Ephesians: The Armor for the Fight of Our Lives (Part 2) | Armor of God - Video

City Light Church Sermons

Sermon Text: Ephesians 6:14 Sermon Date: 8/04/2024 Speaker: Brian Crawford . Check us out at: https://citylightvicksburg.org/ Or check us out here: https://www.facebook.com/citylightvicksburg . In our text, Paul uses words in the past tense. He's urging us to have already put on the tools to make warfare against the devil when he attacks. One should stay ready so one doesn’t have to get ready. We should live lives of truth - not when our backs are against the wall, but when we’re living in the easy time. We put on the breastplate of righteousness during time of ease. Righteousness is not something you put on when it’s time to fight: but it’s armor to wear during our daily life. What does righteousness mean when we speak of the "Breastplate of Righteousness? It is “The quality of state of being righteous.” And righteousness is the act of being "just.” So, righteousness is “living justly honestly and faithfully with others, God, and God’s creation.” There are actually two kinds of righteousness - practical righteousness, and positional righteousness. In positional righteousness, one man’s disobedience, Adam, took us away from our home, Eden. One man’s righteousness, Christ, paid the price for us to get access back home. (And through Him, Christ has satisfied Gods righteousness for you.) We gain this righteousness through our faith. It’s not about what we have done, but what was done for us. So, what kind of righteousness is Paul talking about in this verse?: practical. Our ability to live rightly with God and mankind - to walk in the light according to God’s instruction. When we talk about righteousness as a tool of war, what do the trenches look like? When God calls you to operate in the world, He’s asking you to run counter to everything we’ve been taught about warfare. Pursue right, good and justice when we wage war in the heart of conflict. Why is this? Because this kind of warfare is not typical… but it honors God, and can turn our enemy's hearts. This kind of warfare preserves the soul. Remember that Satan’s main goal is to disrupt our faith and poison our soul. So, by operating in righteousness in warfare, we preserve our heart and soul. When you are in a moment when you can choose to forgive or not to forgive - you are in a battle with Satan. When you harden up, you leave yourself open for more attacks from Satan. Anytime we say “I know God calls me to forgive, BUT…” Satan has won a battle against us. What about freedom? Our culture usually defines the absence of boundaries as freedom. But righteousness moves us to say “no” to what we want, but to honor God with our choices. During the context of freedom, we will face battles and the lies of Satan are on full display. You are also at war with selfishness. Our call is to do good by others and creation. It’s easy for us to turn off when others need help or harm us. It’s easy for us to let go of our concern for others and continue watching the next episode on whatever show we’re watching. But that is our warfare. When Satan lies to us to become complacent, he takes us out of the trenches where we should be - where God calls us to be! To stop doing good leaves a gaping hole in the armor God has given us to protect us and our soul. So how do we stay ready? Be strong in His righteousness! Look back to your savior when we are tired and exhausted of doing good and being just. And His love toward us is inexhaustible, even when we fail to follow Him. Christ has given us tools to wage war - let us use our armor not just when our backs are against the wall, but every day! #churchservice #armorofgod #spiritualwarfare #christianity #spiritualbattles #faith #divineprotection #spiritualawareness #ephesians6 #ephesians #righteousness #Justice #righteous