Take a Stand for Righteousness
Notes
Transcript
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Prayer: Lord let the desires of our heart beat for your righteousness and let it consume our thoughts to follow hard after you.
I read a poem from Dr. David Jeremiah that I need to start with in this message this morning:
"Two natures beat within my breast. The one is foul, the one is blessed. The one I love, the one I hate. The one I feed will dominate".
As humans we all have two natures, all of us, and your old nature's still with you. When you get saved, you get a new nature, but the old one doesn't go away.
So, guess what? After you become a Christian, you still have the tendencies to repay evil with evil.
This morning we will talk about the breastplate of righteousness, about how we overcome the evil that is around us.
How do we deal with the evil things people do to us?
How do we overcome?
Anybody here ever have anybody do evil to you?
When someone hurts us the first thing we want to do is get back at that person for hurting us. We want to make that person hurt and our pain to stop. We often hold grudges and carry vendettas, yes even as Christians, yes even in the church.
This morning we are going to talk about what wearing the breastplate of righteousness really means.
It is easy for us to give into the temptation for us as Christians is to use the world's method of trying to find a way to get even.
In Ephesians Paul tells us to put on the breastplate of righteousness.
The breastplate of the Roman soldier as a piece of armor made of hardened reinforced leather.
For an officer, the leather was covered with metal plating for extra protection.
The breastplate covered the torso and proteted the soldier’s vital organs - especially the heart.
Without a breastplate a soldier was vulnerable and exposed to the enemy.
Paul used the breastplate as a metaphor in his letter to the Epesians. Righteousness acts as a “breastplate” to protect the spiritual heart of the Christian.
This is the spiritual center of our lives.
What is Righteousness?
What is Righteousness?
Righteousness is a an old fashioned word.
Webster defines Righteousness as “acting in accord with moral law, being free from guilt or sin, and being morally right or justifiable, as in a righteous decision”.
Jesus Christ is moral perfection and His sinless life of obedience to the Father is the greatest example of righteousness we have to follow.
By this example we are able to use it to overcome evil that is within us and the evil that is around us.
We have been born into sin and we have evil within us.
How do we overcome the evil within us?
How do we overcome the evil within us?
It is easy for us to look around us and see evil. We forget about the evil within us.
For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Reading this is depressing but the sad thing is this list is not complete. There is no way to list all the evil humans can think of. We need to examine the evil within.
As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
Ever wonder why we are drawn to villians? Because we recognize them. Authors can make them more believeable and imitable because we know these characters. We get it, we know evila dn we can understand its nature better than we can understand good.
We must not be naive in thinking, even as Christians, “I would never do something like that evil!”
We must realize evil exists in us and we need to be careful about opening a door to it.
Yes we have evil inside is and the good news is that Christ in His goodness and mercy overcame that evil for us by dying on the cross and then offering us His righteousness - this is a free gift that can only be received BY FAITH!
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Evil no longer has power over the one who is clothed with the righteousness of Christ.
What happened on the cross is the most wondeful truth of the Bible.
He became sin who knew no sin that we might become His righteousness. He humbled Himself and carried the cross. Love so amazing.
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
When Jesus died on the cross He took on our sins.
He took on mine and your identity as a sinner.
When we believe in him. When we ask Him to be Lord of our lives we take on His identity - the Righteous Son of God.
He took our sin
He became sin
We put our trust in Jesus
He forgives our sin
He not only forgives our sin He gives us His righteousness
We receive this righteousness THE MOMENT (INSTANTLY) we belive Jesus is the son of God.
So what should we do Repent! Ask for forgiveness!
Put your trust in Christ and He does the rest.
Once you have received the righteousness of Christ by faith put that righteousness into action.
How?
Live according to God’s Word
Follow the example of Christ
By doing this our hearts will be filled with joy and love and an irresistable wonder of Christ’s love for us.
That equips us to overcome evil.
Not by my Strength but His!
Not by my Strength but His!
Not by might nor by power
But by my spirit says the Lord of host.
Illustraton of the power of forgiveness page 66-67 Overcomer by David Jeremiah
“When Chris Carrier was ten years old, a stranger approached him, professing to be a friend of the boy’s father. He needed Chris’s help in picking out a Christmas present for his dad. So Chris climbed into the man’s motor home.
A short time later the man pulled the vehicle into a field and stabbed Chris in the back of the neck. He then drove the vehicle, with the wounded boy inside, down a dirt road. He shot the boy in the left temple and dumped him by the side of the road in the alligator-infested Florida Everglades.
For six days, Chris lay there, in and out of consciousness, until he was found by a passing motorist. Miraculously, he survived his injuries but lost the ability to see out of his left eye. The police were never able to identify or find the attacker. Chris lived in fear for the next three years until, at a church event, he heard the gospel and gave his life to Christ. He grew in his faith and decided to go into full- time ministry to help others find the peace and healing he had found in Jesus. Many years later—Chris was now married with a family—a detective contacted Chris, saying an elderly man had confessed to the brutal crime.
The man had a grudge against Chris’s father and took out his anger against Chris as a way of hurt- ing the boy’s father. Chris visited the seventy-seven-year-old man, who was now broken and weak, in a nursing home.
At first the man denied knowing anything about the crime, but eventually he apologized to Chris. Chris explained how he had become a Christian and how God had used that terrible event in his life to share God’s forgiveness and love with many other people. Chris’s family began making almost daily visits to the nursing home, sharing the love of God with the man. And one Sunday afternoon, Chris’s attacker received both God’s and Chris’s forgiveness and placed his faith in Christ. A few days later he died peacefully in his sleep.”
This shows us that it is possible for one man to overcome the evil around him.
1. Chris allowed Christ to remove the notion of revenge from him.
2. This allowed him to experience love, this allowed him to experience forgiveness. This overpowered the evil within him and the evil in his assailant’s life by outpouring God’s love.
The Bible teaches us how to do this in Romans.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
From this scripture we are shown 6 ways to overcome evil.
Vengence is who’s?
Vengence is who’s?
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
Vengences is not for us to worry about, deal with or be consumed by.
We are often consumed by getting back when someone wrongs us. Evil or evil is ok?
How do we know what would be accurate repayment for vengence? Are we God?
We get so consumed with balancing the scales trying to keep them perfectly balanced that we forget that we are going against God’s word by living this way.
“Pastor Charles Swindoll tells about a preacher who refused to take revenge. He once said to a person who hurt him, “I’m not going to get even. I’m going to tell God on you!”⁷ Fortunately, we don’t have to tell God anything; He knows and sees everything, including every act of evil. And He tells us that He will balance the scales one day”.
Vengence is His, we must get our hands off!
Illustration #1 Repaying balace sheet:
“Nick Stafford of Cedar Bluff, Virginia, was upset with the county DMV office because they wouldn’t give him access to their direct phone lines. So when it came time to pay the taxes on two cars he purchased, Nick brought to their office five wheelbarrows loaded with over 300,000 pennies to cover the assess- ment. His rationale: “If they were going to inconvenience me then I was going to inconvenience them” (Page 68)
Illustration #2
“In a 1991 baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds, Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson objected strenuously to a called strike by um- pire Joe West. In the heated dispute that followed, Dawson bumped West (he claimed it was accidental) and was ejected from the game and fined $1,000. But Dawson got his revenge by making it publicly known that on the check he sent to pay the fine he’d written, “Donation for the blind.”
When we take it upon ourselves to repay debts or take up revenge we are saying to God that we know better.
God says vengence is His and we have no right to take on that role.
“ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
Church this morning I plead and implore you all to get rid of hatred, hurt and vendettas. Things that have happened have to be dealt with and forgiven, not left to fester and breed strife.
Disputes have no place in the church. We even have to love those who get on your nerves.
We want revival it won’t happen until we can live in harmony, share in his love, and overcome the evil within and share who Jesus is.
If we breed hurt and strife and unforgiveness we are not showing Jesus.
Jesus loved those who hated Him. He went to the cross so that we can expereince forgiveness not fester in unforgiveness!
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
It is not love your neighbour and hate your enemies.
Jesus corrected that distortion of Lev. 19:18 in his sermon on the mount by telling His listeners to love and pray for their enemies.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
If we try to do God’s work we will fail.
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
Even when Jesus was treated with hatred and pain He overcame with love and forgiveness.
Look Ahead
Look Ahead
We know what not to do and have been taught and heard what not to do. Paul instructs what is next.
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.
In this verse we see the word used “regard” which means to look ahead.
Think of ways to overcome obstacles. Think of ways to overcome the need for vengence.
See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.
We need to be careful about how we handle evil in our lives. Most of us are reactive but we need to think differently, we need to be proactive as Paul called us. Do good instead of bad.
None of us are immune to wanting revenge. Some people bring out the worst in us. But may I remind you of this we are all responsible for our actions and this means actions towards those people who get on our nerves and the actions we do in difficult situations.
Paul challenges us to strategize how we can do even in the worst circumstances.
We have to learn to overcome these challenges.
Lean in
Lean in
We have to decide how we will respond in good times or bad.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to take action. Take action against evil by standing! To equip ourselves with God’s armor to stand against evil and overcome it!
Evil can be difficult to expose and the enemy makes it harder to define. We have to put our trust in Christ. Ask Him through the Holy Spirit to show us how to do the next right thing. He has equippd us with what we need and most often we don’t ask. We must ask!
God works in His time not our time.
Live in Peace
Live in Peace
Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
illustration:
“The families of San Antonio next-door neighbors Rick and Tony were close friends, often visiting and attending events together, including family weddings and vacations. But in 2012, the friendship ended and a feud began, forcing police re- sponses to over 140 complaints.
The rift began when Rick posted juicing recipes on Facebook. Tony’s family claimed the concoction made them sick. Rick’s wife posted a response saying if they didn’t eat so much fatty foods, maybe they wouldn’t be so overweight. Things went swiftly downhill from there.
A dispute over backyard trees spurred Rick to build a monstrous, twelve-foot corrugated metal wall between the two houses. Then, Tony used a cattle prod to knock down garbage cans to create nighttime noise. Rick responded by painting pigs on Tony’s side of the fence and displaying toy pigs in obscene poses.
Next, Tony then erected a thirteen-foot pole topped with a camera aimed over Rick’s fence. Rick countered with surveillance equipment aimed at Tony’s home. Tony claimed every time his family walked out of their house, Rick made pig noises and even posted videos of Tony’s wife on YouTube with pig grunts dubbed in.
An altercation involving a trash can resulted in a conviction, a fine, and community service for Rick. But that wasn’t enough for Tony’s family. His wife put up a sign saying Rick’s family were perverts. Despite police orders to remove the sign, she kept putting it back. Both families filed lawsuits and received court orders to stop everything until the suits were resolved.”
You see what vengence and unforgiveness can bring us to?
This is certainly not how it should be and especially not with God’s people.
Hateful words and action plague our nation and province. As God’s people we have the chance to show change to show God’s example.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Responding to evil with evil elevates and gives honor to evil. Overcome evil with good. Responding to evil with evil is like pouring gas on a raging fire.
When we overcome evil with good, the evil is smothered, lacking the fuel of animosity to keep it alive.
When we have done everything in our power to establish and maintain peace and the other person is unwilling to to have peace than God does not hold us accountable for the lack of peace.
We have to do everything in our power and the power of Christ living in us - to live at peace with others.
On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
When someone strikes out at you with an evil act remember this:
“Don’t curse it, don’t rehearse it, don’t nurse it - but do reverse it!” - D. Jeremiah p.75
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
To repay good for evil is to become like God.
But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
Love
Bless
Do good
Pray
That is how you overcome evil with good
Conclusion:
Church this morning we need to remember that there is a world that needs Jesus we need to stop neglecting that imperative measures we need to put first and show the light of Jesus.
We need t stop hurting one another, pour the love of Jesus out to each other. Mend fences and stop thinking about vengence.
We need to put on the breastplate of righteousness. We need tp pursue peace and love one another!
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Jesus never failed to overcome evil with good in His life and He gives us the ability to do the same as we walk by faith.
Let the Lord have His way in your life today