John K. Jenkins Sr - Armored in Faith (01/24/2026)
Spiritual Warfare Series Introduction
If this is your first time being with us in a while, I’m in a series on spiritual warfare. We’ve already been preaching from Ephesians chapter 6. I’ve been talking about the fact that we are in a spiritual battle. Our battle is not against flesh and blood; it’s not against your cousin; it’s not against somebody that you don’t like; it’s not against your friends; it’s not against your spouse. We are entangling with spiritual entities.
Ephesians 6 says this—turn to Ephesians 6:10–14; this is our passage for today: «Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The Whole Armor of God
Therefore—verse 13—take up the whole armor of God.» Y’all say that: «Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.»
Last week, we talked about girding your waist with truth; we talked about putting on the belt of truth. The first lesson, we talked about those four entities in verse 12: principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, and what each one of those means. That was part one.
Part two was putting on the belt of truth. We also talked about standing. Somebody say, «You got to be able to stand.» We got to be able to stand. Today, I want to talk about the breastplate of righteousness. Somebody say, «The breastplate of righteousness.» That’s what I want to talk about today.
Paul Writing from Prison
Paul the Apostle writes to the church in Ephesus from prison. He is incarcerated, and he’s giving them tools to put in place. In fact, his teaching to them was so powerful that this is a church that changed its community. They impacted their community, and they were able to do so because Paul gave them some biblical truth to apply and made them understand that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual entities.
So he said, «Put on…» Today, this is part three. As a matter of fact, I want to talk about putting on the breastplate of righteousness. Paul’s in jail, incarcerated for something he didn’t do, because they didn’t like him. They put him in jail, and he’s writing to the church in Ephesus and telling them how to do battle. Are y’all with me?
What Is the Breastplate of Righteousness?
He says, «Put on the breastplate of righteousness.» Now, what is the breastplate of righteousness? I’m glad you asked the question. A breastplate is a piece of armor that a soldier puts on that protects his vital organs: protects his heart, his lungs, his stomach, his kidneys—all of those parts. This breastplate protects the vital organs.
But Paul says put on the breastplate—then he says of righteousness. Now, what does it mean to be righteous? What is righteousness? I’m glad you asked the question. Righteousness means to be in right standing with God. The question is: how do I get in right standing with God, and how am I protected? That’s what I want to talk about today.
What’s required for me to be in right standing? How do I get in right standing with God? Everybody in here has the opportunity and the capability—and I don’t care what has happened in your history—you have an opportunity to be in right standing with God. Somebody say, «Amen.» Tell your neighbor, «Amen. You can be in right standing.» You might not be right now, but you can be.
Protecting Right Standing with God
And that’s what Paul is saying: that you can be in right standing. And once you get in right standing, he says protect that with a breastplate—put a piece of armor on to protect it. And what my assignment is today is to talk to you about and teach you today how to protect your right standing with God.
Sir, look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5:8. Jot that verse down—they’re going to put it up on the screen. 1 Thessalonians 5:8—he tells us what the breastplate of righteousness is. Verse 8: «But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate"—and here are the two elements of the breastplate of righteousness—"putting on the breastplate of faith and love.» Somebody say, «Faith and love.»
The Two Elements: Faith and Love
Faith—that’s what the two elements are: faith and love. And that’s what I want to spend the rest of this time today talking to you аbout: faith and love. These are the two components that the enemy would love to use to destroy your walk with God and your relationship with Him. You got to get this; you got to understand it.
The first one is faith. You got to believe God, and the Scriptures are crystal clear about faith. We are people of faith; we believe God. That’s what faith means: I put my confidence in the God that I serve, and that’s what enables us to win; that’s what enables us to move forward is faith.
Hebrews 11:6—put that up on the screen—tells us this: «Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.»
Without Faith, Impossible to Please God
Oh, I feel a shout when I think about that right now, because it says without faith—if you don’t believe God, if you don’t have confidence in God—you cannot please God; you cannot get in His realm, get in His space. It says right off the bat: without faith, without believing in Him, it’s impossible to please God.
Then it says this: that he who comes to God must believe that He is—you got to believe that He exists, yeah, that He’s real. You’ll never get anywhere unless you believe that God does exist. I don’t know where y’all are, but I know God exists; I know He’s alive and well. You can’t make me doubt Him.
Matter of fact, my history with God—I got too much experience with God. I’ve seen Him open too many doors for me not to believe God. I’ve seen Him fight my battles. I love my walk with God; I love having a walk with God to see Him answer my prayers even before I ask Him for what I want to ask Him for.
Is there anybody other than me that’s seen God step into the domain of your life before you even asked Him and saw God work it out for you? He who comes to God must first believe that He is—and hold up, here’s something else—that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
God Rewards Those Who Seek Him
Y’all not hearing what I’m saying today: when you pursue God, when you go after God, when you chase God, when you go looking for God, He will make Himself known to you. Oh, I wish I had an amen crowd. Some of y’all may not know this—maybe you’ve never sought after God; maybe you’ve never tried God; maybe you’ve never cried out to God; maybe you’ve never asked God; maybe you’ve never prayed to God; maybe you’ve never been a diligent seeker of God.
I’m coming to tell somebody in this church right here today—I don’t care what your past has been—but God brought you here today because He wants to put you in a posture to seek after Him. And some of y’all are about to seek after God; you’re about to chase after God; you’re about to go after God like you’ve never done before in your life.
But you’re going to do something that you’ve never done before: you’re going to reach out to God; you’re going to stretch toward God. And guess what? When you stretch after Him, you’re going to see Him open the doors for you; you’re going to see Him answer your prayers; you’re going to see Him work miracles on your behalf.
You’re going to feel Him forgive you of all of the nasty stuff you did, all the dirty things you said, all the wicked places you’ve been. You’re going to see God make a change in your life. He is a rewarder of those who diligently, sincerely, faithfully seek after Him. Amen.
Protecting Your Faith
I love that right there. I love that we serve a God that does that for us. Somebody say, «Amen.» That’s worthy of a shout right there. I give God the praise for that. So He says the breastplate is faith. What you have to protect is your faith in God. You have to protect your capacity to believe God.
The enemy is after making you question God, doubt God, think that God doesn’t exist, think that God doesn’t care about you. The devil wants you to think God doesn’t see your journey, doesn’t know about your walk, doesn’t care about what you’re going through.
But my assignment is to rebuke that devil and cast that lie down and get you to know that God loves you, God cares about you, God knows you—He knows you by name. Tell your neighbor, «He knows my name. He knows me. He calls me by name. I’m one of His children.»
Y’all ain’t hearing what I’m saying. I’m one of His children. You can’t make me question Him; you can’t make me doubt Him; you can’t make me walk away from Him. You can say what you want, do what you want, but I believe God. Somebody tell your neighbor, «I believe God.»
It’s God—not God—say it with a little rumble in there: I believe God. He’s a way maker; He’s a burden bearer; He’s a heart regulator; He’s a mind regulator; a heart fixer; He’s a healer; He’s a deliverer. He makes a way out of nowhere. I believe God.
I Believe God
Y’all don’t hear what I’m saying: I believe God. I believe God. I believe God. I believe God. I’m trying to find somebody up in this camp today that’s got doubts and questions, and I’m trying to bind that devil from off of you and bind that devil from causing you to question God.
And I want you to just reach out by faith and say, «God, I doubted You in the past, but I’m going to try You now.» I’m just telling you to put Him to the test—give God a try; put Him to the test. See, you’ll see He’s a way maker; you’ll see He will answer your prayers. Amen. Good word.
The breastplate of faith protects your capacity to believe God. Don’t let anybody or anything make you question God. Y’all can keep listening to your friends if you want to—I believe God. I do believe. Matter of fact, I got enough history that I’ve seen what He’s done in my past that you can’t make me question Him.
Somebody lean over to your neighbor, say, «You can’t make me doubt Him. You can’t make me question Him. I’m positive. I know He exists. I know He’s real. I know He’s a way maker.»
Faith Accounted as Righteousness
Look at Romans chapter 4. Romans 4, verse 3: «For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'» Y’all missed that, didn’t y’all? Let me read it to you again: «Abraham believed God,» and because he believed God, «it was accounted to him for righteousness.» Say, he got put in right standing with God just because he believed God.
He believed God; he believed what God said; he believed in His existence. Oh, let me read verse 5: «But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.»
Let me break that down for you: to him who does not work—see, some of y’all are trying to work your way into God’s favor. You’re thinking it’s because you sing in the choir, because you serve on the board, because you’re a usher, because you do this—you’re trying to work your way. Working doesn’t put you in right standing with God.
Justified by Faith, Not Works
And the Scripture says, «But to him who does not work, who’s not trying to get in right standing with God based on works, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly"—there’s something to shout about right there. If you believe God—oh, wait a minute, slow down.
Here’s what this verse is saying: the person who believes on Him who has the capacity and the ability to justify the ungodly. We serve a God that if you just believe in who He is, He can wash and cleanse you from all of your ungodliness.
Don’t y’all look at me like y’all ain’t dirty, y’all ain’t nasty, y’all ain’t done some dirty stuff. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Oh yes, you have—yeah, you did. You’re a nasty, dirty rascal. We’ve sinned and fallen short; we have missed the mark.
But thanks be to God, He says if you just believe on Me—Hallelujah—I’m going to make you righteous. You’re going to be made righteous simply because you believe in Me, who has the ability to justify the ungodly.
Somebody go ahead and thank God that He forgave you for what you did. That’s enough—I could just close the sermon right there. That’s enough.
No Works Can Justify You
Hold up—let me talk to some people here today that got some mess in their life, that have made some mistakes, who’ve done some wrong. Amen. That devil wants you to think you got to get baptized, you got to join the church, you got to do this, you got to do that. No, no, no.
God’s work—what God does—has nothing to do with any works you do. There’s no work that you can do that can straighten it out. Somebody ought to shout God down about that. There’s no work that you do that makes you justified.
It’s just that you put your faith in Jesus and what He did on the cross for you. When He died on the cross, wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was laid on Him—He died on the cross. What He did on the cross was more than enough to cleanse us and wash us and justify us and give us a relationship with God. Hallelujah!
Say this with me: «I believe God.» Y’all got it—I’ve been saying it all day. I believe God. Somebody say, «I believe Him. I believe Him. I believe Him. I’m justified. I’m made right with God.»
Put a shield up on that—don’t let nobody, no devil, no circumstance, no situation, no drama—don’t let anything make you question God.
Believe God in Trials
Do y’all hear what I’m saying to you today? You’re going to have some trials; you’re going to have some tribulations; you’re going to have some issues, and the devil’s going to make you want to question God. But whatever you do, believe God.
You know what? Tell yourself when you’re in the middle of a hell hole, tell yourself when you’re down and in the dumps, tell yourself when you don’t see a way out of your circumstance: tell yourself, «I don’t know how, but I believe that somehow He’s going to work it out. I don’t know how He’s going to work it out. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know how I’m going to pay this bill. I don’t know how I’m going to get healed. But all I know is the God that I serve is more than able of doing it on my behalf.»
Somebody high-five your neighbor—say, «I believe God. I believe He’s working it out. He’s working it out.» It might not come—he might not resolve it by the time I want it resolved—but I do know that by the time I need it answered, He will answer it. By the time I get to where I’m going, He will have fixed it. By the time I need a resolution, He will have resolved it. I believe God.
Put that breastplate on—put that protection on—and don’t let anybody make you question God. The breastplate of righteousness consists of the breastplate of faith. Amen.
The Breastplate of Love
But hold up—it’s another part to that breastplate too. What’s that? Y’all be paying attention for real. It’s the breastplate of love. Somebody say, «Amen.»
What does that mean, Pastor? Love. Matthew chapter 5, verse 46: «For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?»
Y’all get that? He said, look, if all you do is love the people who love you, you ain’t done nothing. God says—oh, I feel tension in the room. Ooh, this is where I need to spend the time right here, 'cause the devil wants you to hate people, dislike people. And y’all do know church people know how to hate on people. Yeah.
And that’s what the enemy wants you to do: he wants you to hate, dislike somebody. He wants you to see somebody’s number pop up on your phone—you know who it is—and you not answer the phone. That’s what he wants. He wants you to come to church and see somebody you don’t like and go in the opposite direction.
He wants you to have hatred in your heart. And some of you today, your relationship with God has been messed up because you’ve allowed hatred and dislike to get in your heart and not to love somebody. And you’ve allowed it to penetrate your heart, and it has—and will, and for some of you has already—impacted your capacity to have a relationship with God.
Hatred Impacts Your Relationship with God
Let me be clear about this: when you allow hatred in your heart, it impacts your relationship with God. Go ahead, tell your neighbor that: «It impacts your relationship with God.» I know you don’t want to hear this, but tell them: «It impacts your relationship with God.»
Now, here’s what I have concluded: when people have done stuff to me and the devil wants me to dislike them, I said to myself, that person is not worth me missing out on my walk with God. Thank all of you who clapped on that very significant point. I’m trying to help the rest of y’all out that think that you have a right to hate on somebody.
In 2003, the president of the United States came to the First Baptist Church of Glenarden. And some of my members got mad with me; some of them quit the church and left 'cause they didn’t like the president and some of the positions that he took. And they wanted me not to welcome him, so they got mad with me 'cause I let him come.
Welcoming Everyone to Church
I had the toughest time understanding why they didn’t want me to welcome the president of the United States just 'cause they didn’t like something about him. Hey, I welcome anybody to church: I welcome liars, fornicators, adulterers, thieves, and politicians. I invite them all to church. That’s right.
If they can’t come to church, where can they go? They ain’t going to get changed going to the club. The only thing that’s going to change them is the gospel. That’s right. Amen. Go ahead, lean over, tell your neighbor, «He preaching better than you saying amen.»
They talked about me—they didn’t have social media like they have it today, but they had people create a website against me. A member of the church got mad at me, quit the church, created a website against John Jenkins. I didn’t think I was worth somebody spending money to create a website to hate me.
But if that guy walked in these doors right now, I would still show him the love of God. That, by the way—I know I’m saved when I can love somebody that I know don’t like me. I know I’m a child of God.
Y’all see how the claps are getting lower and lower 'cause some of y’all ain’t got that testimony. You can’t say that 'cause somebody hates you, you hate them back. And you think you’re right by hating them back, but you have messed up your walk with God when you hate back on somebody who hates on you.
Love Marks True Disciples
And my job is to simply try to tell you: stop letting people who hate on you pull you down. They’re dragging you down to their level. I’m too big to let you drag me down to your level. I’m not coming down there.
Let me read John 13:35: «By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.» Here’s how I know I’m a child of God: 'cause I know I love people who I know don’t like me. I know I got Jesus in my heart, for He helped me to love you, and I know you don’t like me. I know I’m a child of God.
Here’s 1 John 4:20 and 21: «If someone says, 'I love God, ' and hates his brother, he is a liar.» I didn’t write this—this is in the Scripture right here. This is what the Scripture says: if you say, «I love God,» but hate his brother, he is a liar. «For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?»
And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. Ooo, I know I’m saved; I know I’m a child of God 'cause He’s given me the capacity and the ability.
And some of you need to pray and talk to God about what’s in your heart. Don’t look at me out of the corner of your eye like y’all looking at me—I see y’all looking at me. I’m just a messenger. Don’t get mad at me. I’m just trying to help you understand that you need to protect your walk with God by loving people.
Forgive and Love
By the way, you know somebody did something to you that hurt you, made you mad, made you angry, and you feel you have a right to hate on them. Here’s the fact of the matter: you’ve done something to somebody that they may have a right to hate on you. Oh, the claps are getting lower and lower 'cause y’all don’t even recognize that you’ve done something to hurt somebody else.
But when you become a child of God, when you become a Christian, when you become born again, you get bigger than that. You have a capacity that you didn’t have before. God gives you the capacity and the ability to do something that you cannot do in your own strength and your own might.
Look at your neighbor, say, «You can do it.» Tell your neighbor, «You can do it.»
I’mma close with this. Jude—here’s the next to the last book of the Bible, the book of Jude, verses 20 and 21, and I’m finished. «But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.»
There it is—in the next to the last book of the Bible, both of these things are mentioned again. They’re very important: build yourselves up on your most holy faith—build up your faith, number one—and number two, keep yourselves in the love of God.
These are the two elements, these are the two components, these are the two things that make the determination about your capacity and your ability to have a relationship with God.
Now, I want you to go ahead and write down the names—put it in your phone, write it on the paper—of the people that you need to forgive, the people that you’ve been hating on, the people that you’ve been avoiding, the people that you don’t want to see for the rest of your life, the people that you’ve been praying for God to get them.
Are they worth you missing out on what God has for you? Hell no! Come on, talk back at me: no, they’re not. The Scripture tells us: take the breastplate of righteousness—and I’m calling it the breastplate of faith and love—and get it right with God. Amen.