Join us this morning in the book
of Numbers, chapter 15. This 15th chapter has been broken
into three parts by the Holy Spirit. It's really outlined
for us. The book of Numbers, chapter
15. The first part, we have here
some sacrifices. Now it's interesting that these
sacrifices are presented after two chapters of rebellion. The
children of Israel have been in direct rebellion against God,
direct rebellion against God's word, and against God's prophets. And they are now suffering the
consequences of that. And so the next chapter, chapter
15, the first part of this has to do with some sacrifices. And
it's interesting that as we read this, we find the sacrifices
in this chapter pointed to the atonement by Christ's blood for
us. We're in serious issue between
us and God. There is a great gulf. And that gulf is not repaired
by our works, but that gulf is taken care of from God's side
to us. This is one area that it is top
down. It must be that way. We'll never
have it from us up. It's going to be from him down.
And that's how he deals with us. And that's how we receive
grace and mercy. That's how we receive the new
birth. And that's how we understand some things about the atonement
by his blood. In the next section of this,
we spoke on last week, and that is about a man who was found
guilty of picking up sticks on the Sabbath. He just could not
rest. He could not stay in his tent
as he was commanded once again. He was in rebellion against God.
against God's word. Now, the message there is not
God is going to whip you if you skip the Sabbath. The message
is there that you must rest in Christ in order to enjoy the
blessings of Christ. This is a necessity. The new
birth brings this to his people that we rest, we quit from our
works just as God had quit from his works after he created the
heavens and the earth. That all is an example, a type,
a shadow, a picture, of what we have in Christ. There is rest
in Christ and Christ alone. Now, the last part of this shares
with us something about some dress. As Israel was a peculiar
people, a particular people, so their dress was also particular
and peculiar. These fringes that we're going
to read about were not intended for ornament, but they were intended
for the children of Israel to remember some things. Let's read
verses 37 through 41 of the 15th chapter of the book of Numbers.
And it starts off, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, one
more time in this book of Numbers, like so often we found in the
book of Leviticus as we studied there, that the Lord spoke. And
you know, if there's ever a time that it should catch our attention,
it is those words, the Lord spoke. Now, what did he have to say?
Well, he goes on to tell us what he had to say here, and it says,
he spoke to Moses, and then it says, speak unto the children
of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the
borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they
put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue. and it shall be unto you for
a fringe, that ye may look upon it and remember." Now we're brought
to this attention when we do the communion service, the Lord's
Supper. Over there in the book of 1 Corinthians
we read that as the Apostle Paul was led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus
said, this do in remembrance of me. Now there is no efficaciousness
in the communion service. but it is a remembrance. We are
to be reminded of what the Lord has done on our behalf. So it
is here with these fringes that were down on the bottoms of their
skirt. Now, this skirt or this robe
that they attach these things to was to be a reminder of the
robe of righteousness that God gives us. Do you remember what
God did for Adam and Eve after they fell in the Garden of Eden?
They had fig leaves on and they expected those things to be all
right with God, and yet he was very displeased with those, and
he did not mix the fig leaves with the skins of animals, but
he must first of all take away their fig leaves and then clothe
them. So it is in salvation. He does
not mend our works. He takes them away and closes
with a robe of righteousness. We're going to spend some time
on that this morning about what righteousness is and who is our
righteousness. But let's finish this reading
first. Remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them. That
you seek not after your own heart and your own eyes after which
you are used to go a whoring. We've seen the problem among
Israel. If we look in the 11th chapter
of the book of Hebrews, it tells us about Moses, that by faith
Moses observed the Passover. You know, that's telling us that
Moses understood some things about the Passover that the common
people did not understand. He had faith. God given him that
faith to believe, and he saw some pictures in the Passover
that represented his Savior, the Lord Jesus. Now, most of
the others had no concept of what it was, except just a lamb
being slain, blood being spread, and now they're set free from
physical bondage. Moses had been set free from
spiritual bondage. Moses had been set free from
all that Adam had brought upon him by the blood of Jesus Christ. As a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, this is the blood that covered the sins of Moses. Now, we find out that actually
the Lord went to the cross and actually the Lord paid the price
of his sins. But for Moses, it was taken care
of just as it had been Taken care before the foundation of
the world. He had the same benefits that we have and then it goes
on here That you may remember to do all the commandments and
be holy unto your God. I Am the Lord your God Which
brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the
Lord your God now What is he saying there? He's saying I'm
in charge It's my way or no way and I am the sovereign king. I am sovereign over the nation
of Israel. I am sovereign over this world.
I am sovereign over the universe. I have all the armies of heaven
and all the inhabitants of the earth in my hand, and none can
say or stay my hand or say, what doest thou? This is the Lord
of hosts. This is the Lord that is in charge.
So when he says these things about their garments and to have
these remembrances put on the bottom of their garments, these
tassels or whatever it was, it was to cause them, if they knew
anything of grace, it was to cause them to remember who their
righteousness is. Now, many of them just put them
there. And some of them understood why
they were there. Now, we don't do that in our
clothing today, but we're called on to remember what the Lord
has done for us. We're called on to remember that
all the time. Paul wrote many times, cause
to remembrance. We are forgetfulers. And we're
called on to be rememberers. And so that memory is brought
up to us from time to time. righteousness of this robe has
to speak to us about someone who is righteous. Now, Christ's
righteousness refers to his perfect state of being. Christ's righteousness speaks
of his perfect state of being. Now that means that the Lord
Jesus never contemplated ever doing one sin. It is impossible
for God to sin. He never sinned. He never thought
of sin. He never had that a part of Him. Now He is able to have great
love for His people and compassion for His people, but He never
had that sin in Him like we do. The scriptures, with one accord,
declare that the fall of Adam has really destroyed our righteousness. We have none of our own. We don't
have any perfect state of being. Even in our conception, we don't
have any perfect state of being. David mentioned, I was conceived
in sin. It's my nature from my very conception
to have this problem. Now turn with me if you would
to Psalm chapter one, Psalm one. Psalm one, there is a statement
here about the life and conduct of a righteous person. Now in
religion, I was taught and I also taught that if you go down through
here, make a checklist. and try to get yourself into
all of these boxes, and then you'll be righteous. Well, you
know, once the Lord saved me, I found out that's an impossibility. And this is speaking about someone
else much higher than me. In the book of the Psalms, Psalm
number one, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel
of the ungodly. It's a desire of the church,
it's a desire of Christians to be able to do this, but you know
what? We're not able to do it in ourselves.
We're only able to do it in Christ. Christ is the only one that did
not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. I've mentioned this
several times about the Lord. He's the only one that was ever
walked upon the face of the earth. And even when he went into Jericho
or Jerusalem or Bethpage or Bethany, he was walking into a cemetery.
Everyone he could see had this curse upon them from Adam, and
they were dead in trespasses and sin. He saw them spiritually
dead. Now a lot of the religious saw
them as good prospects or probably converts, but the Lord knew their
heart. He's the only one that can know
a heart and he could walk into a group of people and he could
see his and he could see those that were not his. He could see
those that were chosen in him before the foundation of the
world. He had the ability of seeing them and knowing them.
He knew exactly who he was going to go to the cross for and he
could see them. But he could also see that The
bulk, the majority, were dead in trespasses and sin. They were
walking dead men. Well, here we read about, blessed
is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
standeth in the way of sinners, nor seateth in the seat of the
scornful. There's only one that has ever
walked this earth that could fulfill those requirements. But
his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth
he meditate day and night. No, the Lord had the ability
of doing that even at night. I don't. And he goes on to say,
and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither. What does it tell us about us
as human beings? Our leaves are constantly withering. We're like the leaf. We're like
the grass. It comes forth. for a moment,
and then dies. This one, this one, his leaf
also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. And the
ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth
away. Therefore the ungodly shall not
stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous,
For the Lord knoweth the ways of the righteous, but the way
of the ungodly shall perish. Now this is a statement about
true righteousness. This is a statement about the
Lord. This is a poetic look at the life and conduct of a righteous
person. And we find in the scriptures,
that we have no righteousness of our own. We are in such desperate
need of that robe of righteousness. We are unclean before the Lord,
we are naked before the Lord, and we are desperately in need
of that robe of righteousness. It's not like going to Fred Meyer
and buying clothes though. We don't go in there and just
go through the rack and decide, well, I think I'll take this
one. This robe is a gift of grace and it is not part of our choice. It is a gift of grace. We find
out that even as the Lord said that he looked down from heaven
to see if there were any that did seek after him and the commentary
on that statement is the Lord said he found none. And then we read turn with me
if you would to the book of Jeremiah chapter 23. Jeremiah chapter
23, we find these wonderful words that mention to us, where is
our righteousness then? If I can't go by it, if I cannot
make it, what can I do to have this righteousness? In the book
of Jeremiah chapter 23, Jeremiah chapter 23 and verse 6, these
words, and in his days, Judah shall be saved. Jeremiah chapter
23 and verse 6. In his days, Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely. Now these words are a metaphor
for the church. That's the importance here. It
goes on, and this is the name whereby he shall be called the
Lord our righteousness. Now the translators did us a
wonderful favor there. Did you notice that? That's in
about twice the size of type, but it's all in caps. That's
a wonderful statement that was made here with regard to the
Lord our righteousness. It's pointed out for us. He is
the Lord our righteousness. Since the Lord Jesus is the only
righteousness of his people, either I am righteous in him
or I'm not righteous. That's the alternatives. We have
no in-between place. And so, as we follow this theme
out, we find that the Lord causes us to remember that He is all
our righteousness. There's no other anywhere else. If you'd turn with me to the
book of Matthew. The book of Matthew. Now in the
book of Matthew, chapter 23, beginning with verse 1. Now this is speaking about those
same robes that we read over there in the book of Numbers
about. These are those clothes that they have these ribnets
of blue at the bottom. Now see what happens if we only
look at those from a physical standpoint. If we only see that
these things are physical and not spiritual. Because these
that we read about in the book of Matthew chapter 23 verses
1 through 7 are only looking at these things from a physical
standpoint. They think, because they have
these riblets down at the bottom of their garments, that they
are accepted before the Lord. And yet we find out that those
are only remembrances of where our righteousness truly is. It is in the Lord that is our
only righteousness. He is the only one that ever
walked the face of this earth that had a nature that did not
and could not sin. The rest of us are born into
sin. It's our part. We have inherited
it from Adam. But God, in His great love for
His people, wherewith He loved us, before the foundation of
the world, He took things into His hands, knowing full well
that we couldn't do it for ourselves. And if we did it for ourselves,
it would be so faulty. All right, read with me here
in the book of Numbers chapter 23 and verse 1. Then spake Jesus
to the multitude and to the multitude and His disciples, saying, The
scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. all therefore
whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do but do not
ye after their works for they say and do not for they bind
heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them upon men's
shoulders but they themselves will not move them with one of
their fingers but all their works they do for to be seen of men
They make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their
garments and love the uppermost parts of rooms of the feast and
the chief seats of the synagogues and greetings in the markets
to be called Rabbi, Rabbi. Did you notice that there in
verse five? They all but all their works they do for to be
seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries
and enlarge the garments. You see I've got all these blue
ribbons down here. Folks, and pay attention. Pay
attention. And they do it to be seen of
men. Now I've practiced that, have
you? In religion we're taught to be
seen of men. Show everybody. Well, once the
Lord saves us, we find out, my goodness, things are worse than
I thought, than I could ever imagine. And that my righteousness
is, as we read in the Old Testament, my righteousnesses are as filthy
rags in the eyes of God. There's not one quality about
them that God has any interest in. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Isaiah 61, and we find in this passage of scripture
what those Pharisees had missed. They were very religious. We
meet them all the time. In fact, I had a preacher tell
me one time, every believer is a recovering Pharisee. We had
that in our nature. We've been prone to it for so
long, and it takes the grace of God for us to have that put
down, to bring it into subjection, to put his arms around us. It's like going into a store
with our children. Sometimes we just have to pick
them up and carry them. We restrain them. That's thankful to God
he does that for us. Here in the book of Isaiah chapter
61, Isaiah chapter 61 and there in verse 10. Isaiah 61 verse 10, I will greatly
rejoice in Jehovah the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God. Why? For he hath clothed me with
the garments of salvation. Here in Isaiah chapter 61 and
verse 10, 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, as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels, he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation and hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness. Now that's his righteousness.
How do we get that righteousness? How do we get the Lord's righteousness? We're in so desperate need of
it, and yet we can't find it. We don't even know what it looks
like by nature. We don't know how to appropriate
it. We're not given the mind to look in the right place. We
are given a mind that is in Adam and he didn't look for the Lord
in the right place. He went and hid himself in the
garden. He didn't want to meet up with him. He had no interest
in him whatsoever after he fell. It was God that had an interest
in Adam. Well, Turn with me over to the
book of Matthew chapter 22. This is what happens when people
try to come in without that robe. The marriage supper here, Matthew
chapter 22. And beginning with verse 8 of
that. The wedding is ready. You know,
in Eastern culture, when you went to a wedding, you were given
a garment. You didn't go out and buy it. Boy, I remember when
I got married, I was encouraged to get a tuxedo. And I said,
I'm wearing the same suit I graduated in. I didn't want to pay that money. Here in Eastern culture, if you
were invited to a wedding, you were met at the door and you
were given a garment to come into the wedding. That meant
you fulfilled the invitation. You're given this. Well, notice
here, then saith his servants, the wedding is ready, but they
which are bidden are not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways,
and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage. So those
servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as
many as were found, and both bad and good, and the wedding
were furnished with guests. Now, We have someone coming in
who knows all. The rest of the people hadn't
noticed the problem. The rest of the people didn't go suggest
that the problem be taken care of. They were ignorant of the
problem, but there is one that knows, and this is the king. The king came in to see the guests.
How are you doing? It's so glad you came to the
wedding feast. I'm so glad I've invited you, and here you are.
You're both bad and good. He said there, he saw someone
stood out. He saw someone in there that
would not, by presumptuousness, would not accept the garment
that was there for his taking. He's been invited. If he's been
invited, there's a garment for him. I've got my own, I'll take
care of it myself. And he says the king saw him,
a man which had not a wedding garment. And he said unto him,
friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?
And notice his reply. He was speechless. He's standing in the presence
of authority. He's standing in the presence
of the king, and he is speechless. He had no more excuses. He had
tried that with everybody else. He tried that with the person
out at the door, but no excuses are going to satisfy the king
because he's the one that could identify him not having a proper
garment. And it goes on to tell us here,
then said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot and take
him away and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen. Now that's the whole group on
the left-hand side at that great day. They do not have the proper
garment, and that is the robe of righteousness. A proper garment
is absolutely essential. for those invited to the wonderful
celebration. Without it, the king will immediately
spot the hypocrisy and the presumptuousness by being identified as not having
a wedding garment, a robe of righteousness. The one that gives
the garment is God. This garment is Christ's imputed
righteousness to us. We have none of our own. We have
no capability of ever acquiring it for ourselves. but there is
one whose business it is to give his righteousness to everyone
that he is going to lay down his life a ransom for." Now righteousness,
the position before God that you have no sin before him, it's
unimaginable. that anybody could ever reach
that position that God would not hold us accountable for our
sin. But everyone that God had in
his son ever died for, they are not accountable for their sin
in the sense it will be, has been, and will forever be paid
for by him who has all righteousness. Now this robe that he gives,
This robe is a robe that he gives. It is not something we put on.
Remember Adam and Eve over there? They didn't participate in the
acquiring of it. They didn't participate in the
putting on of it. They only had it to wear and
it was acceptable unto God. Except, Jesus told a group of
people one time, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter the
kingdom of heaven. Well, how can I get better than
they are? Because they were professionals at it. Only because of his righteousness. Now, it's imputed to us. It is
imputed righteousness. Christ imputes his righteousness
to us. He gives us His standing before
the Father, His perfection before the Father. That's no wonder
He's able to say that as we stand before Him there will not be
spot or wrinkle. God will not see any spot or
wrinkle in all of His children because it is the righteousness
of Christ that has been given to us, imputed to us, put to
our account. It is not our righteousness because
only after we're born again do we ever recognize the fact that
our righteousness will not avail. It is not good. It is self-righteousness. It is unrighteousness. It is
righteousness which speaks of filthy rags. Turn with me to
the book of Romans, if you would. Romans chapter four. Romans chapter
four, verse six. What a blessed place that a person
can find themselves in by revelation of Jesus Christ. David wrote
about it. It's brought up here by the Apostle
Paul in the book of Romans. Even as David also describeth. Now it took a lot of describing. The Psalms are filled with it.
David's writings are filled with it. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works. Blessed is the person. Blessed
is the man. Blessed is the woman. Blessed
is the child that God will impute righteousness. You know what
that means? Sin has been taken care of. He
paid for sin on the cross. It's taken care of completely.
It's the only way that the Lord can impute righteousness to us
is that he has paid for our sin. Turn with me just a little further
there in the book of Romans to Romans chapter 5 and verse 18.
As we think about this, this is a remembrance of who your
righteousness is. When you put it on, when you
take this robe off, when you look at those ribbons at the
bottom of blue, remember who your righteousness is. Just as
you take the communion service, this do in remembrance of me. It's not for your benefit, it's
a remembrancer. of me as oft as you eat this
bread and drink this cup you'll remember me till I come." That
is what Christ said. All right here in the book of
Romans chapter 5 and verse 18 we read these words, therefore
as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation
the free the one The free gift came upon, excuse me, even so
by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. Who did Adam represent? Every
man, woman, boy, and girl ever born into this world. Who did
Christ represent? The church. He represented his
elect. He represented his people. He
represented those he had written down in the Lamb's Book of Life
before the foundation of the world. He represented them. And
his representation is so good that he can give us his righteousness,
impute it to us, put it to our account. We can walk around in
a robe of righteousness. It's not seen, but it's known
because of faith. by the offense of one. And then
in first Corinthians chapter one and verse 30. Would you read
that with me? How wonderful it is to read through
here as the commonality of righteousness of Christ is brought up over
and over and over and over in the scriptures. And it is by
his righteousness alone that we can stand before God, not
our righteousness, which is as the works of the law here in
the book of first of Yeah, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 30, it speaks
so much about what the Lord is to his church. And this is just
one passage of scripture, but it condenses so much here. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us, appropriated to us, given to us. There's four
things mentioned here. How all-encompassing is the Lord's
benefits to his people. Nothing is left out. Everything
is covered by his blood and his righteousness. We have nothing
to do. We are to rest from our works. Religion calls on us to work. Christ calls on us to rest. Rest in what? Who of God has
made unto us wisdom? The Lord is our wisdom. You know
what that means? We're able to see Christ in the
scriptures only by revelation. We'll never appropriate it on
our own. And then it goes on to say, and
righteousness. He's made into us our wisdom
and our righteousness and our sanctification. Thanks be unto
God, we're not getting, you know, religion teaches us we're going
to get better and better and better on our own. It has been termed progressive
sanctification. You know, I'd rather have all
at once sanctification. That's what the Lord gives His
people, is righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He redeems His people from their
sins. He is their Redeemer. This is
so outstanding for the church. He, for He made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. He became sin for us. Our sin
was imputed to Him. Placed on Him. And He poured
out His very life on behalf of His people. On the behalf of
those that He intended to save. In the book of Acts, chapter
7, Acts chapter 7, would you turn
there with me? One of the identification marks
that was given here in Acts chapter 7, in verse 52, in Stephen's
great message. You know who one person that
we know was present at this whole preaching service? His name was
Saul of Tarsus. You know, he wasn't there to
hear this, but he got to hear it. I'm so thankful that God puts
his people where he intends for them to be so they can hear something.
He puts Saul of Tarsus right here. Now, he's consenting to
the death of this man, but this man has something to say. He
knows something about God, and he's going to share it. And he
does. Now in verse 52, which of the
prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain
them which showed before of the coming of the just one. Who's that? That's the Lord.
And this word just here could be translated righteous one.
Which of the prophets have you not slain? And all they did,
they showed before of the coming of the righteous one, the Lord
Jesus, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers of. You murdered the righteous one. Well, we know it was all by divine
appointment that God intended that to happen that way, that
his son would lay down his life, a ransom for many, and that this
would be done. And so, as is written in the
book of Jeremiah, chapter 23 and verse 6 again, his name,
Lord our righteousness. Now, many of those Jews felt
it was most important to have the most ribbons at the bottom
of their clothes, the bluest ribbons, the longest ribbons,
the most spectacular display of their ribbons. And they did
it to be seen of men. And the Lord had much to say
about that. Now, those who knew something knew that this was
only a remembrancer It is only to remind me, and you know when
I wake up in the morning and that thought goes through my
head that should never have gone through my head, you know what
that is? It's a remembrancer for me who is my righteousness. It is a remembrance to me that
I have only righteousness in Christ, and that righteousness
has been imputed to my account. And I can only stand before the
Lord clean and righteous because he is righteous. I have none
of my own. I attest to the fact that my
righteousnesses are as filthy rags, but his righteousness is
right, pure. Because He is, and He never was
otherwise, the Lord, our righteousness. And to the church, He is our
righteousness, our right standing. It's been imputed to us, given
to us, placed to our account. And the thing we find out about
it is, I never participated in it. The Lord even had to raise
my hands so that it could be placed upon me. I had no strength
to even do that. It is the Lord's righteousness
imputed to us. We, well, let's just turn in
closing over to Romans chapter 10 again. Romans chapter 10 and
there in verse three, Romans chapter 10 and verse three. Paul writing about the Jews,
those who were in the marketplace and they got the longest blue
ribbons, they got the most blue ribbons, they have all of that
stuff around. They even had to enlarge their roads so they could
get it all on there. They had to walk around and make
sure the people got out of the way. 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 that means? They never called the Lord, Lord. They never bowed. They had their own righteousness
and that was enough. God, keep us from putting ribbons
on our pants and our dresses, because that's not what it was
intended. But Lord, keep us remembering
that you are your church's righteousness. Every bit of our righteousness
belongs to somebody else, given to us. Lord willing, next Sunday we
plan on bringing a message then and the following Sunday on the
incarnation of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. And the 25th we plan
on having 11 o'clock service only.