of the hymn that we have just sung, that your servant Martin Luther was keenly aware of the spiritual warfare in his day of the forces of evil that faced him. And in the midst of that, he was confident in the Lord Jesus, Lord Sabaoth, that he would win the battle. And Lord, we pray that you would help us to enter into something of that awareness of the spiritual warfare that takes place even in our day, not only in our land, but in places such as North Africa, in places on the other side of the world. And we pray that you would also grant to us a great confidence in our champion, the Lord Jesus. Help us and instruct us from your word, we pray in his strong name, the name of Jesus, amen. If you'll pardon me here, I'm playing with a toy here that hopefully will be helpful for us. Or not. OK. And we'll go ahead from the start. As we've been looking at the full armor of God, we've been introduced to the reality that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle. We have devils that fill the world. Paul, a number of times, tells us that the that the world that we now know is greatly influenced by the spiritual forces of wickedness. The Apostle John says that the world lies in the lap of the evil one. So if you would consider with me this passage before us, Ephesians 6, again, verses 10 through 18. Finally, be strong in the Lord. and in the strength of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm. Stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and as shoes for your feet having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. So as we consider the passage before us, I want to just review briefly. Previously, we looked at the belt of truth, the essential belt of truth worn by the Christian warrior. He and she is to be grounded in the truths of the word of God. That is an increasing mental command of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith as they're clearly deposited for us in the word of God. but there is also an increasing heart embrace of these doctrines as the truth, as God's truth. Absolute truth, as we say in Ephesians 3 verse 8, the truth that is in Jesus. And then this evening we're going to focus in particular on the breastplate of righteousness. Now this Latin phrase here, the lorca segmentata, actually this didn't come into usage until I think it was the 16th century. But it does describe the type of Roman legionary armor that was popular during the first in second centuries AD, which would have been around the time, as you know, of the Apostle Paul. It was made from strips or segments of iron or steel that were curved to conform to the shape of the legionary's body and protected their upper torso, both front and back, as well as the tops of the shoulders. So this is something that Paul, the Apostle Paul, as he's going from one Roman colony, one Roman city to another, in his travels on this first, second, and the third missionary journeys, certainly he would have seen these soldiers moving from one place to another, taking up garrisons in every major city. I want to confess to you I've been helped greatly by the Pastor Mitch's study that was done, I think, back in 2009, if my memory serves, as well as a book and exposition of this passage by Ian Dugan. So as we look at the meaning of the breastplate, we'll go ahead and consider our outline together We'll put that away here. We want to consider the breastplate. To be worn is the only way that that's going to do any good. Just like the seatbelts in our car, right? They will only save your life if you're wearing them. And so we are to put on this breastplate. But we need to consider as well under your outline part B, the divine warrior that's also envisioned by Paul. We must ask, is Paul merely enamored with the flesh and gallantry of the soldier's uniform? No, but there is a divine warrior who has really captivated his mind. If you would turn, please, with me in your copy of the scriptures to Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59, where you can see that the prophet is mourning over the decadence, the departure of the hearts of Judah from the Lord and their sinful state. I'll pick up the reading in verse 14 of Isaiah chapter 59. Justice is turned back and righteousness stands far away for truth has stumbled in the public squares and uprightness cannot enter. Verse 15, truth is lacking and he who departs from evil makes himself prey. Then the situation is viewed from God himself as we look in the second half of verse 15. The Lord saw it and it displeased him and there was no justice. He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no one to intercede. Then his own arm brought salvation and his righteousness upheld him. Will the Lord just sit passively and observe his apostate people? No. God himself will bring about the salvation that is needed for his chosen and judge in righteousness. Look at verse 17 with me. He put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. So previously in Isaiah's prophecy, God promised to deal with Israel's enemies, Babylon in particular in that prophecy, but a far greater enemy has also taken the field against God's people. more dangerous to them, to their own souls, and it is their sins. If we were to look at chapter 64 and verse 6, God says that we have all, or Isaiah says rather, we have all become like one who is unclean. all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf and our iniquities like the wind take us away. Now back at verse 2, if you take a look at chapter 59, the people were reminded that it is their sins that have separated them from their God. though his chosen people, who would not give a wink and a nod, though these are his chosen people, he's not going to give a wink and a nod to their idolatry, their cruelty and treachery. The only prospect they had in this condition was one of divine judgment and wrath. And God will not stand, will not deal with their sins from a comfortable distance either, from heaven, such as in a divine decree. God's champion would take to the field and deal with sin definitively. with sin and with death. From verse 19 of our chapter. which the wind of the Lord drives. And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from their transgression, declares the Lord. So God has a far greater solution here for sin. In fact, the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God, as previously promised in chapter two. And so God had a far greater solution for sin here. The breastplate that Paul has in mind was from a divine armory. The armor Paul is listing out for us actually comes from various passages of the Old Testament. Isaiah's prophecy in particular, as we can see here. Christian, God has fashioned the breastplate our Lord Jesus wore, a defense against the onslaughts of the devil. But more, he encourages you, he invites, no, he commands. that you put on his armor and he has wrought a righteousness into a breastplate and made particularly for you and perfectly fitted for you and for me. You are not to fashion a breastplate of your own righteousness for you and I would surely err in making it. We all lack the proper materials for that. And so this was the error of the Jewish nation, as we've read previously in Romans chapter 10, for being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Well, if we move on to part C in our outline, righteousness, righteousness described. A well-known verse in Matthew 5, verse 6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Down to verse 20 of the same chapter, Jesus also reminds them, for I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. there was something deficient in the righteousness that they thought was acceptable and pleasing to God. If we turn back again to Romans 2, what is Paul talking about? Romans 2, verse 28. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew or a righteous person is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man, but from God. And so if we were to describe this righteousness, it's obviously not a term that we very often use in our common conversation. And so let's put the issue in more concrete terms. Righteousness is law-keeping, such as comes from a heart that loves God perfectly and obeys God's law perfectly. It includes the mind perfectly, having perfectly right views of who God is, and a perfect understanding of God's law, as well as the actual perfect performance of that law. That is what righteousness is. from Matthew chapter 22. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Jesus a question to test him. Teacher, what is the great commandment in the law? And he said to them, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. And so as we can see, the first commandment is to love God. Summarizes really the first table of the law in the Ten Commandments. no other gods but the Lord, no idols, no cherished false views of who God is. It is also an honoring of God's name in all that we think, say, and do. It's also a spiritual observance of one day above others set aside for worship of this God and for works of mercy and necessity. The second commandment, of love to our neighbor, summarizes our duty before God to honor our mother, father, and all those whom God has placed in authority over us. We're to preserve our own lives and the lives of our neighbor. since each of us bear God's image. We're to highly honor the marriage covenant between a man and a woman and never desire or do anything contrary to that covenant. We're to respect the property and reputation of our neighbor in holding to and bearing testimony only to what is true. And we are never to long for or possess anything that does not rightly belong to us. nor are we to turn our back on the needs of others, but to earnestly seek God's kingdom over this present world. And what do we read summarized by the prophet Micah? A well-known passage, chapter six, verse eight. He has told you, oh man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly before your God? And so, I'm told that the average human lifespan is roughly 79 years. 28,835 days to be exact. Now, if you or I were to violate any one of these laws, and of course this if is certainly theoretical, isn't it? But only once per day, you would see that over the course of an average lifetime, we accumulate a mountain of indictments on the docket in God's courtroom. In reality, the sum is far greater than 30,000 infractions. Take today, for instance. Has your use of the Lord's Day been perfectly righteous? Free of worldly distractions? Solomon reflects in Ecclesiastes 720, surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. There's only been one exception to that, and that is, of course, the man Jesus of Nazareth, the God-man. And that is why he could ask of his opponents in John chapter 8, which one of you convicts me of sin? The writer of Hebrews describes our Lord Jesus as holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners. And think about it further, each violation carries with it a sentence of death. As Ezekiel writes, the soul who sins shall die. How could this be fair, you're likely thinking. But consider that in God's heaven, a description of heaven, this is what we read in Revelation 21, 27. Nothing unclean will ever enter into it. nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. In our present condition, you and I would be most unwelcome there, frankly, nor would we really desire to be in the immediate presence of such a holy God as this. But we don't fully appreciate who we offend, whom we offend when we sin. Pastor Ted Donnelly once made the point that we think nothing of squashing some despised insect. And yet you and I would be rightly upset if we were to learn that our neighbor's sons, that a child in the neighborhood killed one of our neighbor's cats. You'd be very upset. And yet we think nothing of offending the infinitely holy God, whose air we breathe sustains every beat of our hearts, every atom of the universe, and the same God to whom we will surely give an account. As is written, and you know quite well, Hebrews 9.27, and just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment. Death is a wage, Paul tells us in Romans chapter 6. Death is not natural, but the consequence, the wage of what you and I have earned, what we deserve, because we've not lived out this perfect righteousness in a great many ways. 30,000 doesn't even touch how many offensives. Or am I just speaking of myself this evening? So I trust you will agree with me that we can never fabricate a breastplate of righteousness on our own. The best we can really do is a breastplate of hypocrisy. Is that what you're wearing this evening? I hope not. A breastplate that hides sins which you hope no one learns about. Satan knows what is behind that kind of breastplate. You are not only liable in God's courtroom, but vulnerable to the accusations of the devil, your adversary. You may be thinking, well, there's plenty of people in the Bible that were described as righteous. You could probably think of some examples right now as you're sitting here. Noah, Righteous Lot, Abraham, Moses, certainly Paul, that's all true. And yet they were righteous in a relative sense. And yet these individuals do have a breastplate of a different sort which needs really further explanation. So if we move on in our outline to part D, that is a breastplate of imputed righteousness, otherwise our bad record. that's being addressed here. As we return to Isaiah 59, note the reason for the Lord Jesus suiting up in this breastplate of righteousness. Not only was it Judah's sins and ours, but in verse 16, there was no one to intercede, no one to atone by his righteousness for the unrighteousness of the people. No one to interpose, to help, to uphold. Similar words are found in chapter 63 as well. So what did Yahweh do? We can see his arm is involved. as in 40 verse 10 and 51 verse 5, not man's arm, but his alone. And it has always been the Lord's arm that has brought God's people to victory in every trial and in every battle. His righteousness the arm of Messiah. He won the victory for us, not by mere might as God, but by his invincible righteousness as man having the spirit without measure. Jesus fully accomplished a perfect righteousness so that you and I might be clothed in it. Now the Hebrew word for intercede that we see here used in verse 16. is also used in chapter 53, verse 12. If you would turn there, please. Isaiah chapter 53, well-known chapter on the suffering servant of Jehovah. Therefore I will divide, verse 12 now, I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. So this word intercession here is the same one that we find in chapter 59. The well-known passage speaks of a different image of this same person. Not a warrior here, but here in 53, the suffering servant of Yahweh. It is the actual bearing of the sin of many by the Son of God upon the cross that he made intercession. As we hear in the well-known hymn, come thou fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the face of God, he to save my soul from danger, interposed his precious blood. It is the righteousness that Paul, in another place, reaches back to sight in Romans 3, verse 21, where he says, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness of it. Verse 22, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So Paul says that we need a righteousness to be accepted, to be justified before God, or we're damned for eternity, and that justly because of our many offenses. And so it is a righteousness freely given by God in his son when we believe in Jesus. Verse 22, you can see. Jesus' law-keeping is credited to us, covers us as with a breastplate, covers our sins. We wear Jesus' righteousness when we believe upon him for our salvation. This is the breastplate which Paul is speaking and telling us to adorn ourselves with. Could that be said of you this evening, my hearer? Have you abandoned, fled from your own hypocritical righteousness, fled from your sins, sought after and obtained Jesus' righteousness? Here is the only answer, and praise God, it is freely offered to all who call upon Jesus for their salvation. It is not only the solution for the obvious sinner that you would find in cell block A over at Chester County Prison. It's also for the sinner hiding behind a breastplate of hypocrisy. The really religious sinner who exalts himself or herself, keeping up some external set of duties. From Matthew 28, Jesus says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon me. Cast aside your breastplate of hypocrisy. in all that you've labored over. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. My friend, you've carried this breastplate of hypocrisy far too long. Trust in Jesus. Find acceptance with God in him. And yet that is not all our Lord's breastplate of righteousness does for you and for me. As we look at Part E in our outline, there is also not only an imputed righteousness that deals with our bad record, but there is an imparted righteousness that deals with our bad heart. God is not only interested, as we heard this morning, abundantly plain in the exposition of Romans chapter 12 too. God is not only interested in dealing with our bad record in heaven's courtroom. but also our hearts, how we shall then live. God has freed us from the penalty that our sins deserve. And as wonderful as that is through our lifetime as believers, God is also doing a work of renovation in our hearts to increasingly fulfill the law of God, out of love for God. as was made plain to us from the inside out. Let's survey some of the passages that point to that. Let's reach back to the Old Testament. Leviticus, chapter 11, verse 44. For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy. For I am holy. Verse 45. For I am the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God, and you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. As we jump ahead to the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1, Paul writes, since we have these promises, gospel promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. The writer of Hebrews in chapter 12 verse 14 exhorts us to strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. The Apostle Peter sounds in on the same thing as well. but as he who called you is holy in 1 Peter 1 15, but as he who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written you shall be holy, for I am holy. And then the Apostle John, if you know that he is righteous, that God is righteous, You may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. The birthmarks of a true believer, John says, is they practice, they make a regular, determined resolve to practice righteousness, as we heard this morning. This is their deep expression of gratitude, of sins forgiven. Now, in 1689 Confession, Chapter 13, I think it's Paragraph 2, we read these words. This sanctification is throughout the whole man, yet imperfect in this life. There abides some still remnants of corruption in every part. wherefrom arises a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. Christian, are you living out what God is working in you, as we heard from Philippians 2, verses 12 and 13 this morning? Are there areas of sinful compromise, inconsistent living that you need to address? Are there relationships, those relationships at home, Are they what God would have them to be? Compromises in your private moments. Go to God and confess these. And if needed, seek the help of a mature believer if you need further practical help. Well, what does all this have to do with spiritual warfare? Roman numeral two. Our defense and spiritual warfare. Basically, a breastplate is a defensive weapon. Even modern armor that soldiers wear in the field nowadays protects their vital organs, as we've seen before. It's defensive armor. And so we want to consider defense first in a strategic defense. By strategic defense, I'm suggesting, as Paul did, that we not only take to the spiritual field of battle, but to stand to resist the onslaughts of the devil. Back in our Ephesians passage, verse 11 and 14 in particular, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. In verse 14, stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness. So because of our justification by faith in Christ, how does that benefit us on the field of spiritual battle? We are able to hold our ground, spiritually speaking, when the accuser faces us on that battlefield of our conscience. When we inwardly wrestle against temptation, sometimes failing, our relationship to God in Christ is yet certain and sure. Our defensive breastplate of Christ's righteousness is secure. Recall the words of the hymn, the same hymn that I quoted earlier. Be thou my shield and hiding place, that sheltered near thy side I may face, I my fierce accuser face, and tell him thou hast died. We have the righteousness of Christ because he has given us that righteousness as we've trusted in him. But there's also, secondly, B, a tactical defense, a tactical defense. And by that I mean I'm suggesting that practical righteousness, our personal pursuit of holiness, is also a strong defense against the attacks of the devil. Now Paul alluded to this in Ephesians 4, as he commanded to put off the deeds of the flesh and to put on the righteousness of Christ in very practical dimensions. As we walk in holiness, we avoid giving the devil grounds to attack us. He'll tempt us in this way or that, but also tempt us to despair when our efforts at holiness fall short and we stumble in the everyday heat of the battle. Christ equips us with his wisdom, the wisdom that is imparted to the righteous to live righteously in the face of temptation and the schemes of the devil. Now I wanted to quote at length an example of that, what that would look like from Pilgrim's Progress. If you remember the encounter that that faithful has with shame, continually causing him to feel ashamed of his Christian testimony in the eyes of the world. But I'll be quick and summarize Faithful's remarks at the end of that encounter, where he says, and come and come and come again fresh, that now or sometime else we by them may be taken, overcome, and cast away. Oh, let the pilgrims, let the pilgrims then be vigilant and prepare themselves like men. And finally this evening, Roman numeral three, are you unprepared for battle? Are you unprepared for battle? We've said at the outset of this study that God would have us, it's not the difference of being a Christian citizen or a Christian soldier. That's not what he's talking about. You're either an ill-prepared soldier or you're a well-equipped soldier. and which are you determined to be. But beyond that, my worry is that there are some likely here who have up to this point absolutely no real defense against Satan's devices. As we read in 2 Timothy, Paul says that they've been taken captive, speaking of the unconverted. They've been taken captive to do the devil's will. You have absolutely no defense against Satan's devices. You've been exposed to God's truth time and again, yet are not wearing the belt of God's truth. You've learned about God's commandments, but you've given only a passing thought to them. And most importantly and most concerningly, you've not troubled yourself about the gospel by which you may be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, his breastplate. You are on a battlefield of this cosmic war, unclothed, untrained, unprotected, and frankly, really oblivious to your danger. And in reflecting this week, thinking about that, I couldn't help but think of Judas Iscariot. where John records in, I think it's chapter 13, John records that Satan entered into him. Prior to that, John had pointed out that Satan put into Judas' heart to betray Jesus for some silver. He immediately went out, left the Savior whom he would betray in spite of Jesus' plain words that he was aware of Judas' plan. You think that alone would be a check to his conscience, that he was found out, and yet it didn't stop him. Why? Was he just not as smart as you? No, he had been given fully over to that sin of covetousness, and in the end, he betrayed the very Savior who had appointed him an apostle. run to God's armory, plead with him to be that he would be your sword and shield and hiding place that you might face your fierce accuser. And tell him Jesus died for you as well. Seek the forgiveness that you need for the crimes against your sovereign and receive that forgiveness which can only be found in our Lord Jesus. As we were in Isaiah, I'll close with a quote from there, from chapter one, verse 18, where God says, come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. That promise is held out to each of us this evening. May it not come on deaf ears by the grace of God. Let's pray. Our Father, we confess that we are far more oblivious to the wiles of the devil that go on around us time and again, how we have been deceived by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We know that our brethren that are on the other side of the world face very plain attacks through civil government and through terrorism. And yet we know in our culture the wiles of the devil are far more insidious. Lord, help us to be on our guard, to be watchful as the Apostle Paul commands us, We pray that you would help us each to take comfort that we have this breastplate of righteousness through faith in Christ, that we can our fierce accuser face and tell him that you have died for us. And that many of the things that he says against us are in fact true, and yet Jesus has died for us, and forgiven us, and even enlisted us into his service, that he may get glory throughout the remainder of the campaign that he has in this world. Lord, help us to do our part in that. We also pray that are those that have no armor, that are naked before not only you, but the devil as well. We pray that you would sober them, that these spiritual realities would be tangible to them. to the point where they would flee to Christ for salvation and safety. Lord, we thank you of the many places in your word that you point out that you are our fortress, you are our hiding place, and that we can be safe in you. We praise and thank you that you will care for us and bring us to our celestial home. Help us this evening as we go back to our various lives this week. We thank you for the instruction that we heard in the Sunday school hour of speaking righteously and exhorting and praying with one another. We thank you for the instruction from Romans 12, verse 2, of not being conformed to this age, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Lord, may these things be our food and our drink this week. May we be about advancing the cause of your kingdom in our hearts and those of our loved ones. We ask all these things in our great Savior's name. Amen. And in closing, we'll sing, Am I a Soldier of the Cross? Hymn 500.