So you can once again the Lord's
help. I would like us to turn into
the chapter that we have been looking at, to Ephesians chapter
6 and the last part of verse 14. And having on the breastplate
of righteousness. Over the past few weeks we've
been looking at the armour of God, the strength that is given
to the Lord's people to enable them to persevere in the Christian
pathway. We know that it is not by strength
nor by might but by the Spirit of God and that the believer
is enabled to persevere in the midst of opposition. That opposition
comes from not just physical opposition but it comes ultimately
from the powers of darkness that are manifested in the physical
realm that we can see, the kingdom of darkness which is around about
us and we wrestle against our own selves, sin that remains
in the old nature. And so it is that constant conflict. And should we not have the spirit
of God, the strength of God, the power of God, we would not
last one moment in the battle that we are daily laboring in. And so the apostle lays it very
clearly. that the Christian pathway is
not a pathway or a rosebed. It is not an easy way, but it
is a way of much opposition. And we see in the early church
how, and even in the life of Christ, there was that opposition. He says, if they've persecuted
me, then they will also persecute you. And we saw as the gospel
advanced in the book of Acts, we see how much opposition there
was to those apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ and how many
of them were martyred, many of them were persecuted in the early
church, suffered much opposition, so much so that the Apostle writes
to them to try and to encourage them to persevere. He tells them
in the book of Thessalonians that I told you that this would
take place. I warned you that as you turn
from darkness to light you are going to face much opposition
from your fellow countrymen and those people around about even
in your own family and so he warns them of the Christian pathway
being a pathway of opposition or a pathway that is opposed
by Satan, by self and by the systems of the world around about
us and he says because of all of these problems all of these
opposition you need to have and armour and the armour of God,
the armour that God gives to his people to enable them to
persevere in that Christian walk. We notice that he kept using
that word to stand to remain firm not to go backwards but
to be ready to defend yourself against the attacks of Satan
and we noticed last week that how the Russian army was taken
by surprise they were not standing, they were not ready and prepared
for the advancement of the Ukrainian army and it was like a visual
picture for us to be aware and that is what can take place in
the life of a Christian if we are not standing firm, if we're
not prepared for any opposition, if we don't know our own weakness
then we are very liable to an attack and that attack will defeat
us but not ultimately but it will cause us to sin and to bring
shame on the name of Christ and we are so thankful that our Lord
does not cast us off when we do fail, when we do sin but his
arm is still stretched out in mercy and we can come to a loving
heavenly father and ask him for that forgiveness and we notice
that the first part of the armour that is put on was the truth
and it's essential that we receive the truth of God's holy word,
it's essential that we receive the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ
and that our faith lays hold of the truth Because Satan, our
enemy, is a liar. He is a deceiver. His fiery darts
that he fires at the Lord's people are to cause doubts and fears,
to cause them to go astray. And so it's essential that the
Christian is equipped with the truth, the belt of truth wrapped
around his waist and it's done up tightly. We noticed last week
also that that belt was decorative, also functional, practical, had
a place for the sword, had also a rest for the breastplate, for
the armour that sits around the chest to protect the heart and
the torso from any attack. And so the first part of the
armour was to put on the belt of truth. And the next part of
the armour is to put on the breastplate of righteousness. If you have
seen the Roman soldiers, there were those who wore almost full
metal breastplates, decorative. Some had designs in them. But
I think the common soldier wore something from his shoulders
down over his front, which was made of leather and that had
metal almost like scales on it to stop any penetration from
arrows or swords or spears. And so this is something that
the apostle has in mind as he sees this Roman soldier, as he
remembers back into the Old Testament and sees Christ wearing the righteousness
as a breastplate, he is visually seeing the type of protection
that righteousness has. We remember that someone enlists
into the army they are given everything that they need. As
the children were walking around the airshow yesterday they came
to the army section where you can be a or the young cadet you can be
a cadet and they're trying to encourage the children to join
up with the cadets and they're telling them you know they'll
give you everything that you need they'll give you two pairs
of trousers they'll give you some boots they'll give you a
jacket a jumper and they give you everything that you need
when you join the cadets. And so Christ gives his people
everything that they need when they join the army of the Lord
Jesus Christ, when they become a soldier of the Lord Jesus,
they are given everything that they need to enable them to walk
this pathway or to fight in this battle. We saw the first part
is the belt, the truth of the word of God. And we receive that
truth and we believe that truth. And the scripture tells us that
part of the evidence of the Holy Spirit in dwelling within the
heart is that we have faith. Faith lays hold of the truth
of God's word. It believes the truth and it
follows the truth. And if we don't have faith then
we can't have any righteousness. If we have no faith in Christ
then we don't belong to the army of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
not a soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore we can have
no righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is essential
that the scripture tells us without faith it is impossible to please
God. And so faith lays hold of the truth of the word of God.
And as we believe in the word of God we are blessed with the
righteousness which is put on by faith, the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we turn to Isaiah chapter
64 it tells us there that our righteousness
is not suitable for the warfare that we are in. Our righteousness is not acceptable
to be presented in the army or as a soldier of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Many people by their nature believe
that they are good enough, they are acceptable to God because
of who they are. but the scripture tells us that
our righteousness is not acceptable to God. It's not acceptable. Isaiah 64 verse 6 it says, but
we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. we do fade as a leaf, and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. There is none
that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth himself to take hold
of thee, for thou hast hid thy face from us, thou hast consumed
us, because of our iniquities. And so there the scripture tells
us that our righteousness is as a filthy rag. Those things
that we believe are right and acceptable in the sight of God
that God will be happy with us for doing in our own strength
and ability they are as a filthy rag. They are contaminated by
our sin. And so as God looks upon us through
holy eyes he sees us as people who have contaminated or broken
his law and we are contaminated by sin. And therefore whatever
we do outside of Christ is offensive to a holy God because it bypasses
the righteousness that he has given. We say we don't need the
righteousness of Christ. I am perfectly acceptable as
I am. in reading one of these debates
between a Christian and a Muslim. The Muslim said, the Christians
need somebody to help them to get to heaven. I don't need anyone
to get me to heaven. Well, if you don't need anybody
to get you to heaven, then you won't get there. Christians need
someone to get them to heaven because that is what God has
said. God has said you will not get to me except you come through
my beloved son, your righteousnesses will never be accepted by me,
you will not be allowed into my presence because nothing that
defiles will ever enter into the presence of a holy God, never
ever enter into heaven. And so as God looks at us outside
of Christ he sees all of our what we might call right living
as unclean in his sight as filthy rags. Romans also tells us the
same thing. Romans chapter 3 verse 10 It says, as it is written, there
is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that
understands. There is none that seeks after
God. They've all gone out of the way.
They all together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Their throat is
an open sepulchre, their tongues have used deceit. Poison of asps
is under their lips, whose mouths is full of cursings and bitterness.
And it goes on giving a description of ourselves by God who sees
us as we are. And so our righteousnesses before
a holy God are as filthy rags and would not be acceptable in
the army of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Word of God tells
us the truth about ourselves. And when the Spirit of God is
given, the person of God lays hold of that truth as true. We
accept it. And when we accept the truth
about ourselves, we look then for a righteousness outside of
ourselves which can only come, which can only be found in the
Lord Jesus Christ. That truth is acted upon. You
see, it'd be very foolish of us, wouldn't it, to hear the
truth and then not to accept the truth and to act on the truth.
If someone told you the way to Hastings town centre is to go
left out of the chapel, left at the road and right. And you
say, yeah, OK, I believe you and I'm going to accept that
as truth. And then you go right out of
the chapel and straight up the road. Don't think that you're
foolish. So to receive the truth and accept
the truth and then to act on the truth. And so the person
who the spirit of God is given they act on that truth about
themselves and they act on the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ
and they lay hold of him and believe in him and that righteousness
which he has is then granted to them. It comes from outside
of themselves. It comes from the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so it's a righteousness that
is given. As the cadets give everything
to the young ones who want to learn about being an army man,
they give them everything that they need. And so the believer,
he comes to enlist in the army of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
says, I want to be a soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he's handed the truth of God's word as a belt, and he's handed
a breastplate of righteousness. Your righteousness is not enough,
it's not good enough, it's a filthy rag before God. Take this one
and put it on. It's righteousness given. In our reading in Jeremiah we
saw a name there of the Lord Jesus Christ as Jeremiah led
by the Spirit of God to prophesy concerning the coming of the
Lord Jesus. He is referred to as The Lord
our righteousness. The Lord our. We claim him as
our righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ. So we look to him in
faith. We claim his life, his death
and his resurrection as ours. And his righteousness becomes
our righteousness. And so he is the Lord, our righteousness. And you look at the contrast
between Christ, the Lord, our righteousness and the false prophets.
that were going about in the days of Jeremiah, pointing to
false ways, pointing to false dreams, saying, the Lord has
said this, the Lord has said that. But out of it stands the
Lord, our righteousness. And so Satan will tell us, you're
good enough. You'll be all right. Don't worry.
Just continue going to chapel. Maybe read your Bible occasionally.
God will accept you because you're a good, nice person. You've helped
some old ladies across the road. You've given some stuff into
the food bank. You know, you're a good citizen
of the country. Satan will tell you that. Just relax. Just continue
on as you are. But the scripture tells us, no,
that is not good enough. It's not acceptable enough before
the eyes of a holy God. You need the Lord. your righteousness,
the Lord Jesus Christ as your breastplate. He is the only one
who was accepted in the sight of a holy God. His life is the
only life that was pleasing to God the Father. This is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. And he has never said that about
anybody that has ever lived in this world. But he will say it
to those who are found in the Lord Jesus Christ, who receive
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He can say, my
beloved son, my beloved daughter, not because of any good that
they have done, but because they're enlisted into the army of the
Lord Jesus Christ, wearing the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so this righteousness comes
from the Lord Jesus. And if you look into this breastplate,
you will see that the commentators disagree, as with many things. Some would say that this breastplate
is not the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a righteous
living before a holy God. It's someone who has experienced
the in dwelling of the Spirit of
God they are cleansed from all of their sin but it represents
a godly living. But I think it can be presented
in both ways. It is the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ and it is a righteous way of living. And so it is the
righteousness of Christ Righteousness of Christ is described in the
scripture as a robe, a robe of righteousness. You know in those days their
type of clothing was a long robe that covered the whole body from
the shoulder down to the ankles. It was a robe. David, sorry,
Joseph was given a coat of many colours and you'll remember when
people normally draw this coat it is a coat right down to his
ankles and if you've seen the children's books you'll see the
type of clothing that they wear and the type of righteousness
that Christ has wrought for his people is described as a robe,
a complete covering. Isaiah 61. tells us, I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord my soul shall be joyful in my God for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation he hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself
with ornaments and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewelry
for the earth bringeth forth her bud and as the garden causes
the things that are sown in it to spring forth so the Lord God
will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before
all the nations. And so it's described that he's
going to clothe his people with the garment of salvation and
he's going to cover them with a robe of righteousness and then
he gives an illustration. Remember on Wednesday we looked
at the illustrations that are given to the people of God about
how God behaves just alike and we said he'd borne us on eagle's
wings and so we have another illustration and we have all
seen people who get married they don't normally wear their worst
clothes when they go to get married they normally put on their best
clothes the ladies normally wear a long white gown and men normally
wear a nice smart suit and we make ourselves look nice and
he says just like you people dress yourselves up when you
go to the wedding. So I dress my people up in the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. I give them a robe of
righteousness just like a bridegroom and a bride. So it's put on to
cover. It's put on to cover. Now the righteousness doesn't
cover our sin. It is the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ that covers our sin, that cleanses our sin. It's not just
like we put on a coat to hide all of our sores and our boils
and they remain hidden underneath, no. Through the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, he does away with
the sins of his people. He pays the debt that they owe
and their sins are wiped out. And God tells us that their sins
are cast behind my back and I remember them no more. And so the blood
of Christ cleanses us from all of our sin that makes us justified
in the sight of a holy God. The scripture tells us there
is therefore no more condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.
We are justified by faith. As the sacrifice of Christ is
credited to the account of the believer, their sin is wiped
out and remembered no more, paid in full. And it's the justified
that are declared righteous. Romans 5 tells us. Romans 5.1. Therefore being justified
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And in verse 18. Or from verse 16. But the free
gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one
man's offence death reigned, that is, Adam, reigned by one,
much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the
gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all
men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the
free gift came upon all men unto justification of life for as
by one's man disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous and so through the obedience
of Christ him being born into this world living a perfect and
upright law fulfilling the whole law of God every line and every
dot he was able to be completely obedient to God and then to work
a righteousness for his people he could not be the spotless
lamb of God if he had sinned so he lived in complete obedience
to the father then laid down his life for the punishment of
sin for the sins of his people, then rose again on the third
day. And as he rose again, the scripture tells us he rose again
for their justification. The rising, the resurrection
proves to us that God accepted his sacrifice and that our sin,
the sins of his people, has been dealt with. And they are declared
holy and righteous in the sight of God, because Christ has paid
all charges. Remember Adam and Eve. When they
sinned against God, what did they say? We are naked. And they
ran and they tried to make a covering for themselves, which God said,
that's not acceptable. And so he killed an animal. And the scripture tells us he
made them coats of skins, a covering. And their covering came from
the death of something else and was placed over them. Something
had to die. And so for us to receive the
righteousness of Christ, Christ had to die to enable us to put
on this righteousness by faith. And so it's the breastplate of
righteousness that is given. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ which covers the heart. The breastplate was worn
to protect those vital organs from enemy attack. We know that
the heart, our heart stops beating, our life ends. And so the righteousness
of Christ covers our whole life. We are cleansed from all sin
and declared righteous or right and just in the sight of a holy
God. Our whole life has been dealt
with from beginning to end incorporates every aspect and we are forgiven. But then it's the righteousness
that is seen. You see as we are closed in the
obedience of Christ, Christ says, follow me. And it's not follow
him as we want to follow him, but it's following him in our
obedience to him and to his word. And so it's a righteousness that
is seen. You see if you have experienced
the righteousness of Christ if you have been cleansed from all
of your sin and you continue or you think you have been cleansed
from all of your sin and you continue to walk in wickedness
then that is the evidence that you have had no work of grace
in your heart. And so when a true work of grace is done in the
heart and righteousness of Christ is applied to that person, that
person has a desire to live in a righteous and a godly way. There is a visible change. the
life of that person. They are no longer on the broad
road that leads to destruction, they are moved over onto the
narrow way that leads to life. They are no longer walking in
unrighteousness but they are walking in righteousness, the
righteousness of Christ. They no longer have a heart of
stone, they're given a soft heart. no longer walking without faith
they have been given faith to believe and trust in the truth
of God's word and so there is a visual transformation in the
life of every person that is indwelt by the spirit of God
although That change may be gradual, yet it is unstoppable. The scripture tells us that he
who has begun a good work in you will perform it. And so that
continued work of grace continues growing. Remember the word of
God is described as a seed. That seed is planted in the ground,
it germinates and it comes up out of the ground and life is
seen. If there's no shoot that is seen,
it shows there's no life. It must come up out of the ground
and be seen. It must receive the heat and
the moisture of the sun and the soil. And then it grows and it
bears fruit. And so is everyone who is worked
on by the Spirit of God, born again, having the righteousness
of Christ applied to their lives, that is evident. must be evident. And so there is a visible change. As the children, as they spoke
to these cadets, if they were to receive this army uniform
what would they have to do? They'd have to take off their
old clothes and put on their new clothes. so for the soldier
to put on the breastplate of righteousness he's got to take
off his old clothes and put on this righteousness and so the
believer he must put off the old man as Paul says and put
on the new man, clothe himself in the new man and so this new
lifestyle it is seen. If you've ever been to London
and seen the horse guards there with their shining armour They're
like a mirror. Their breastplate is so shiny
you can see yourself in it. And you would think that that
would be how the breastplate of righteousness should be in
the life of a believer. That their life should be so
shiny. Shining as a light in a dark
place. So polished that Christ can see
almost as it were his image in their life and so there is a
visible change and so the righteousness of Christ it can be you say functional
because it is effectual it actually does something so the armor is
functional. It actually serves a purpose
to protect that soldier and so the righteousness of Christ is
functional for it serves to protect the heart of the believer. It's been applied to their life
but also it is decorative. As the soldiers there sit on
their horses outside Buckingham Palace It's a decorative armour
that has been shined and it shines forth and so the believer also,
their life must shine forth that others may see the righteousness
of Christ shining out of them by holy living. It's not just following the Lord
Jesus as we have said, doing whatever You want, as some say,
we're saved by grace, therefore live as ungracious people. Live as animals. But we who have
been saved by grace, having received the righteousness of Christ,
want to keep that armour shining brightly. Not just in chapel,
but when we go out into the world. Paul wrote to Titus. And there, you notice he writes,
he's writing to him so that he may speak to the church. In Titus
2, it tells us from verse 9, it says, And so he's saying that
when you go to work, even in the workplace, you are
a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ and you are to be
different from other people, not hiding away but being diligent
in your work, not purloining, not holding back or being lazy
but showing all good fidelity or faithfulness they may adorn
the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. And so it says
that the Christian life, the Christian way of living, if we
follow the teachings of the scripture is to adorn the doctrine of God
or the teachings of God our savior in all things so it adorns the
gospel as the soldier shines his breastplate has that functional
aspect but also it has that decorative aspect and so the Christian way
of living decorates the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and
draws people to the Lord Jesus. The Africans used to tell me
of a story of a missionary. This old man he felt that God
was calling him to be a missionary and he went to the missionary
board and they said no you're too old, you're not suitable
for this work. So he went back discouraged but
he still had that burden. So he sold everything. He sold
his house, everything. And he went to where the Lord
called him. And he lived amongst this people. And he couldn't learn the language,
he was too old really. But he tried to live amongst
them as he thought Christ would live. And he died. And they buried him. Then years
later, a young missionary went to the missionary board and said,
I feel called to this people. And they said, oh, OK, yeah,
we'll send you. And so they sent him. He began
learning the language. He learned the language well.
And he began to teach them the word of God and
tell them about the Lord Jesus. And to his surprise, they said,
oh, well, we've met him. He was here with us. And he's
buried here. And so the way that the old man
had lived was recognised to be the, they thought him to be the
Lord Jesus Christ. When they heard about the Lord
Jesus Christ, they were reminded of the good way of living, the
loving way of living, the gracious way of living of this old man
that had came to serve them. And they had buried him and they
said, he's buried here. And so I wonder if that can be
said about our lives. It was our righteousness shining
brightly. If people are mixed with us do
they acknowledge that we have been with the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do they acknowledge that what they read in the scripture about
a Christian is indeed what we are or what we claim to be? Does our life adorn the doctrine
of God? Peter, also 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 12 it says, having your
conversation honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak
against you as evildoers they may by your good works which
they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation. And
so he says that yes they may hate you, they may hate the gospel,
they may hate what you say and what you preach, But because
of the way that you live, because of your witness, it glorifies
God. It is shining the armour, making
you appear beautiful in the midst of an unrighteous generation. And so as Paul writes to Titus,
he says, adorn the doctrine of God by a holy standard of living. so this righteousness as a breastplate
is to protect our hearts from attack. Satan, the scripture
tells us in the book of Revelation, is the accuser of the brethren.
He wants to find something in you and me to accuse us before
God but the righteousness of Christ has covered our life so
much that there is insufficient evidence because Christ has paid
it all. But if our lifestyle is that
not of a righteous godly standard if we are wearing our armor loosely
then there is a point for Satan to attack. how often it is isn't
it you have that saying the devil makes work for idled thumbs and
often in in times of prosperity or times of ease there is an
opportunity for satan to attack and he fires something into our
life and we're filled with doubts and we're filled with fears.
Our sin becomes a mountain and we're so ashamed of ourselves
because we've almost let the captain of our salvation down
by our walking out of a sink with his army. and we feel like
we're a failure. Satan wants to destroy us as
Paul has told us and he will look for any way anywhere where
our armour is loose and we're not equipped and he will fire
and he will get us. Ephesians 4 tells us verse 27 it says or 25 wherever
putting away lying speaking every man the truth with his neighbor,
for we are members of one another. And so Satan will put us into
situations, do I tell the truth or do I lie? And if we listen
to him he'll just say, just tell this little lie and you'll get
away with it, but then he's got you. You've sinned against God. Don't be angry and sin not. Don't
let the sun go down upon your wrath. Neither give place to
the devil. Don't give him any opportunity,
then this is what we should do. Let him that stole, steal no
more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands and trying
that which is good, that he may be able to give to him that needed. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good, to the use
of edifying or building up that it may minister grace to the
hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. And he goes on. But so the given
opportunity to Satan, wearing your armor loosely, enabling
him to to get in there and to cause you to stumble, to sin
against God, to doubt and to fear. I was thinking about this
you know if you've ever seen little children they cut themselves
and they're crying. Then you hold it, you cover it
and they stop crying. Then you move your hand away
and they see the blood and they begin to start crying again.
Well Christians are so like that. You know we always look at our
sin. We always look at what we've
done, the wound that has been committed and we always think
well Satan will tell us you know God won't have you back, you've
done this one too many times, this besetting sin you've abused
it now and you keep looking at the wound, oh the sin, the sin,
the sin, but where should we be looking? to the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ that our whole life, the life of the believer has
been covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, paid in
full, no more charges, justified by faith. There is no condemnation
to those that are in Christ Jesus. Stop looking to the sin, at the
sin that you have committed. Run away from the sin and run
to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see the wound there. What
do you call it? The mark on your armour. Polish
it by prayer and look to the Lord Jesus in confession, say
that you're so sorry and then don't run back. Shine your armour
brightly by Christian living and get rid of doubts and fears. And so the apostle tells us take
the whole armour of God, stand in the truth and put on the breastplate
of righteousness, the ultimate righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ and that living a righteous and a holy life that we may adorn
the doctrine of God by our good works and behaviour. Well may
the Lord help us to shine as lights in a dark world on the
narrow way that leads to life in the midst of even more opposition
as we are passing through this very sad period in our country. May the Lord bless you each.
Amen. We'll sing our final hymn from
Hymns for Worship, number 145. Before the throne of God above, I have
a strong, a perfect plea, a great high priest whose name is love,
who ever lives and pleads for me. Behold Him there, the risen
Lamb, my perfect, spotless righteousness, the great, unchangeable I Am,
the King of glory and of grace. Hymns for Worship, number 145,
tune 385. Here for the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea A great high priest whose name
is love ? The heaven lift and please for me ? ? My name is
Raylon in his hands ? ? My name is dear to know his heart ? I
know that war, in her peace stands, no tongue can bid me then depart. When Satan tempts me to his bed,
and tells me of Upward I look, and see in her
Who laid the hand of whom I sinned. because the sinless Saviour died. My sinful soul is counted free,
all comfort justly satisfied. to look on Him and pardon me. Behold Him, then, the Risen Man,
My perfect, thoughtless righteousness, the great, unchangeable I am. ? The King of glory and of grace
? ? One with himself I cannot die ? ? My soul is purchased
by his blood ? ? My life is his ? With Christ on high, with Christ
my Saviour and my God. Almighty God, we thank Thee for
the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee that
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin and
we thank Thee for the robe of righteousness which Thou has
given to make us acceptable and perfect. in thy sight. We apologise
for our sin, we confess our sin, Lord, and we pray that thou enable
us to lay aside those sins which so easily beset us and to run
that race which is before us, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Do dismiss us with thy blessing
and now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love
of God the Father, with the fellowship and the communion of the Holy
Spirit, to be with us each now and for evermore. Amen.