Protect Your Heart

Hello, church. We are so glad that you decided to join us today here at Revere. We are passionate about the Word of God. We're passionate about prayer. We're passionate about worship, and you being with us is a privilege. We're not just excited about church. We're excited about you being in church. So if you want to take your next step, you want to get baptized, you want to join the Serve team, you want to jump in a community group, we would love to have you do that with us. However you're worshiping today, we hope you enjoy service. Let's give God the glory. All hail the King Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, we say the name Jesus and darkness has to flee. What an honor and a privilege it is to worship with you today. I want to start today's service with a reading of God's Word. In a second, I'm going to have you pull out your Bibles, but for right now, the Scripture is on the side screen. Ephesians 6.10 says this, Finally, men and women of Revere, with your church fans and a broken AC, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand, somebody say stand, against the schemes of the wily devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor, somebody say whole armor. Don't just take one piece, you got to put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand firm, stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness. If you are new, you're visiting, welcome.

We are in a series called suited up, and I want you to turn to your neighbor, I want you to look at them in the eyes, who cares if it's awkward, and say suit up, before you grab your Bible, grab your seat, say good morning, good afternoon, online family, wherever you are tuning in from, welcome. We are so glad that you're here, for suited up week three of our spiritual warfare series. Oh, y'all came out to play today. As we talk about a series on spiritual warfare, and waging war, bringing light to dark places. As I was thinking about ways that we can put modern-day understanding, of what Paul is talking about. See, Paul was writing this letter while he was in prison. He was writing this letter to his friends in Ephesus, and he's thinking about what is something that I can encourage them with. I want to speak to their reality, but I also want to give them a perspective of hope. From prison, undoubtedly, there was Roman guards, and Roman guards would be fitted in the full armor of Roman regalia. So he is telling them, hey, I need you to buck up, boo. I need you to stand firm. That means get ready. I need you to get ready for battle. Now, I don't have a military background. My father is a military man. Very grateful for that. I don't have a military background. The closest thing that I can say that I have warred for is in a paintball tournament. Has anyone ever played paintball?

Let me know who you are. Great. I did it one time. I'll never do it again. Okay, great. Because the rubber pallets are safe. Rubber pallets filled with paint are safe, but they hurt. They will not kill you, but it will inflict pain. You know what also kind of feels very oddly aligned? Spiritual warfare. It will not kill you, but spiritual warfare inflicts some pain. Now, if you don't know the premise of paintball, how do you know if you lost? If your chest plate is covered with paint, you're dead. All right, that's really how it works. And we can think, okay, well, it's not that big of a deal. It's not that serious. All right, but let me tell you something. Paintball is a game. Spiritual warfare is about life and death. The enemy is after your heart. There is an attack for your heart. And I know you're thinking like, oh, my gosh, Bianca, this is way too serious. Are we starting here? Like, whoa, whoa, you went really deep, really fast. Like, why are you so extra? You're making such a big deal about this. Am I? Because today in this room and online, what I realize needs to happen is I need to reach you before I teach you. So I have to ask. How is your heart today? Does the silence make you uncomfortable?

See, because we ask this question often. But do we really want to know the answer of the person that we're asking? Today, before we go on, before you get theology and Greek and Bible research, because I have researched before any of that, I have to ask you, how is your heart? Because if your life is anything like mine, there are things that we will carry with us, not just into this room, but we'll carry them into life that bring disease to our hearts. The word disease is actually two words, dis-ease. There are people in this room that have a heart that is hurting. There is dis-ease in your hearts, and let's be honest, in a room of this size, and for those that are watching online, we have people that are walking in with broken hearts. We have people that are walking in with worried hearts. We have people walking in with anxious hearts. We have people walking with burdened hearts. We have people walking in with depressed hearts. We have people walking in with betrayed hearts. We have people walking in with shattered hearts. You know what that sounds like? A heart attack. Your heart is under attack. Oh, sure, the organ in your chest is beating, but don't be deceived. The enemy wants to get you at your heart. See, when the Bible speaks about the heart, we're not talking about the organ that pumps blood. When the Bible speaks about the heart, it refers to the inner person. So when I ask you, how's your heart, I'm not asking about your aorta. I'm asking about the inner person. The core of your being, your thoughts, emotions, your will, your intentions. And then I have to ask, huh, do you think the negative feelings that you're experiencing are from you? Or is there an enemy that's waging for your mind?

The anxious anxiety that keeps you up, wringing your hands, riddled with depression at night, is that from you? Or is evil at work? The rage and the anger that is at war within your mind, is that you? Or is the enemy prowling? The question that I want to address this morning, as we continue on in this series suited up with the armor of God, is what is protecting your heart? For the note takers in this space, with style and grace, I want you to pull out your notebook and I want you to write down the title, Protect Your Heart. Protect your heart. I don't see a whole lot of pins moving, which makes me a little concerned, because we got lights. I can't see right now, but we got lights. And I told you, I want to see Bibles and notebooks. So this is grace for this week. Next week, I want to see notebooks. As I mentioned, Paul the Apostle is writing from prison to his friends in Ephesus. And one thing that we discovered on week one is that the enemy is here to attack you, to distract you, and to tempt you. The enemy wants to make you not believe. The enemy wants to make you not have faith in a good God. And the enemy is attacking your identity. And so we are invited by Paul to put on the full armor of God, to protect ourselves from the lies of the enemy. Revelation says that he's the accuser of the brethren, that he's the father of lies. He wants to condemn you. Conviction is like, oops, I did something wrong. Condemnation is, I am wrong. The enemy wants to tell you that you are not enough. And last week, last week, Preston preached on the belt of truth.

And he beautifully explained, if you were here and you were blessed by the message, can you give it up for Preston, who is, that was a good word, that was a good word. Because I'll be honest with you. I didn't pay much attention to, like, the belt. You know what I'm saying? Like, I barely wear belts. You know? Like, no. But as he broke it down, the principle was that truth is not relative. Like, what you deem as truth, and what I deem as truth, and what you deem as truth is relative in our world. But Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. If Jesus says he's the truth, we take him at his word. And speaking of word, the word of God is how we determine our truth. We need a moral barometer. Because what you think and I think are very different. So who's going to be right? The word of God. Now, as I was studying geek alchemy for a second, in Roman armory, the belt was wildly important. And this is why I think Paul started with the belt of truth. Because the breastplate that a warrior and a soldier would wear would attach to what? The belt. See? Y'all knew where I was going. Everything is dependent on the truth. We are wrapped with the truth of Jesus. And now, let's talk about the breastplate. I was nervous about saying that word in church. It's so awkward.

We'll call it the chestplate. The chestplate of righteousness. Praise God. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So now we're going to expand on this concept. So the first piece of armory was the belt. The second piece is the breastplate of righteousness. And the breastplate was used to protect vital organs, primarily the heart. I wanted to give you a visual of what a breastplate would look like, because a breastplate would protect not just your lower organs, but also your heart. And the reason why I chose this particular breastplate is because that's the one that I would want to wear. Because I could eat a pizza and still look like I got abs. You know what I'm saying? I said, that's my breastplate of righteousness. Yes, nothing moves, all right? Because there's some days where you look like a trash bag full of water. You know what I'm saying? This makes you look good all the time. That is the righteousness of Jesus, amen. See, I knew vain Orange County would appreciate that. We're like, hey, no life, oh, okay. Verse 14, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. The heart is the organ that keeps every other organ in your body alive. You can have your brain working, but if your heart don't work, you ain't gonna make it.

You can have motor functions, but if your heart's not working, you're not gonna make it. Now, I don't wanna get too sciency, but do you know the number one killer in America? It's not COVID, it's not cancer, it's not cholera, it's heart disease. There are practical principles that could apply in spiritual ways. Our heart needs to be protected. I love what Wise Solomon says in Proverbs 4.23. Above all else, above all else, guard your wallet. Above all else, above all else, guard your body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. If your heart is not good, if your heart is experiencing attack, I'm gonna tell you to put on the breastplate of righteousness. See, Jesus says that the enemy, in John 10.10, he says, the enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy, but I, I have come to give you life and life abundant. See, Jesus was very clear. The enemy is after you, and this is what I wanna get at today. You have to, I beg of you, church, protect your heart. Better yet, have someone protect your heart. So when Paul speaks about the breastplate of righteousness, it's important for us to identify what is righteousness. So I wanna kind of untangle maybe some spiritual language or spiritual feelings that you might have been taught

in growing up or just that you've thought, but righteousness is a very misunderstood term within the church. In the Bible, righteousness is not religion. Religion is about right activity. Righteousness is right standing before God. Righteousness is not right activity. Righteousness is right standing before God. And if you think that righteousness is something that you do, you're wasting your time, and that is nothing but empty religion. Righteousness is a gift from God. Righteousness is not what you do for him. Righteousness is what he has done for me and for you. But here's the problem. Do we really believe that? See, we try to cover and make up for the times that we fall, the times that we sin or fall short, and we aren't the only ones. From the beginning of time, when Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, what was the first thing that they did? They hid and they covered. They hid from God and they covered themselves with fig leaves. And we're doing the same thing today. And we feel like we can cover ourselves and no one will be able to see the stuff that's really going on underneath the surface. And with so many well-intentioned people,

I mean, people that go to church, they believe that right activity leads to right standing before God. But that's not the case. That is called morality. Morality will keep you out of prison. Morality will not get you into heaven. I don't want a moral church. I want a church that is passionately chasing Jesus, knowing that it is nothing that we can do and everything that he has done. And the truth is the enemy wants to condemn you. The enemy wants to make you feel small. The enemy is on mission to make you feel weak. The enemy wants to make you feel like a loser, like what you're doing is not enough. The enemy wants to make you feel dirty. The enemy wants to make you feel inferior. And what do we do? We cover. If you knew this about me. Oh, I failed that time. I have to keep it covered. So we cover ourselves in good work. We cover ourselves in giving money. We cover ourselves in accomplishment or successes. We cover ourself in who we married or the status that we've acquired. But that won't cover you or protect you. I love the living Bible translation of verse 14.

When speaking about the breast of righteousness, it says this, that it is the breastplate of God's approval. Did I just say that out loud wrong? I did. This is awkward. It's just an awkward word. Is that okay? I'm like sweating all of a sudden. Somebody give me a church fan. Oh my gosh. Breastplate of God's approval. I caught it. I caught it. I caught it. Okay. So I love this translation because the voices in our heads are constantly saying you are not. It's enough. I know I'm not alone by a show of hands. How many times have you felt like you are not enough? Okay I'm gonna wager that a large portion of that is the voice of the enemy saying that you will not have enough you will not Be enough you will not achieve enough because you are not enough that condemnation There's nothing to protect you from that condemnation other than the breastplate of righteousness the breastplate of God's Approval so what somebody said about you what somebody did to you the mistakes that you have made the failures that you have Encountered the things that you have done and the things that others have done to you. Guess what? They cannot penetrate the breastplate of God's righteousness the righteousness of Jesus protects your heart. I need that to sink in and If you don't know or understand or accept the righteousness of Jesus, you will try to cover yourself with good deeds I'll do this to be perceived as a good person I'll give five dollars to the homeless man on the corner or I'll just drop in five dollars into the offering box at church So that so that it can be a good deed

I'll attend church. So I'll get bonus points and then get into heaven I'll stop cussing so God knows that I'm trying really really hard We try to protect ourselves from those things as if that will protect us from the condemnation of the enemy It won't it won't Every world religion is based on the fundamental act of earning righteousness Please hear me. I am NOT here to bash any other religions. I'm not I'm this is comparative world religion 101 and let me tell you every world religion is based up on a righteousness that if you do you will get if You do this if you do that if you say this if you say that then you'll be entered into Paradise Valhalla Nirvana Dharma the only only community and system of faith belief That does not say you can earn your way to God or to good. Is that a following Jesus? Jesus is saying your righteousness will get you nowhere. I love you so much. I did this for you That's what's different about being a follower of Jesus. You don't have to do anything because Jesus has done it all It's not like God's in love with the future version of you like when you clean up and when you stop cussing when you stop Sleeping around then he'll deem you worthy He knew exactly what he got when he bought you with his blood and he loves you too much to let you stay there My fear in speaking about the righteousness of Jesus is that some people will rake me over the clothes Over the coals on YouTube and say all this girl is Cheapening grace. No, you've made grace so expensive and right now We're trying to make this a works-based religion Like if I'm good, then God will think I'm good and according to Scripture That's not what we see now that doesn't give us a license to while out and run amok because what I firmly believe is that when we encounter the Righteousness of Jesus our life has changed the things that we used to do We don't want to do anymore the words that we used to say we feel convicted about the people I used to hang out with I don't want to hang out with no more. Why because that is called Sanctification a fancy theological word for I am being made in the likeness of Jesus. I don't have to do a B and C I just get to let the love of God the joy of God the forgiveness of God Transform me into the likeness of Jesus

And I think I think I'm gonna wager that we can come to a place like this and we could see people standing on stage and leading us in worship or drop off our kids in the kids church and see them rocking babies or See somebody teaching the Bible and say oh wow, they must really have it all together But the truth of the matter is nobody within this church is anything without the righteousness the saving grace of Jesus Christ It makes me think of a man in this community that's been here for a number of years There is Sneed actually led us in worship this morning He was the guy with the black hat and black glasses and seems like an angel and pray and heaven opens, you know I think it's easy to look at him as he hits a very high note and goes on some gospel run to be like that Man, he's anointed. Oh that man. He's real spiritual. I Asked him if I could share a little bit of his journey It's his story to tell but I get to hold it this morning Because the man that we see leading us in worship faithfully every week is not perfect but I remember meeting with him five years ago at Irvine spectrum as we were having a meal outside of in a cat in Otecca, Kachina and The man that was sitting across from me was a shell of a man That I had seen lead me in worship from days weeks and months before He was burned out broken tired Of doing all the right things to me. He's raised in church and spoke Christian ease It's not a real language, but you know Christian ease some of us speaking in here. How are you doing blast? Your life's imploding, hallelujah, hey. I had manna for breakfast, ah, so holy. We do it, we do it, we do it. And I looked at this man and I think most people would say, read your Bible more. Spend time praying for an hour a day to have revival in you. Maybe fast and say no to food. And the only thing that dropped in my heart

was an invitation to rediscover Jesus. Daris, do you want to go on an adventure of not finding religion, but finding Jesus? I get it, your life's a mess right now. I have no judgment, I have no judgment. I don't want the enemy to keep you from the thing the Lord has called you to. But you need to make some critical decisions to follow in the ways of Jesus. And I don't want you to get into a religion. I want you to understand that there is a man that wants a relationship with you and his name is Jesus and he can heal you. Daris is not only a redeemed man, but that man is suited up. After first service, we were back and we were debriefing first service and it was him who said, no, no, no, we're waging against darkness, you guys. We need to push hard for worship. And it's men like that that are stepping up in this community and they're suiting up, not in perfection, but in a desire to know that yes, I'm a forgiven sinner, but when I put on the breastplate of righteousness, I'm more than a conqueror, I'm suited up. And if he can get suited up, you can get suited up. God's approval is not based on your performance, but it's based on the performance of what Christ did on the cross.

Now listen, I don't wanna make you feel bad about your good deeds. I hope you continue to do good deeds, do good things. It's great, it's great. I just wanna be clear that your good deeds are not gonna get you in good graces with God because you don't have to earn God's love. Believe me, because I've tried and I failed. I am a pastor's daughter and I am a systems girl. As in, if I save X amount of dollars a month and then reinvest that in the S&P 500, my 401k, then I will have a million dollars at this age. That's a system. If I eat chicken breast and cauliflower and sweet potato and then eat this amount of calories, then I will have a six pack, like the breastplate of righteousness at this point. That's a system. Well, I began to systematize my faith in God. If I am good, if I do good, if I serve, then God will love me and if he loves me, then my life will be perfect. Has anyone else fallen into that trap? So just in case you think that I haven't lived a life where I've been aiming for righteousness, I have lived and will continue to live a life of purity and chastity and integrity. I have been generous since I was a child. I have actually tithed since I was a child. I would tithe off my birthday money.

I am a Pharisee, all right? I'm a recovering legalist. I went to church every Sunday pretty much my whole life and I'm the weird person that when I go on vacation, I also will go to church because I love church. I love being around the people of God. And then I'm like, well, I just, I don't wanna do anything wrong in the economy of God, so I'm gonna show up. And also out of that, I wanna give and help humanity. I have built homes in Mexico. I have taught English in Japan. I have given hungry children food in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. I have forgiven the people who have molested me, who have hurt me, who've abandoned me, who betrayed me and even cheated on me. So you might be sitting here thinking, she's a good Christian, good follower of Christ. But compared to Paul the apostle, I got the attitude of Cardi B. I got the anger of a 50 year old man on roids and testosterone pellets. And I got the patience of an octogenarian going deaf. All right, I am a horrible person compared to Paul the apostle. And Paul was writing to a young church in Philippi. And he said, beware of the dogs. The savagery of my boy, Paul. If you think I'm inappropriate, read Paul's letters.

He straight shots fired, calling people out. Those are dogs. Beware of the dogs that are bringing in doctrine that is not of Jesus, because it is Jesus period. And the dogs were coming in and saying, no, it's Jesus and. Jesus and good works. Or to this church, Jesus and circumcision. And all the men were like, whoop, not too sure I wanna be a follower of Jesus. Then Paul said, see that was funny. I wasn't sure if I was gonna land. So then Paul's like, oh no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't get it twisted. It is only the sufficiency and the righteousness of Jesus. It's not Jesus and. And so to make sure that he was standing on not his righteousness, he gives them a resume, if you will. He tells them who he is, in case they did not know. He begins to tell them of his pedigree. He wrote to them and basically said, if anyone is gonna boast about their righteousness, hey bro, it's gonna be me. Let me let you in a little clue. Let me tell you about my pedigree. Let me tell you where I'm from. Let me tell you about my tribe. I'm the tribe of Benjamin, which is like the best tribe of the day. He was like, I was circumcised on the eighth day,

which every good Jew is circumcised. Spoke multiple languages. He memorized as a pharisee the old testament You don't remember what I preached two weeks ago All right Paul is bad and then he goes on not only when I break a law I know the ceremonies the activity that I need to do to make this wrong, right? He said I was educated by Gamaliel which is the best and the baddest theologian of that day and he's going through this impressive list and people surely would have been reading this letter and saying wow What a righteous man But even with all of that Philippians 3 8 after his huge laundry list of accomplishments. This is what Paul says What is more I consider everything a loss? because of the surpassing worth of Knowing Christ Jesus my lord for whose sake I have lost everything The verse continues on but I just want to pause here for a second a slight caveat Because when I was studying and preparing for this message this concept of I Have lost all things Hit me sideways. I Say this and If I get emotional just bear with me when I read Paul and what he accomplished for what we know as our modern theology and the ways that we serve and know and Love Jesus is because of Paul's writing and he's writing to this church in Prison he's not on a beach eating bonbons he said I've lost everything and it doesn't matter because I've grown so close to Christ And I get emotional because not everyone knows my story and not everyone needs to know my story

But I feel like enough time has passed where I get to share Very broken places of my life because I don't speak about them from being broken. I speak about them from being whole so if I get emotional it's because God is faithful And when Paul lost everything I Remember in a season three years ago. I lost my home my dream home. I Lost all of my savings I've lost everything in my checking account. I lost the stability of what I thought was family. I Lost my reputation in some circles and there was countless of nights Where I laid in bed another really hard nights. I hid in my closet and I told God please just take me. I don't want to live I I can't do this I've never felt more betrayed. I've never felt more cheated on I've never felt more disgusting or unloved. I've never felt more stupid I've never felt more exposed. I've never felt more broken. I've never felt more Unwanted I don't want to live. I don't live I Don't know how in those moments that God picked me up and carried me to our worship nights. I Stand before you and I I cannot tell you how I was able to stand up in this community and Say, I believe that redemption is possible How many times how many times I felt like my life was so shattered and so broken There's no way that God could ever use the mess. That is my life And the one thing that I stand before you and want to preach to you today is not something that I studied though I studied it and it's not something that I want to educate you on though. I want to educate you on I stand before you because the breastplate of righteousness Covered my heart from the condemnation of the enemy and if God did it for me God can do it for you. I Consider everything a loss because of their surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my lord for whose sake I have lost all things I consider them all of it the education and the influence and the affluence and the wherewithal I consider them garbage That I may gain Christ. I Stand before you like Paul all of that. It was so painful. It was such a loss But you know what?

I got I got to know the love of a healing Savior that can take the most broken pieces of my life and make something Absolutely beautiful and whole and he wants to do the same for you. So I need you to say this word. Somebody say scuba line Scuba line say scuba line Scuba line is a Greek word and and I'm gonna tell you the Greek translations in a second But the English translators of the Bible, they are very PC They really cleaned it up. Like every homeschool mom is happy with the word garbage. Maybe some of your translations say rubbish It's it's rubbish. It's all rubbish as if we're posh British people. Don't be daft. It's all rubbish I consider it rubbish who talks like that not Paul not my man Paul because he didn't say he didn't give the equivalent for garbage in this he gave the equivalent scuba lawn and scuba lawn means animal excrement okay okay my mom is gonna watch this message on YouTube so I can't tell you what we would call this but think of animal excrement bull poop no no no you laugh that's how serious my man was I consider that animal dung I consider that consider that dog diarrhea I consider that scuba lawn compared to what I gain in Christ our righteousness will fail us our righteousness pales in comparison to the rightness of Jesus and this is a concept we don't understand because we feel like we have to earn our right standing with God and if you're confused because you feel like no no no I have to do and do and do guess what you were not alone because when Jesus was talking about this principle to people of his day they didn't understand it either the religious people were like no what do we do what do we have to do we're so used to what we have to do and Jesus is like let me tell you this story let me tell you about a story about a man whose son came to him this parabolic form Jesus is looking at the crowds and he says this man had a son and the son went to him and asked for his inheritance and if you're listening during that time you know that if somebody asked for your inheritance you were essentially telling your parent I want you to die so the father gives the son his money and the son goes out to Vegas and Bangkok and Ibiza and there Ibiza and he's wiling out like he's doing the most sex drugs rock and roll and he blows all his money and he finds himself working in a pigsty and he says in a moment of awakening if I'm gonna be a servant I at least want

to be a servant in in my father's household so I will go and I will tell him I will serve him and Jesus is telling this story and includes that while the father saw the son a long way off which indicates that he was looking for his son he saw his son a long way off and do you know what he did someone who knows tell the people around you what did he do he ran to him after his son betrayed him and took what was valuable he ran to him and Jesus is looking for you and he's like I'll run to you does anyone know what was put on the shoulders of this young man a robe which is interesting because Paul also speaks about a robe of righteousness and a robe signified your status and and position in the family so the wayward son the prodigal son had come back home and if you are here today and you have been wiling out and you've been a prodigal child today is the day where a robe of righteousness will prepare you the breastplate of righteousness not what you have done but the rightness of Jesus has done for you will put you in that right standing so I end today with where I began what is covering your heart better yet who is covering your heart because we are in a diseased environment broken hearts sad hearts betrayed hearts depressed hearts grieved hearts but the king of your heart wants to put a breastplate of his righteousness over your heart to protect you from the condemnation of the enemy so as Paul said nothing else matters except knowing Jesus Christ I have to ask you do you know Jesus do you know this man who says come to me and I will give you rest for your weary soul for my yoke is easy and my burden my burden is light come to me and let me heal who hurt you come to me when you're broken and fragile and weak and I will give you my strength so if you're here today and you're like I don't know that Jesus but I need him to protect my heart maybe you're here today and this is the first time you've ever heard about a man named Jesus who loves you passionately today is the day that you get to put on the breastplate of righteousness which is simply receiving the righteousness of Jesus you don't have to do anything you get to receive the righteousness of Jesus and I firmly believe that he will transform you he will renew you he will restore you he

will redeem you so if you're here today and you've never said yes to Jesus or maybe you're here today and at one point you were walking with the Lord but you've turned your back you're like the prodigal son wiling out living living living those wrong tendencies today's the day where the Lord sees He's you a far way off and he says, come home. You're mine, come home. Now I'm gonna do also something very different. Sometimes we think, oh, I'm going to church, therefore I'm a Christian. I'm not asking you for religion. I'm inviting you into a relationship with Jesus. And this is what Jesus says. Jesus says, if you accept me before man, I'll accept you before my father. But if you deny me before man, you deny me, I'll deny you before my father. And scripture's also very clear that if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, you will be saved. So maybe you've been coming here or another church for a minute, but you have never publicly said, I believe in Jesus. He is my Lord and he is my savior and he's renewing my life and redeeming my story. So if you've never said yes to Jesus or you've been wiling out or you've never publicly declared Jesus, today is a day as Paul encouraged us to stand firm. I'm not gonna have you raise your hand. I'm gonna invite you to stand,

to take a stand and publicly declare Jesus is the Lord and the savior of my life. I believe that he can forgive me for my sins and right all of my wrongs. So in a second, I'm gonna count to three and then I'm gonna invite you to stand to your feet. But one, by standing to your feet, you are saying I want Jesus as my personal Lord and savior. Two, by standing to your feet, you are declaring that your mistakes and your failures, what the Bible refers to as sin, could be forgiven because of what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary. And three, by standing to your feet, you are receiving what Romans 10 tells us, that the spirit that resurrected Jesus from the grave will live in me. So men and women in this house, full of faith, there is a war waging for your heart and I'm inviting you to receive the righteousness of Jesus. If that is you, will you stand to your feet in one, two, three. If you are ready to receive, God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.

God bless you. God bless you. God bless you, sir. God bless you. God bless you. Oh, I love it. I love it. Yeah. Why are we clapping? Because baby, you just made the best decision of your life. You got the breastplate of righteousness and you ain't gotta do anything but receive it. Oh. And to let everyone know who's standing, that you are not alone, I'm inviting the army of God to stand to our feet because we're gonna pray a prayer of faith with those that stood to declare Jesus as their Savior. Church, will you repeat after me? Will you say, Jesus, forgive me of my sins. Today I choose you as my Lord and Savior. Cleanse my heart, cleanse my mind, cleanse my body. Fill me with your spirit to do what I cannot do. In Jesus' name, in Jesus' name, amen and amen. So now I want us to raise a hallelujah and speak the name of Jesus. Church, if you feel comfortable, will you raise a hand and say, thank you, Jesus. I speak the name Jesus. I speak the name Jesus over my heart, Jesus over my mind,

Jesus over my family, Jesus over my finances, Jesus over my home, Jesus over my life. Now let's worship Jesus.