Let us turn to God's Word. In
the portion of Scripture that we read, the 45th chapter, in
the book of the Prophet Isaiah, and turning to verse 8, a text
is found at verse 8, Isaiah chapter 45, Drop down
your heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness,
let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation and let
righteousness bring up together I the Lord have created it. In the context here we see that
the prophet is speaking in fact of the restoration of the Jews
after the Babylonian captivity. Isaiah was ministering some 100
years before that dreadful, calamitous event that befell the kingdom
of Judah. When the armies of Nebuchadnezzar
came and laid siege to Jerusalem, Jerusalem fell. The temple was
despoiled, razed to the ground. the people were removed into
exile. He speaks of those things in
prophecy some 100 years before the event occurred. But he doesn't
just speak of the exile, he also speaks of the restoration of
the Jews and of course it was to be 70 years that they would
spend there in captivity. The number is stated quite specifically
by the Prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah chapter 29 we have
mention of the 70 years. Verse 10, Thus saith the Lord, that after
70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform
my good word toward you in causing you to return to this place.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the
Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected
end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray
unto me, and I will hearken unto you, and ye shall seek me, and
find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart, and
I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away
your captivity, and I will gather you. from all the nations and
from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord, and
I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to
be carried away captive." Seventy years in us, specifically spoken
of there in Jeremiah 29. So when we come back to Isaiah
we see that what is spoken of here in our chapter tonight was
some 170 years ago. if he was ministering a hundred
years before, and then 70 years of captivity, the restoration
was some 170 years hence. But how remarkable is the Word
of God, because not only do we have this promise of a restoration,
but God actually names the person who will issue the decree permitting
the Jews to return to their promised land. Thus saith the Lord to
his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to
subdue nations before him. I will loose the loins of kings
to open before him the Tule gates, and the gates shall not be closed. this is the one whom God is pleased
to raise up and he says in verse 4, for Jacob my servant's sake
and Israel mine elect I have even called thee by thy name
I have surnamed thee though thou hast not known the very man is spoken of by
name 170 years before the events Cyrus the Persian how that great
empire of the Babylonians was eventually overthrown and replaced
by that of the Medes and of the Persians and it was this man
I say raised up for that purpose he issues his decree as we see
in the book of Ezra that historic account that we have there in
Ezra and in the opening verses of the book we read the
words now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia that the
word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled,
the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that
he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also
in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord
God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and
he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem which is
in Judah. Who is there among you of all
his people? His God be with him and let him
go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build the house of
the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem."
How remarkable is the Word of God. these prophetic scriptures
that all must have their fulfillment and their accomplishment in time. That then is something of the
context, the historic setting of the words that I read just
now for our text, drop down your heavens from above and let the
skies pour down righteousness Let the earth open, let them
bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together.
I, the Lord, have created it. What are we to make of these
words? What is this particular righteousness
that is spoken of, that comes down, pours down from the sky, Well again, at the end of the
chapter we read these words, Surely shall one say, In the
Lord have I righteousness and strength, even to him shall men
come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. There is one, friends, who is
greater than Cyrus to behold in this chapter. There is a greater
than Cyrus here. here we read of that righteousness
which is ultimately revealed to us in the gospel, it's gospel
righteousness that I want in particular to speak of from these
words tonight and so as we turn to the text let us consider these
two things first of all the revelation of the righteousness and then
in the second place to see how this revelation is spoken of
as that that is so refreshing the imagery is so rich so pregnant
skies pouring down righteousness the earth opening as if a dry
and a barren land is suddenly visited by the heavens and the
barren land is made rich and fertile by those refreshings
that come from the skies. But first of all to say something
with regards to this revelation of righteousness that he stated
here in the text. We've referred to the opening
words of the chapter but we can go back further than that if
we go back to the end of the previous chapter. We also have
mention of Osiris. I'm sure you're aware the layout
of the scripture as we are familiar with it, the chapters and the
verses, that's not part of course of the original documents, not
those divisions. The divisions are very helpful
and useful to us. We can more easily find our way
around the Word of God. We can refer to chapter and verse. But they're not there in the
original. And we see clearly here that
although the chapter begins at verse 1, obviously, there's a
connection with what is stated previously. Look at verse 28.
of the previous chapter that said of Cyrus, he is my shepherd
and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem thou
shalt be built and to the temple thy foundation shall be laid. He is my shepherd. As I said,
here is one who is greater than Cyrus. Who is the true shepherd? of God's people who is the one
who builds Jerusalem who is the one who gathers together his
people who has come to be the saviour of sinners you see how
these words ultimately must apply to the Lord Jesus Christ himself
and so here I say we see Christ and we see Christ of course in
his person but Christ also in his work what do we read of in
the verse we read of the heaven the heavens and the earth drop
down your heavens from above and let the skies pour down righteousness
let the earth open and let them bring forth salvation, and let
righteousness bring up together, I the Lord have created." Is
it not in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ that we really see
the coming together of the heavens and the earth? Is not the Lord
Jesus Christ that One who stands between the heavens and the earth? Remember how in his book we see
Job expressing his great desire. He says, neither is there any
day's man betwixt us that may lay his hand upon us both. How
Job longed for one who would come and lay his hand upon him
and at the same time be able to lay his hand upon God. And
who is that one who comes between heaven and earth. It is, of course,
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We're told, are we not, there
in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, concerning the Lord Christ. The first man is of the earth,
earth. The second man, the second man
is the Lord from heaven. For here is Christ, you see.
coming down from heaven, drop down ye heavens from above, let
the skies pour down righteousness. This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
that one who comes from heaven, comes to this earth, comes into
this world and is pleased to humble himself and to become
one with his people, taking upon him not the nature of the angels,
but made a little lower than the angels for the sufferings
of death. This is the Lord Jesus. He is
that one, of course, who is the anti-type of the first
man. The first man Adam is a type
of Christ. And Christ comes as that one
who is the true man. Oh, this is that man that we
must behold, even God manifest in the flesh. We have the promise
previously here in Isaiah chapter 9, do we not? Concerning His
coming into this world unto us, a child is born unto us, a son
is given. And the government shall be upon
His shoulders, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince, As we've said many times, there
we see the difference in his nature as the child is born.
The child is born but the son is not born. The son is given. Or the son is the eternal son
of the eternal father who comes down from heaven. And he's united to that human
nature that was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of
a virgin. The holy thing that shall come
forth of thee shall be called the Son of God, says the angel
to Mary." Or the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That great
mystery of godliness, how God is manifest in the flesh. Heaven
and earth. Heaven and earth are brought
together with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But as we
see here something of the person of the Savior, so we see more
particularly that great work that He came to do. And how is
the work spoken of? It's spoken of in terms of righteousness
and salvation. Let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open and let them
bring forth salvation. and let righteousness spring
up together. Here is the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Righteousness and salvation. Again, we have it in verse 13. I have raised him up in righteousness.
I will direct all his ways. He shall build My city, and he
shall let go of My captives, not for price nor reward, saith
the Lord of hosts. He is that one who comes to deliver
sinners. Now, does He affect that glorious
deliverance by the work that He has accomplished here upon
the earth? And there are those two aspects to the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ, remember. There is the obedience of His
life. That life that He lives. Yes,
ultimately He is born to die, this man. But before death comes
life. And what is his life? It's a
life of obedience to all the commandments of God. His life
is that righteous life, because he is the only truly righteous
man that has lived here in the earth. Although Adam, when he
comes from the hand of his Creator, he's created in God's image,
he's made after God's likeness, he's made in righteousness, but
Adam and Eve they fall, they sin. But here is one who throughout
his life is holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from
sinners. He's that one who obeys all the
law of God, every commandment of God. When the fullness of
the time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman made
under the law. He's not only made of a woman,
he's not only a real man, he comes under the law of God, subject
to the law of God. He must obey all the commandments
of God. This is the reason for his body,
is it not? In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
5, We read, therefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith,
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared
mine in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
This is referring to the sacrifices of the Old Testament and all
the blood of bulls on Jewish altars slain could give the guilty
conscience peace or wash away the stain no, there must be the coming
of this man there must be this visitation from heaven in burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure
then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written
of me that is the book of God's decree in the fullness of the
time you see God sends forth his Son then said I, Lo, I come
In the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will,
O God. This is why Christ came, is it
not? To do the will of God. The body
is prepared to that end. That as a man he might do all
the will of God. That he might obey all the commandments
of God. That he might honour and magnify
the law of God. Christ, you see, is that one
who is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believeth. And so we have it in the text.
Let righteousness spring up together, I the Lord have created. All
this is that righteousness which is of God. This is that righteousness
which is of God. It's God's work. It's God's doing. And this is a very important
part of that work that the Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven
to accomplish. Because God's holy law must be
honoured. That law is itself a revelation
of the character of God. There we see Him as one who is
holy and righteous and just, who can by no means clear the
guilt And the Lord Jesus Christ is
under that law, and how He honors and magnifies it. And He does
it in the first place, I say, by the obedience of His life. All this is righteousness coming
down from heaven. But then the other part of that
great work that Christ accomplished is His death. As I said, this
man is born to die. though there be no cause of death
in this man. He is without every taint of
sin, there is no original sin. There is not in him the sin of
Adam, because his birth is different. Oh yes, it's a real conception,
but he is conceived of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin. And by the Holy Ghost he is preserved
free from every taint of sin. We all, of course, come into
this world as those who are the natural offspring of our first
parents. And who can bring a clean thing
out of an unclean? Not one. Not one. Conceived in sin, shapen in iniquity,
confesses David in his penitential song. He knew it. He was a sinner
by nature, but here is one you see preserved from all original
sin. And he never sins. As we said,
his life is one of perfect obedience, the fulfilling of the law, and
yet he's born to die. Born to die. When the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman
made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. Oh, He came to pay the price
of redemption. He came to ransom His people. How Christ, you see, is that
one who was honoured God's law not only in terms of its precepts
but also in terms of its penalties. He has died the just for the
unjust to bring us to God. He's the just one but he dies
for the unjust sinner. God has made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him is satisfied. Divine justice is paid that ransom
that was demanded by the Holy Lord of God. This is the great
work that the Lord Jesus Christ has done, not only living, you
see, for sinners, but dying for sinners. Those sinners who deserved
to suffer eternal death, eternal separation from God, those who
were deserving of the wrath of God, We know that that is the
wage of sin. The wage of sin is death. Not
just physical death, but an eternal separation from God, the soul
that sinneth it shall die. But Christ has borne the punishment.
He has made that great sacrifice, that one oblation for sins forever. all this is the great work then
that Christ has come to accomplish here upon the earth and so in
Christ we see how that God is a just God and a Saviour look
at the words of verse 21 the end of that verse read there
is no God else beside me a just God and a Saviour, the just God
and the Saviour. He is just and He is the justifier
of him that believeth. In the Lord Jesus Christ we see
the wonderful harmonizing of all God's attributes. You think
of all that God is, how He is holy and righteous and just and
good and gracious and merciful and loving and compassionate
and have all of these attributes come together, harmonize. There's
no John. God is just. And yet God is the
justifier of him that believeth. The psalmy says mercy and truth
are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other." How is it, friends? It's in Christ. It's in Christ that these things
are to be seen. It's in Christ that we have this
wonderful revelation of all that God is. Again, Psalm 89 and verse
14, "...justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne.
Mercy and truth shall go before thy face, blessed is the people
that know the joyful sound." This is the gospel sound, you
see. That work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that revelation that
we serve of God, who whilst he is true to himself, true to his
holiness, true to his justice, the God who can by no means clear
the guilt of, the God who will not wink at sins, who must punish
the sinner, why he punishes their sins in the person of his only
begotten Son. And in that we see him as a merciful
God and a gracious God, the God who saves the sinner. This is
the doctrine I say that we see here in this text. It's Christ. It's Christ in his person that
one who stands between heaven and earth, it's Christ in that
great work that he came to do the work of righteousness, the
work of salvation. Look at the language that's employed,
how the Holy Spirit inspires the prophets to pen these words,
drop down the heavens from above and let the skies pour down righteousness,
let the earth open, Let them bring forth salvation, and let
righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it. What imagery, friends? Oh, what
imagery. Here is refreshing. Here is refreshing
that comes from heaven itself, that comes from God himself. And the poor sinner, burdened
with his sin, how he leads this. where we need to know this precious
salvation why it refreshes his soul back in chapter 44 verse 3 I
will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the
dry ground I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing
upon thine offspring and they shall spring up as among the
grass, as willows by the water cause it." It's the same language,
is it not? This is God, you see, coming
and visiting the sinner, who feels that awful burden of his
sin, who feels something of the hate of the Holy Lord of God
that condemns the sinner. And here is the promise of God,
is it not? He will pour out, He says, His
Spirit. I will pour my Spirit upon my
soul. And isn't that part of the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Having accomplished all that
great work that the Father had given Him to do. Remember how
that was His meat here upon the earth to finish the work that
the Father had given Him to do? And having done that, being obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross, he is raised again,
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the
Spirit of holiness by the resurrection. And then having shown himself
to his disciples for forty days by many infallible proofs, he
ascends to heaven. and instructs the apostles that
they must tarry at Jerusalem and wait the promise of the Spirit. And when the day of Pentecost
is fully come, how there is that pouring out of the Spirit. And who is the one who pours
out the Spirit? It's Christ. being by the right
hand of God exalted, having received of the Father the promise of
the Holy Ghost, says Peter, He has shed forth this which ye
now see and hear. I will pour water upon him that
is thirsty, floods upon the dry ground, I will pour my Spirit
upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy offspring." Oh, what
a But a glorious visitation is
that, that the exalted Christ is pleased to grant to the sinful
sons of men the pouring out of the Holy Ghost, the descent of
the Spirit of God. And all that is seen to involve
subsequently in the ministry of the apostles, all that that
was a result of Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost and then
throughout the Acts now the Spirit is abroad and he's abroad as
the Spirit of Christ and again we see it spoken of there as
that time of refreshing a time of refreshing that comes from
the Lord Himself in Acts chapter 3 There at verse 19 the Apostle
says, Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may
be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from
the presence of the Lord and he shall send Jesus Christ which
was before preached unto you. All that time of refreshing is
when Christ comes and when Christ comes now into the soul of the
sinner when there is that experience of His gracious ministry by the
Spirit. Remember the words of Moses in
his song back in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 32, he says, My doctrine
shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as
the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon
the grass. All when the doctrine comes,
you see, that precious doctrine. What is the doctrine? What is
the doctrine that comes to the sinner and comes to refresh the
sinner? What is the particular doctrine
that is set before us here in this text? There is a particular
doctrine that we have to take account of here. And what is
it? Why, it's that doctrine of imputed righteousness. It's God's
righteousness. that is reckoned over to the
sinner. I, the Lord, have created it. This is the righteousness
of God. And that righteousness that's associated with the justification
of the sinner. That's the salvation of the sinner
is justification. Look at the end of the chapter.
Verse 24, Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness
and strength, even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed
against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel be justified, and shall glory. It's justifying righteousness
that we have here in the text. And what is that righteousness
that justifies? It's the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They experience it by faith,
but you know there's much confusion sometimes with regards to faith,
because men speak of justification by faith as if it is the act
of believing, it's the faith that justifies, and it's not. I dare say this tonight, there's
a piece of punctuation in the New Testament, in Romans
5, that I believe is not really correct. Now remember, that when
God first gave the New Testament Scriptures, there were no punctuation
marks. The punctuation marks, the division
into chapters and clauses and so on that we're familiar with
is that that was brought in by the translators. Now, look at
Romans chapter 5. It says, Therefore being justified
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
See where the comma appears. Surely it would be best to read
the verse like this, Therefore being justified By faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. If the comma comes after justified,
the verse reads somewhat differently, does it not? There seems to be a suggestion,
this is how some interpret it, that it's the faith that is justifying
the sinner. It's not the faith that justifies
the sinner. It's Christ, and we have it of
course at the end of the fourth chapter there in Romans, where
Paul has been speaking of Abraham, and how Abraham was justified.
He was not justified by works. Abraham believed God, it says.
And it was counted unto him for righteousness. But what was it
that was counted to Abraham for righteousness? Was it his believing?
Was it his faith? No! As we see at the end of Romans
chapter 4, "...he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being
fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also
to perform, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."
What was imputed for righteousness? What he had promised. And the promise centers in Isaac,
and Isaac is the type of Christ. It is Christ who justifies, therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with
God. We come into the experience of
a justification that was accomplished when Christ died. A justification
that was purposed from all eternity. And this, I say, is the great
truth, the great doctrine that He said before us in our text. All that righteousness that justifies
the sinner before God. Drop down your heavens from above.
Let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open. Let them
bring forth salvation. Let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it. It is that righteousness which
is of God. In chapter 61 and verse 10 he
says, 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,
all the garments of salvation, the covering, the covering of
that robe of righteousness. It's that work that was accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ, His obedience, His obedience in life,
His obedience unto death. It's that that covers the sinner
except that is the sinner's salvation. And we have, of course, a wonderful
illustration of it there in the prophecy of Zechariah where we
read of Joshua, Joshua the high priest. Joshua was clothed with
filthy garments and stood before the angel And he answered and
spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused uniniquity of us from thee, and I will clothe
thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair
mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon
his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the
Lord stood by. That's the righteousness that
saves the sinner, you see. It's those garments of salvation,
it's that robe of righteousness that is granted. When we come
to the end of Scripture, there in the book of the Revelation,
and we see the saved, the redeemed in heaven, what are we told?
To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean
and white. The fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. Oh friends, where is that righteousness?
Yes, it's imputed to the sinner. It's reckoned to his account.
The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed his soul from every
taint of sin. But not only so, God has also
reckoned to him the righteousness of Christ and therefore he stands
before God acquitted. and not only acquitted but accounted
as righteous. That's the righteousness that
the Lord Jesus Christ has wrought for his people, is it not? And
that righteousness, I say, is where Christ is. That righteousness
is in heaven. That righteousness is in heaven.
Poor old John Bunyan. Now he was tormented by the devil. How the devil would come to him.
with his wicked insinuations, his evil temptations, such was
the spirituality of that dear man of God that he felt Satan
to be a very real adversary. And in his book, Grace abounding
to the chief of sinners, he speaks of that occasion when he's about
his business, I suppose, and he goes into the field and he's
tormented, he feels himself to be so unholy, so unrighteous,
so sinful. And he looked up into the heavens
and he saw it, he said, that's where my righteousness is. All
he saw, my righteousness is in heaven. My righteousness is in
heaven. My righteousness is before the
very throne of the majesty on high. My righteousness is in
the holy heaven. His righteousness, you see, was
Christ. And so His righteousness was where Christ is. All but
how precious it is, friends, so it be there eternal in the
heavens, how precious, when the Holy Spirit applies it. When the Spirit comes in this
refreshing manner that we read of in the text, and makes that
righteousness so real in the sinner's soul. How does he do
it? Well, the sinner, of course,
must be born again. He must be born again. A man can receive nothing except
it's given him from heaven. He must be born from above. His
eyes must come into his soul. His eyes must be opened. His
ears must be unstopped. He must be given the hearts that
he's promised in the new covenant a believing heart he must be
born again and so born again he becomes
what? partaker of the divine nature
he has a new nature he still has an old nature but now he
has this new nature that that he is born of the flesh says
Christ is flesh that that he is born of the spirit is spirit
and so he has a new nature born of the spirit and as Paul says
how the flesh rosters against the spirit and the spirit against
the flesh how these are contrary one to the other you cannot do
the things that you would he says but you see that new nature
that divine nature you know it never sins Whosoever is born
of God doth not commit sin. Says John, and he cannot sin
because he is born of God. The new nature doesn't sin. Oh
yes, it's the old nature and that's still part and parcel
of that regenerated sinner. He still feels himself to be
a sinner. But now in his new nature he
is one who is sanctified. Remember the language that we
have in the psalm. In Psalm 45, where we have a description of
the church, the bride of Christ, the king's
daughter, is all glorious within. That's her new nature. The divine nature, the king's
daughter is all-glorious, within her clothing is of wrought gold.
She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework. So we have her inward states, the divine nature, born again
by the Spirit of God, receiving that new nature from on high,
but then also we have her clothing, her raiment, It's her sanctification,
it's also her justification. As the sinner is justified, so
the sinner is sanctified. Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that as it is written, He that glorieth, let
him glory in the Lord. Sanctification is in the Lord. Righteousness is also in the
Lord. Oh, thank God for these two.
But all the preciousness of that doctrine that he set before us
in this text, that's imputed righteousness. Not that righteousness
that's imparted in regeneration, but that righteousness which
is is really the creation of God, the righteousness of God.
The hymn writer says, "...righteousness within thee rooted may appear
to take thy part, but let righteousness imputed be the refuge of thine
heart." This is what David glories in. I will go in the strength
of the Lord God, he says. I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine. Only my tongue also shall talk
all day long of thy righteousness. When the Lord comes and visits
his people, you see, and grants the gracious refreshing that
comes by the righteousness of our deaths, Oh, the child of
God must speak of that. That that is the creation of
God. What does Paul say? His desire
is to be found in Him, to be found in Christ, he says, not
having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ. The righteousness which
is of God, by faith. It's the same righteousness.
or that we might know something of the refreshing of it, friends.
It's revealed to us here in Holy Scripture, set before us throughout
the Bible, but all when it comes and drops down so refreshingly
into our souls, and we know it, and we experience something of
what Bunyan knew when he was brought to that realization,
that assurance, his righteousness, was in heaven at God's right
hand where Christ was all drop down your heavens from above
let the skies pour down righteousness let the earth open let them bring
forth salvation and let righteousness spring up together I the Lord
have created it may the Lord be pleased and blessed to our
souls Amen and the tune is Bethesda 297. Who but the soul that's led to
know how just and holy is the law, will to the cross of Christ
repair and seek salvation only there. 113. Jesus my soul Though through pride my stubborn
will, Till side I feels the cleaving still. are taught to see how great thy
guilt and misery in every thought and act impure the blood of Christ
thy soul daily to fill thyself undone
we'll make thee haste to kiss the sun and on thy knees for
pardon and praise and bless and love
him too. To feel thy shame and nakedness
will make thee love that glory That sets from God him nation
free, And from the curse delivers thee. Without a seam this garment's
woe, We sing. name, to cleanse our guilt and
hide our shame. God that wrought earth, by Christ
the Son, which God imputes and faith puts the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Turned it off. The radiator was
still on. No, it's off. For just this minute,
open it. I'll take the keys. Open? I've
just opened it. do seriously oh so um Thank you very much. Okay. It's the radiators not tripping,
that was my worry, I've got a rusty radiator. Yes. Yeah.