Psalms 11, one verse. I usually don't use just one
verse, but we will use several verses, but just one verse. This
will be the springboard that I'm going to use for this message. The title of the message is,
The Lord is Righteous. The Lord is Righteous. It says
in verse 7, "'For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness. His countenance doth behold the
upright.'" It has been on my mind for some
time now on this matter of righteousness. I've been thinking about it.
And I come across it a lot as I read in my study. The Lord
is righteous, the Lord loves righteousness. And I was thinking today as I
was putting this message together yesterday and today, before we
can have a proper understanding of sin and our need to be saved
from sin, our sins, We must have a proper understanding of who
God is. The greatest problem with religion
today, and so-called Christianity, what passes off today as Christianity,
they don't know who God is. They don't know who He is. For
us to have a real understanding of sin and our need to be saved
from it, We must have a proper understanding of who God is,
what He's like. What He's like. God who created
the heavens and the earth. What is He like? I'm interested
in that. I can say that with all honesty.
I'm interested in knowing God. As Paul said concerning Christ,
Oh that I might know Him. and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings. Why should I be so interested
in that? Why should I, why should you be so interested in knowing
God, knowing who He is, knowing what He's like? Well, seeing
that He has made us, we are accountable to Him. we must give account
to Him. It is written in Romans 14, 11
and 12, it says this, For it is written, As I live, saith
the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall
confess to God. So then, every one of us shall
give account of himself to God. Now, if I have to give an account
of myself to God, I want to know Him. I want to know who it is
I'm meeting. Well, the Scripture tells us
here, and we'll look at some other Scripture, that the Lord
is righteous. He's righteous. For the righteous
Lord loveth righteousness. It says over in Hebrews 1.8 that
the scepter of His kingdom is a scepter of righteousness. It says over in Hebrews chapter
1, again, that the Lord loveth righteousness. He loves righteousness. So we must start with God and
who God is if we're going to start right. We don't want to
start with man and then work our way to God. Let's start with
God and work our way to man. In the beginning, God. It does
not say in the beginning, man. It says, in the beginning, God.
It starts with God. Now the righteous Lord has revealed
Himself in His Word. Where can I go to find out who
He is? Right here, in His Word. This
book right here, God Almighty has revealed Himself. He's made
Himself known. You're not going to find out
who God is walking through the woods. You're not going to find
out who God is in a dream. You're going to find out who
God is in His Word. This book reveals who God is. He's revealed Himself in this
book. To ignore His Word is to perish. It's to perish. And we have no excuse. No one
has any excuse not to know God. Really. This book is probably
in about every home in this country. Dust is collecting on it, but
it's in the home, right there. Right there is the Word of God.
The Word of God. And we can know God from seeking
after Him in His Word. If we would know God, we must
get into His Word and seek Him. Now what does the Word teach
us about God? I'm not going to go through all
the attributes of God. In His Word, God reveals His
attributes. I'm only going to deal with a
couple of them tonight. The Word of God teaches us, and I think
it has to start here. It has to start here. God is
holy. Because if God's not holy, nothing
else matters. Really. The love of God, it doesn't
matter. If His love is not a holy love,
if His justice is not a holy justice, it starts with this,
God is holy. God is righteous. God is just. That's who He is. He says in Revelation 16.5, And
I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord,
which art, and was, and must, and shall be, because Thou hast
judged us. Thou art righteous, O Lord. Listen
to Psalm 99.5. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and
worship at His footstool, for He is holy. He is holy. You know, the word holy means
other than. It has the meaning of other than.
God is other than me. God is light, I'm darkness. God is purity, I'm sin. God is holy. And in Isaiah 6,
verse 3, it says, "...And one cried to another, the seraphims,
One cried to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. The whole earth is full of His
glory, but they go about day and night crying, Holy, holy,
holy. God is holy. He's holy. And because God is holy and righteous,
He is just in all His ways, whether I understand them or not. It
says in Psalm 145 verse 17, "...the Lord is righteous in all His
ways, and holy in all His works." He's holy in all His ways and
righteous. He's righteous and holy in His
purpose. He never purposed anything that's
not right. Now brethren, the Scripture says
the secret things of the Lord belong unto the Lord, but the
revealed things belong to us and our children. There are many
things that God has purposed that I can't comprehend in this
life. I cannot understand that as He
said, my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your
thoughts. He said, my thoughts and my ways
are as high as the heaven above what you think, and your ways. God is righteous in all that
He has purposed from beginning to end. Whatever that all encompasses,
I don't know. I know very little to tell you
the truth. I know how God saves sinners. That's the important
part. I know how God saves sinners.
I know how God can be a just God and save a wretch like me.
I know that. And because He is holy and just
and righteous, He can be trusted. You can trust him. Abraham said, the judge of the
earth would do right. Someone asked me one time where
I thought a person was that had died, where I thought they were
at. Heaven or hell is what they were
talking about. I said, the judge of the earth would do right. And that's where I left it. The
judge of the earth would do right. And then God is righteous and
holy in His providence. Everything He does day by day,
day by day, is right. It's right. Some people die and you're kind
of bum-fuzzled and you say, I didn't expect that. Well, for whatever
reason that God took that person, it's right. It's right. And then God is righteous and
holy in saving or damning. You know that? In Psalm 119, 137 it says, "...righteous
art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments." Turn over
to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9, let me read
you a few Scriptures. Now listen. Verse 13. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. God forbid. For he said to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Whatever reason Pharaoh thought
that he had received the throne, whether it was through inheritance
or however he got it, and God put him there. God put him there. And God put him there that he
may demonstrate his power over him, that he may demonstrate
his power to his people, Israel. They saw all those plagues that
God brought on Egypt, but none of them was brought on Israel. Therefore hath he mercy, on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." Now, is
he just in doing that? Absolutely. Absolutely. Can I comprehend that? No. Can
I comprehend why God loved Jacob and Hades and Esau? No. Can I
comprehend why God loved me and passed by others? No. "...Thou wilt say then unto me,
Why doth he yet find fault? If that's so, for who has resisted
his will?" But listen, Paul does not try to explain it. Listen
to what he says, "...Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replies
against God with your limited knowledge?" Which is very limited. Who are you to call God into
judgment? Who are you to judge God and
His acts? The Scripture says in Job, he
gives no account for any of his matters. You know, in Job, I
think it is 37, when Job had done a lot of complaining, but
a lot had been said. Of course, he lost his ten children,
lost all of his sheep and cattle and camels and servants. He lost
it all. Lost his health. You know, when
God spoke to Job, and He told Job, He said, Stand up, gird
up your loins like a man. I will demand of thee, and you
answer me. He never apologized to Job. He
never said, Job, sorry. I had to prove a point here.
He gives no account of any of his matters. Now, if He's going
to take something from me, He doesn't answer to me for it.
That's who God is. It's all His anyway. I'm His.
My wife is His. My family is His. Everything
I got is His. Nothing's mine. It's His. "...Nay, but, O man, who art
thou that replies against God?" Over my margin it says, "...answer
again, or dispute with God." Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing
to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with
much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?
and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of mercy, which he hath aforeprepared unto glory, even
us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of
the Gentiles." No, God is just in saving. When God saves a sinner, He saves
a sinner in a way that is just. It's just. If He sends one to
hell, it'll be to the praise and glory of His justice. The
saving of one is to the praise and glory of His grace. The damning
of one is to the praise and glory of His justice. Either way, God's
right. God's right. God's right in what
He does with me. I know that. David said this
over in Psalm 51. This is true repentance. Let
me see if I can find this. I'm thinking about it. In Psalm
51, I have to find the verse, when I get there, David justifies God here. In
verse 4, David says this, "...against thee, thee only have I sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight." that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." God, what
I have done, I've done against you. And what you do, you're
clear. You're just. Whatever you do
to me, you're just. That's true repentance, when
you take sides with God against yourself. That's true repentance. And then, listen, God cannot
look on sin with indifference. It says in Habakkuk 1.13, "...thou
art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity."
And what he's saying here is that God cannot look on these
things with indifference. He can't do it. Because God is
righteous, God is holy, He must punish sin. Even when His Son
was made to be sent for us, God spared Him not. He was put to
death in the flesh. He was tormented when He was
made to be sent for us. God spared not His Son. And then
secondly, first, God is righteous. God is righteous. Secondly, God
demands righteousness. God demands it. Now I can say
this, God demands nothing more than what He is. But He demands
what He is. It says in Leviticus 22.21, offers a sacrifice of peace offerings
unto the Lord to accomplish His vow, or a freewill offering,
and says, beaves at His bullocks, or sheep, listen, it shall be
perfect to be accepted. There shall be no blemish therein."
God demands perfection. He demands it be perfect. He
cannot accept anything with blemish. He can accept no work with blemish.
This here, to me, exalts the work of Jesus Christ. Because
it says for 33 years, there was not a blemish in thought, word,
or deed that He did while He was on this earth in the flesh.
Not even a thought. Not even a blemish thought. He
didn't have it. He's God in the flesh. He didn't
have it. God cannot accept, now listen
to this, this is so, God cannot accept anything less than Himself. He only demands what He is. 1
Peter 1 verse 15-16, But as He which hath called you is holy,
so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written,
Be ye holy, for I am holy." When I read that, you know what that
makes me do? It makes me flee to Jesus Christ
my righteousness. Because God demands it. He didn't
say try to be holy, did He? He didn't say try to be. He said
be holy. You be holy. And I tell you what,
I'm a sinful man. And when I read that, the first
thing my heart does is turn to Christ. It's like, Lord, Father,
look to Christ. Look to me in Christ. I will
show you this in a little bit. I'm getting ahead of myself.
And then the third point is this. It brings me to the third point. We are not righteous. God is
righteous. God demands righteousness. We
are not righteous. We are sin. We are sin through
and through. Isaiah said, there's no soundness
in us. We're just like a wound, a bruise,
and a putrefying sore. That's how Isaiah describes us.
Now to understand this, to have some understanding of this, we
must go back to the Garden of Eden to understand this. I don't
remember who said this. I think Doug mentioned it to
me here not long ago. If you go wrong on the fall,
you go wrong on it all. You'll go wrong on it all. So
let's go back to the garden. Let's touch on a representation
here for a minute. When Adam fell, All whom He represented fell
in Him. The whole human race was represented
by Adam. Turn to Romans 5. Romans chapter
5. In Romans chapter 5, look in
verse 12. as by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin." Spiritual death and physical
death. And so, "...death passed upon all men, for they had all
sinned." Listen, we've all sinned in Adam and we've all sinned
ourselves. We've sinned our own way, our
own peculiar sin. This is representation. Adam
represented the whole human race. Now, there are going to be some
who say, I don't think that's fair. Well, you know, God has
actually dealt with this whole world in two representatives.
The first Adam, which represented the whole human race, and the
second Adam, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. He represents that
whole heavenly race. All died in Christ, And all whom
God saves are made... I mean, all died in Adam. And
all whom God saves are made alive in Christ. I'll show you that
in a minute in 2 Corinthians. Look over in 1 Corinthians. Let
me go ahead and read it to you while we're looking at it. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
I forgot to tell you, In verse 21, "'For since by man
came death.'" This is why we die. Sin came into the world
by Adam, and death came with it. Death came with it. You know,
you read the obituaries, and if they put in there why they
died, you know, they died of a heart attack or they died of
cancer. No, they died of sin. Cancer heart attacks are just
the results of sin. We die because of sin. That's
why we die. For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. That's all
they represented. That's what he's talking about.
When he's talking about the all, he's talking about all they represented. As in Adam all die, so in Christ
shall all be made alive. You know, I did not do one thing
to become a sinner. Not one thing. I was born a sinner. I was born a sinful man. And
I have not done anything to be saved. I was saved by the grace of God
through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. I died in Adam,
but I am made alive in Christ. We lost in Adam, listen, we lost
in Adam that righteous nature that he was created with. You
know, Adam was created upright. Adam had a righteous nature.
But when he disobeyed God, he lost it. He died spiritually. And later he died physically.
We lost our legal standing before God. As long as Adam did not
eat of that fruit that God said, do not eat of it, he had a standing
before God and we had a standing before God. But today, the second
he disobeyed God, it was all lost. We have no more legal standing
before God. Listen, before God Almighty,
as a sinful man, I have no rights before God. I have none. They were forfeited in Adam,
and I have forfeited them by my conduct since I've been in
this world. I have no rights before God. That's why in judgment you don't
read of anybody, you don't read of the Lord arguing with anybody,
do you? He said, depart from Me, I never
knew you. Do you hear Him arguing about it? He will argue because
they don't have no legal standing. They have no legal right to be
there. We lost it in Adam. God told Adam not to eat of that
tree of knowledge of good and evil, but he did anyway. You
know, here's what's amazing. This is how dead we are by nature. There are a vast number of religious
people who think that by their obedience that they can please
God. that they can keep the law and
please God. Adam couldn't do it when he was
innocent and there was only one law. Don't eat of it. That's
all. Adam had one commandment. There's
over 600 commandments in the Scriptures. There's over 600
laws. Adam had one. And he was perfect. And he couldn't
keep it. Couldn't do it. Now why would
I think I can keep 600 with a sinful nature? That's not possible.
That's not possible. It says over in Galatians 3.10,
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse,
for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continues not in
all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. All things. I mean all things. This is how
strict God is. This is how holy God is. He cannot
let one jot or tittle go. Christ said He came to fulfill
the law to every jot and tittle. Through the fall, we became ignorant
of God's righteousness. Turn over to Romans chapter 10. You know, there was a time Adam
was righteous. And he knew God. He had fellowship
with God. But after he fell, what did he
do? He tried to sew some fig leaves together, then he blamed
it on God. He said, it's the woman you gave
me. He said, God, You're the problem. You gave me this woman. He turned on his own wife that
he loved so much, thought so much of her. She's beautiful.
Perfect. And he turned on her. And he
turned on God. He said, the woman you gave me,
He charged God with folly. It's your fault. But in Romans 10, Paul says,
let me read verse 1, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved. I bear them record. They have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge, not according to the Scriptures.
for they being ignorant of God's righteousness." Now, brethren,
you can't be ignorant of God's righteousness and survive. Because
to be ignorant of God's righteousness, here's what happens every time,
every time, is that they've been ignorant of God's righteousness
and go about to establish their own righteousness. When that rich young ruler came
to Christ, he said, Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal
life? And you know the Lord answered
him on the grounds he came on. He said, keep the commandments.
And he named them off. And he said, which? And the Lord
said, keep the commandments. He said, all these I've done
from my youth up. He didn't do one of them. That
man didn't do one of them. And the Lord exposed him. He
said, I'll tell you what, go sell all that you have. He was
rich. Give it to the poor and come
follow me. He couldn't do it. He said he went away sorrowful.
He couldn't do it. Why? Covetousness. The law says,
Thou shalt not covet. He thought he had kept them all,
but what he didn't realize is that the law is spiritual. For
the law to be kept, you've got to keep it in the heart before
you ever keep it in the action. You have to love what you're
doing. David said, oh, and this is the Lord speaking, oh, how
I love thy law. I love it. And every believer,
you love God's law too. You love God's law, you love
God's Word. Sometimes when we say law, we're speaking of the
whole Word of God. You love it. As Paul said, the law is good,
but I'm carnal, so to understand. Nothing wrong with God's law,
the wrong is with me. It's with me. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."
You know what they said concerning Christ? We will not have this
man to reign over us. They absolutely would not submit
to the righteousness of Jesus Christ and give up their own. Look over in Philippians 3. I think this is where I want
to go. Philippians 3. Paul was the greatest Pharisee
that ever lived. I mean, he was self-righteous. You couldn't have got another
drop of self-righteousness in that guy. He was full to the
brim. And God cut him down on the road
to Damascus while he was going to persecute the church, put
some of them to death. He consented to the death of
Stephen, remember? He held the coat while they stoned
him to death. Paul hated Jesus Christ as much
as Satan hates him. Now listen, in Philippians chapter
3, here's that old Pharisee. This is what grace does. Finally,
my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Write the same things to you,
to me. Indeed, it is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware
of dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision, the
flesh merchants. For we are the circumcision, we are the true
Israel of God, which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might
also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh." Paul said, I'm
more. He said, I'm head and shoulders
in self-righteousness above all of them. Circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of the Hebrews. He could trace his lineage and
inherit it all the way back to Abraham. He could run it all
the way to Abraham. Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching
the law, a Pharisee." That was the strictest sect there was. "...concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for
Christ." This is after the Lord saved him. Hey, Dallas, and I
count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, which is of the keeping of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith, that I may know Him." At one time he wanted
to stomp that name out. But now He says, Oh, that I might
know Him and the power of His resurrection, that is, the power
of His resurrected life in my life on this earth, and the fellowship
of His sufferings be made conformable unto His death. Well, that's what God can do
when He saves you. You can take an old Pharisee, take away his
righteousness, and he bows to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We were born in sin and shapen
in iniquity. As I said, I didn't do anything
to become a sinner. I was born one. David said in
Psalm 51 5, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my
mother conceive me. It was not a sinful act. It was
a sinful seed. That's how I became a sinner.
My dad and mother were sinners. And go right on back to Adam. Listen to Jeremiah 13.23, "'Can
the Ethiopian change his skin or the leper his spots? Then
may you also do good that are accustomed to do evil.'" We are
so sinful. He said, you can't change. You
cannot change yourself. You can't do it. God has to do
it. God Almighty has to change us. He has to do it. But good news. Let me end on
good news. Good news. God has provided a
righteousness that He can and has accepted. God is righteousness. God is righteous. God demands
righteousness. We are not righteous. God has
provided one. God has provided one. God the
Son, the second person in the Trinity, has provided a righteousness
for sinners. And the Lord Himself is that
righteousness. It is written in Jeremiah 23.6,
"...in His days Judas shall be saved, Israel shall dwell safely,
and this is His name whereby He shall be called, the Lord
our righteousness." Jesus Christ is my righteousness before God.
That man. That God-man. That man stood
in my place and he produced a righteousness that God demanded. God in the
flesh. God Himself came into this world
and produced the righteousness that He demanded of me. Isn't
that grace? Isn't that mercy? That what God
demanded, He also provided for me. Look over in 2 Corinthians 5. Verse 21, "'For He hath made
him to be sin for us who knew no sin.' that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. Yes, in this flesh, in this old body, I'm still sinful.
But in Jesus Christ, I've been made the righteousness of God.
I cannot be any more holy or righteous than I am in Christ
right now. God has made me that way. That's
how God can deal with me. It's how you can deal with me.
By the doing and dying and rising again from the dead and ascending
on high, Jesus Christ has provided us with that righteousness that
God demands. Now, I've got two points, and
I won't make them short, to close with. How do I get this righteousness? How do I get it? Well, first
of all, it's imputed. It's charged to my account. I
have a legal standing before God now in Christ. Turn over
to Romans chapter 4. I don't want to say that much
about it. I'd rather just read about it.
Read it from God's Word. In Romans chapter 4, let me get
there. I'm going to read verse 1 through
11, then I'll read the 22 and 25. What shall we say then, that
Abraham our father, as pertained to the flesh, has found? For
if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory,
but not before God, because he's not justified before God by works.
So he can't glory before God. For what saith the Scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward, not reckoned of grace,
but of debt. But to him that works not, but
believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness..." Because listen, that faith is the gift
of God. It's the work of God. That's
why in Ephesians it says, faith is a gift of God. "...even as
David also describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works." How does He do that? It's the
righteousness of another. It's the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. They're gone because Jesus Christ
put them away. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. He absolutely will not charge
sin to me. because He charged it to my substitute,
Jesus Christ, and it's gone. God has already dealt with me.
That's over. That's over. "...Come with this blessedness
then upon the circumcision, or the Jews only, or upon the uncircumcision,
Gentiles also. For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness." Well, how was it reckoned then,
or when was it reckoned? Was He in circumcision? No, He
wasn't. You know that. That didn't happen until sometime
later, when he was in uncircumcision. He says here in verse 11, And
he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of
faith, just a seal, a sign, which he had yet been uncircumcised,
that he might be the father of all them that believe, though
they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed
unto them also. Now look over in verse 22. And
therefore it was imputed to him, that is to Abraham, for righteousness. Now, it was not written for his
sake alone. This is not just about Abraham.
It's for us also. But for us also, to whom it shall
be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead. Now listen, get this, who was
delivered for our offenses, many offenses, and was raised again
for our justification. justified in Christ, made righteous
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I close with this. How do
I get it? I get it by imputation, but I
also get it by impartation. It's imputed to me, and it's
imparted to me. There is, in the new birth, in
the new birth, a righteous nature that's born of God. Listen to
these Scriptures. I'm not going to turn to them.
2 Corinthians 5.17, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold,
all things are become new. John 3.6, That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. That's that new nature. That's
that righteousness imparted. And then last of all, Ephesians
4.24, that you put on the new man, which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness. That righteousness is legally
charged to us, it's mine, and it's also imparted to me in the
new birth. God is righteous. God demands
righteousness. We are not righteous. God has
provided us a righteousness. It is imputed. It is imparted. In Jesus Christ, everyone who
believes, they have all they need. That's why it says in Colossians,
in the end, you are complete.