Righteousness and the Armor of God

I'd like to continue on, for those of you that were here the last time that I gave a sermon, we began to talk about the fact that we're Christian soldiers. You know, a lot of times we don't think of ourselves as soldiers because, well, we're... most of us, or many of us, are conscientiously objected to serving in the military, of keeping the commandment, you shall not murder. And so we often don't think of ourselves as being soldiers, but we are most definitely in a war.

And we are, most definitely, soldiers, Christian soldiers. We talked a little bit about the armor of God that we found in Ephesians chapter 6. We're going to go to Ephesians chapter 6 in just a moment. But we talked about the fact that God inspired through Paul to tell us to put on the whole armor of God, not just certain parts of it, but that we needed all of it. For those of you that may know the military and some of the things that they wear, the armor that they wear, it's kind of developed over time.

I mean, at the time of Paul, he was talking about, of course, the Roman Empire. And they were a world-ruling empire. They had power, and they had soldiers almost everywhere throughout the empire. And Paul was able to see how they dressed. He noticed the armor that they had on. In fact, he described it in Ephesians 6. He'll be going there in a moment. But he talks about that, and so it was well known. And it was well known to the people of God because they were all part of, in a sense, under the jurisdiction of the authority of that world-ruling power of Rome.

But armor has changed over time. You know, the Romans, they had a breastplate, they had the helmet, they had sword, they had certain things. And I'll tell you a little bit about how the breastplate has changed over time from Roman times. When it came to the 16th century, so now we're quite far advanced here in history, the European blacksmiths would do the following. They would finish making armor that was supposed to be impenetrable by the firearms of its day.

So they were making something to protect the chest area. And what they would do before they would sell this particular piece of armor, they would take a gun, point it at the armor, and shoot. And it would dent the armor. It would dent it. So then they could present this piece of armor as something that was bullet-proof. It had already been tested by a bullet.

And a bullet did not penetrate it. And so they had it, it came as a term, it became known as the bullet-proof. They would show the armor, they would show the bullet had been shot at it, and it had dented it, but it did not pierce it. And that was the bullet-proof. It became known as a bullet-proof vest as time went on. In fact, later on, a couple of hundred years later, in the 1800s, a couple of countries were working on this breastplate of armor.

Japan, Korea, of all things, they developed the first modern bullet-proof vests. And what they discovered was that they took 30 layers of silk that they could stop the black powder bullets of that day with 30 layers of silk. They called it soft armor. And it was a foundation that began to be built on.

And then other mentors took this idea and they began to work with it even further. There was a man from Chicago. His name was Casimir Zeglen. And with the help of a fellow inventor by the name of Jan Stephonic, they began to work on his soft armor. And they devised a special way to weave a 1.6 millimeter steel plate between four layers of silk. So instead of 30 layers of silk, they had four and they put a small little thin steel plate in between the two. Zeglen claimed that this 1 eighth of an inch thick vest that weighed only a half a pound could stop a 44 caliber bullet.

And he proved it. In the south, he put it on at a large public display in New York City. A man with a gun took ten paces from him, turned around, and fired, getting him in the chest. He survived. It worked. And when he talked to some of the people afterwards, he said he felt just like a light tap on his chest from the 44 caliber bullet. It became an overnight sensation. The public was just... they were wowed by this concept and he decided to make this a business venture. He decided to devote all of his time to developing this.

But whether it was bad timing or bad luck, he didn't have much success. The military thought it was too hot and it was too expensive. The silk was just too expensive. Hard to find. Very expensive. He decided that he could maybe make an impact if he would talk to then-President William McKinley. And so he did. He made arrangements. In fact, William McKinley, the president at the time, was very interested in his protection.

And he wanted him to come to the White House. So they made an appointment. In four weeks' time, he was going to see the president. But that meeting never took place because two weeks later, President William McKinley was assassinated. He was shot two times in the abdomen by 24 caliber bullets. But those bullets would have been stopped if he would have been able to have the opportunity to put on that vest.

He would have survived that particular incident. Since that time, modern armor has begun to develop. Now there's a product called Kevlar. Some of you may have heard about it. It's something that's used in our military overseas, whether it be Afghanistan, Pakistan. They have Kevlar vests. They have Kevlar helmets. And not only are they able to resist a lot of the bullets and firearms that are available today, but it also can resist the shrapnel. If there's a bomb that explodes or something that is nearby that's throwing shrapnel in their direction, it resists that.

It protects their head. It protects their chest, their abdomen. And so we've come full circle. And who knows what else is going to happen? Well, let's go to 2 Corinthians. Before we go to Ephesians 6, I'd like you to turn with me to 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians 10. Take a look at... God talks about the fact that we are in a war.

We may not think about it that way so much, but God really wants us to understand that really that is the reality of the situation for you and I as Christians. 2 Corinthians 10. And we'll pick it up here. We'll pick it up in verse number 3.

It says, For though we walk in the flesh, we don't war according to the flesh. So God begins to inspire through Paul the understanding of who we're warring against. It's not a fleshly battle that we're involved in here. We war... It's a spiritual one, as we'll see here when we get to Ephesians 6. But let's read on here in verse number 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Or as it could be translated, they're not of the flesh.

The weapons that God says that he gives to us in this war that we are fighting are not fleshly weapons. God says they're spiritual weapons that he's going to give to us. And as we'll see, there's a spiritual armor also that he wants us to put on. He says they're not carnal, but they are mighty in God. So we begin to understand that to be able to have these weapons, we need weapons that are mighty in God.

They're his weapons, and they're not ours. They're mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds. Now there's a present ruler of this age that has a dominion on the earth. He's going to be replaced at the return of Jesus Christ along with some of his saints that are going to come with him. And a kingdom of God is going to restore order and a restitution of peace upon the earth. And we've been told here in this verse that the weapons of our warfare aren't fleshly, but they're mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds.

So God has an army. God's people fight a battle. They fight a war. Let's go over to Ephesians 6. Paul now writing to our brothers and sisters in Ephesus that were alive at that time in history. Ephesians 6 and verse number 10 is where we'll pick it up here.

Ephesians 6 and verse number 10. Paul's coming to kind of a conclusion here of a thought. And he says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. So again, he emphasizes that not only our weapons in God, but also we're to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, not our own, but in his. And then he begins to tell us how that can be done.

Verse number 11. Put on the whole armor of God. It's not an armor of man. It's an armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the enemy, of the devil, that will be able to stand. He says in verse 12, that we're not wrestling against flesh and blood, but we're against principalities and against powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this age.

And against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. You know, God knows our enemy better than we do, and he knows there's no way that we can go up against our enemy without the weapons or the armor of God. Is what he's telling us here. Verse number 13. He says, therefore, understanding that, take up the whole armor, not just one piece or two pieces, but the whole armor that you may be able to stand in the evil day.

You know, I don't know what that means when it says stand at the evil day. It could be, you know, there's many times when we know that Satan knows he has but a short time, and he's angry, and he's throwing out all the stops. But you know, he's got a battle that's going on almost all the time. I mean, that's why Paul probably said this to our brothers and sisters in Ephesus. There were battles that they were facing, just like there's battles that we're facing. And so he says, put on the whole armor that you may be able to withstand, verse 13, in the evil day, and having done all to stand. So when the battle is over, that we still stand. Let's go on to verse number 15. No, excuse me. Let's go on to verse number 14.

So we give several different pieces of armor here. The only offensive one is verse 17, the last part of verse 17, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. It can be both offensive and defensive piece of armor. So, brother, now we know who it is we're fighting against, who our warfare is in battle against. It's against our enemy Satan, the devil. And so we understand. And so now let's go back to verse number 14. It says, stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate, the breastplate of righteousness. So that's the piece of armor we're going to cover here on this the rest of the time that we've got today. What is the importance of a breastplate? Why is it so important? Why was it important not only for the Roman soldier, but also for the Christian soldier? And why does God inspire Paul to connect righteousness with a breastplate? How is it that righteousness can protect us? Why is that important? You know, in a war, which is actually something that we're all in, there are times between battles that almost seems like there's peace. You know, we perceive almost there's a quietness for a while between the battles of the war that we can actually perceive as a time of peace. But during war, these are only temporary times of peace, when in actuality, it gives the enemy a chance to regroup. It gives the enemy a chance to try to come up with another mode of attack, another direction, another way, another angle, another thought, another strategy before the next battle and before the next engagement. And you know, you try to be ready. You try to be ready when it comes. We've got all these armor pieces that we talk about, the sword and the shield and the breastplate and all the rest of the pieces of armor. And then all of a sudden the battle comes. It comes out of nowhere, almost like a whirlwind. It comes from a direction maybe we're not even expecting. And so you move your shield to block the stroke of the sword, and there's this clang against your shield. But then all of a sudden there's another direction coming at you at the same time, and you realize you're not going to be able to move your shield over in time to thwart the striking of that sword, and it's coming for your chest. And it almost feels like slow motion, you know, like the movies, that you realize you're going to be struck and there's nothing that you can do about it. And so you're expecting to be thrust through. You're expecting death, sudden death. And all of a sudden there's this clang. There's this clang. Because that sword has struck your breastplate. And you realize that you're still alive, and that you can continue on with the fight. So there's something that we're going to talk about the breastplate today, and how important it is, and why it is that God inspired it to be tied in with righteousness as a piece of armor. You know, in trying to connect things a little bit, we talk about the breastplate. What did it protect? From the lower part of the neck to the waist. And it would protect the vital organs, particularly the heart. And so, let's address some questions, brethren, as we begin this year.

Why is it that God associated righteousness with a breastplate? We know that the breastplate is important. It protected vital organs, the heart, the lungs, the kidneys, and others. But let's notice Proverbs 11 and 4. Proverbs 11 and 4. See if we can answer these questions. Why righteousness is so important, and why it's associated with a breastplate. Proverbs 11 and 4. You know, without a breastplate, a soldier would be asking for death. Any attack could become fatal. And yet, with a sturdy breastplate, the very same attacks could become ineffective. As the blows glance off the armor. Well, let's read here what it says. Proverbs 11 and 4. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. It says, righteousness delivers from death. And you know, I think he's talking about the second death here. It begins to help us to understand how important it is. It's almost as if God is telling us that righteousness is a life or a death matter. Well, let's go on. Let's go on, maybe just a page over in your Bible, to Proverbs 12 and 28. Proverbs 12 and 28.

It says there, in the way of righteousness is life. In the way of righteousness is life. And notice, and in its pathway, there is no death.

You know, Jesus Christ often talked about the narrow path that leads to life. And that it's a narrow path, and sometimes it's not easy, and sometimes it's difficult, but it's the way that leads to life. And there's a broad way that leads to death. And righteousness, you know, is something we're going to define here in a moment. Righteousness, it says in verse 28, in the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death. And that's a promise from God, as it says there. And without righteousness, apparently we leave ourselves open to death. God's trying to get our attention. You know, just as past President William McKinley would have liked to have been able to put that armor on, he was two weeks too late. He didn't have an opportunity to put it on before the battle ensued. But with righteousness, this is with a breastplate, otherwise fatal attacks can be thwarted. They're not fatal. The enemy is thwarted.

So let's ask these questions again. Why is righteousness associated with a breastplate? Protective armor like a breastplate. Let's notice Proverbs chapter 4 and verse 23. Apparently God thinks it's important. Very important. We talked about how the breastplate protected. It's often known as a heart guard, the breastplate. And God knows how important our heart is. Proverbs chapter 4 and verse 23. It says there, Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life. You know, what God is trying to help us to begin to understand is just like a breastplate guards the heart, righteousness guards our heart. In fact, it says here, it's kind of an old English way of saying, keep your heart. It can be guard your heart. I mean, keep it, take good care of it. Watch out for it. Guard it. Because notice out of it springs the issues of life.

In reference to Proverbs chapter 4 and verse 23, which we're reading here, James and Phos in and Brown has this to say. He's talking about this verse where it talks about, keep your heart with all diligence. Above everything else, more than all, it is to be kept because the heart is the depository of wisdom and the source of whatever affects life and character.

It says, and I'll just quote here, you might have the New Living Translation on your lap, but if you don't, the New Living Translation puts it this way. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

You know, Cruden's oblique encordance says under this subject of the heart, it's written, it says, the heart is used in Scripture as the seat of life, the very seat or core of life and strength. Hence, it means the following. It means the mind. It means the soul, the very being of a human being, the spirit, and one's entire emotional nature and understanding. That is what is meant when it covers the subject of the heart.

Brethren, God knows how important our hearts are. And He knows that righteousness will protect our hearts, because out of it, as it says, flows the issues of life.

What's God trying to help us to understand here? Let's ask ourselves a few questions here.

Do I know what righteousness is? Do I know what it is? Let's ask ourselves that question. Do I understand what it is? Because if I'm supposed to have it, in order to be able to stand the wiles of the devil, and after everything is done to be able to stand, if God wants me to have it, then what is it? And then further, let's ask ourselves the following questions. Looking at ourselves, examining ourselves. Am I righteous? How do I know? How do I know that breastplate is on me? How do I know? And if I'm not righteous, how can I become righteous? How can I put on that breastplate? So let's ask, let's begin with the first point. What is righteousness? Let's see what God has to say about it. The word righteous and righteousness is sprinkled. It's peppered throughout the Scriptures over 600 times. Righteous or righteousness? 600 times. How am I going to cover that topic with 600 scriptures? There's no way that I can do it justice. But we're going to try to give it a start today. So as we look at it, we see that it's literally sprinkled throughout the Scripture. What does it mean? What does it mean? It's not really that hard. It's actually pretty simple. It means morally right. Morally right. But you know, it goes a little bit beyond that, and it also involves choosing to follow that morally right way. Making a choice. It's morally right, but then choosing that way. Sometimes in the Scripture, it's sometimes translated righteous. Sometimes it's righteousness. Sometimes it's translated upright. Same Hebrew word in the Old Testament. Upright, justice, just, godly, virtue. Those are all different ways that that same Hebrew word in the Old Testament is translated. So we begin to understand a little bit about what it means. If we're going to the dictionary, it says the same thing. One of the definitions of righteousness is morally right. Dictionary also bears that out. So it doesn't have to be difficult. It doesn't have to be confusing. It's a matter of making a choice. But then, not only understanding what the right choice is, but then doing it. Those are two separate things, isn't it? Okay. I don't know how many of you have seen this particular Beyond Today that was done by Daris McNeely. It was entitled, Whatever Happened to Sin? I don't know if any of you have seen it. It's called Whatever Happened to Sin? It was a very, very good program. And I saw that and I thought, boy, that ties into this message. Whatever happened to righteousness? No, they're kind of connected, aren't they? Whatever happened to sin, whatever happened to righteousness? Because there is something that's right and there is something that's wrong. There are things that are good and there are things that are evil. But I can tell you, our culture is beginning to confuse the two. In fact, it's getting to the point, like it was in the book of Judges, that everyone does what's right in their own eyes. In their own eyes. And that resulted in confusion. And that resulted in trouble. And that's where we are headed. I mean, where is it going to end? You know, we've been seeing a lot of trends recently in our culture. We've seen the same-sex marriage, which we've been talking about for the last few weeks. But I don't know how many of you heard this story. Because where does it end? I mean, now you can marry men, women can marry women. But I saw a story now where a woman has married a bridge. Anyone else see this? I heard about that story. A woman had matrimony with a standing physical bridge.

She married a bridge. I don't know how they're going to file that tax return.

You know, we laugh, but where is it going to end? Where is it going to end? I mean, what if somebody says, well, you know, back to polygamy? You know, if I can do what's right, who's going to tell me the golden rule is that we have pursuit of happiness. I can have five wives. Where is it going to end? I don't want to get too graphic or vulgar, but marriage with an animal. Where does it end? Where does it end? Because that's where we are headed. It's hard to understand that we could have some of the things that are happening now, even 30 years ago.

I thought it was noteworthy that the word righteous comes from actually from an old English. A combination of two words in the old English is right and wise. Right and wise. And when you think about it, if you say those quickly, right-wise, it sounds similar to righteous. And that's something that I think we can see how the modern English has changed and evolved to what it is today. Now, sometimes in order to understand a word, it's helpful to understand its exact opposite. So what is the opposite of righteous or righteousness? Unrighteousness. Unrighteousness. Now, what does that mean? Unrighteousness. Well, that's pretty simple, too. It means moral evil. Moral evil. Rather than moral rightness, it's moral even. Evil. And it's often translated in the Scriptures as unrighteousness or iniquity or sin, interestingly, or perverseness or wickedness or wicked. So, again, sometimes these words are the same Hebrew word that's often translated all these different ways into English. Same Hebrew word. In the Greek, I think it's noteworthy as well. In the Greek, the word righteous means justice and conformance to established standards. Justice and conformance to established standards. Justice means doing the right thing. And conformance to established standards in the Bible refers to the ways of God. Conformance to the ways or the standards of God.

Let's continue on here as we begin to address this topic in the Scriptures by turning to Psalm 145 and verse 17. Psalm 145 and verse 17. What does God want us to learn here as we go through this? Why is this piece of armor so important? Well, we've touched on it. It's a matter of life or death. It guards the heart, which out of it flows the issues of life. Our heart, apparently, is very important. And righteousness affects our heart, either good or unrighteousness in a bad way. Let's see what it says here in Psalm 145 and verse 17. It says, The Lord is righteous. Wow! In all of His ways. So I think it's important to understand here, brethren, for you and for me, is that God is righteous. And it's just now where He picks and chooses certain ways that He's righteous and says He's righteous in all of His ways. He is morally right. He does the right thing.

He doesn't pick and choose. Now, sometimes we human beings do that. We'll pick and choose. We'll think, well, that's wrong, but I think that that's okay to tell a lie every once in a while. But stealing, we shouldn't do that. But sometimes it's okay to lie.

Sometimes we as human beings are not righteous in all of our ways that God is and He is. Let's turn over to one of God's prophets, Isaiah 45 and verse 19. Isaiah 45 and verse 19. We'll notice a little bit more about this topic of righteousness here. Isaiah 45 and verse 19. God says, Isaiah says, He's quoting him, God says, I haven't spoken in secret. I'm not speaking in secret in a dark place on the earth. I didn't say to my people, the seed of Jacob, seek me in vain. God's saying, I'm not asking you to seek me in vain. There's reasons why I'm asking you to seek me. I'm going to reward you. There's blessings, life, everlasting life, abundant living. I'm not asking you to do certain things in vain. There's a reason why I ask you to do them or why I want you to seek me. And he goes on to say, and I the Lord speak righteousness. The things that come out of his mouth, brethren, are righteous. And he says, and I declare things that are right with God when he shares information and however way that he shares it. Whether it be the spoken word or the written word, however it is he communicates, it says he is teaching the hearers about right things. I declare right things. I declare things that are right. Let's go back to the book of Psalms. 119, verse 172. Psalm chapter 119 and verse 172.

Psalm 119 and verse 172. How do we begin to understand what righteousness is? If God wants us to have it, he wants us to develop it, he wants us to put it on, what is it? Psalm 119, verse 172. David is speaking or writing, and he says this. He says, My tongue shall speak of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness.

What David is saying is, I'm beginning to learn what righteousness is by following your commandments. God, you're beginning to help me to see what's right and what's wrong by your commandments. I'm beginning to understand what righteousness is.

Some of you don't know this man, but some of us do. Herbert W. Armstrong kept the Holy Days for seven years because he saw that as a command from God. He did not know what the meaning of the Holy Days were. He didn't know why God wanted him to keep them or what he was supposed to learn from them. But what he knew was that God told him he should. And he began to learn. Over time, about the plan of God that has been actually shared with many of us that are sitting in this room today because he trusted God to obey his commandments and he began to learn about the plan of God. And a lot of us take that for granted because it was kind of spoon-fed to us. But for him, it came over a period of years. You know, you think about the commandments. How would the world be a different place? Just think of one of the ten. You pick one. But in your mind, imagine how the world would be a different place if just everyone on the entire planet kept the one commandment that you're thinking about in your mind.

What a different world this would be.

Thou shall not steal. Don't thievery. My brother Todd, some of you know him, some of you don't. He had his car stolen within the last couple of weeks right out of his parking lot. Got up in the morning the way he normally does, had his breakfast, was going to head out for work. Car's gone. You know, if it's happened to you or maybe you're in the mall parking lot, you can't remember where you parked and you think someone stole your car. You start thinking, now wait a minute, honey, did you take the car? Did you park it to somebody else? I can't be in the garage because there's already a car in there. It's gone. Did I park it? No, I didn't park it on the street. I parked it in the driveway. It's gone. It's gone. His car was stolen. And you know, if you've had this happen to you, this is the way he described it, and his wife, Sarah, he said, we just felt violated. We felt violated.

Somebody took our car. Now it's since been recovered. There were some teenagers. And it happened probably early in the morning, probably around 2 in the morning. It was one of the few times we didn't have us leave his car locked. One of the few times he left his wallet in the car. And one of the few times he left a spare set of keys in the car, in an unlocked car. So you know, you learn. You learn. We all learn. But you know, just think if everyone, everywhere, kept that commandment.

Wouldn't you be able to relax a little bit? You wouldn't have to lock your car. You wouldn't have to lock your house. You know, and I know a lot of you have heard these stories. People in the cities, they've got bars over because they try to break through the windows. So they've got bars so that they're narrow enough that human being can't go through. And you begin to realize that they're almost like in a prison. They're almost like in a prison.

We talked about, or God talks about, through James, the perfect law of liberty. The sermon that today, the statutes of liberty, of freedom. We begin to learn what's right and what's wrong from the commandments.

They begin to delineate what's true and what's false, what's right and what's wrong, what's good and what's evil. They begin to help our hearts and our beings, our very beings, to understand. They're so important. Let's notice Deuteronomy 6, verse 20. Deuteronomy 6, verse 20. You know, there's just more than the 10 commandments of God, though, aren't there? There's more than 10. There are several. But let's go to Deuteronomy 6, and we'll pick it up in verse 20. God begins to tell us, slowly but surely, just like Herbert Armstrong began to understand things by beginning to follow the commandments, that we can begin to understand what righteousness is as we begin to obey.

Sometimes not even knowing why we do what we do. But God tells us to do it. But he began to understand what righteousness is. Let's notice Deuteronomy 6, verse 20. He says, When your son asks you in time to come, saying, What is the meaning of the testimonies and of the statutes and of the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you? So we'll set the stage a little bit. They've come out of slavery. They've come into the Promised Land.

And God has commanded them to do certain things. And now the next generation is saying, What's the meaning of these commands? These statutes, these judgments? In verse 21, this is what you're going to say to your son. We were slaves. We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt. And God, the Lord, brought us out of slavery with a high and a mighty hand.

In verse 22, And the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes. They were great. They were severe. They were against Egypt and the Pharaoh and all of his household. And then he brought us out of there. And he might bring us in to give us this land. It says in other places, it's a glorious land. It's a land of milk and honey. It was a land of promise, which it says he swore or he promised to our fathers.

You know, there's a parallel today. We don't have time, but we've covered in past sermons about 1 Corinthians chapter 10, which says the things that happened to them in the Old Testament were for our learning. Their examples were for us to learn from. And there's a parallel between the story of those people back then and what we have today.

God is leading us out of slavery. Out of the slavery of sin. Unrighteousness, if you will. To a freedom of righteousness. There's a parallel today. We're coming out of the slavery of sin to the kingdom of God. In a way of living. In a way that's right. I'm going to focus here, though, on verse 24 and verse 25. We're right here in Deuteronomy 6. It says, "...and the Lord commanded us..." Now he's answering the question of the sons.

Why are we doing this? "...and the Lord commanded us to observe all these statues." Why? To fear the Lord. To honor, to respect the one that has the power to do this. To bring us to freedom. To respect him. That's what fear means here. To honor and respect. To fear the Lord, our God.

Why? For our good. Always. I think that pretty much covers it. For our good. Always. And that he may preserve us alive. He wants us to live forever. He wants to preserve us alive as it is this day.

And then notice verse 25, "...and all these commandments and all these statues, then it will be righteousness for us." And there's that little word, if, which is a big word. If we're careful to observe all of these commandments before the Lord, our God, as he has commanded us.

Brethren, God says, I want to teach you what righteousness is. I want you to be righteous. I know the way. I know the end from the beginning. I want to bring you there with where I am. But then I want you to drop back here. We're in Deuteronomy 6. Let's go back to verse 18. Because to be righteous, God says, we can't do what's right in our own eyes. But we have to do what's right in his eyes.

Not necessarily what's right in our own eyes. Verse number 18, "...and you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord." God sees things clearly. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows where unrighteousness leads. And he knows where righteousness leads. He knows the fruit of righteousness and he knows the fruit of unrighteousness. And he knows the fruit of unrighteousness eventually leads to death. And he doesn't want us to die. He wants us to live. And so righteousness is very important to God.

In fact, he strapped it on his own armor. It's his breastplate. Let's notice that in Isaiah 59 and verse 15. Isaiah 59 and verse number 15.

A couple of things to notice here in this part of Scripture. God's prophet Isaiah is speaking on God's behalf. It says, So truth fails. Now, we already covered that the last time as one of the armors. God says there comes a time when truth fails, that people have taken off the belt of truth as a piece of armor. And truth starts to fail. In fact, he who departs from evil or could also be rendered unrighteousness makes himself a prey. You begin to try to put off unrighteousness and you stand out from others and you almost become a prey. Sometimes we think, why are we having troubles? Why are we having difficulties? Well, because our enemy wants to attack. We're his enemy. And when we start to put off his way and put on God's way, it's almost like we make ourselves a prey. So it can get so bad that truth begins to fail. And if anyone tries to depart from evil, they make themselves a prey. Let's go on. And God saw it and it displeased him. It displeased him that there wasn't any justice. And he saw that there wasn't any man. And he wondered that there was no intercessor. And therefore his own arm brought salvation for him and his own righteousness, it sustained him. His own righteousness is what enabled him to stand. And that's a good thing. Verse number 17. He had to put on righteousness in order to stand. He put it on as a breastplate. So God does the same. He has the armor on. And then he goes on to talk about the helmet of salvation. And I wonder if this isn't the very scripture that Paul was thinking about in Ephesians 6, where he's talking about all those pieces of armor. Because of some of the comments that Paul made. Further, when it comes down to simply is this. His righteousness is knowing the right thing to do and actually doing it. It's doing the right thing. And it's making a choice. Not only what the right thing is, but actually doing it because there's a big difference between the two. You know, it's a choice. And that's the one thing about God is he gives us free moral agency. He doesn't force us to do anything. He encourages us to do the right thing, but he won't force us. You know, you just think about our first parents back in the garden. And there was a time when God had instructed them, he commanded them, you know, you can eat of all of the trees of the garden. Except for one. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You can't eat of that one, but you can eat all the rest of them. Now, I may have told this story to most of you, but not all of you. If you think about God's law and people think all of there are some that argue that it's too restrictive. God wants to keep us from having all this fun. But that's not the way God's law works at all. It actually protects us from harm. It protects us from slavery. I bet a lot of you have gone through the cities and, you know, you've got just little areas of town sometimes where they've got a fence built around this electrical grid. You're not supposed to get in there because you could get hurt. That's God's way. God's law is, we're not on the inside. We're on the outside. We've got all this freedom. But it protects us from the little areas that could take our life. It helps us to understand what's right and what's wrong. Righteousness. We learn from God's way of life. Let's notice Proverbs chapter 28 verse 1. Proverbs chapter 28 verse 1.

But we have to choose. We have to make a choice. Sometimes when you're in a crowd, maybe someone's being disrespected, someone's being teased, someone's being maligned, someone's being slandered, or what have you. Whether it be at the office, whether it be at work, whether it be at church, or at school. And you know that what's going on isn't right. What do you do? Proverbs chapter 28 verse 1. The wicked fleas when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. The righteous are bold as a lion.

Now maybe you can ask yourself the question. Some of these situations that I've talked about at school, or at work, or church, or what have you, what do we do? What do you do? What do I do? God says the righteous are bold as a lion. And what does that say about your righteousness or my righteousness if we just simply do nothing? We do nothing. Let's say a little bit more about righteousness. Not only knowing what's right and doing it, but being bold as a lion.

Let's go back to Psalm chapter 1.19 verse 7. Psalm chapter 1.19 verse 7. Brethren, God knows the way of righteousness, but He wants us to choose it. It's the way He's chosen to live, but He doesn't force us to do it. But He does know this. He knows this. If we are going to live, talking about everlasting life, we are going to have to put it on.

We have to put on it on. Righteousness is the armor as a breastplate. It makes a difference between life and death to guard our hearts. But we have to choose it. David says this in Psalm 1.19 verse 7. David says to God, I'm going to praise you, and I'm going to praise you with uprightness. Basically, with righteousness. That's one of the ways it's translated, upright. I'm going to praise you with uprightness of heart when I learn your righteous judgments. So he's saying, I have to learn them. We just don't pop out of the womb and know them. We have to learn them. David says, I'm going to praise you with uprightness of heart when I have learned your righteous judgment.

God says, I want to teach you. You know, just as a parent tries to teach their kids right from wrong, God's no different as a parent. But as students, we have to be willing to listen to our parent or to our Heavenly Father. We have to be willing to learn. And David said, here in Psalm 1.19 verse 7, that's the attitude I've got.

I want to learn when I learn your righteous judgments. There's two kinds of righteousness. We're going to cover them. Let's go to Ezekiel chapter 33 and verse 1. Ezekiel chapter 33, and let's go to verse 11 and Ezekiel 33. There's a couple of kinds of righteousness. There's the righteousness of God and then there's the righteousness of man, which isn't really true righteousness, but we think that it is.

Now, we're going to pick it up in verse 11, but in this context of Ezekiel here, chapter 33 and verse 11, Ezekiel is one of God's prophets. And Ezekiel was sent to God's people, Israel, who had begun to slide into unrighteousness. And so God, as a loving Father, begins to address the situation. God's very people had actually begun to rebel against their God, against their Father, and began to slide into unrighteousness, and God's trying to get their attention. Let's pick it up. Ezekiel 33, verse 11. So God says, Ezekiel, this is what I want you to tell him. As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

It could also be translated unrighteous. I have no pleasure in the death of the unrighteous. But that the wicked would turn from his way and live. That the wicked or the unrighteous would turn from their own way and live. And then he says, turn, turn from your evil ways. And when he uses that word turn, turn, he's trying to emphasize, really, there needs to be a major shift. When he uses that word twice, turn, turn, emphasis.

From your evil ways, for why will you die? O house of Israel, God doesn't want them to die. He doesn't. But he sees where they're headed. Verse number 12. Therefore, you, O son of man, say to the children of your people, the righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. What's God trying to say here in verse number 12? In other words, God's saying, once you put on this, like a piece of armor, this breastplate of righteousness, it has to stay on.

You can't take it off. He says here, he says, the righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. And notice, also, as for the wickedness of the wicked or the unrighteous, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness. In other words, the person who's been unrighteous can put on the armor and they can begin to live a different way of life. The wicked can change. They can turn from their unrighteousness and they can put on righteousness. Notice, as it goes on, nor shall the righteous be able to live, I think we're talking about eternal life here, nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.

So much for, brethren frankly, for the religious thought about once saved, always saved. You know, that's not a biblical doctrine, but there are churches that believe that, that once you have been saved, once you've been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and you've had this righteousness of Jesus Christ given to you, that you don't have to worry.

But that's not what this says here. God's word clearly says that a person can change. They can have the breastplate of righteousness on and take it off. Or they cannot have it and they can put it on. Notice the last part of verse 12, nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins. Verse number 13. When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but notice, but he trusts in his own righteousness. Now we start talking about a different type of righteousness, the righteousness of man.

He trusts in his own righteousness, which results in committing iniquity, then none of his righteous works shall be remembered. But because of the iniquity that he's committed, he shall die. So there's God's righteousness and there's our own righteousness, the righteousness of man, things that we think are right and you couldn't talk us out of it. I'll just refer to Proverbs 14 verse 12 for lack of time. We actually covered it in the kingdom of God seminar, I think, last time.

That there is a way that seems right to a man. It seems righteous, but it doesn't lead to life. It leads to death. God knows where it ends and where it leads and that's why he wants us to live and to put on true righteousness. The next few verses here actually are quite encouraging, brethren, if we have fallen short in putting on the breastplate of righteousness. Verse 14, again, when I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, but if he turns from his sin and notice he does what is lawful and right.

What is lawful? We're talking about laws. God's laws, God's commands, commands of God and the things that he declares that are right. If he turns from his sin and he does what is lawful and right. And then he gives a few examples of some things that are lawful and right. It's not an all-complete listing here, but he gives a few examples right here.

Verse number 15, it says, if the wicked restores the pledge, if he gives back what he has stolen and notice and he walks in the statutes of life. Not only the statutes of liberty, but the statutes of life. And notice, he walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live and he shall not die. And none of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him. Boy, isn't that merciful? Isn't that a wonderful God?

That God says you could have been walking down the broad path and you can turn. And God says, I'm not even going to remember any of the things that you did, any of the sins, any of the iniquities that you had.

You can be an unrighteous person and then you can change and you can begin to follow the statutes of life. And God says, if you do that, you're going to live. Says, he has done what is lawful and right, he shall surely live. Verse 17, Yet the children of your people say that my way is not fair. God says, the people are saying that the way of the Lord is not fair. But God says that it is their way that's not fair. Their way is not right. Verse 18, and when the righteous turns, boy, he really covers this over and over again. He wants us to understand.

And when the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. In verse 19, but when the wicked turns from his wickedness, he does what is lawful and what is right, he shall live because of it. Pretty encouraging, brethren. There's still hope for you and for me. Isaiah chapter 64 and verse 6. Let's turn there. Isaiah chapter 64 and verse 6. We've been talking about two types of righteousness, but one isn't really righteousness, but we think it is.

There's the one that really is righteousness, and that's God's righteousness, the way he lives. And then there's our own righteousness, the way often that we live. And God addresses our righteousness here through Isaiah. And Isaiah chapter 64 and verse number 6 is where we'll start. Talks about our righteousness in this context, the one we were born with.

It says, but we are like, we are all like an unclean thing, and all of our righteousness are like filthy rags. Our righteousness isn't a very pleasant thing. It goes on to say that we're not going to live, but we're going to fade as the leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. That's a pretty sobering thing to think about. If we rely on our own righteousness, that's how God knows the end from the beginning. He sees where it's going to lead. But he doesn't force us to choose his righteousness. But we do have to choose it if we want it.

Let's go to a second point as we ask ourselves in our own mind, how can I be righteous? What do I have to do to become righteous? If I'm not, how can I be? Let's notice Matthew 5 and verse 6.

I think David understood how this worked. He's an example to us as well as others. Matthew 5 and 6. God reveals in Scripture if we really do want to choose true righteousness, God says we can. But there's something we have to do. Matthew 5 and 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. God says to you and I, we have to want it. We have to want it. We have to go after it. We have to hunger for it. We have to thirst for it. And then he says, if we do those two things, he said, we'll have it. He'll give it to us. We'll be satisfied. Let's also notice Matthew. Let's go one page over. Matthew 6, verse 33. It's a well-known Scripture, but I want to cover it in this particular context. Matthew 6 and verse 33. It's a well-known Scripture here. It talks about what we have to do. God says, but seek first the kingdom of God. We hear that a lot, but notice the second part of that. And his righteousness. God tells us over and over again there's a way that's right, but we have to choose it. We have to seek it. That's what his word says. It's just not something that's readily available. It's just not something that's just... you can find it very easily. We have to seek it. We have to look for it. And we have to hunger for it. Basically, God says this. He says, I want to teach you what it is. It's here in my word, and I want you to search it out. And then once you discover it, then you have to do it. Two different things. Seek it out and then do it. Let's take a look at a few specifics about righteousness. We've covered some generalities. We've come to realize it affects our heart, the essence of what we are. It's the important breastplate of the armor. It's the righteousness that out of the issues of life spring from our heart. And God says he wants to protect that heart. He wants to form it. He wants to shape it as the potter does the clay. And it's through righteousness that that happens. Proverbs 15 and 28. A few things here. Some specifics now, maybe. We've covered a few things. We know that commandments begin to help us to understand that lead us into a way of life. And that all of God's commandments are righteousness. But let's look at some specifics here. Proverbs 15, verse 28. It says, the heart of the righteous studies to answer. God says, when it comes to righteousness, living in you and me, that we'll think before we speak. It won't be the first thing that comes to our mind that we'll say, we'll study to answer. Well, think about it. It's what a righteous person does. Probably the way God does. He thinks about how he's going to. How is he going to approach David when David's in the midst of a sin with Bathsheba and he's murdered Uriah? How am I going to get to David? Sometimes we have to study to answer. Notice the hearts involved. The heart of the righteous studies to answer. But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. Verse 29. The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous. So there's a relationship that's there. When you talk, God listens. There's a connection. But here's what you have to say. We're in Proverbs. Let's go over to chapter 21. Proverbs 21. Remember, there's almost 600 verses here. There's no way we can cover this topic. But let's cover a few basics. Proverbs 21 and 21. A few pages over.

He says, He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life. He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life. It begins to change our lives. Some of you have come to that point where you have devoted your life.