in the Bible school, I think
some of our teachers of our children may use a tool called sword drills. The sword being the Bible and
the drill being, you know, you name a scripture and you see
who can get to it the fastest. And sometimes I'll preach messages
which probably seems like to you that I'm putting you through
sword drills. because I ask you to turn to a lot of scripture.
I try to minimize that, not to make you lazy in the scripture,
but just for time's sake. But today it may seem like it's
a sword drill, but I don't mean it to be. I want you to open
your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 23 to start off with. And I also want you to open to
the scripture that Brother Richard read, Isaiah 45. Now my text this morning is Jeremiah 23 verses
5 through 6. The title of the message is Christ
Our Righteousness. Christ Our Righteousness. And that comes from the term
here, the phrase, the name that is listed here in verse 6, the
Lord Our Righteousness. Somebody asked me one time and
said, if you were going to just simply as you could just present
the gospel to someone, where would you take them? Well, that's
just like saying, where's the best place to drop a grain of
sand in the Grand Canyon? Who knows? There's so many scriptures
you could go to. But I thought since we're going
through the book of Jeremiah in our evening services, I thought
We're right here at chapter 23. I preached on the first eight
verses Wednesday night. And I thought, well, these two
verses here in Jeremiah 23 are very adequate to talk about the
heart of the gospel, the foundation of our faith in Christ. But I
want to introduce it with chapter 45 of Isaiah. Turn there first. And I want to take you to this
phrase in verse 21. Now, here's what he's doing. Isaiah. Prophet
Isaiah. He's preaching to Judah and Jerusalem,
supposedly the people of God under the old covenant. And he
mentions this phrase in identifying God. Look at it, he says in verse
21, he talked about those who pray to a God that cannot save.
And a God that cannot save is any God but the true and living
God as he's identified and distinguished in this book here. The God who
identifies and distinguishes himself as he reveals himself
in the person and work of his dearly beloved son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's no other savior. None
other name given among men whereby we must be saved. But look at
verse 21. Now he says, tell ye and bring
them near, yea, let them take counsel together. Put on your
thinking caps, what he's saying. And think about this. Now here's
the question. Who hath declared this from ancient times? Now
what he's about to declare here is not a new message. It's an
old message. It's really an eternal message.
Older than the world, isn't that right? This message that he's
about to deliver here from God is a product of the everlasting,
eternal covenant of redemption made before time between the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible calls it the
everlasting covenant of grace, where God chose a people and
gave them to Christ, determined to put all the responsibility
of their salvation upon Him. So who hath declared this from
ancient times? No man has, only God. And then He says, who hath told
it from that time? Have not I the Lord? The word
Lord there would be Jehovah. Jehovah is God's covenant name. the God of all grace, the God
of salvation. When you read over there in Jeremiah
23, the Lord our righteousness, that's Jehovah Sid Canu. You've heard that term. First
time I ever heard that term was sitting right here in this building,
right here in this congregation. And I'd been to seminary. Never
heard that term. You know what, it was there from
old ancient time. But I never heard it. Because
it really wasn't important to us at that time. But I remember
when I heard Brother Mayhem preach, Jehovah Sid Canoe. And I thought,
what in the world is that? Who is that guy? But that's the
Lord our righteousness. Well, here he is. He said, have
not I the Lord, Jehovah. That's his covenant name. That's
his name whereby he reveals himself to his people in their salvation,
the salvation of sinners. And then he says, there's no
God beside me. Now what he means by that, sometimes
the scripture will say there's no other God. And there is no
other God. Men concoct gods of their imagination,
but those are idols. Those are just what they say,
imagination. But when he says there's no other
God beside me, what he means is there's nothing to be compared
with him. Not only is there no other God, there's no other God
to be compared with our God. Can't even compare him, you know.
That's why this idea of people say, well, you know, we all just
have our religions and we're just going different ways, but
it's going to end up the same. No, no. There's no God beside
this one. He's the true and living God. Every other God is an idol. And listen to how he identifies
himself. And if you haven't got hold of
this phrase, get hold of it today. I put it this way, I pray God
gets hold of you. Alright? And here's the phrase,
a just God and a Savior. A just God and a Savior. Now,
I'm not saying this to be mean or try to be exclusive or elitist
or anything like that, but I want to tell you something now. Involved
in that phrase, included in that phrase, I believe you will find
the missing note in 90% or more of religion today. Right there. adjust God and say well, what
does that mean well here's what it means and and he says adjust
God and a Savior God is a saving God and We love to talk about
his his saving character We can talk about God's love and Some
churches, that's all you hear about God's love, but it's not
really the love that's in this book. It's not the God of this
book Some people Relate God's love is some kind of a blanket
amnesty and That it's there if you just want to reach up and
take a bite out of it or grab it or something Okay, that's
not what the Bible teaches now. That's what I'm telling you And
I know people get mad at us for saying things like that, but
your arguments not with me you read this book This is the record
we were studying that in Sunday school. This is the record that
God has given But we love to talk about the love of God. The
love of God is something that man by nature doesn't know. 1
John 4.10, hearing His love. Not that we love God. In other
words, His love is not a response to our love or anything we do.
It's unconditional love. Not that we love God, but that
God sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We love to talk
about God's mercy. Our God is a merciful God. He
has mercy for sinners. Our God is a gracious God. What a comfort to a sinner seeking
grace and mercy. That old publican, God be merciful
to me the sinner. But here's the issue of the gospel.
Now we're sinners. And there's a lot of differences
among us. There's a lot of different degrees
of different kinds of attitudes and moralities and goals and
purposes and motivations and all of that. But there's one
area in which this book right here teaches that we're all the
same. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now
I may look out here and I may see some people and say, you
know that fellow over there, he's better than that fellow over
there. I may say that. Or vice versa. But when it comes
to sin and what we earn and deserve, they're both the same. There's
no difference, he says in Romans chapter 3. No difference. We've
all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3 and
verse 10, there's none righteous, no, not one. And remember I always
tell you, don't get the accept me syndrome when you read those
scriptures. There's none righteous, no, not one, except me. There's
none that doeth good, no, not one. That's in God's eyes, according
to God's standard of goodness. So what that means is this. What
do I deserve if God were to give me what I deserve and what I've
earned at any time? The answer, according to this
book, would be eternal death and damnation. And that's at
my best. Man at his best state altogether,
man. So the question comes up, and some say this is the oldest
question in the world for sinners. It's posed in the book of Job.
How can this God be merciful to me, a sinner, and still be
true to Himself? He must be true to Himself. He
cannot be anything less than what He is. He's a holy God.
And He cannot be anything less than all. He is a just God. He
cannot pervert justice, not even to save you. Or to save me. He cannot do it. He must be a
just God. In other words, if He saves in
mercy and grace and love, He must find a way in that He can
do it in a just way. An honest way. A righteous way. or he can't do it. He must honor
every attribute of his character. And that's what this means, a
just God and a saint. How can God be both a righteous
judge and judge according to truth and still be a loving,
merciful Father and save me and bless me and take me into communion
with Himself? That's the question. That's the
question of questions. How can he be both just and justifier? Well, he says that a just God
and a Savior, there's none beside me. He says in verse 22, look
unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Look unto
who? This just God and a Savior. For I'm God and there's none
else. And I want to tell you this right now. There is no other
religion in this world in the ancient annals of human history or modern history, or present
time, that even addresses that question. All other religions are salvation
by the works of men in some way, at some stage, to some degree.
That's what it is. But not this. Now Isaiah answers
it right here. He says in verse 24, for example,
he said, Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness.
In the Lord. But let's go to Jeremiah 23 now.
Here's our text. Now Jeremiah is preaching condemnation
and wrath to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. But he speaks here
of a bright hope coming in the future. What is that bright hope
for sinners? It's a hope for sinners coming
in the future. Well, the bright hope of the
future is not found in a better generation of people who will
be born later on. In America or wherever. You know
these Israelites, these people of Judah and Jerusalem, they
were stubborn, stiff-necked, self-righteous, unbelieving. So what's the brighter hope of
future? Well, you know, we in the Bible Belt, we're not going
to be that way. Is that what he says? Absolutely not. In fact, he tells us all men
and women by nature are stubborn, self-righteous, stiff-necked,
and unbelieving. And the hope that God speaks
of is the work of God Himself, not the work of man for God.
He says that in the New Covenant. Well, what is that bright hope?
Well, look at it. Verse 4 or verse 5. Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch. Now, that term branch is a way
of referring and identifying the promised Messiah, the anointed
one, who is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
branch. I think that term is like five
times in the scripture, including this one here, the branch. I
think the first time it's used is in Isaiah 11, where he talks
about the future of the church, the church at peace with God.
Why? Because of the branch. Used in Zechariah chapter three,
when he talks about Joshua the high priest standing before God
dressed in filthy clothes. That's his own works. And he
says, take off those filthy clothes and put on him a new garment.
That's the righteousness of Christ. All because of the branch. And
then he says, a king shall reign and prosper. In other words,
there will be no failure here. Israel failed under the old covenant.
You and I have failed under the law. We sang that song. Free from the law, O happy condition,
Jesus hath bled and there is remission. Now why is it such
a happy condition to be free from the law? Because under the
law, you and I fail. By deeds of law shall no flesh
be justified. What is it to be justified? It's
to be not guilty. It's to be cleared of all guilt
of sin. It's to be righteous in God's
sight. What is righteousness? Perfect
satisfaction to God's law and justice. That's what righteousness
is. Nothing I do or nothing you do can reach that goal. That's
why we all fall short. of the glory of God. We miss
the mark. You say, well, I'm trying my
best. That's okay, but your best misses the mark. Your best is
not going to make it. That will not make you righteous
before God. But this King, this righteous
branch, this Messiah, He shall reign and prosper. He won't fail. He'll hit the mark. He'll hit
it. Now how is He going to do it?
Look at it. He'll execute judgment and justice in the earth. And
you know what that's referring to? His death on the cross. That's
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ to put away the debt and penalty
of all the sins of His sheep. He said, I'll lay down my life
for the sheep. He's paying a debt. A debt owed
to God's justice for the sins of His people. as that debt was
charged to him. That's the language of imputation.
He became accountable, responsible for my debt. It was put onto
his account. It was charged to him. That's
what it means in 2 Corinthians 5.21 when it says he was made
sin. Christ who knew no sin. The imputation of my sin to him.
And what did he do? He executed judgment. He came
under the judgment of God for the sins of his sheep, his church,
his people, God's elect, and justice was satisfied in the
earth. The prince of this world was
cast out, the great accuser of the brethren, for who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. And then he says in verse six,
he says, in his days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell
safely. Now at this point in time, Jeremiah
was prophesying, preaching right up until about 500 to 600 years
before the coming of Christ. And it was right before the kingdom
of Judah, the Southern kingdom of Judah was absolutely destroyed.
Jerusalem was destroyed the temple of Solomon was laid to dust The
northern kingdom Israel see this is the divided kingdom if divided
after Solomon The northern kingdom was already gone the Assyrian
Empire had already conquered it and scattered them about so
there was no Israel There was no northern kingdom But he says
in his days in the days of Messiah Judah shall be saved and Israel
shall dwell safely now. That's a united kingdom under
the headship of Christ. Now what kingdom is he talking
about? Well, I believe he's talking about spiritual Israel there. God's elect out of every tribe,
kindred, tongue, and nation, Jew, and Gentile. Chosen by God
before the foundation of the world, redeemed by the blood
of Christ, and eventually regenerated by the Holy Spirit under the
preaching of the gospel. And I'll show you that in just
a moment. But look at it, it says, and this is His name, His name,
the name of this righteous branch, this King, His days, His name,
whereby He shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Now, whose righteousness is He? He is our righteousness. Well,
who's He talking about there? Well, turn over to Jeremiah 33.
Turn to Jeremiah 33. Again, we see another prophecy
of Christ here. Christ the branch of righteousness
who is promised by God. And look at verse 15 of Jeremiah
33. Now listen to this. In those
days, just the same as in his days, and at that time, that's
the time appointed. Remember Galatians 4? in the
fullness of the time. At that time will I cause the
branch of righteousness, that righteous branch in chapter 23
is the branch of righteousness, same thing, to grow up unto David. Now that refers to his humanity.
Remember Isaiah 53 said he was like a tender plant, a root out
of dry ground, a tender plant. And it says, he shall execute
judgment and righteousness. That's the same as saying judgment
and justice in the land, in the earth. That's again referring
to his cross. His substitutionary death at Calvary for the sins
of his people, whereby he established righteousness to be charged,
accounted to his people. And it says in verse 16, in those
days shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely.
Jerusalem is the emblem there. of the heavenly Jerusalem, the
city in which the people of God dwell under the headship of Christ.
And listen to this now. It says, and this is the name
wherewith she shall be called. Now the masculine pronoun he
in chapter 23 is now changed to the feminine pronoun she shall
be called. And what will she be called?
Look at it. The Lord our righteousness. Now what's going on? Well, what's
he talking about here? She. Who is the she here? That's
his bride. His church. That's who he's talking
about. As united, placed into, married
to Christ. And what does a bride do? Or
at least most brides. What do they do when they marry
a man? They take his name. Because they are identified as
together, united together. Alright? Now let me show you
some scripture on that. Turn to Revelation 19. Revelation 19. I will show you
here in the last book of the Bible. Now what does this, this is the
language of substitution. Christ is the substitute of His
people. He is the representative of His
people. He is the Savior of His people. It's the language of
imputation. He took the sins of His people,
charged to Him and gives them His righteousness. So much so
that we can honestly, really, without fail, without any hesitation,
claim it as our righteousness. I am righteous before God. You look at me and you say, you?
And I say, yes. Why? Because of Jehovah Sid Canoe. Because of my Savior, my Lord.
He is my righteousness. God sees no sin laid to my charge. I'm a sinner. God can see that. If He didn't see that, I wouldn't
be chastised at all. I'm not perfect in myself. But
I am in Christ, the Lord, my righteousness. His righteousness
is charged, accounted to me. It's put to my account. And that's
better than having a million dollars put to my account in
the bank. Isn't it? Because the million dollars,
either it'll be gone or I'll be gone. But in Him, there's nothing destroyed. And that's what it's talking
about. Look here at Revelation 19, look at verse Verse six,
listen to this. He said, I heard as it were the
voice of a great multitude, the voice of many waters, and as
the voice of mighty thundering, saying hallelujah for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb. Now who's the lamb? That's Christ. Revelation five,
he's called the lamb that was slain. He said he's come and
his wife hath made herself ready. Alright? Now how has she made
herself ready? Well, she's done the best she
could. To be good. Well, no. Look at it. Verse 8.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white. That word white means bright.
You might have that in your concordance. For the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. Now, I'm going to tell you something.
There's not one saint that I've ever read in this book who would
claim as their righteousness their own works. Not in this
book. Now, I've read other books where
there have been people who claim to be saints and claim this righteousness
as their works, but not in this book here. No, sir. What is the righteousness of
saints? It's Jehovah Sid Canoe. Christ is the righteousness of
the saints. What is a saint? A sanctified
one. One set apart by God. A sinner
saved by the grace of God. Washed in the blood of Christ.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins
and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. It doesn't say sinners who do
the best they can lose all their guilty stuff. Should we do the
best we can? Yes, we should in every area
of obedience, but that is not my righteousness before God. Jehovah Sid Canoe is my righteousness. And let me tell you something,
this fine linen, this clean and white fine linen that she's clothed
in, the Bible tells us that that's the robe that's washed in the
blood of the Lamb. Now, what we have here is a metaphor.
Taking something physical, all right, and use it to illustrate
something spiritual. It's not to be taken literally.
And I've heard people say this, you know, they talk about the
imputed righteousness of Christ. Now, what, you know, the Bible
says that the gospel itself is the revelation of the righteousness
of God. This is what it's talking about,
the righteousness of God. You see, in order for me to be
saved, I don't need the righteousness of man, because it won't work,
even the best. Adam before the garden had a
righteousness, but it was the righteousness of man. Adam failed.
I need the righteousness of God. You do too. Where are you going
to find that? Jehovah Sid Canu, the Lord our
righteousness. That's what we need, all right?
The Bible uses this metaphor as being closed. in the righteousness
of God. That's not to be taken literally.
I've heard people say, well, you preach a pasted-on righteousness
or some kind of an outward righteousness. No, no, no. That's a metaphor.
It's not to be taken literally. It's not anything I wear like
this coat. But often in Scripture, it is
illustrated by putting on a coat or putting on clothing. All right? Look back at Isaiah 61. Let me
give you some examples of it. Isaiah 61. Here, and this is the passage
of scripture. You know, right here, Isaiah
61, when the Lord himself, when he was walking this earth in
his sojourn here on earth, he went back to his hometown of
Nazareth and went into the synagogue, and they were reading this scripture
right here, Isaiah 61. I don't think it had a 61 up
there. at that time, but that's okay. But listen to what he says
here in verse 10 of Isaiah 61. It says, I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord my soul shall be joyful in my God for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation. Now that doesn't
mean that salvation is just an outward thing that we wear. Salvation
reaches the heart. But this is a metaphor. It's
an illustration. Brother Mahan used to talk about
parables and he always said this, he said, you can't make a parable
stand on all four legs. Don't try to put something there
that's not, don't try to literalize it to the point of making it
something ugly. But look at it, he says, he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
That's the imputed righteousness of Christ. Now you know something,
let me show you this and I'll quit. That metaphor of clothing,
do you know when it comes to the salvation of a sinner and
the justification of a sinner, it's the oldest metaphor in the
Bible? It's the oldest one. Turn to
Genesis chapter 3. It's the oldest. And I'll tell
you something. It's the one that has over the annals of human
religion and false religion has been under attack more than any
other. Because you see man by nature
will just not bow and submit to a righteousness that he has
nothing to do with. No part in producing. He's got
to have some part in it. It's got to be what Christ did
plus His experience or what He feels or what's done in Him. And it's the oldest metaphor
in the Bible for salvation and justification. Let me show you
that. Look at verse 7 of Genesis 3. Here's Adam and Eve. Adam
fell. And listen to verse 7. And the eyes of them both were
open, and they knew that they were what? Naked. And then what did they do? They
sowed fig leaves together. and made themselves aprons, coverings,
things to go around. Now what does that talk about? Well, he is showing here this
nakedness. Now, in the Bible, nakedness
is a metaphor for unrighteousness. Exposure to the wrath of God. It is a metaphor for shame. judgment,
humiliation. That's what's symbolized here.
There's nothing sinful about a fig leaf, a leaf that comes
off of a fig tree. But there's something deeper
here, you see. There's a message here. What did that fig leaf
represent? Man's efforts to save himself
by his works. Man's effort to cover his shame,
his unrighteousness, with the works of his hands. That's what
it represents, isn't it? Well, what did God do? Well,
first of all, he made a promise. He prophesied of the coming Messiah
as the seed of woman. That's Christ, Genesis 3.15,
who would bruise the serpent's head. But look over at verse
21 of Genesis chapter 3. He says, unto Adam also, that's
Genesis 3.21, unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord
God make coats of skins and clothed them." Now what do you have to
do to make a coat of skin? You gotta shed some blood. Why
do you have to shed blood? Because the wages of sin is death. Justice can only be satisfied
by death. And there's a picture here. God
killing an animal, shedding its blood, and out of that blood
comes what? A coat of skin to cover the nakedness
of Adam and Eve. Now do you think that Adam's
sin was washed clean by the blood of an animal? The Bible says
the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. Do you
think Adam's righteousness before God was in that fur coat that
he was wearing, that it was just pasted on him or put on him or
outside of him? No. This is a type. It's a picture. of something
far greater and more spiritual than any human being could ever
imagine. I believe right here in verse
21 we have the total establishment of the sacrificial system of
worship, calling upon the name of the Lord by sacrifice. What
a message. Gary preached a message on that.
First time you hear about calling upon the name of Lord Abraham,
he built an altar. And what they were doing is they
were testifying in those elements of something greater, something
eternal, something spiritual and that is the blood shedding
of the coming Messiah to put away my sins and the righteousness
that He would establish that was accounted and charged even
to Adam. Abel later on brought the blood
of the Lamb. Noah sacrificed. What were they saying? They were
saying God be merciful to me the sinner. They were testifying
of their faith in the coming of Christ, Jehovah Sid Canu. One more verse and I'll quit.
Galatians 3. Now let me show you this. Galatians 3 verse 26. Now listen to this. Galatians
3.26, he says, for you are all the children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus. The only way that I know that
I'm a child of God is I trust Christ. I rest in Him for all
salvation, for all forgiveness, for all righteousness. Look at
verse 27, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ
have put on Christ. Now that sounds like putting
on clothes, doesn't it? Does that mean is Christ something
that you literally put on and he's outside of? No. Doesn't
mean that at all. In fact, that word baptized there,
you know a lot of times we see the word baptized and we think
about believer's baptism and certainly that is a New Testament
ordinance of confession. Confessing outwardly something
that's already been done inwardly, the new birth. But I believe
the word baptized here is referring to something else. The word baptized
literally means placed into. Placed into. And He's saying,
for as many as you have been placed into Christ, you've put
Him on. Well, how have we been placed
into Christ? Well, we were placed into Christ
before the foundation of the world in electing grace. God
chose us in Christ. We were placed into Christ on
the cross in redeeming grace. When He died, He died as the
substitute of His people. The sacrifice for our sins. When
He died, I died. When He was buried, I was buried.
When He arose again, He's my representative. Read Romans 6.
That's what that talks about. We're placed into Christ in regenerating
grace. When the Holy Spirit imparts
spiritual life and knowledge and the graces of the Spirit.
And then we publicly confess Christ in believers baptism. We identify with Him publicly
in that. But all who have been baptized
into Christ, they put on Christ. Now, how do we put Him on? Well,
we put Him on by faith. We believe in Him. When I believe
on Christ, I'm putting Him on. That doesn't mean I'm wearing
Him like I wear this coat. That's from the heart. With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness. How? You believe in Christ. Jehovah
said, Canoe. And we need to be clothed with
Him. That's the garments of salvation. How are they applied? First,
by God imputing Christ's righteousness to us. For He made Him to be
sin, Christ who knew no sin, for us that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. Secondly, it's applied by imparting
knowledge of Christ and His righteousness in us when we come under the
preaching of the Gospel. And the Holy Spirit shows us
our sins and our unrighteousness and drives us to Christ for righteousness,
for forgiveness, for salvation. And then thirdly, by giving us
faith to believe in Him and receive Him. Look at verse 28. He says, we put on Christ. There's
neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female. For you're all one in Christ
Jesus. And if you be Christ, if you belong to Christ, Then
are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Now
you remember back over in Isaiah 45 that brother Richard read
that it said Judah and Jerusalem, Judah and Israel will be united
under the one head in the Lord shall all the seed of it. Who
is that? That's the seed of Abraham. Who
is the seed of Abraham? All who belong to Christ, he
says here. Heirs according to the promise. What's the promise? The promise of salvation based
upon what Christ has accomplished as the Lord our righteousness.
Jehovah said canoe. All right.