Now if you would let's open our
Bibles to the book of Job chapter 29. Job chapter 29. Now I have two
messages that are basically going to come from one verse of scripture
in Job 29. But in dealing with that I'm
going to deal with both chapters 29 and chapter 30. This is Job's final answer in
this debate that he's been having with his three friends. And as
they have accused him, and as they have sought to comfort him
but failed miserably to do so, Job answers them and actually
chapter 29 and chapter 30 and chapter 31 is Job's final answer to these
three men. He starts off in chapter 21 by
reminiscing about the past. The past days of prosperity. When he, Job, had plenty. When all was well. You remember
how it started with the book of Job. That Job was the greatest
man of the east. Job had possessions and riches. His family, health and wealth
and prosperity on this earth, all was well. Men respected him. He was one of the most highly
respected men in the land of us. People listened to him. You know, I used to, I thought
about that commercial, once that brokerage firm, E.F. Hutton,
they used to come on and say, when E.F. Hutton speaks, people
listen. Well, I never did. to him anyway,
but when Job spoke, people listened. He was that well thought of,
that well known, that well respected. And people followed Job's advice.
They would go to him for advice and they went to him. And he
was on top of the world as far as human achievement, human attainment,
all of those things. But as the old story says, that
was then This is now, and that's what chapter 30 is about. In
chapter 29, Job reminisces, he goes through all that he had
had, and then in chapter 30, he starts talking about how all
of it's gone now. How he's suffering now. And he
goes through this. And then the question comes,
and it's been the question from the beginning of Job's suffering.
Why did all this happen to him? Why did all this happen to Job?
Here he is. He came from being the greatest
man in the East to being the lowest man. He came from living
in a beautiful, luxurious, comfortable home to living on the dung heap
of the city of Uz. That's where he was. That's where
he is now when he's consorting with these three friends. Why
did it happen to him? Well, his three friends, they
thought they knew why. They said it was because Job
was a hypocrite. Job you're a hypocrite and you're
seeking to hide some great sin or sins from God and they said
that Job's claim of righteousness now Job claimed to be a righteous
man and I'll just give you a little preview of what I'm talking about
here in these two messages if you're a believer if you're a
believer now If you're resting in Christ, Lord Jesus Christ,
for all salvation, then under God's word, not only should you,
but you need to claim to be a righteous person. However, your righteousness
is not in yourself or in your works. It's in Christ. That's
what we're saying. But they said that Job's claim
of righteousness was a sham. that he better confess his hypocrisy
and his sin and get right with God so that he can be blessed
again like he was before and like they are now. But it was
all works religion. It was all self-righteousness.
It was all legalism. And Job's answer, as he's given
it many times different ways, it's kind of like he's coming
to a conclusion here. And I want you to look at verse
14. This is kind of a summation of
Job's answer. He says, I put on righteousness
and it clothed me. My judgment was as a robe and
a diadem. A diadem, as you know, is a crown.
It's a royal crown. In other words, that's how he
was known. The title of this message is
Putting on Righteousness. I want us to look into that subject.
And I'm going to deal with the book of Job, obviously, and I
want to tell you what Job means by this, but I want to deal with
some other scriptures. But you know, when you read something
like that, here's Job. I put on righteousness, and it
clothed me. When you read something like
that, you might imagine that Job was speaking in a proud way. That Job was a self-righteous
man, but it's not so. Not so at all. In fact, Job was
just simply speaking the truth. And I want to show you how. But
let's just go through. I want to read chapter 29. Bear
with me as we read through this, because I want you to see this.
And then I'm really going to deal with the same subject this
Sunday night as we continue this. But I'll go from chapter 30.
But my main text in both messages is that verse 14. And I want
to show you why this is so important. But look, look, here's what Job
says in verse 29. He says, moreover, Job continued
his parable and he said, now Job, he's speaking in comparisons
here. That's why he calls it a parable.
Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God
preserved me. Now he's talking about this life
now. Job knows that he's preserved eternally because he stated that
in so many different ways. The main way that is the way
that we think of when I kind of think of the book of Job,
the two things that I think of are mainly the question, how
can a man be justified with God? And that's the question of questions.
How can a sinner be saved and accepted and righteous and not
guilty and pardoned and forgiven in the sight of a holy god who
must punish sin and that's that's the question of question of course
the answer is by the grace of god through the lord jesus christ
period not by his work and the second thing i think of when
i think of the book of joe is is jobe 19 when he says i know
my redeemer liveth And he'll stand in the latter day. And
though I, this body will be destroyed, in essence is what he says, I'll
see him in the flesh. That is a new body. So Job knew
he'd be preserved eternally. He had that confidence. He never
totally forsook God. He made some mistakes. He spoke
out of ignorance. And he needed to be corrected.
And we're going to see when God corrects him, as you say, when
God speaks to him out of the whirlwind. And we'll see that. But he's talking about this life.
He said, you know, I just thought, you know, that my days would
go on. Verse 3, he says, when his candle shined upon my head,
the light of God, I knew the answers. In other words, God
gave me the answers. And when his light, I walked
through darkness. When I walked through something
dark, God's light shined on me. He said, as I was in the days
of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle. That is, when God let me in on
his word, his ways. Verse five, he says, when the
Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me, he
means with him in prosperity. Verse six, when I washed my steps
with butter and the rock poured me out rivers of oil, that's
a way of stating prosperity there. Nobody washes in butter, but
what he's saying is that butter and oil was something that was
very expensive and hard to come by back then, and Job's saying,
I had plenty of it. I washed my steps in butter.
He says in verse 7, When I went out to the gate through the city,
when I prepared my seat in the street. Now this verse right
here gives you a little clue about what Job is talking about
in verse 14. What this is, Job was one of
the city magistrates of the city of Uz. Went out to the gate through
the city. See that's where they had their
judgment seat. The city magistrates would meet
and they would put on a robe. And they would sit in judgment
over matters of men in that city or in that area. And Job says,
when I went out to the gate through the city, I prepared my seat
in the street. In other words, I was ready to
do my duty as a city magistrate, as a judge over the affairs of
men. So he was one of the judges.
Verse 8, he says, the young men saw me and hid themselves as
out of a fearful respect. The aged arose and stood up.
Even the young and the old respected Job. The princes refrained talking. They'd shut their mouths and
let Job speak. They laid their hand up on their
mouth. The nobles held their peace and their tongue cleaved
to the roof of their mouth. They wouldn't speak. The nobles
would. Here's Job. We want to hear what Job has
to say. We want to hear what you have to say. We want to hear
what Job has to say. He says, when the ear heard me,
then it blessed me. In other words, when they really
heard what Job was saying, they said, thank you. And when the
eye saw me, it gave witness to me. Agreed. Because I delivered
the poor that cried and the fatherless and him that had none to help
him. Job's talking about in judgment here. He was fair. He dealt justly
with men. He wasn't a cheat. He didn't
take a bribe. He said, verse 13, the blessing
of him that was ready to perish came upon me, even those who
were in death, bless Job, and I caused the widow's heart to
sing for joy. I put on righteousness and it
clothed me. My judgment was as a robe and
a diadem. he judged fairly. But hold on
to that. Let's look on verse 15. I was
eyes to the blind and feet was I to the lame. You remember his
three friends had accused him of treating the poor and the
downtrodden unfairly, but that's not, it was a lie. They were
accusing Job of things that they couldn't rightfully accuse Job
of. He said, I was a father to the poor and the cause which
I knew not I searched out. I break the jaws of the wicked
and pluck the spoil out of his teeth. I didn't let him get away
with it when it was in my power. He said, then I said, I shall
die in my nest and I shall multiply my days as the sand. In other
words, I'm in this comfortable nest. I'm going to be here the
rest of my days and live out a long life. Oh, we just don't
know what tomorrow's going to hold, do we? He says in verse 19, my root
was spread out by the waters and the dew lay all night upon
my branch. Everything Job touched seemed
to grow. My glory was fresh in me or new
within me and my bow was renewed in my hand. Unto me men gave
ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. After my words
they spoke not again, and my speech dropped upon them." In
other words, they listened like rain dropping down, just quenching
their thirst. They waited for me as for the
rain, and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
If I laughed on them, that means smile. If I smiled on them, they
believed it not. In other words, they just couldn't
believe that Job would approve of them. A man like Job. Or to
get Job's approval. You ever known people like that?
They gotta have some certain person's approval. And this is
the way that men felt about Job. He says, In the light of my countenance
they cast not down. I chose out their way and sat
chief and dwelt as a king in the army as one that comforted
the mourners. So all these things. Now when
you read all that, you know, you say, well Job, are you bragging?
I say no. I say Job's just simply defending
himself against these charges. But hold on. He says in chapter
30, he says now, as I said, that was then, this is now. We won't
read the whole chapter here, but look at chapter 30. He says,
but now they that are younger than I have me in derision. Children
used to run from him out of respect. Now they hold him in derision.
whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of
my flock." Children hold me in derision. I wouldn't give their
fathers a job that I'd give a dog in my flock. But those are the
ones holding him in contempt. Yea, whereto might the strength
of their hands profit me in whom old ages perished? For want and
famine they were solitary, fleeing into the wilderness in former
times desolate ones. So he begins there to describe,
he even goes on, he talks about over in verse 17 of chapter 30
how God has forsaken him. God's forsaken me. Job feels
that way. Remember Job's a human being,
he's not a superman. He's just like you and me. When
you stick Him, He hurts. When you put the flame to His
feet, He burns. He pains. He sorrows. A lot of
things He doesn't know. Some things He does know. He
said, I know my Redeemer lives. I know Christ. I know salvation's
in Him. I know it's assured in Him. I
know where my righteousness is. It's not in me. It's in God,
the Son incarnate. There's a lot of things I don't
know. And therefore, we complain. This is something like what you
might call the warfare of the flesh and the spirit, which we
go through every day if we're born again by the spirit. So,
as I said, you look at chapter 29, you might say, well, Job,
are you bragging? Are you boasting? No, I don't
believe he is. And I want you to look over at
Psalm 32 with me. Turn to Psalm 32. And I want us to keep this in
perspective because it's so important. We're going to talk about this
concept of righteousness. Job said, I put on righteousness.
Have you put on righteousness? Have I put on righteousness?
What does that mean? That's such an important concept.
It's fundamental. It's foundational. Most people
are confused about it or either just downright ignorant about
it. What does the Bible say? Well, look at Psalm 32, the first
two verses. It says, Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven. All right? That's forgiveness.
Now, where does forgiveness come from? It comes by the grace of
God based on what? The blood of Christ. That's what the Bible teaches
from Genesis to Revelation. That's part of the gospel. That
is part and parcel of the gospel. The forgiveness of sins is by
the grace of God. What does that mean? That means
I don't earn it and I don't deserve it. Alright? Job was a man forgiven
by God. He said that. You can look back. Remember what God said about
Job in chapter 1 verse 1. He said Job was a man that was
perfect. That means complete. Well, what
does the scripture teach about our completeness if we are complete?
It teaches that we're complete in Christ. There's no completeness
in a human being, sinful human being. A sinful human being always
what? Falls short. A sinful human being
never measures up. It's always iniquity. People
talk about the numbers, the symbols, number symbols, all right? The
number seven in scripture represents completeness. It's the finished
work. It's a completed work. That's
why the seventh day Sabbath. Now, Christ is our Sabbath, the
scripture teaches. So our completeness is found
only in him. That's Job 2 now. Don't say,
well, Job had another way. No, sir. If Job stands complete
and forgiven, he stands complete and forgiven in Christ, just
like any of us who know Christ, who are saved. It's by grace.
It wasn't by works back then. It never has been. So there's that completeness
in Christ. Well, the number of man is what? It's a six. What
is six? It's one less than seven. It
always will be one less than seven. It never will change.
In other words, it's incomplete. So there's no completeness of man
in himself. The completeness is in Christ
and Him alone. Complete forgiveness, complete
pardon, complete righteousness in Christ. Not in me, but in
Christ. Alright? Then it says here in
Psalm 32 and verse 1, Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered. Now he speaks of it in terms
of a covering. And that's an atonement, what
it is. And you know that symbol and the type and the picture
of those was the blood of animals, the coats of skin that God made
Adam and Eve back in Genesis 3. And that was a type, it was
a picture, speaks of a covering. Now what did Job say? He said,
I put on righteousness. Remember, I put it on like a
coat, like a covering. He's speaking symbolically. He's
not speaking literally here. He didn't take off righteousness
like you take off a coat and put it on like I put on and take
off this coat, you see. But they use the emblem of a
covering. All right. But now look at verse 2. Now,
what does that teach? Well, he says here, Blessed is
the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. That word imputeth,
you know what it means. It means to account or to charge
something. So he says that this person who's
forgiven, whose sin is covered, atoned for, he's a blessed man
whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity. And we learn over
in Romans 4, we'll look at that later on, what God did with those
sins. He charged them to Christ. And
so we have the non-imputation of sins here. And then we have
the imputation of righteousness in Christ. And notice what he
says here in the last part of verse 2. He says, In whose spirit... Now the spirit there is the heart.
It's the inner man. You can say it that way. It's
the... When you look at me, you don't
see my spirit. You see the flesh, don't you?
When I look at you, I don't see your spirit. Alright? Now when
he said in whose spirit, he's talking about a spiritual person.
That's one who's been born again by the Holy Spirit. He has a
spiritual nature, a human nature now. But it's a spiritual one. He's been regenerated by the
Holy Spirit. He's been born again. And it
says in whose spirit, in his mind, his affections, his will,
there is no guile. Now what is guile? Guile is hypocrisy. Guile is dishonesty. What had
Job's friends accused him of? Of being a hypocrite. Of being
dishonest. Of trying to hide some secret
sin. And you know how their reasoning
went. We've talked about it so many times going through the
book of Job. He said, they'd say, Job, if you weren't trying
to, if you weren't a hypocrite, and if you weren't trying to
hide some secret sin, you wouldn't be suffering like this. Now we
know that's a lie. Because you know what? God said
it's a lie. We know why Job is suffering,
because God said it out at the beginning. This is a trial of
grace, a trial of the gospel, you see. And Job's faith is being
tried. It has nothing to do... Is Job
a sinner? Yes, he is. He's a sinner. There's, as we've said it so
many times, there's only two types of people on this earth.
There's sinners lost in their sins and sinners saved by the
grace of God. Job's a sinner saved by the grace
of God. Do justified sinners save sinners? Do they sometimes fall into heinous,
scandalous sins? Yes, they do. We can look back
at David, you know, we always go to David because he's such
a glaring example of that in scripture, his sin with Bathsheba.
But that doesn't relieve us of the responsibility of admitting
and confessing our own sins. I can't say, well, I'm better
than David. I deserve God's blessings more
than David. That's what Job's three friends
were saying basically about him. We have to understand the reality
of sin. Psalm 130 and verse 3 states
it out very plainly. When it says, Lord, if thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, charge iniquities, who among
us would stand? Christ said it when they were
getting ready to, in their self-righteous religious way, getting ready
to stone an adulteress. In John chapter 8, he said, let
he who is without sin cast the first stone. Let me ask you a
question. Would you throw a stone if he said that to you? I wouldn't. Because I'm not without sin.
You say, well, wait a minute now. What about your standing
in Christ? Oh, that's different now. In Christ, in Christ, I'm
not charged with my sins. But I'm still a sinner. I'm still
right on that plane with you all. with Job, with these other
men. But he said, in whose spirit
there is no God? Well, go back to Job 29. Remember again what God said
about Job in Job 1 and verse 1. God said Job was a perfect,
a complete and upright man. That's a justified man. One that
feared God, that's worship. He respected God, one that eschewed
evil, one who avoided evil, who fought evil. That's what he's
talking about there. What is he describing there in
Job 1.1? He's describing, again, a sinner saved by grace. He's
not describing a man who's better than everybody else. Because
let me tell you something, if God saves me or you or anybody
because they're better than other people, then you cannot say salvation
is by grace. And don't you, if that's what
you think, don't you ever sing Amazing Grace again. That saved
a wretch like me. If you think God saved you because
you're better than other people, that's not grace, friend, it
works. So when he talks about Job being perfect and upright,
one who feared God, one who has chewed evil, what he's talking
about is a sinner saved by grace through Christ. And remember
how Job approached God. Chapter 1 and verse 5, it says
he approached God through burnt offering. What does that mean? That means Job needed a substitute.
He needed a mediator. He needed Christ. He needed the
blood and the righteousness of a substitute. And he approached
God for himself and for his children. And remember what Job said in
response to the self-righteous religious reasoning of his friends.
He said in Job 9 and verse 2, he said, I know it's so of the
truth, but how should man be just with God? You know what
he was saying there, remember, he's telling his three friends,
if things are like what you fellows are saying it is, that God blesses
only those who are obedient and perfect, and God always punishes
those who are sinful, then how could any of us be just with
God? We're all sinners. The Bible says that all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3.10, there's
none righteous, no, not one. There's none that do of good,
no, not one. Job went on to say in verse 3
there, he said, if God will contend with him or if the man will contend
with God, he cannot answer God one of a thousand. Whatever you
say to a holy God to justify yourself, God could come back
on you with a thousand charges that would stick. One for a thousand. That puts us in a pretty bad
position. And yet Job back here, he says,
I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My judgment was as
a robe and a diadem. Well, first of all, think about
this. Job here is not speaking of his justification before God. He's speaking of his dealings
with men as a judge. And what he's saying here is
in his dealings with men, when he came to the gate through the
city and prepared his seat as a civil magistrate, he acted
justly and in righteousness. Now, I don't believe Job was
saying that all of his judgments were perfect. You know, even
the best of judges are but men. Isn't that right? The only perfect
judge who always judges according to truth is God Almighty. God's judgments are never wrong. But you know, even the best,
most moral, fairest, most well-intended judges can make a mistake, can't
they? Among men. But Job is simply saying that
I wasn't a cheat. I didn't take bribes. I tried
to be fair with everybody. I put on righteousness, and it
clothed me. And yet, Job is not saying here
that his judgments made him righteous, Nobody could say that. He's not
even saying his judgments were perfect. He's simply defending
himself against the false accusations made by his friends. You know,
when David said there, in whose spirit is no guile, here's what
he's simply saying. That a sinner saved by the grace
of God, who's been forgiven by the blood of Christ, who stands
before God in Christ, made complete and righteous in Him, we can
be honest. We can be honest about ourselves. What are we? We're sinful human
beings. Weak. What is a preacher? I love it in 2 Corinthians 4. He's a clay pot with a treasure
in him. That's what he said, broken vessels.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels. We're weak. But what did Paul say? He said,
I'm weak. But he was honest on the other
side of it, too, about his standing in Christ. He said, when I'm
weak, I'm strong. What did he mean by that? Well,
Paul, are you just trying to be funny? Are you talking out
of both sides of your mouth? Do you love paradoxes? Do you
want to confuse everybody? No. He's saying simply this.
In myself, I'm weak. In Christ, I'm strong. In myself,
I'm sinful. In Christ, I'm righteous. In myself, I'm perplexed. But in Christ, I know my Redeemer
liveth. And I'm sure that He'll stand
in the latter day, and I'll see Him with my flesh. All of that. Now how do we understand these
things? You know, we as believers need
to be taught from God's word to become skillful in the word
of righteousness. So that when we see things like
this, well, we know what the scripture says. First of all,
what is righteousness and what is a righteous man? Well, righteousness,
technically, you can interchange in just about every case where
you see the word righteous or righteousness, you could interchange
the word just or justice. And that's really what Job is
talking about here because he's a civil magistrate. He had to
judge matters. When people had arguments or
somebody was accused, he had to make a judgment as a civil
magistrate. But righteousness in God's court,
now that's where, you know, the Bible says in Romans chapter
eight, It says, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's
elect? It is God that justifies. Now
we're talking about God's court here. Job's talking about man's
court here in Job 29. Man's imperfect court. As hard
as he tried to do right, it was still man's imperfect court.
But now in God's court of perfection, The sovereign God who judges. God not only sees what we do
outwardly, and nothing is done in secret from God. Nothing is
kept in secret from God. God sees our heart. Think about this. Whatever thought
you're having right now, God sees it and He knows it. That'll
tell you right there. That'll scare you to death if
you plan on going before God and pleading your cause. But you see, what is righteousness
in God's court? I can't remember which old writer
said this, but several of them said it. John Gill, I think,
has this definition, but it's a good one. It's perfect satisfaction
to God's holy law and justice. Perfect satisfaction to God's
holy law and justice. It is perfection according to
the law. I told a fellow that one time
I was having lunch with him. He said, well, none of us can
do that. And I said, that's right. That's why salvation is by grace
and not by works. Salvation, justification before
God. For a holy God to declare me
not guilty, to declare me righteous, forgiveness of sins, pardon.
For God to say that he's a perfect and an upright man. It cannot
be by the works of men. Romans chapter 3 you know this
verse so well let me just read it to you where he's talking
about this very thing here man by nature sinful not deserving
of the least of God's blessings and here's what he says he says
in verse 19 now we know that what things so ever the law saith
it saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may
be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God
what is it to be guilty before God it means to deserve condemnation
If man's court declares that a person is guilty of a crime,
that means they deserve the punishment, right? Well, what's the wages
of sin? Death. To be guilty is to be
deserving of condemnation. Verse 20. Therefore, by the deeds
of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight,
for by the law is the knowledge of sin. not by the works of men
well then how can a man be just with God Job asked that question
well the only way that we can be just with God is somehow somehow
to be found before God in perfect satisfaction to his law and justice
that's the only way somehow We must have a righteousness that
equals the demands of God's law and justice. Now, where are we
going to get that? Well, Romans 3 and verse 21 goes on. Tells
us, but now the righteousness of God. Now, there's what we
need. If you haven't studied that term in scripture, the righteousness
of God, you need to put your heart, mind, and soul right into
it. I'm telling you. Do you know that knowing the
righteousness of God is to know the gospel? Don't turn there,
I'll just quote it to you, but you can check me out on it. Romans
1, 16 and 17. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and to the Greek also. Verse
17, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. from faith to
faith. As it is written, the just shall
live by faith. I don't need the righteousness
of men. Not even mine. The best righteousness
of the best of men will not do. Even everything that Job listed
here in Job 29. Did not, and he's not, listen,
what Job listed in Job 29, we read all this stuff, and I'll
tell you what, that's a guy to be admired, isn't it? If everything
he said was true, and I believe it is, because the Holy Spirit
inspired him to write it here, he's a fella to be admired, wasn't
he? But none of that made him righteous before God. Else, he
wouldn't have had to worship God at burnt sacrifice. Listen,
if you're righteous by your works, you don't need Christ. You don't
need His blood. You don't need His righteousness. The righteousness of men will
not do, the best of men. But we need the righteousness
of God without the law, that is, without our obedience to
the law. It's manifested, he says in Romans 3, 21, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. Verse 22, what is it? Even the
righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. It's
the faithfulness of Christ to do what he promised and agreed
to do. And it's unto all, preached unto all, and upon all them that
believe. Now that upon all is the same
language of that covering. And he says, for there's no difference.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being
justified freely, being declared righteous, not guilty, pardoned,
forgiven freely, unconditionally, without a cause. by His grace
through the redemption, there's your key, there's the righteousness
of God, it's the redemptive work, the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, a satisfaction. In other words, my salvation
is based not upon my satisfying God with my efforts, my salvation
is based upon the fact that Christ satisfied God with His obedience
unto death. And it's through faith in His
blood. His death is the satisfaction. Perfect satisfaction to law and
justice. The law said we're guilty. Somebody's
got to die. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. Without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness
of sins. Now either I'm going to die for
my sins eternally, That's eternal death and condemnation. Or somebody
who's qualified and willing and appointed of God's got to die
for me. There's only one. The Lord Jesus Christ is through
faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission
of sins that are past. That's the Old Testament believers.
Even Job. Through the forbearance of God.
That's what we need. We need the righteousness of
God Himself. And that can only be found in
Christ. Nowhere else. You can't find
it in the church. You can't find it in the baptismal
pool. You can't find the righteousness
of God in the preacher. You cannot find it in yourself. You only find it in Christ and
Him crucified and risen again. That's why He arose again because
He satisfied the justice of God for the sins of His people. Now
Job back here, he says, I put on righteousness and it clothed
me. The Bible often speaks of righteousness as a garment. A
garment that is put on us and that we wear. Now that's not
literal language. Now, it amazes me. It amazes me. Well, I don't know. It shouldn't amaze me. I've heard people who have sought
to diminish or to degrade in some way, imputed righteousness,
which is that's what we're talking about, this covering, putting
on. And they'll do it by saying,
well, it's not just an outward thing. Well, when the Bible symbolizes
the righteousness of God that we wear in that way as a robe,
it's not speaking literally as if it's just an outward thing.
I've even heard a preacher say one time, it's not a pasted-on
righteousness. Well, whoever said it was? That's
not in the Bible. But it is called a robe of righteousness.
That's what God's Word says. I guess these fellas think they're
smarter than God. But it's a symbol. And it's not
a literal thing. It's a spiritual thing. It is
a legal thing. Now don't, you know, people say,
well, you say it's only legal. No, it's not just legal, but
it is legal. It's a judgment that God makes.
And just because it's a judgment that God makes doesn't mean it's
unreal or some kind of fiction. I don't know where these guys
are coming off with this stuff. It's real. You see, when God, listen,
if God said, let me tell you something about God. If he says
you're righteous, you know what? You're righteous. You can bake on it. Cause God
don't deal in fiction. He's not pretending anything
you say, but it's called a robe, a garment. Why? Well, A garment is a, it's a
type, you know, just like the types in the pictures of the
Bible. You know, we, we talk about in, in the Passover feast,
they slew a lamb. Now, do we go out here and get
lambs? It's like, no, Christ is our lamb. See, that was a
symbol. That was a type. But the man
used to always preach. He said, you can't make all those
types stand on all fours. You remember him saying that?
They're not literal, is what I'm saying. You can't take every
detail of the type and make it fit, because that's not what
they're there for. They're there to point us to Christ for all
righteousness. Well, why is a garment used?
Well, first of all, a garment is provided to cover the nakedness
of man. That's why we wear clothes, because
we're not going to walk around here naked. And what does that
mean? It covers our shame. Isn't that right? Do you remember
when Adam and Eve, when Adam fell, they realized what? They
were naked and they were ashamed and they ran from God. That was
all picturing the wrath of God. That's what Adam was running
from, the disfavor of God, the wrath of God. This nakedness,
you see, nakedness is a symbol of our sinful state before God,
exposed to the wrath of God. The Bible says that those who
are found at the judgment without Christ shall be what? Ashamed. Because they don't have the robe
of righteousness charged to them. He and Eve got fig leaves, didn't
they? To cover their nakedness. What did God do? Genesis 3.21,
He slew an animal, He shed blood because that's the wages of sin
and He made coats of skin and He put them on them. But those
were types, pictures, symbols of a spiritual righteousness
that we have in Christ who was to come. Man seeks to cover himself
from the wrath of God by his works, by his religion, by his
efforts. But my friend, the only thing
that'll do it is the righteousness of Christ imputed, charged to
us. The righteousness of God in Him.
So it covers our shame. Everything is naked and open
to God. Religious activity will not cover that shame. But I'll
tell you what. Think about this. The Bible says
that we can have boldness in the very holiest of all through
what? The blood of Christ. It's His righteousness. So you
don't have to be ashamed if you stand before a holy God in Christ. A garment is, let me give you
this, turn back sometime and just read Zechariah 3 on your
own. You remember how Zechariah, he was the prophet and he dreamed
of Joshua the high priest standing before God and he was clothed
in filthy garments? And the angel of the Lord, which
is Christ, came in and stepped in, the advocate, the mediator,
the substitute, and he said, take away the filthy garments.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. That's
the non-imputation. He said, and give him a perfect
robe. Put the garment of righteousness
on him. That's Christ's righteousness
charged to us. And then a garment, righteousness
is used as a garment because of its usefulness. Don't you
thank God for clothing? In the summer, it shields you
from the sun. In the winter, it keeps you warm.
Isn't that what Christ does for us? He shields us from God's
wrath. Man's righteousness cannot do
that, but God's righteousness can. We don't have to fear the
wrath of God because Christ took our wrath for us. He was made
sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
It's also an ornament, you know, when you put on clothes, you
try to look good, you try to put on the best, you know, that
you can put on, you know, especially when you come to worship, not
trying to impress people or draw attention, but you're just out
of respect for the Lord. We're here to worship. We're
here to worship God. So it is an ornament. Proper
clothing makes a person more acceptable to the physical side. Well, my friend, the righteousness
of Christ is a perfect ornament to make us acceptable in the
sight of God. It's called our beauty in the
scripture. His righteousness. We'd go on in filthy rags just
like Joshua in the filthy garments, but no. Listen to this, Isaiah
61 10, 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 do you think that means God
pasted something onto us? It's just a symbolic way of speaking. It's a figure of speech. 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 jewels. Christ is our beauty. One's greatness, honor, and grandeur
is judged by his clothing. Back in the old days, that was
especially true. Somebody said, well, you know,
we shouldn't judge people by their clothing. Well, we shouldn't,
but people do. Well, my friend, our honor, our
greatness, and our grandeur is Christ. Isn't that right? Not ourselves. Somebody said,
well, who is he? What does it matter? Does he
know Christ? John the Baptist, he didn't wear
Where those glorious ornamental clothing, clothes did he? He
wore skins of animals. Christ said there's none greater
among men born of women than John the Baptist. John the Baptist
said I must decrease, he must increase. And this garment must be put
on. Now, in the next message, I'm going to deal with that,
that put on righteousness. I put on righteousness. How is
it put on? And there's basically three ways
that we're going to look at in scripture. And I want us to see
that because it's so important for us to understand in the light
of the book of Job here. I hope that's helpful to you. Let's sing hymn number 118, when
I survey the wondrous cross, as our closing hymn.