John brought up peace in that
passage. And then, as he had mentioned
in Sunday school, we talked a little bit about peace, too, through
Christ. And today's message is called
Righteousness, Then Peace. Righteousness, Then Peace. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
32. Isaiah 32. Now, before I read the text,
let us take note of how this chapter begins with verse 1 and
2. I'll read those first. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment, and a man shall
be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest
as rivers of water in a dry place. at the shadow of a great rock
in a weary land. And this is Christ. A king shall
reign in righteousness. There's only one king that reigns
in righteousness, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
is truly a hiding place from the wind for his people, hiding
place from the wrath of God, a hiding place from the law of
God. And he's a covert from the tempest,
isn't he? He's our refuge. We have no other
refuge but Christ and Christ alone. Let's read verses 13 to
20 now. Upon the land of my people shall
come up thorns and briars, yea, upon all the houses of joy in
the joyous city. Because the palaces shall be
forsaken, the multitude of the city shall be left. The forts
and towers shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild asses,
a pasture of flocks, until the spirit be poured upon us from
on high. And the wilderness be a fruitful
field. The wilderness, all of a sudden,
becomes a fruitful field. And a fruitful field be counted
for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in
the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field."
And here's our text. And the work of righteousness
shall be peace. And the effect of righteousness,
quietness, insurance forever. And let's keep reading down to
verse 20. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation,
and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places, when it
shall hail coming down from the forest, and the city shall be
low in a place. Blessed are ye that sow beside
all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
Now again, take note of verse 2. A man shall be a hiding place
from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water
in a dry place. as the shadow of a great rock
in a weary land. Now, this week, a dear sister
in Christ sent Vicki and I the verse, verse 17. Sent us a picture. Oftentimes, I'll receive pictures
or verses from the saints through the week. And I'll tell you,
it's a great encouragement to me. It's a great encouragement
to me. And sometimes, the Lord pricks my heart to put a message
together. I wanted to preach this verse
on Wednesday night, but the Lord led me to another text, and so
I I put together a message for today on this verse, but it just
gave me more time to think about the verse and to chew upon it.
But a dear sister sent us this verse that we'll look at today.
And Vicki and I, as we read it, we both proclaimed that we had
never saw the verse, even though we've read it, that portion,
many times. And isn't it wonderful how the
Holy Spirit will illuminate a scripture when it's his time to teach us
and to give us comfort and grace and strength We both had read
that many times, but we had never saw it. Like Brother Norm says,
I'll talk to Brother Norm sometimes and he'll say, is the ink still
dry in your Bible? Because I just found this verse
that I've never seen before. Even though he'd read it multiple
times. And it happens, doesn't it? It
happens to every one of us. It happens to every one of us.
So look at verse 17. And the work of righteousness
shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and
assurance forever. So it's wonderful when the Lord
illuminates the scriptures for us. It warms our hearts as believers,
because especially here in this verse, Christ is so clearly proclaimed
here. So clearly proclaimed here. And
the king mentioned in verse 1, who shall reign and righteousness
again is the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jehovah himself said that
he has set his king upon the holy hill of Zion. In Psalm 2,
he says this, yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of
Zion. The Lord's done that. God the
Father's done it. And that king is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's the one spoken of
here in verse 1. And then it says this in Zechariah
13.7. He's called God's own fellow. Awake, awake, against my shepherd
and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord, of how
smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered, and I will
turn mine hand upon the little ones. So it is he who is called
the Lord our righteousness, who is the king mentioned, who reigns
in righteousness. And we know that only one reigns
in that way, don't we? No other king has reigned in
righteousness, no other king but the King of kings and the
Lord of lords. the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn,
if you would, to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. The New
Testament proclaims this about the Lord Jesus Christ in the
book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 1, verses 8 to
9. And this is God saying this unto
the Son. But unto the Son, he said, thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness,
look at that, is the scepter of thy kingdom. He's the king
who reigns in righteousness, beloved. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at this. Thou hast loved
righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
And on Wednesday night, we looked at Christ's humanity, didn't
we? And we saw that he was fully God and yet fully man. But he's
the king here. He's the king mentioned in verse
1 of Isaiah 32. His scepter is a scepter of righteousness,
and he loves righteousness. He loves righteousness. And the
emphasis on these two verses in Hebrews is the fact that the
Messiah's future kingdom is an eternal one, and that he's anointed
king, and he rules in righteousness. And Christ will be and is the
sovereign Lord over all, angels and all creation, And the writer
of the book of Hebrews is bringing forth the superiority of the
Lord Jesus Christ in contrast to angels. In contrast to angels. He is the superior. Just like we saw in our Colossians
study. Remember that? And we saw the preeminence of
Christ in that whole study. That Paul was contrasting the
Lord Jesus Christ with all the false mediators that the Gnostics
were bringing in. When they said that there was
an angel, there was a hierarchy of angels that were mediators.
And they said, well, Christ is just one of them. No, no, no,
Christ is God. And so Paul was showing the superiority
of Christ over all things. And the writer in the book of
Hebrews is doing the same thing. So let's go back to our text
in Isaiah 32 with that in mind, Isaiah 32 verses We'll look at verses 15 and 16
before we look at verse 17. In verse 15, we see the pouring
out of the Holy Spirit of God. And this was more clearly and
fully accomplished in the days of Messiah, when God's Spirit
was poured out in a very evident and glorious manner, and also
upon the apostles at Pentecost. Look, it says this, until the
Spirit be poured upon us from on high. and the wilderness be
a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest."
And note in verse 15, after the spirit is poured, the wilderness
becomes a fruitful field. The wilderness becomes a fruitful
field. When God, by His grace, gives men new hearts, we worship
Him in spirit and truth. We worship Him in spirit and
truth. We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And that
which was a wilderness, natural man, We were a wilderness. We were devoid of anything spiritually,
weren't we? We didn't worship God. We didn't
know God. We were a wilderness, beloved.
We were an absolute wilderness. When a saint is born again by
the Holy Spirit of God, he becomes a fruitful field, a fruitful
field. And then that field is turned
into a forest, all by the work of the Spirit. Because remember,
what's happening to us while we're here on Earth? We're being
conformed to the image of the sun. We're stones being made
ready, aren't we? We're stones being made ready.
We're being made ready for glory. And it's all by the power of
God. It's all by his power. It's nothing
we do. Nothing we do. It's all by the
power of God. There's folks out there that tell you, well, you've
got to sanctify yourself. Well, I can't sanctify myself.
Only God can sanctify me. Only he can cause me to grow
in grace. Only he can do it, praise God. It's a work of the
Spirit. And so the fruitful field shall
be counted a forest. This will be the consequence
of the Holy Spirit working within a believer. The fruit, in effect,
of the Holy Spirit of God in the gospel age. That sinners
who were like a wilderness, barren and unfruitful, right? A wilderness
is barren and unfruitful. There's nothing that grows there.
It's a wilderness, desert-like. It produces nothing but the briars
and thorns. But now, after one is born again,
it becomes like a fruitful field. Again, this is God working in
believers. And remember what he told us.
Remember what he told us. He said, I'm the vine. You're
the branches, right? And then what else did he say?
Without me, you can do nothing. So how does a wilderness become
a fruitful field? All by what Christ does. All
by what he's done for us. By the Holy Spirit regenerated.
This is a work of God. It ties right in with Jonah again.
Salvation is of the Lord. Now the gospel is proclaimed
and preached. It goes out. And God saves whom he wills,
when he wills. He makes the wilderness a fruitful
field whenever it pleases him. Whenever it pleases him. And
this is a work of God. Only he can do that. Only he
can do that. Oh, what a great God we have.
God's people who were desolate and destroyed in our natural
state, spiritually, shall be revived and shall flourish. Think
upon this. They're flourishing all by the
power of God. And we see people in this world.
We see the wicked in this world. We see them flourish in the things
of the world. But they'll be brought to destruction, beloved.
They'll be brought to destruction. Look at verse 16. Then judgment
shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the
fruitful field. Judgment shall dwell in the wilderness. Judgment
will fall upon the unregenerate man. That's what this verse is
proclaiming. It'll fall upon the unregenerate
man, the natural man. You may live easy now, and you
may think you're fine right now, you who reject Christ, but the
moment you breathe your last breath, the judgment of God will
fall upon you. And it'll fall upon you. And
this will be a just judgment, too, won't it? It'll be a just
judgment. Because what's the wages of sin?
Death. The payment for sin is death.
And the unsaved natural man who dies in their sins will receive
their just reward. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
chapter 6. What do we always say as believers? We always say,
we don't get what we deserve. We don't get what we deserve.
We get mercy. But the unregenerate, unsaved,
natural man who dies in their sins will receive their just
reward. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 to 11. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revivalers, nor extortioners shall inherit the
kingdom of God. And then look what the Holy Spirit
has Paul write in the next verse. This verse is amazing. Verse
11. And such were some of you. That was our state. We were in
the wilderness, right? But look what it says. But ye
are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. and by the Spirit of our God." So contrast verse 16 at the latter
part of the verse, which says, as righteousness remain in the
fruitful field, contrast that with judgment shall dwell in
the wilderness. Back in our text, Isaiah 32.16.
And then it says, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
Those who were once a wilderness are now fruitful in Christ Jesus
our Lord, because we're clothed in his perfect spotless righteousness.
And we will be forever righteous. We'll be forever righteous in
God's eyes. Not because of anything we've
done, but all because of what Christ has done. And all because
of Christ, period. Period. It's He who makes us
righteous. Thy people also shall be all
righteous. They shall inherit the land forever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may
be glorified. Isaiah 60, 21. Turn, if you would,
to Psalm 112. And I'll read Isaiah 60, 21 again.
Thy people shall be all righteous. There are people who are made
righteous by Christ. And they shall inherit the land
forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I
may be glorified. And then look at Psalm 112, verses
1 to 3. Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is
the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his
commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon
earth. The generation of the upright
shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in
his house, and his righteousness endureth forever. Who is the only man who ever
feared the Lord? Who is the only man that ever
delighted in his commandments? The Lord Jesus Christ. And it
says here, his righteousness endureth forever. That's the
righteousness that's imputed to us as believers. That righteousness
will endure forever. We will never be judged by God. Because we're clothed, and the
believer is clothed in the perfect spotless righteousness of Christ.
And that righteousness endures forever. Forever. Let's go to our text now in Isaiah
32, 17. Isaiah 32. So with that in our
minds, let us go to our text. Isaiah 32, 17. Look at this. In the work of
righteousness shall be peace. In the effect of righteousness,
quietness. in assurance forever. Now note
something in this verse. Note the singularity of the work
of righteousness. It's called a work of righteousness.
The work, singular. It's brought forth as just a
single work. This righteousness is not of
works, not by works of righteousness,
which we have done. This righteousness is not of
works of righteousness done by man. No, it's done by the best
of men. But it's done by the God-man,
he who was fully God and he who is fully man, the Lord Jesus
Christ and the work of righteousness. He who was sinless is the one
who has accomplished the work of righteousness. The work of
righteousness is Christ's work. The work of Christ as a substitute
for his people in his life and in his death. And we don't just
look to the work of Christ, do we? No, we look to the Christ
who finished the work. That's who we look to. We look
to Christ. He did the work for us. But we
look to Christ. It's Christ who saved me. It's
Christ who saved me. He who is sinless is the one,
again, who has accomplished this work of righteousness. And we
who are the sons and daughters of Adam, we're all born sinners,
aren't we? Every single person comes into
this world born sinners. And so every human being's righteousness
is like filthy rags before the Lord. But the work of righteousness
spoken of here is the righteousness which Christ worked out in his
life and in his death as the substitute of his people, living
on this earth in full submission to the law of God, fulfilling
all that the law demanded, and then dying upon the cross and
satisfying the justice and law of God in our place as our substitute. And he did this for his people,
a people of his choosing, a people whom God had given to him. Turn,
if you would, to Isaiah 54. verses 7 to 14. Isaiah 54, verses 7 to 14. And remember, in our natural
state, right? We're at enmity with God, aren't
we? In our natural state. We hate God in our natural state. Whether we admit it or not, that
was our state. By our actions and by our words,
I know that. I just have to look back, and
I just bow my head in shame at how I spoke about my Savior.
But I'm thankful I'm forgiven. Oh, for the blood of Christ.
It's wonderful. Look at this in Isaiah 54, verses
7 to 14, though. For a small moment have I forsaken
thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In our natural
state, We were alienated from God. But with great mercies will I
gather you. Oh, he's gathered his people in Christ, isn't he?
And he's still gathering his people in Christ, isn't he? He's
drawn the lost sheep to Christ. In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee. God can't look upon sin for a
moment. But with everlasting kindness
will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. Oh, he's
not just our Lord, he's our Redeemer. And He's not just our Redeemer,
He's our Savior and our Lord, isn't He? Oh my. For this is
as the waters of Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the
waters of Noah should go no more over the earth, so have I sworn
that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the
mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness
shall not depart from thee. Boy, those are comforting words
for God's people, aren't they? Neither shall the covenant of
my peace be removed, saith the Lord, that have mercy on thee.
And every believer can say, Lord, you've had mercy on me, just
as the scripture says here. O thou afflicted, tossed with
tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair
colors, and I lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make
thy windows of agates, and the gates of Carbuncle's, sorry,
Carbuncles, and all thy borders are pleasant stones, and all
thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall
be the peace of thy children. Oh, what peace God's people have.
Look at this. In righteousness shalt thou be
established. Established in righteousness?
Sinners? Established in righteousness. Thou shalt be far from oppression,
for thou shalt not fear, and from terror, for it shall not
come near thee. So let's go back to our verse
in Isaiah 32, then, with that in mind as well. Isaiah 32, verse
17. And the work of righteousness
shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and
assurance forever. The work of righteousness wrought
out here by Christ for his people, again, is the perfect spotless
righteousness of Christ. And this was a work that was
planned and purposed for him to do by God, the Father. in the council halls of eternity.
And it's a work which he fully undertook, beloved. He willingly
did it. He willingly did it. And he has
fully wrought out our righteousness. Fully wrought it out. And the
consequences of his great work on behalf of his blood-bought
people is also found in this verse.
And the work of righteousness shall be peace. and the effect
of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. Note,
and the work of righteousness shall be peace. The scriptures
declare this over in Psalm 37, 37. It says this, mark the perfect
man. Well, we know that writes all
of us off, doesn't it? I'm done. I'm not perfect. None of us are, are we? Some
people think they're perfect, but they're not. Not God's people,
because we know what we are. But we've all met people out
there who think they're perfect. We have. We have. Well, they're
not perfect. But Scripture says, mark the
perfect man. Who's the perfect man? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only perfect man. And
behold the upright. And then it says this. Actually,
turn there. Let's read it. Psalm 37, 37. Because it's important
to look at this verse. This is wonderful. Just because
of what it says at the latter part of the verse. Mark the perfect
man. So we all know we're sinners.
So that takes us out again. Mark the perfect man. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man. God incarnated in the flesh.
And behold the upright. He is upright, beloved. There's
no sin in him at all. Not in thought, word, or deed.
I was talking to Brother Jacob from Colorado yesterday. And
we were talking about that, how he was totally sinless. When
he's a little baby, he's sinless. It's incredible. And we can't. Jake said, I can't fathom it.
And I said, well, we can't, brother. We just can't. Because we're
such sinners. But he was perfect. Perfect.
The upright man. Look at this. Look at the last
part of this verse. For the end of that man is peace. Now tie that in with our verse.
And the work of righteousness shall be peace. And the effect of righteousness,
quietness, and assurance forever. Mark the perfect man, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and behold the upright. Behold the one who is
sinless. Behold the sinless sacrifice.
For the end of that man is peace. Peace. Not a false peace. A true peace. A true peace. A peace like Jeremiah spoke of. When he said this, they have
healed. Also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly
sane. Peace, peace, where there is no peace. It's not a peace
like that, actually. I said it wrong. It's not a peace
like what's proclaimed in Jeremiah. The peace proclaimed in Jeremiah
is not a real peace. Jeremiah 6, 14, it says, they
have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying,
peace, peace, when there is no peace. The peace that is found
in the man who's marked the Lord Jesus Christ is true peace. True peace. Peace with God, beloved. Peace with God. But the peace
spoken of in Jeremiah 6, 14 is not true peace. And this is what well-worshippers
and self-righteous false religionists promote. They say, peace, peace,
when there's no peace. They say, well, you're fine.
You prayed a prayer 25 years ago. You walked an aisle years ago.
I had somebody tell me one time, after the Lord had saved me,
truly saved me. Well, you were saved before. And I said, well,
how do you know? I'm the only one who knows if I was saved
or not. And I was not saved. And Brother Will, you told me
you had the same experience. I was not saved. I know now the
Lord saved me. Oh, yeah? But they'll tell you.
Well, peace be. You're fine. You put it in your Bible that
you were baptized when you were seven. Or someone tell you, oh,
you were saved when you were five. What? I didn't even know
what sin was when I was five years old. I had no clue. I know
what sin is now. I know what the Lord saved me
from. He saved me from my sins. And I have true peace now, true
peace. So beware of religionists who
say, peace, peace, when there is no peace, no peace. Peace only comes through the
Lord Jesus Christ. It only comes through him, through
his reign of right, Wars and quarrels and enmity and hostile
feelings are all the fruit of unrighteousness. Those are fruits
of unrighteousness. But the peace spoken of, let's
go back to our text. The peace spoken of in our text
is a peace with God, beloved. It's a peace with God through
the righteousness of Christ, through what he's done. Anyone who says, well, yeah,
I'm saved by grace, but there's no but. I'm saved by grace, period,
through Christ alone, period, to the glory of God alone, period.
Nothing's added. Nothing's added. I'm so thankful my salvation
is not dependent on me. Even after the Lord saves me,
I'd be in trouble. Oh, my. No, the work of righteousness
shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness,
and assurance forever. So this is an inward peace, an
eternal peace. It'll be an eternal peace and
glory, won't it? The perfect, spotless righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ applied to the believer removes the guilt
of sin. We looked at that today in Sunday school. There's no
one who can condemn us, no one. The law of God can't condemn
us. The justice of God can't condemn us. Other people may
condemn us, but it doesn't matter because it's God who justifies
us. It's wonderful, isn't it? Salvation in Christ is wonderful.
The believer is justified from all our sins through the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ and through his work. And the righteousness
of Christ is perfect. Perfect. And the end of that
man is peace. The end of that man is peace. The scripture sense
of the word peace and the gospel meaning of it speaks of peace
believers have with God and Christ. Now the word peace carries with
it an idea that a breach exists between two parties, that before
peace there was enmity. And this is indeed the blessedness
of the gospel. We were enemies in our minds.
and by our wicked works, and we could never come into the
presence of God. We could never come into the
presence of God in our natural state. But Christ has made peace
with God for his people. Having satisfied God's offended
law, and having satisfied the justice
of God's law, and that That law and justice must be satisfied.
And it'll either be satisfied in the substitute or in the sinner.
It has to be satisfied. It has to be. And that perfect spotless righteousness
which Christ worked out is imputed to us, to we who believe, we
who are as blood-bought saints. So peace, again, supposes that
there was a breach. And again, this is the blessedness
of the gospel. Listen to these verses. Mercy
and peace are meant together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Where? At Calvary's cross. At
Calvary's cross. Truth shall spring out of the
earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Remember
what the angels proclaimed to the shepherds? Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. The master
proclaimed these words. Peace I leave with you. My peace
I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
10. Acts chapter 10. And look what the scriptures
proclaim here. Acts chapter 10, verse 36. The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel, preaching what? Peace by Jesus Christ. Peace. by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. That's the
only place you'll find peace. The only place you'll find peace.
Right there. Right there in that verse. Preaching
peace by Jesus Christ. And this is what every gospel
preacher does. This is what every gospel preacher does. We preach
peace with God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God. through the gospel
of peace. Reconciliation by the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. Reconciliation by the blood of
Christ. And this is a principal doctrine
of the gospel. We preach peace by Jesus Christ.
Peace with God. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses
18 to 20. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
unto us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you,
in Christ's deed, be ye reconciled to God. So if you have to be
reconciled to God, there's no peace. And we who are God's people,
again, are born into this world just like everyone else. Turn,
if you would, to Romans chapter 5. We're born into this world
just like everyone else. And we come into this world dead
in trespasses and sins. And we need to be reconciled
to God. And this is the good news of
the gospel. We saw that over there in 2 Corinthians. It's
the ministry of reconciliation. It's preaching peace by Jesus
Christ and in and through him. We need to be reconciled to God.
This is, again, the good news of the gospel, that Christ came
to save sinners save his people from their sins, to reconcile
them back to God. And remember, before the fall
of Adam, he walked and talked with the Lord. And there was no breach between
them, was there? They had wonderful fellowship.
But Adam fell. And we fell with him. We fell with him. We who are
his chosen people, we came into this world just like others,
having a fallen nature, dead in trespasses and sins. Look
at Romans chapter 5 verses 12 to 21, this is so clearly proclaimed. Wherefore is by one man sin entered
into the world, verse 12, that's Adam, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned. For until the law, sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
after the simmetude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure
of him that was to come. But not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. For if through the offense of
one many be dead, and dead there means dead, it means dead spiritually. They're alive physically, but
they're dead spiritually. Much more, the grace of God and
the gift by grace, which is by one man, remember, the work of
righteousness, singular, one man, Jesus Christ hath abounded
unto many, not all, but many, a number that no man can number,
right? And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift for the judgment, was by one to condemnation,
so in Adam we all fell. There's a breach, but the free
gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one
man's offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one, Jesus Christ. Now keep in mind our text again,
the work of righteousness, singular, singular. Adam is the federal
head, and Christ is the second Adam. Christ is the second Adam. Therefore, as the offense of
one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so, by
the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. There it is. So by the obedience
of one, by his work of righteousness, many shall be made what? Righteous. Remember, the scripture says
that that which is impossible with man is possible with God.
We have that right here before us. We can't make ourselves righteous,
but God can make us righteous. He can make us righteous. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Oh, it's super abounding grace,
beloved. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness. unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. Praise be to God for those who
are the elect of God. Our state, when we came into
this world, we were enmity with God. We had no peace with God.
But praise God, that's not our final state, beloved. That's
not our final state, not for his people. We're born again
by the Holy Spirit of God, and we have peace with God in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verses 1 and 2 of this
same chapter, and then look at verse 10. 1 and 2, therefore
being justified by faith, we have what? Peace with God. We
have it. It's ours. How? Through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Well, that cuts out any worse,
doesn't it? Oh, it's wonderful. Oh, this message of reconciliation
is wonderful through Christ and Christ alone, by whom we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God. And then look at verse 10, for
if When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son. Much more being reconciled, we
shall be saved by His life." We're saved by Him, by Christ
and Christ alone, by what He's done. Oh my. So the reconciliation which Christ
has made for His people between God and man by the blood of His
cross, peace comes forth, springs forth from that. peace and reconciliation
with God, and it will continue uninterrupted and unbroken all
through eternity, beloved, all through eternity, because of
who did the work? Christ, the God-man, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And let us consider this wonderful
reconciliation that the believer has with God through Christ and
the peace that we have with God. through Christ, and the fact
that it is God who is the offended. Now think of this. It's God who's
the offended party, and yet he plans and purposes and executes
this reconciliation through the death of his son. Isn't that
wonderful? He's the offended party, and
yet he plans and purposes all this, and then he executes it,
sending his own son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of glory,
to die for we who are sinners. This is mercy beyond measure.
This is mercy beyond measure. And the reason we can say it's
mercy beyond measure is because remember our natural state. We're
at enmity with God. There's none who understands.
There's none righteous. There's none who seeks after
God. That's our state. Oh, my. And then the peace that
comes to believers through Christ Jesus is the sole result of God's
divine operation. It's all his work. It's all his
work. It's Jehovah that first published
his royal intentions. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
chapter 3. It's Jehovah that first published his royal intentions
of sinners being reconciled to him. Look at Genesis chapter 3, verses
14 and 15. And the Lord God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all
cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly
shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life. And then look at verse 15. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Here was the
first proclamation of the gospel. And note, God pronounces a curse
upon the enemy of mankind, and is uttering a blessing upon the
whole of those who belong to Christ, who he's given to Christ,
the seed of the woman. And then look at verses 16 to 21 in the same chapter. Unto
the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy soul and thy conception
and soul. Thou shall bring forth children,
and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over
thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto
the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree which I commanded
thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground
for thy sake, and in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of
thy life. Thorns also and thistles shalt
bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. For out of it
was thou taken, for dust thou art, And unto thus shalt thou
return. And Adam called his wife Eve,
because she was the mother of all living. And look at this.
Unto Adam also and his wife did the Lord make coats of skins
and clothe them. So he proclaims in verse 15 the
proclamation of the gospel. And then here before us is a
very significant gospel action in verse 21 here. The Lord took away from Adam
and Eve the withered fig leaves, which were They were trying to
cover themselves by their own works, by what they'd done. So this
is a clear picture of his people being clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. And an animal had to die. An
animal had to die for them to be clothed. And this picture
is the sacrifice of Christ. And then they're clothed. They
made coats of skins and clothed them. And that picture is us
being, we as believers, being clothed the perfect spotless
righteousness of Christ. Our nakedness is covered. And
then consider that it's Jehovah that provides the means and accomplishes
the end and the attainment of this reconciliation with God.
Nothing that the sinner does in part could ever bring about
reconciliation and peace with God. Nothing that we do, not
one work, no matter how good it is, and everything we do is
tainted with sin, But religionists won't tell you that, of course.
They'd probably tell you what they've done for God, their God. But we don't count anything we
do, anything we do, to gain us merit and favor with God. So
nothing that we do could bring reconciliation with God. Nothing
we could do could bring peace with God, because we're sinners
and transgressors against God, and we're at such Think of this,
we are at, in our natural state, we are at such enmity with God,
right? That we need to be made willing
before we're come to him. Before we accept this wonderful
salvation. We're at such enmity with God.
And yet you get false preachers up there that say God's wringing
his hands, he's done everything he can to save you. That's a
lie from the pit of hell. That's a lie. Oh, God does everything. And what wonderful, think of
this, what wonderful news is proclaimed in the gospel. What
wonderful news is proclaimed in the gospel of salvation through
Christ and Christ alone. God reconciles, God himself reconciles
hopeless, helpless sinners to himself all through and all by
Christ alone. What a wonderful message. What
a wonderful message. So then there's only peace with
God in and through the blood and righteousness of God's dear
son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There's peace nowhere else. Nowhere
else. And this is what the gospel preacher
proclaims. This is what the gospel preacher
proclaims. Every time we stand up, every time we stand up before
God's people and before whoever God providentially brings in,
we proclaim salvation through Christ and
Christ alone. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publishes
peace, peace. And we publish peace, don't we,
through Christ and Christ alone, that bringeth good tidings, of
good, that publishes salvation, that saith unto Zion, now listen,
that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. He reigns, beloved. He reigns. He reigns in salvation.
He reigns in providence. He reigns in your life and my
life. Our God reigns. He reigns. Let us close, considering
the work of righteousness in the effect of righteousness,
which is look in our verse here, verse 17, and the work of righteousness
shall be peace in the effect of righteousness, quietness and
assurance forever. Forever. Do you remember before
the Lord saved you, how you had no peace? I had no peace. I kept trying to, well, I won't
never do that again, Lord. And then a week later, I'd be
doing the same thing again. I didn't know who God was. I
had no peace. I was afraid of death, afraid
of things that were happening in the world. Fear. I lived in fear. No peace. No
peace. And look what it says here. In
the work of righteousness, which is Christ's work, shall be peace.
in the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. The work of righteousness, again,
is that which Christ alone has performed. And he performed this
work of righteousness as a servant, remember, in full obedience to
the law of God. And he did this work of righteousness
as our substitute, as our substitute, in the room instead of his people,
as the old timers used to say. And this work of righteousness
is a work that was perfectly and completely done. Now, let's just let that sink
in. Perfectly and completely done. That's why I had John sing
that song, we're complete in Christ. We are complete in him. The work of righteousness is
done. What does that mean? That means
that we don't do anything but look to Christ, do we? And we
only look to Christ by faith. Remember, we were once at such
enmity with God that we wouldn't even come to him. So he makes
us willing, and now we spend a lifetime looking to him. Looking
to he who is the lover of our soul. Loving. Looking to he who
has completely finished our salvation. Looking to he who Paul wrote,
we are complete in him. Complete. See, religion won't
tell you that, will they? They say, come on, we all got
to go. We got to keep striving. We just look. We look to King. We look to our King, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then the work of righteousness
shall be peace. And the effect of righteousness which Christ
has wrought out for the believer is quietness. Quietness, which
means in Hebrew, tranquility. Quietness. Remember the turmoil
before you were saved? There was no tranquility, was
there? No. Used to get worked up about everything.
Quietness, tranquility. And it means tranquility both
of mind and outward life. And also assurance or confidence. In Hebrew, it means confidence.
And our confidence isn't in ourselves, is it? Our assurance isn't in
ourselves. Our assurance is He who is the
lover of our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we consider
who it is that keeps us, the Lord Jesus Christ, and who it
is that has redeemed us, the Lord Jesus Christ, we receive
strength and courage to make it through the wilderness of
this world, don't we? May God be glorified by the preaching
of His word. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
again for allowing us to gather together, and we thank Thee for
Thy Word. Oh, and we who believe, we thank Thee for the peace which
passes all understanding, that keeps our hearts and our minds
upon Christ Jesus our Lord. Oh Lord, we thank Thee for the
work of righteousness which You have done, and that perfect spotless
righteousness is being imputed to we who believe. And we simply
by faith look to Thee and trust in thee. And that's the hardest
thing for us to do, Lord, is just to rest and trust in thee.
Oh, Lord, give your saints, give your people strength and grace
to rest in thee this week. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.