Psalm119:137-144 - Part 18

Q: What does the Bible say about imputed righteousness?

The Bible emphasizes that imputed righteousness is crucial for salvation, reflecting God's holiness and justice. The concept of imputed righteousness is foundational to understanding one's relationship with God. As noted in Romans 10, a person must recognize their own lack of righteousness and seek the righteousness that comes from Christ. This is a theme echoed throughout scripture, as seen in Psalm 119:137-144, where David affirms God's righteousness and highlights its significance in salvation. Without understanding and accepting Christ's imputed righteousness, one cannot fully comprehend the Gospel or approach God.

Q: How do we know the necessity of God's righteousness?

God's righteousness is essential, as scriptures repeatedly confirm its importance for salvation and acceptance. God's righteousness is not merely an abstract concept; it is absolutely essential for salvation. As highlighted in the sermon, God's righteousness appears over 500 times in scripture, indicating its foundational role in understanding God's character and His requirement for justice. Without acknowledgment of God's righteousness and our own lack thereof, one cannot rightly call upon Him for salvation. Romans 10:3-4 clarifies that ignorance of God's righteousness leads individuals to establish their own, which is insufficient for acceptance before God.

Q: Why is the concept of Christ's righteousness important for Christians?

Christ's righteousness is fundamental as it provides believers with the acceptance necessary to stand before God. The importance of Christ's righteousness for Christians cannot be overstated. It is through His perfect righteousness that believers are accepted by God. David's writings, particularly in Psalms, reflect the understanding that God's righteousness is everlasting and that it alone is the basis for redemption. Without Christ's righteousness, Christians would stand before God relying on their own flawed efforts, which would lead to condemnation. Romans 10:4 affirms that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, emphasizing that our standing before God is entirely dependent on His righteousness, not our own.

Q: Is knowledge of Christ's righteousness necessary for salvation?

Yes, understanding Christ's righteousness is essential for true salvation and knowing God. According to the teaching seen in Romans 10 and emphasized within Psalm 119, knowing Christ's righteousness is indispensable in the process of salvation. A person must recognize their need for a savior and comprehend the nature of God's righteousness to call upon Him effectively. The sermon contends that while one does not require exhaustive theological knowledge, a basic understanding of Christ's righteousness is vital for anyone seeking to be saved. The proclamation of Christ's righteousness enables an individual to grasp the Gospel fully, leading them to true faith in Him.

Q: How does understanding God's covenant of grace relate to righteousness?

Understanding God's covenant of grace reveals the assurance of salvation through Christ's righteousness and not human effort. God's covenant of grace is a pivotal theme that connects deeply with the concept of righteousness. The sermon describes this covenant as God's unilateral decision to save, emphasizing that salvation is not contingent upon human actions or merit. In this covenant, God declares believers righteous through Christ, offering eternal security based on His righteousness rather than individual attempts at righteousness. This understanding allows Christians to rest in the assurance that their acceptance before God is eternally anchored in Christ's work, highlighting the beauty of the Gospel message that salvation is a gift of grace.

Okay, turn with me now to Psalm
119. Continue our study there tonight. Psalm 119. Do we make too much of the imputed
righteousness of Christ? Are we insisting too strongly
that men understand something of this righteousness that they
need? You know, if men need something,
you can't make too much of it, can you? If something's vital
to life, You can't make too much of it, can you? Do we insist
too strongly that men know something about this righteousness? Are
we being too doctrinal? Is it really necessary that people
know something about this righteousness in order to be saved? Is it really
necessary? How much does one have to know? Now let me make a few bold and
dogmatic statements before we go into our study tonight. And I say these, as Pharaoh would
have said, unabashedly, unashamedly, without reservation, without
hesitation, without apology. that unless a man knows something
about the righteousness of God, he does not know God. Unless a man knows something
about his lack of righteousness, he'll not call upon God. Unless a man knows something
about the righteousness of Christ, the gospel will mean nothing
to You believe that. Now I'm not saying for a minute.
That someone needs to be. Perfectly knowledgeable. Or an
astute theologian. I don't mind that word theology
it's just the study of God I don't mind that at all we all all of
us in here are theologians but I'm not saying you have to be
a. and all wise and knowing theologian. Yet there is some knowledge that
is essential to salvation, and it is this knowledge of the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. I make no apology for that. We're going to see a beauty in
this tonight, hopefully. The Holy Spirit will help us,
far more than a doctrine. Let me say this before I go on.
I believe that a man, a woman, a young person even, may know
these things that we're going to talk about tonight. They may
know something of these things, yet not be able to clearly define
or describe these things. Yet they may feel it in their
hearts. And when someone describes it to them, when someone declares
it to them, they'll say, yeah, that's what I believe. Every
last one of them. Now, this righteousness of God,
look at it here in Psalm 119, verse 137. He says, David says,
Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments. Righteous art thou, O Lord, More than five hundred times
the word righteous or righteousness, a form of the word righteous
or righteousness is used in the scripture. Five hundred and two
to be exact. Now when God says something one
time, it's worthy of our attention and we need to understand it.
No. When he says it five hundred,
it must be pretty important. Right? Righteousness, non-essential,
five hundred and two times. It's not essential. Turn with me to Romans, chapter
ten. Romans, chapter ten. Let me back up what I just said
in those statements about a man who does not know something of
the righteousness of God does not know God. And a man who does
not know something about his lack of righteousness will never
call upon God, and a man who does not know something about
the righteousness of Christ he needs, the gospel will mean nothing
to him. Paul clearly defines this here.
There's no clearer passage in the Bible than this Romans 10
here. Look at it with me again. We
all know this practically by heart. Brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
Now, that's the right attitude we should have toward people
who don't know the gospel. Paul has a Catholic spirit that
is a universal love for men. I bear them record, though. They
have a zeal of God. In other words, they're seeking
after a God, some God, but not according to knowledge. You remember
in Mars Hill when he said to unknown God, whom you ignorantly
worship, I'm going to declare him to you. He says they're ignorant. They're ignorant. Verse three,
ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness and have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. There are those three things.
God's essential righteousness. our righteousness, which is no
righteousness, and God's provided righteousness. Now, let me read
this to you. You're going to have to put on
your thinking caps tonight. I won't keep you too long. I
start to say I promise. I'm not good at keeping that
promise. I'm going to try my best. All right, let me read
this to you. I broke down every single word
in that verse three. in the Greek. I don't want to
burden you here, but listen very carefully to how this verse 3
reads. You look at it and try to follow
along with me. It reads this way in the very
original. Through man's lack of intelligence and by ignoring
through his own disinclination of God's supreme divinity, he
the magistrate of his equity of character and his Christian
justification, seek to plot against, to stand by their own private
equity of character, and have not subordinated or been under
obedience to and subjection to the character of God and the
way he justifies." Is that too heady for you? Let me break that
down in simpler terms. What Paul is saying here is that
men won't be saved God's way. That breaks it down very simply. They will not be saved. They
just don't believe, the natural man just does not believe that
God is that holy and we're that unholy and that God won't look
upon things we do. They just won't have that, won't
believe that. And they'll fight it tooth and nail. But every true man after God's
own heart, or woman after God's own heart, knows at least this
much. God is holy, righteous, and just,
and he will by no means clear the guilty. By no means. And back to the text in Psalm
119. And that is what David is saying
here in Psalm 119, 137. God is righteous. And everything he does, his judgments
are upright or perfect equity, strict justice. Strict justice. That's what David
is saying there. And the only way a guilty sinner
is ever going to be allowed into the presence of this holy and
just and righteous God and be accepted by, and approved of,
or looked upon with favor, is verse 138. His testimonies he's
commanded. He's commanded some testimonies,
and they are righteousness and faithfulness. Read that again. Thy testimonies, or that is God's
covenant mercies. Covenant that's the word testament
right there covenant mercy a covenant God just up in one day said I'm
going to save some people I've just decided to do so I'm going
to make a covenant and Agree to save some people now. They're
dead They're flat dead. They can't do anything in this
covenant. They're not going to take part
in this covenant No, this is God's covenant, right? It's not
a conditional covenant. He doesn't make this covenant
and say, no, I'm going to do this if you'll do that. No. The covenant,
we've said this so many times, God's covenant of grace is this.
God says, I will and you shall. Doesn't he? Like he said in Ezekiel, I will,
I will. He said, I'm going to do all
these things for them and they shall call upon me for all of
this. But God's covenant is him just
up and deciding to do so. Him declaring a man righteous. Okay? That's the testimony. And
these testimonies, very simply, are the gospel. The gospel. God's gospel that he has commanded,
the good news, are faithfulness, righteousness, and faithfulness. Not ours. Now, he doesn't say
here, well, I'll declare you righteous, I'll give you grace
if you'll be righteous and you'll be faithful. No, that's not what
he's saying there. Romans 10, 4, we didn't read
that, but verse 4 of Romans 10 says, Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. David knew this. Turn over to Psalm 71. David
knew something about this, didn't he? He spoke of it over and over
again. Christ is our only hope of acceptance
with God. Christ is our only righteousness
before God. David knew this, but David didn't
know as much about Christ as we do. No, he didn't. David didn't have the full revelation
like we do, did he, Terry? Uh-uh. He didn't have the completed
book. We do. David didn't know as much about
Jesus Christ as you do, John Davis. But he knew something
about a righteousness he needed, didn't he? Look at Psalm 71. We love this passage so much.
In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Where, David? In the Lord. Let me never be put to confusion.
You won't. Not if you keep your trust. He
said in another place, they that trust in the Lord never be put
to shame. Deliver me in thy righteousness. Cause me to escape. Escape what?
The overflowing scourge of God's wrath. Incline your ear unto
me. Save me. Be thou my strong habitation
whereunto I may continually resort. You have given command. Here's
all my hope. God's given commandment to save
me. Not that I've kept his commandments, but that he's given commandment
to save me. Right? I want to keep his commandments,
but that's after the facts. Right? God doesn't save me if
I keep his commandments. I keep his commandments because
God saved me. Right? Thou art my rock and my fortress."
Look at verse 5, "'You are my hope, O Lord, and Thou art my
trust for my youth.'" Verse 15, 16, "'My mouth shall show forth
Thy righteousness and Thy salvation all the day.'" I just can't even
number it. I can't even describe it. "'I
will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention
of Thy righteousness, even of Thine own Now, wait a minute,
David. You said over in Psalm 18, you
wrote over there, you said, the Lord has rewarded me according
to the cleanness of my hand. David, oh, I wasn't talking about
me. The Lord said unto my Lord, you'll be his righteousness. I wasn't talking about me in
Psalm 18, David would say, if confronted with this. He'd be
contradicting himself, wouldn't he? And he'd say, I'll make mention
of thy righteousness and thine only. Huh? I told you about Brother
Ken Wymer's dad. Brother Ken believes that the
Lord revealed the gospel to him on his dying bed, because he
requested an old preacher friend, an old missionary friend. Brother
Ken's dad was a missionary to Africa for thirty-some-odd years.
He got cancer and died not too many years, not too long ago.
He requested the preacher, an old friend of his. I don't believe
the man knew the gospel. Well, I know he didn't. Evidently,
Ken's dad wanted him to see his hope, and he requested that this
man preach his funeral. And he requested that he take
this text, Psalm 71, verse 16. Take this text as Ken's dad's
funeral message. I'll go in the strength of the
Lord God, I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of
thine only. You know what the man said after
that, said to Ken? He said, I don't know why he
wanted me to preach from that text. If he ever stands, when he stands
before a holy God, he'll know, won't he? And he'll wish somebody
preached that at his funeral. He'll wish that's the last thing
he requested, won't he? He'll wish that this was his
dying words here. I'll make mention of thy righteousness
and thine only. Look at verse nineteen. Thy righteousness also, O God,
is very high. Thou who hast done great things,
O God, who is like unto thee?" Verse twenty-four, "...my tongue
also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long." Is there any
doubts where David's hope lay? Look at Psalm seventy-two. Look
at verse one through three, "...give the king thy judgments, O God,
and thy righteousness unto the king's son." He who's the king's son, well,
son of God, son of David, he shall judge thy people, how?
With righteousness. Does that remind you of Acts
17, 31? God has appointed a day in which he'll judge the earth
in righteousness by that man which he hath ordained. The mountains shall bring peace
to the people and the little hills by righteousness. The mountains,
that's Mount Calvary and a hill called Golgotha. Now back to the text, Psalm 119.
Are we making too much of God's righteousness? Are we insisting
too strongly on nothing and saying something about it? Pretty strong,
isn't it? Pretty clear, isn't it? You see,
what is righteousness? I'm going to say this word. I've
probably already said it thirty-five times. Righteousness. What is
righteousness? Well, it's holiness, yes. God
is righteous or that is equitous. Come we get our word equal from
equitous. It's got to be. Do you remember
that scripture in Daniel said thou art weighed in the balances
and found wanting. God will judge the earth is coming
today when God will put his son on the balances and put us over
here. And there's a passage in Isaiah,
Henry, that says that nations are like the dust in the balances.
Don't even, don't even weigh. What about me? We gotta, we gotta
be equal to God's Son in absolute, in character. Well, who can do
it? Huh? I can't. God is equitous. We are not, but we must be. Christ provides this for us.
That's the gospel in three short sentences. God is righteous,
but we are not, but must be, but Christ provides it. Christ
provides it. Look at verse 139. My zeal hath
consumed me because my enemies have forgotten your words. Do you know what I wish we could
enter into this. I wish I could enter into it.
The wrath and indignation that Christ must have felt, the Holy
Son of God, who came down to this earth for the express purpose
of working out a work of righteousness which no man can possibly do. Isaiah 25 said, This is our God. We've been waiting on Him. He'll
save us. How? By establishing this righteousness,
by living this perfect life, by magnifying the law and make
it honorable. Do you know the indignation and
wrath Christ must have felt in Himself when He came down to
this earth to do a job that only He could do? Only to have all
these pinhead, peon sinners say, We don't need you. Go back, we
can do it. These self-righteous Pharisees,
huh? They're going about to establish,
well, we got a good life. Look, God will accept this. Do
you know the indignation he must have felt? Well, I left the Father's
throne to come here and to do this work. You know what men
are saying, in effect, when they refuse to bow and submit to Christ
as their righteous? You know what they're saying,
in effect? Christ didn't need to come. Aren't they? Isn't that what Paul said in
Galatians? Huh? If righteousness come by the
law, or doing anything, or God accepting anything on our part,
Christ died in vain. God was unwise to send his Son.
Didn't need to. If I'm just up and accept God,
right? If I can live a life God will
accept, Christ died in vain. Why did God butcher his son?
Why did it please the Lord to bruise him? God, you weren't
doing right then. He shouldn't have done that. Like old Rex Humbard said years
ago, if I'd have been there, if I'd have been at the crucifixion,
I'd have stopped it. Stop God's hand. God's the one
that did it, didn't it? And in effect, that's what this
Armenian free will perversion of the gospel is saying that
makes me angry. And I believe Christ was angry. That's the
reason he had nothing but harsh words for those self-righteous
Pharisees, didn't he? You whited sepulchers, don't
you know God looks on the heart? My zeal," he said, had consumed
me because my enemies, enemies of the gospel. He said it to
Peter, didn't he, John? When Peter said, My Lord, you
don't have to go to Jerusalem. He said, Get behind me, Satan.
You don't savor the things of God. I've got to. I must go to
Jerusalem and pay that price. And I must come down here and
establish this righteousness. You don't have one. And God's
going to look with anger and indignation at every self-righteous
person that stands before Him in that day of judgment and say,
Who do you think you are? They call into question the wisdom
of God. They call into question the love
of God for His Son. Call into question the love of
God for us, for the effectualness of His love. Call into question
the blood of Christ. We're not splitting hairs on
doctrine here. The honor of God's at stake.
The necessity of Christ's coming is at stake here, isn't it? Not
just fighting Arminianism, not just trying to make Calvinists
of people. We're trying to show people that Christ must be made
under the law, and must be made a curse for us, because we're
cursed, and there's nothing we can do that God will accept.
We're only accepted in the beloved, and we must submit to that, or
else we're going about to establish our own, right? And God won't
have it, and he says it stinks. The zeal of God's house, God's
work. Turn back to Genesis chapter
6 with me. Genesis 6. Back where we were
this morning. Genesis chapter 6. Let me show
you something you may not have noticed this morning. I meant
to show you this. Genesis chapter 6. Look at verse 9. Genesis 6 verse 9. Now these
are the generations of Noah. Now Noah was a just man. and perfect in his generations. And Noah walked with God. Noah, Enoch's great-grandson,
followed in his great-granddad's footsteps. He walked with God.
But it says here that he was a just, or rather a justified
man, and perfect, or mature, or considered perfect in his
generation. How is that? We'll look over
chapter six, the last part of it. Look at verse 18. This is that covenant I was telling
you about. God first declares this, then
he declares a man righteous. Look at verse 18. God said to
Noah, with thee will I establish my covenant. I will. I have decided, God said, to
make a covenant with you, to let you in. I'll make you a part
of this covenant. Not by something you do, but
You're going to be in on this covenant, and thou shalt come
into the ark. You will come. And look at verse
22. What did Noah do? Kick and buck
and say, well, I've got to have a part. No, thus did Noah. According to all that God commanded,
God commanded his faithfulness, and so did he. Noah believed
God, and it was counted him for righteousness. That's the first
time the word right here in verse one of chapter seven. The Lord
said unto Noah, Come thou in all thy house into the ark, for
thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. That's
the first time that word's ever used, Henry. Righteous. First
time. Because Noah believed God, simply. And you know the second time
it's used? Abraham, chapter fifteen. Believed God, and it was counted
to him a righteousness. Righteousness. Noah believed
God. Why? Because Noah was a better man
than everybody else. No. Noah wasn't out of that boat
six months until he was laying naked and drunk in his tent,
and his son came along, and you know what happened. That sound like a just man in
his generations to you? That sound like a man more holy
and pious than everybody else? No. Noah found grace. in the
eyes of the Lord. The Lord himself said, I'm going
to make a covenant with you, Noah. I'm going to make a covenant. If you'll read sometime in chapter
8, it says that God, after he destroyed the world, he said,
he smelled that sacrifice. He says, a sweet smelling savor
in his nose. He said, now I'll not curse the
ground anymore for man's sake, even though he's wicked from
his youth up. There wasn't anybody left, Henry,
but Noah and his family. So God was talking about Noah.
He knew what Noah was going to do shortly thereafter, didn't
he? Even though he's wicked, even though he's a sinner, I
made a covenant with him. Now, will this encourage sin? Is that the reason Noah went
and got drunk? No, Noah fell grievously. Granted, he fell
grievously, but he didn't like it. He repented over it. I didn't
give him a license to sin. I'm just trying to show you.
The salvation is totally in the sovereign grace of God Almighty,
and it's not according to what a man does, not according to
what a man is. It's according to who a man is
in, who a man is considered in. All right? No son of Adam will
be accepted by God apart from the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That's how important it is. Jesus
Christ, all he was and did and all he is right now and does
right now, our only exception. No more, no less. In my hand
no price I bring, simply to—I'll change that—the blood and righteousness
of Christ I claim. Now, back to the text. Look at
verse 140. Thy word's very pure. It's very tried. and refined,
very pure. Therefore, thy servant loveth
it. Thy word, O God. God's word is
very pure. Jeremiah says it's like fire.
Malachi says it's like a fuller's soap, a refiner's fire, very
pure. Paul said in Hebrews, it'll pierce
the heart. It'll divide asunder, discerning
thoughts and intents. David said, God will be justified
when he speaks and he'll be clear when he judges. John, if God
Almighty is going to find, if he's going to judge you according
to what you've done, he's going to find something in you. He
doesn't have to look far. He doesn't have to look very
hard, does he? Now, from the sole of your feet to the top
of your head, there's no good in you whatsoever. All right? But if you're in Christ and covered
up in him, it says Satan couldn't even find
anything in you. And God can't find anything in
you. And God will not find you if you're in it. He'll find you
out if you're in it. You'll not be found out. Be sure
your sins will find you out, not if you're in Christ. That's
good news, folks. Mighty good news. Who shall stand
when God Almighty speaks judgment? Who's going to stand in front
of God? Huh? Who shall stand? Do you want
to stand before the Holy God based upon anything you've done
and plead it? Why? Poggles my mind. This is how ignorant people are
staying. Christ said they're going to. He said many will say
unto me in that day. Many. When God says many, Rick,
that's a lot of folks. And start standing before me,
and God's going to say, What right do you have to be in my
presence? And they're going to say, We preached, we prophesied,
we cast out devil, we did many wonderful works, we witnessed.
I won three thousand souls to Jesus. I accepted Jesus. He was
knocking on my heart. They're going to say all kinds
of things like that, aren't they? Can you imagine? to ignorance, standing
looking at God, and say such a thing? Why, why I? Oh, my. My, so old Roland Hill one time,
he said he had a dream. He went to heaven and stood before
God's holy throne, and God said to him, What right do you have
to be here, Roland Hill? And he said, I don't have any
right at all. I'm here on the rights of another. I'm here on
the righteousness of your son. He said, if I come to you by
him, you'll let me in this place. More than a doctrine. More than
a doctrine. Who shall stand? Only those that
are standing in Christ. Only those that are hidden behind
Christ's robe. I'm going to be hanging on to
his apron strings till the day I die. Cover me. Cover me. Take me in, Lord. Take me in. And I want it that
way. Not only do I see my need of
having it that way, but that's the way I want it. You know why?
It's the easy way. It's the easy way. It's the restful
way. Christ just says, I'll pick you
up and I'll carry you. What do you want to walk for?
Huh? I'll pick me up and carry me.
I'm tired of walking. Right? It's the restful way.
It's the only way. That's the way I'll have it then. Now, listen. Look at verse 141. I am small and despised. Now,
this little church How many do we have in here? Fifty? Twenty or twenty-five? We're
nothing. This church is nothing. Right? We're nothing. A tornado
would come through here, wipe this place out, and the world
would be no worse off. We're nothing. We're nobody.
This preacher is a nobody from nowhere who has no education. I'm nothing yet. I do not forget thy precepts. I know something about this gospel.
I was telling Brother Henry, a man named William Jay years
ago, great preacher, who got in a cab, a taxi, who was going
to a place called Bath. In England, a little town, a
village. He was going to a village called Bath, and it was some
kind of open-air cab where the driver was right there beside
him. And they were riding along, a nice sunny day, and Mr. J,
trying to talk, carry on conversation with the driver, and said, Driver,
what's this over here? What's Yoncastle? The driver
said, I don't know. Well, Mr. J. wrote on a little
further, and they saw a big house, a big mansion, a palatial mansion
over here. And Mr. J. said, Driver, who
lives there? Who lives over there? The driver
said, I don't know. So they went on a little further,
came through a little village, and he said, driver, he said,
when was this village established? It looks pretty old. And the
driver said, I just don't have any idea. And they drove on,
and Mr. J. pulled his coat down and said,
driver, what do you know? The man said, I know the way
to Bath. That's all he needed to know,
isn't it? Huh? That's why Mr. J was in the cab
all along. What are we doing here? Huh?
We want to know a lot about esoteriology and eschatology and all? I know
the way to God. Get in the cab, and I'll take
you there. I don't know much about this
and that. Maybe I ought to look into it. Maybe I ought to, but
maybe I ought not. I might get off the way to buy.
where we need to take a bath, be washed. I know that much. I'm nobody. I'm a nothing. I'm
from nowhere. We're nobody here, but we know
the way to God. We know the precepts. We know
how a man is accepted by God in the Beloved. We know who's
all. I tell you, you know everything
when you know Christ is all, don't you? What else is there? You can quote me if anybody will
hear it. I say, Paul Mahan says, if a man knows everything there
is to know about these other things and doesn't know Christ,
he doesn't know anything. Because Christ is all. In him are hidden
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. God placed in him
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. And if you get outside
of Christ in any of your studies, you've missed the truth. I'm nothing. But I sure do remember
your precepts, your preordained, that word is preordained commandments. Verse 142, Thy righteousness
is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. Christ's
provided righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Why
would a man want his own? Doesn't anybody understand about
the story in the garden? Spurgeon used to say, boy, I've
repeated myself so many times here, but be prepared if you
want me to stay another 30 years, laugh and acknowledge everything
I say over and over again. Spurgeon used to say, you'd be
wrong in the fall, you'll be wrong on it all. That's a very simple way of saying
that if you miss what happened to Adam in the garden, you're
going to be wrong on the rest of your doctrine. What happened
in the garden? Well, Adam had a righteousness. Adam had a righteousness. He was perfect, right? Whose
righteousness did he have, Henry? It was his own, right? He wasn't
God's. Thy righteousness is an everlasting
righteousness, right? He had a man's righteousness.
He had his own. It was good enough for a while,
but when temptation came, it didn't stand, did it? Man had
a free will, he had a righteousness, he had a free will, but it didn't
last, did it? It didn't help him out, did it?
Well, would a man want to depend upon that now? Adam was the wisest,
most ingenious fellow that ever lived. Albert Einstein would
pale in comparison to Adam, right? He failed. What makes me think
that I could say, huh? Huh? But God's righteousness
in Christ is provided God says, no, you can't keep the law, can
you? You saw what happened to Adam. Adam's a better man than
you. You can't do it, can you? You can't live any better than
Adam. I've got one for you. Would you take this one? Better
yet, he says, take this one. Like the prodigal son's daddy.
He doesn't say, would you have the robe, son? No, he says, bring
the robe, put it on him. Bring the ring, put it on him.
Kill the calf, make him eat it. That's the covenant. I will,
and you shall. Thank God it's that way. Right? Because there's people today
standing bucking this right now. Right now there's a man standing
in the pulpits all over America telling men what they ought to
do for God to accept them. Bucking this right here. We're
few in number. But I tell you what, this is
the best way. It's the only way. The only way. Christ's everlasting righteousness,
his law is the truth, his righteousness is everlasting. The scripture
says that we were sometimes in darkness, but now we're light
in the Lord. One writer said, we have a pristine,
spotless, ineffable beauty and holiness. In other words, we
got a white garment on. Who are these, they said in Revelation,
John said, who are these dressed in these beautiful white robes? Huh? Those have been brought
to the wedding feast. They have a wedding garment on.
And do you know, let's hurry, Psalm 45, I promised you, Psalm
45. Do you know that trying to come
into God's presence without this robe of righteousness that Christ
provides would be like coming into a royal wedding, and the
king gives an express commandment and explicit instructions that
everybody be dressed in a certain way, and the king provides this
beautiful... Say there's a royal wedding.
Say it was Diane and Charlie, okay? And you've been given a
summons. I want to say invitation. You've
been summonsed to come. And now he said, now you can't
attend this wedding unless you wear the robe we've provided
for you. And this robe is just, it's worth
a million dollars. Rubies and sapphires and emeralds
and the finest cloth all over. And they give it to you. At the
door, they say, here's your robe in order to go in and witness
this grand and glorious occasion. You're blessed of all people
to be in on this. Here's your robe, go on in. And
the man says, it's pretty, but I kind of like the one I've got
on here. I sewed this this morning on my little finger stitching,
hand stitch thing. I bought it the other day. Don't
you think it's nice? It turns around, there's no backhand.
I mean, like these hospital robes. Looks good up front, you know. This is what he says here in
Psalm 45. Look at it. Psalm 45, verse 11. The king greatly desires thy
beauty. He is thy Lord. Worship him,
and the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift. The rich
among the people shall entreat thy favor. The king's daughter.
Who's that? That's us. The daughter-in-law. Right? The king's daughter-in-law.
Bride of his son. She's there, and she's glorious
within. Her clothing is of wrought gold,
a worked-out gold. She shall be brought unto the
king in raiment of needlework. Whose work? Whose needlework? Why, the son sewed it. It took
him thirty-three years to work out all the garments. And everybody
has one, and it fits to a tune. How would you want anything? Oh, but David says in our text,
trouble and anguish have taken hold on me. Even though your
righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, thy law is the
truth. Trouble and anguish have taken
hold on me. How do I know that this righteousness is mine? I
sinned. What about what happened to me
with Bathsheba? Well, this is the faithful saint,
and it's worthy of all acceptation. Yeah, you, David, you adulterer,
you. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He
said it when he got here, I've not come to call the righteous,
but the unrighteous. Sinners. Have you repented, David? Oh, yes. Have mercy upon me,
O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of
thy tender mercy. Blot out my transgressions. Wash
me throughly from my iniquity. Purge me from my... Oh, yes. This righteousness is yours. It's yours. The wages of sin
is death. That's what you've earned, isn't
it? Oh, yes, you're happy. But the gift of God's eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord, David. Well, that sounds
too good to be true. But trouble and anguish take
hold of us, don't they? Our sin, we're troubled by sin, anguished
by sin, takes hold of us. Yet, His commandments, His covenants,
is more than a doctrine. Oh, I wish we could... I wish
this covenant would... You're going to get a tattoo?
Tattoo that across your chest. Covenant mercies. Oh, John Warburton
knew something about it. Mercies of a covenant God. And
this generation doesn't have the foggiest idea about what
covenant means. They think God says He'll do
this if you do that. That's not it. This is an eternal
covenant that God made from the beginning. And David said, this
is the commandment. This covenant is my delight,
my hope. Blessed is the man to whom you
will not charge or impute iniquity. But we'll impute righteousness.
The righteousness, verse 144, and we'll quit. The righteousness
of thy testimonies. Oh, that is, the righteousness
contained in your gospel is everlasting. Everlasting. Give me understanding. Oh, my. Don't let me just recite
doctrine. Don't let me just be a Calvinist.
Give me an understanding of it, and I shall live. Oh, boy, I hope the Lord opened
that up a little bit to us tonight. He said it four times in eight
verses. Go through your concordance sometime,
look up the word righteousness, and look how many times. Go through
Isaiah. Just go through Isaiah. Go through
Isaiah and look how many times he talks about righteousness. Over and over. Got a minute? Isaiah 45. There you got a minute. Isaiah 45. This is what he says
surely one person is going to say this. Well, folks, if nobody
in here will, I will. I'm going to say it. Isaiah 45,
verse 24. Look. Shall one say, In the Lord have
I righteousness? Or look at your margin. Surely
he shall say of me, In the Lord is all righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men come, and
all that are incensed against him, or won't submit to his righteousness,
shall be ashamed. But in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Jehovah Sidkenu, shall all the seed of Israel be justified. Do we make too much of the righteousness
of Christ? Now answer that question. Are
we insisting too strongly? I'm just insisting as strongly
as God's Word does, that's all. And He says it's essential. What
Christ did, who Christ is, is essential to salvation. And if any man or woman is ignorant
of that and desires to understand it, pray that prayer. Give me understanding and I'll
live. I'll live. All right, stand with me and
I'll dismiss this in prayer. Dear Lord, We're so thankful for your word.
It's so clear. It's so, so very clear. But we're,
our brains are so fogged up. Our understanding is so shallow. But your word is so clear. So
clear. It is the words of life. Give
us understanding, Lord, and we shall live. And above all, give
us this righteousness which is an everlasting righteousness.
Give us, put us in Christ, Jehovah Sidkenu. Jehovah Sidkenu. Surely, shall a few people say
in Christ, have our righteousness and strength. Let Lord make it
every person under the sound of this message tonight. Everybody
in this room, young and old alike, May we gather together someday
at the feet of Christ and be so glad and so thankful and cry
and praise him to the top of our lungs for being our worthiness,
for being our righteousness. And may we enter into that just
a little bit now for your glory and honor, for our good and our
spiritual health, we pray. Amen.

Psalm119:137-144 - Part 18

What does the Bible say about imputed righteousness?

How do we know the necessity of God's righteousness?

Why is the concept of Christ's righteousness important for Christians?

Is knowledge of Christ's righteousness necessary for salvation?

How does understanding God's covenant of grace relate to righteousness?

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Psalm119:137-144 - Part 18

What does the Bible say about imputed righteousness?

How do we know the necessity of God's righteousness?

Why is the concept of Christ's righteousness important for Christians?

Is knowledge of Christ's righteousness necessary for salvation?

How does understanding God's covenant of grace relate to righteousness?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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