If you would please turn to Isaiah
chapter 61 Isaiah chapter 61 I just want to read the last
two verses Isaiah Isaiah 61 and verse 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. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth
her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it
to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness
and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Now I don't know about you, Walter,
I was thinking about this the other day. We've talked about
it before. I know I've read this scripture before. I know I have. Well, if you look at the first
verse, it's the one that the Lord quotes in the Gospels. The spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because he has anointed me to preach good things unto
the meek, sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty
to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. and he stopped
right there. I know I've read this chapter
before, but I swear I do not remember verse 10. And I read it, and it jumped
at me, and it tackled me, it attacked me, and I rejoiced. I know preachers aren't supposed
to tell you this stuff, but I can attest that I'm better at missing
stuff than I am at finding stuff. We see, but it's through a glass
darkly. And every now and then, the Lord
is good to you. And when I read this verse, it
just went whoa, you know, and I hope to God this will be for
you also. It's a good thing for me to find
this verse. What I wanna speak about is the
robe of righteousness. The robe of righteousness. Say it that way. But the verse
starts out, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be
joyful in my God. Guess what? If you know something
about the garments of salvation, if you know something about the
robe of righteousness, The Lord, capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D, Yahweh, Jehovah, Adonai, however you wanna say
it, the Lord is my God. Now that is something worth greatly
rejoicing in. That is someone in whom to be
joyful. But there's a reason for this
rejoicing that's spoken of in this verse. And he tells us right
away, I have been given the garments
of salvation and the robe of righteousness. What's that mean? It means everything, every single
thing you need for salvation, God has put it on you. God has given it to you and God's
seen to it that it was put on you. I like that thought, Mason. I love that thought. You understand,
I worry about my salvation. Jesus Christ is our salvation. Our salvation is a person. And
salvation is of the Lord. But I worry about me. Because
I am personally invested in myself. I can't help you, and I know
it can't help me either. But bless God, Isaiah tells me
here, I don't have to help myself. And I thank God for that. I thank
God for that. There are garments of salvation. So what are some of these garments
of salvation? I'm not gonna name them all because
I, to admit, I don't know them all. And I'm sure I missed some. But I picked out, I got five
big ones here. I wanna point out some. And you
notice how I'm talking here. These are garments of salvation. It's plural. Now we'll get to
it in a little bit. The robe of righteousness is
singular. There are many garments of salvation. There's only one robe of righteousness. You gotta keep that, I want you
to keep that in your mind while we go through this. Because I
am gonna name some of these because they're glorious. They are garments
of your salvation. They are garments of my salvation.
They are garments of the salvation of every single child of God. Because God doesn't save different
people in different ways and he never has. This is Old Testament. But I'm gonna talk about some
Old Testament things and some New Testament things. You know why? Because
they're the same things. They're the same things. Clothing the first garment of
salvation clothing of deliverance that I want to list is being
elect of God in Christ Jesus And I'm gonna tell you the thing
that hit me when I was writing some of these things down This is a garment of salvation
That you don't even know you have You don't even know he's
put it on you for years. For years. But he has put this
garment on every single child of God. He has put it on every
single person chosen in Christ Jesus from before the foundation
of the world. It's a garment of salvation. Election is only known by believers. by believing in Christ Jesus.
That's why the world fights so hard against it. You know why? Because they don't get it. They
don't understand it. Even if you read to them, every
believer is chosen. And election, as Earl used to
always say, is not salvation, it is unto salvation. It's a garment of salvation.
because there is no salvation without God having chose you
from the beginning. What did Jesus Christ tell his
disciples? And this goes for everybody. You didn't choose
me, I chose you. Wait a minute. And ordained you. Ordained you. And I can tell you when. before
the world was. We were chosen in Christ. Paul
states in another place that election is of grace. And of
course, what's that mean? It means it's not a works. It has nothing to do with what
you do. It is something that he hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation. If God didn't put it on you,
you don't have it. Being chosen of God has nothing
to do with your works. And you may not know this yet.
But if you're one of his, you will. I guarantee it. I guarantee
it. Because being elect of God is
a garment of salvation. The second thing I got is born
of God. This is the first work in you. Election was for you, you weren't
even born. But being born of God, you are
on this earth. And it's life from above, it's
life being born of God. The work of his Holy Spirit in
you, bringing life to a sinner who is dead, in trespasses and
in sins. Jesus Christ said it. Ye must
be born again. And you can look at it. You must
be born from above. It's not in you. It's not from
you. It's from him. And it's a garment
of salvation. You must be born, and that's,
you must be born from above to see the kingdom of God. Then
you gotta be born of the water and the spirit to enter, to enter. That's what he said, it is. And I, that's a garment of salvation,
to be able to see the kingdom of God and to be able to not
only just see it, that's glorious enough, but to enter the kingdom
of God. To be a part of the kingdom of
God. And you can't do that without
the garments of salvation. It's not possible. Because to
enter the kingdom of God is to be saved. Oh, everybody thinks, oh well,
the whole world is his kingdom. Yes it is. Yes it is. But it's a whole world of a different
thing to appear before the king and just to be a member or a
person in their kingdom. Because we get to enter the kingdom
as an heir of God. A joint heir with Jesus Christ.
How do you do that? You got to be born from above,
you got to be born of the water and of the spirit. What's that
mean? I believe the best place is in Titus three where it says,
through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost. And don't be fooled by that word renewing. I told you
a while back, that word bothered me. No, you look at, it's the
making new of the Holy Ghost. You know why? Because the old
you ain't gonna make it in. You gotta be made new. You gotta
be made new. And it takes that washing and
that spirit to enter this kingdom of salvation. Being born of God is a garment
of salvation. The third thing I got written
down is believe the truth. A lot of people make light of this
in a lot of places. And we've endeavored to be particular
about this here lately in the fact that, well, the only reason
you can believe God is through the working of his mighty power. You know what? That's a garment
of salvation he puts on you. That's part of both working in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure, because he
is pleased that we believe his son. You know why? Because he says very particularly,
he is not pleased with those who don't believe his son. Because
they're calling him a liar, they're calling his son a liar. And you
understand, this ain't a bad western, But that's a word God'll
take from no man. You understand, God's not gonna
take some piece of dust, calling him a liar, and let it go. Because
guess what? That's a sin. That's a sin. Second Thessalonians 2 and 13
says that God has what? From the beginning chosen you,
back to that election stuff. It says, to salvation through
Sanctification of the Spirit. So here we've got election. Oh,
what's that other thing? Born from above. Being born of
the Spirit. Sanctification of the Spirit.
And he didn't stop there, he says and, and, and belief of
the truth. That's a garment of salvation.
If you believe not that I am, and you can put the he in there
if you want to, I am he. If you believe not that Jesus
Christ is he, you're gonna die in your sins. Because the belief
of the truth is a garment of salvation that God's gonna put
on you or you're not gonna be saved. You're gonna believe him. You're gonna believe his gospel.
You're gonna believe his word or you're gonna die in your sins. It's that simple. And it's that
serious. Believing the gospel, believing
Christ Jesus, believing the truth by any and every believer is
a miracle of grace. And believing the truth is a
garment of salvation. The fourth one, I just put this,
continue. Continue. I preached this the
other day. He that's begun a good work in
you, he's gonna perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. Now
you know what that means. That means you're gonna continue
because he's gonna work it in you. If he's begun a good work
in you, you gotta qualify it. Guess what? Continuing is a garment
of salvation. Because if you continue in my
word, Christ said, then are ye my disciple indeed. Indeed. Indeed and in truth. That's salvation. You know this
whole mishmash of stuff where you can have salvation and you
can lose it. You can have salvation, you can
lose it. All I can tell you is that just goes to show they don't
know who saved them. Let me preach this. Just goes to show they're not
having the garments of salvation put on them. Because they don't
know what they're talking about. And here's the thing, the reason
they don't know what they're talking about is they don't know
who they're talking about. You understand, God saves. I kill, I make alive. And what
happens to you in between? Well, you're either dead or you're
alive. And guess what? It's not up to
you, it's not up to me, it's up to God. We walk in the light because
he is the light. And he is our light. The world's still in darkness.
You understand, there's not a problem with the light, there's a problem
with the people in the world. Jesus Christ is shining every
day. And guess what? The world doesn't
see him every day. Continue in his word. Study to
show thyself approved unto God, a workman that doesn't need to
be ashamed. And we are to continue in good
works. I think we were created under
good works. He's ordained that we should
walk in them. And he puts in you both the will
and to do of his good pleasure. I can't stay away from that.
But continuing, continuing is a garment of salvation. The last
one I got here, this is kind of a tough one. The last garment of salvation
I want to mention We have to die in faith. I don't wanna, I don't wanna
die, put it that way. I'm not looking forward to it. But, you know, Earl said it.
The old must die, the young may. But the whole question is, do
you die continuing? Do you die believing the truth
of God. Do you die believing Christ Jesus? Do you die having been born of
God? Jesus Christ said, those that
endure to the end, the same shall be saved. Paul wrote it, we are
not of them that draw back under perdition. That's part of that
continuum. Jesus Christ said that enduring
to the end, right after he said, you'll be hated of all men before
my name's sake. For what? For his truth, for
his word, for his person, for his work, which we are to extol,
which we are to preach, which we are to witness to. You'll
be hated by all men for my name's sake. Hebrews 11 put it this
way. These all died in faith. Not having received the promises,
but what? Believing. Believing. Dying in faith is a garment of
salvation. Now there's more, and I'm not
gonna go into them. Because I don't have them written
down and I don't want to wing this, you know. But this brings
us to the robe of righteousness. You understand? Let's make it
clear. Very, very clear. There is only
one, one robe of righteousness. It's the robe of righteousness. The garments of salvation are
plural. because there are many garments
to this salvation which we have been given. But the robe of righteousness,
no, and there are many garments of salvation and the robe of
righteousness is singular, singular. Now I got to thinking about this,
this is one of the things we talked about Wednesday when Walter
and I were on this trip. The Bible is just chock full
of singular things. singular things. And I got thinking,
well, the reason it's pretty clear is because it's a book
of a singular person. This is a book of Christ, a single
person. This is his book. But you think about it, there's
only one Passover, there's only one fold, there's only one shepherd. There's other sheep out there,
but I'm bringing them into this fold. There's only one. There's
only one fold. There's only one shepherd. There's
only one vine. There's many branches, but there's
only one vine. We talked about this. There's
only one olive tree. We might have been a wild olive tree,
but we've been grafted into that one. And guess whose garden that
is. It's the same garden that that
vine and the branches are in. There's only one vine, there's
only one olive tree, and here we have one robe of righteousness. I believe there's a reference
to this in the parable of the prodigal son. The lost sheep,
the lost coin, and the lost son. When that father saw the son
approaching, coming back. He went to him and fell on his
neck and he kissed him. And he did it just as he was.
He'd come from the pigsty, where he'd been feeding the pigs, not
eating the pigs. He came from the pigsty and he
said, I'm gonna rise and go to my father, and he did. And the
father saw him afar off and fell on his neck. But what did the
father say? He said, bring forth the best
robe. Whoa, I'm gonna tell you something,
the robe of righteousness, that's the best robe. That's the best
robe. And I'm gonna tell you something,
you are not gonna be in the presence of the Father or at his feast
without the best robe on. And you know what he said? He
said, bring it forth. But then he said, put it on him. He didn't say, here son, put
this on. It'll look good on you. No, he
said, put this on. Put this on him. And guess what
happened? Everything happened exactly the
way the father said it. They brought the best robe. And
you know, there can only be one best robe. There's only one. They knew which one he meant.
There's only one best robe. You can have a good robe, you
can have a better robe. You might have three or four better robes.
You might have four or five good ones. But there's only one best
robe. And that's the one that goes on the son. The one that
the father says it goes on. And they put it on him and he
was wearing it. Here's the thing. The robe of
righteousness is singular because righteousness, true righteousness,
the only righteousness of God is singular. Jesus Christ is
all righteousness. There is no other righteousness.
This world and everyone in it is cursed, is corrupt, is decaying,
and it's dying. And some of it's already dead.
And we were dead in trespasses and in sins. The only righteousness
in this universe is God Almighty himself. And our Lord Jesus Christ
thought it was not, he thought it was not robbery to be equal
with God. But he made himself of no reputation. He took upon
himself the form of a servant and he performed all of the righteousnesses
that our Lord the Father required. And he is the only righteousness
of this world, singular. Because the robe of righteousness
is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Without which, just like
holiness, no man shall see God. His perfect righteousness is
what we need. And it's all we need. Understand, if you're perfectly
righteous, if you've got on the robe of righteousness, God can't
say anything to you. Is that bold? Well, let's boldly
go before the throne of grace. Because you understand, you're
wearing the righteousness of his son and he's the one that
put it on you, he's not gonna find any, I find no fault in
this man. Pontius Pilate said that. Guess
what, God's gonna say it about every child of God. Because you're
gonna have on the garments of salvation, he's gonna put on,
he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, but then it says
he's covered me. So on top, of the garments of
salvation, you are covered by the robe of righteousness if
you're in Christ. And it's his righteousness. First
Corinthians 1 and 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus. Now who's that? But of God are
ye in Christ Jesus. There's no other way to be in
Christ than by the work of God. who of God is made unto us, here
you go, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Guess what? All four of them
things are singular too. But he is made unto us not just
righteousness, he is our robe of righteousness. And how do
we have the robe of righteousness? God covers you in the righteousness
of Christ. He clothed you in the garments
of salvation and he covers you in the righteousness of Christ.
Because that's the best thing about the garments of salvation
and that's the best thing about the robe of righteousness. I
don't have to find them. I don't have to get them. I don't
have to keep them clean. I don't even have to put them
on. You don't have to put them on. If God puts them on you,
they're on you. If God covers you with a robe,
you're covered. You know what that means about
salvation? You know what that means about righteousness? It's
not me. It's not you. It's not you, period. If you want more, I'll tell you
more. It's not even up to me any way, shape, or form. It's
not up to you any way, shape, or form. Look at verse eight. For I, the Lord, love judgment,
I hate robbery for burnt offering, and I will direct their work
in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. You understand, why does God
clothe people in the garments of salvation? Why does he cover
them with the robe of righteousness? Well, it's his covenant. You
read this book, it's his salvation. They're his garments. It's his
robe. Sometimes the simplest answer
is the best. Salvation is of the Lord. And I'll say it this
way. Salvation is by the Lord. From beginning to end. And everything in the middle. They wanna leave that up. Okay,
well, we believe God's sovereign in the beginning, God's sovereign
in the end, but you know, the middle, we're just a little murky.
No, ain't nothing murky to God. There's lots of things murky
to me. We do see through a glass darkly,
and sometimes I don't see at all. Because sometimes I close
my eyes. But nothing's murky to God. Salvation
from the beginning, from the first to the last, I am what?
The alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end. And if Jesus Christ says you're
with me, you're with me. He'll clothe you in the garments
of salvation, and he'll cover you in the robe of righteousness. And I want to be clothed, and
I want to be covered by God, because I remember what it was
like before I was. I read this, because here's what
it is. If you're not clothed in the
garments of salvation, if you're not covered by the robe of righteousness,
What are you? You are wretched and miserable
and poor and blind and naked, according to Revelation 317.
And you understand, here's the other part that I didn't read,
you don't know it. I do know because I believe I
have been. I know where I used to be and
I know what I used to be alone. But here's the thing, when you're
in that, you don't know, you think you're full. You think
you have need of nothing is what it says. And you don't know that
you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
But being clothed in the garments of salvation, being covered by
the robe of righteousness, I'm not wretched, I'm victorious. I'm not miserable, I'm joyful
in my God. I'm not poor, I am rich in Jesus
Christ and I have an inheritance that's in the heavens, undefiled
and it fades not away. I'm a joint heir with the king. I'm not blind because he has
opened my eyes and I see. And if our gospel be hid, it's
hid to him that is lost, that the God of this world has blinded
their minds. And bless God, I'm not naked. I'm clothed and covered. You understand? You got the clothing,
the garments of salvation, and you've got the robe of righteousness
covering. And notice this, last of all. One thing. For he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. You can't have one without the
other. There's no way. There's not even
a conjunction. There's a comma they put in here.
in this separation because this is one statement. You can't have
the garments of salvation and not be covered by the robe of
righteousness. And there's nobody got the robe of righteousness
if they don't have the garments of salvation. You understand? It's all of him and he does it
all for us. He does it all in us that's done. and he's gonna continue, he's
gonna perform that good work in you until the day of Christ. It's all of grace, it's all of
Christ, it's all of God. And Walter, it's all mine. You
understand? It's mine. That's why he started
this verse. I greatly rejoice in the Lord. Capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D. And my soul shall be joyful in
my God, because my God has provided everything for my salvation. Because one day, I and you, separately, are gonna stand before
God. See, that's the thing. I'm still a sinner. I'm still
a sinner, I'm still me. My old man has not got any better.
The new man knows a lot better, but sometimes he doesn't do it.
Because the old man gets in the way, there's a war between the
flesh and the spirit. But one day, I'm gonna stand
before God, and if I have those garments of salvation, and if
I'm covered by that robe of righteousness, I'll be right as rain. You know,
he'll look at me and say, come on in, thou good and faithful
servant. And it won't be because I was a good and faithful servant,
it's because his son was. That's right, and his son gives
all this to me. Every garment of salvation, whatever
they are, because like I said, I don't know. Every garment of salvation is
mine, and covered by that robe of righteousness, I can stand
before a holy God, and so can you. So rejoice. Be joyful to your God, because
the Lord is your God if you've got the garments of salvation
and the robe of righteousness. Thank you, Lord, for this time,
this place. Thank you most of all for your
salvation from beginning to end, it's all of you. Help us to see
that and rejoice in you and rejoice in the salvation you've given
us and rejoice in the son whom you provided everything through
him, by him, in him. Be with Walter as he comes to
preach your word Be mindful of our needs, as you always are. In Christ's name we pray, amen.