If you'd like to follow along
please turn to Jeremiah chapter 23 I'm gonna begin reading in
verse 5 of Jeremiah 23 Behold the days come saith the
Lord and that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and
a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. 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. Therefore, behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say the
Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt, but the Lord liveth, which brought up and
which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country,
from all countries whither I had driven them, and they shall dwell
in their own land. I'm gonna stop right there. The title of this is The Lord
Our Righteousness. This is the name of the Lord. That's his name. Jehovah said,
I'm sure most of you have heard that before. The Lord our righteousness. The Lord our righteousness is
the righteous branch that is raised up unto David. We know
him as Jesus Christ. We know him as Christ Jesus,
the Lord Savior. Now, that's who Jeremiah is writing
about here. There's no question about that.
If you got problems with it, you're gonna have problems with
everything in the book, actually. Forget what I say. You're gonna
have problems with everything in the book if you don't understand
this is Jesus Christ, the righteous branch raised unto David, the
son of David, called in the New Testament. And Jeremiah's writing
this as a future event because it was a future event in Jeremiah's
day. This is a prophecy. Now I don't know if you really
understand this and I've heard other people say this and as
far as I can tell it's true. There's one big difference between
this Bible and any other writing that people think is holy. You
know, the Book of Mormon, whatever, you know, I'm not gonna get into
that, but you know, because they kind of corrupted this, but what
is it, the Baha'i Gita, okay, and the Koran, you understand? There are no real prophecies
in that. But in this book, this is a prophecy. And here's the
thing, every single one of the prophecies of this book that
were due up to this time have come true. And that is just wondrous. God told us hundreds of years
before he came that Jesus Christ was coming, that he was gonna
be a son of David, and he was gonna raise him up. And, what, be a king, shall reign
and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Now I know there are people out there, maybe right even today,
who will tell you that Jesus Christ is coming and he's gonna
be king. Well yes, he is coming, yes he's going to be king, But
here's the thing, he was king 2,000 years ago. He was king
700 years before that. He was king before this book
ever was written, before it was started. You understand, Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. So if
he is a king or going to be a king, he's king now. And if you don't
understand that right now and 2,000 years ago, he was reigning
and prospering and executed judgment and justice in the earth, you
don't know Christ. Because listen, he was born king. That's supposedly the season
that most people are not celebrating right now. He was born king. came into this world as king,
you know why? Because he was king before he
came. But before I get too far into
this, and talk about the seed of Abraham
that's coming, as Jeremiah was writing, the one that came, the
one that we know now, By the very nature of this passage,
I kind of need to define righteous and righteousness. And I'm going
to try to do this without getting terribly theological, because
I don't know if I can. In this scripture, where it says,
I will raise unto David a righteous branch, that word is an adjective. And an adjective is a word that
modifies a noun. describes a noun. You understand? This wasn't just
any old branch that was coming. It was the righteous branch. That's what it means. You can
have a good branch, you can have a bad branch, you can have a
tall branch, you can have a short branch, you can have a long branch,
you can have a leafy branch. You can even have a dead branch.
But the modifier that the Lord spoke unto Jeremiah right here,
and Jeremiah pinned it down for us, is this one, a righteous
branch. Now, that word righteous is the
same exact word used at the end of the verse where it says, he
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. Understand, there's
no difference between the word righteous and the word justice. They're exactly the same, in
the Hebrew, they're the same word. And listen. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
righteous branch. In his hands, the Lord has placed
all judgment and justice. Why? Because the judge of all
the earth shall do what? Right. He's going to do right. He's gonna do right whether you
see it or not, he's gonna do right whether you know it or
not. And you understand, that comforts me. I like to scare
the dickens out of sinners, but for sinners who believe, that's
a comfort. How can all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them that are called according
to his purpose? Because we have a righteous branch. who's gonna do all righteousness. Now, that brings us to righteousness. Righteousness is a noun itself. And in this case, in the case
of Jesus Christ, to be honest, it's a statement of his nature.
It's a statement of what he is. of who he is. It is a state. Righteousness, in this case,
is a state of being. It's his very nature. And here's
the word it means, also derived from the same word as justice
and righteous, of course. It means rightness. He is the
Lord, our rightness. This is what he is, which I hate
to say it that way, but I don't know any other way to say it.
This is who he is. Just as being righteous is not
doing no wrong. Righteousness and righteous are
not just the lack of sin, but they are the lack of sin. Because here's the thing. Righteousness
is righteous branch. We'll never do anything wrong. The Lord, our righteousness,
has no wrong in him. It's hard for me to get this
across, and I don't know if I will. Because it does mean he has done,
he is doing, and he shall do absolutely no wrong. But not
only that, more to that, he has done, is doing, and shall do
everything exactly right. And that's the glory of it. Because
here it is, I'll throw this in a little early, he's the Lord.
our righteousness. He's the Lord our righteousness. Oh, oh. Righteousness means there
is absolutely no wrong in him. There is no wrong with him. As a matter of fact, in him everything
is right. Because righteousness is not
his thoughts, words, or deeds. Those are righteous thoughts
that God has. Those are righteous words that
he speaks. Those are righteous deeds that he does. But righteousness, as I said
before, is his very nature. Just as holiness is intrinsic
to God, God is holiness. Just as holiness
is intrinsic to God, so is righteousness. And this, according to Jeremiah
here, this is Jesus Christ. You understand what we say when
we say people don't know what Jesus they're talking about.
Because I've listened to, and they're not talking about the
Jesus of Jeremiah 23. You understand? They're talking about Jesus the
milksock, Jesus the doormat, and Jesus, Jesus, please help
us. And then they say he can't unless
you'll let him. Because the Lord, our righteousness,
is the Lord, our holiness, and he is the Lord, our perfection.
And he is the righteous branch unto David. Isaac Watts wrote
this. Fair branch, fair branch ordained
of old to shoot, from David's stock, from Jacob's root, himself
a noble vine, and we the lesser branches of the tree. Tis thine
own son, and he shall stand, girt with thy strength at thy
right hand, thy firstborn son adorned and blessed, with power
and grace above the rest. See, he's not only just the branch,
he's the righteous branch, the righteous branch. But Jeremiah starts this out,
which is behold, pay attention, look, see, the day's coming,
the day's coming. Everywhere in this book, you
will see, the day's coming. In Genesis, the day is coming
when the seed of woman's gonna bruise the head of the serpent. That day came, that day came. The days are coming, future in
Jeremiah's time. But now we know when it happened. 2,000 years ago or thereabouts,
with the birth of Jesus Christ, because Jeremiah is writing of
the very Son of God. The very Son of God. Now listen. You see where it says, I will
raise unto David a righteous branch? He was a righteous branch before
he came. He didn't say, I'm gonna create
a righteous branch. He didn't say I'm gonna make
a righteous branch. No, no, no, no, no. And I'll
tell you this, David was just the lineage he was chosen to
go into, to come from. That's all it was. You understand? David had no part in the creation
of the righteous branch because the righteous branch is the creator. What am I saying? I'm saying
there's always been a righteous branch, he's just come now. What? Behold the days come. And I'm gonna raise him up. And
I'm gonna raise him up out of the lineage of David. But he
was a righteous branch before he got here. He was a righteous
branch when he came. He was a righteous branch when
he died on the tree. And he was a righteous branch
when he was resurrected. and ascended unto heaven, and
right now he's sitting at the right hand of the majesty on
high, and he's still the righteous branch. What'd I say? He's the same yesterday, and
today, and forever. Mm. There's always been a righteous
branch, because Jesus Christ is the eternal son. Isaiah prophesied. A child is born. But he said
more than that. Because he was proclaiming the
word of the Lord. A son is given. And that son that was given is
this righteous branch right here. Now that child that was born
was still this righteous branch right here. He came to be a man
to live among us. And a king that reigns and prospers
and shall execute judgment in the earth. And he reigns and he executes
judgment and justice right now. He did 2,000 years ago when he
came. You understand when those soldiers came to him and they
said, are you Jesus of Nazareth? Are you Jesus Christ? Are you
Jesus of Nazareth? And he said, I am. And what happened? They fell back. They fell back
and fell down. He said, don't you know, right
now, don't you know, if I wanted to, I could call 12 legions of
angels right now. And it wouldn't have took that
much to take care of 100 Roman soldiers. One angel would have
scared them to death. But he could have called 12 legions.
No, no, no, the righteous branch. was there to show forth his righteousness. Then he says here, in his days,
Judah shall be saved. And Israel shall dwell safely. My gosh. In his day, Not only
shall he, the righteous branch, not only will he save, he's gonna
keep people safe. You understand? Israel's gonna
dwell safely. Now I know a lot of people are
going into, oh well, Israel wasn't there for that. Don't worry about
that, you understand? When the righteous branch saves,
A, you're gonna be saved, and B, you're gonna dwell safely.
How long? Forever. Forever. You understand, the righteous
branch doesn't do anything halfway. He's gonna do it all. And you know, here's the thing,
the righteous branch is gonna bear fruit. And that fruit, what? His fruit's gonna remain. Gonna
remain. Now it says also your fruit's
gonna remain. You know why? Because it's his fruit. It's
his fruit. Oh my. The righteous branch saves and
he keeps saved. I read it last week. Israel shall be saved in him. In him, in him. And then who's
him? The righteous branch. The Lord
our righteousness, that's who he is. Israel shall be saved
in him with an everlasting salvation. How can it be an everlasting
salvation? He's the righteous branch. He's
that, and he's still the righteous branch. and he ever will be the
righteous prince. So if he's gonna save you, and
you're gonna dwell safely, how long are you gonna dwell safely?
As long as he says. And what'd he say? He said, everlasting
salvation. Now you understand, there's people
all around us who have been saved, and then they've been lost, and
maybe they got saved again, and then they got lost. I'm gonna
tell you this right now, that's not everlasting salvation, I
don't know what that is. And here's the other part, I
don't want to know what that is. Because that is of absolutely
no value. Because if I can lose it, I'll
lose it, trust me. You understand, I can't keep
myself saved. And by God's grace, by the righteous
branch, I don't have to. I don't have to, why? This is
his name. What? In his days, the righteous
branch's days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell
safely, and this is his name whereby he shall be called. The
Lord our righteousness. Jehovah or Yahweh, Sidkenon. The Lord our righteousness. Who is he? That's his name. That's
his name. And I'm gonna tell you something,
that ought to be enough to make you say amen. Right there, you know? The righteous branch's name is
the Lord our righteousness. There's a lot of righteousness
and justice and stuff going on around this branch. That's good. If you know him, it's great.
The one who saves me and the one who keeps me saved is our
righteousness. The Lord, our righteousness. You understand? He says he saves
us, and he says you're gonna dwell safely, but you understand
what it comes down to? It's not the Savior, our righteousness.
It's the Lord. And that is the Lord, the big
Lord. Capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. Jehovah, Yahweh,
God Almighty. Our righteousness. Our righteousness,
oh my. You understand, and very carefully,
I mean, this is the beautiful thing about this passage, and
where I wanna grab a hold, and I wanna stay there. You understand,
he's not saying his name is the Lord of Righteousness, although
he is. He certainly is, you know? He's
not even right here being called by the name, the Righteous Lord.
Although he is. What is he telling Jeremiah to
tell us? He's the Lord, our, my righteousness. Now buddy, how more personal
can a savior be? But you understand when they
talk about I'm making Jesus my personal savior, they're not
talking about the Lord of righteousness. They're not talking about the
Lord our righteousness. Because if they did, they wouldn't
say it so flippantly. This is the message of the Lord
through Jeremiah to the people of God to this day. You understand? If you're gonna be saved, it's
gonna be by the Lord, our righteousness. You understand? It's the same
for the prophet as it is for the people. It's the same for
the preacher It's the same as the apostles, the pastors, teachers,
and all of the people of God. If you don't know the Lord our
righteousness, you don't know the Lord. Because that's his
nature, very nature. We are to call him. I know some
people might think you sound cocky Well, you think a lot of
yourself. No, I don't. But by God, I think
a lot of him. The son of God, I think very
much a lot of. I know that's bad English. But
it's all right, how you say it. I think more of him than I do
of you. Okay? Nothing personal, that's just
the way it is. And it ought to be the same way
with you. Because I think more of him than
I ever think of myself. Because we call him the Lord
our righteousness. Now here's the thing. Be very
clear here. Our righteousness is not my works. It's not your works. It's not
your deeds. Now I know Isaiah says, all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags. He's talking about deeds
there. That's not what Jeremiah's writing about here. No, no, our
righteousness is a person. And that person is the Lord. Ah, that, I mean, you know, there's
your personal savior. But he ain't your personal savior
unless he's your Lord. You know, I'll make him my savior
now and then I'll make him, you're not making God into anything. And you never will make God into
anything. Our righteousness is a person,
not our works, not our words, not our thoughts. Although, he
will give us new works, new words, and he'll give us new thoughts. but it's Him that is our righteousness. What? He is the Lord, our rightness. I like that, I do. He's our rightness. What do we need to do? Lay hold
of Him. Now, lay hold of Him. Trust Him. Because he, he, Jesus Christ,
is all our righteousness. He is all our rightness. There is no other. None, absolutely
none. And here's the beautiful thing.
I don't need anything else. I don't need anyone else. Now
thank God he has given me you people. You understand? But see, all I need is him. And
all you need is him. Because I can't help you. I can
preach the gospel, but I can't make you believe it. I can teach as best I can, but
I can't make you learn it. If it doesn't come from his spirit
in power into your soul, if he doesn't open unto you what? The
scriptures. I can't open them for you. I
can't do it. I'd like to. I have a sense what
Earl used to say. I'd like to open up people's
head and pour this stuff right in there. Well, Walter had saved
me a lot of trouble on Sunday mornings. You understand? But I can't do it. This is what
we're to do. We're to preach and to hear his
word about who? The Lord our righteousness. The
righteous branch. Now, I was looking at this and
I saw something very, I don't know that I've ever heard this.
If I did, I forgot it. So if you want to, just for a
moment, turn to Jeremiah chapter 33. because here's a very strange
thing. And it's a glorious thing, I
think. In those days, this is Jeremiah 33 and 15. See if this
doesn't sound familiar. In those days and at that time
will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David and he
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall
Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this
is the name wherewith she shall be called. Well, the Lord our
righteousness. Now isn't that peculiar? Jeremiah went from, in chapter
23, This'll be his name, he'll be called. You get to 33, he
says, what? This is the name wherewith she
shall be called. And it's the same name. The Lord
our righteousness. Now isn't that something? I will
tell you, and you may not believe this, but it's true, some translations
disagree. In particular, according to Gill,
I'll take his word for it, The Targum and the Latin Vulgate
say he and him, again, just like it did in 23. But then he says,
that ain't right according to the Hebrew. Now the Targum is Aramaic, translation
of the Old Testament, and Vulgate, the Latin Vulgate, is fourth
century Latin. Fourth century was not a good
time. I'm not gonna go into all that,
but let's just put it that way. This is one of the translations
that the Catholic Church still uses when they deal in Latin.
Let's just put it that way. So I am not surprised at inaccuracies. Let's just put it that way. But
here it is. This is what it says. According
to John Gill and Robert Hawker, Hawker, Hawker. Both men, I've
read their works, some of them. Not all of them, and I have no
problem with what they say most of the time. This says she. Now isn't that a glorious thing
though? Isn't that a glorious thing?
I mean isn't that miraculous? Gracious, gracious believers. Believers are called the Lord
our righteousness That's my prophet of God You know that's not me
saying this although. I just said it You understand
just like I don't hear voices in my head unless somebody's
talking And then I try to tune some of them out, but I'm not
gonna say But here's the thing this is what God says And he's
writing it to us She shall be called the Lord
our righteousness. You know why? Because we are
his. Understand? We're called by the name of God by God. Now we are, this is the name,
you understand? And this is the word of the Lord,
thus saith the Lord. We are called the Lord our righteousness. You know why? Because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. And here's the
thing, chosen you in the beloved. Who's the beloved? The beloved
is the Lord our righteousness. The beloved is the righteous
branch. Everything we have comes from
him. Even our name is his. Oh, I like that, I do. John Gill,
I copied this down. John Gill wrote this. She is
called Jehovah, not as deified by him, but as united to him. And our righteousness as justified
by him. Christ and his church are one. As head and members are and therefore
called by the same name. Hence the church is called Christ. They are in a marriage relationship.
That's given as examples in here. So do Christ and his church. Moreover, not only Christ is
made righteousness to his people, but they are made the righteousness
of God in him. Oh, I like that. Where's that
from? That's from 2 Corinthians 5.21. For he hath made him to be sin,
for us. It's amazing how often that's
coming up nowadays. What, who knew no sin? What,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, that's what it
says. His righteousness is not only
put upon us, it is imputed to us, but it's put upon us. So
that they, believers, His bride, His church, His body, in God's
sight, is as righteous as He is righteous. He's the Lord our
righteousness. We are nothing of ourselves,
but of Him we are everything. In Him we have everything. All spiritual blessings in the
heavenlies, in Christ Jesus. and he has made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. And of God are
you in him. Because those who believe in
Christ Jesus, those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, lack
absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. Because he
is the Lord our righteousness, and we've been given his name.
Now isn't that a glory? And you know, Walter, they talk
like, oh, these Old Testament people, they didn't know much
of nothing. Listen, I can tell you this right
now, modern people don't know much of nothing. I'll just be
honest with you. When God saved me, I didn't know
jack. I didn't know a thing. Yeah, but I knew less than you,
Walter. I was, I was, and this is God's honest truth, I was
willingly ignorant of the Lord our righteousness. Now I had
all kind of useless knowledge, and guess what? Some of it's
still stuck in there. But by God's grace, the Lord
our righteousness has taught me about the righteous branch. and I want to know about him. Because he is the Lord our rightness. The Lord our righteousness. And one day, one day, he's coming
again. And things will change for those
who know him. We're gonna have his likeness.
We're gonna be raised a glorious body. Why? Because the Lord's our righteousness. Heavenly Father, thank you for
this time, this place. Oh, and the chance to try and
worship you in spirit and in truth. Thank you, Lord, for your
son. the righteous branch, who gives us all things. Be with Walter as he comes to
preach your word. Lead us as we go out from here
into this world. Make us to focus on you, to focus
on your son, our Lord, in whose name we pray, amen.