Look at verse 23 and 24. It says,
Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich
man glory in his riches, but let him that gloryeth this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which
exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth,
For in these things I delight, saith the Lord." We know what
Jack was reading there in that chapter. He's speaking of the
Jews. This Jeremiah, he bewailed their
sins, the sins of those Jews. And he exhorted them to mourn,
to mourn, to mourn over their sins, to mourn. So it is with all of God's people,
they come to a knowledge of who they are in the light of God
and they see themselves as they truly are and they become sorry
for who they are. They have nothing and are nothing
and can do nothing to justify themselves in any way. And so
that's the way it was with these Jews here. They could do nothing
to justify themselves. And we're no different from what
they were. They all are, by nature, children
of wrath. And the Word tells us, let not
man glory in his own wisdom, neither let him glory in his
might or in his riches. But if any man hath foraught
to glory, it will not be in himself, it will be in the Lord. You know, God's people, they
delight in bringing delight to someone who is in need, don't
they? It's a joy. for someone who is in need to
be given or helped and for them to show their delight in what
you have done for them. That's a joy, ain't it? For them
to be made happy because of something that you've helped them in some
way or you've done something for them in some way. Not justifying
yourself or looking or exalting yourself because you're rejoicing
in them that they're made happy. That's the way it is with God's
children. Those who are in need or those who are sad, when we
see them rejoice, they rejoice because of something that's been
done for them. Their need or whatever they didn't
have of their own, but they were given something. And it's a joy
to see those rejoice in the fact that God has used someone to
bring delight to them in knowledge or even in earthly possessions
or whatever it may be. But what about God delighting
in His people? God delights in His people. You know that? Now He don't delight
in our nature, no, in us by nature, but He delights in His people
through the Lord Jesus Christ. What will give delight to the
Holy Lord God? Well, He tells us here that loving
kindness and judgment and righteousness in the earth He gives to His
people, don't He? He says, I delight in these things,
said the Lord. He delights in loving kindness. He delights to show loving kindness
to His people whom He purposed in Christ to have. He delights
He delights in the fact that their judgment has been put away.
That God has been satisfied through the blood and righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. They've been judged. You see
that? They have in the substitute suffered the justice of God,
the wrath of God against them. And they are counted before God
in Christ righteous. There is nothing to condemn one
of God's little ones before Him because their sin has been accounted
for. They are made righteous. They
are looked upon in Christ Jesus as being as righteous as God
Himself. Their sin has been put away.
So these three things which are mentioned in the Bible here,
this gives the light and glory to our Lord. who gives to undeserving
creatures, who shows loving kindness to them, and who has judged His
Son in that regard or punished His Son on their behalf for their
sins, and who has made them righteous by the blood and righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Lord God being perfect,
perfect, He tells us, He tells Be ye therefore perfect, even
as thy Father which in heaven is perfect." We can't be of an
inner self, can we? Ain't no way we can be perfect,
no matter what we do and with what attitude we try to do it.
Yet we have sin in His flesh. Even the child of God cannot
be perfect in His offering to God apart from the Lord Jesus
Christ. God's got to look down upon His
children in the person of His Son. And when Christ takes His
worship or whatever it is before God and presents it unto the
Father in Himself, He sees that as being perfect, you see. And
He receives that, don't He, as being perfect. But apart from
Christ, you see, we are nothing inside out sinners, aren't we?
Through and through, top to bottom. The heart, a heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. It ain't nothing we can
do by nature to cause God to have any favor with us. But whatever
we try to do by nature apart from Christ, God will condemn
it, won't He? God will show wrath to it. His
wrath will either be satisfied in the Lord Jesus Christ, or
His wrath will continually be cast down upon me in eternity. Which will never be satisfied
in that regard, but He's satisfied with His wrath in the Lord Jesus
Christ. So in Christ Jesus, His people
stand before God in perfection. Say that, in perfection. In Christ. We are complete in Him, aren't
we? We are complete with God in Christ, aren't we? Which is
the head of all principality in power. He took the place of
His people. He served on their behalf by
His perfect life, didn't He? It was counted to them. He died
for their sins. He put away their sins. He satisfied
the justice and wrath of God. So, the Lord God, He is perfect. He is perfect. And he receives
his people in perfection in Christ. He is complete. Nothing can be
added to him, nothing taken from him. But men by nature are never
complete in themselves. Never, and they never will be.
But they are altogether vanity and vexation, sin. So God delights
in His own glorious character, don't He? He delights in His
own character. We are counted in God's character
in Christ. He delights to show mercy, don't
He? He delights in His people in His character, yes, but it's
in His character that He delights. He don't delight in the character
of men by nature. He don't. He hates all workers
of iniquity. The only way He can love anybody
is in and through and by the blood and righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So for any man to delight in
himself, as most do, is nothing but a result of evil or a result
of sin of his natural, intimate heart. He delights in himself. It's only natural for man to
delight in himself. We delight in ourselves in spite
of the grace of God, don't we? But we know that men delight
in ourselves even though we don't see it. But we know that men
by nature do this. We know that, don't we? We know
who we are in ourselves. We're fit for the wrath of God
in ourselves. But by the grace of God in Christ,
God's wrath against us has been satisfied. So man is a proud
person. I'm talking about not only the
religious self-righteous man, but the man that's in the Lord
Jesus Christ, the man who by nature is still living in His
flesh. Even though he's a child of God in Christ, he is still
a proud person. We see it in ourselves all the
time. It comes out, don't it? It does. But in Christ, in Christ,
in Christ, we are perfect before God in Christ. Perfect before
God. And we shall be made just like
Him. We'll not receive His glory,
His honor, but we'll be made like Him and be able to honor
Him in a perfect way. I can't imagine that. But for God, God We know in ourselves
that we're lifted up in pride and we're nothing but sinful,
wretched, miserable creatures in ourselves, but in Christ we're
perfect before God, yes. But God delights in His own,
His own perfection, in His own righteousness, in His own, Donnie,
in His own strength, in His own power, in His own glory. God
delights in Himself. This is the only place that any
delight can be found before God, right? is in Himself because of who He is. He is our
God. Do you see that? He is the God
of His people. He is the God to whom all under
the grace of God look to and trust in and rest and rejoice
in. So God is delighted in His own
righteousness, you see. When He delights in His people,
it's through His own righteousness. It's not through their goodness
or their righteousness. They have none. The only righteousness
we have is the righteousness of God in Christ. So He delights in His own character,
don't He? God delights in His own character.
Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24 tells us, Thus saith the Lord, Let not
wise men glory in His wisdom, neither let him The mighty man
glory in his might. That's the Scripture that we're
taking. Let not the man glory in his riches, but let him that
glorieth, him that truly glorieth by the grace of God in his heart.
Let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understands. He understands who he is in God's
light. And he understands what he is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I understand that, don't you?
I have some understanding of that. I know that of and in myself
I am worthy of condemnation, but Christ suffered my just condemnation. And I am made righteous before
God in Christ. I understand that. Don't you? To some extent, I understand
that. I know that. That is the only way that I can
be justified before God. It is in the blood and righteousness
of Christ. I cannot be justified in any
other way. By the grace of God, I look to Christ and rest right
there. I don't rest in 99% grace and
1% works. I rest in the Lord Jesus Christ
100%. I have nothing that I can do or be to commend myself to
God. But I'm commended to God in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him that glory, glory in
the fact that He understands that God has given Him grace.
And God has caused him to see who he is. And caused him to
look to Christ. I glory in God's knowledge, don't
you? In God's righteousness. In God's
power. In God's gift. I glory in that. I don't glory in myself. No,
no. I'm worthy of the wrath of God,
but in Christ. His wrath's been satisfied. I
glory in that, don't you? Glory in God in that regard.
So God asserts that He delights in His own character, don't He?
God delights in loving kindness. His loving kindness toward His
people. What words can describe the compassion
of God toward His people? I can't describe that, can you?
God loves you with an everlasting love. There never was a time
He didn't love. Why did He love you? Because
He would love. Why didn't He love someone else
besides me? Someone that's in hell? That's
God. Just because He would love me.
I'm the same person as that person is in hell. The only reason I'm
not there is by the grace of God. He's shown loving kindness
to me. Why? For reasons known only to
Himself. But oh, how free! How free! It's freely given, ain't it?
The loving kindness of God is freely given to the hearts of
His people. How great! It's so great that we cannot
define it. The loving kindness of God to
us? Undeserving creatures? How mighty
is God? How strong? To place within a
wretched man a true heart. Give Him light in life in the
Lord Jesus Christ. How good is God to undeserving
creatures through Christ? He delights in His loving kindness
toward His people. God delights in judgment too,
don't He? He delights in His judgment,
it says here. In loving kindness and in judgment. God does not delight in His wrath
in one regard. He doesn't delight in the fact
that He's punishing that sin in that regard. He delights in His judgment,
the judgment of God to His people. He delights in that. He delights
to show mercy. He delights of His judgment that's
being administered to His people through Christ. Even when God was bringing His
wrath down upon His Son, God, we can't explain that, God could not look upon sin and
be satisfied in that, could He? but in the fact that His judgment
put away that sin. That sin has been punished to
its total degree. There is no punishment left.
He delights in that fact. Sin has been put away. Sin has
been punished. Sin has been judged. You see that? In the Lord Jesus
Christ. Judgment is the exercise of God's
justice against sin. You see that? Judgment. The judgment of God
was punished in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ezekiel 33.11 it says,
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked. See that? God has no pleasure in eternal
death of the wicked. I can't understand that. God
don't. But that the wicked turn from His way and live. See that? God has pleasure in the wicked
turning from His way, turning to Christ and living. He has
pleasure in that. He brings it to pass and He rejoices. He has pleasure in that. Cause
me, did you see that? Cause me to know the way therein.
Cause me to know that. God rejoices in that way. but that the wicked turn from
His way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" See? We know that
God's elect are not going to die, but why would you die? By
nature, we would not come to Christ. But by the grace of God,
in His showing mercy to us, by giving us a heart to believe
and to receive, we come to Him through Christ, don't we? So, He does not take pleasure
in the judgment of sin. He don't do that. He don't delight in that. This
is His strange work in Isaiah 28, 11. For with stammering lips
and another tongue will I speak to this people. See that? with
stammering lips and with another tongue. We know that God doesn't
stammer and He doesn't speak with two tongues, but we know
what He is saying here. This judgment and punishment
of sin. His strange work and His wrath
coming down upon sin with stammering lips and with another tongue
will I speak. Say that to my people. The Lord,
He will judge the wicked, yes, because of who He is. He alone
is righteous, right? He is the righteous God. The Lord, the righteous God,
loves righteousness. And the only way, this righteousness
is only God's righteousness. You see that? It's not our beings
in doing before God, making ourselves righteous, but it's God's righteousness. He loves His own righteousness. And He makes His own people righteous
through Christ. And He loves them in Christ.
See that? He loves them in Christ. He doesn't delight in judgment
of the wicked, does He? His wrath proves that, don't
it? However, He does delight in the judgment of His people's
sins. Do you see that? They are judged
in Christ. They are counted righteous. They
are counted holy. Sin has been put away. He delights
in that fact, don't He? That they have no sin. They are
made perfect in Christ. See, Christ satisfied the wrath
of God by His sin-atoning death. You see that? He satisfied it.
Isaiah 53.10 says, It pleased the Lord to bruise Him. You think the Lord took pleasure
in His bruising? No. It pleased the Lord to punish
sin in that regard, you see. To put away sin. He extended
His wrath to put away sin. He put Him to grieve. God put
Him to grieve. When thou shalt make His soul
an offering for sin. God made His soul an offering
for sin. The result of the punishment,
please God, He suffered the wrath and penalty of God as a substitute
of His people. He shall see, this is what pleases
God. He shall see His seed. His seed. His people in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Those whom He sent Christ to
die for. Those whom Christ suffered the
just penalty of God against them. He shall see His seed. Do you
see that? He sees us in Christ. He has
seen Christ, our Lord, Danny. He shall prolong His days. The
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hands. God's wrath has been pleased.
You see that in Christ. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in His hand. All that the wrath of God was
satisfied against shall be called by His grace in time, and kept
by the power of God, and be made like Christ in eternity." In God's time. God delights in His righteousness,
don't He? He doesn't delight in self-righteousness. That's not what He's talking
about. He delights in His perfect righteousness, in His own perfection,
in His own righteousness, the righteousness of God which is
in Christ Jesus. God delights to show mercy to
His people through Christ. He delights in the righteousness
that He has extended to them through His Son, His very own
righteousness. See that? He delights in that
righteousness. He doesn't delight in good people
doing good things for God for exception. He doesn't delight
in that. He delights in His own righteousness. He delights in
the righteousness of them that He puts in them, that looks to
Christ and rests in Christ, that trusts Christ, whose faith is
in Christ, whose joy is in Christ, who rests in Christ. That's God's
delight. See that? Who trusts Christ. Who loves Christ. So He delights in the perfect
righteousness of Christ which is imputed to us. It's accounted
to us. He counts us in His righteousness,
don't He? If He didn't, we couldn't be
saved. If we wasn't counted in God's very own righteousness
in Christ and through Christ, we could not be saved before
God. But in Christ, there's no condemnation. There's nothing
but righteousness, are there? And that's what we're counted
in. The righteousness of God in Christ. He alone is meet to
be the partakers of the saints in light. God alone through Christ. Only God. Colossians 1.12 tells
us that, don't it? Giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. He made us meet. to be partakers. He gave us a heart. He made us
receptive. We wouldn't have accepted God
or received Christ if He hadn't given us a heart to receive with,
a faith to believe with, a heart to understand with, a heart to
look, a heart to rest, a heart to rejoice. God delights. in His people in that regard,
in Christ. He made them meet to be partakers
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He delights in His mercy. He
delights to show mercy in Micah 7.18. He retaineth not His anger
forever because He delights in mercy. He delights in mercy. So He delights in His own attributes,
don't He? Yes, He delights in His people
through Christ. He delights in His own attributes.
It is revealed in the work of His Son, the attributes of God,
ain't it? It is by these very attributes,
the attributes of God through Christ, that He saves His people. Hebrews 2.19 says, I will betroth
thee unto thee forever, yea, I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in
mercies. I will betroth unto me, and I
will betroth unto me forever? Is that what God is saying? He
will betroth you unto Himself forever? I will betroth thee
unto me in my righteousness." In righteousness? We are received of God in the
righteousness of God through Christ. I deserve the wrath of God. You
deserve the wrath of God. But in Christ, He said, I will
betroth unto thee in my own righteousness and in judgment. Through Christ. I'll betroth to you in judgment.
My wrath, my judgment's been satisfied. You're accepted in
my Son, in the Beloved. You're made holy in Christ. Judgment has been satisfied.
There's no condemnation to you. You're accepted. You're accepted
right now. We haven't entered into glory,
but we are accepted in Christ. Judgment has not been met. Justice
has been satisfied. God is at peace with you if you
are in Christ, with me if I am in Christ. In His loving kindness,
I will be troth with thee in loving kindness. I have loved
you with an everlasting love. I have shown my love to you.
I have kept you in my love. And it's through my loving kindness
to you, and my loving kindness, and it's through my mercies,
and in my mercies towards you. But we are counted righteous.
Judgment has been satisfied. We're loved of God in Christ. I can't imagine that to its fullest. Can you? In Christ. We have received mercy. Mercy
to the undeserving. So God delights in His kindness,
in His righteousness, in His judgment, don't He? In His loving
kindness. He delights in these things. But He delights in these things
through His Son to His people, don't He? He delights in you
in righteousness and all these things. But it has to be through
Christ, don't it? God delights in His own Son,
right? This is my beloved Son. in whom
I am well pleased." Hear ye Him. The Father delights in the Son
as being His co-equal. We can't understand that. He's
as much God as if He wasn't a man, and as much man as if He wasn't
God Himself. See that? As much God as if He
wasn't a man at all. And He's as much man as if He
wasn't God. This is how God can delight in
His people. God delights in His own Son because
of who He is. He is co-equal. He is co-eternal
with the Father. He always was with the Father
in the covenant of grace before the foundation of the world.
He came into this world at God's appointed time, didn't He? In
the form of a servant. He served God on behalf of His
elect. He suffered the penalty of God
against them. It's done in that regard. Isaiah is describing the Father's
delight in His Son as His servant. God delights in His Son as His
servant. We're only servants of God through
Christ, ain't we, by the grace of God. That's the only way.
We aren't servants of God because we took an ocean to be good people
and do things. That's right. No. This is describing the Father's
delight in His Son as His servant. In all of His covenant engagements,
in His purpose, in His purchase, in His application, in everything,
in His covenant engagement as our mediator, He took our place. He represented. He died for us. One God, see that? One mediator
between God and man. the man Christ Jesus. That's
Him. That's the God and mediator between
God and man that's able to save to the uttermost all them that
come to God by Him. He's able, you see, because of
who He is. Co-equal and co-eternal with
the Father. Explain it. I can't. But that's
so. I believe it, don't you? Matthew 3.15. 3.14 and 3.15 it says, But God forbade
him, saying, I have need to be baptized. But John forbade God.
Remember that? He said, I have need to be baptized
Christ. I have need to be baptized with thee. And comest thou to
me? And Jesus answered and said unto him, Suffer it to be so. Now, for thus it becometh us
to fulfill all righteousness. Christ always was righteous.
God's Son always was righteous. But it is becoming of Him as
a man to represent and to fulfill His people. All the righteousness
of God pertaining to them. It becometh Him. He must come. He must live. He must die. It becometh Him to fulfill all
righteousness. You see that? All righteousness.
So all the righteousness of God has to come in and through and
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the righteousness of God
in your heart comes by the grace and love of God and the power
of God through revelation of yourself in His light and in
bringing you to Christ. See that? Christ fulfilled all
righteousness. on behalf of his people before
God. God's satisfied. That's it. John
17, 5 says, While he spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.
Behold, a voice out of the cloud said, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. So God is well pleased
with Christ, ain't He? He's well pleased with His people
in Christ, ain't He? But it's because of God in and
through and by Christ. Do you see that? It's not because
of us, it's because of God. John 10, 15-18 says, Wherefore,
when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldst not, but a body thou hast prepared me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hadst no pleasure.
Back there under the law, those high priests and those priests
that offered up sacrifices for sins, he didn't have any pleasure
in the things that they offered. He had pleasure in whom they
pointed to, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was to come and fulfill all
of these things. See that? No, but it was these things that
represented the Holy One who was to come and perfectly fulfill
all these things. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
were sinned. Thou hadst no pleasure. Then
said I,