Sermon

manifested in character and in conduct, and as the breastplate guards the vital organs from assault, it will keep the heart unwounded.

Righteousness:
Paul thinks of righteousness as existent before the Christian soldier puts it on. In this thought we are not merely relying on the metaphor of our text, but bringing it into accord with the whole tone of New testament teaching, which knows of only one way in which any soul that has been living to self, and therefore to sin, can attain to living to God, and therefore can be righteous. We must receive, if we are to ever possess, the righteousness which is of God, and which becomes ours through Jesus Christ. The righteousness which shines as a fair but unattainable vision before sinful men, has a real existence, and may be theirs. It is not to be self-elaborated, but to be received.
That existent righteousness is to be put on. Other places in Scripture figure it as the robe of righteousness; here it is conceived of as the breastplate, but the idea of assumption is the same. It is to be put on, primarily, by faith. It is given in Christ to simple belief. He that hath faith thereby has the righteousness which is through faith in Christ, for in his faith he has the one formative principle of reliance on God, which will gradually refine character and mould conduct into whatsoever things are lovely and of good report. The righteousness which faith receives is no mere forensic treating of the unjust as just, but whilst it does bring with it pardon  and cancellation of past transgressions, it makes a man in the depths of his being righteous, however slowly it may afterwards transform his conduct. The faith which is a departure from all reliance on works of righteousness which we have done, and is a single-eyed reliance on the work of Jesus Christ, opens the heart in which it is planted to

Introduction:

In looking at life in general, one may conclude that life is a war; where saint or sinner struggles with the vicissitudes of life. Unfortunate for the sinner who has to face life's battles without any provisions for protection and thus is naked at the wiles of the devil. The saint on the other hand has at his or her disposal the proper equipment for life's prolonged fight. Whilst all days are days of warfare, there will be, as in some prolonged siege, periods of comparative quiet; and again, when all the cannons belch at once, and scaling ladders are reared on every side of the fortress of our souls. For us, such times of special danger to Christian character may arise from temporal fluctuations. Joy and prosperity are sure to come as sorrows. To Paul the 'evil day' is that which especially threatens moral and spiritual character, and these may be damaged by the bright sunshine of prosperity as by the midwinter of adversity, fierce sunshine may be just as fatal as the killing frost.
These evil days are ever wont to come on us suddenly; they are heralded by no storm signals and no falling barometer. We may be like soldiers sitting securely round their camp fire, till all at once bullets begin to fall among them. Yes, the temptation comes stealthily, 'as a thief in the night.' Nothing is so certain as the unexpected. For these reasons then, because the 'evil day' will certainly come, because is may come at any time, and because it is most likely to come 'when we look not for it,' it is the dictate of plain common sense to be prepared. The main point of the  exhortation is the need for previous preparation. If a sailor puts off learning navigation until the wind was howling and a reef lay ahead, his corps would be corps on the cruel rocks.

The manner in which this preparation is to be carried out is distinctly marked here. The armor is to be put on before the conflict begins; and though it consists mainly of habitudes and dispositions of our own minds, it comes form God. It is not exercised in our own strength, but by dependence on Him. We shall never put on this armor of light unless in silence we draw near to Him who teaches our hands to war and our fingers to fight. Communion with Christ, and only communion with Christ, receives from Him the life which enables us to repel the enemy of our souls. Again the soldier who rushes into the affray, leaving his armor and arms huddled together on the ground, would soon fall, God's giving avails nothing for our defense unless there is also our taking. There are two errors which lie so near to all of us and are intimately connected with each other - the one being that of fighting in our own strength, and the other being that of leaving unused our God-given power.
Today's piece of this power is the "Breastplate of Righteousness."
There can be no doubt that in this whole context, the Apostle has in mind the great passage in Isaiah 59:, where the prophet, in a figure of extreme boldness, describes the Lord as arming Himself to deliver the oppressed faithful, and coming as a Redeemer to Zion. In the passage, the Lord puts on righteousness as a breastplate -- that is to say, God, in His manifestation of Himself for the deliverance of His people, comes forth as if arrayed in the glittering armor of righteousness. Paul does not shrink from applying the same metaphor to those who are to be 'imitators of God as beloved children,' and from urging upon them that, in their humble degree and lowly measure, they too are to be clothed in bright armor of moral rectitude. This righteousness is

Continued