In this 72nd Psalm, and look
down in verse 17, I want to talk about the names of our blessed
God. You know, I was going to... I need to get on with these things
and get on to the Trinity. And most books that I've read,
they deal with the names of God and the Trinity at the same time.
I can't do that. In fact, I don't even know if
I'm going to get through all these. But, you know, it's one thing
to write it out in a little outline in a book. It's another thing
to preach it. And here it says, His name, verse 17, His name
shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as
long as the sun. And men shall call Him blessed,
and all nations shall call Him blessed. And down in verse 19,
And blessed be His glorious name forever, and let the whole earth
be filled with His glory. Now look with me over in Psalm
111. Psalm 111. We hear people call
the right reverend, but there ain't no one reverend
in this whole world, and that's God Himself. Elder, preacher, pastor, teacher. Call a man what you will, but
don't ever call him reverend. Psalm 111, verse 9. He sent redemption
unto his people. He hath commanded his covenant
forever. Holy and reverend is his name. Now, God Himself said in Exodus
33, 19, when Moses said, Show me your glory. I want to see
your glory. He said, I'll tell you what, I'll hide you over
here in the cleft of this rock and I will pass before you and
I will proclaim. I will. God Himself said, I will
proclaim the name of the Lord. And the third commandment, in
the ten commandments, God forbids the taking of His name in vain.
He says, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God
in vain. Now what does that mean? Don't
use it for vainness. Don't use it in a useless way.
When His name is mentioned, always use it in a God-honoring, Christ-exalting,
needful, necessary way. You know, it's like swearing.
That's why our Lord said, don't swear by heaven. That's His throne. Don't swear by the earth. That's
His footstool. Just let your yea be yea and
your nay be nay. And swearing, use the Lord's
name to clear yourself. You know, people say, I swear,
you know, by doing that, they clear themselves. But all in
all, that's not right. Then there's people that use
his name for magic. That's taking his name in vain.
You say, well, who in the world would use his name for magic?
Lots of people use his name for magic. You get these healers,
and they lay hands on somebody, and they'll think that the name
of Jesus just don't take care of everything. Even for folks
that's unbelievers, people that don't know nothing about a Bible,
people don't know nothing about calling on God. They use it for
magic. They use His name for magic to
make wealth. And oh, but God's just a tool
to most people. That's all He is, just a tool
to be used when you're in trouble. It's just a tool to be used,
and His name will save you from all kinds of trouble and all
kinds of heartache and all kinds of Savior marriage and Savior
wealth. His name is just as well where
a good luck charm around your neck and a rabbit's foot in your
pocket as to use the Lord's name, and you don't know nothing about
Him, if you don't know Him, period. And that's why Simon Magus, you'll
remember, that he believed and baptized and he followed the
apostles around. And Simon Peter came down, he
laid hands on those folks down at Antioch, and they received
the Holy Ghost. Old Simon backed up, he's a sorcerer. He says, oh my, I thought I had
some power before I ever got converted. He says, man, you
fellas really got the power. How much will it take me to get
you to give me that power? He just wanted the power. He
wanted the power that goes with professors. He wanted that power,
like these fellas had the Holy Ghost come on these, and they
seen the power of God. And Simon Peter says, Oh my,
your money perished with you. You thought that the gift of
God could be purchased with money? And people think just using the
name of the Lord is some kind of a talisman. And that's what
God said, don't use it in vain. And Jesus Christ, our Lord's
name, is a byword to most people today. Just a byword. Our Lord never mentioned the
Lord unless we use it in a God-honored way. And it's like the prophets
of Baal. You remember them when Elijah
challenged them, you know. Call on your God. Call on Him. Call on Him. See if you can get
Him to do something for you. And they called all day long,
all day long. He never did come. So they started
jumping up and down. I mean, they just went to dancing
and jumping up and down and going into fits. And still he didn't
show up. They said, I'll tell you how
we'll get him here. They started cutting the cells and blood started
coming. He'll come now because he showed us how serious we are
about it. We didn't even cut no cells. He'll come to our rescue
now. But oh my, you reckon that was
the God of the Bible? And another thing, the Syrians. Let me just give you an illustration
of how people think of God and how he's just a tool. Syria and
Israel was having a battle. And it's up on the hilltop that
Israel just wore Syria out. And you know what they said?
Said, they're gods of God on the hills. They said, if we get
them down in the plains, said we can beat them. Cause our gods
are gods of the plains. So they have a god on the mountains.
They got a god of the plains. So they moved down on the plains
and had a battle. And they lost again. Said, well,
at least I saw them. You know, god of the hills, the
god of the plains. Now, that's the way most people
present God. That's the way most people present
Jesus Christ. But in the Scriptures, in the
Scriptures, the name identifies. It's put for the nature of someone. It's put for the character, for
the purpose of God Himself. That's why Romans 10, 13 says
this, Whosoever shall call upon the name The one with the power,
the authority, the nature, the right to save a sinner. There's no other name, Peter
said to that bunch, no other name. I know you fellas got lots
of names you call on, but there's no other name given under heaven
among men whereby we must be saved other than Jesus Christ. No other name. Don't even think
about another name. Don't use another name. So let's
talk about the name of God. Unless you're going to have to
stay with me in your Bibles tonight, first of all, turn to Genesis
22. We're going to show you the names, the names of God, and
I want you to see these things. These are blessings. These are
blessings. The first person I ever heard
preach on them was Charlie Payne, years and years and years ago.
And he'd done a wonderful job. I couldn't possibly do as well
as he did. But here's the first name of
God. The first name of God. Jehovah-Jireh. Look here in Genesis
22 and 13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh,
as it is said to this day, in the mouth of the Lord it shall
be seen." Now, in the margin, it says this, the Lord will see
or the Lord will provide. What that means is the Lord will
see to what you need and provide what you need. And that's what
happened here to Abraham. Look back up here in verse I
believe it is, with what he says. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father, and said, My father? And he said, Here am I, my son.
And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the
lamb for a burnt offering? Abraham said, My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they, both of them, went together.
So here's the first thing, Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide, the Lord
will see to it. And you know what he saw to here?
He saw that Abraham would see salvation by a substitute, that
Isaac would be saved by someone else being put in his place.
And that's why, beloved, when Abraham turned around and saw
that ram caught in that picket. Now, you know, Abraham was right
there. He had his son put on that auker,
and all of a sudden the ram appears in a thicket. You don't think
that he would have heard that ram coming? Don't you think he
would have heard that thing thrashing through the bushes? No. He was
just there when he needed it. And when he was fixing the sleigh's
old son, that's when God provided him a salvation for his son through
a substitute. And I'll tell you something else
about this provision the Lord will provide. It was unsought
for. Abraham didn't say, Lord, please
don't take my son. Please give me somebody instead.
Please give me a ram. Please give me a male ram. Give me a lamb, Lord. Give me
anything but don't take my son. No, he didn't say that at all. Did we seek a salvation by a
substitute? And Abraham didn't ask, Lord,
provide another victim in my son's place. No, no, that's what
God did for us. Did we say, Lord, provide us
salvation by substitute? We didn't even dream that there
was salvation by substitute. We didn't have a clue that God
had His Son before the foundation of the world, as the Lamb slain
to take our place before the justice and wrath of God. Oh
my God, he had his sword drawn back. I read it the other day
where he said he had his sword went and his bow drawn back,
and he had us right there in his sight, and he put his son
in our stead, and he let us go, and he hid his son. And oh, when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for who? The ungodly? God commended his love for us
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Let me tell
you something else about this provision here, Jehovah-Jireh. It was unexpected. He expected
Isaac to die. He expected Isaac to die. He
didn't expect a substitute. He didn't expect to turn around
and there'd be a ram caught in a thicket by his horns so that
he could take him and put it in his son's stead. Huh? No, it was unexpected to us.
Then God came to him. God showed him that God said,
here's... He told him to turn around. There,
lookie there. There it is. And that's what God did for us
in His sovereign mercy. Gave us eyes to see. The Lord
Jesus, how many times have you heard somebody say over the years,
John where John says, behold, the Lamb of God was taken away
to save the world. But you had no meaning what that
meant until God gave you eyes to see who that Lamb was, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And then over in Revelation,
it's a Lamb as in had been slain. Had been slain. And all beloved,
in Jehovah-Jireh, remember Isaac asked his daddy, and he says,
son, son, the Lord will provide himself a lamb. And God did. He provided himself. When it says the Lord will see
to it, they went both of them up together. The Lord will see
to it that you got what's necessary when you need it. You need salvation? I'm going to give it to you.
You need your son to go free? I'm going to let him go free.
My justice needs to be satisfied? I'll put someone else in your
place. Oh, beloved, and I tell you,
the Lord will provide. Who else could have provided
a substitute? Who else could have provided a ransom? Let me
tell you something else about this, this provision. This provision,
this ransom that God provided, this ram, it was effectual. Isaac didn't die. He got up off of that altar and
somebody else died in his place. Jehovah-Jireh. Oh, the Lord,
our provision. Now, if we sing that song, The
Lord Will Provide, He'll speak to that. Look over with me over
here in Isaiah 46 just a moment. He'll see to it. He'll provide
for us. He sent his disciples out. He told them one time, he
said, now I sent you out without money, without purse, without
script, without anything. He said, did you lack anything?
They said, nothing. Sent them out without anything.
Said, did you lack anything? They said, no. And Bill, have
you lacked for anything? Look what he says here in Isaiah
46 and verse 3. Harken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the
remnants of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the
belly, which I carried from the womb, even to your old age I
am he, and even to your whorehairs will I carry you. I have made,
and I will bear, even I will carry, and will deliver you."
Now that means from the day he took us out of our mother's womb.
Till the day we enter glory. He don't say nothing about us
walking. He said, I'll bury you, I'll bore you, and I'll carry
you from your mother's womb to you. Get to glory. Now, that's
a provision of God. That's a promise. Alright, now
I want to show you another one. Look in Exodus 15, 26. Show you another one. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. Exodus 26. Exodus 15, 26. This is the song of Moses. You'll
remember after they'd come through the Red Sea, and Moses began
to sing the song of redemption. Well, this is the song of redemption.
And as he's going through this song, he comes down to this. And he says there in verse 26, And he said, If thou wilt diligently
hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which
is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments,
and keep all his statutes, I will put upon none of these diseases
upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians. For I am
the Lord that healeth thee." Jehovah-Ravi, the Lord that healeth
thee. Now, beloved, they needed healing.
Look back up here in verse 23. Here, he's going back through
what they went through. It says, you know, and they came
to Marah. They could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they
were bitter. Therefore, they called the name
of it was called Nairah. That it means bitterness. Bitterness. And he cried, the people murmured
against Moses, saying, well, we don't drink Moses, we ain't
got nothing to drink. This water's too bitter, we can't drink it.
And he cried unto the Lord, now watch it, and the Lord showed
him a tree. which when he cast into the waters, the water were
made sweet. Therefore he made for them a statute and an ordinance,
and there he proved it." Here's these bitter waters, these
bitter, bitter waters. And, beloved, how was these bitter
waters healed? How was these bitter waters that
these people could drink them. How could God heal these people's
sin? How could God heal their murmurings?
How could God heal their murmurings against them? Well, first thing,
God showed him a tree. Ain't that what He said? He cried
unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. And when He put that
tree in that water, made the water sweet. And, beloved,
it's by the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, by that tree upon
Christ's tongue, that God heals our souls and takes away the
bitterness of sin, the bitterness of death, the bitterness of life
itself. And that's why it says, by His
stripes we are healed. Now, they tasted the bitterness
of the water before they did the sweet, and we'll taste the
bitterness of sin before we'll ever appreciate the cross and
appreciate the grace of God. Now that's something people don't
know anything about. They don't know anything about the bitterness
of sin. They know the bitterness of getting caught when they do
something wrong. They know the bitterness of not
being able to get their way. They know the bitterness, you
know, of losing something in this world. But they don't know
the bitterness of sin. Know the bitterness and loathsomeness
of sin. And when sin becomes bitter and
loathsome and awful tasting in your mind, there's only one thing
that can take that bitterness and that taste and make it sweet,
and that's the cross by which Christ Jesus hung on and heals
us from our sin. No human power could sweeten
that water. It took a miracle. It took a
miracle. How in the world, how many trees
has fell in rivers and waters? Didn't make it any better, did
it? But here it did. One tree. One tree. Killed the people of the Roman,
one tree. One tree. And what a miracle
it is that that tree in that water took care of everything. What made the tree miraculous?
God showed it to him. God said, this is the one I want
you to use. And that's the way it is, beloved, in this business
of salvation. It takes a miracle. And what
a miracle it was that God would provide us salvation in his blessed
Son, that one should bear the sin of another, that one should
give the righteousness of his to another, that God would be
satisfied with the doing of another, and that what another did could
take away the bitterness of our sin, take away our murmuring,
take away our heartache, take away our sorrow, and the tree
accomplished what God's And it healed the people. God
ain't never done nothing to disaccomplish what He intended to do. Let me show you another in Exodus
17. Exodus 17. Jehovah Messiah. Look in verse
13. Joshua discomfited Amalek and
his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto
Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in
the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly put out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar,
and called the name of it Jehovah Messiah. What does this say in
the margin? The Lord my banner. That's what
he meant, the Lord my banner. When they were fighting Amalek,
they had to have a banner. You know, everybody's got a banner.
We have a flag, the flag of the United States of America. Whenever
they pledge allegiance to it or they sing the national anthem,
we stand up, put our hands over our hearts. And that's what they're
talking about here. Here's the Lord, my banner. Here's
the reason we have the victory. This is the reason we have this
banner here that flies high before all of our enemies. And they
had victory over their enemies. You remember here, look down
there in verse 11. And it came to pass when Moses
held up his hand, and Israel prevailed. And we let down his
hand, Amalek prevailed. And Moses' hands were heavy,
and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat there
on. And Aaron and Ur stayed up his hands, the one on the one
side and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady
until the going down of the sun. And oh, and he says, listen,
you know why we won this battle? Because the Lord's our banner.
The Lord's the one that won this victory for us. And they had
victory over their enemies. And it's because of Christ that
we have victory over our enemies. No wonder Paul says, God forbid
that I should gloat, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God made Christ unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And the reason being that no
flesh should glory in His presence. They didn't win that fight because
Moses held his hands up. They won that fight because God
defeated His enemies. He said, I'll utterly take away
the name of Amalek out from under heaven. I will destroy myself. And Christ alone is our banner.
I want you to keep Exodus down. Let me show you something over
here in 2 Corinthians 2.14. 2 Corinthians 2.14. You know,
we have no strength. We have no ability. We don't just need the Lord to
help us. We need the Lord to do everything for us. We have
no strength. We have no ability. We have nothing,
absolutely nothing to glory in. And look what it says here in
2 Corinthians 2.14. Now thanks be unto God, which
always causes us to triumph in Christ. Now you hear the average
person, they'll say you've got to fight the devil tooth and
nail. The devil gets the upper hand. And that you've got to
give it your best shot. You've got to put everything
you've got into it. No, no, no, no, no. It don't say that. It
says, Thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in
one place. And it's always a triumph. Never
failing. Never defeated. Always causes
us to triumph in Christ. There's banners for everything.
Everybody's got banners, you know, when a baseball team or
a football team or a basketball team play, and everybody puts
the banners outside their windows, put them outside their house.
And you know, down here in Tennessee, whenever they win a football
game, you know, there goes that boy running around the field
when they make it, holding that banner, flying it around, because
we just scored! Well, Christ's our banner. We
let the world know we have no strength. He's our banner. He won the victory for us. He's
the one defeated our enemies. It's like when they put that
flag and planted it at Iwo Jima. You know why they put that flag
up there? To let everybody know this is our banner. We won this
thing. We got to Mount Suribachi. We
got to the top. And the cost was great. But they
see that banner flyin', they see that flag flyin'. We won!
We defeated our enemies! And, beloved, there's only one
banner that tells us we defeated our enemy, and that's Christ
Jesus our Lord. He says He's our ensign, don't
he, Gary, over in Exodus? The Lord Jesus, our ensign. That's
a sign held up high. And, oh, beloved, let me show
you another. Judges. And when you go to Deuteronomy,
Joshua, and then Judges. Deuteronomy, Joshua, and then
Judges. Judges six. Seventh book in the Bible, Judges
chapter six. Judges chapter six. Verse 24, look what it says. Then Gideon built an altar there
unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah Shalom. And to this day
it is yet in Ophir of Abiza. Jehovah Shalom. You know what
it says in the margin? The Lord send peace. What happened was that Gideon, seeing this angel, he said, I've
seen the Lord, I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I've seen the
Lord and God's going to kill me. He says, no, no, you're a
man of God. I'm not going to kill you. He
said, you stay right here. And if you're really a man, if
you're really the Lord and you're sent from the Lord, he said,
I'll put the evil in God as sacrifice. He went and got some cakes, and
he went and got a goat, and he went and got some, you know,
he got everything. And the angel of the Lord, look what it says
here. Look in verse 19, And Gideon
went in and made ready a kid and eleven cakes of an ephah
of flour, the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth
in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented
it. And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh, the
eleven cakes, and lay them upon the rock, and pour out the broth.
And so he did. What's this now? Then the angel
of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his
hand, touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and there arose
fire, up fire, out of the rock. He didn't build the fire, he
just, fire come up out of the rock, and consumed the flesh
and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed
out of his sight. Oh my! And oh, listen, the Lord
said to him, when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord,
Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God, for because I have seen an angel
of the Lord face to face. And the Lord said unto him, Peace
be unto thee, fear not, thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built
an altar and called it Jehovah Shalom, the Lord's Peace. And oh, beloved, the Lord is
peace. And you know this peace was based before he had peace. The peace was based upon a sacrifice. When that angel of the Lord consumed
that sacrifice, the Lord says, peace be unto you and don't be
afraid. And peace is based, how do we have peace with God? Where
was peace established at? He made peace through the blood
of his cross. And that's the only way in the
world God can have peace with me and you, and us be at peace
with God. There has to be a sacrifice accepted before we never have
peace. Scott Richardson, I heard him
say it a hundred times, heard him say it once. He says, the
only thing that'll quieten your conscience, quieten your conscience,
When you know that God's been satisfied, you've had the perfect
sacrifice. And when your conscience is satisfied,
then your heart goes to rest, and peace comes upon you, because
you know that God's not angry with you anymore. Why ain't He?
Because there's a sacrifice on it. He made peace through the
blood of His cross. And He, the Scripture says, Jesus
Christ, who is our peace. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. Let me show you another one real
quick. Look over in Psalm 23. Psalm 23. Psalm 23. You know what this is, don't
you? Jehovah Rahway, the Lord my Shepherd. The Lord my Shepherd. The 23rd
Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd. That's
what Jehovah Rowley means. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. And that means Jehovah Rowley,
the Lord my shepherd. And the first thing we know about
the shepherd is this, is that he's the good shepherd. And it's
the good shepherd, he laid down his life for his sheep. Ain't
that what it tells us about in Psalm 22? He says, Oh my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He said, I'll lay down my
life for my sheep. No man takes it from me. I have
the power to lay it down. I have the power to take it up
again. And so, as the Good Shepherd, He laid down His life for the
sheep. And as the Great Shepherd, here in Psalm 23, look at all
the things He does. He makes us to lie down. He leads
us. He restores us. He leads us in
the paths of righteousness. What for? For His name's sake. When we're going through the
valley of the shadow of death, and that's where we're at right
now, we're walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
The shadow of death is on every single one of us, but it's just
a shadow. A shadow cannot hurt you. A shadow can't hurt you. It may
scar you every once in a while. But yes, shadow can't hurt you.
We're walking through the valley of the shadow of death every
single day we live here. And what happens? I'll fear no
evil. Why not? You're with me. You're on your staff to comfort
me. You've got me a table spread, even in the presence of my enemies.
I'm eating in the presence of Everything that's against me,
everything that's contrary to me, everything that ever destroyed
me, we sat down and eat the gospel in the presence of everything
that's against us and rest in God. And there's a million things
that's against us, but beloved, he got up to the table, I sat
down in front of the enemies of my soul, the enemies, my flesh,
the devil, the world, and my own heart. And that traitor that's
in me. And I even a presence to all
them enemies. Why? Because the Lord's my shepherd.
He's that great shepherd. Now God's brought again from
the dead that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of everlasting covenant. And I tell you what, we'll not
want because he ever lives to make intercession for us. And
then he's the chief shepherd. Good Shepherd lays down his life.
Great Shepherd provides for us while we're in this world. And
the Chief Shepherd, where Peter says the Chief Shepherd shall
appear, and with him he'll bring a crown of glory. And look over
here in verse 27, excuse me, verse 7 of Psalm 24. Psalm 24
and 7. Look at it. Who is missing? Lift up your heads over your
gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King
of Glory shall come in. That's that chief shepherd. He's
going to come with glory. And then let me show you one
here. This is good. Ezekiel 48. Let me give you,
I've got just a couple more and I'll let you go. Ezekiel 48. Ezekiel is right before the book
of Daniel. The last chapter before the book
of Daniel. Ezekiel 48. Ezekiel 48. Look what it says in verse 35.
Ezekiel 48, verse 35. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Look in verse 35. And it was round about 18,000
majors, and the name of the city from that day shall be called,
The Lord is There. And in the margin it says, Jehovah
Shalom. The Lord is there. The Lord is
present. Now he just described the city
of Jehovah, the great city of God, where all the People of
God is going to be, and he calls it Jehovah-Rama. The Lord is
there. Jehovah-sama. The Lord is present. And God's presence is the glory
of the most glorious place on earth. When we get there, we'll
see His glory. Plantain, the scripture says,
went out from the presence of the Lord. You know, people that
don't know, they don't want to be in the presence of God's people,
they want to be in the presence of the Lord. We want His presence. We ask for His presence. And
here he says, the Lord is present. The Lord is there. We're going
to go where the Lord is. And oh, beloved, where is God's
glory most clearly seen at? It's seen in Christ. We've beheld
the glory of God. We're at Him in Christ. And this
talks about the tabernacle of God is with me. God's presence
is with us in Christ now. And here, Shekinah glory was
manifested in the tabernacle. And sometimes they'd have to
wait. That glory was so great, the tabernacle, that they'd have
to wait outside before they could go in. And oh, beloved, and that
tabernacle, where that Shekinah glory was, that very glory is
now manifested in His blessed Son. The scripture says in Colossians
2.10, in the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily. He's the image, express image
of the invisible God. The glory of the glory world,
the glory of the glory world is going to be the presence of
the Lord. And then let me give you the
last one, Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23 and verse 6. Jeremiah
is right before you get to Ezekiel. Let's go backwards until you
get to Jeremiah 23, verse 6. Jeremiah 23, 6. whose days, David's son, that
righteous branch. In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness." The margin says,
Jehovah Zechariah, the Lord our righteousness. What righteousness? The Lord,
our righteousness. Not the Lord our righteousness
stuck on us, not the Lord our righteousness wearing it as a
button, but the Lord Himself our righteousness. It is God's
righteousness that's given to us for whom Christ was made to
be seen. That's why Paul said, I want
to be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, but the
righteousness of God, the righteousness of Christ, which is my faith
in Him. And, oh, beloved, it's the righteousness
of Christ that we have, the only righteousness God will accept.
And, oh, my, they're awful. You think about this. For somebody
to think for one second that they've done something good enough,
right enough, that they can face God and add something to what
Christ did, there could be nothing more abominable than that. Nothing
more above the fact that I can add to what Christ did, that
the righteousness of Christ, that I've got a righteousness
that I'll add to His. But it's only the righteousness
of Christ. We're made the righteousness
of God in Him. Now, beloved, salvation is by
works. It is by works. By Christ's works. Salvation is by man's righteousness,
but not ours, His. And let me show you one other
thing about it over here in Jeremiah 33, and then I'm through. And
you know, here's the thing about it, that right now, righteousness,
righteousness is It means that God looks at you, and not only
He counts you, it's from the day you're born to the day you
leave here, that you have done nothing but live the perfect
life. Because that's what Christ did.
And we have the righteousness of Christ given to us. Now look
here in Jeremiah 33, 16. In those days, shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem
shall dwell safely, and this is the name with which ye shall
be called." Now, this is what the church is called. Jehovah's
akin you, the Lord our righteousness. Oh, we are actually righteous. You reckon God calls things like
they don't exist? You know, you reckon God's saying
something about us that's not true? If God says, you know,
that He's the Lord our righteousness, then don't you think God knows
what He's doing? That God's what He sees? No,
He calls things as they are. He sees things the way they are,
and He sees us righteous. He doesn't treat us just like
we're innocent. You know, if you're innocent, that's just
a negative condition. Just to say, I haven't done something,
you're innocent of that particular thing. That's a negative condition. The positive is, is doing the
right. God don't just count us innocent. That's negative. He
declares we're righteous, and that's positive. How? Through the merit of His
blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the obedience of His
blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is of infinite merit before
God Almighty. Oh, what a God. What a God. All
the names of God. Every single one of them. tells
us something about His character, His nature, His power, His purpose,
and the salvation He's given us in His Son.