Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armour of God. that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith, for with ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. I'm seeking the Lord's help and I'd like for us to consider some of the words that we have in verse 14. Having on the breastplate of righteousness. Last week we considered the first part of this verse. My grandfather served in the First World War and he was gassed. And that affected him for the rest of his life. So when he returned from the war, he became a policeman in Edinburgh. But he couldn't continue to serve as a policeman in part because of the effect of the gas. And he became a court officer. And that was a less demanding job. And he's lived not far from the court. And sometimes he would take pity on these petty criminals who were being brought up on different charges and young boys and hungry and he would sometimes bring them home for lunch, bring them back to my grandmother. My grandmother remarked and said that she thought it was strange that he always walked about with her hands thrust into their pockets, all the ones he brought back. and he explained that the reason that they were like that was because he'd taken away their belts and their braces so that they couldn't run away. He wouldn't have been able to keep up with them, but they couldn't run because their hands were holding their trousers up. They had no belt, and without any belt, they weren't equipped to run, and we saw how the belt is so important as part of a soldier's uniform. The belt holds everything together. and we need to girt on the belt of truth. Without truth, we're hanging out, we're flapping about, we're trying to cover our backs, we're trying to hold together this web of deceit and we become tangled and we fall. The first item then in the armour of God is that we have the belt of truth and we girt it about, we fasten it on, that we love the truth and that we exercise our truthfulness. The truth brings freedom. The second item I want for us to look at tonight is the breastplate of righteousness. And a breastplate isn't simply a covering for the front of the body, but it's a covering for the back as well. And it covers the chest. It covers the vital organs. It may be made of a thick leather or it's made of metal. And what is spoken of here with this picture of the soldier attaching this breastplate, which will keep them safe, is righteousness. Righteousness. Having on a breastplate of righteousness. Now what does that mean? What's it talking about? Well supremely, it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is imputed to the believer. Paul speaks about this in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. Our sin is taken and given to him. He is a sin bearer, and he stands before God in our place. but we are seen and found in Christ. And we read in Philippians chapter three, and this is what Paul rejoices of there. He says in verses eight and nine, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but done that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law. but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." For too long, Paul had tried to establish his own righteousness. He lived according to the law, and it was hollow, and it was empty, and it was insufficient. And he said he counted it all but done. He lists there all his credentials, and he says, they are as nothing. the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. I want us to think about this, imputed righteousness. We might call it a legal righteousness, a legal righteousness. This is how the child of God stands before the court of heaven. In the sight of Almighty God, if you are in Christ Jesus tonight, You're not seen as a sinner. You're not seen in your sin. You're not seen in your shame and with your filth, but rather the righteousness which belongs to Christ is counted to you. That does not mean that you're seen as being innocent of wrong, but actually you're seen as having fulfilled all that is right. Yes, innocent of wrong and having positively fulfilled all that is right. It's not simply that sin is taken away and we're there on baseline level, but rather we've fulfilled all the law. this legal righteousness, so much so that God is satisfied with his people. It's not simply that he's not angry. It's not simply that his wrath is turned away, but rather he embraces his people with a perfect delight in them because of their legal righteousness, which is the righteousness of Christ imputed to them. The child of God reflects the beauty of Christ. Having on the breastplate of righteousness. There is this great transaction, this exchange where we go from debt to credit. It's not simply a wiping out of the dead. And this is known as monergistic. It's a good word, monergistic, alone work. It's not synergy. Synergy is when you work together. But it's monergistic. God alone does this. It is done for you, it is done to you, it is done in you, but it's not your work. We cannot establish our own righteousness and nor can we put the righteousness of Christ on us, but God in his gracious mercy freely imbues the righteousness of Christ to his people. no effort on man's part, no cooperation on man's part. This is the consequence of our coming by faith. And so the thief on the cross who was saved in his dying hours after a life of outrage, a thief and a murderer, is as righteous as John the beloved apostle, the last of the apostles, John the faithful apostle, not the headstrong Peter, not the doubting Thomas, John the apostle of love. Yet these two men, at different ends of the spectrum of experience and of Christian maturity, yet are counted righteous in Christ and are seen with the righteousness of Christ, the least in the kingdom of God, the greatest in the kingdom of God, Whoever they may be, are seen and accepted in Christ. So that Paul is able to say in Colossians, there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, born or free, but Christ in all and in all. There's no hierarchy. There's no more righteous. There's none more righteous. There's no place for boasting either, is there? Because it's not of me and it's not of you. It's not something that we have done and it's not something that we can add to because it's complete and it is perfect and it belongs to the child of God. And we are to have honour to put on the breastplate of righteousness. Why are we to put on this breastplate of righteousness? If the believer is counted righteous in Christ, why is there this exhortation for us to then put it on? Why is it said as if there is something for us to add to, is it? Or something to, some responsibility that lies with us? And the Arminian would say that you need to, as it were, keep yourself saved. If you don't, then you'll lose your salvation. You'll cease to be a Christian. Of course, that's wrong. It's a denial of the finished work and of the sufficiency of Christ. The Lord has saved his people and they are saved. Their sin is removed, his righteousness is given. That man, that movement is going to glory. And they cannot be plucked from him. They cannot be destroyed. but yet there's this exhortation to put on the breastplate, to stand having on the breastplate of righteousness. It's not better just for us to try and stare to the way. If we're going to heaven anyway, it's not better just to stare to the way, not hazard anything, not get ourselves into more trouble, because you know yourself. There's times when you've ended up creating more trouble because you've tried to do what you thought was right, your zeal, and you've tripped yourself up and you've fallen. Well, we begin with illegal righteousness. The foundation of the breastplate of righteousness is this legal righteousness. What Christ has done and what is imputed to the child of God. But there is more. There is something which complements that. And that is a living righteousness. The foundation of a living righteousness is to be found in this legal righteousness. It's the outworking of holiness in your life. It's the second point then, is for us to think about this living righteousness. what's a living righteousness, what's not absolute, and it's not complete, and it's not perfect, and it's not imputed to you. It's not the righteousness of Christ which is counted as if it were yours, as being yours, but rather it's response of the believer. The response to that exhortation to be holy, to live holy in Christ Jesus. And here there's a vulnerability, isn't there? Here there's a great vulnerability. Yes, we're at risk of misunderstanding and misapplying the legal righteousness of Christ. It may result in a fatalism. It may result in a formalism. Would you say, oh well, it's all out of our hands and it's all in the sovereign purpose of God. And that's a misunderstanding and a misapplication of what we find in the scriptures. But there's a vulnerability with this living righteousness where the truth It's not so much twisted. Our standing in Christ is that the devil loves to twist that, to distort that, so that we don't understand how it is that we appear in the sight of God. So we don't understand the freedom, the liberty the believer has to appear before God and to come and to plead the merits of Christ's righteous life and to seek for his blessing and to seek for his strength, to seek for his deliverance. Rather, it's living righteousness. The devil is able to shine light, as it were, upon the truth and to say, is that it? Is that what you call a living righteousness? Is that what you call a holy life? Is that your best? Can you be a Christian at all? Can you know anything of salvation? Can you know anything of God? Do you really love him if you live like that? There's a vulnerability because the truth is we're sinners who fail. We're sinners who fall. And we feel condemned. We know the words of Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter six, knowing not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. We know that sin grieves the spirit of God and leaves us without comfort. Assurance is gone. And sin and lack of assurance brings disorder, brings discord. It's a legal righteousness. But friends, there's to be a living righteousness. And without this living righteousness, without a living righteousness, there is disorder and there is discord. And we're vulnerable when there's disorder and when there's discord. You can picture in your mind these little wooden train sets, which are joined together by magnets. And the magnet's strong enough so when you pull the train, oh, all the carriages follow after. But the carriage is in the wrong direction. It doesn't work. The magnets don't attract, they repel. And it just becomes a jumble. And so it is when there's sin in a believer's life. There is this discord. There is this tangle. where this living righteousness is compromised. There is not a sense of security. There is not a comfort. There is not an order in our lives as there should be. And the devils believe. The devils believe and tremble. A true believer is someone who believes, but there's more than simple unintellectual assent, isn't there? There's this taking hold of Christ. There's this love for Christ. There's this desire for Christ. There's this going after Christ. There is this Christ-likeness. There is this living righteousness. What identifies a believer? It's not simply that they intellectually ascent and believe in that sense. But their lives are transformed. They have a legal and a living righteousness. Sin is inconsistent with Christ. And where sin is present in a believer, it exposes that believer to condemnation and to despair. Paul says to the church in Ephesus, earlier on in this chapter, in chapter four, put ye on a new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore put away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of the other. Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. When you do not live holy, you give place to the devil. It's not simply an equation of where there's more sin, there's greater condemnation. The mature believer is more sensitive. The more sensitive believer is more sensitive. There may be less sin, but yet there's a consciousness of sin, and that consciousness of sin brings a dissatisfaction and also brings a vulnerability, leaving us open to the accusation of hypocrite and of being presumptuous. where there is no living righteousness, or where our living righteousness is compromised, we are open to the accusation, that horrible accusation of hypocrite and of presumption. So friends, if we accommodate sin, if we allow sin we leave ourselves vulnerable in a way that will be exploited. So while there is this legal righteousness, which is the finished work of God, which is a perfect and complete work, which happens in a moment of time, it's instantaneous. We never become more righteous in Christ. Yet, as we go on in our Christian walk, there is to be a maturing, a drawing nearer to him, a becoming more like Him, a departing from sin. And that is where our armour, where our defence, where our protection is to be found, our comfort. Therefore we're told, be holy and sin not. Be madness for a soldier to leave his armour behind, to forget to put on his breastplate and leave himself exposed to every arrow or dart of accusation. Be madness for a soldier to go off and to leave his body armour unravelling. You know how it is in the cartoon where the jersey gets caught in a hook and as you walk off it just strips away until it's gone. but we live our lives in such a way that we are unravelling and exposed and vulnerable. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and having on a breastplate of righteousness. A sinning saint can't stand. To continue in sin, we cannot stand because we have no assurance, comfort. A sinning saint can't stand. When you think of your own experience, think of your own life, It's not simply that we have to keep ourselves from doing certain things which are wrong. But isn't it sinful for us not to be living thankfully, not to be living joyfully, not to be living zealously, not to be living with an appreciation for the sovereignty and the wisdom and the purposes of God. And where that's the case, We're vulnerable to the accusation. We're exposed to the enemy. Stand there for having your lines worked about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness. We need both aspects. It's legal righteousness. It's our foundation, but it's to be complemented by a living righteousness. We'll sum up with some lessons from this. It's not a case that you're to have one or other. You can't have one alone. You claim to have a legal righteousness but there's no living righteousness. Your claim is empty. You claim that your life is righteous, your living righteousness is great, but there's no depending upon Christ and the finished work of Christ. You're like Paul as he describes himself there in Philippians. A Hebrew of the Hebrews, first and foremost, touching the law blameless and yet is empty and dead. Christless religion. We need a legal and a living righteousness. But so hard to measure, isn't it? This living righteousness. So hard to measure. I mean, there's some who are proud, hardened sinners, and they are doing fine, just like Paul was before he was struck on the Damascus Road. So how are we to know? I'm not saying tonight that if we don't have perfection, we can have no assurance, and if we have no assurance, we can have no hope. What I am saying is that if we're satisfied with sin, if we're satisfied with sin, then we can have no assurance. We're entitled to no assurance. There's no assurance to be had because if we're satisfied with sin, we're not satisfied with Christ. And if we're not satisfied with Christ, can we have him? Can we know him? I'm not saying that you can't fall into sin. I'm not saying that you can't fall into sin and in a sense remain in that for some time. I'm not saying that you can't fall away. Scriptures are full of examples of those. Our own experience is that we have fallen and wandered, but we find a satisfaction with that. There's no yearning after Christ. If there's never any repentance and returning to him, there can be no assurance and there is no hope. So I suppose in some ways we should be asking ourselves, what's our response to our lack of living righteousness? What does it do to you? Where does it leave you? Does it leave you saying, well, that's just the way? Or does it leave you on your knees seeking him, seeking forgiveness? Knowing, yes, you're standing in Christ before the court of heaven, but nevertheless, seeking that your life would complement and harmonise with that. Not simply saying, oh well, I'll be alright at the end and it matters not, none of us are perfect and we're never going to do well in this life anyway. What is our response to the deficit? What is our response to our failing? But also, if there's a problem, and the truth is we all have a problem with that. Do you know where to go to fix it? The devil loves to send people in the wrong direction. He loves to send those who have no legal righteousness, who have no standing in Christ, and he sends them to the doctor's surgery, where they need to go to the courtroom of heaven and stand before the judgment of God, confess and repent and be forgiven. But instead they go to the doctors to get patched up, to try harder, to try and improve their lives. And it doesn't matter how hard they try, they're outside of Christ and there's no hope. But yet the opposite is true too. Because there's those who stand in Christ. There's those who are counted righteous in Christ Jesus. And they don't need to go back to the courtroom of heaven. They don't need to be converted again. What they need to do is go to the doctors to have their living righteousness dealt with. The problem's not with their legal righteousness from the courtroom, the problem's with their living righteousness in the doctor's surgery, and they need to go there. Misunderstanding that leads to a great dissatisfaction because there's some people who are converted but they feel that they need to be converted again and again and again and again and they're going and they're praying to be converted and they are converted. The problem isn't that you need to be converted. The problem is you need to sharpen up. You need to stop doing what you're doing. You need to change the way that you're living and honour God. So we misunderstand that, we become dissatisfied because we're looking for the answer in the wrong place. For the child of God, the problem's not with our objective righteousness, with our standing in Christ. It's our subjective experience. The problem's not with him. We have problems with our own failing to take his medicine, to depart from sin, to honour him. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on a breastplate of righteousness. Let us do that. having on the breastplate of righteousness. And let us remember these two elements, our standing in Christ, our legal righteousness, and how we live from day to day. There must be a harmony, there must be a complimenting. We begin with repentance, and then we seek to honour God from day to day. Amen, let's pray.