, maybe I want you to
21:15miss church. Who knows? But When it says baptized it means going all
21:21the way under the water now there you can tell Paul he's nuts
21:27and he's crazy for using that word or you can act like it's
21:33not there and Go tell Paul in heaven you were wrong, but I'm
21:38not gonna do that I'm gonna stand here and say as many as
21:44have been Baptized though all the way buried underwater into not Father Son
21:50Holy Ghost Into the one who is Messiah. Christ is a big
21:56word that means Messiah. That's the reason he's Jesus of Nazareth, who is
22:02now Jesus who hath become the Christ. His name wasn't Jesus Christ. Jesus
22:07is his name. Nazareth's where he's from. Christ is who he is. Messiah
22:13has come. So we call him Jesus Christ. As many of you as
22:19have been baptized into Messiah, on that same Messiah.
22:251 Thessalonians 5.8. Brother Allen, is that you? All right. Hallelujah. But let
22:31us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of
22:36faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. Okay. This
22:42sounds a whole lot. Thank you. This sounds a whole lot like our
22:48text tonight. Put on the whole armor of God. First, be gird your
22:53loins with truth. And secondly, put on the breastplate of righteousness.
23:01I am the lead chaplain for the police department, okay? And when I got on
23:06the chaplain, in fact, I talked to the chief today, they're ordering me new clothes
23:12because my old clothes are old. So the chief called me today and he saw
23:18my sizes and he wanted to joke around with me. And he said, are we
23:24sure that that's your size? I told him, this is Chief Poland. He's bad to
23:30the bone. I'm telling you, he is awesome. And he keeps himself so
23:36fit. And the Lord's blessed me. I've got such great relationships with these
23:42guys. It's a favor of God, honestly. It's the favor of God. I
23:48don't deserve it. It's the favor of God. And favor is not fair.
23:54I'd rather have one day of favor than a thousand days of labor.
24:00So this right here is part of my ride-alongs. Whenever I go into
24:05the field, I am not allowed to do a ride-along without this right
24:11here. This piece of equipment is a bulletproof vest that costs between
24:17$800 and $1,500. I think for Davey and this one, this one costs
24:23probably about $950. And it was fitted for me. I went to a
24:28special place and they fitted it and ordered it and brought it. I
24:34think it's GH armor systems, but I think that stands for Gator armor.
24:40And in this, whenever I'm going to do a ride along, I have to put
24:44this on. Now, when you first get this thing, it doesn't fit very good. It's
24:49rough. It's hard to wear. It doesn't feel good at all. So they tell you,
24:53first of all, if you're going to put this thing on, before you do a
24:58ride along, which those are already not comfortable. I'm not going to fix it up
25:02here. But before you do a ride along, you have to, if you're going to
25:07be comfortable at all, wear it around the house a little while. So, you know,
25:12I put on a t-shirt and I walked around the house in this and my
25:16kids were little back in the day. But I've got a special God-made shape and
25:21I had to get it formed to my shape. And so I pulled it and
25:25tugged it and got it all stretched out. Now, if you are going to go
25:30in the field, you can't go without this. They will not allow you to go
25:34without this. Because you've got a target on you when you put on a badge
25:40or anything. And even though I'm chaplain, people think that means captain. And I have
25:45literally walked into sites where they were having challenges. And because I'm the only one
25:49in a white shirt, they think I'm the whole boss of everybody. And you know
25:54what? I just go ahead and act like I am.
26:01I can't tell you how much fun I've had with officers when we're walking away
26:06from a site and I told them, I told you I was your boss. I
26:11told you I'm the man of God. I'm your boss. And I play with them
26:15anyway, whatever. Not all of them anyway. But, you know, I'm just going to have
26:20fun wherever I'm at. You cannot go out without this. It's not allowed. It's not
26:25comfortable. You're going to sweat extra in it. You're going to be ready to get
26:30out of it. But this thing alone is not what makes me safe, even though
26:35it's got a special knit to work to it, it's able to handle some things.
26:40This little deal right here is a Leo H2 handgun. This right here is
26:46what will keep me alive. This, there's another one right there, and they've got
26:52one in the back. I don't want to let you know my secrets, so
26:58I'm going to have to put it back down there. I'm undercover right now.
27:04But this is a low profile concealable carrier. This is meant to
27:10be worn underneath your shirt. So it's not obviously that you have one on. They've
27:15got for most road guys, they just have an outer one and it's a lot
27:19easier to get in. It's a little more comfortable, but it still must be worn
27:23when you're out there. It has what is called what I just pulled out is
27:28known as a trauma plate and it's in the front and it's in the back.
27:32It'll stop a three fifty seven sig. It'll stop a forty four magnum and it'll
27:36stop a high velocity nine millimeter. If they've got long guns, I'm hiding. because this
27:40won't stop any long gun. All right, here's the thing. You can't go in the
27:45field without this. And when God was telling us about how you're going to win
27:51in this world, he wasn't saying because you know the name of Jesus, you're going
27:56to win. He wasn't saying because you had an encounter on a Sunday night a
28:01few years back, you're going to win. He said, if you're going to have him
28:06done all to stand, stand there for every day, you're going to have to put
28:11on The whole armor of God. And he said the breastplate. That's what
28:17this is. This is a breastplate. The breastplate covers all your vital organs.
28:23It covers your heart, which is very important. But there's a lot
28:29of other very important organs that have got to be covered
28:35with this breastplate. And the Bible said the breastplate is likened
28:41unto righteousness. Righteousness is the defining mark of the kingdom of
28:47God. And this apparel is not worn by common people. In
28:53fact, most of you have probably never wore a breastplate.
29:01So if you think getting ready to go out and represent the Lord is like
29:06getting dressed on a normal day, you need to go back and understand what it
29:11means when you put on a breastplate. Let me tell you the first thing I
29:16want to take off when I get home. I want to take this off when
29:21I get home. As soon as I get home from a ride-along, you think I'm
29:26going to walk around the house in this thing? I'm not going to do it.
29:31I'm going to come out of that thing, and I always put a T-shirt underneath
29:36it. And I'm telling you what, I can't wait to get out
29:41of this. It's heavy. It's bulky. It's troublesome. And that's what the righteousness
29:47you're supposed to put on is like. It's not supposed to be like
29:53a Hawaiian shirt. He didn't say put on your fancy shirt to represent
29:59me. He didn't say go put on your, oh, what was the name
30:05of that shirt you bought me? What's the name of that shirt you
30:10bought me, Brother Perdomo? Did I get it? No. No. One
30:16more time. You know. I want to wear that next casual Sunday.
30:22I'm going to. I was supposed to wear it last time, but
30:28Brother Easter didn't have casual, and I didn't want him to be
30:33alone, so I dressed up for him. But I'm going to wear
30:39it next casual Sunday. Watch. I'm going to wear that. The Lord
30:45didn't say put on that when you go out. Here's the thing
30:51that you forget as a child of God. This is representative of
30:56our separation. Not your righteousness, his righteousness. But
31:02you don't put it on by just thinking it.
31:08You got to put it on every day. And
31:13your exterior is a demonstration of a decision on
31:19the interior. Your outer wear is a result of
31:24your inner heart decisions. The kingdom of God is
31:30not meat and drink, but is righteousness and Peace and
31:36joy. Oh, we love the peace part. I love the joy part Why did he
31:40have to put a breastplate at the beginning? You think I want to do a
31:45lot of duties for the police department where I don't have to wear this thing
31:49Listen, I can dress up in my class a's and man. I look sharp. I
31:54got new ones coming I got the bars on my sleeve. I'm gonna be looking
31:59good like a man should I But I scheduled a
32:04ride along soon with the Alpha, and Alpha starts 11 o'clock as their meet and
32:10greet. That's what they call it. No, that's 11 o'clock is when it starts, and
32:15then they're out on the road all night. Or it might be 10 o'clock. No,
32:21it's 10 o'clock, and then they hit the road. I think that's Alpha. Mike, I
32:26see you back there. When does Alpha shift start? So you all have 12-hour shifts.
32:31Gotcha. I don't know that. Or that's a nine-hour shift. Nine is ours? Look at
32:37my junior chaplain over here. Nine is alpha. So I'm on alpha. That means I'm
32:43out till about three. I don't know. I might go in at two, but I
32:47got to put this thing on. You think I want to know, but you don't
32:52know most. I've never needed this in my 12 years being associated with this department.
32:56I've never had a bullet hit it. I've never had somebody strike me. I've never
33:01had, but you know what? They won't let me out there without it on. You
33:06know why? Because you don't know when you're going to need it. And you don't
33:11get ready when you gotta get ready. If you are ready, you don't have
33:17to get ready. So you show up and you better be ready because if
33:22you're not ready, you're gonna be hurt. And the Lord's saying, "Church, if you
33:28wanna win in this battle, you better put on the whole armor of God,
33:33have a girdle of truth, and a breastplate of righteousness." Righteousness is the defining
33:39characteristic of this church. Breastplate must be put on and sometimes I want
33:45to take it off You know when I get home or my wife wants to
33:50talk church stuff. I don't want to talk church stuff after church I love you
33:55beautiful. Let me go home and watch the Eagles try to fly Let me go
34:00here Rufus and and Redford take it over their pastures Those are a couple bulls.
34:05I'm watching right now Rufus and Redford. I don't want to do this. I But
34:11I'm telling you what, if you're going to live for God every day, not just
34:17Sunday, every day when you get up, he said, put on the whole armor. Why?
34:23Because there's somebody that has fiery missiles is what the ESV calls it. Missiles, fiery
34:29darts. Others are fiery arrows that are coming at you. Why? Because of who you
34:35represent. Before you represented the Lord, you could wear your Hawaiian shirt. You can
34:40wear your nice, you can do all of that. If I could spell it, when
34:45I see it spelled, I'll be able to say it very well. This is where
34:50you got to go to work. Sometimes you get tired of it. You know, this
34:55is holiness, y'all. This is separation from the world. This is why my language
35:01has changed. You think it's always the righteousness of Christ? It is
35:06the righteousness of Christ because this breastplate is his righteousness, but somebody's
35:12got to put it on and your externals are evidence you have
35:18done something and it serves to remind you as it does everybody
35:23else. It must be put on. Seatbelts are in every car, but
35:29who better put them on? I know some folks think they got
35:34it like that. I don't wear my seatbelt. I'm tough. I'm
35:40more nimble out of the seatbelt than I am in it. Well, let me tell
35:46you something. If you don't put it on, my car won't go. Okay, so that's
35:51just the rules of my car. You got to put it on before you can
35:56even go. But I've got one of those different cars. So, but why? Because seatbelts
36:02help save. I can't tell you how many scenes that a policeman will pull up
36:07to. And most of the time, because they had a seatbelt on, they had a
36:12chance. But What if it's not on? It can't help you. Oh, you say
36:18I got the most impressive breastplate in all the world. Man, I wear it
36:24at camp meeting. I put it on a conference. You know, depends on what
36:30I'm doing. But it's there. I've got that breastplate. Sometimes you can sling it
36:35over your shoulder. Say, look, I got a breastplate. But when that fiery dark
36:41comes, you're going down. Why? Because you didn't understand the word picture that the
36:47Lord was giving you when he said, put it on. Every day put
36:52it on you are consciously clothing yourself that the reality is as I'm walking into
36:58danger and the thing about danger is you don't know especially in this industry, which
37:04is the industry of living for God not police industry the industry of representing another
37:10Kingdom a kingdom of rules a kingdom of laws a kingdom of mercy a kingdom
37:15of justice a You don't know when it's going to come. You don't know
37:21where it's going to come. You're not always comfortable when you have to put it
37:27on. Sometimes it's just cumbersome and you don't want to look like this and you
37:33don't want to act like this. But the Bible says put it because there are
37:39spiritual terrorists. The Bible says the kingdom of heaven is made up of righteousness, peace,
37:45and joy. It's not meat and drink. What is that saying? Yes, we're going to
37:51eat meat. I'll probably fight when I get to the light down here after church.
37:56Some reason my car wants to veer towards Culver's after church. I'm telling you, there's
38:02a, I don't know what it is. It's that devil. We got to cast that
38:08devil out. And then my wife pointed out just the other day that they threw
38:13a Baskin Robbins right down here by the church. uh what's going on
38:19and if i go to the right there's a dairy queen
38:25that's uh trials on every hand satan you're not gonna win
38:31kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink it's not ice
38:36cream butterflies and butter cake not bundt cake it's what righteousness
38:42peace and joy a lot of churches preach the kingdom of
38:48heaven is not meat and drink it's peace and joy in
38:54the holy ghost because righteousness god has it but just because
39:00Jesus gave us his righteousness doesn't mean we're putting it on. You can quote every
39:04verse in your life. You haven't put it on just because you quote the Bible.
39:09You haven't put it on just because you know doctrine. You haven't put it. No,
39:14every day, just like your seatbelt. You got to put it on. Why? You don't
39:19know when you're going to need it. But the Bible says again and again, put
39:25on. That means every day. That doesn't mean just do it on Sunday. Every
39:31day. The enemy attacks your vitals every time he can. With accusation and condemnation,
39:36musicians come. You're not righteous enough. God is angry with you. You've disqualified yourself.
39:42And you know what? Every time he says those things to you, you can
39:48say, you're right. I have disqualified myself. Am NOT righteousness Righteous enough
39:53God has been angry with me, but let me tell you what I
39:59did I went repented of my sins I changed my ways I
40:05I don't walk like I used to walk. I don't talk like I used to
40:10walk. I don't go where I used to go. I don't listen to what I
40:15used to listen to. My mind, when it wanders down that nasty road, I pull
40:20it back and call it into captivity. And I get this thing called the righteousness
40:25of God. It's his righteousness, but I have to put it on. Some people think
40:30they wake up with it on. Let me tell you something. If you sleep in
40:35this, you are a nut. I know you want to be, I
40:40know some want to be police officers out there. They wish they had a company
40:45that would buy one of these for them. If they got this, they wouldn't even
40:50take it off. They'd been wearing it to church all the time. Gator. I think
40:55that's what that G stands for. I've got two of these. They paid for two
41:00of them. Hadn't taken a bullet yet. In Jesus' name, no yet. But the breastplate,
41:05when you put it on, you're saying, I stand for righteousness. I stand
41:11in righteousness, a righteousness that defines the kingdom. The Lord didn't ask you
41:17to be loud. He asked you to be a light. The life we
41:23live, the actions we make either fortifies us against Satan's attacks or they
41:29make it easier for him to attack. It's the outerwear that protects the
41:34inner life. And what happens is if you don't put it on or if you
41:40do put it on, here's two errors that people fall into about this righteousness they've
41:45got to put on. They've got to put it on. It's his righteousness, but you're
41:51putting it on his works. That's works. That's showing people you're different. First one is
41:56legalism. These are people who think they're pharisaical. They don't want to say they're legalists
42:01and they don't want to say they're Pharisees, but they act like they have to
42:06produce their own righteousness. where their sleeves are makes them righteous how long their skirt
42:12makes them righteous if they wear skirts or pants makes them righteous how they live
42:17and whether how much jewelry they put on makes them righteous let me tell you
42:22something none of that makes you righteous all of that says to the Lord I
42:27want to be like you I don't want to listen to Vogue magazine to tell
42:32me what's beautiful I'm not going to some Paris style show
42:38to find out what's in style. I want to be modest and
42:44distinct and clean. I don't want my shirts to misrepresent who I
42:50am. Legalism says I must produce my own righteousness to be protected.
42:56And then there's cheap grace. That's what other people say. I don't
43:02have to do nothing. His righteousness is everything. I can be in
43:08adultery. His righteous covers me. As long as we
43:14repent about five minutes after we're done, grace has
43:19changed. I can live in fornication. I'm in fornication.
43:25I love God. But you know what? We'll repent
43:31in about, you know, by 1030. That's also flawed
43:36because you're making provision for the flesh. You have
43:42to put on the righteousness. Daily living. God makes
43:47you righteous. And that righteousness comes to us
43:53because of an old covenant that God did away with. Read
43:592 Corinthians 3:1-6. Do we begin again to commend ourselves Where
44:05need we as some others epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from
44:10you? Okay, Paul saying listen, I love the Lord you love the Lord But do
44:15I have to commend myself to you all the time? Are you needing to write
44:20a letter of commendation to me all the time? Where are we at in this
44:25story of who we are? That's a good question. It's a fair question read on
44:30I Our epistle written in our hearts, known and read
44:35of all men. Look, you guys are like a letter, but you're written in
44:41my heart. But you know who you're read by? Not by me. You're read
44:47by the person who works in the portable, not a portable, what is that?
44:53Cubicle. The cubicle next to you. They're reading you every day. What jokes do
44:59you laugh at? You know you can have an amazing sense of humor, and
45:05they know you. You're a child of God. Some people think the Lord doesn't know
45:10how to have fun. I'm glad they don't come to this church because my God,
45:14when we get to heaven, will be the funniest person in the whole room. Jesus
45:19is going to be the most hilarious jokester in the whole building. You wait till
45:23he's got videos on you stumbling that he's going to play over and over and
45:27he's going to be on the ground laughing and you're going to have to laugh
45:32too. That time you ran from that bee and you ran into that
45:38spider's web and nobody was watching it. Yeah, he's got all that on video.
45:44He's got an amazing... You can be fun at work. When you walk through
45:50the door, everybody's going to be glad you walked in. And yet they know
45:56you've been changed because your humor's well developed. But it also carries a breastplate
46:01with it because you are that kind of person. Read on. They're known and
46:07read of men, epistles, letters. For as much as ye are manifestly declared to be
46:13the epistle of Christ, ministered by us. Okay, as much as you're in a letter,
46:18ministered by us. Go ahead. Written not with ink, but with the spirit of the
46:23living God. The reason you are who you are is because of the Holy Ghost.
46:29You're not written by somebody writing it down on a resume. It's the Holy Ghost
46:34in you that writes you. Go ahead. Not in tables of stone, but in fleshly
46:40tables of the heart. I don't need your resume. Every day I see the way
46:45you carry yourself. Every day the way you walk through the door. They know when
46:51that one is trying to flirt with you. I got about one or two handsome
46:56men in this church. You know who you are. When that new person starts flirting
47:01with you on the job and nobody knows it, except everybody knows it.
47:07They're watching to see how you
47:13carry yourself. Do you turn into
47:18an ogre or do you let
47:23them have a gentle adjustment? This
47:28breastplate this is every morning read
47:33on and such trust have we
47:39through Christ to God word Not
47:44that we are sufficient of ourselves
47:49to think that anything as of
47:54ourselves But our sufficiency is of
48:00God go back to verse 4.
48:05I And such trust have we through Christ to Godward. Which way
48:10are we facing? Save yourself from this. Y'all, it's not easy being Godward. Every day
48:16you got to decide today I'm going to be God. I don't know when it's
48:22going to show up that I can prove to be worldward. I don't know if
48:28that's a word, but I don't want to be worldward. I don't want to be
48:34fleshward. I want to be Godward. but as such we have
48:40through Christ to God word read what's the next verse say not
48:45that we are sufficient of ourselves we do all these efforts we
48:51turn toward God everywhere we go we're turning toward God but I
48:56want you to know my efforts of turning toward God I know
49:02that's not what saves me my best efforts insufficient it doesn't mean
49:08you don't do the efforts Doesn't mean you ignore the efforts,
49:13but they're insufficient. Isn't that so beautiful? I mean, I know some people
49:19may not like that, but I got to hug one of my children
49:25today, and I was hugging one of my children. I'm not going to
49:30say who. And when I was hugging that child, I said, one of
49:36these days you're going to be able to hug your son, and he's
49:42going to have the wife of his dreams, and he's going to have
49:47the children of his dreams, and you're going to say, this boy doesn't
49:53know the love There's no way for me to tell him.
49:59There's no way for me to demonstrate. But all you parents know
50:05exactly what I'm talking about. You wish you could tell him more
50:11ways than you can. Why? Because this hug is insufficient to express
50:17my appreciation. And that's what your worship is to the Lord. You
50:23come as well adored as you can. But your adorning
50:28is not of this world's nature. It's just a small
50:34gesture to say, Lord, you're beautiful to me. And whatever
50:39the world tells me is beautiful, that doesn't define beauty
50:45to me. I find holiness. Read on. To think anything
50:51as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. My
50:56sufficiency is of God. Go ahead. Not of
51:02the letter. But of the spirit. For the
51:08letter killeth. But the spirit giveth life. If
51:14this was all about this. It wouldn't, there would
51:19not be much life in this church. I've gone to churches where they demand every
51:24letter, and I'm talking about the rules. They got every rule marked down. If somebody
51:28walks through the door without a rule, just write. Then brother, everybody's going to let
51:33them know. You've got to do this that or the other until you kind of
51:37can come in. No, no, not in this house Not in this house. I'm gonna
51:41offer him my best. I'm gonna walk separate unto the Lord. I'm gonna walk in
51:44separation and holiness I'm not gonna do it because I'm trying to be a rule
51:48keeper. I'm not watching over you You know some of y'all may not be dressed
51:52in a certain kind of way and I'll run into you and I'm gonna act
51:55like I didn't even see it I'm gonna act like I didn't even see it
51:59because I know even my best is not enough. I But when your love starts
52:04turning, you start saying, I'm not doing this because the pastor might run into me
52:10today. I'm doing this because it's just a gesture. It's just a wave, a motion
52:15in that direction. Lord, I love you. I love you. I want more of you.
52:21Let's stand all over this building. The kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink,
52:27but it's righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
52:31Why
52:35don't