7 July 2024 Service 1, Pastor Erik van Rhyn

The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding righteousness and how it transforms one's life. They share a personal revelation about being in right standing with God, not based on earning it but as a gift through Jesus. The lack of understanding of righteousness leads to living as servants instead of sons. The message highlights that righteousness cannot be earned and is a gift received through faith. The speaker encourages a shift in perspective towards righteousness to experience victory over life's challenges. They refer to Romans chapter 10 to further illustrate the significance of righteousness in one's faith journey. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. James, I just want you to continue playing that song, okay? I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. 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I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. I just feel like we need to be quiet for a moment. It is something completely new. I want to say from the start that God, I open my heart to you. God, do whatever you want to do in my life and show me. It's what Holy Spirit and I've asked Him recently. It's what I deserve again. It is something that only we can do in the heart and mind of a man. Do it this morning, God. Break down those ancient mindsets and struggles. Bondage to the hearts of men and women. Let's get them into service. Starting from this, the beauty of sunshine. Call forth the sun to the sky, God. Bump it into a rock and fill it. I see this picture of the Father welcoming the prodigal son back home today. I feel like we have the invitation from God this morning. The invitation from the Father. Pray with me this morning. Father, move me. Into sunshine. Glow in me today. In the robe of righteousness. Do what you want to do in my life, God. Have your way. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Church, you're welcome to be seated. Church, you're welcome to be seated. I just wanted to jump into the Word this morning. Good morning in power, church. I feel like there's something that God wants to open up to us this morning. There's this invitation. I saw it so clearly while we were worshipping now. Just this invitation from God. This invitation from the Father. I so clearly heard Him say, remove people from servants to sons. That ties in so with what I believe the Lord wanted to share around righteousness. I wanted to speak to you this morning. Actually, this week as I was sitting with the Lord, I thought to myself, it's impossible to teach unrighteousness in one family. Impossible. Nobody can do it. It's the very core. It's the foundation of everything that we believe in. The Bible says, the psalmist writes, I think it's Psalm 45, it says that righteousness is the sceptre that God rules in the kingdom of His name. I believe that's the sceptre. How important is it to understand righteousness? And as I sat with the Lord again this week, I just realized that so many of us, I include myself, we don't understand righteousness. That's why we're living like servants and not sons. I got saved, radically saved, in 2005. But it was only a couple of years later, around a coffee table with a friend, a close friend of mine, that I had a revelation of righteousness. I had a lot of zeal when I got saved. I was crazy in love with Jesus. The fact that He would save me just absolutely blew my mind. That He would have grace on a sinner like me. I was forever changed and grateful for the grace of God. But I didn't understand righteousness. I didn't understand that I was in right standing with God. That's what righteousness means. It means that you are in right standing with God. I thought that right standing with God is something that I needed to earn. It's based on how I live my life in obedience to Him that produces right standing in my life. Only to realize around a coffee table with Mogan Beale that I am in right standing with God. I had that revelation and it absolutely changed everything about me. I looked at scripture and it was like I was reading the new Bible. Every scripture was different. It's the same scripture that I've always read, but I saw it from a different perspective. I wasn't reading a manual given to a servant on what to do. I was reading a love letter as a son from his father. It was different. Everything changed in my life. I've had many questions in my life. Pastor, I see this in you. Wow, I love the way that you live your life in this way. I tell you, every compliment I've ever received, not that it's about complimenting me, it's based on the revelation that I've had of righteousness. That's why I can say it's all glory to God. It's my understanding of righteousness that has positioned me to live my life the way that I'm living now. Not perfect. I'm not the model. Jesus is the model. That's the point. If I don't understand the righteousness of Christ, I'm completely losing the boat. I pray and I hope, and it's been my prayer this week, that there will be a revelation of righteousness that goes open to us this morning. That we will understand that we are in right standing with God. Not something that you have to earn. Righteousness can never be earned. Even our greatest works are like filthy rags before God. My best effort doesn't even compare to God's worship. You can't earn righteousness. You can never earn it. Nothing you can ever do that can earn right standing with God. It's a gift. Based on the justification, the fact that I have given my life to Him. In that moment as I'm justified, I have been given the righteousness of Christ. That's why it's a breastplate. It covers the vital organs of who I am. It's the very thing that protects me against the deadly onslaughts of the enemy. That's why so many people are living in defeat. Because they've got an understanding of righteousness. I'm going to show you in a moment. Living in defeat is not having bad things happen to you. Not being in defeat is not having bad things happen to you. It's not about what happens to you. It's about how you live in what happens to you. And if we understand we are in Christ. If you understand the beauty of righteousness, I live my life differently. Everything in life is different. Everything about me changes. And may something in all of our lives change as well. I include myself. Can we have that scripture? Romans chapter number 10. If you ever want to do some proper study in your Bible, go study righteousness. There's hundreds of scriptures on righteousness. It's right throughout the Old Testament. There's parts, there's shadows, there's everything about the gospel can be summarized in that one word. Righteousness. Brethren, my heart's desire. Romans chapter number 10. You're going to read 9 or 10 verses. Share one or two thoughts. And then close by two. Brethren, my heart's desire and pray to God for Israel is that they may be saved. I taught you a couple of weeks ago. That word saved is a word so saved. My heart's desire is that Israel, that empowered church of Capernaum, will be saved, healed, delivered. Prospering in every area of their life. That's what Paul is saying. For I bear them witness. God, excuse me this morning. The pastor is not here to check my air filter. You hear that? You hear that? For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. It's like when I got saved. I had a zeal for God, but I didn't have a revelation of what He's going to teach us now. A revelation of righteousness. There's many people that's got a zeal for God, but they've got no understanding of righteousness. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. They had a zeal. They've met the Savior. Of course you'd have a zeal if you met Jesus. But they didn't understand the righteousness of God. They tried to attain righteousness in themselves. And we read that scripture and we think, you know, the law, Mosaic law, we understand, you know, all the Bible works. But we really understand how absolutely, how easy it is for us to fall in self-righteousness. And I'm not here to point the finger at any man. Let me point the finger to myself. Because I tell you, it's a daily, it's a weekly awareness that I cultivate in my own life, is to guard against self-righteousness. Can I show you one or two? I actually made a list a couple of years ago already. I just found it in this week. Let me read to you some of the signs of self-righteousness. Is that okay? Can we do that? I don't want to hang the spiritual bull-tongue so high that nobody understands what I'm actually saying here. So here's some indicators of self-righteousness. A person that's self-righteous is sin-conscious. Not just the desire to sin, but you're sin-conscious. Conquering sin, fighting against the devil, God forgive me. Just measure how much time you spend in prayer, repenting of sin. Might be an indicator that you're actually living in self-righteousness. Sin-conscious. The enemy keeps you busy with your awareness of your own weakness. That's what he does. And if he can do that, you're living in self-righteousness. Because you're constantly going to try and present yourself right before God in your own effort. You have a legalistic mindset. What does that mean? It means that you're constantly focusing on religious performance. Legalistic mindset means I'm constantly evaluating myself based on what my standard is of spirituality. Read my Bible today. Have you ever heard people say, I know you wouldn't ever say that. The day that I got in that car accident, it's because I didn't pray that morning. End of the month, you find yourself looking at your EPSA account and nothing looking back at you. And you think to yourself, it's because I didn't apply. It's because I didn't sow that seed. Something bad happened today, it's because I didn't put on my spiritual armor this morning. I didn't this, I didn't that. Are those things important? Well, let me just say, it's not important to put on your spiritual armor every day. Because it means you've taken it off last night. You don't have to clothe yourself every day. Can I just liberate somebody there? You can say I put on the righteousness of Christ every single morning. If you don't understand what the righteousness of Christ means, you're not putting on anything. It's not a prayer you pray, friends. It's an understanding, a revelation knowledge, says Paul, that you must have. That's how you clothe yourself. Not by praying a little prayer. You can say I put on the shoes of peace gospel there. When last have you preached the gospel? You're not putting on shoes. You haven't got a revelation knowledge of what the shoes of peace proclaiming the gospel means. That's why you can just pray that prayer every day, it doesn't mean anything. Still speaking to the right church here? It's a revelation knowledge that we must have. A legalistic mindset. I evaluate myself. Have I prayed? Have I read my bible? Have I been to church? Have I given my time? Okay, I'm good with God. And if I haven't done those things, I feel like I'm not good with God. You're living in self-righteousness. Let's take my little oaky, Roald. If he wakes up in the morning, I'm not giving you breakfast because you haven't made up your bed. I remind him, you didn't make your bed. You can make your bed. But I don't love him less because he didn't make up his bed. He's got less a son because he didn't make up his bed. Is it important for him to learn to make his bed? Of course it is. But I don't evaluate his sonship or favor that he receives if I have breakfast at the orchard because he's made up his bed over here. And if I have got that legalistic mindset about my life, what I do or haven't done or should do or shouldn't have done, and I constantly evaluate myself on my standard of holiness, I'm living in self-righteousness. You compare yourself with others, spiritually. The way that that person prayed, I'm not praying like that. The way this person, I'm not that. You're constantly evaluating yourself. Constantly comparing yourself to the spirituality of others. Even your own husband or wife. Your boss, I don't know the word like you know the word. Would you come and pray at my house? I've got stuff happening in my house. That person that says that, in all grace and humility, has got no understanding of his righteousness in Christ. Because he's as much a son as I am. The devil will submit to that man if he prays in understanding that he's a son. He doesn't need a pastor that knows the Bible better than him to come and pray at his house. We've put the emphasis on self-righteousness. What a man is able to do. Based on how well I preach, based on how I worship, based on how I pray, you evaluate me. You give me a standard of righteousness in your eyes. Based on what you do or don't do, you give yourself a standard of righteousness. It's not a standard of righteousness. Christ is the standard. You have the same Jesus that I have. You have the righteousness of Christ. So do I. It's not based on a standard of performance. It's a legalistic mindset. Many of us are trapped in that legalistic mindset. You feel like based on what you've done, God's response would be to you. God doesn't respond based on your performance. He just looks at Jesus. And He's performed everything. It is finished. The full work is done. There's nothing you have to do to add to Jesus. Can I just say this? You don't have to do anything to add to the work of Jesus. Just Jesus. Full stop. Not doiki, doiki, doiki. Just one doiki. Just Jesus. Full stop. That's a great Facebook update. I'll do it later. Just Jesus. Full stop. You become hypocritical of others. And we do that because I look at my own life and my standard of righteousness in my life. And I look at others and I see their standard as being the greatest standard of righteousness that they've attained. And I become hypocritical of that. If you live in self-righteousness, you cannot clothe yourself in the humility of Christ. Because that mindset is always a prideful mindset. You always innovate yourself when you will downplay others to innovate yourself. That's why you become hypocritical. A self-righteous person loves independence. They love to be on their own. They love to do things on their own. Why? Because it's in their strength. It's in their ability. It's in my way. I cannot find cohesion with what Christ has already done. So I start doing everything in life in my own strength, in my own ability. And it's impossible for you to live in your own strength and not in some way or another start living independently of others. I wish I had time to dive into every one of these signs and symbols and see how often it reflects in all of our lives. But a self-righteous person will live independent. You might be in a crowd on a Sunday. You might work amongst hundreds of people every week. But in yourself you have become independent. You're not living in a community of believers. A self-righteous person will struggle to become part of a family of believers. That's the kind of person that never joins a life group. I don't like what the life group leader has said. I don't like that guy's input. I don't appreciate that guy doing all the talking every Thursday night. I become legalistic. I become hypocritical. And I start living my life independently of others. Gospel to grace. That's normally the people that say, I have this grace message. It's not just about grace. Read that scripture. See, grace doesn't give me a license to sin. It empowers me to live free from sin. The message is grace. It's not grace and works. It's faith and works. Not grace and works. Come on, let's read the same Bible here. The Bible says it's impossible to say I have faith, but there's no work that's proven I've got the faith. I can't say I've got the faith to heal the sick, but never lay a hand on a sick person. That's what I'm saying. But it's not grace and works. It's just grace. It's by His grace that you're empowered to do great works. Makes sense. But if I'm hostile to grace, it means that I'm living in self-righteousness. It feels like I have to prove something. Something that needs to be done. Something that we need to add to the work of Christ. I'm getting somewhere. Give me one or two more. A person that's in self-righteousness, I know it's not you of course, has got a shallow understanding of forgiveness. And it's seen in how you struggle to forgive others. Let me tell you this. If you understand the righteousness of Christ, sonship, you cannot live in unforgiveness. And I say this with great humility to any one of you that sits here today that might struggle with unforgiveness in your heart. I'm not saying you're not a son of God. I'm saying you haven't got an understanding of the beauty of righteousness. Because if you understand righteousness, you cannot live in unforgiveness. You cannot. And you only live in unforgiveness towards others if you yourself haven't got an understanding that you have been forgiven. And the Son, let's take the Prodigal Son as an example. He didn't have an understanding of forgiveness. That's why he lived like a servant. Come on, wasn't he the guy that sat in the pit pen and started talking to himself, OK, I'm going to do it for my past self, I'll tell him this, I'll say sorry about this. He didn't have an understanding of forgiveness. But what happened when he went home? There's the Dad, open arms. Come on, the most beautiful picture of forgiveness. Dad didn't say, well, OK, stop it, just wait. OK, I'll hug you now, but just want to get one or two things straight here. That's how we live our life. No, no, no, I'll forgive my Mum, but she just needs to understand. A, B, C. No, no, I'll forgive my boss, but God, you know what He's doing. God, you've seen Him do A, B, C. I haven't got an understanding of righteousness. But I am in right standing with God. Addictive patterns and behaviours often indicate self-righteousness as well. I'm not saying that it's the ultimate evidence of self-righteousness, but often addictive behaviour and patterns in our life indicate self-righteousness. Because I lean to something to provide me with a sense of acceptance, a sense of security, a sense of affirmation, even substances. People lean to substances. We lean to things, to people, addictive behaviour, to satisfy a need that only God can satisfy, an understanding that you are His Son and not His slave. So, I tell you, the moment I had an understanding of righteousness, I can't tell you how many patterns got broken in my life. Not because I went for some deliverance session and somebody said, Shandai, at the right moment, or I presented myself in a prayer line and Shandai, everything was sorted in my life. No, it's because I had an understanding of who I was in Christ and all the addictive patterns started losing power in my life. There are certain things that a son is not limited by any longer, but servants are. Servants are slaves. Catch what I'm saying? Sons are not. You cannot be a son and live in addictive patterns in your life. That's why somebody comes and says, Boss, I've got a problem with alcohol, I've got a problem with pornography. You don't counsel those problems away. You lead people to Jesus. An understanding of who Christ is and who they are in Christ is what breaks the patterns in their life. Now, one or two more. He is a good indicator of self-righteousness. And I say this with great humility, because we often find ourselves there. But if I have this mindset, or if I've ever said something like, Why would God allow this in my life? I shall tell you this morning that you haven't got an understanding of the beauty of righteousness. Why would God allow me to lose my job? Why would God allow my wife to die? Why would God allow me to lose my mum? Why would God allow? Think with me now. Church, young lads, let's understand the heart of the Father here this morning. Why would God allow? That sentence indicates to me that I haven't got an understanding of sunshine. Because God never said that bad things won't happen to you. But when I question the Father in the bad moments, it means that I haven't got an understanding of sunshine. I remember when Godnoe got diagnosed with cancer in the beginning. A good friend of ours, we were sitting one night around a table and she said to Godnoe, I can't understand why God would allow this to happen to you. And I remember Godnoe looking at her saying, Why not me? And I remember Godnoe saying, Why not me? Am I defined? Am I shifted in my sonship by what happens to me? I think that God makes bad things happen to good people. The reality is whatever happens to your life, God is still good. You are still a son. It doesn't change your status of sonship. For every time you get a cold, should we question your sonship? Should we question the goodness of God because you haven't got any money in your account currently? Paul himself said, in plenty and in nothing, it doesn't change who I am, free translation. In sickness and in health, come on, it doesn't matter what I go through. God is still God. I'm still His son. I can't question the goodness of God. I can't question who I am in God based on what happens in my life. And we have done great evil in the body of Christ to evaluate the spirituality of people based on what's happening in their life currently. Because there are some of you that sit here, if I had to take your bank account, which we often do, to evaluate how spiritual you are, how favoured you are by God, then you wouldn't be favoured. Yet God loves you like crazy. But you beg to differ, mate. You might say, no, no, no, I've done something wrong, I've missed the day, I should have done this, I could have done that. Sonship, righteousness is not found in what I earn. It's not found in how good life is for me. Stop founding that. Let's look at the life of Jesus. Jesus, I mean, He was like, what is it? It's like, there you are. Really? I know I missed that, but if we look at the life of Jesus, many of the things that we evaluate our spiritual standing according to, Jesus didn't even have. He Himself said, sometimes I don't even have a place to lay my head. If you look at your little house and your neighbor's house and you think to yourself, how will you compare becoming more critical of what He has, I haven't got. I evaluate my own spiritual standing before God, my favor as a son, based on what I have, the house that I live in, the car that I drive, what's in my bank account. And we live our lives as servants and we miss the beauty of sonship. OK. We will still have our scripture, baptism, OK. So being ignorant of God's righteousness, the free gift of Jesus Christ, they start to establish their own patterns, thinking patterns, which has been done for a decade by the church, more than anything else. We have established patterns of righteousness. This is what it looks like, this is what you should do, this is what you shouldn't do, this is how we evaluate your spirituality in groups of service and not in a family of nuns. And they have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Verse 4, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Christ, if you understand the righteousness of Jesus, He is the end of the law to you. Because the law actually was just given to point us to Christ. Now the Christ has come. You've accepted the free gift of Jesus Christ, the free offer of salvation. Now He's the end of the law for you. Not the end of the law in the sense that now I can do what I want to do. No, now I look to Him as the object of what righteousness looks like. Not based on the Thou shalt not, Thou shalt not, thickest that we give ourselves. No, it's found in Christ, the finished work of Christ, my acceptance of Him, you'll see it now. Verse 5, The man who does those things shall live by them. The man who does those things shall live by them. That's why many people live as servants, because you constantly evaluate yourself according to your own understanding of what Christ's law for you is. But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, Do not say in your heart, Who will descend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down from above. Verse 7, Or who will descend into the abyss? Just pause there for a moment. Why would you say that? Have you ever thought to yourself, why would you say that? That, my friend, dear church, is the two greatest indicators that I haven't got an understanding of what righteousness is. I've given you a list of indicators, but those are the two greatest indicators that I have got a lack of understanding in righteousness. To descend into heaven, bring Christ down, go down to the abyss. Let me explain that. Sometimes we, when Paul says, go up into heaven and bring Christ down, it means that sometimes I ask God to do something for me that He's already given me the power to do. And sometimes, if you talk about going down to the abyss, I blame the devil for things that he's got no power over in my life. That's the greatest indicator that I'm living in self-righteousness. It's that I'm trusting God to do something for me that He's either already done or given me the power to do. Let's make this practical. Great humility towards everybody. If I pray like this, Father, please heal. I ask You, Lord, please heal. Let's pause for a moment. Am I praying a correct prayer there? Because it sounds beautiful. I mean, you've probably prayed like that yourself. You've probably heard a pastor pray like that. Father, please heal. Sounds right. Is it right? Think with me, Jeff. Is it right? Lord, please forgive me. Let's pause there. This is a difficult time. Is that a right way to pray? Yes, that's funny. Think with me. Is there a difference between forgiveness and repentance? Because I can't ask God to forgive me if the finished work of Christ says He already has. Oh, pastor, how do I ask Jesus to forgive me if the cross is the evidence that He already has? And if the Bible says He's forgiven me past, present and future, how can I ask Him for forgiveness? I tell you, many people spend most of their prayers at the foot of the cross. I mean to say to you this morning, Jesus is not on the cross anymore. Isn't He a darling? He's not taking away the beauty of the cross. He's not on the cross anymore. Why are we spending our time at the foot of the cross? No, the cross is the door. Walk through it. Live your life. Live in the forgiveness that you have received. And when you make a mistake, in short, repent, says the word. Why does repentance mean? In the Greek it means to go back to the top. Back to the original design. OK, God, this wasn't what you have planned for my life. I'm making a U-turn, 180, repent. I'm moving in your direction, God. That's repentance. But if I ask Him, if I beg Him, God, please forgive me. I don't understand that I've been forgiven. It's like the Lord saying, please give me some yoghurt. You don't want yoghurt, it's in the ice cask. Take out the yoghurt. It's there. God, please heal. Doesn't Jesus say by His stripes we are healed? How can a woman come over and eat? Church, I'm speaking to the right group of people here. It's our understanding of righteousness that lacks. I am made right in God. That's why I can say sickness has got no place in this body. Because if Christ is in me and I am in Christ, then sickness has no place in this body. Then by His stripes I am healed. I am the righteousness, the right standing of Christ. Christ is in me. I am in Christ. I am in Christ. Come on, am I speaking to the right people here? I cannot ask God to pull down from heaven something for Him to do that He's already done or we ask God to do something that He's given us the power to do. God, please heal this person. No, lay hands on the sick and you heal them. That's what Christ has said, go and heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead. How can I ask God to do something that He's already done? And when we have this understanding, if the light goes on in our spiritual man of what I have attained in Christ, you know what happens? I move from a place of condemnation, guilt, shame and fear to a place of confidence in Christ. I start living my life like a son, not a servant. A servant asks the master, Lord, can I have some food? Lord, please forgive me. Thank you that I am forgiven. I fall short many times in my life. My prayer is something like this, Father, I thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you that that's not who I am. Even my children, when I correct them, I don't tell them, you're bad, you've done wrong. Let's say the Lord does something wrong. My response is always, that's not who you are. You don't have to lie to that. You are not a liar, you don't have to do that. That's not even who He is. But what the enemy does, is he reminds us, he reminds us of who we are not. And in religious mindset, he's kept us down. I tell you now, what is more destructive than satanism, false religion, anything like that, is self-righteousness. It has kept more people from sonship than the sins of your past. It's the self-righteousness of today. It's what keeps you focused on self. That's what self-righteousness does. It keeps you focused on self. Why would God allow that to happen to you? Can you imagine all the great men and women of God, the revivalists of old, the desert fathers, the disciples, if they had to evaluate themselves based on the bad things whether they were in right standing with God or not. I mean, when they hanged Peter upside down, can you imagine the disciples saying, I must have done something wrong. The disciples got persecuted. Persecution comes, then we evaluate. It caught my weight of belief. But when persecution came to the disciples, they said, worthy are you God, that we can be persecuted for your name's sake. They had an understanding of righteousness. That they are sons of God. And I cannot blame the devil. Let me say this, I believe as believers we give the devil much more power than what Christ has ever allowed to give. We blame the devil, now the speaker doesn't work, now the devil doesn't want us to have service today. Now it's probably just a faulty connection. Let's just worship Jesus with the speaker tweaking or doesn't tweaking. It doesn't matter. Not everything is the devil. I'm not saying that the devil is not at work. I'm saying, can we not give him all the credit? The devil doesn't make you drink and go drunk last night. You make the decision. Because you have a mindset of a servant, you don't understand sonship, so you lean to something to give you a sense of approval, a sense of affirmation, a sense of pleasure. That's why you go drunk last night. But the understanding of sonship will make you look at the things of this world, the addictive patterns that it offers and think yourself, I don't want that in my life. Because a son is not enslaved to anything. The Bible says that God, Isaiah 61, He says that He gives us a garment of salvation and a robe of righteousness. A robe of righteousness. I'm closing. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve fell short. They fell short. They fell short. Adam and Eve fell short. And the moment they fell short, the moment they stepped into that place of disobedience, what happened? They became aware of their nakedness. They were always naked. Absolutely transparent before God, nothing to hide. And in that moment of self-righteousness, they became aware of their own shortcomings. And what did they do? Took some fig leaves and made themselves a little hockey. I would have actually loved to see that. That would have been one of the inspiring stuff. So they made themselves an outfit of fig leaves. I tell you, there's many believers that have woven themselves the most beautiful garments of fig leaves. And we live with our own fig leaf garments. Things to protect ourselves from our own guilt and shame and fear and condemnation. And we portray these beautiful, this beautiful picture of God, of something that we are not. And God comes and He takes their little fig leaves and He clothes them in a sacrifice. He offers a sacrifice and He clothes them. Which ultimately points us to Jesus, the Lamb that was slain, so that we can be clothed in His righteousness. Not in our own worth anymore. What do we see the Father doing with a prodigal son returning? A robe, a ring and sandals. Righteousness, authority, identity and a reminder of service. When you said to somebody, put on your sandals, it was an indication that work has to be done. It's the righteousness of Christ, my understanding of sonship, sonship that propels me into the Kingdom. Let me say this to you. And please, forgive me for this, if this offends you. But if we call an outreach tomorrow, we are going to reach out into the society. I am not talking if you are busy on that day. And only ten people pitch. I have to ask you this question this morning. The rest of the church, why haven't we pitched? I said, OK. Why haven't we pitched? Because if I have an understanding of sonship, I have an understanding of service. Who works harder, a servant or a son? Sons will always work harder than servants. A servant will not go to four o'clock. The sons will stay late and do what needs to be done. Friends, bear with me now, come on. If you are a business owner, do you clock in at four? Who works till late? The boss. Clint is the boss of his own company. He might have Oaks clocking out at five. So is your boss, OK. But if there is work that needs to be done, he is going to be the last person to leave. He is a son. He has got an understanding of what is being entrusted to him. He understands that sonship is linked to service. Not because I have to, but because I want to. I am invested in my father's business. So I am going to seal that letter, I say yes, why? Because I understand the righteousness of Christ that has been given to me. I am a son. I have been robed, I have been clothed in righteousness. There is work to be done. There is service that needs to be performed. Not legalistically, not because it is going to put me in right standing with God, no. But because I have been given the righteousness of Christ, my response is to do the things of God. Do you understand what I am saying? That was not a way to get everybody to get involved in outreach in the church. But that is the reality. Often we are not ready for service because we have not got an understanding of what we have been given. The responsibility of sonship that we have been given. Not of servants, of sons. So in closing, I can't ask God to do something for me that He has already done. I can't ask Him to do something for me that He has asked me to do. He said to me, go and cleanse the lepers, raise the sick, cast out devils, heal the sick. I can't ask Him to do it. I can't wait for my pastor to do it. I am a son. I have a responsibility to do it. I can't also blame the devil for more than what has been given credit to him. Not every problem is the devil's problem. And we can't fight the devil. I want to say that again. Church, hear me this morning. You can't fight the devil. He has already been defeated. Why do you want to fight? Why do you want to fight? He has already been defeated. Do you think you are going to do a better work than Jesus? The Bible says you resist Him. But let every demonic power that keeps people bound, those are the demonic powers that we cast out, that we deal with in spiritual realms. Are you with me? Sons do that. Servants do that. Listen to me church. We often do that and I can probably list a hundred examples but if I am saying I can't, you know, I haven't got any experience in deliverance ministry. Let the pastor do that. It means you haven't got an understanding of righteousness. Because if you understand that you are a son, that Christ is in you and you are in Christ, you don't have to fear any devil. Even if you haven't got deliverance ministry experience, all you need to know is that He is in you and He that is in you is much stronger than he that is in this world. So you can say to the devil in Jesus' name you get out of that place. You don't need a certificate to do deliverance ministry. You just need to understand that you are a son. You don't need a certificate at the healing school to heal people. You just need to understand that you are a son, that you have the righteousness of Christ, that you have been clothed in that. You have been clothed in that. Garment of salvation. Robe of righteousness. Robe of righteousness. God takes that robe. What does a robe do? Think with me. A robe. If you put it around somebody, it covers that person, doesn't it? Don't go on your way to Japan all by yourself. It's the best example I can give you now. You've only been to Japan by yourself. A robe. So what happens if you... It's not a little shirt or just a t-shirt. It's a whole robe. I mean, that thing covers your whole body. Isn't it true? That's what righteousness does. It covers you. The guilt, the shame, the fear, the condemnation, the sins of the past, your own human effort, everything that falls short of the glory of God is covered in the robe of righteousness. If you still live in guilt, if you still live in shame, if you still live in condemnation or fear, it's because you haven't closed or allowed God to close you in the robe of righteousness. As I stand here before you, I'm an imperfect man, but I've been closed in righteousness. I live my life confidently, not because I'm not making mistakes, but because I understand that my mistakes have been covered by the robe of righteousness. I am in righteousness standing with God, not based on my performance, not based on how long I've prayed this morning, not based on how much I've read my Bible this morning, just because I understand that I am the Son. And because I'm the Son in love with my Father, I read my Bible, I pray, I want to spend time with Him. I want to sit with Him for hours if I can. Why? Because I've got an understanding of who He is and who I am in Him. Everything in my life changes if I have an understanding of righteousness. Let's wrap this up quickly. But what does it say? The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. It's an understanding. It's what the mouth, what the heart is through, the mouth will speak. So if you're not praying the right things, if you're not speaking in accordance to what we said this morning, it means that in your heart you don't believe it. That is the word of faith we preach. Listen to this. That if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be. Let me rephrase this. If you believe that Jesus Christ is the full work of God, the full work, the full payment, He was on the cross, He died for you, for everything that He's done wrong, past, present and future. And if you accept Him, if you believe that and you confess it with your mouth, you will be saved, healed, delivered, prospering in every area of your life. If you understand that Jesus Christ has been given us the full sacrifice, you will live your life in the fullness of Christ. If you understand that you cannot add anything to Him, just embrace everything about Him, you will live your life in the fullness of Christ. He's done everything and therefore I can live in everything that He's accomplished for me. That's why I can boldly say that healing is my portion, prosperity is my portion, freedom is my portion, power is my portion, confidence and boldness is my portion, authority is my portion. Why? Because Christ that is in me, Christ that is in me has accomplished all of that for me. I am in Christ and Christ is in me. You are in Christ and Christ is in you. If we have this understanding, everything about our lives change. We don't start to live in a, I have to pray from here upward. I don't understand that Jesus died for me. I have to pray upward and I understand that Ephesians 2 verse 6, I am seated with Him in heavenly places. I'm raised above, I'm above and not below. All of a sudden those scriptures start to make sense. I'm the head and not the tail, I'm above and not beneath. Why? Because I am in Christ. In myself I'm here, in Him I'm there. Where do you live your life from? Where do you live your life from? I believe God in this morning wants to clothe people in the robe of righteousness. Clothe people in the robe of righteousness. Worship team, join us. We're just going to allow the Holy Spirit for a moment to do what He wants to do. If you are here this morning and you haven't, you haven't found that revelation within yourself, what you've heard this morning, it's like, I hear it but I'm not living in it. I believe that God wants in this day to clothe you in the robe of righteousness. Listen to this, friends, I just want to say, righteousness is not something you receive in a prayer line. I can't impart righteousness to you. Can I just say that all right? I can't impart righteousness to you. It's a revelation knowledge, says Paul, that you need to have. It's an understanding my goodness. And in that revelation knowledge, you believe it in your heart and you confess it with your mouth. It's in that revelation knowledge that's how you get saved, healed, delivered, prospering in every area of your life. And if you're not there, if you still find yourself in living in moments of guilt and shame and condemnation, feeling like you're not good enough, feeling like you have to perform, feeling like I'm not sure if I'm approved by God, if I'm in right standing with Him, in this day I believe God wants to clothe you in righteousness. He robes you. It's like the prodigal son. You just need to come home this morning. You just need to stand up. You just need to say, OK, here is this act. And I've said it before in this church, we're not in the shaming business. It's not my intention to shame you, to highlight that you are living a lesser Christian life than the spiritual guy sitting next to you. Because many years ago I needed to make a stand somewhere in my life and say, God, I'm not living in the fullness of Christ, man. There's something that needs to change this week. That as you in this moment just stand and say, God, that's me. I want to live in that understanding. I want to have that revelation knowledge. May you receive that knowledge for the first time this morning. God, I want to live in that. That in this moment that God will shift something in your life. Moving from servant to son. It's actually, won't you stand this morning and say, God, I haven't got that revelation knowledge. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. God, I want to live in that. 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