Priscilla Shirer: Wear the Armor of God | FULL SERMON | Propel 2018 | TBN

there is always something you can’t see

influencing what you can

and if you spend all of your time your

energy your effort trying to hit at what

you see popping up in your life you’re

gonna be so frustrated and by the way

exhausted because as soon as you take

care of one thing another one is coming

back unless you do what the Apostle Paul

says pull back the curtain and let the

enemy know we got our eyes on you

and we’re gonna use some weapons that

actually work back there behind the

curtain

so I have three boys

um it’s a little bit scary to me that

they are nearly and will be very soon in

the next few years will be about your

age three sons the distinguishing

characteristic about my boys is that

they are giants they are huge boys my 15

year old is six foot two inches tall he

wears a size 14 men’s shoe my 13 year

old is about six one he wears a 13 men’s

shoe and uh they Tower over me I have a

nine-year-old who’s coming up in the

ranks with his brothers they are tall

boys somebody come help me feed these

people

thank you

and one of the distinguishing

characteristics about or what makes

their size work for them rather is that

they do love sports so whatever sport is

sort of in season that’s what we’re

playing at the time my second son for a

lot of years he’s in a basketball now

but for a lot of years baseball was his

thing and I enjoyed that I enjoyed

baseball season I liked going out there

for Spring ball I liked Spring ball

because you go sit in the cool of the

evening while your kid is practicing I

remember all those years of of little

league when he was just coming up and

we’d sit out there in the cool of the

spring evening Under The Lights of the

bleachers watching him practice and

enjoying just uh that that whole

atmosphere I like Spring ball so much

the only problem with Spring ball is

that it is going to become Summer Ball

and I don’t know what happens where you

live wherever you’re coming from but I

can’t tell you in Dallas Texas which is

where I still lived

and where I was born and raised in

Dallas Texas in the summertime it

doesn’t warm up slightly

it gets hot I’m talking about slap your

mama hot that kind of hot the kind of

hot where you feel like the sun must be

mad at you about something like you did

something to the sun and the Sun is

trying to get you back all summer long

that’s what it feels like and you’re

sitting out there at a game trying to

enjoy your kids game and it really still

is okay when there’s just one game the

problem is that at the end of every

season there’s a tournament

so you got to be out there on a Thursday

at 8 A.M and 10 a.m and noon and 2 p.m

and then depending upon how your kids

team did you’re gonna have to come back

on Friday at 8 A.M and 10 a.m and then

they give you a little lunch break but

you got to come back for the 2PM game

the 4 P.M game and then if your kids

team had the nerve to do well you got to

come back again on Saturday for the 8

A.M game and 10 a.m and noon and two and

man you’re sitting out there under the

blazing sun trying to be happy that your

kid is doing well

really you’re wondering if it’s ever

okay to pray they lose so you can go

home

I will never confirm nor deny that I

have ever done that but I will tell you

that we were sitting out there at a

tournament so several years ago

sun was Blazing

we were so excited for the lunch break

just because that meant we would be able

to go to a restaurant where there would

be air conditioned and ice water that

actually had ice in it

we got refreshed we came back

we drove our SUV up into the parking lot

opened up the back of the SUV so that we

could pull out all the gear that we

needed to go to the next game in the

tournament we were three days into the

tournament hot sweaty they were doing

well we were trying to be excited about

it ready for the next game I was walking

behind my son to get from where we had

parked the car over toward the Dugout

where the next game was going to be

played and so I gathered up all the

stuff you know the ice chest that you

have and the um the umbrella that you

might have to go over your head and you

know the water bottles the the backpacks

the The Baseballs the mitts all that

stuff and I was following behind my son

my second son Jerry Jr is a fairly

gregarious personality he’s outgoing

he’s excited for a challenge so I could

see that in his step as I followed

behind him I could see a skip in his

step his chin was up his shoulders were

back he was excited about the next game

and I gotta tell you he’s pretty good in

baseball he has a natural knack for it I

remember at 10 years old was the first

time he got a good hit and sent it

sailing over the fence line at 10 years

old and I think it’s partly because of

his size just a lot of power behind his

swing a great as a first baseman so we

were really excited about his success in

baseball and and I watched him as he

kind of hopped and skipped over to the

next game just excited about the next

challenge in the tournament

but because I was following behind him I

had my eyes glued on him and I could see

when something changed

I could see that as we took the short

walk from where we’d parked the car over

to the Dugout I could see that his

shoulders started to hunch over and his

head hung down I could see that that

skip that had been in his step had

changed he was kind of walking like he

was nervous he was wringing his hands a

little bit I saw that he was looking

around his eyes darting and looking a

little bit sketchy I was trying to

figure out what happened to my boy it

was a short walk from where we parked

the car over to the Dugout and all of a

sudden his countenance had completely

changed so I started looking around

trying to figure out what was going on

why did he look so insecure and fearful

all of a sudden

I realized that as we were going toward

the Dugout we were walking past

some kids from another team they were

all laying on the grass underneath the

shade of an oak tree getting ready for

the next game as I passed him I could

see this was the team we were about to

play next

kept walking and I kept getting a look

at these boys and when I looked at them

I realized what my son’s problem was

we had faced this team before

we had faced them earlier in the season

and when this team had played my son’s

team earlier in the season they had

annihilated us

it had been a complete embarrassment a

complete upset this team right here

y’all they were serious baseball players

but we had to walk right by them to get

to The Dugout as we walked past there

were two players they were talking to

each other one was whispering to the

other I think he thought he was

whispering but we could hear him

he leaned over to the other one and he

said

there goes that big kid from the Red Sox

team

is he the one that hit the ball and it

went over the fence

yeah he was the one at first base the

one that caught any of the outs that we

got in the game that was him

so that’s Jerry Shire

when my boy heard his name crossed the

lips of the opposing team members those

shoulders that had been hanging down all

of a sudden I watched them pop back

again

I watched his chin go up I watched him

get a little swag back in his set as he

headed over toward the dugout

in fact we had to bring him down a few

notches before the game started

it’s amazing really how your countenance

changes when you’re really overhear and

understand what the enemy thinks about

you when he sees you coming

it doesn’t mean that the challenge goes

away it means that in the face of it

you’re different your stance is

different because you recognize that

when the enemy sees a daughter or a son

of God coming his way he’s shaking in

his boots not because of you but because

of the holy spirit of God that lives on

the inside of me

I came to tell somebody today that even

if you don’t believe what it is that the

word of God declares to be true about

you you need to know that the enemy does

he knows that every single thing that

God’s word declares to be true about you

every word that has been declared over

you in these last few days of this

conference even if you’re not convinced

about it the enemy is he knows that you

have been forgiven he know

is therefore now no condemnation for

those of us who are in Christ Jesus

given the victory he knows no have been

made competent by the spirit of God he

knows

therefore now no condemnation for you or

for me no shame no guilt he knows that

you have not been given a spirit of fear

but a power and love and of a sound mind

and y’all he knows that in the end we

win

foreign

what ashamed it would be

for the enemy to believe more about your

potential than you do

what a shame it would be for us to go

out of here with all of this inspiration

that we have been given this investment

of God’s word that he has gathered us

together over the course of these days

to Worship in spirit and in truth and to

hear his word declared true over our

lives what a tragedy it would be for us

to walk out of here and still live like

we were before we came through these

doors

so what the enemy will do is scatter

challenge in front of your life because

listen you’re going back home to

challenge y’all do know we going back

home in a little while right

and don’t we wish we could wake up to

this every single day

don’t we wish that we could have God’s

word spoken over our lives with this

much Authority and power every single

day and be in the presence of leaders

who can lead us into the presence of God

and worship every single day like this

but the reality is we’re going back home

the challenges of your University campus

the challenges of your home your

relationships your friendships on your

job those challenges will be sprawled

out in front of you when you get home

and let me tell you something what the

enemy hopes is that the sight of them

will cause you to shrink back in so much

fear and insecurity that you’ll never

step up to the plight of being who God

has called you to be

listen if you’ve placed faith in Jesus

Christ I hope you know that the enemy

understands he cannot destroy you he

knows his chances are over of destroying

you so he is going to spend the rest of

his time and the rest of his energy just

trying to discourage you

trying to distract you so that you’ll

shrink back in fear and insecurity and

not step up to the plate and be who God

has called you to be

it is at least in part to this end

that the Apostle Paul gives us a passage

of scripture that has become a Lifeline

for me

in fact I was talking with Christine

yesterday Chris and I have known each

other for a very long time very close

friends and she was asking me what I was

going to speak on and I had several

thoughts of directions that I was

leaning toward

but in the end we as we were talking the

question came up if there was only one

thing you could say to them

if there’s only one message that you

ever have the opportunity

to tell these students these young

people that will be gathered together on

this occasion what would that message be

and there was one thing that immediately

popped into my heart and my mind for you

at the end of this year’s passions

Passion Conference

the words of the Apostle Paul

he writes them in the book of Ephesians

listen let me just tell you quickly

before I read this passage you got if

you’ve not read the book of Ephesians

you’re gonna have to read the book of

Ephesians

y’all listen

it’s it’s like for real

the Apostle Paul y’all know he was a bad

boy he gave us most of what would become

the New Testament letters written to

first century Believers that now

disciple us and help us to mature as

Believers and as the body of Christ and

Scholars say that of all of Paul’s

writing really the cream of the crop the

cherry on top of the cake is Ephesians

because in the book of Ephesians y’all

he just spends the first half of the

book just rehearsing who you are as a

daughter or a son he wants to make sure

you step up to the plight rise to the

occasion of who you’ve been recreated in

Christ to become those of you who place

faith in Jesus Christ last night who

stood took your feet at the end of

Pastor Louie’s message and you placed

faith in Jesus listen the old has gone

and the new has come you’re a daughter

you’re a son and you have full rights

and privileges that have been granted to

you the Apostle Paul wants you to know

what is the hope of his calling and

choosing you he writes in the first and

second and third chapter about the

treasure that you have he wants you to

know about the mercy that has been

lavished upon you the grace that has

been given to you he wants you to know

that if you’ve been rejected by

everybody else you’ve been hand-picked

chosen and adopted by the one true God

he wants you to know that if you’ve dug

a pit of sin for yourself that is so

deep you can’t find your way out of it

that the mercy of God is so great and so

Grand that it can reach down into any

pit and snatch you up out of it once and

for all in fact Paul gets so worked up

that by the time he gets to the middle

of the first chapter he bursts out in a

prayer and he says I’m praying that the

eyes of your heart would be open

so that you would just know what is the

hope of his calling and choosing you

and after going over and over and on and

on about the lavishness the richness the

grace the mercy the goodness the

adoption that has been poured out over

us the Forgiveness that has been granted

to us he’s trying to figure out how do I

close this letter to make sure they step

up to the plate

how do I put an exclamation point on

passion 2018 to make sure that what God

has given them they don’t hand over to

the enemy as soon as they walk out the

door

and the Apostle Paul writes these words

to us in Ephesians chapter 6 beginning

in verse 10.

he says finally

you be strong in the Lord

and in the strength of his might

he says put on the farmer of God so that

you may be able to stand firm against

the scheme somebody say schemes

against the schemes of the devil he says

we wrestle not we struggle not against

flesh and blood but against the rulers

against the powers against the world

forces of this Darkness against the

spiritual forces of wickedness that are

in the Heavenly places he says so

therefore you might as well just go

ahead and put down all the weapons of

this world that aren’t working for you

anyway and take up some weapons that

actually have some power he says take up

the full armor of God so that you may be

able to resist in the evil day and

having done everything to stand firm he

says you ought to just stand firm

therefore in these few verses of

scripture the Apostle Paul begins to

introduce to us a concept that has not

been at least in the context thus far in

church development at that time had not

been as overtly described as it is right

now in Paul’s letter he brings up the

topic of spiritual warfare

he says you have an enemy

he says I want to make sure that it’s

loud and clear there are other places in

the Old Testament and throughout

throughout the new y’all where we can

infer that we have a spiritual unseen

battle going on but this is the first

time that an author comes right out and

says you have an enemy

and he is scheming against you

that when you leave this place in just a

little while when I leave this place in

just a little while you need to know

that there is an enemy he is against you

he is not for you he plans to do

anything and everything in his power to

stir up challenge in your life enough to

cause you to shrink back and not rise up

and stand firm in the victory that you

have been given in Christ Jesus that’s

why the Apostle Paul says stand firm

because you have an enemy

an enemy that wants you to think that

just because he is invisible he is also

fictional

he wants to be chalked up to nothing

more than a caricature a cartoon picture

a myth a character for a kid’s nursery

rhyme he doesn’t want you to recognize

the influence that he has over your life

possibly to to cause you to never walk

into the full expression of God’s grace

and goodness in your life he is Sinister

he is a master Illusionist and he is a

deceiver and he hopes to cleverly

disguise himself behind life’s most

pressing problems to where you will

forget he is even there he wants you to

point fingers at him or at her at your

boss at your parent at that particular

Professor or your R.A in your dorm he

wants you to think it’s that advisor or

it’s that financial problem anything

Flesh and Blood because he knows as long

as we’re looking at the Flesh and Blood

we will direct all the wrong weapons at

the wrong culprit

we’ll think our money will work we’ll

think our rationale and logic will

actually work we think that the diploma

we’re about to to achieve and receive

we’ll think the diploma will be work

worth it we’ll think that the

connections will work anything natural

cannot take care of the supernatural

when your problem is unseen and

spiritual you need weapons that work in

that Realm

so the Apostle Paul says you got to know

first of all that your enemy is not the

person you are sitting next to today

that your enemy is not your parent at

home your enemy is not that Professor

that is difficult to work with your real

enemy it’s not your boss on your

part-time job your real enemy is unseen

he is hoping y’all that we will forget

he’s there

he is the master Deceiver so there’s a

little church around the corner from my

house in Dallas I’ve been taking my kids

there since they were little uh to

Harvest Festival that’s basically this

Church’s answer to Halloween

so we will go there for Harvest Festival

and this church has a good old-fashioned

Trunk or Treat does anybody know what I

mean when I say Trunk or Treat

okay

all right so Trunk or Treat for those of

you who are not clear on what that is

that’s when members of the congregation

volunteer they volunteer to bring their

cars into the parking lot on Harvest

Festival night so that they can open up

the trunk of their cars so you go into

the parking lot all the trunks are open

and each person has basically crafted a

carnival game or some sort of fair game

out of the trunk of the car so kids line

up one trunk after the other they play

whatever the game is and then most of

the time whether they win or lose the

person that owns that car gives them a

whole bunch of candy and sends them home

we’re always so grateful

so we stand in line

one car after the other waiting on bags

of candy and we’ve played one game after

the other a few years ago

the biggest line the longest line at the

carnival wasn’t behind the a car it was

behind the bed of a truck it was really

clever

a huge truck had been parked in the

parking lot

and they put a stepladder right at the

bed of the truck so that a kid could

walk into the bed of the truck they had

attached a table top which was about the

same size as the bed of the truck they

had attached it to the side of the truck

cut six holes into it put some fabric

some drapery over it and out from those

holes every few seconds a puppet would

pop through they gave the kid a huge

plastic Mallet and the job of the kid

was to run up and down the inside of the

bed of the truck as he tried to hit the

puppets on top of the head it was a

homemade whack-a-mole game is what it

was and it was the longest line me and

Jude at the time he was like four Jude

is my youngest me and Jude are standing

in line we’re waiting on our turn behind

us there’s another kid he’s with his his

mom he’s probably four or five as well

and y’all he was hysterical

because he was annoyed at this whole

situation and he was making sure she

knew it

he was first of all annoyed because Mom

I don’t understand why I got to stand in

this long line didn’t we come to the

carnival to have fun this ain’t fun

standing in line ain’t fun I have an

idea mom how about this how about I go

play all these other games while you

stand in line and hold our place and

then when it’s our turn I’ll come back

and join you in line

but he was not only annoyed about the

line the four-year-old was also annoyed

because Mom I don’t even understand this

game why in the world would I waste all

my energy running up and down the inside

of that truck to hit the puppets on the

top of the head if when I hit them on

the head they’re gonna disappear but

then they’re just gonna come back as

soon as I hit them on the head what’s

the point of this game

so everybody in the line is laughing

hysterically because this four-year-old

this five-year-old is talking so much

about all of his frustrations

finally he gets so frustrated

that he works himself into a frenzy to

where all I saw out of my peripheral

vision was a four-year-old flash running

past me as he ran forward and he grabbed

the drapery off of the table top and

pulled it clean off

underneath there were three adults with

puppets on each hand

that day we all got a good laugh but we

also got a good lesson

there is always something you can’t see

influencing what you can

and if you spend all of your time your

energy your effort trying to hit at what

you see popping up in your life you’re

gonna be so frustrated and by the way

exhausted because as soon as you take

care of one thing another one is coming

back unless you do what the Apostle Paul

says pull back the curtain and let the

enemy know we got our eyes on you

and we’re gonna use some weapons that

actually work back there behind the

curtain y’all I wish I had learned this

when I was 18 19 20 21 years old that

that person that physical problem isn’t

really where you need to invest your

energy pull back the curtain use the

weapons that actually have power

the Apostle Paul wants you to know that

the tactics of the enemy are serious

business and so he uses a specific word

to describe them

he says schemes

listen to me he knows your weaknesses he

knows how to dangle what carrot at the

right time in the right way to make sure

you are snagged in particular have you

ever wondered or found curious is that

particular carrot is always dangled in

front of you when you are most tired

when you are most vulnerable when you

happen to be most hungry

most alone most weak that particular

carrot the one that wouldn’t mess with

your friend because it’s not her deal

it’s not his deal he’s not enticed by

that but the one that entices you always

shows up at the right time y’all that’s

not coincidence that’s a scheme

the enemy is trying to derail you he’s

trying to make sure that you don’t walk

in a manner worthy pleasing of the Lord

then you come in here but then you don’t

go out of here the purpose to live for

the glory of God he’s trying to trip you

up

not only for his own benefit but because

he does not want you having access to

everything that you are privy to as a

rightful heir to the King of Kings and

the Lord of lords

it’s a scheme

so if he’s got tactics we need tactics

the Apostle Paul outlines them for us

I’m just going to read them to you

because he says in verse 13 you need the

full armor and here’s what they are

verse 14 he says make sure that your

loins are girded with truth then he says

you need a breastplate and the

breastplate is called righteousness and

then he says in verse 15 you got to have

something for your feet if you want any

hope of being able to move forward

successfully so your feet need to be

shot with the preparation of the gospel

of peace and then not only that but he

says there are some flaming missiles of

the evil one that he fully intends to

send sailing into your path you’re gonna

need a shield and The Shield is your

faith and then you know there are lies

there are strongholds that he’s going to

try to erect in your mind you’re going

to need something to protect your mind

he says you need a helmet and the helmet

is your salvation but not only that he

says that you are going to need a sword

really a dagger of the spirit it was

about 18 inches long or so the one the

Apostle Paul all is referring to you

need a dagger so that when the enemy is

all up in your space you’ve got

something close at hand to make sure

that he stays at Bay you need a dagger

of the spirit and the dagger is called

the what

the word of God

but y’all he doesn’t stop at those six

can I just say that there is one more in

18 verse 18 traditionally it’s taught as

six I really believe there are seven

pieces of armor because in verse 18 He

says pray

he says pray

[Applause]

not like you know a prayer a day to keep

the devil away

not like a prayer over your meal

just because that’s what your mama did

and your Grandmama did and that’s what

you’re supposed to do

not something quick and casual

fervent

prioritized prayer

y’all you can’t have Victory if you

don’t pray

do you hear what I’m saying to you

prayer is the key that unlocks the

resources of heaven so that they can be

Unleashed on planet Earth

prayer is the key he’s actually given

you to get all the good stuff down here

because I don’t know about you but I

don’t want to wait to get to heaven to

experience all that God has for me any

Bits of Heaven he plans to give me on

Earth I want it right now prayer

accesses the Bits of Heaven he intends

to give you now

and prayer listen prayer is what pushes

the kingdom of darkness back

it’s what pushes it back that’s why

Jesus said my house shall be called not

a house of good preaching

not a house of good singing not a house

of great spotlights and production not a

house of great cafes I hope you have all

of that enjoy it but Jesus said at the

end of the day my house better be called

the house of prayer because spotlights

and fog machines and great singing and

great preaching that won’t necessarily

push the kingdom of darkness back but

when my people who are called by my name

when they will humble themselves and

when they’ll pray he says that I will

hear from heaven I’m gonna heal the land

the enemy will have to bend the knee at

the name of Jesus in prayer

so pray

there’s one other piece of armor I

couldn’t get by without talking to you

about it for a few moments y’all still

awake everybody game

it’s in verse 14.

he says put on a breastplate

called what

righteousness

Jerry and I live in a fairly rural part

of Dallas Fort Worth

we like it that way close enough to the

city we can get there quick but it’s

quiet and lazy we live on a little

two-lane sleepy Road somebody’s got some

horses over there there’s some cows over

there and one of my closest friends

lives across the street that’s why we

like it because she’s got a pond in the

front of her property

so I’ll get the boys and the two fishing

poles I bought on sale at the local

Walmart I have a tackle box too that I

got on sale there because and you know

we need things we need extra hooks

because the boys always lose the hooks

extra bobber thingies you know because

we need extras of those I also have

gloves in The Tackle Box because y’all

know I don’t mind going fishing but I

ain’t gonna actually touch no fish

so we walk across the street with

whatever hot dog meat we’ve got left

from the week because you know we’re

professional fishermen so our hot dog

meat is our bait

we walk across the street we stand in

this little Cove underneath some trees

and we fish just right there most of the

time just a little sun perch stuff like

that we can catch quick in an hour we

can catch like 10 or 12 fish just a

little quick easy little fishing trip

every now and then though I’m feeling

adventurous

what that means is is that we will get

into my friend’s little row boat they

bought on Craigslist it’s metal it’s not

a big deal it’s just a little it’s

seaworthy it can hold us up that’s all

we need

I’ll swim I will uh row out into the

middle and we’ll fish from there every

now and then

but I always think twice before I do it

and here’s the reason

because in order to get in it we first

have to turn it over

they leave it upside down as they should

to drain water while nobody’s using it

so I gotta turn it over to get in it and

what I do know for sure

is that when I turn this thing over

something is either going to hop out

from underneath it

someone’s gonna waddle out from

underneath it or worst of all oh

Something’s Gonna slither

out from underneath that boat because

the environment under there is moist and

damp and perfect for Critters

do you know what I’ve noticed every

single time we turn it over something

comes out and never once have I had to

write a golden sealed invitation and

send it into the brush nearby to invite

the critters to come and join us at one

o’clock today you’re welcome

never once have I had to invite them

because the environment created by the

upside down boat is invitation enough

righteousness

is right side up living that invites the

sunlight of God’s favor and blessing

upon your life

unrighteousness is upside upside down

behavior that is out of alignment with

the truth of God that you’ve been

sitting underneath for the last few days

it’s behavior that is out of alignment

with the truth of God to where you don’t

have to invite the enemy and come and

make himself at home in your life you

just keep living upside down and the

environment created by upside down

behavior is invitation enough

listen to me you can pray against the

enemy till you’re blue in the face but

if you and I leave passion and we do not

walk in Holiness we do not live in our

lifestyle that is in alignment with the

truth of God we will have wasted our

breath in prayer

Paul says Somebody’s gotta live right

it’s flat out straight up

holiness

holiness

it’s a word that our our grandmothers

and our grandfathers back in the good

old days when you went to church and you

sat on a wooden Pew it’s before some

Churches became so pre-seeker sensitive

I remember y’all I went listen I’m off

track listen I went to a church and they

said we are a pre-seeker sensitive

church and so we actually want to sort

of uh in a way they said dull down the

actual literal name of Jesus just so we

can get people in first then we will we

will be more direct later on I said oh

you have invited the wrong person

because there used to be a day and time

where it was just black and white

where there were fewer gray areas and

tolerance yes come as you are but don’t

stay as you are

holiness

brothers and sisters I implore you by

the mercies of God to walk in a manner

worthy of this calling by which you have

been called they

‘ve this weekend to align your lifestyle

to it to not determine that you will

still dig your heels into the ground and

live immorally or speak immorally or do

the things habits and Lifestyles and

choices and relationships that you know

are outside of alignment with the truth

of God turn the boat right side up

so that you can invite the favor of God

on your life the Apostle Paul says

righteousness is your breastplate the

Roman army in the first century they had

many pieces of armor as you know but the

breastplate would have been one of the

most critical the reason why was because

it obviously protected the most vital

organ they had their heart

the heart is the lifeline for your

physical well-being all of the blood

flow the Vitality the energy that you

need to function in every level of your

life comes from the Vitality of your

physical heart what the physical heart

is to the physical life your spiritual

heart is to your spiritual life all of

the Vitality the energy that you need to

be who God has created you to be to have

fervency in your prayer life to follow

him with passion and with fire to read

the Bible and to not just be ink on a

page but you hear his voice speaking to

you to have clear reception between you

and the Holy Spirit you need a vital

spiritual heart that’s why if I were

your enemy more than all else I’d be

after your heart

because one shot to the spiritual heart

will wipe you out

your spiritual heart is comprised of

four things your mind the way you think

your emotions the way you feel your

Ambitions what you purpose to do and

your conscience

your conscience is not the voice of God

but your conscience is like this wiring

that helps this microphone amplify my

voice the the conscience is the

microphone that the Holy Spirit uses to

help you hear the voice of God so if I

were your enemy I’d be after your heart

because if I could get to your heart

that would mean I would have automatic

access to your mind now I could Tinker

with your thinking I’d have automatic

access to your emotions I can mess with

the way you feel and make sure they’re

out of alignment with the truth of God I

can mess with your Ambitions to where

what you want to do is totally out of

alignment with what God wants you to do

and more than all else I’d want to make

it sure I have a shot to your heart so

that I can Short Circuit the wires

between you and the Holy Spirit

now you can’t even hear God speak to you

because you didn’t have a breastplate on

the Apostle Paul says Holiness is your

breastplate

Holiness blocks you from a full frontal

attack of the enemy Holiness keeps the

enemy at Bay to where when he comes

looking around for some people that he

can infiltrate some upsound bit side

down environments that he can fester in

he can’t find that with me or with you

because we’ve chosen right side up

living aligning ourselves with the truth

of God breasts placed in place securing

us against the schemes of the enemy

Holiness is your breastplate

came to tell you to live right

I came to tell you not to just have

heard all of this to go home and live in

accordance with it

be ye holy not by your power not by your

might but by the spirit of God

there is no relationship you’re in that

if it is out of alignment with the truth

of God that the Holy Spirit himself

won’t help you to sever so that you can

walk in holiness

there is no lifestyle you are living

that is too uh that you’re too wound up

in that you can’t break free from no

matter how you feel in this moment you

can walk in holiness

there is no way you have been speaking

no addiction that you have no habit that

you have been festering in your life

that you have been harboring in your

life that the Holy Spirit won’t Empower

you to break free from so that you can

walk underneath the banner the favor of

Holiness in your life be Ye Ye holy

y’all listen

back in our Grandmama and our

grandparents days great grandparents

they wanted to honor God more than they

wanted to impress people

see the problem with Instagram and

Twitter and social media if there’s a

problem y’all the problem is

we want this

want to be impressive

and if I’m worried for Our Generation

it is that

we are impressive

but we don’t have breastplates on

it is that we have the Applause of

people and our selfies are perfectly lit

and we have a whole bunch of friends and

a whole bunch of Instagram likes and

people are following us and the enemy is

thrilled because we have sacrificed

holiness

on the altar of impressing people

gotta live for the Applause of Heaven

you gotta decide I will not be

politically correct before I will choose

to be holy

I will not be impressive before I will

choose to be holy I may not be the the

person that everybody wants to be around

I may not be the most impressive but

what I will be is Holy because the time

is coming y’all where we are going to

see our savior face to face

and when we see him he will not ask us

how many Instagram followers we had

he will not ask us how many friends

liked our post he will not want to see

the Selfies that we took when we see him

face to face he’s going to ask us did we

do business with his son Jesus Christ

[Applause]

and then we’re gonna give an account

[Music]

and I don’t know about y’all

but I’m looking for

[Music]

I want a well done

I want Jesus to look at me and say you

did the thing girl

not because they bought the books they

bought the Bible study they saw the

movie no you did the thing because you

honored me

whether with an audience of one or an

audience of 30 000 you honored me

I came to tell you brothers and sisters

walk

with Integrity

[Music]

be in the dark who you are in the light

everything that your God has entrusted

to you over these last few days the

enemy does not mind he doesn’t like but

he doesn’t mind that you heard him he

didn’t mind you came here what he Minds

is if you leave here and live by what

you’ve heard