Let us open our Bibles today
to the third chapter of Matthew. Matthew chapter 3 and beginning
our reading in verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee
to Jordan unto John. that is John the Baptist, to
be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying,
I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto
him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus,
when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.
And, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And, lo,
a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. In these verses we have the first
recorded words of the Lord Jesus in this gospel, that is, in the
Gospel of Matthew. His words are, Suffer it to be
so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. His first recorded words in the
New Testament we know are found in the Gospel of Luke. When our Lord Jesus was 12 years
of age, being carried to the temple along with his parents
and remaining there, when they came back, he spoke to his mother
and he said these words, how is it that you sought me? Wished
you not that I must be about my father's business? Those were
his first recorded words. They're found in Luke. But here
in Matthew, these are the first words in Matthew's gospel. Matthew tells us that Jesus came
from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized. But we see at first
that John was reluctant. He was reluctant to baptize the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now from the Gospel of John,
not John the Baptist of course, but John the Apostle wrote the
Gospel of John. From that Gospel we learn that
it was only after, it was only after the Lord Jesus Christ was
baptized and the heavens was opened and the Holy Spirit descended
upon him in the form of a dove and the Father spoke from heaven
saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased It
was only after John heard that voice and saw what happened that
he knew that Jesus was the Messiah. We can see here in his words
when the Lord came to be baptized that John said, I have need to
be baptized of thee and comest thou to me. Now, when he said
that, at that time, It had not been revealed to him that Jesus
was the Messiah. But we know this. We know this,
that John's mother, whose name was Elizabeth, was a cousin to
Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we may assume
that there had been some interaction between Jesus and John before
this, being cousins after the flesh. And I see in John's reluctance
to baptize the Lord Jesus Christ that he realized that Jesus was
different. There was something different
about him. He didn't know as yet that he
was the Messiah that had not been manifested unto him as yet. But he knew there was something
different about Jesus. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ,
we know the scripture tells us in Hebrews, was holy, harmless,
and separate from sinners. The angel told Mary, his mother,
that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called
the Son of God. He was holy from birth. He was
sinless from birth. He is the sinless, holy Son of
God. Now John, who did the baptizing
here, he was born a priest. He was a son of Aaron, that is,
Zacharias was his father who was officiating in the temple
as a priest when the angel came to him and told him that he and
his wife Elizabeth would have a son. They were older. in age, and so his birth, the
birth of John the Baptist, was somewhat miraculous also, or
special also, but not nearly as special and miraculous as
the birth of Jesus Christ. Because, you see, he was born
of a virgin. We know that. But John, being
the son of a priest, In the lineage of Aaron, the first high priest
of the tribe of Levi, John was born to be a priest. We never
read that he ever acted, officiated as a priest. The Lord Jesus Christ
was born of the tribe of Judah, which is of course the kingly
tribe. Remember what the wise men who
came seeking for him asked when they came to Jerusalem, where
is he that is born King of the Jews? He was born King. He was declared King. He is King. He's always been King and shall
always be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He was made a priest. I said John was born a priest,
being of the lineage of Aaron. The Lord Jesus Christ was made
a priest. How was He made a priest? Saying
that He was of the tribe of Judah by an oath. An oath. Who made Him a priest? God did. God made Him a priest. Thou art
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. All of the priests
of Aaron, they all died, they all perished, they all passed
away. The Lord Jesus Christ is an everlasting
priest who ever liveth to make intercession for all who come
unto God by him. I'm so thankful this morning
that we have a great high priest and he lives today at the Father's
right hand. The Lord Jesus assured John that
it was necessary for him to be baptized. And that brings me
to a word that we have for the first time in the New Testament.
And it is a very important word, a very important Bible word. What is it? It's the word righteousness. Righteousness. First time this
word is used in the New Testament. Righteousness. Our Lord said,
suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. That Greek word is found 86 times
in the New Testament. And it doesn't surprise you,
I'm sure, when I tell you that 36 of those 86 times is found
in the letter of Romans. In the letter of Romans, where
the apostle Paul lays out in such clarity how it is that any
fallen son of Adam may be declared righteous, justified before God. The Lord said, it's necessary
that you baptize me. Suffer it to be so, for thus
it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. What is righteousness? How would you define righteousness? Well, righteousness, a very simple
definition is, it is what is right as judged by a particular
standard. righteousness, that which is
right as judged by a particular standard. When we read, for instance,
in the book of Judges, that every man did that which was right
in his own eyes, the standard was every man to himself. But that's not God's standard. When we're talking about righteousness
here, we're talking about that which is right according to God's
standard. That which is right according
to God's standard. And God's standard is a reflection
of His holy being. That is a good definition of
righteousness. that which is right according
to God's standard, which is a reflection of His holy being. We know that men have standards
in many different areas, but many times man's standards change. What may be man's standard today
may not be man's standard in 50 years. That's not so with
God. God doesn't change. And his standard
hasn't changed. And I thought of a very simple
definition, if I could. The measurement of length, one
foot, one foot is 12 inches. Now somewhere in Washington DC,
I think in the, in the commerce department or, uh, there's a
Bureau of Statistics. and there is a measurement, and
one foot is 12 inches. Now, if a person started producing
something that was 11 and a half inches, and yet he advertises
his product as being one foot, it's not right. You understand? It's not right. It doesn't come
up to the standard that is set by our government. Same thing
is true about a gallon. A gallon contains how many quarts? Four quarts, okay. So what if
a person started selling something that's a gallon that only had
two quarts? That wouldn't be right. Now we're talking about righteousness
according to God's standards. God's standard, not man's. As
I said, man's can fluctuate. Man's can change, and does, but
not God's. Keep your place here, but turn
with me over to Matthew 21, just a moment. Our Lord told John to suffer
this to be so. In other words, you baptize me
to fulfill all righteousness. Now, that little word us has
caused some different opinions, let me just put it like that,
some different opinions. But in this passage here in Matthew
chapter 21, the point I want to make is simply this, beginning
with verse 23. And when he was come into the
temple, that is the Lord Jesus came into the temple, the chief
priest and the elders of the people came unto him as he was
teaching and said, by what authority doest thou these things? Who
gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto
them, I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell me,
I and likewise will tell you by what authority I do these
things, the baptism of John. Whence was it? From heaven? In other words, was the baptism
of John something that God commanded? Or was it something that John
just instituted on his own? Was it something that man came
up with? The baptism of John, was it from
heaven? Was it ordained in heaven? Amen. They reasoned with themselves,
saying, If we shall say from heaven, he will say unto us,
Why did you not then believe him? In other words, if that
was God's ordinance, God's command, why didn't you believe him? Why
did you not confess your sins, repent, and be baptized as he
preached? Why didn't you do that if it
was from heaven? If we shall say of men, we fear
the people. We fear the people. If we say
John's baptism was just of men, why, the people believe John
was a prophet. And what are they going to do
to us? We fear men. We'll all hold John as a prophet. The point I'm simply making is
the baptism of John was from heaven. The ordinance was from
heaven, and the Lord Jesus Christ came to do the Father's will,
the Father's will. Suffer it now so to be, for thus
it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. I have four truths
for us today that I believe make the word righteousness all important. And I'm going to be brief, I
trust. First, the righteousness which
is according to God's standard must be perfect obedience. It must be perfect obedience. God cannot and will not accept
anything less than perfect obedience. I want you to look back into
Daniel, the book of Daniel, chapter 9. The righteousness which is according
to God's standard must be perfect obedience. In Daniel chapter
nine, concerning the coming of the Messiah, Daniel had this
revealed unto him, the time when the Messiah would come, first
of all, and what he would accomplish in that week, those seven years. Daniel chapter nine and verse
24. 70 weeks are determined upon thy
people and upon thy holy city to finish, now here's number
one, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make
reconciliation for iniquity, and here's the point, and to
bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and
prophecy and to anoint the most holy. Now, each of those six
things demands a message, one message for each of those six
things. But this morning, we're only
looking at the point that the Messiah, when he came, he would
bring in an everlasting righteousness. Now, one of God's attributes
is righteousness. God is righteous. But you notice
this is to bring in an everlasting righteousness. That is, this
righteousness that the Messiah will bring in, in a way, it's
not God's essential righteousness. It's a righteousness that he
as a man, the God-man, by his obedience and his suffering
that he earned, that he merited this righteousness, his perfect
obedience. Now, when we call this the righteousness
of God, we do so for several reasons. First of all, because
Christ is God. So the righteousness of God,
His righteousness by which a man is justified, it is called the
righteousness of God because He is God. It's also called,
I believe, the righteousness of God because it is a product
of infinite wisdom. That is, God in His infinite
wisdom He laid the plan or the scheme that his eternal son would
come into this world as a man and submit himself to the law
of God, to that standard, that standard of God, and perfectly
obey it. Make it honorable even, as the
scripture says, by his obedience. And I believe it's called the
righteousness of God because it is this righteousness that
God will accept. He will accept this righteousness.
So that's number one. The righteousness which is according
to God's standard must be perfect. Perfect obedience. Second, the
righteousness which is according to God's standard is revealed
in the gospel. Where are we going to learn about
this righteousness? Are we going to learn it out
in the woods? We hear the sound of the brook
running through the woods and the wind causing the leaves to
rustle and we just get so close to God out here. God's creation. Yeah, I don't doubt that. We should, seeing that God created
all things. And God's creation reveals there
is a God. Only His power and wisdom could
have brought all this into being. No doubt about that. And only
fools, only those who are deceived and fools by nature would believe
that this creation just happened by happenchance. by some big
bang or something like that. That has to be one of Satan's
greatest lies that he has perpetrated upon humankind, evolution, and
all of the lies that the so-called science. Science doesn't teach
that, not at all. Science is knowledge. That's
what it means, isn't it? Knowledge. None of those things
can be proved. They're just theories or beliefs. And I think we are seeing in
our day how this whole idea of evolution and denial of God's
creation and the planet, the universe, and all of this has
become a religion. and you just question it, and
they just write you off. They won't listen to you. They
don't want to discuss it. No, it's this way or the highway,
my way or the highway. Well, that's only true of God's
way. It's God's way or the highway,
but it's not man's way or the highway. Where are we going to
learn about this righteousness? Where are we going to learn about
it? Is it going to be revealed to us in creation? Look with
me in Romans chapter one. I know you're familiar with this,
but hear it again. Romans chapter one, verse 16. The apostle said, for I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. Now notice, for therein. Where? In the gospel. For therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. Now the being of God,
as I've already said, and you look down in verse 19 here in
Romans 1, the fact that there is a God is revealed in nature. We don't question that. Because
that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God
has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. God's witness in creation leaves
all men without excuse, but it's only in the gospel that his righteousness
is revealed. The Lord Jesus commissioned his
disciples after his death and his burial and his resurrection,
he commissioned us, the church, to go into all the world and
preach the gospel. He did not send them out to debate,
but to preach. He did not send them out to explain,
but to proclaim the gospel. And as this verse of scripture
tells us, it is revealed from faith to faith. The preacher
preaches, and he preaches believing the word of God, and God blesses
his word to his people, and they believe. They believe. They don't make a decision to
believe, they just believe. When they hear the truth, because
faith is the gift of God, it comes by revelation. The gospel
does, salvation does, by revelation. In the gospel, the message of
Christ, the righteousness of God is revealed. point, the righteousness which
is according to God's standard is received by faith. You're
still there in Romans. Turn over to chapter three. Beginning in verse 20, the righteousness
which is according to God's standard is received by faith. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified,
declared righteous in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge
of sin. But now, the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Now let me stop right there.
The righteousness being witnessed by the law and the prophets tells
us this has always been God's message. When the prophets lived
under the time of the law, there's only been one way that a man
might be made righteous, and that is through the righteousness
of Christ. It's witnessed, Paul says, by
the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which
is by faith of Jesus Christ, and notice, unto all and upon
all them that believe. Well, there's no difference.
It doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile. There's only one
way of salvation. That's always been God's way.
There's no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. When Paul wrote these words,
think of how many thousands, yay, millions of people no doubt
had already been saved. A long time before the Lord Jesus
Christ actually died on the cross. Was God right in doing that?
Was God just in doing that? Absolutely. That's what he means
there, to declare his righteousness. Yes, God was righteous in doing
that because in his purpose, Christ was a lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Now notice verse 26. To declare,
I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth on Jesus. The righteousness which
is according to God's standard is received by faith. I pointed out there in our text
in Matthew 3 that the word righteousness is found for the first time there
in the New Testament. But I want you to look back with
me to the first time it's found in the Bible, this word righteousness. Genesis, Genesis chapter 15.
And I would remind us of this very important law of Bible interpretation. You find out how the word is
used the first time, and that's the way it will be, or that's
the meaning of it consistently through the scripture. The meaning
the first time it's given will be the meaning consistently through
the rest of the Bible. Here in Genesis chapter 15 and
verse one, After these things, the word
of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram,
I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said,
Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and
the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram
said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born
in my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven,
tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto
him, So shall thy seed be. Now notice, and he, Abraham,
believed God. And it was counted unto him for
righteousness. There it is, righteous. You see,
what did Abraham believe? He believed God. Believed God. And the righteousness of Christ,
which would yet be worked out when he came into this world,
was imputed or charged unto him as his righteousness. And Paul, you know, he quotes
this verse in Romans 4 in dealing with this very matter of righteousness,
doesn't he? How was, what shall we say, concerning
our Father according to the flesh hath found. He's talking about
Abraham. He believed God and it was counted
unto him for righteousness. In one of John Bunyan's book,
not books, I should say, one of John Bunyan's books, Most
people only think of him as writing Pilgrim's Progress, an allegory.
He wrote other allegories as well, but some of his books were
not allegories. And in one of his books, the
title is Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. Grace Abounding
to the Chief of Sinners. And he relates his experience,
his experience before and after the Lord saved him. And it's
very interesting to see. And we know from his experience,
many times he was up, many times he was down. Many times he was
rejoicing, many times he was in sorrow. But I wanna quote,
or read a quote from one of his experiences concerning this righteousness. One day, As I was passing into
the field, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul. Thy righteousness
is in heaven. And I thought that I could see
Jesus Christ at God's right hand. Yes, there indeed was my righteousness. So that wherever I was or whatever
I was doing, God could not say about me that I did not have
righteousness, for he was standing there before him. I also saw
that it was not my good feelings that made my righteousness better,
and that my bad feelings did not make my righteousness worse,
for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Now, indeed, the chains fell
off my legs and I was loosened from my afflictions and irons.
My temptations also fled away so that from that time forward,
those dreadful scriptures terrified me no more. Now I went home rejoicing
because of the grace and love of God and went to my Bible to
look up where the verse was found that said, thy righteousness
is in heaven. But I could not find it. The reason he couldn't find it
is not there. He said, I could not find it. And so my heart began to sink
again until suddenly there came to my remembrance, 1 Corinthians
1 and verse 30, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. From this I saw that the other
sentence was also true. I lived here sweetly at peace
with God through Christ for a long time. There was nothing but Christ
before my eyes. I was not thinking of him now
only as concerning his blood, his burial, or his resurrection,
but I was thinking of Christ himself and that he sat there
on the right hand of God in heaven, my righteousness. Well, that's a good testimony,
isn't it? Now here's the last thing, the fourth. The righteousness
which is according to God's standard opens and shuts heaven's door. The righteousness which is according
to God's standard opens and shuts heaven's door. Now I was going
to read our Lord's parable in Matthew, but I see my time is
gone. But you remember, a king made
a great feast for his son, a wedding feast I believe it was. And in
that day, when a person was invited to a feast, there were garments
at the door for them to put on. And the king came into the feast,
and everybody had on a garment except one, one man. And he said unto him, friend,
what caused you to come into this feast without a garment? He presumed maybe he had a beautiful
coat of clothes on. Maybe he thought his righteousness
was sufficient to satisfy God. Oh, those coats over there, they're
for those other people, those down and outers, those down on
Skid Row. But no, not me. Not me. I've gone to church all of my
life. I've been a Sunday school teacher.
I've been a deacon. I've been a preacher. No! What made you think you could
come into this feast without that garment? And what happened? He was put out into absolute
darkness. You must have this righteousness,
my friend. I must have it. It must be our
garment of salvation, or God will not open heaven for us. This righteousness, I say, it
opens heaven's door to all who have this righteousness, but
it shuts heaven's door to any who would approach there. And
forget about that crazy lie that St. Peter's there waiting to
see if you qualify. Where in the world did Satan's
lie come there, you know. No, no. If you come there without
this righteousness, the door is closed. It's closed. Just like Noah's ark door was
closed, when Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their three
daughters entered in, God closed the door. No one else came in. Let me close with this verse.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful
in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,
and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. A very, very
important word, righteousness. There's only one righteousness
that God accepts, and that is the righteousness of His Son. And remember that wonderful word
there in Romans 3, it is unto all and upon all them that believe. May the Lord bless His word to
all of us.