The Warrior's Robe

Well, praise the Lord, everyone. It's great to be in camp meeting. Wonderful presence of the Lord that is here. Something very special in the atmosphere. I've been praying and fasting, seeking God. Feel like the angels of the Lord have encamped around about us. I certainly feel that the presence of the Lord is abiding with us. I want to take a moment and express from my heart a very deep respect and give very high honor to the privilege of being asked to speak to you tonight and minister to you. I promise you I don't take it lightly. District board, our district superintendent, Bishop Weber — God bless you and the job you're doing. I can speak for the first time as a Louisiana licensed evangelist, and I have voiced my support for you, and I say you're doing a great job. You are exceeding expectations. It's magnificent how God is using you, and thank you for you and your wonderful wife, your leadership. Brother [Stroud], our district secretary — God bless you. Always showing the spirit of a servant and kindness. We love you and thank God for you. Louisiana district has always been good to evangelists. Even if you don't live here, you do know you need to get to Louisiana, because not only preaching in your churches, all of you pastors being so kind and generous, but through all the years I've been coming to camp meeting, I can't tell you how many times one of the wonderful pastors has slipped us a little money, or asked me — I wasn't even preaching for him — "Do you need anything? How's your motor home? How are your tires? Are you booked this week?" Which I normally come to camp meeting purposely not booked to find the flow of the Holy Ghost. Hint, hint, hint. Of course, Bishop Mangan and the Mangan family — I honor you. The profound impact of POA and Because of the Times on an entire generation, and I'm part of the generation that was profoundly impacted. My ministry was forged and formed in many of the — I'll never forget Sister Vesta Mangan telling us if we didn't pray we were a walking fraud. She told us just go drive a truck. I was way up in the balcony somewhere; you couldn't see me, because I was on my face, because I felt like a backslider. It was good for us. A lot of this stuff they call spiritual abuse now; we called it discipleship when I was coming up. A shout out to all of our Eastwood Pentecostal Church family — Pastor Lopez and Sister Vonnie Lopez. God bless you. You've been so good to my wife and I. I thank God for you. You've been a blessing to us. For those of you that have figured it out by now, we've moved here and bought a house, so we plan on staying a while. And thank you — some of you helped us get the down payment. Them banks, they don't understand how us evangelists make money. Sounds like faith to us, but it's crazy to them. My wife of 41 years — she's the wind beneath my wings. I promise you, next to receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, she's the best thing that ever happened to me. And as I was standing up here tonight, I thought, there's no way I would be standing here before you if it wasn't for the kind of woman she is, and the walk with God that she has. I know you can't understand that, but trust me, it's true. All the morning prayer call warriors that are either here or watching online have been praying for us. This morning at 5:00 a.m., we had over 500 on the prayer call. And today was day 30 of fasting and prayer, commanding the morning. And with Bishop Weber's approval, I invite all of you that want to join us: my wife and I will be in the prayer chapel over here at 5:00 a.m. in the morning. The next three days — Wednesday, Thursday, Friday — we'll be in the prayer chapel. And if you want to join us for prayer, we will be there.

Bishop Wayne Huntley has become one of the primary voices in my life over the last several years. And one thing I like about him is he takes it serious. I was just asking a little advice recently, and he didn't give me advice; he gave me a command. And it wasn't what I wanted to hear, expected to hear, but I did it. And I didn't call another bishop to get a second opinion. That was free, just to warm you up a little for what's coming. I'm under a little extra pressure here tonight, because I'm preaching at the Massachusetts–Rhode Island camp meeting next week, and evidently they sent the superintendent down here to see if they need to make any last-minute changes. I don't know. Y'all pray for me. They've sent a scout. Let's turn our attention to the Word of God, shall we? Dear and precious evangelists that are here — saw Brother David Smith, of course, longtime friend; Brother Mark Dross. God bless you for being here and supporting tonight. I let him park in my parking place. Please don't tow him away. You know, before I read the text, would you just close your eyes, and let's turn this place into a prayer meeting for about one minute? Could you do it? Would you lift your voice in prayer? Ask the Lord to help your heart be open and soft and ready to receive what the Spirit would say to the church. I need You, Lord. So many of us need You. Help me, Lord, to be Your vessel. Help me, Lord, to say what needs to be said and bring transformation into our lives. Let Your Spirit fill this tabernacle. Let the anointing destroy every yoke. The gifts of the Spirit operate. Those that need healing, be healed. Those that are discouraged, be lifted up. Those that need the baptism of the Spirit — we all need a fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost tonight. Baptize us with Holy Ghost and fire.

Matthew 6:33. Here we go. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Then going to Isaiah 61:10. Isaiah 61:10: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, and He has covered me with the robe of righteousness." And finally, Job 29:14: "I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My judgment was as a robe and a diadem." The word means a wraparound or a covering — something that covers you and is put on you. For a few moments tonight, I want to minister to all of us on the warrior's robe. The warrior's robe. How about we clap our hands and make a joyful noise to the Lord? You've got the next few minutes, and the next few days ahead of you. Let's get everything God has for us. What do you say? Why don't we have a breakthrough right here on the first night? How about a miracle tonight, right in your life?

God, touch every one of us with the power of Your anointing. We pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Somehow speak His name and praise His name. Jesus. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. To all of our internet watchers tonight, turn your living room into a church service for the next few minutes. We are not here as spectators. And we're certainly not here to be entertained. We are called to be warriors — courageous defenders of the faith; faithful, passionate intercessors for our families, for our churches; unshakable pillars in the kingdom of God. The warrior prays while others panic. The warrior fasts while others comfort the flesh. That's all right. I figured this out a while back: if you're going to talk about prayer and fasting, you better be doing it. Not just to be a good example — you need it for the fortitude it takes to say it when nobody wants to agree with it. So I'll just say it one more time: the warrior fasts while others comfort the flesh. The warrior worships while others remain silent. Warriors press through offense; they don't live in it. The warrior does not bend to bitterness. Warriors do not only fight for themselves. They fight for those they love. They have a passion for others. I think it's time for even the weak to say, "I am strong." Men and women on the front lines of faith — they just march to the beat of a different drum. Their cadence is orchestrated by the Spirit, ordering their steps in the pathways of righteousness. Because our fight is not with flesh and blood. And I might pause to say, nor is it with each other. Amen. I'll just amen myself on that one. The weapons of our warfare, they are not carnal, but they are mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds, the casting down of imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We are strong in His power tonight. And we must be strong in the power of His might, that we are able to stand against all the wiles and tricks of the devil. And we have everything we need. We've been given the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith. We are clothed with truth, our feet continually advancing the gospel. The battle is intensified. And here's why: the enemy is filled with wrath, because he knows he's got but a short time. Our victory is about to be sealed. The King of glory, strong and mighty, is about to come in. The tactics of the enemy are being revealed, and I speak with prophecy, they will soon be exhausted. He's running out of tricks. We're on to his games. The Lord of hosts is about to rise up and roar on our behalf. The prophetic winds of end-time revival are stirring in the treetops of the mulberry bushes tonight, and we still remain faithful. The Lord our God is one. There's none like Him. There's none beside Him. There is no other God. And neither is there salvation in any other name, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. I wish somebody would shout that name — Jesus. So I stand before you tonight and say, on this first night: let the wind blow. Let the rain fall. Let the earth shake. Let the devil rage. No weapon formed against us shall prosper. We come in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We come with an anointing that destroys every yoke. We come with a power within us that is greater than any obstacle in front of us. End-time worldwide revival is about to reach people of every nation, every kindred, and every tongue. They're coming from everywhere. They're coming out of every religion. They're coming out of every vice. They're coming out of every addiction. Your backslidden family — don't give up hope on them. It won't — as a matter of fact, I believe the prodigals are going to be some of the first wave. They already know where to go. They already know how to get here, and they know what to do when they get here. If you have a prodigal, let me help you: all they need is 30 seconds to turn their heart to God. They're not as far away as you think, and they're not as lost as they seem. One prayer. Come on, great apostolic church. I prophesy to you tonight: you're stronger than you think you are. You have more power than you think you have. You have more anointing than you can feel. That's why the devil fears you so much. There will be an innumerable host who stand before God clothed in the blood-washed robes of righteousness. And I want to be in that number. And I want to be wearing that robe. Bishop Huntley, I want to be one that wears the robe of victory and the robe of righteousness. I hope you're warmed up, because now I'm going to say what I really came to say. I learned that trick from Brother Huntley. He said, you've got to lather them up a little first.

You know, the enemy knows he cannot defeat a fully armored child of God. I think some of you believe that, and some of you are just hoping it's true. But I stand to tell you assuredly: the enemy cannot defeat a fully armored man or woman of God. It is impossible. So his tactic is to strip you of your armor, to strip you of your robe of righteousness and your righteous distinction, and compromise your Christlikeness. Then he's got you. So, prayer warriors, intercessors, I remind you tonight of the words of our president, Theodore Roosevelt. It's widely known: "It's not the critic who counts. It's not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly and errs often, who spends himself in a worthy cause, and, at best, in the end knows the triumph of high achievement. But at worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls that know neither victory nor defeat." Why don't you just risk it all and go all in? Amen. Rise or fall, win or lose, but don't sit it out. Get in this thing. Get in it to win it. Be a prayer warrior. Be a worshiper. If we're going to do this thing, let us do it with all of our heart. My son Jeremiah's wife is here. He's an evangelist now, getting all my meetings — that's why I need meetings. And he could quote it for me. I've told both my sons growing up, I said, "If you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly. If you're going to do this thing, do it." Come on. If we're going to come to church, let's have church. If we're going to worship, let's worship with all of our heart. What good is it to be half-hearted about anything? That's not going to get any of us anywhere. It's just going to make you tired and weary and exhausted. But I found out the only way to do this thing is all in. If you live for God hard, it's not hard to live for God. The old-timers used to call it living on the fence. But we're not on the fence tonight. My mind's made up. My foot's on the rock. I don't know about you, but I am fully persuaded. I'm not still making up my mind. My mind was made up a long time ago.

It's in this arena of faith, however, that sometimes we do see mighty warriors fall — not from the strike of the enemy, but through the surrender to the flesh; not from Satan's assault on faith, but through compromise with the world. David fell in comfort, not in combat. I propose to you: you are safe in combat. You're in danger in comfort. The battle is rarely lost for a lack of strength. It's lost for a lack of covering. Today — now, I'm 61 years old, in case you're wondering. Been preaching about 40 years. An ordained, licensed minister for a long time. I didn't realize — got invited by the district board, got everything in line. Didn't really have to have anybody's permission to do anything. The permissions I needed were granted. But I've called several in my life today. One of them was, "Brother Mangan, pray over me. Pray the prayer of faith over me." Told him a little bit — not very much, but just a little bit — about what I want to preach about, and got his release. I took this message all the way to the top — called the main bishop. I said, "I know your time's valuable. We don't need a discussion. Would you just pray over me? I'm preaching at camp meeting tonight." He went in prayer for me. Why did I do that? Might not have been completely necessary, but I wanted to be under apostolic authority. I tell you tonight, I don't stand here alone. I'm submitted to this district. I'm submitted to the bishops. I'm submitted to the men of God. I have gifts. I have anointing. I have power. I have what I have from God. But I am not standing alone. I'm not a lone ranger. And if you're a lone ranger, you'll generally become a lone stranger. There is safety, and it's apostolic. It's not apostolic if we shout loud. It's apostolic when we're commissioned, and we're sent, and we're released. I'm not reluctantly submitting. I'm looking for opportunities to submit. I was over preaching in Raleigh, and Brother Huntley was up, I think, receiving the offering, the best I can remember. And the anointing got all over him, and he got to exhorting, and I was standing over there as the evangelist — you know, probably chewing a Life Saver or something, waiting for him to get to me. He pointed at me; he said, "Brother Klinedinst, did you see that guy on the front row? Go pray him through right now." I was like, "Who? Where? What? Somebody needs the Holy Ghost." I wasn't even really paying attention; had my mind on what I was going to do later. But on my way to that man, as I saw him and he locked eyes with me, it occurred to me: that man's about to get the Holy Ghost, because I'm anointed. And I got the anointing of the bishop. He's about to get hit with a double whammy, because I'm not coming to him just on my own. I was sent. You want to know what a double portion is? Get under an authority, and get under anointing. You won't lose the battle because you're not strong in faith. You lose your covering — and the covering of His righteousness.

In the warrior's armor, there is a breastplate of righteousness. It protects the vital organs. And something unique about the breastplate of righteousness is: you can pick up your own helmet and put it on; pick up your own sword, your own shield, your own feet — everything. But that breastplate of righteousness, from what I've read, the warrior would have to stand and put his arms out, and somebody else would have to put it on them and snap it on. And then, once it was on, it was a little tight and a little restricting. And so he was protected in battle. Oh, he had the shield of faith. But remember, the shield of faith is operated in the human hand. And anything operated by humanity is never 100%. Now, the gift of faith is 100%, but your faith is not, because we can get weary. Ask the Apostle Peter: he had faith to jump out of the boat, but he didn't have faith to get all the way out there. Because our faith, you know, can get stressed to its limits. And we've all seen those who have taken off the breastplate of righteousness and said, "Oh, I feel so much more liberty now. Look how good I can swing the sword. Look how free I am. No worries. I've got the shield of faith." And you may do good for a little while, until you miss a fiery dart with that shield. And it was intended to bounce off the breastplate. But since you've removed the breastplate, your heart is vulnerable. And it's in the heart — I said, it's in the heart — that we hold the doctrines. David said, "I have hid Thy word in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee." I need a protected heart, and I might not always be up to the task. I need His righteousness. I need that breastplate. I beg of you tonight, don't lay it down. It's so valuable. It's so important. It will protect you beyond your own ability. I've come to alert you tonight of one of the greatest enemy tactics that I have learned. He has not come to simply strike you. He's not just looking for where or how to place a strategic or powerful strike, but rather he has come to strip you. Because if he can strip you, then we're all an easy target. As long as I'm fully armored, he has no chance. But if he can talk me, with his cunning deception, into just stripping myself of the armor, now I'm in my flesh, and my flesh is vulnerable, and he can take you out. And I'm telling you, we're too close to end-time revival to be fighting without the breastplate of righteousness and without the help of the Lord. The righteousness protects your revelation. The righteousness protects your gifting. Righteousness protects your anointing. Righteousness will protect your ministry. Righteousness will protect your marriage. Righteousness will protect your morality. Righteousness will protect you even from yourself. Could I get a little help here tonight? I am preaching for transformation tonight. I am speaking to you a transformative word, a foundational word. That's the theme of this camp meeting. And I promise you that righteousness is one of the preeminent foundations of every Christian.

What is righteousness? I am preaching about Christlikeness. Righteousness is His nature. Righteousness is His character. Righteousness is being like Jesus Christ. His nature covers us like a robe. It covers our flesh. It covers our humanity. It covers our frailty. We are clothed with salvation, and covered when we put on Christ, as the Bible calls it. It's the divine nature. It's not my nature; it's His. It's not me; it's Him. What we need right now, more than we need anything, is we all need more of Jesus. We need an anointing that will shock us. I love you. But what I am hungering for more than anything is to be in the anointed power of the Almighty God, where really it's not so much what's being sung or what's being said, but that anointing of the Holy Ghost that somehow is just drawing me in. You can feel it right now. It's pulling on you. You're doing more than you intended to do. You're paying more attention than you meant to. Why? Because there's something in this atmosphere that knows what you're really hungry for, and it's drawing you. You ought to be thankful for that. You ought to be thankful that you could still feel the pull and the tug of the Master's hand. Would you clap your hands and give the Lord some glory?

Righteousness is imputed at water baptism — which simply means, when you get water baptized in the name of Jesus, you've applied the remedy for your unrighteousness. I don't want to get into any doctrinal problems here tonight, but you ain't no more righteous when you come up out of the water than you were when you went down. The difference is, you've applied the remedy. You're covered by the blood, which is in His name — Jesus. And the Bible says it's imputed, or you are counted as righteous. The Lord says, "Okay, since you're obeying the gospel, you've taken on My name, I don't see your sinfulness now. I forgive you, and I see that you have been covered by righteousness." It's imputed at water baptism, but it's imparted at Spirit baptism. All right. Righteousness at baptism — you're counted as righteous. But in Spirit baptism, He actually gives you His righteousness. And now there's something in you that actually is righteous, that you can live out. And connecting with the theme of the camp, His righteousness is the foundation of all spiritual victory. I hope I just told you something you didn't know. His righteousness is the foundation of transformation. His righteousness is His power. His righteousness is the impartation of His very nature. And when you receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, you receive the raw materials of His righteousness. It is still called the Holy Spirit — Holy Ghost. You get some holiness inside of you. When you receive God — God is holy. You receive God, a holy God. All the wickedness of your former life is now being baptized, washed, overwhelmed with the righteous holiness of an Almighty God. It's the foundation of all spiritual power. It's the foundation of all the miraculous manifestations. The old Pentecostal hymn said it well: "It's all in Him. It's all in Him." Can I tell you tonight, everything you need, everything you want, everything of any value — it's all in Jesus. And you get Jesus, you get everything. If we can just get more of Him tonight, we're going to automatically get more of everything else you're hungering for. Your miracle's in Jesus; your healing's in Jesus; your breakthrough's in Jesus; your financial blessing's in Jesus; your peace of mind is in Jesus; the joy is in Jesus; the peace is in Jesus. It's all in — I ought to get a bunch of Pentecostals clapping their hands and shouting hallelujah. It's all in Him. That's foundational.

So I come tonight with a strategy for spiritual warfare — a strategy that I believe will work for everybody. Everybody in this place, regardless of your position in life or your condition spiritually — a strategy that works for you, if you choose to allow it. And I pray that the soil of your heart can receive it. The language may sound strange to you at first, but I'm here to tell you tonight: the battle's not won by willpower. It's not won by personal discipline. It's not won even with spiritual muscle. It doesn't begin with you trying harder, getting stronger, doing better. I'm not here to tell you to man up, cowboy up, get your act together, man. That's not my message. I'm telling you that if all of us could humbly, honestly, sincerely seek after more of His Spirit — be baptized and saturated in the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ — that that's where the real power is. I'm here to inspire and challenge you to a pursuit, a holy pursuit of His righteousness. Victory begins when you stop struggling and start seeking. Tonight, I would like to deliver you from the struggle. And the only way out of the struggle is into the altar of seeking. It's into the place of hungering and thirsting after His righteousness. That's your way out. If you've been wringing your hands together — "Well, I don't know what to do. I've tried everything. I've done everything I know to do" — all right. Now, why don't you stop doing all of that, and just start seeking Him? Victory is not in striving harder. It's in surrendering deeper. You know what will launch your new transformation? If you can just surrender more of yourself, and more of your mind and heart and soul, to the Lord Jesus Christ. The warrior's power is not in his valiant effort. It's in his righteous relationship with the King of glory. It's the robe of righteousness. It's putting on Christ. Who can defeat him? Paul exhorted the Romans, as I exhort you tonight: let this first night of camp meeting find us fervently seeking and surrendering to a fresh baptism of His Spirit and fire. Here's what he said: "Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. For our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent; the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." And "there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." The power you receive when you receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire will carry you through the darkest night, and through the hardest trial, and through the deepest valley. You're tired because you're fighting the flesh. You're failing because you're fighting in the flesh. You're not filled with the power that you desire, because you're trying to get it through some human means. We've got to cast it all aside and throw ourselves in an altar of prayer, and just say, "The only thing I need right now is Jesus. The only thing I need for the next few minutes is a fresh baptism of everything that comes down from heaven." Clap your hands and magnify the Lord. Why don't you speak with other tongues, if you can open up your heart and let the Holy Ghost flow through? Let an anointing loose you. Let the power of God loose you. I'm doing my very best to articulate what I feel. But you need more than my articulation. You need more than how I could craftily put together the sentences. We need an anointing — an anointing that only comes down from heaven, that can break yokes, turn situations around, make a difference when there's no other way. You've tried everything you know, every reasoning, every persuasion; you've tried all with your strength. He's got to be Jesus at this point.

Psalm 23 shows us how to go through the great valley. David said, "He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness, for His name's sake." There's a path of righteousness in that deep, dark valley of the shadow of death. And if you can find it, you can get out of there. But it's not just a path — it's paths of righteousness. That tells me that if there was a path of righteousness in the great valley, there's a path of righteousness in every valley. Whatever valley you're in, whatever darkness you're in, there's a path of righteousness. Walk it. It'll walk you through. It'll lead you out. I'm telling you tonight, there's a path of righteousness in your valley of darkness. There's a path of righteousness through the carnal valley of your humanity. There is righteousness in your pathway. And it's your way out. It's your way through. It's your door when there is no door. It's your way when there is no way. It's the path of righteousness. It's the way you're going to defeat whatever the enemy is trying to do. If you're understanding me, shout amen. The path of righteousness is stockpiled with every good work and every perfect gift. Righteousness is not a subject. It's a theme of the Bible. Watch this. We've heard these Scriptures for years, but I want you to listen to them in this context. It's the righteous man that falls seven times and rises up again — not just every man, not just anybody who's trying to be sincere. The righteous man gets back up. Psalm 5:12: "For Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt Thou compass him as with a shield." Psalm 34:15: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry." "The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish." It's "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man" that "availeth much." "The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe." It's not just anybody just go running into anything you want. If you're going to strive for the mastery, you have to strive lawfully. The way you get to everything good is to seek His righteousness. And we have known this forever. Why are we in any way even thinking, or contemplating, or toying with the idea of straying away from our greatest strength, and our greatest power, and our greatest anointing — which is walking in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because "I have been young, and now I'm a little older, but I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." Ah, Paul said, "I have fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept the faith, and now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness — but not for me only, for all them that love His appearing." I'm telling you, there's nothing we need more. You know what I am living for? That one day, this mortality will put on immortality. This corruption will put on incorruption. This old wicked flesh that I have to fight every day is going to be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. The crowning of righteousness is that glorified body that will not fight my spirit that's trying to do what's right. "The arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous." "The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell." "The righteous shall flourish as a branch." "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him." Ah, I got too many. They're everywhere. There is a robe of righteousness that covers me. There's a breastplate of righteousness that protects me. There's a path of righteousness that leads me. There's a gift of righteousness that transforms me. The fruit of righteousness that sustains me. And the crown of righteousness that awaits me. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Every good and perfect gift that cometh down from above — it's looking for righteousness. It's looking for somebody that is clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you're not saved, seek the kingdom. Repent of your sins. Get baptized in the name of Jesus. Be filled with the Holy Ghost. But once you're in the kingdom, your lifelong journey is seeking His righteousness — not seeking His stuff. Don't worry about the stuff; they're add-ons. Seek His righteousness. Wake up in the morning seeking Jesus. Come to church seeking Jesus. Pray seeking Jesus. Don't seek the things; seek first the kingdom, then the King. All the other stuff becomes automatic. The great error in modern Christianity is they teach the idea of: get saved, and then get prosperous. Get saved and get all the blessings. Get saved and then get all the good stuff. And they skip over the pathway to it, which is "and His righteousness." And if you happen to get blessed, and you happen to do well, then that becomes some kind of validation that you're a good person and you're righteous. It's backwards.

Let me help you understand a little, if the Lord will help me, why you may be struggling, and maybe a little frustrated at times. It's because all the blessings of the Scripture are for the righteous. Come on, preacher. Come on. You have to strive lawfully to get it. You can't just live in any old way, do any old thing. And oh, I know — I can feel the demonic spirit world trying to twist the Scriptures: "Well, I'm just living by grace. Grace takes care of everything for me. It's amazing grace, preacher. What about the grace?" Grace is amazing. All the good stuff is in grace. All the prosperity is in grace. All the blessings are in grace. All the favor's in grace. The grace of God is everything we would ever want. But it is a strong error to feel like you can enjoy the good grace of God outside of living in His righteousness. Because that same Bible says grace reigns through righteousness. If you're not careful, we will frustrate the grace of God — because grace is trying to bless us; grace is trying to help us; His grace is trying to give us things we don't even deserve. But grace gets frustrated, because it gets its authority and its power and its release through His righteous character that we're living out. And if it's not there, then grace's arms are tied. Now, if you're lost, there's enough grace to get saved. There's grace; there's the shedding of the blood for your lost condition. I'm preaching to the church tonight. I'm preaching to disciples tonight. I'm preaching to people who have already been to the water, and already been baptized, and already filled with the Spirit. You've already been washed in the blood. So I'm telling you to seek His righteousness, that grace can set up its throne in your life, and everything good can come to you. Fight the good fight of faith, and let God bless you in it.

Well, if you struggled with that, it's about to get worse. You have to strive for the mastery, and you have to do all you can to stand. We're called to fight the good fight of faith, stand firm, overcome evil. The Bible says, "Having done all to stand, stand therefore." But let's be real. With all our best intentions and all of our noble efforts, we all just keep falling short, don't we? Well, don't say amen. I'll give you one from the Scripture: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." That's all of us. Well, my sermon just had a train wreck. See, the problem is, our humanity is not intrinsically righteous. The carnal mind is enmity against God. That's not passive resistance. The Scripture says it cannot obey God. It is not submitted to God, and it cannot be. No matter how strong your effort, the carnal mind is hostility. That's the word "enmity" — hostility against God. That's why every time you try to do what's right, there's some voice in your brain, and you start trying to talk yourself out of it. Why? Because it's that hostility against God. Well, let me make it blunt. You can't be righteous, no matter how hard you try. Even if you did succeed for a little season doing all the right stuff, checking all the boxes, and doing everything you're supposed to do — that wouldn't be His righteousness. That'd be self-righteousness. Paul addressed it to the Romans: being ignorant of God's righteousness, they go about to establish their own righteousness, and have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. This is why some struggle with holiness — because holiness is born out of righteousness. Righteousness brings His character. Righteousness brings His nature. Righteousness is the nature of Christ transforming our nature from the inside out. Holiness is expressed as we separate ourselves from worldliness, and avoid the very appearance of evil. I know we're the Pentecostal church. We are still the holiness church, right? Holiness is the avoiding of evil and the appearance of evil, and withdrawing from every work of darkness. So righteousness is the birthing ground for holiness. We've said it forever: the outward has to be a reflection of the inward. Otherwise, all we are is Pharisees. All we've done is clean up the outside of the cup, and the inside's dirty. We don't want to be that. We don't want to be hypocritical. We want it to be the real thing. The real thing starts with righteousness. And righteousness births holiness. Holiness is expressed in our separation from the world. See, I simply cannot be involved in some things, or do some things, or go some places — not because I'm violating the rules, but because it violates His character. Y'all don't have to say amen or nothing. I am telling you tonight that it is not about the rules. It's about His character. It's about: what would Jesus do? Is Jesus comfortable here? Would Jesus say that, do that, wear that, go here, be with this situation, that situation? There's things I cannot do — not because it violates the rules, but because it violates Him living inside of me. His Holy Spirit is grieved. I can't do it. Others can. I can't. It's not a list of restrictions. It's a visible expression of an invisible Christ. When righteousness reigns in your heart, holiness is revealed in your life. Let me just make it simple: it's living a Christlike life in an un-Christlike world. That's why we separate from them — because we're trying to be Christlike. And I can't participate in un-Christlike activities. I can't participate in that which is unrighteous, when I am trying my dead-level best to live in His righteousness. And that, my brothers and sisters, is the very essence of why we are a separated people: because we can only be holy because He is holy, and because we receive His Holy Spirit. All right, take a deep breath. Amen. That's as nervous as you have to get. I'll leave the rest of it up to your wonderful pastor. Amen.

But this is really the heart of the message: I must be righteous to receive all the blessings and good bounty of the Lord. But I cannot be righteous, because it is not within my character to be so — my fallen nature. So the remedy remains in Romans 5: "If by one man's offence death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of" — listen to this language — "the gift" — the gift. Say it out loud: the gift. Say, "It's a gift." "It's the gift of righteousness" that can "reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." If you don't remember anything else I've said, remember this: you do not achieve righteousness; you receive righteousness. It's a gift. When I saw that, it opened up every understanding to me, because I understand how gifts work. I know if I lay hands on somebody and they get healed, I didn't heal them. I just participated in the process. I know if God gives me a word of knowledge, I didn't read it in a book; didn't somebody tell me on the phone; I didn't spy their social media network. The only way I knew it is because God told it. Yeah, it was really His knowledge, not mine. It just kind of found its way through my mouth. I have learned a long time ago that it's God's provision. He provides; I simply participate. That's the whole equation to how you and I are to live holy and righteous. And I'm so happy to see all these young people here tonight, because I wish I could have figured this out early on. I've lived most of my life like the Apostle Paul: "O wretched man that I am. The good that I would, I do not; that that I would not, that I do." I've tried my — and I'm just going to be kind of honest with you right now. I really believe in transparency and all that; I think you ought to be authentic. But we don't need to know all your problems. I mean, tell somebody. Just don't tell all of us. You know what I mean? Find somebody you can talk to if you need to confess, and do it. Just don't tell us all. I've got enough of my own problems than to be dealing with yours, trying to be saved. So I will — I'm not going to be completely transparent, but I will be authentic and real. I've been around here for a little while. And I've tried my entire Christian life, my entire ministry, to overcome deficiencies in my personality and my life experiences, and the way that I came up. And my personality has been a big hindrance to me, because I just learned early: you've got to be aggressive and strong and speak up, or you're going to get run over. And I brought all that into the church; and the church has been my mother and my father; and it's taken you a long time to raise me, but I'm doing the best I can. So lately, I've been trying to say — for those of you that had written me off a long time ago, and I probably deserved it. I look back and think, "What was I thinking?" And I've been trying to win some new friends. I've been saying I'm "Kind-linedinst" — Klinedinst 2.0, you know — is a kind and gentle man. Yeah. With a tender heart. Yeah. Everywhere I tell it — that's what I told my oldest son, Zachary. I said, "Hey, if I die soon, would you at my funeral say my dad was a kind and gentle man with a tender heart?" He said, "Hold on a minute. I need to write that down." He said, "What was that again?" Smart aleck. He said, "I'll say it, Dad, but they're going to think I showed up at the wrong funeral." Is that a way with you? And to be fair — I genuinely am, just for those of you that might be interested — I am aware that I have missed the mark in many ways and at many times in my life and ministry. And I am so grateful to this United Pentecostal Church and all the elders that have rebuked me. And trust me, I've been rebuked by the best of them. Until you've been rebuked by Billy Cole, you don't even know what a rebuke feels like. He put them icy blue eyes on you — you know you are being rebuked. And it don't even matter if you did it or not. You feel guilty. He rebuked me for stuff I didn't do. But I was just: "I'm sorry, Bishop. I know. I'm going to try to do better." I didn't even do it. Somebody just told him I did. And I genuinely am trying. I genuinely am trying to be a better Christian and do what's right. But to be honest with you tonight, that still misses the mark. It's really not what He died on the cross for. The intent of being born again, the reason for the shed blood, the reason for nails, the reason for the cross, was not simply for me to be a better Klinedinst, so you can like me better — but it's to put on Christ, and to be more like Him. This church and this world does not need the best version of Klinedinst I can produce. This world needs me to be as much like Jesus as I could ever possibly be. And in the result, I'll be a better me. But this world doesn't need me at my best. They need Jesus in me — whatever measure I can get. And I'm just going to tell you: you need Jesus. And your church needs Jesus. And your community needs Jesus. And your family needs Jesus. And yes, we ought to try to be good people and good citizens. But what we really need is Jesus. Jesus. We need more Jesus.

I need to wrap quickly to a close. But about ten months or a year ago or so, I entered into a very deep, dark valley. I was under a very intense spiritual attack. My mind was in a fog. I was up at 4:00 a.m. praying and trying to get where I needed to be, but I was slowly losing the battle. My faith was wavering. The enemy was playing tricks on my brain. I hadn't entered into sinfulness, but it was a subtle backsliding into the deception of trying to win a battle in the flesh that I started in the Spirit. And I was so frustrated one morning, I read the entire book of Ecclesiastes trying to get a word from the Lord. And I just laid my Bible down, said, "It's just not working. It's not working. God, just what's going to work? I'm trying my best. I need Your help. I want to be right. I want to do what I'm supposed to do. I want to be what I'm supposed to be. I want to reflect You." And I'm trying so hard. And in the middle of my mental meltdown, it was like the Lord just tapped me, and whispered, and said, "Seek My righteousness." I didn't even understand it. I didn't even know what He was saying. I was like a wild man for the next week — a hundred hours or more. I was on the computer. I was googling. I was chatting. I was doing everything I could, finding everything. I was reading every verse on righteousness. Everything. I didn't even know what God had said, until I found that Scripture that said the abundance of His grace and the gift of righteousness. And then everything opened up to me. And I realized: I'm not going to ever achieve this. I've just got to receive it from the Lord. I want it. I'm hungering and thirsting after righteousness. And the only way I'm ever going to really, truly have it, in its most genuine, authentic way, is for Him to give me His righteousness — for Him to give me more of His Spirit. So yes, I've been in fasting and prayer. Today was our thirtieth day, and this is our third time around on forty days. Amen. But it's not about fasting and praying to get more gifts, and to get more power, and to be more anointed, and to have a greater ministry, or build a bigger church. There's a more important pursuit than any of that. That is a holy pursuit of His righteousness. There is no greater hunger than the hunger for His righteousness. There is no greater pursuit than the pursuit for His righteousness.

When Brother Cole was dying, he stopped traveling. He was on his deathbed at the house. I was going up every few days to try to visit him. And in one of those visits — Brother Cole was unique. He was eccentric. He had a unique personality. But one of the things he liked to do, that was very hard for me, was he liked to hold hands. I'd be sitting with him in church; he'd reach over and hold my hand during church. I'm like, holding his hand, looking around. I just — I kind of came out of the streets, you know. You've just got to have some bravado here. You've got to look tough and act tough, whether you are or not. And he would hold my hand. And so he was on his deathbed. I was standing there. He took me by the hand. Tears started flowing down his face. He said, "I've had a vision, or an experience with God." He said, "I know that I am dying." And he said, "I was getting ready to cross over the Jordan into the other world, but before I could get there," he said, "I saw the Lord Jesus coming toward me. And He crossed over the Jordan to my side first." And then — only those of you that know Brother Cole would understand this — he said, "So I explained to the Lord that I had done my very best to be apostolic." He said, "I told the Lord that I did not know if I had been successful or not, but that I had tried my best to pattern my life after the apostles, and have an apostolic ministry, and have apostolic power." Tears are flowing down his cheeks. And he said, "The Lord spoke to me sternly, but in a certain softness. He said, 'Yes, you have succeeded in patterning your life after the apostles. But My desire for you was that you would have been more like Me.'" With tears flowing, trembling lips, squeezing my hand, he said, "Brother Klinedinst," he said, "be apostolic. Yes. Preach the apostolic doctrine. But do better than I did. Go further than I went. Try to be more like Jesus than I was." So tonight, humbly before you, I'm just trying to fulfill that, and be more like Jesus. And I'm telling you: if you've been failing — trying, but failing; giving in to temptations; dealing with distractions; if your temper is greater than your temperance; you're trying to be good, but not succeeding; if you're weary in well-doing — there is a robe of righteousness.

I don't suppose — and I am coming to my close with this story — I don't suppose there's a better story in the whole Bible than the prodigal's story. His inward failure was that he desired the father's treasures. He just didn't desire the father. I don't know if you realize the magnitude of his violation, but when he asked for the father's inheritance — you don't get an inheritance till your father dies. He was basically saying, "I wish you were dead, because the longer you live, I'm not getting the stuff." And I would implore the younger generation: don't wish the elders out of the way, so you can get their church, and get their political position in our organization, or have what — their stuff. Let's don't fall into the snare of that horrible, horrible violation. And then he got the stuff. The father gave him the stuff — gave him all his inheritance. But because he did not have the moral character, he could not sustain it. So he squanders it all in the pig pen. And I don't have time to go into it, but you could do a little study, and you might find out that it's very likely that that prodigal was the demoniac of Gadara. Because in Gadara is where they had pig farms, because it was Gentiles, and they actually had commercial pig farms to feed the Roman soldiers. And they had over 2,000 pigs there, because that's where the demons went. And the Bible says that when the prodigal came to himself — when his mind got changed — the same thing was said about the demoniac of Gadara: when they saw him, he was clothed, in his right mind. And then Jesus told the demoniac of Gadara — He told him, He said, "Okay, go home. Go home to your family. Go home to your friends." Which means that demoniac wasn't from there. He had arrived there from someplace else. So it's just something worthy of consideration, that it's very possible that this prodigal had went to that depth. But now he's clothed in his right mind, and the Lord sends him home. And when the prodigal comes up over the hillside, he is filthy, and he is dirty, and he has squandered everything, and he has lost it all to fleshly desires. And don't think any one of us are beyond losing it all to our fleshly desires. He didn't have the character to sustain the weight of his gifting. We all want greater ministries. We all want spiritual gifts. We all want better churches. But let's not fall into the mistake of the prodigal, and want the father's treasure instead of the father's character. When he's bankrupt, here he comes, and he's coming up over the hillside, and the father ran. And Brother Huntley — I think it was you I heard say this — he's coming; the father runs off the porch. And we've all preached about why. But could it be that the father knew, "I better get to him before his brother does"? See, the elder brother was actually the better son. He was the better son, because he didn't squander the inheritance. He didn't want everything prematurely. He was a good son — but he was a terrible brother. God, deliver us from being good sons, but terrible brothers. I don't ever want to be the kind of person that the father has to protect people from me. Come on. I want to be a good son, but I also want to be a good brother. So the father says, "Bring me the robe." He puts the robe of righteousness around him — covers up all of his imperfections, and all of his failures, and all of his filth, and all of his stench. And I want to tell everybody in this place tonight that there is a robe that the Father will put on you. If you're a weary warrior — oh, God — if you've tried your best and you don't feel like you've gotten there, don't give up. Don't feel like it doesn't work. Don't join those cynical souls who have decided just to fight it and call it legalism. Don't major on hypocrisies and inconsistencies to justify your own failures. Get beyond yourself and say, "Lord, I seek Your righteousness. Cover me up. Cover me with Your Spirit, with Your power."

I want to ask everybody that would to stand in this place tonight. I am telling you that there is a robe of His righteousness that can only come down from heaven. And if it will clothe this church — this end-time church — they will see Jesus, not you and me. You will not see my failures. You will not see my humanity. You will not see my flaws. You will not see my failures. Because I've put on Christ. I'm in Him. He's covering me. His grace has made me beautiful. His grace has made me powerful. It's the love of God that goes beyond understanding. I know we prayed for the ministry earlier, but I'd like to ask, in the spirit of that, all the ministers, pastors, evangelists, get down to this altar as fast as you can. I want to give you a place this first night of consecration, this first night of foundation. Come on, pour your soul out to God. Stand, pray, kneel, come. Somebody say to God — wherever you are, you can go anywhere from where you are, because it's not based on your performance. There's a robe of righteousness. There's a robe that will help you. His power — it's His provision. All you have to do is be willing to participate. "Blessed are they which do hunger" — where are the cries of somebody hungering for righteousness? Would you lay every trouble aside, every prayer request aside? Forget about ministry and anointing and gifting for a few minutes, on this first foundational night, and say, "Jesus, I seek Your righteousness." Maybe something would happen to you tonight that would wake you up for 5:00 a.m. prayer in the morning, to begin the morning seeking righteousness. I release to you a fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost. I know you're saved. I know you're anointed. You've been living for God, but we need a baptism of the Holy Spirit of God. Is there a wail? Is there a desperate cry? I wonder if anybody is where I was ten months ago, in an early morning — frustrated, and trying, as sincere as I knew how to be. Can you hear the Master whisper, "Seek My righteousness"? There is a warrior's robe. Saints of God, I'm not restricting you from the altar. You're certainly welcome to come close. Get out in the aisle. Turn around and pray right at your seat, if you want to. You can stand and pray. You can sit down and pray. I'm just looking for somebody that's hungry. Is anybody desperate enough? If you're not hungry, are you desperate? Are you frustrated? Is there any part of you that wants to live this holy, godly lifestyle? Seek His righteousness. Everything else is there.

Lord, let this 111th camp meeting in Louisiana — let it be a transformative meeting. Let us break the mold. The musicians are beginning to play some beautiful music, filling the atmosphere so nobody can hear your prayer. They can't hear your cries of desperation, but Jesus can. Come on, man of God, woman of God, child of God. Warriors pray while others panic. Warriors fast while others seek comfort. I release to you this revelation: righteousness that will become holiness; holiness that will become godliness. Would some intercessors join me in some wails? "If My people, which are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face..." Come on, men of God. Come on, Louisiana. Come on, Louisiana. Let's lead our fellowship. Let's lead this apostolic church in repentance, in humbling ourselves before God. Woo! I feel it happening. I feel it happening. Nothing is impossible with God. It might be impossible for you, but it's not impossible with God. Lord, baptize this apostolic church. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. It's you and Jesus now. No one else. Reach for the hem of His garment. There is therefore no condemnation in Christ. Don't beat yourself up. Seek more Jesus. Don't condemn yourself. Seek Jesus. My brothers and sisters, I leave you with Jesus tonight. I surrender. I surrender. I want to know You. I want to know. I surrender. I surrender. This right here is the birthplace of all my prayer. This is the birthplace of long, extended revival. This is the perfect place of staying home after everyone else is gone. Ministries are born here. Gifts are over here. Miracles come from here.