For our Scripture reading tonight, turn with me to Philippians 3. Philippians 3 as we read together the first 12 verses of that particular chapter. Our text in connection with that reading is taken from Ephesians 6, the second half of verse 14. The verse says, Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist and in the portion for our consideration with the breastplate of righteousness in place. Philippians 3, beginning at verse 1 as we read together the Word of God. Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reasons for such confidence, if anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law of Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church, as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Stand firm then with the breastplate of righteousness in place. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you think of a police officer and his uniform and his equipment, what do you think of? Boys and girls, no doubt one of the first things that you might mention is that the police officer carries a gun. But also, no doubt, the police officer carries a pair of handcuffs. Often, they carry a baton or some kind of a billy club. We know that they wear a badge, which is an emblem of their position as a police officer. And today we also know that often they have a radio transmitter attached to themselves so that they can communicate with headquarters. And all of these pieces of a police officer's equipment, which we've just mentioned, as we know, are visible pieces. But you know, there's another piece of equipment that the police officer has today, and it's a piece that is indispensable. In fact, a police officer wouldn't want to leave home without it. And that piece of equipment is the bulletproof vest. That vest covers and protects that part of the body which is the target for mortal wounds. Wounds that seek to kill. And that bulletproof vest, in a manner of speaking, has saved countless lives. And congregation, so it is with a breastplate of righteousness that protects the Christian from the deadly fire of the evil one. Tonight, as we continue our study of the full armor of God, I preach to you the call to stand firm with the breastplate of righteousness in place. Let's consider, first of all, the position of that breastplate. Secondly, the power of that breastplate. And then finally, the purpose of the breastplate. Now, as we consider the position of the armor breastplate, once again, we need to think about the Roman soldier and his suit of armor. His armor, as we know, including the breastplate, was made for the battlefield, wasn't it? It was made for mortal combat. And the breastplate was usually made not of one solid piece of metal like the shield was, but of some sort of metal scales or feather type shapes that were put together in such a way that they overlapped and therefore on the one hand provided solid protection, but on the other hand, allowed flexibility and movement. This breastplate went from the base of the neck down to the upper part of the thighs, and it covered that part of the body which we would call the trunk. And it was so important because of the inner parts of the body that were protected. First of all, the arm or breastplate covered the heart and the lungs. And we know that's self-explanatory. These are major organs which are vital for our existence. They are necessary for true living. One blow, one bullet, one arrow, or one thrust of the sword through the heart or the lungs meant certain death. But the breastplate also covered other internal organs in the stomach, organs that are also vital for physical life. And therefore, the breastplate covered that deep inner part of man, that part that if it is bruised, will either mean his critical injury or his death. There was a detective with the Portage, Michigan Police Department who had attended our church a few times in Kalamazoo. And about a year and a half ago, he was involved in a gunfight, a shootout with a suspect. And that particular day, he did not wear his bulletproof vests. And he was completely messed up in his internal organs. And I'm glad to say that by God's grace, he lives and is fine today. But you see, without the breastplate, man must either run away or he is in danger of being killed. Now, Scripture in various places speaks of man's bowels or intestines and liver as well as the heart and the lungs. And we think, well, why would Scripture talk about these things? These things aren't very nice to talk about. But you see, these vital organs were understood to be the seat of man's emotions. Now, that's hard in itself to understand. But man believed that one's feelings and affections and desires came from these vital organs. As well, that the home of one's conscience was also inside. And we can understand this a little bit, can't we? When we think about the fact that ourselves, when we get nervous or when we get anxious, we talk about having what in our stomach? Butterflies. Or we say that our stomach is all tied up in knots. With different emotions, we get different feelings in our insides. And as well, congregation, man's righteousness or lack of righteousness is demonstrated through his feelings, through his affections, through his desires and actions. As we mentioned this morning, we know that God's Word says, out of the heart flow the issues of life. And we can say, therefore, that the physical armor breastplate covers and protects those internal organs of the body from which flow that which demonstrates the true nature, righteousness, or lack of righteousness of man. Yet we also know that the physical breastplate only protects that which is physical. That physical breastplate of the Roman soldier cannot protect the being of man, the inner being. It cannot protect his issues of life. And it's for that reason, I trust, that we begin to understand why Paul puts righteousness together with that piece of armor called the breastplate. With God's armor, that piece called the breastplate of righteousness protects the inner being of the believer. It protects his spiritual being, protects his soul. Now, how is that possible? Well, in the second place, because of the power of the breastplate. Beloved, this spiritual arm of breastplate has power because of the owner of the righteousness. Now there are some who say that this righteousness is the righteousness of the believer, his moral integrity. And just as they believe, as we said a couple of weeks ago, that the belt of truth is talking about the truthfulness and sincerity and the honesty of the believer, this righteousness, they say, also belongs to the believer. As Christians, we are called, they say, to face the enemy only speaking the truth and our lives must be morally righteous and free from corruption so that the enemy cannot condemn us. And now all of that's true. We don't disagree with a single word of that. Christians, those in whom the Holy Spirit has implanted that seed of new life are called and expected to be different, to be Christ-like, to live holy lives. The congregation, we cannot forget how and why the Christian is able to be different. Why he is able to be Christ-like and lead a holy life. We cannot overlook the foundation of the truth that is to fill the child of God and the righteousness which is to motivate him. Remember, we're talking about the armor of God here. It's His armor. As we said in our sermon of introduction, The armor of God is God Himself. The believer is called to be clothed with the Lord. And just as Scripture clearly reveals that the belt of truth is talking about the Word of God, the truth as it is revealed in Christ Jesus, in the same way, the righteousness of which this breastplate is made up is the righteousness of God. Only the righteousness of God Himself can keep me safe in this spiritual battle because my own righteousness will not do. My own righteousness cannot do. Now, we consider the Apostle Paul to be one of the greatest of the saints and soldiers of the cross. But what does he say? As we briefly mentioned this morning, and again tonight, if anyone had a reason to brag about outward righteousness, Paul did. Notice beginning in verse 4 again of Philippians 3, If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law of Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church, as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. You see, in the Jerusalem College of Pharisaical Education, before his conversion, Paul would have been lifted up before his fellow students as an example to be followed. He would have been applauded by his professors telling all of the other students, this is what we want you to be. When you leave here, we want you to be just like Him. Paul had all the reason to boast in his natural righteousness, and at one time he even considered his natural righteousness to be a gain for him. But now by the grace of God, he knew the truth. What he thought was righteousness was really keeping him from the true righteousness. And that's why in another place, he calls himself the chief or the worst of sinners. He says, in effect, to gain Christ means, by God's grace, as verse 9 says, to be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. The righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. Apart from faith in God through our Lord Jesus Christ congregation, Any perceived righteousness that we think we might have is really unrighteousness. In Romans 3, Paul graphically describes man. As he quotes from the Old Testament from the psalmist, he says, There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips. whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Now notice how he describes man's despicable condition from the inside out, from the throat, to the tongue, to the lips, to the entire mouth. Apart from God, man does not fight against Satan and against his hosts, eyeball to eyeball, face to face in combat. Instead, he fights alongside of Satan because he is one of Satan's hosts fighting against God and against His people. It is only the righteousness of God that protects the believer from the evil one and his schemes. It is only the righteousness of God demonstrated through Jesus Christ, as Paul says later in Romans 3, that justifies God's people. In other words, God calls His people to put on the breastplate of Jesus Christ and His righteousness. As Paul says in Galatians 3, verse 27, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. So how then does the Christian put on Christ and His righteousness? Well, we use that theological word which is not always easy to understand. Yet it's packed full of meaning. And that word is imputation. Imputation. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to me. and received by faith. You see, beloved, imputed righteousness is the whole foundation of our standing as Christians. Imputation is included. It's a part of what we call justification by grace through faith. Justification involves the righteousness of Christ imputed to me, which I am to put on by faith. Last week in a sermon, I heard faith beautifully described as that umbilical cord. We know what an umbilical cord is. It's that instrument through which life flows from the mother to her unborn child. Faith is that umbilical cord through which we are connected to our Heavenly Father, through which all the blessings and benefits of Jesus Christ flow to us. In Philippians 3, Paul is talking about imputation of righteousness. But what does imputation mean? The Bible gives us a definition. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21 says, For God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. You see, it involves a transfer. Boys and girls, this means that God took our sins, the sins of His people, and imputed them to His Son. He put them on Jesus. If we want to speak in accounting terms, He charged them to Jesus' account. Imputation is to take something that belongs to one person and put it to the account of another. For example, if you owe me $1,000, and I have that recorded on a page in my ledger book with your name on the top, and then I go to that page and I take a pencil and I erase that $1,000 and I replace it with a zero, and then I go to another page in that book with someone else's name on it and I write that $1,000 on that page, then I have imputed to Him the $1,000 you owe me and now He owes me that $1,000. Congregation, that's what God did with my sins. I owed God payment for my sins, but He erased what I owed. And He wrote that on Jesus Christ to be paid by Him. So where does that leave me? Well, that leaves me with my sins taken away. Wiped out. Gone. Wonderful. Awesome. But is that enough? No. You see, the transaction is not yet complete. In order to stand in the presence of God, I must also then be perfectly holy and righteous. I need my sins to be taken away, but I need to be given something. Jesus was and is perfectly righteous, holy, and obedient. He paid the debt for my sin, and then God takes that which is Christ's. His perfect righteousness, obedience, and holiness. And in my account, where it says zero righteousness, holiness, and obedience, God writes in perfect righteousness, holiness, and obedience from Jesus Christ. Now, because by the grace of God I am in Christ and I am one with Him, when God looks at me, He no longer sees my unrighteousness which has been taken away, but He sees me in the light of that which has been given to me, Christ's righteousness. Christ's righteousness clothes me. It covers me completely. It is my breastplate. And then, through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, God makes that righteousness a part of me. He puts it into me so that my feelings and my affections and my desires and my conscience and my heart begin to demonstrate Christ's righteousness. That's sanctification. People of God looking at me, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, God then pronounces me to be a just man. To be a righteous man. And the curse of the law can never touch me. And I can confess with Paul, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. You see, that's the power of Christ's righteousness. No condemnation for those who are in Him. And that righteousness then becomes to us as believers a breastplate. It's only the righteousness of Christ that saves me. And the power of Christ's righteousness, you see, has already stood firm against Satan, has already conquered Satan. Isaiah speaks of that in Isaiah chapter 59, where he is talking about the sinfulness of man which separates him from God. And then he says, Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore, His own arm brought salvation for Him and His own righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on His head. He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak. Beloved, now God calls His people to stand firm against the schemes of the devil with the breastplate of righteousness firmly in place. And that's the purpose of the breastplate. We've rehearsed from the very beginning of our study of the armor of God why that armor is necessary. And that's because of that spiritual battle that rages against Satan, against his schemes, against his hosts, against his principalities, against his powers. Satan, with all of his lies and unrighteousness, continues to attack the church. There is never a moment when the Christian is not under attack in this life. Satan's flaming arrows continue to come at you and me, one after the other after the other. Satan tries to continue to lead God's people away from the truth and into unrighteousness. And therefore, God calls His people to stand firm. And that's only possible with the breastplate of Christ's righteousness firmly in place, secured by that belt of the truth of God, which alone gives a true knowledge and assurance of that righteousness. Again, our righteousness is completely insufficient. And congregation, don't kid yourself. Satan knows that. He knows that as Isaiah 64 verse 6 says, but we are all like an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. He knows that in and of ourselves, as Jesus said, even when we have done all the things that we are commanded to do, that we are unprofitable servants. He knows that the Word of God says, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Satan knows, as the catechism says, even the holiest of men while in this life have only a small beginning of this new obedience. And Satan knows that the wages of sin is death. Beloved, very simply, Satan knows the old man all too well. And his goal is to arouse that old man in each and every one of us, but also to make us think that the old man in us is still very much alive and kicking, and we're kidding ourselves if we think that the new man has even been born. And Satan then attacks us through the seat of the emotions, through our feelings, through our desires, through our affections, through our conscience. He works hard to get us to examine our lives apart from Christ's righteousness. And the only result that there can be then is to doubt our faith. You have those hateful, murderous thoughts against that person and you call yourself a Christian? Come on. You continue to have those lustful desires and you think you're saved? Get real. So often, you don't feel like a true child of God. You don't exhibit much joy in your life. Your Christian experience is lacking. You come to church because you're afraid that someone will talk about you if you don't. You worship so many false gods, your business, your car, your hobbies, your money. Your work and your good deeds in God's kingdom are barely noticeable. The sins of the flesh testify against you each and every day, and you really believe that there is a room for you in that heavenly mansion? Think about it. You don't even deserve to be a homeless beggar living on the heavenly streets of gold. What a joke, Satan says. Before you met Jesus, you had an excuse. But you're all out of excuses now. God, you are not necessary to God. You see, beloved, Satan's goal is to arouse such a guilt in you and me that we say, in effect, that I'm so terrible that God is not able to save me. And beloved, what can we say about Satan's accusations against his accusations except, you're right. I am totally undeserving. I am inconsistent in my Christian life. I deserve death, Satan. But, do you know what, Mr. Devil? By the grace of God, I have life. And I have it abundantly. And I'll tell you why. This breastplate of righteousness that I wear, it's not mine. You see, if it were, He would have blown countless holes through it already. But it belongs to Jesus Christ. You see, my assurance of salvation does not depend upon my experience or my feelings or my good works. Of course, those things are evidence of faith as we've been talking about. But it depends upon Christ's righteousness. People of God, by God's grace as Christians, we are able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil with confidence only because Jesus Christ lives. We can stand firm with this confession from Romans 5, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And we can stand firm knowing that God laid upon Him the iniquity of us all and by His stripes we are healed in humility. We are called to stand firm having put on the breastplate of righteousness, knowing that it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Congregation, because of our unrighteousness, Christ had to die. but because of His perfect righteousness, those who believe in Him now live. Apart from Him and His saving sacrifice, you cannot stand firm against the devil. If you do not believe in Christ by true faith, then your own armor breastplate is useless and flimsy and you are nothing more than a ragdoll in the hand of Satan being tossed here and there. And your armor of unrighteousness will easily be fuel for the fire of hell. If there is anyone here tonight who does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has not confessed their sins and repented and turned to Him, you are called and urged to repent of your sins and believe in Him and be clothed with the impenetratable breastplate of His righteousness. And a promise to those who wear this breastplate of Christ in His confidence is that you can stand firm against Satan and his schemes and you can say to him, you can taunt me, you can tempt me, you can torment me, but you can never eternally touch me because Jesus Christ lives and He lives in me and the joy of the Lord is my strength. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to God's people and it is that which will enable us to stand our ground, to stand firm. And as we sing in that arrangement of Psalm 73, and afterward, in glory, make me abide. Congregation, by the grace of God, only the righteousness of Jesus Christ will present His church to God in all her glory, as Paul says, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and blameless. The breastplate of Christ's righteousness. Beloved, you will not get to heaven without it. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we praise You that we might know that we stand as believers before You in such a way that You see us as righteous. Not because of ourselves, but because of Jesus Christ and His perfect righteousness. Oh Father, sometimes it's hard to accept the fact, as we have said so many times, that our salvation is not up to us. That we don't even play a small part. That the only thing we contribute to our salvation is our sin. Sometimes that's so very hard for our pride to take. But we thank You and praise You that You teach us over and over again and again in Your Word that You are the One who has accomplished it all for the sake of Jesus Christ. And Father, we pray that clothed with the breastplate of Christ's righteousness firmly in place, that then we might walk in uprightness, that we might be Christians of integrity, that we might be those who speak the truth, in love. Oh, Father, we pray for Your strength. We pray for an added measure of Your Spirit. And we thank You that once again You are the one and only God who hears and answers prayer. We ask all of these things for the sake of Jesus, our righteousness. Amen.