Alright, let's turn back to Jeremiah
33. We're continuing on the subject
as I entitled the message this past Sunday evening, Come Thou
Fount of Every Blessing. And remember the reason I entitled
it that is because here in chapter 33 from verse 6 on through the
rest of the chapter basically, but mainly down through verse
16. But it does continue. We have a listing of all the
spiritual blessings of salvation, of eternal life that God gives
freely, unconditionally gives His people through the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's sort of like a commentary
on Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3 where it says, God and Father
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Him. And so we have,
if not all, many of those spiritual blessings listed here. And the
key, and I hope I'll get up to these verses tonight, and then
I want to come back and deal with these verses by themselves,
in verse 15 and 16, This is the key because this is the person
and the great work that all of our blessedness in the kingdom
of heaven, the kingdom of God is conditioned on and that is
Christ the Lord our righteousness. Verse 15, in those days and at
that time will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto
David. And I want to talk about that
in a message because he expounds upon that. In verse 17, he says,
For thus saith the Lord, David shall never want or lack a man
to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. How in the world
could that be fulfilled according to God's promise except in the
Lord Jesus Christ? But look back at verse 15, In
those days and at that time will I cause the branch of righteousness
to grow up unto David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness
in the land. That's a commentary on the phrase
that the Apostle Paul expressed in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and
chapter 2 in speaking of his preaching, how he described his
preaching. And it's a great way to look
at it if you understand the reality and truth behind it. Paul called
it the preaching of the cross, but in 1 Corinthians chapter
2 and verse 2, he said, I strive not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And that's what this is right
here. He says in verse 16, In those days shall Judah be
saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name
we're with, she. I love that, she, that's the
feminine pronoun, speaking of the church. We'll once again
compare that back in, with that passage back in Jeremiah 23,
when it says he, that's Christ, the head, the husband. And then
she, the church, his bride, shall be called the Lord our righteousness,
Jehovah. Sid Canu. And what a glorious
name that is. There's many names that's used
in the Old Testament to describe and identify and distinguish
our Savior. Because you can't just describe
Him and identify Him and distinguish Him with one name. He's so multi-faceted
in all the glory of His person. I mean, you think about it, in
this person dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
How could you describe Him with just one name? But His name is
His reputation. His name is His honor and His
glory. And that's what's on the line
in the salvation of His people. So that we understand that if
Jesus Christ were to lose even one sinner whom He redeemed,
He would lose all in His honor, in His glory, in His reputation.
And He cannot do that. But this particular name, the
Lord Our Righteousness, is so full of gospel truth because
God the Holy Spirit, we see that for example, when God the Holy
Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write of that gospel in Romans
chapter 1, and how he described the gospel, which is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, And he said in
verse 17 there of chapter one, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. Well, here it is. Here's the
righteousness of God. It's the Lord our righteousness,
the Lord Jesus Christ. But we'll look at that. Now go
back to verse six. I just want to read through these
first few verses that I've already preached on of Jeremiah 33. But here's the blessing. Verse
six, behold, I will bring it health and cure. Christ, the
great physician, healing. curing His people with the ointment
of His blood, with the bandage of His righteousness imputed.
Now again, when I say that, we're using metaphors, we're using
symbols, we're not using literal language there as if that is
something that is merely outward and has no saving power within. Because it does. The Bible says
it does. And don't fall into the trap
of pitting one of God's truth against another. Preachers who
do that in the minds of their people, they don't have the glory
of God and the good of the church in mind. I'm telling you. But
he says, I will cure them. That's salvation. Christ said
the whole need not a physician, but the sick. And that's what
we are. We're sin sick. We've got the leprosy of sin
in that sense. And the only cure is the blood
of the Lamb. That's the ointment. That's the
balm of Gilead. You remember Jeremiah asked,
is there no balm in Gilead? And there wasn't any balm to
cure the physical nation of Israel from their ills, because the
blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. But there
is balm in Christ. He said, I will reveal to them
the abundance of peace and truth. This is a true cure, a sure cure,
and it will bring peace within our hearts. And so we see here
that the healing that he's speaking of, the cure that he's speaking
of is a heart cure. It brings peace, peace of mind,
peace of conscience as the guilt of sin is removed by the blood
of Christ. It's that joy and peace that
comes in believing. It's the peace that comes out
of repentance because in coming to Christ, the great physician,
And in the application of the Holy Spirit, of the blood of
Christ, the blood of sprinkling to our hearts, we forsake, deny,
and run from every other cure that man supposedly offers. Every
other supposed cure that man offers. Religion won't cure us.
We know that. Works won't cure us. Nothing
will cure us. What can... The priest done that,
didn't he? What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood
of Jesus. And so that's the essence of
faith and repentance there, isn't it? We'll look at verse 7. And I'll cause the captivity
of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build
them as at the first. There's Christ setting the captives
free. Remember we talked about two
ways. Number one, He sets us free from condemnation. And that's
His righteousness imputed. That's what that is. He was made
sin. He was made a curse. He incurred
my debt. You see, if you're in debt, you're
in bondage. Isn't that right? Well, He took
my debt. He made it His own. That's why
He can say in the Messianic Psalms, like Psalm 22 and Psalm 69, it's
my sins. Christ said they're my sins.
Why are they His? He didn't commit them. And they
didn't corrupt him or contaminate him. Oh, no. They couldn't. If
they did, he'd been disqualified. But how did they become his?
He took my debt. It was laid to his charge, just
like old Paul spoke to his brother and friend Philemon about Onesimus
the slave who owed Philemon because he'd stolen from him. He said,
if he'd done thee wrong, he said, put it to my account. I'll pay
it. I'll repay it. And that's what
Christ said in the everlasting covenant of grace. So he sets
us free from condemnation in a legal way. And then he sets
us free from spiritual death and darkness in regeneration.
Because before we're born again, that's why Christ said you must
be born again. Before we are born again, what
are we? We're in bondage to Satan's darkness
and deception, aren't we? And we're dead, spiritually dead.
We don't have ears to hear and eyes to see, hearts and minds
to understand and know and love and desire the things of God.
And that's a bondage. 2 Corinthians 4, what is it? Verse 3, where he says, if our
gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost, in whom the God
of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glory of God should shine unto them. That's
bondage, you see. And when the Spirit gives us
life, what we call the resurrection life, because it is a resurrection
from the dead, and imparts light, knowledge, power, and the grace
of God, we're liberated in our minds and in our hearts so that
we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and run
to Him. And now we're still sinners,
but we're not deceived by sin. Remember, Paul wrote about that
in Romans 7. He says, when I didn't know the law, didn't know the
extent of the law, I was alive. I thought I was fine. I thought
I was saved. But when I saw the law and the power of the Spirit,
I died. Sin revived and I died. And I
saw I didn't have a righteousness that settled the issue and answered
the demands of God's law and justice. And then the Spirit
came and convicted me of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
Then here we see Christ building the church, the builder of the
church. On this rock I will build my church. What's he talking
about? He's talking about himself as the Lord, our righteousness
there. Because that's what he did in his obedience unto death
as the substitute and the surety of his people. He established
righteousness himself upon which the church is built. And he said,
the gates of hell will not prevail against them. Verse 8, I will
cleanse them from all their iniquity. That couldn't happen under the
old covenant by the blood of animals. The blood of bulls and
goats couldn't take away sin. Whereby they sin against me,
I'll pardon all their iniquities. Whereby they sin and whereby
they've transgressed against me. There's all three Hebrew
words for sin. We don't balance out. We don't
measure up. and we rebelled against God,
every bit of that, every bit of that is taken care of by the
grace of God in Christ. Now, isn't that amazing? His
blood washes away, cleanses us from all our sins. His righteousness
measures up and gives us a perfect, eternal, unchangeable, and incorruptible
standing before God. We're accepted in the beloved.
Do you realize that if you're in Christ, that never changes?
Now you'll change. I change. But that doesn't. That's grace. I know. I know the objections. I know
who it comes from. I know what it's all about. Oh
yeah, well then I can go out and just live like hell. Or live
like the devil. Well, you don't know the grace
of God. There's power there too. There's desires there that you
didn't have before, isn't there? God the Holy Spirit gives us
life. You have desires that you didn't have before. You have
a desire to glorify God. It's not a perfect desire yet.
You have a desire to love God and to love the brethren. You
love his truth. Love things you didn't love before. Hate things
you didn't hate before. All that's true. But look at
verse nine now. He says, and it shall be to me
a name of joy And he says, and in honor before all the nations
of the earth, you see that? Which shall hear all the good
that I do unto them. Now he's talking about the salvation
of his people out of the world. And they shall fear and tremble
for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure
unto it. You know, when I read that verse,
you know what I thought of? I thought about the rich man
and Lazarus. Now and what that proves to me
and what it should prove to all of us is that we walk by faith
and not by sight. Because now if you're just a
casual observer of the situation there, there's the rich man and
he's in the lap of luxury and appears to our physical eyes
to be blessed of God. And then there's poor old Lazarus
out there at the gate Naked, sick, sore, the dog's licking
his sore, begging for bread. And yet, he's the one who's prospering
in the sight of God. Now that just goes against our
grain, doesn't it? You see the prosperity that he's
talking about here, there was some physical prosperity that
was granted to the nation Judah for a limited time, but it didn't
last. and it was just temporal. But
he said, the prosperity that I procure unto it. In other words,
this prosperity is something that we don't earn and don't
deserve. He's talking about our spiritual
prosperity in Christ, blessed with all spiritual blessings
in him. And so he says in verse 10, thus saith the Lord again,
there shall be heard in this place, which you say shall be
desolate without man, without beast, even in the cities of
Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man,
without inhabitant, without beast. In that place, there's going
to be again, verse 11, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness. The voice of the bridegroom.
The voice of the bride. The voice of them that shall
say, praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good. For his
mercy endureth forever. You know the repetition of that
phrase in so much of the scripture is very important, isn't it?
That ought to make us wake up a little bit and see what this
thing's all about. You see, it's not about what
I earn and what I deserve. Nothing is. Nothing in this blessedness,
nothing in this salvation is about what I earn and what I
deserve. His mercy endureth forever. Now who's His mercy endureth
forever to? His people. And He says, and
of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise unto the
house of the Lord. That's the thank offerings. Thank
you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation so
rich and so free. He says, for I will cause to
return the captivity of the land as at the first, saith the Lord.
Now that phrase, as at the first, is very important. And the reason
it is is because it shows you that he's speaking of something
much greater and much more glorious than their return 70 years later
from the captivity in Babylon. Think about it. Their first beginning
in the land was something awesome to see. Joshua brought them over. The walls of Jericho fell, the
city was established, all of that. But now their return from
the captivity, though it was a great and glorious thing, wasn't
even to be compared with that. And so, and especially when you
consider, if you read the minor prophets on what was going on
during that time, I mean, there was about 50,000 people that
came back out of Babylon to Jerusalem. And you look at the prophets
of the return and how they had to continually preach to the
people and admonish the people for not doing what they were
commanded to do. and then their latter state right
before the end of the Old Testament Scriptures in Malachi. But here
he's talking about something that has its ultimate fulfillment
in the salvation of his people by Jesus Christ. And here he's
talking about that that group will be a witness and a joy and
praise in the whole earth. The gospel going out all over
the world, that's what he's talking about. Out of it, God's elect
among the Gentiles will join them under the headship of Christ
in worship, he says. That voice of gladness, the voice
of the bridegroom. Who's the bridegroom? That's
Christ, the bridegroom. And the voice of the bride, that's
his church. And what are they gonna say?
Praise the Lord of hosts. These are the words of the redeemed
here. These aren't just religious people
getting together and making a big show of things. They say the
Lord is good, His mercy endureth forever. These aren't people
who are trying to establish a righteousness of their own. These are people
who are submitted to the Lord, their righteousness. Mercy. That's what we are. I obtained
mercy, Paul said. There was a time as Saul of Tarsus,
he would have never said, I obtained mercy. He would have said, I'm
doing the best I can. I ought to be blessed more than
anybody else. Read it. That's the legalism of Judaism
and the Pharisaism of it. But after God saved him, after
God showed him what he was by nature and what he deserved by
nature, what did Paul say? He said, I obtained mercy. What
did he say? Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. He said, by the grace
of God, I am what I am. And he didn't even attribute
the powers of the ministry to himself. He said, who is sufficient
for these things? Our sufficiency is of Christ.
It's mercy. And bringing the sacrifice of
praise. You see, the sacrifice of legalism, of works-based salvation
is not a sacrifice of praise. Because let me tell you something,
who it praises. It praises man. Or at least man thinks it praises
it, but it does not praise God. You remember, read the book of
Isaiah chapter 1 again. I'm tired of your oblations. What is an oblation? That's an
offering. They're bringing offerings to God. And God said, I'm sick
of them. They weren't sacrifices of praise. They weren't thank
offerings, you see. They were just religious ceremonies. They were just religious exercises. There was no love for Christ
there. There was no admission of guilt and sin. There was no
repentance, no true faith. But here's the sacrifice of praise
unto the house of the Lord. Now, I believe the main essence
of what he's saying here when he says, I will cause to return
the captivity of the land as at the first, saith the Lord,
is the fact that God is assuring them that he's going to keep
that nation together and in that land until the time of the Messiah. Because when he gets up there
to verse 15, what does he say? Here's how it's all going to
be fulfilled now. Here's the crux of it. Here's the issue
of it. Here's the condition of it. Here's
the fulfillment of it. In those days and at that time
I'll cause the branch of righteousness to grow up. That's how it's all
going to be fulfilled. It's not in Israel as a nation. No. That's not to say that Israel
won't be back there and come into that land and have their
part in the providential workings of God as He works all things
after the counsel of His own will. It's not because there's
a better class of people coming in America who will do better
than the Jews back then. No, sir. It's because of one
thing and one thing alone. And here it is, in those days,
I'll cause the branch of righteousness to grow up in the day. Christ
is coming. That's what it's all about. And
for us, it's Christ has come. Worthy is the lamb that was slain.
You see how many different ways from Genesis to Revelation this
is stated. I used to say to myself when
I was studying things like this, how in the world could people
miss it? And then it just dawns on me, the Lord slaps me in the
face and says, well Bill, you missed it for a long time. And
I did. I even sat under a man preaching
it and missed it. Isn't that amazing? That's what this is all about.
God chose Israel through whom he would bless the whole world
by sending Christ into the world and saving his elect Jew and
Gentile out of the world. So that, as John put it, he's
the propitiation for our sins, not for ours only, but for the
whole world. Not all without exception. That's not what he's
talking about. But his people out of every tribe,
kindred, tongue, and nation. Now look, and it describes the
tragedy, the destruction, and the sorrow and death which sin
brings. He's talking about a place that
at this time is desolate, without man, without beast. But it also
describes the blessing and the prosperity and the joy in life,
which righteousness brings, Christ and His church. Look at verse
12. He says, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Again in this place
which is desolate without man and without beast and in all
the cities thereof shall be in habitation of shepherds causing
their flocks to lie down. You see that? Causing their flocks
to lie down. Shepherds here that he's speaking
of are true ministers of Christ. Remember he called the Pharisees
and the Sadducees false shepherds. They inspired the people in legalism,
false religion, works-based religion. But the true ministers of Christ,
of whom Jeremiah is one, and others, a few others, all the
prophets, the true ministers of Christ preaching the gospel,
leading and caring for the flock of God, that's what he's talking
about. So he's talking about this time when the people will
be led in a right way. And he says, causing their flocks
to lie down. Now how does a true minister
of Christ cause the flock to lie down? I'll tell you exactly
how he does it. He points them to Christ. And that's all he
can do now. You know, you've heard the old
saying, you can lead the horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
Well, he at least points the sinner to Christ. And they lie
down in the sense that God brings them to lie down in green pastures. Think about Psalm 23. He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures. He restoreth my soul. Pointing
them to Christ, the Great Shepherd. To lie down means to rest in
Christ. He's our rest. He's our Sabbath.
We rest in Him for all salvation. We rest in Him for all forgiveness.
We rest in Him for all righteousness. We rest in Him for all glory.
Resting in Christ, there's no greater rest. That's eternal
rest. That's really an uninterrupted
rest, even though we don't see it all the time. But it's there. But look at verse 13, he says,
in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the vale,
or the valley, and in the cities of the south, and in the land
of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities
of Judah. Now what he's talking about is
everywhere in Israel. And so that's emblematic, that's
a metaphor of everywhere God has a people. Where God has a
people, that's where it is. And he says, shall the flocks
pass under the hands of him that telleth them? Or, it could read
this way, pass under the hands of him that counteth him, or
him that numbers them, saith the Lord. The picture there is
the great shepherd who owns the sheep taking an account of his
sheep. He's counting his sheep. What
does that tell you? He knows his sheep. Christ said
in John 10, I know my sheep. They pass under the hand of one
who numbers them. He knows his sheep. He knows
them by name just like the shepherd. He had a particular call that
he would call and his sheep would come forth out of the mixture.
And they pass under his hand and he counts them. He knows
their number. We don't, but he does. He knows. That's why he said, other sheep
have I which are not of this folk, them I must bring also. Let me give you this little outline.
His sheep pass under his hand in sovereign electing grace as
God chose us and counted us in him and with him. chosen by God
in Christ before the foundation of the world, considered as sheep,
by grace distinguished from others, and that's the only thing that
distinguished us, is grace. An exact count was taken as our
names were written in heaven and recorded in the Lamb's book
of life, and God's seal was put upon us. And what is God's seal?
2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19, having this seal, the Lord
knoweth them that are his. If God knows them, they're His. Counted. They passed under His hand in
effectual redeeming grace. He was numbered with the transgressors. Think about that. That's the
imputation of our sin to Christ. He was made sin. He was made
a curse. He was numbered with the transgressors. He took upon Him our name and
our nature without sin. He was fully God and fully man
in every way without sin. And he was numbered with the
transgressors, and the good shepherd gave his life for the sheep.
Our sins were charged to him. He put them away. He paid our
debt in full by his death, and clothed us in his righteousness." We're counted with Christ. Paul
said that I may know him and be found in him, not having my
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ. And then they pass under his
hand in invincible, regenerating grace. He said it in John 10,
my sheep, hear my voice and follow me. When Christ's mark of sanctification
is put upon us in our new birth, we come to know him and to trust
him. And as we were given to Christ
in the covenant of grace and brought into the bond of that
covenant in our calling by the Holy Spirit, passing under his
hand as it were, we're returned to the shepherd and bishop of
our souls. We're no longer lost sheep. He
found us. And as a result, we found him.
And then fourthly, they will pass under his hand in glorifying
grace as at the last day. when Christ delivers us up to
the Father. And you know what he says, I
and the children, or the sheep, whom thou hast given me, and
we'll all be numbered, and not one will be missing. Not one
will be missing. There'll be no vacancies. So
what is this all about? Look at verse 14. Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord. that I will perform that good
thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the
house of Judah. Now, they're going to be brought
back to the land after 70 years. God promised that. It was a punishment. It was for a purpose. We've talked
about that. And God promised that they're going to return
to that land and they did. But there's an ultimate purpose. There's a greater purpose. There's
an eternal purpose that applies to every one of God's sheep,
God's elect out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation.
And here it is, verse 15. In those days, in the days of
God fulfilling his promise, and at that time, the fullness of
the time, what did God do? Galatians 4.4, he sent forth
his son. will I cause the branch of righteousness
to grow up unto David. That speaks of his humanity.
God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, who has no beginning
and no end, the great I am, will take upon himself the likeness
of sinful flesh, Take upon himself the nature of the seed of Abraham,
a full-fledged human nature without sin. Be born of the house of
David according to the flesh. And he'll grow up. Mind-boggling,
isn't it? But he will. And he shall execute
judgment and righteousness in the land. He's going to fulfill
all the law. We can't do that. He's going to satisfy all the
justice of God. He's going to establish righteousness
by which God can be just and justifier. And in those days,
because of this great work of the righteous branch of David,
Jesus Christ, the Lord our righteousness, shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem
shall dwell safely. Now, how are you going to identify
him? Well, here's his name. Wherewith she shall be called
the Lord our righteousness. He is my righteousness. And I'll
start there next time, and we'll look at that even more. Isn't
that some subject? That's so glorious, isn't it? So glorious. Hymn number 75, Abide With Me
will be our closing hymn. 75.