Righteous Protection

Thank you, men.

If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 6 is a story in Greek mythology about a great hero named Achilles.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

The legend is that his mother, when he was a baby, dipped him in the river Styx to coat his entire body with an invincible shield.

And when she dipped him, she held him by the tip of his heel so that only one portion of his body was not covered by those empowered waters.

In the course of the great battle of the Trojan War, Achilles was struck in the heel of all places with an arrow and was slain.

It was the one uncovered point on his body where he was vulnerable.

And ever since then, men and women have been vulnerable by an injury to the Achilles.

I promise you, it hurts.

That's just mythology, my friend.

What we're talking about these days is a real war.

But a real war that if we're not careful, we can be very vulnerable to.

It's an unseen war that is stoked by the devil and his demons.

That is the undercurrent to much of the conflict and the difficulty that is seen and surrounds us today.

We need not be vulnerable to that.

I think there's power in knowledge, but only if you put that knowledge to use.

We've studied the schemes of the evil one.

Now we study protection from it.

The Apostle Paul called it the armor of God.

And he encourages us to make sure we're buckled up.

Make sure we're plated.

Make sure we're shielded.

Make sure that we're properly footed.

Make sure we're armed.

Last week we looked at the belt of truth.

That it is imperative that we not only believe in Christ, but that we commit our lives to such a belief.

That we live it out.

And the reality is that that kind of, like a belt, kind of holds everything together.

Today we look at what the Apostle Paul calls the breastplate of righteousness.

When he says in Ephesians 6 verse 14,

Ephesians 6:14

The breastplate was a key piece of the armor of a Roman soldier.

It was often called a thorax.

It was a breastplate that typically was made of bronze, which covered the front of the body.

Although there were earlier versions, more primitive versions of it, that were made of thick metal.

Sometimes with bone and metal, excuse me, thick leather.

Excuse me, let me say that again.

Made with thick leather, with bone and metal sometimes sewn in.

More affluent officers may have made one of, have one made of chain mail, which is a small metal rings linked together to form a chest armor.

But the breastplate usually started below the neck and went to the top of the thighs.

It was made to protect the vital organs, primarily the lungs and the heart.

Now with our lungs, we breathe in and out.

We take in air and we exhale.

And if we take in bad air, we'll pay for it.

In the same way, spiritually, if we take in polluted stuff, we're going to suffer.

You can't hang out in evil, negative, unwholesome atmospheres and it not affect you spiritually.

You're going to breathe it in.

It's going to affect you.

Let me just say that in the last days before a national election of such significance,

I encourage you to be careful how much of the propaganda you breathe in, okay?

It's a big election.

But what if it doesn't go your way?

What if it doesn't go the way that I want it to?

What are you going to do?

If your person loses the election, what are you going to do?

I'm going to tell you something.

On November the 6th, whoever's going to be the president next year,

on November the 6th, I'm going to get up

and I'm going to make me a good, strong cup of coffee

and I'm going to walk my dog and I'm going to read my Bible

and I'm going to seek the face of the Lord

and I'm going to trust his hand regardless.

My trust is in God.

The Oval Office does not change that.

And I pray that America will make the best decision of two poor choices in my opinion.

And I don't care to discuss that.

But we need not be consumed with it.

The world's consumed with it.

But our hope is in Christ, folks.

Let's not miss the perspective here.

Don't take in too much of that mess.

You'll be mad at the world.

Now, my old adage is, and I think y'all live by it,

don't spend more time watching the news than you spend time with the Lord.

Because it will change your perspective.

There's a lot that's worse, however, than watching the news and taking that in.

And the things that are worse than that, stay away from them.

There's no need in it.

Be careful what you take in.

Protect the air in which you breathe.

Take in good air.

Stay away from the unhealthy.

The breastplate protected the lungs.

It also protected the heart.

And in the Greek mindset, the heart was the seat of a person's will,

of their emotions, of their beliefs, of their attitudes.

And the reality is, although we understand some things, anyway, about cardiology,

the reality is when we talk about the heart,

we talk in the same way as the Greek mindset.

When you want somebody to give their all, you say, put your heart into it.

When you get your heart broke, you say, somebody broke my heart.

Or you'll say, I believe it with all my heart.

Or even when you really want somebody to know you're telling the truth,

I crossed my heart.

That's when you know it's settled they got to be telling the truth.

Especially with the needle in the eye.

But that's a different subject.

When Paul talks about having the mind of Christ in Philippians chapter 2,

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

he speaks of how feelings and attitudes should be like Christ.

Philippians 2, 5 says, having this mind among yourselves,

which is yours in Christ Jesus.

I believe it's best summarized in Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23 through 25.

Proverbs 4:23–25

It says, keep your heart with all vigilance.

For from it flow the springs of life.

Put away from you crooked speech and put devious talk from you.

Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you.

Don't look to and fro.

Look straight ahead.

Righteousness protects what we take in.

Righteousness protects what we breathe out.

It also protects our heart, how we feel, how we respond.

Well, what kind of righteousness am I talking about?

Well, I'm glad you asked.

Because it's not all the same.

I want to share with you quickly three types of righteousness.

And I want to be clear, all righteousness is not the same.

One, there's insufficient righteousness.

That's when we just try to do the right thing.

We just do it in our own strength.

And some think that they're righteous because of their religious efforts.

Jesus spoke of that in a parable in Luke chapter 18, verses 9 through 14.

Luke 18:9–14

He said this,

And he pointed at the guy next to him at the altar.

Don't do that if you come to the altar today.

Don't point at the guy next to you, okay?

He said,

I fast twice a week.

I grieve tithes.

I give tithes.

And maybe grieve.

But anyway, I give tithes of all that I get.

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,

but beat his breast, saying,

God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to the house.

He's justified rather than the other.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.

And the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

We give, we serve, we worship.

We do those things.

I want you to hear me this morning.

We do those things not to pay back, not to be sufficient, but to obey.

To trust God and obey.

Obey the Lord.

Trust everything else with the Lord.

I want you to listen to what the Apostle Paul said.

He said in Philippians chapter 3, 4 through 7, he said,

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.

Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,

a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law of Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church,

as to righteous under the law of blameless.

But whatever gain I had, I count as loss for the sake of Christ.

Now, to put it in our language, that's like him saying that

I was dedicated to the Lord as a child.

And I came from a family that was pillars in the church.

And I was trained in all the programs of the church.

And I volunteered.

I worked in areas.

And nobody even saw me doing it.

I did stuff nobody even recognized.

Then I served in leadership.

I was a deacon.

I taught a life group.

I took some Bible classes.

I might even worked on staff.

The reality is, so much similar to what he said,

all of that can come in the way.

All of that stuff can set us back from what really matters.

Paul explains his insufficient righteousness in Romans.

When he says Romans, in Romans 7, verse 15,

Romans 7:15

He said,

For I don't understand my own actions.

For I do not do what I want,

but I do the very thing I hate.

Have you ever been there?

Don't look at me smugly.

You've been there.

I know you have.

Listen to what he goes on to say.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me,

that is in my flesh.

For I have the desire to do what's right,

but not the ability to carry it out.

For I don't do the good that I want,

but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

Of course we've been there,

because our own righteousness is insufficient.

We can't do this alone.

We're not good enough, period.

And then there's also imputed righteousness.

That's a theological term,

a word we don't use very much anymore,

but I want to explain it.

When someone submits his or her life to Christ,

Christ, excuse me,

God imputes Christ's righteousness

into our lives.

When Christ died on the cross,

he was sinless.

He was perfect,

but he took on our sin.

When we become Christians,

we're sinful and we're unrighteous,

but when we become a child of God,

we are made right.

We take on his righteousness,

and we receive his ascribed,

our imputed righteousness.

Again, the apostle Paul,

who God used to build our theology

off the teachings of Christ

and the law of God.

He speaks a lot about this.

And let me just say something about the apostle Paul.

Just due to some conversations I've had

in circles recently,

I want you to understand

that some try to separate the words of Jesus

and the words of Paul,

and they say that what Jesus said

is what's important,

and that somehow Paul is just a commentator

along the way,

not so much.

He had his problems.

Don't pick portions of God's word

to value over other portions.

This is God's word.

Period.

It is God-breathed, inspired,

and we are able to see the life of Christ

through the gospels.

We're able to see his teaching

and see what he shows us and how to live.

And then God brought up the apostle Paul

trained in all these ways that he spoke of

to share with us

how do we apply what we see in Christ's life?

How do we apply what we hear him teach?

How do we apply that to our life?

That's where our Christian theology comes from.

Paul, and with the help of a couple of other fellows,

but the reality is most of it comes from Paul.

So don't ever try to separate

that somehow if Jesus didn't speak of this,

then the Bible must not speak of it.

That's not true.

That's not true.

That's just a little side note.

That's free.

That don't cost a thing.

Don't pick portions of God's word to value

and others to not.

That's the word of God.

God uses it all.

It's all inspired.

And what the apostle Paul says

in Philippians chapter three, verse nine,

is that when we gain Christ

and are found in him,

we don't have, notice how he says this,

a righteousness of my own

that comes from the law,

but that which comes through faith in Christ,

the righteousness of God,

that depends on faith.

In other words, as children of God,

we have got what we need to live for Christ.

We have righteous protections.

That means that when we're saved,

we're set apart,

the Holy Spirit indwells us

with the righteousness of Christ.

Christ went to the cross sinless.

He died his death for sinners.

And when we accept his truth in our lives,

he imputes righteousness into our lives.

We are wired into it.

He took our sin.

We take his righteousness.

The great theologian of the 16th century,

Martin Luther, called it the glorious exchange

when we hand him our sin

and he hands us his righteousness.

Christ has credited us with righteousness.

Not on what we've done,

but on what he's done for us.

When we lost power,

when Helene came through,

we have a generator hooked up

and the generator kicked in

and was working wonderfully for the first 30 hours.

And then it died.

I went out there and laid hands on it.

It didn't work.

And I just had faith

the power was going to come back on

and if we find some kind of supplemental help,

then the reality is

we'll just go without it longer.

So we'll just bear it.

And we bore it.

And it was dark.

And I told you last week about the solar lights.

And we just hung on,

lost our food in the refrigerator

and all that stuff.

And several people in the church

offered us generous.

They did.

And I said, no, we'll be all right.

We'll be all right.

We'll be all right.

Well, finally, several days later,

somebody said,

Pastor,

I'm bringing a generator

and I'm going to wire it into your house.

And I don't want to hear nothing else about it.

I said, all right.

He said, I'll bring you some gas.

So he brought me some gas.

I said, how often am I going to fill that thing?

Every three hours?

No, no, no, no, no.

About every 12.

So he hooked me up

and we had lights

and as it got warmer,

we had ceiling fans

and we were thanking God

for the lights and the ceiling fans.

We even got the sin box lit back up

and was able to watch some TV, you know.

So not watching sin.

But anyway,

but we got that taken care of.

Some of y'all don't remember

what they called it.

But anyway,

but you know what?

What if all that would have been wired in

and we just said,

nah, we just don't bother.

As it gets hotter outside,

we ain't going to cut those ceiling fans on.

We're not going to cut a lamp on.

We're just going to sit here in the dark.

We've got the capacity.

It's been wired in,

but we're just not going to utilize it.

Well, that'd be kind of dumb.

So it is for the Christian.

When we are in Christ,

we're made right.

We've been justified.

Romans 8 verse 1 says,

Romans 8:1

there is therefore now

no condemnation for those

who are in Christ Jesus.

When we come to Christ,

Christ makes us free.

Now, that freedom

and that credited righteousness

needs to reflect

in our lives.

And that's the last type of righteousness.

That's empowered righteousness.

That's living out

what we have within us

as believers.

Imputed righteousness

changes our position.

Once we're saved,

we are in Christ.

Our position has changed.

Righteousness has been

fastened on.

Now we have to utilize it.

Now we're empowered

by the Holy Spirit of God.

Now we have to practically

live that out

to daily depend upon his lead.

And right living

is what keeps Satan

from getting

an easy opportunity to attack.

So let me ask you,

is there a place that you go

that makes you more vulnerable

to fall into sin?

If there is,

stop going there.

Is there a person

that Satan uses

to lead you into temptation?

If there is,

stop hanging with them.

Now, if they live in your home,

that's a different matter.

Satan divides families.

God does not.

But

is there a time of day

or a situation

or a conversation

that makes you

more vulnerable.

If there is,

notice that.

And as the great theologian

Barney Fife said,

nip it in the bud.

Get rid of it.

Make the necessary changes

to live right.

And when we do,

we're plated.

Now,

if we're plated

with right living,

if our minds

are set on Christ

and our eyes

are fixed on Jesus,

the author

and perfecter

of our faith

as Hebrews 12,

1 and 2 says he is,

then we grow more like him

with each defeated temptation.

This kind of utilize,

this kind of living

utilizes the strength

that we have in Christ

and makes us much stronger

to the next attack

of the evil one.

And believe me,

Satan will try his best

to defeat you.

He don't want to give you

a headache.

He wants to ruin

your life.

And he can force us to,

he cannot force us to sin,

but he works overtime

to try to find

our weakness.

He loves to strike

a spark

that leads

to a full flame

of fire

of temptation

and failure.

However,

when we come to Christ,

old things

are passed away.

behold,

all things are new.

We have a strength

to squash

the flickers

of failure

and weakening

the force

of temptation.

Matthew 5,

Matthew 5:6

verse 6,

Jesus said,

blessed are those

who hunger

and thirst for righteousness

for they shall

be satisfied.

Is that what

we're hungry for?

Does all of our lives

reflect that?

I know it reflects it

on Sunday morning

at 1030,

but does all of our lives

reflect that?

In the Song of Solomon,

it talks about

building a wall

to protect the vineyard,

but it warns

and says

it's the little foxes

that spoil the vines.

And what it's talking about

when you try to keep

the deer

and whatever other

kind of animals

they may have fought

to keep out,

if they leave cracks

in that fence,

little foxes

will get through there

and they won't eat

the grapes

off the vine.

they'll eat

that tender part

of the vine

around the bottom

and they eat

all the way around it

and they kill

the whole vine.

You lose all the fruit.

And that's what

Solomon says in there.

He says,

it's the little foxes

that spoil the vines.

And quite honestly,

fruitfulness,

our fruitfulness

is hindered

by the little things

in our lives.

Like the little cracks

in the breastplate

that exposes the heart.

If you've got

a little bitter in you,

it'll expose you.

If you've got a little look

that you look too long at,

it'll expose you.

If you have a little

selfishness in your life,

it'll expose you.

If you have a little

self-reliance,

it'll expose you.

Are you crooked?

Just a little bit.

It'll expose you.

All of these things

will throw us off

in our walk with God

and exposes us

to an enemy

that loves to attack.

Not only does he

love to attack,

but he also loves

to accuse.

He's called

the accuser

of the brethren.

And our cracks

leave room

for his insults.

And be clear,

if you're not living it,

the world will know it.

Your witness

will be affected.

And even if the world

doesn't know it,

nobody but you

knows it,

you will fail

to be a witness

because you're hindered,

because you are weakened,

because that weakness

has been exposed

to the evil one.

And I promise you,

the devil will remind

you of it often.

He'll not only tempt you,

he'll dog you out.

And he'll remind you

of it often.

The reality is

that we settle

for second best

instead of God's very best

in our lives too often.

We wreck our lives

with hypocrisy

by not applying

that which we know

to be true.

Matthew 6 verse 33

Matthew 6:33

says,

seek first the kingdom

of God

and his righteousness

and all these things.

You know what that is?

That means everything else.

The Lord will provide

the rest.

If we'll seek him,

whatever else

you're worried about,

he'll take care of that.

That means we seek him

every day.

Are there going to be

crazy days?

Yeah.

Yeah,

there's going to be

crazy days.

Does God understand

when crazy days come along?

Yes,

of course he understands that.

However,

we're speaking of more

than just Christian lip service.

We're talking about

more than just showing up.

We're speaking of

maintaining

a nurturing relationship,

seeking him daily,

seeking the right things

of God daily.

Right living

is the breastplate

that deflects

the blows of condemnation

and the shots

at compromise.

That's what deflects

many of these blows.

It's not in our strength.

It's in the armor of God.

It's not in our self-reliance.

It's in our dependence

upon him.

Never underestimate

your influence

and do not let the devil

tell you today

that you are done,

that you've already

messed up,

that God can't use you,

that there's no starting over.

There's a Greek word

for that

and it's baloney.

It ain't true.

It ain't true.

You put on

a breastplate of righteousness

today,

you get it right today

and watch how God

will use you.

Martin Luther,

that 16th century theologian

I mentioned,

said this.

He says,

because sometimes

we don't think about

the influence

that we can have

as Christians.

We don't see it.

Why don't you listen

to what he says?

The pagan does tremble

at the rustling of a leaf.

He feels the hound of heaven.

That's what he called God,

the hound of heaven.

He sniffs us out

and finds us.

We don't find him.

He finds us.

He feels the hound of heaven

breathing down his neck.

Listen to this.

He feels crowded

by holiness

even if it is only

made present

by an imperfect,

partially sanctified

human vessel.

God uses

imperfect vessels.

Thank God.

Amen?

We'd all be hopeless

if not.

I want to read that again.

I want you to get

the full picture here.

The pagan does tremble

at the rustling of a leaf.

You think he don't feel

God moving in his life?

He feels it.

He feels the hound of heaven

breathing down his neck.

He feels crowded

by holiness

even if it's only

made present

by an imperfect,

partially sanctified

human vessel.

Back in the mid-70s,

one of the leading

golfers in the PGA

went golfing one day

with Gerald Ford,

the president

of the United States

at the time,

Jack Nicklaus

and Billy Graham.

He's a pro golfer.

He played with Jack,

but he was blown away

by being with Ford,

the president,

and Billy Graham.

And after he finished,

he was standing

next to Jack Nicklaus

and somebody said,

what was it like

playing with the president

and with Billy Graham?

And he said,

Jack just started cussing

and carrying on.

And then he said,

I don't need Billy Graham

stuffing religion

down my throat.

And he went

to the practice team.

His friend followed him

and in fury,

he just started

beating the balls.

His neck was growing red.

He was somewhat

in a tirade.

And finally,

the pro golfer

just got silent

and settled down.

And that friend said,

was Billy a little

rough on you today?

And Jack replied,

no,

he didn't even mention religion.

It's astonishing

that Billy Graham

had not said a word

about God,

about Jesus,

or about religion.

Yet the pro was angry

when he left

under the conviction

that came from being

in the presence

of a man of God,

Billy Graham.

the righteousness

of God

is where our victory is.

It's where our hope is.

With every head bowed

and every eye closed,

I want to ask you today,

if you've never surrendered

your life to the Lord

Jesus Christ,

the reality is

what I speak of

is something foreign to you.

I'm not going to tell you

by coming to church

you get that.

It only comes

through a relationship

with Christ.

If you've never

surrendered your life

to the Lord Jesus Christ,

I want you to know

it'll change your life

when you do,

for real.

We'd love to guide you

in that,

and so I encourage you

when we stand and sing

in just a moment to come,

love to start

that process with you,

sharing with you

what it means

to give your life to Christ.

Maybe you've done that

but never acknowledged

it publicly.

We baptized several

last week.

We'll do it again.

Have you ever

acknowledged Christ

through baptism?

If you haven't,

you come.

We'll line that up.

Maybe God's drawing you

to First Baptist Church.

God's doing a wonderful work

here and we're thankful.

Maybe God's leading you

to be a part of that.

If He is,

you come.

Or maybe God's just

showed you

some cracks

in your armor,

showed you

some things

aren't right

that you need

to get right

before the Lord.

You do that.

You can do that

where you are.

You can do it

at His altar.

You can do it

with the pastor

praying for you.

I don't know

what God's told you

but I know

you'll never be happy

unless you do

exactly what He's told you.

So just be obedient.

Heavenly Father,

I love you

and I ask for you

to guide us right now

to just simply be obedient

and follow your lead

in everything that we do

in this very moment.

In Jesus' precious name,

amen.

Amen.

Amen.