Well turn back with me to Ephesians
chapter 6 and the account that we have there of the armor of
God and as I said last week no doubt if you've been around a
few years you will have heard many sermons on the subject of
the armor of God from Ephesians chapter 6 but we couldn't look
at the epistle of the Ephesians and just skip by this and as
usually happens the more you dig and look and think and meditate
the more that you find that there is lying there. Do you have true
faith in Christ? Would you say that you have true
faith in Christ, true belief of the gospel of his grace? Now if you do, if you have that
belief, that's the inner witness of having a part in the redemption
of Christ. It's the Holy Spirit witnessing
that you have a part in the redemption that Christ accomplished. Oh,
that I might be found in Him, that I might have a part with
Him, that I might be with Him and in Him. If you have belief,
if you have true faith, then that's the inner witness of that
fact. And I'm not making that up, because that's what the Apostle
Paul said to the Thessalonians, for example. What was it that
convinced him that they were the elect of God? Their belief
of the truth. Their belief of the gospel was
the hallmark of the fact that that was the evidence that they
were amongst those whom the Father gave to the Son before the beginning
of time, whom the Son covenanted to stand surety for, to stand
in the place of. You know, this is specific You
know when, forgive me if I get the details wrong, but you know
when Benjamin was left in Egypt with Joseph, who they thought
was the ruler in Pharaoh's house. And he had to be left there.
And Joseph, who they didn't know as Joseph, sent them back home
and said, he's got to be left here. And it was really Joseph's
ploy to get them all to come down to Egypt. And one of them
stood surety. Was it Judah? I think it was
Judah stood surety for him. And Judah didn't stand surety
for any of the Israelites who felt going down to Egypt, did
he? He stood surety for Benjamin, specifically. Christ stood surety
for his people, his elect. And he came and died for his
people. He lived for his people. He obeyed God's law for his people.
And the Holy Spirit brings every one of those for whom Christ
lived and died to believe the Gospel. They believe the truth.
And they're scattered like scattered sheep. I believe there are many,
sincerely, in churches where they're not being taught the
true Gospel of Scripture, but a distorted twisted, corrupted
version of the gospel, which is no gospel at all. And they're
hearing it, and it doesn't seem right, and they're not satisfied
in their souls. But when they come out of those
situations, and they hear a true servant of God, sent by God and
equipped by God, preaching the gospel of that sovereign grace,
they say this, that's my God. That's it. This is the truth. That's what I must believe. That's
what my soul must have. The elect of God believe the
gospel of God. But that true faith, as we've
been seeing as Cliff's been taking us through the epistle of James,
that true faith produces fruit. It doesn't just stay an academic
mental thing, it produces fruit, it produces a change, it works.
True faith works. As Jesus said, by their fruits
you shall know them. True faith is that which comes
from a person being joined to Christ the rootstock. I am the
vine, he said, you are the branches. If you remain in me, then that
sap will flow from Christ to the branches and will produce
fruit. purges it, and he prunes it,
but the purpose is that it produce fruit. Christ is the root stock.
You cut that link, or if that link was never there in the first
place, there's no fruit. There's no fruitfulness. And
we see in our day, and there always have been, many waxworks
faiths. Many waxworks. They look like
it. There's an appearance. Have you ever been to Madame
Tussauds? You go and you see you know these waxworks images
of people that are famous in the news or in history and you
look and it could be that they're standing and it's almost like
you people have been known to go into Madame Tussauds and they
want to know the directions and they turn to somebody and they
ask them the direction but that was a waxworks dummy it wasn't
the real person you know Or that we might not have faith which
is just a waxworks faith, but a true living faith, with a true
beating heart, and a true pumping blood and pulse inside it. Yes,
true faith works. And Ephesians 5 verse 5 tells
us that this gospel works out in reality. You can't truly believe
it without your belief showing itself in true fruit. And don't
be deceived, that which produces wicked corrupt fruit as a settled
style of life cannot come from that true righteous nature that
is imparted by God the Holy Spirit. Don't be deceived says Paul,
don't be deceived. This true gospel, this gospel
of sovereign grace and particular redemption You know, we're exhorted
to look unto Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, and
the more we look to Christ, the more we look to the one who is
the pattern and the example, the more that looking at him
actually produces, actually produces that fruit of the Holy Spirit,
against which there is no law. So examine yourselves. Examine
yourselves. I ask myself, examine yourself.
How do you measure up to the standard of the word of God?
We're going to be partaking of bread and wine. And you know
the scriptures say, let a man examine himself and partake of
this bread, but don't take of it unworthily. Are you worthy? Are you sufficiently good? Examine
yourselves. How do you measure up? Do you
qualify to partake of communion? And so the poor child of God
starts to look within. Am I good enough? Have I done
all of these things? Have I submitted to one another
as I... Wives and husbands, husbands and wives, children and parents,
masters and servants, employers and employees. Have I done all
these? Have I had any fellowship with
unfruitful works of... And Mr. Fearing, you know, in
Pilgrim's Progress, Mr. Fearing starts to well up inside
and look and find so many reasons why I'm not fit. to partake communion. I'm not fit to be called his
child. I'm not fit to be in heaven. I'm not fit to stand in the day
of judgment. And even Satan would justly accuse
you. And what does he bring? It tells
us here in verse 16 of chapter 6. His fiery darts come. Those fiery, those flame-tipped
arrows come. The fiery darts come. Those fiery
darts of doubt and inadequacy. And they said, a fire of doubt
going in the soul. But Paul exhorts, don't look
to yourself, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his
might. You believers be strong in the
Lord and the power of his might. What is a believer? What is a
believer? I could summarize it like this.
Those who we know from what Paul wrote to the Philippians, those
who have no confidence in the flesh. Not more in Christ than
in the flesh. No, no confidence in the flesh. None whatsoever. Are you fit
to be in heaven? Well, I've done this and I've...
No, no, don't start there. Happy Jack. Remember Happy Jack?
I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all. What's your testimony,
Jack? I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ, he's
my all in all. No confidence in the flesh. Those
who, whatever else they've done, they've repented, of their sin?
Do you have a truly repentant heart for your sin? Do you truly
know what you're like by nature, as utterly depraved, as utterly
beyond any self-worth, utterly beyond any self-salvation? Do you have a hatred of sin?
Do you hate that which causes you to offend the holy nature
of God? Are you one in whom there is
a spirit of humility? Or is there a spirit of self-pride?
Is there the humility to deny self? Because isn't this what
the fruit is all about? Self-denial. Self-denial. Denying self in favor of others. a trust that's in Christ alone,
only in Christ, and nowhere else, only Christ. Go to churches up
and down this land today, those that call themselves evangelical,
test what you hear. Test what you hear there. What
will you hear there? You'll hear all about you must
do's and thou shalt do's and the obligation to do and they
go to these, they have their summer schools of theology and
it's all about what you must do and what's expected of you
and the moral decline in society and what we as believers must
have a duty to do to put right the moral decline in society.
No, Christ alone, Christ alone is the answer. Christ alone. And do you have a heart desire
to follow him? Yes, you admit straight away. You confess up straight away.
I am guilty. I am without any hope in and
of myself. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. But Jesus Christ, he's my all
in all. Because he gives me a hope of
eternal life. I want to follow Him. And so
he says, you believers, you who can say that, is that your testimony?
You can say that. I've no confidence in the flesh.
I truly repent of my sin. There's no good in me. I want
to deny myself and follow Him. I want to put others first. I
want to trust Christ. I do trust Him. I do have a heart,
hope, and trust in Him. I do have a heart desire to follow
Him. I do have a hope that I will
be there, that in that day, that great and glorious day, I will
be there. And He will say, come, ye blessed,
enter into the joy of glory of heaven. Well, be strong in the
Lord. And remember this, be strong
in the Lord because Don't look to yourselves, be strong in the
Lord because he has promised that he will never lose one of
his sheep. The Father is greater than all. He will never lose
one of his sheep. And he's accomplished everything
that's necessary. There's nothing missing. There's
nothing yet to do. He's accomplished everything.
He's come and he has defeated Satan. He's bound the strong
man of this house of this creation. He's bound him. He's now on a
lead. He's now on a chain. of Christ's
determining. He's determined the length and
the strength of this chain. Satan's already defeated at the
cross and then he's provided the armor. He's provided the
armor and we saw Last week, the first element of that armor,
the belt of truth. This armor that he's provided,
which he says take, he doesn't tell us to make it, he says just
pick it up, it's there for you. Use it. Take the whole armor
of God. This armor is spiritual armor. You know, for physical
fighting, you put on physical armor. You go for a bike ride
and you protect your head with a helmet on your head to protect
your head from the injury that might come. Well this armor is
spiritual armor fit for the spiritual enemy. In 2nd Corinthians 10,
we read this in verses 3 to 5. For though we walk in the flesh,
though we live in this flesh, we do not war after the flesh. Our battle is not a fleshly battle,
primarily. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, they're not fleshly, they're not of this flesh, but
are mighty. Carnal means meaty. They're not
meaty, but they're mighty through God. To the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. These are the weapons
of our warfare. This is the armor of our warfare. It's spiritual. It's spiritual
in the mind. It casts down imaginations that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God. spiritual armor. And so we saw the belt of truth,
take it, stand up, be ready for action, tuck it in, you know,
those long flowing robes, get that belt on, that belt of truth.
And how might I summarize that belt of truth? There's no better
summary, I think that's ever been written in one word. And
you know, it tulip, tulip, you know, it's the summary of what
the scriptures teach about the salvation of sinners, total depravity,
Someone once said, if you're wrong on the fall, you're wrong
on it all. Do you know the major problem
with today's gospel is that those who preach it in so-called reformed
evangelical churches do not really believe in total depravity. They believe that in this flesh
there is the wherewithal to believe the gospel. They say it's a gospel
that's worthy of all acceptation. They say that if you present
reasonable arguments, then reasonable men and women will believe that
reasonable gospel. And every one of them has power.
And so how wide was the redemption that Christ purchased? in his
life and on the cross and in his... How wide was it? Well,
they say, we don't know until we see how many will believe.
And as they believe, it's made effective for them, whereas it
wasn't effective before. That's not what the scripture
teaches. You see, they don't understand total depravity. The belt of truth has got a rotten
thread in it. Do you remember last week? That
rotten thread. Do you remember the the parable
that Jeremiah had to follow through where he was told to put on a
good belt and then take it and bury it by Euphrates and then
go back and look at it and it was rotten there was rotten thread
in it it was good for nothing and it was symbolizing the fact
that they were going to be sent into exile into Babylon but this
is it the belt of truth you start weaving in a faulty view of the
total depravity of man and what the heart of man is truly like
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know
it says Jeremiah and then he goes on to say the Lord knows
the heart he knows the heart yeah if you've got that wrong
view there are rotten threads in that belt of truth and it
will fall apart and it'll be fit for nothing and it won't
keep you no and then unconditional election. If people are totally
depraved, whoever will believe? Why do you stand up and preach
the gospel? Why do we propose possibly to have a conference?
Why do we propose to declare the gospel of grace to all men
and women who will ever come and hear? Because God has elected
some known only to him unconditionally because of the sovereign grace
of God, and he will for sure bring them, because he pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. That's
how, that's why we do it. Unconditional election. Not,
oh, he'll elect those who will choose him. No, that's not what
the scripture says. Unconditional election. And then,
limited atonement. Oh, that sounds like an awfully
restrictive thing, doesn't it, on your gospel? You know, isn't
our God greater than that? No, our God particularly redeemed
a limited number of people, called the elect. Limited atonement,
that's what this teaches. It's not open as wide as anybody
who might want to choose because nobody ever will choose but for
the grace of God and but for the irresistible grace of the
Holy Spirit who will come and make the one who was dead in
trespasses and sins without any thought for God suddenly alive
to the things of God. To hear that gospel which the
flesh rejects because the natural man cannot receive the things
of the Spirit of God for their foolishness to him neither can
he know them And yet in that flesh the Holy Spirit comes and
plants a new nature, a new man within who hears, who sees. As I was blind, why are so many
of the miracles about the deaf hearing, and the blind seeing,
and the dead coming to life? It's because of this, it's a
picture of what the Holy Spirit does in the elect of God. Those
who are children of wrath even as others, but yet chosen in
Christ from before the foundation of the world. and he brings them
and he keeps them and they persevere to the very end. That's the belt
of truth. That's the truth that we believe.
Now you mix in the rotten threads of a defective view of the depravity
of man, of a defective view of the extent of the sovereign grace
in election, of a defective view of the commercial I use that
word advisedly, the commercial transaction that took place in
the covenant of grace, that Christ paid for the sins of his people. That's what he paid for, exactly.
Exactly that. Not generally, exactly that is
what he paid for. You weave faulty views of those,
of the irresistible grace that some people have just got a nice
heart and they will believe if you present them with reasonable
arguments. No, no. It's the irresistible grace of
the Holy Spirit of God that brings them. And it's the keeping power
of the Father. There's nobody greater than Him
who keeps His people to the end. Now that's the belt of truth.
And that's the belt that we put on. That's the first piece of
the armor. Take that belt, wear it, it's
there for you. How do we wear it? Read the scriptures. Read the scriptures. Oh, I know
we live busy lives. I know time is so limited. Oh,
but make it your... I'll tell you, I speak from experience. I've been on this road an awful
long time, and how I lament the years when I didn't spend enough
time reading the scriptures. Read the scriptures. The great
preachers of the past, vilified by the religious world, people
like William Huntingdon, a man of no education, just a common
coal heaver, just a common laboring working man and this is why the
religious establishment couldn't stand him because he didn't go
to the right bible seminary and he didn't go to the right schools
to get the right education and qualifications but he did this
He had a copy of this book, and boy he read it. And he was known
as a walking encyclopedia of scriptural knowledge. And the
theologians of the day would come to try to confound him as
the Pharisees tried to confound Christ. And they couldn't. They
couldn't. He would tie them in knots because
he knew this book inside out. Belt of truth. Take it. Wear
it. It's there for you. Pick it up.
You know? As far as is in me. You know,
as Joshua said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Pick it up. Use it. Take it. Put it on. The
Holy Spirit. Pray. Pray that the Holy Spirit
will come and give enlightenment. You know, we don't just read
it as an academic book. Speak to me. Oh God speak to
me by your spirit come and take of the things of Christ that
are here and reveal them to my heart and make use of the ministry
gifts we've read about them in Ephesians 4 the gifts that Christ
has given to his church because He puts the solitary, Psalm 68,
sets the solitary in families, and he does that for a reason.
And some of the families are on Free Grace Radio, this wonderful
thing that we've got of this last 10 years, where sermons
are going throughout the world on Free Grace Radio. And we bless
God for it, but we have fellowship together through it. And oh,
we pray for these people, that they'll be able to get together,
ones and twos, and that that will build, and God will call
out his people. Fellowship together, ministry
gifts, and faithful under shepherds. And how do you know whether you're
listening to a faithful under shepherd? Are you a sheep of
God? Do you hear the shepherd's voice
when he speaks? When he stands up to preach, do you hear the
shepherd's voice? If you don't, Then tell him or get out of there,
but don't just sit there listening to wolves in sheep's clothing.
That's the thing. I've told you, I'm quite happy
for you to call me the preacher or the pastor of this place,
whatever you want, so long as you don't set me on a pedestal.
But the moment you hear words that are not the words of the
shepherd, then you make sure you get rid of me and stop me
from doing it. That's the truth. That's the way God speaks through
his people, to his people, through his under shepherds, with his
voice. So it's a formidable defense is this belt of truth. Take the
armor of God, this belt of truth, take it. It's a formidable defense,
but Satan is very subtle. He's very powerful. He's a dreadful,
awesome being like a roaring lion going about seeking whom
he can devour and he's looking for opportunities. And he says
this in the quiet of your heart, okay, you believe all that truth
but don't be deceived, Ephesians 5.5, don't be deceived. You're
not good enough to have an inheritance in the kingdom of God and of
Christ, no. No, you're not good enough. Think
about it, think of all Think of all the things that you do
wrong. Think of those things that you've done. Think of those
things that you've thought this week. Doesn't it come to you? And mister fearing rises up again
in the stomach. And the stomach turns over. And
the vital organs, the heart, the lungs, the liver, the stomach,
they're all vulnerable to attack. But he says, here's a breastplate.
Put it on. Take the belt of truth, your
loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate
of righteousness. Here's another piece of the armor.
The breastplate of righteousness. Satan has a very good point.
You must have the righteousness that God requires. God must condemn
you to banishment from his presence if you don't have that righteousness.
And his accusations, Satan's accusations come as fiery darts,
fiery arrows to set alight a fire of doubt burning in your soul.
Am I really amongst those for whom Christ has died? Will I
really stand as Job said, I know my Redeemer lives and that he
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and the worms
destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God. Do I have that
hope or am I going to be banished? Am I going to be amongst those
to whom he will say, depart from me You never knew me. I never
knew you. Depart from me. Where will you
find protection from this? Where will you find that protection
against that accusation that you're not righteous enough?
Take on unto you the breastplate of righteousness. I've heard
people preach on this and it's been, well there it is, we know
what we have to do, now here's the law of Moses and you need
to work at your own sanctification Because you're justified in Christ,
but you need to work at your own sanctification and become
more and more sanctified. And the way you do that is you
get better and better as you walk through this life at learning
to obey the believer's rule of life, which is the law of Moses.
And thereby, when you think you've done enough, that's putting on
the breastplate of righteousness. I don't know where these guys
got that idea from, but they didn't get it from this book.
Will you put on your own righteousness? Is that where you'll look? Let
me give you an example of one who did for a while. Read the
book of Job. Read the book of Job. There,
you see, is one whom God said to Satan, there's none like him
in all the earth. None like him. One who eschews
evil, who turns, it reviles him, he turns away from evil. As men
count righteousness, there's none like unto Job. And all of
that Persecution came upon him that God allowed Satan, that
God prompted Satan to go and inflict on him. Came to him,
and he wished he'd never been born, and he sat in terrible
pain and discomfort. All the time as his friends came
to him and said, it must be because of sin this has come upon you.
Job kept trying to justify himself and saying, this is not right.
You're being unfair. I've been good. I've done all
of these things. And then Elihu, not one of the three, another
one. Who he is? I don't know. He's awfully like
Christ in lots of ways, but I don't think he is, but he's one who
comes with the word of Christ. He's certainly a preacher sent
from Christ. to speak to Job, and he comes
and he tells him, you've been justifying yourself, you've been
looking to yourself, and the argument goes on through several
chapters, and in chapter 42 and verse 5, by this time Job has
seen who God really is. You know how sinful you are?
You don't, I don't know, until you see God as he is. You know
how you look at something women have got better eyes for seeing
dirt on clothes than men. It's just in the genes or the
chromosomes. I mean, I can put on a perfectly
clean shirt and my dear wife will look at it and say, look
at the muck down the front of that. And I can't see it but
she can see it and I have to go and get my shirt changed,
that won't do. You have to look against the
right standard. You have to put it, you know,
often whiteness is compared, you know, the snow when new white
snow is as white as it comes, absolutely pristine white. And
against it, you can see dirt so easily. And Job says, I'd
heard of you with the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
sees you. And when he saw God with his
eye, the eye of faith, this is what he thought of himself. I
abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. Oh, there was none
like Job in righteousness as men count righteousness. But
when compared with the holiness of God, I abhor myself. and I repent in dust and ashes. Will you try your own righteousness? If you do, I've told you before,
I'll tell you again, it will lead to one of two things, either
hypocritical self-confidence that is absolutely without foundation,
or it will lead to despairing hopelessness that I can never
be good enough. You must have righteousness. You must have. Look up in your
online Bible or your concordance the word righteousness and see
how from Genesis through to Revelation it's there throughout time and
time and time again. I didn't count how many times
the word righteousness was used in this book, in the King James
Version. It's numerous times, over and
over again. You must have it. Hebrews 12
14 doesn't use that word righteousness but means the same thing he says
follow peace with all men and holiness righteousness without
which no man shall see the Lord will you have that righteousness,
that holiness that is necessary to see the Lord, to be accepted
by Him? What kind of righteousness is
it? There's all sorts of righteousness. People have their own views of
what righteousness is. But Jesus said this in the Sermon
on the Mount, Matthew 5 20, Accept your righteousness, exceed that
of the scribes and the Pharisees. You shall in no case enter into
the kingdom of heaven. except your righteousness exceed
the righteousness of today's legalists. You won't get into
the kingdom of heaven with the righteousness of today's legalist
preachers, of today's law is the believer's rule of life preachers.
You won't get into heaven with that. You'll be trusting in that
and you won't get into heaven with it. It's not good enough.
Your righteousness must exceed it. Or you say, I try to be holy
but every time I try The Word of God says this to me, all your
righteousnesses, Isaiah 64 verse 6, all your righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. I must have righteousness when
I face death, because you know it's appointed to man to die
once, and then the judgment. And Proverbs 11 verse 4 says
this, riches, riches, wouldn't that be good, lots of riches,
no, riches profit not in the day of wrath. Whether you're
the richest person in the world, whether you're a king or a princess
or duchess or whatever you are, come the day of judgment, the
day of wrath. Rich is profit not in that day,
but, says that proverb, righteousness delivereth from death. Matthew
6, 33. You know, what's your objective?
What's your ambition? God says this. God says this,
seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all
these other things will be added to you. Seek first his righteousness
because at 1731 God has appointed a day in which he will judge
the world in righteousness. He'll judge it in righteousness
by Christ, whom he has raised from the dead. He'll judge the
world in righteousness. Where will I find the righteousness
I need for judgment and eternity? Where will I find it? I know
you know it because it's our constant theme. Somebody might
listen to this who's never heard where they might find that righteousness.
Where can I find the righteousness I need to stand before God? Turn back to the epistle to the
Romans, chapter 1. And stay in Romans for a little
while. Romans chapter 1 verse 16. Romans
chapter 1 and verse 16. Paul says this, I am not ashamed
of the gospel, the good news of Christ. For the gospel is
the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek. For, listen, this is it,
for therein, in that gospel, In that good news is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the
just shall live by faith. Quoting Habakkuk. The just shall
live by faith. The righteousness of God is revealed
in the gospel. Where will I find the righteousness
I need? In the gospel. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. Now turn over to Romans
3.21. Verse 20 even, therefore by the
deeds of the law, by your righteousnesses, shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. For by the law, it's just the
knowledge of sin, that's all it does, the law doesn't give
you the righteousness you need to stand before God, it's always
inadequate because of the total depravity. of the human heart.
So by the deeds of the law shall no flesh, and I tell you, I know
it says here no flesh be justified, but you can extrapolate perfectly
legitimately, no flesh shall be sanctified either. You are
not sanctified by the works of the law either. Not one jot or
tittle. Not sanctified by the works of
the law. No, not one in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. If you get any comfort from law
obedience, you haven't obeyed the law. You haven't heard it.
You who desire to be under the law, says Paul later on, do you
not hear the law? In Galatians, he says, don't
you hear what it really says? Haven't you read it for what
it really says? You who strut around thinking that you do God's
will, keeping the law and becoming more sanctified, don't you hear
what it says? Don't you hear how absolutely
pure And of such a standard, you can never keep it. All of
your righteousnesses are filthy rags. But now, verse 21, in the
gospel, the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
is made open. Being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteous, which righteousness are you talking
about, Paul? The righteousness of God, the righteousness which
God requires, which is by faith Note, important word, not in,
of. Faith of Jesus Christ. It was
his faithfulness that gave us that righteousness. Unto all
and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference, for
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And look
then in chapter 4 of Romans, verse 3. For what says the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness. What? He did a work of believing?
And that was a good work that was counted to him for righteousness
in place of law-keeping? That's what they say, you know.
Not true. It's not what the scripture says. The scripture says this.
He believed God. And what did he believe? He believed
the gospel of substitution. That's what he believed. For
it was shown him in type, it was shown him in picture, There,
back in the Old Testament, Genesis 12, 13, 14, around that area.
And what he saw was the substitutionary work of Christ, which was his
righteousness. As I've told you before, it was
not Abraham's believing that was counted to him for righteousness.
It was what Abraham believed in that was counted to him for
righteousness. The doing and dying of the Savior
was counted to him for righteousness. Now, verse four, to him that
worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to
him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. That faith is counted for righteousness. That faithful work of Christ
is counted as my righteousness. it's counted as mine. Even as
David also describes the blessedness, oh happy is the man to whom God
imputes, counts, credits, not, to whom God counts righteousness
without works. You know that he didn't work
for, he counts righteous, saying blessed are they whose iniquities
forgiven, not counted to them, and whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, but in its place
he will impute righteousness. And so he goes on, cometh it,
you know, how did it come to him? This righteousness that we must
have is in the gospel of his grace. And it's imputed righteousness. It's credited righteousness.
It's accounted righteousness. It's that righteousness which
Paul writes to the Corinthians and he says, He, Christ, who
knew no sin, God, made him to be sin for us. He who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
That in him being made the sin of his people and bearing its
guilt and its consequence and its penalty, that his people
might be made the righteousness of God in him. And it's all because
of the union that there is with Christ. In Romans chapter 10,
just turning over a few more pages, Romans 10 and verse 5,
Moses describes the righteousness of the law. Note that Paul is
writing this after he's just written, Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Christ
is the fulfilling of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes Christ is the absolute culmination of it therefore you're
not under law but under grace and then in verse five he says
for Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law right you
want to pursue righteousness by law works this is it The man
which doeth those things shall live by them. And then if you
read in Colossians, is it? No, Galatians 3, 13. Cursed. Cursed. This is what the law
says. Cursed. This is what John Warburton describes
in his book, the mercies of a covenant God
and he describes his conviction of sin that every time he was
hoping he would be amongst the elect the accusation came. Cursed
is everyone that continues not in everything written in the
book of the Lord to do them. The man that doeth these things
shall live by them. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaks on this wise say not in your heart and then
it goes on to talk about the gospel of Christ and that that
righteousness is in him, is in Christ alone. It's imputed to
believers by union with him and so Paul's testimony Philippians
chapter 3 and verse 9 he says this, oh that I count all my
religious heritage as dung, a pile of rubbish, worthless that I
may win Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that perfect righteousness, which
is by faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. This
is the breastplate. Take to you that breastplate
when Satan comes. You put that breastplate on,
he can find no way through. It's an impenetrable. Christ
is made unto us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. This is an impenetrable breastplate.
And so, Romans 8.33, who can bring any charge against God's
elect? For Christ has died. He's done all that's necessary.
His righteousness is the righteousness of his people. Christ is the
Lord, our righteousness. Capital letters in your Bibles.
Jeremiah 23 verse 6, 33, 16. This is his name, the Lord, our
righteousness. Psalm 71 verse 16 says this,
I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention
of thy righteousness. even of thine only. I won't mention my own, for I
have none that's worth speaking of. I will make mention of thy
righteousness even of thine only. This is what Noah preached. Peter
says, 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 5, that Noah was a preacher of
righteousness. This is what he preached. We
could spend a long time looking at it, we won't now. I just want
to quickly in closing say this. You know that song, Que sera
sera, what will be will be? Well let's wind forward. You
know so often we can't wind forward, we don't know what's going to
happen tomorrow. on the next day, or in a year, or in ten
years, we've no idea whatsoever. We don't know. Will we still
be here? What will be the case? But we do know this. Let's wind
forward. Turn to Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19. I want
you to see this breastplate of righteousness brought to fruition. Revelation 19 and verse 8. He's speaking about the marriage
supper of the Lamb. He's speaking about the church,
the bride of Christ, the redeemed of the Lord, the elect of God.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of
the saints. And he said, unto me write, blessed
are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
These are the true sayings of God. Oh, how do I know what this
fortune teller's telling me is going to be true? Well, obviously
you don't go to fortune tellers because you don't believe in
all that nonsense, but you do believe this. For these are the
true sayings of God. The people of God will be arrayed
in white linen, which is the righteousness of the saints.
And what, where did it come from? It was granted to her. It was
granted. It was given. It's the gift of
God. It was given. These are the true
sayings of God. This is the breastplate of righteousness.
You come and accuse me, Satan. You can't penetrate this. Christ
has died. There's no way through this one.
This is the breastplate of the righteousness of Christ. And
it's mine and I will be arrayed in it in glory. The fine linen,
which is the righteousness of the saints. Wear that breastplate
with confidence. Note, it's imputed to all of
God's people. just as a righteous nature is
also imparted. So let's not, let's neither despair
of the lack of the righteousness which God requires because we
have it in abundance in Christ, but at the same time let's not
presume unless there is that imparted nature which desires
the righteousness of God in Christ. Amen.