Breastplate of Righteousness
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
Last week we looked at the Belt of Truth. We saw that truth protects us. We looked at post-modernism and its rejection of objective truth. Then we looked at the Word of God and how it is Truth. It is trustworthy, it is from God, it is His Word. We looked at what the Bible says about itself. The reason why it was important to mention what the Bible says about itself is because there is no greater authority on the Bible than the Bible. It is God’s holy Word. It is God’s inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word!
We meet together three times a week to hear from God’s word. Let’s look at what it says this morning.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
The breastplate is an indispensable piece of armor. It surrounds the torso and protects the vital organs. The lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, and bowels are covered by the breastplate. Of course, our heart is protected by the breastplate. We refer to the heart as the seat of our emotions. We feel with our hearts.
The breastplate is an indispensable piece of armor. It surrounds the torso and protects the vital organs. The lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, and bowels are covered by the breastplate. Of course, our heart is protected by the breastplate. We refer to the heart as the seat of our emotions. We feel with our hearts.
The breastplate is there to protect our emotions, feelings, our heart.
Our feelings must be protected.
Our feelings must be protected.
The devil attacks our feelings. In fact, this may be one of his favorite areas to attack the child of God. If the devil can get you to focus on your feelings more than on the Lord, then he will render you ineffective as a Christian.
Downcast or Depressed
Downcast or Depressed
The devil can and will cause an unexplained depression to come on people. I am not by any means trying to downplay physiological and the psychological issues related to depression. However, I need to point out that we are not just physical and emotional beings.
We were created in the image of God. If we are born again, then we are spiritually alive and the devil will attack us spiritually. Therefore, we need to protect ourselves with the whole armor of God.
Inadequacy
Inadequacy
This often times comes on those in the twilight years of life or even on the death bed. The devil attacks us with feelings of not doing enough for the Lord. He attacks with a fear that we have not done enough for the Lord.
At any time in a believer’s life, the devil can attack with feelings of inadequacy. He tells you that you are not worthy. He may be attacking a Sunday School teacher or even a deacon and telling you this morning that you are not worthy of the position that you have in this church. The best thing for you to do is to agree with him on that point and continue listening to the sermon because I will tell you what to tell him next.
Satan uses inadequacy to keep people from being saved. He will tell you that you are not worthy of salvation and that God can’t forgive you. The Bible does tell us that we are not worthy, but it also tells us that God loved us. Keep listening this morning, because we will see that it is God that makes us worthy.
Desires
Desires
Satan attacks our desires by inflaming our desires and making us desire more than what is permissible. We must fulfill our God-given desires within the boundaries that He has given us. Those boundaries are not there to limit our enjoyment, but to protect us and provide greater fulfillment.
Conscience
Conscience
The devil will use our consciences against us. He will remind of sins from our past and put thoughts in our heads.
He will tell us things like, “How can you be saved and struggle with that sin?” and “There is no way that God can forgive you for that !”
These attacks and others must be prepared for. We prepare for these attacks by putting on a breastplate to cover our feelings. The breastplate that we are told to wear is made from righteousness.
The breastplate is there to protect our emotions, feelings, our heart.
The breastplate is there to protect our emotions, feelings, our heart.
The breastplate that we are told to wear is made from righteousness.
The breastplate that we are told to wear is made from righteousness.
Our feelings must be protected.
Our feelings must be protected.
Not our righteousness.
Not our righteousness.
Not our righteousness.
Not our righteousness.
We can see from Romans chapter 3 that the breastplate of righteousness can not come from our righteousness, because we are not righteous.
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We are absolutely bankrupt when it comes to righteousness. In fact, our accounts are filled with sin rather than righteousness.
But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
Isa
When I look at the holiness and righteousness of God and compare myself with Him, I can not help but come to the conclusion that I am utterly worthless.
Telling one lie, having one lustful thought, stealing a piece of candy, coveting my neighbor’s possession, having hatred in my heart: any of these things cause me to be sinful and unrighteous. Regrettably, I am guilty of all of these things and more.
A single lie
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
We are guilty and worthy of sin’s wages.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are utterly helpless in our sins. The righteousness by which we protect our hearts must come from someone else.
The righteousness of Jesus
The righteousness of Jesus
Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus, although tempted as we are, never sinned. He is righteous. His righteousness is the only righteousness that can save you and protect you.
We can not rely on our own righteousness or the righteousness of our mothers and fathers. We can not rely on the righteousness of any person other than Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Imputed Righteousness
Imputed Righteousness
This is the whole foundation of our standing as Christians.
Another term for imputed righteousness is Justification by Faith.
In , we see the apostle Paul disavowing any merit he may receive from his personal righteousness. His faith is in Christ, the righteousness that is from God by faith.
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.
Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!
For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,
though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:
circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;
concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Paul recognized that no matter how good he was, he could never attain God’s absolute and holy standard. What is God’s standard?
Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
This is the first and great commandment.
Matthew 22:35-28
Oh how far each of us fail to meet this command. Even after nearly 3 decades of being a Christian, I have yet to come to the place where I can honestly say that I have met the requirements of this commandment.
Yet, even before I began to love God, Jesus stepped out of heaven and onto this sinful earth. He lived a sinless life for 33.5 years. I have a hard enough time being sinless for 33.5 hours.
At the fulness of time, God the Father imputed our sins, Yours, mine, everyone’s sin, upon Jesus. This means, that he legally and justly transferred our sins to Jesus. Jesus, the righteous, died for sinners. He paid our debt. God did not stop there.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
He then imputed on those that are born again the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I have never kept the law to perfection. I have never met God’s holy and absolute standard, but Jesus has. So, just as God took my sin and imputed it to Jesus, He took the righteousness of Jesus and imputed it to me and to every believer in Jesus Christ.
He then imputed on those that are born again the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
It is not my righteousness, but the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God clothes me in the righteousness of Christ. His righteousness is my breastplate. It is my protection!
God does not look at my imperfections.
He does not see my sins!
The law has nothing to say against me. That old accuser the devil has nothing to say against me because I am not depending on my righteousness. I am covered by the perfect, spotless righteousness of the Son of God Himself!
God doesn’t just impute righteousness to us. He imparts it to us as well!
Imparted Righteousness
Imparted Righteousness
After we are born again, God puts His righteousness in us. Imputing puts God’s righteousness on us like a coat or a breastplate. Imparting, puts His righteousness in us like a blood transfusion.
When you are the recipient of a blood transfusion, you receive the blood of a donor. You have the donor’s blood circulating through you. This is like what happens when we are saved. A person receives a blood transfusion because they do not have enough blood.
When we are saved, we receive the righteousness of God, not because we are low of righteousness, but because we have no righteousness at all!
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
God works in us the works of righteousness. Righteousness is a natural product of a born-again Christian that is growing in the faith.
Invincible Righteousness
Invincible Righteousness
The righteousness of Jesus Christ can not be defeated. However, our own attempts at righteousness can be and will be defeated. We must quit trying to live the Christian life by our own power and merits. We must wholly trust in the righteousness of Jesus.
No matter what the accuser brings to me, and no matter how right he might be regarding my sinfulness, my inconsistencies, and everything else. My faith is in the righteousness of Christ.
As the old hymn says,
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name;
On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand.
Decision
Decision
Some of you have been born again, but have been trying to live the Christian life by your own power and ability to follow the law. It is time to lay down your trust in your self and wholly trust in the righteousness of Christ.
Some of you this morning have not been saved. You need to be saved this morning. By placing your faith in Jesus Christ, your sin can be imputed to Christ and his righteousness can be imputed and imparted to you. Why don’t you come and trust Him this morning?