Wow. Well, that's the gospel. Turn, if you would, back in your
Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 23. Our family, this December, is
going to be celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of Janice's
mom and dad. And I've been thinking in the
past weeks about this marriage and the marriage of the believer
to Christ and thinking on this passage. And John wasn't able
to be here this morning, so I'll just preach on it. So Lord willing,
that's what I'm going to do. The title of the message is Jehovah
Sidkenu, the Lord, our righteousness. Our text begins in verse one
of chapter 23. Woe be unto the pastors that
destroy and scatter the sheep of my pastor, saith the Lord.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors
that feed my people, or are supposed to feed my people. Ye have scattered
my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold,
I will visit upon you the evil of your doing, saith the Lord."
Now here he's addressing first false prophets. And false prophets
have always been. They've always been in the world.
They've always been around the gospel. The Lord himself warned
us about them. He said, beware of false prophets
which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they're
ravening wolves. If you look back in or over a
page here in Jeremiah 23, verse 16, they come in sheep's clothing. They act like they're speaking
the word of God, but they're not. They're really denying it.
Look in verse 16. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
Harken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto
you. They make you vain. They speak a vision of their
own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord, not of the
word of the Lord. They say still unto them that
despise me. The Lord hath said, You shall
have peace. And they say unto every one that walketh after
the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
That's what they say, but that's in opposition to God's word.
speak God's Word, they deny it. If you look back in Isaiah 56,
I'll show you why they do it. What is it that causes a man
to deny and contradict the inerrant Word of God? What causes that?
Well, it's covetousness. Look in Isaiah 56, verse 10.
His watchmen are blind. They are all ignorant. They are
all dumb dogs. They cannot sleeping, lying down,
loving to slumber. Yea, they're greedy dogs, which
can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand. They all look to their own way,
every one for his own gain from his own quarter, instead of looking
after the good of the sheep. And the church, the church, God's
people, are warned about false prophets. False prophets just
aren't somebody out there, you know, leading the masses astray.
I mean, they are. But the church is warned about
them. The Lord said they will come to you. To you. Look at 2 Peter chapter 2. The
church is warned about this. To beware. 2 Peter 2 verse 1. But there were false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you, among believers, who prodigally shall bring in damnable
heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bringing
upon themselves swift destruction." One more scripture, Acts 20. This is what the church believers
are warned about. Paul, in his final instruction
to the Ephesian elders, the preachers, tells them in verse 28, you take
heed therefore unto yourselves and all the flock over which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, shepherds, to feed
the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves
enter in, where? Among you, not sparing the flock. They're getting into, in the
middle of the Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking
perverse things to draw away disciples after them." Now, we're
warned of these men, and here's the result of their ministry.
It's sad. They destroy and scatter the
sheep. They drive them away. Now, to
the sheep, they can't destroy yourself. They're not going to
take away or destroy your salvation, not in the least. But they will
destroy the peace in your heart by not feeding you the word.
They'll destroy the peace in the flock, among the people.
The sheep are scattered because they allow wolves to come in
into the flock and scatter and devour the sheep. They don't
protect the sheep. They don't keep the wolves out.
If the wolf comes, they're going to run away because they're not
putting themselves in danger for those sheep. They don't care
about the sheep. The sheep are driven away. They're driven away
because there's no pasture for them anymore. They're driven
away. And the Lord charges these men with failing to do the most
important function God's preachers call on to do. It's feed the
sheep. Feed the sheep. You haven't fed
my sheep. You haven't visited. That word
is fed. You haven't fed my sheep because you don't care about
them. The sheep are livestock to them. Not God's elect. They're
not motivated by what's best for the sheep. They're motivated
by what's best for them. And the Lord promises judgment
to them. Here in this text, and we read
over in Peter, swift judgment is coming to them. But we, you
and me, we get all bent out of shape. I mean, we get bent out
of shape. When we see these guys prosper,
I mean, you watch them on TV and they're millionaires. And
they prosper. They will, for a time they will,
but they cannot affect God's purpose in redeeming his people. Look at verse 3. And I will gather
the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have
driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they
shall be fruitful and increase. Now God is soft. He's sovereign
in all things, and none of this has happened with these false
preachers by accident, out of God's control, outside of His
hand. He's allowed the sheep to be scattered. When they were
driven, yes, they were driven by the false prophets, but what
does He say? I have driven them. I drove them there. They're not
just randomly scattered around the world, you know, like you
drop a bag of marbles on the floor, they're randomly scattered
all over the place. No, that's not the way they're
scattered. They're driven, they're scattered to the place God would
send them for his eternal purpose and will. The Lord allowed his
sheep in the early church to be scattered away from Jerusalem,
scattered, driven away by religious persecution so the gospel would
be spread to the whole world. If that hadn't happened, they'd
have stayed just comfortable as they could be right there
and never would have gone out preaching the gospel. But when
they were driven out, that's where they went, out preaching
the gospel. And this is man. This is the fall of man. In Adam,
we were scattered. Everyone in Adam was driven from
God when Adam fell. But that was under God's purpose.
That was his eternal purpose, that his elect be driven away
so his son would get the glory in redeeming them and gathering
back together. That's what he's going to do.
The sheep are scattered now, but they're not going to stay
scattered because the Lord himself is going to gather his flock,
the remnant of his flock. That's his elect. He's going
to gather them together and he's going to gather together every
last one of them. Not one of those sheep for whom
Christ dies is going to die or be lost. Not one. The ninety
and nine are safe in the fold. But when the one's not there,
Christ, the shepherd of the sheep, he goes out and what does he
do? He finds the missing lamb. And he gathers him in his arm
and brings him to the fold. Not one is going to be lost because
Christ is going to be the one that's going to gather them.
And when you find them now, they're scattered, they're destitute. But when Christ gathers them
together, they're going to be fruitful. He says here, they
will be fruitful and increase. They're going to multiply and
they're going to bear much fruit because they're connected to
Christ divine. Look in Psalm 92. That'd be fruitful. In Psalm 92, verse 12. The righteous shall flourish
like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in
Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall
flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth
fruit in old age, they shall be fat and flourished, because
the Lord gathered them together." Now that's a promise to spiritual
Israel, and just let me say this for historical sake. This was
true historically of the nation Israel also. At this time when
Jeremiah was a prophet, Israel was scattered from Jerusalem
because the Lord allowed them to be scattered, to be taken
captive and carried off into different countries into captivity
because of their idolatry. But the Lord's promise to his
people is the same promise as always. He will not forsake his
chosen people. He's not going to do it. They're
scattered now, but he's promising Jeremiah, I'm going to bring
them back. I'm going to bring them back to Israel. I'm going
to restore their glory, their former glory, and they're going
to be brought back. And it's going to be a while, but in a
number of years, A heathen king named Cyrus is going to read
in the scriptures. He couldn't sleep one night and
he had to bring them the scriptures of this captive people. And they
brought him a roll and he opened up and there's his name. Cyrus,
my anointed, is going to bring my people back. Cyrus said, well,
I guess I'll do it. And he did it. That's God's purpose. He'll do that for spiritual,
for that nation Israel. And that's a marvelous thing.
I mean, the Lord doesn't do anything that's not marvelous. That's
a marvelous thing. But the blessing. is what he's going to do for
spiritual Israel. He brought that nation back to
Israel, to Jerusalem. They calmed it up. That place
isn't a place of peace and rest and flourishing anymore. It's
a war-torn place. But when Christ gathers his people
into his fold, oh, they're going to flourish. It's a place of
peace and rest for the sheep that caused them to lie down
in green pastures. Now look at verse 4 in our text.
He says, I'm going to bring them back. And I'll set up shepherds
over them, which shall feed them, and they shall fear no more,
neither be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith
the Lord." Now these shepherds are preachers. Preaching has
always been the means that God has used to feed His sheep. It's
pleased the Lord by the foolishness of preaching to save them when
He believes. And these pastors, these under-shepherds are God's
men, men who God set up to feed His Look back in Jeremiah 3. This is God's man. Jeremiah 3, verse 15. And I will give you pastors according
to mine heart, according to my heart, my choosing, and men who
are like David after mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge
and understanding. The only place you're going to
find knowledge and understanding is in the Word. And that's what
they're going to feed you. God's Word. They feed God's sheep
with the milk of God's Word. They said over there in Jeremiah
33 that these shepherds are come to make you lie down in the green
pastures. It's the green pastures of God's
Word. They understand the command that our Lord gave to Peter.
Peter, do you love me? Feed my land. That's what they'll
do. And the result, when God sends
a man to feed my sheep, those sheep aren't going to be scattered
anymore. And they're not going to fear anymore. We've not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we've received the
spirit of adoption. Children, whereby we cry, I have
a father. Children don't fear their father.
John said in 1 John 4, there's no fear in love, but perfect
love casteth out fear. not going to fear anymore. We
don't fear our enemy because Christ has conquered every enemy
and put them away. He's led captivity captive. We
don't fear death because Christ has suffered death for us. He's
destroyed every enemy and the last enemy that shall be destroyed
is death. Death is not going to harm you
because Christ died for you. We don't fear condemnation Because
Christ suffered condemnation for us. There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. You can't
fear condemnation if you're in Christ Jesus because there isn't
any. We don't fear the wrath of God against our sins because
Christ, our substitute, suffered the just for the unjust. He suffered
as a substitute for sinners and he bore the full wrath of God
for our sins. He bore it, God's wrath, burned
up on his son. His wrath is extinguished. It's
gone. And now he's brought us back to God. As friends, we don't
fear his wrath. There's no more fear. And they
won't be dismayed. They're not going to be worried
about the safety and salvation of their souls. They're not going
to be dismayed. Who's he that condemneth? It's Christ who died. What have you got to be worried
about? The Lord's on the throne. Who is it? that's going to thwart
God's purpose. God said, I purposed it. I will
do it. His purpose is going to be accomplished.
Look at Isaiah 41. Will not be dismayed. Isaiah 41, verse 10. Fear thou
not. Why? Why won't we fear? When
you look around you in this world, you know, if you watch it too
much, and you get your attention and focus on it too much, you're
going to spend all your time shaking in your shoes. Fear thou
not. For why in the world am I not
going to fear? For I am with thee. Be not dismayed. Why? For I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand. of my righteousness, be not dismayed."
They're not going to be dismayed. Neither, Jeremiah says, shall
they be lacking. They're destitute, scattered
in poverty now, but they're not going to lack for anything when
Christ returns them to the fold because Christ is everything
to us. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. I won't lack for anything because
the Lord is my shepherd. And all this blessing These precious
promises are given to Israel for one reason, the Lord Jesus
Christ. These promises are in him, because
of him, and through him. Look at verse 5. Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, thou raised unto David a righteous
branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth. Now here is how the Lord is going
to gather his sheep. He's going to gather them together
by sending his son to be the great shepherd of the sheep.
The sheep have been scattered in the first Adam, so God's going
to send the second Adam, and he's going to gather them together.
Now, Miss Janet, in her Sunday school class, we have some of
her students in here. If we ask them, here's what they'd
say. What is it that the Old Testament tells us? All through
the Old Testament scriptures, What does the Old Testament tell
us? He is coming. Isn't that what she teaches you,
Maggie? Huh? Tyler, is that what this chant
teaches you? He's coming. He's coming. He's coming. Over
and over and over again. The Old Testament Scriptures.
He is coming. That's what this verse says.
Behold, the days come that He is coming. Well, who is He? God
says, I'm coming. I'm coming. In the person of
my Son, I'm coming. He's not sending some fly-by-night
guy to take this job. I'm coming. I'm going to send
my precious son. And he's coming as the God-man,
as a righteous branch. Well, the only way he can be
righteous is if he's a son of God. He has to be God if he's
going to be righteous. He's a righteous branch. Look
over in Isaiah chapter 4. Here he says he's going to raise
a branch unto David, but Isaiah 4, This one who's coming, he's coming,
is the branch of God. And he's a beautiful, righteous
branch. Isaiah 4, verse 2. In that day
shall the branch of the Lord, this branch is unto David, is
the branch of the Lord. He shall be beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them
that are escaped of Israel. He is the branch of the Lord.
He's God's son. But he's also a branch unto David. He's also David's son. David's
son, yet David's Lord. He's the son of David and he's
the son of God. The God-man. A righteous branch. And he's been promised over and
over and over again in the Scriptures. That's why Janet teaches our
children, he's coming. He's coming. He's coming. He's
coming. He's been promised since Genesis
3. When Adam fell, what did God
promise? The seed of woman's going to come and conquer the
serpent's head. He's coming. Jacob said he's coming. When
Jacob was dying, he said the scepter shall not depart from
Judah till when? Shiloh come. Till he comes. Moses prophesied he's coming.
He said there's coming a prophet like unto me. Y'all don't listen
to me, he said, but him you'll hear. You'll listen to him. David
prophesied he's coming. He said he's going to come in
Bethlehem. You'll see him appear in Bethlehem. That's what David
said. Isaiah said he's coming. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given. He shall come as a root of a
dry ground. He's going to be a branch coming
out of an awful dry ground. It looks barren and dead. He's
going to come and be wounded for our transgressions and be
bruised for our iniquities. And he'll come as the mighty
Savior. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. He's coming. He's coming to redeem
his people. And all these Scriptures are
read every Sabbath day in the synagogues. All throughout the
Jewish history, they're read every Sabbath day. From the time
God first promised He is coming, 4,000 years passed. 4,000 years! He still hadn't
appeared. Then suddenly, He appeared. Just like David said He appeared
in Bethlehem. Born of a virgin, born in a barn.
But he appeared, and the angels and the shepherds and the wise
men came to worship him, because he's born king. He's born Savior. Eight days old, his mother brings
him to the temple to fulfill the law and be circumcised. That
temple had stood for all those years, and most times it stood
just empty. Religion was all that was in
it, just empty. And suddenly, his son appeared,
and Simeon saw him. Somebody was looking for him.
It was an empty religion to most, but somebody was looking for
him and somebody saw him. And see, I imagine he's got a
smile on his face. He said, Now let thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. I've
seen the fulfillment of your promise. He is coming. Here he is. Thirty-three years later. The
appointed day came. Behold, the day's come, saith
the Lord. The appointed day came when Christ, the righteous branch,
was made sin. The righteous branch, now, was
made sin. And he suffered and he died as
a sacrifice for sins for his people. Behold, the day's come,
saith the Lord, the day's come for all of God's elect, the day
that's been appointed from all of eternity, when God's sheep
are going to hear preaching this message, He's come. He's come
preaching the message of Christ and Him crucified. And the sheep
hear. They're given faith to hear.
They're given faith to believe. And they're gathered together.
They come to Christ. Behold, the day's come. There's
a point of day yet to come when Christ is coming back. And it'll
be much like the first time. Somebody will be looking for
Him. But not many. But somebody will. He's going
to suddenly appear and he'll appear as a righteous king. He'll appear as the judge. But
this man who appeared, Christ Jesus, the righteous branch,
he's the only righteous man to ever live. Just one, him, the
righteous branch. He's the author of righteousness. He's the giver of righteousness
to his people. In a minute, we'll see how he
makes his people righteous. But he is righteousness. He is righteousness personified.
And this righteous branch is the king. He is the king who
reigns and prospers. He has a glorious kingdom. And
he came to execute justice, judgment and justice. He came for his
people to satisfy judgment and justice. He satisfied justice
for his people. by being made sin for them and
dying as their substitute. He fulfilled all judgment against
our sin, against the sin that was laid on him, and he fulfilled
all judgment and justice. Now his people are free. That's
why from the Sunday school lesson you ceased from sin, because
he suffered judgment and justice for his people. But one day,
the next time this righteous branch appears, he's going to
appear as the righteous judge. who will execute judgment and
justice on unbelievers, on those who would not believe him and
bow to him. Now verse six, this one who will appear, he's coming
and here's how you're going to recognize who he is. 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,
Jehovah In his days, in him, Judah, that spiritual Israel,
they shall be saved. The angel who appeared said,
you call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. Do you know there's no maybes
with God? Never does God say maybe. It's
not Judah will be saved if they come to the right doctrine. It's
not Judah should be saved if they accept me or if they do
this or they do that. It won't be Judah will be saved
if they're willing to be saved on my terms. No. God's elect shall be saved. They shall hear the voice of
the shepherd. They shall hear the gospel. They
shall believe. They will be made willing in
the day of his power. There are no maybes with God.
Their righteousness that's to be imputed to them is so perfect. There's no doubt they shall be
saved. No doubt. And Israel, spiritual
Israel, shall dwell safely. This is why you don't fear your
enemies. Because no enemy can ever come take your life, not
your spiritual life, not the life that Christ gives. They
might take your physical life, but if you're God's child, they're
doing you a favor. They'll let you take possession, full possession
of this eternal life Christ gives you. But they can't touch your
life. They can't take your salvation. They can't harm or take or tarnish
the righteousness that God's given his people. They dwell
safely because you know what? Your enemies can't tarnish that
righteousness. And you can't either. It's from
Christ. Jehovah said, kill him. We have
a strong city. Salvation. Will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks? You dwell safely because of the
walls and bulwarks of your salvation that's found in Christ. Now when
He comes, how are you going to know Him? What's His name? Our Savior has many names. It
takes many names to describe our Savior. I Am. That's what He told Moses. My
name is I Am. He said, where am I going to
tell the people what your name is? When I tell them, God said,
set my people free. Who shall I say sent me? He said,
you tell them I Am that I Am sent you. The Eternal I Am. That's
His name. His name is Immanuel. God with
us. He's Jehovah. God our Savior. He's Jehovah Jireh. The Lord
will provide. That's why you won't be dismayed.
The Lord will provide. He's Jehovah Shem. The Lord is
present. You lay there dark at night,
you're all alone. Now if you're God's child or
not, He's present. Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals. We pray for healing for our loved
ones. And if they're healed, it's Jehovah
Rapha, the Lord who heals. He may be pleased to heal and
he may not, but he will heal all of our wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. Every spiritual disease, he'll
heal it. He's Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. That's why
his people dwell at peace, because he's our peace. And here he identifies
himself with the name Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. That's his name because that's
his character. Righteous. He is the Holy One
of Israel. That's his character. But you
notice his name is the Lord Our Righteousness. He doesn't say
the Lord who is righteous, does he? That's true. But he calls
himself the Lord Our Righteousness. The perfect righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ is imputed to every one of God's elect. is not a thing. Righteousness
is not a doctrine. It's not a legal paper that some
attorney drew up. Righteousness is a person. The Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah
Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. That's why there's salvation
found in His name because He is our righteousness. It's just
like the gospel. The gospel is not a collection
of doctrines. The gospel is a person. If you
preach the Lord Jesus Christ, you're preaching the gospel,
and you'll preach all the correct doctrine if you preach Him. He
is the gospel, and He is our righteousness. He's the Lord,
our righteousness. Now, we're born in this world,
dead in Adam, aren't we? We don't have any righteousness
of our own. We never will. We never have. We can't claim any righteous
things that we've ever done. We don't have any righteousness
of our own to call ours. Well, now, wait a minute. In
Christ, you have perfect righteousness and he calls it ours. It's our righteousness because
God imputed it to you. He gave it to you. It's yours. that belongs to you because that
righteousness is a divine gift of God's grace. It's a gift only
God can give. The Lord, our Righteousness,
only the Holy One of Israel can give this righteousness. It's
His, and He imputes it and gives it to you. Now, He's coming. He's coming. He's coming. He's
coming. He's coming. All the Old Testament Scriptures
tell us that. Well, when He comes, how effectual
is His coming. He's going to come. He's going
to impute a righteousness to His people. How effective is
that righteousness? How effective is that imputation? Are you sure this is going to
work? Look over in Jeremiah 33, Scripture Dan read for us. Jeremiah 33, verse 14. Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord. I will perform that good thing
which I promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of
Judah. Behold now, the days come that I will keep my promise to
Israel. He's been promising. He's coming.
He's coming. He's coming. God's going to keep
His promise. He came. Just like God keeps every promise. You'll never read a promise in
this book that goes unfulfilled because God's faithful. He'll
keep His word. He'll keep His promise. And salvation
is of the Lord. Can there be any doubt when we
read these verses that salvation is of the Lord? The Father promised
it in eternity past. He promised it. He purposed it.
He sent His Son to perform it, to work out a perfect righteousness,
to execute judgment and justice for His people. God's Spirit
comes and applies it to the hearts of His people from beginning
to end, from His promise to its ultimate perfection. Salvation
is of the Lord. I'm going to perform it, he says.
In verse 15, he says, In those days, and at that time, while
I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, he shall
execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall
Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. Sounds to
me like he just repeated what he said back a few chapters ago,
doesn't he? Well, he is. You know why? The message never
changes. There's just one message. It's
the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's just one message. He's coming. Salvation is found
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how effectual is it? Look
at the rest of verse 16. And this is the name wherewith,
and Dan read it right, shall be called the Lord our righteousness. She? I thought it was a he. I thought this was his name.
I thought this was the Messiah's name. The name of Christ. Who's
the she? It's the bride. It's God's elect. Those who have been chosen out
of Adam's fallen race. Chosen out of Adam's fallen race? How can you Call her righteous. She's totally depraved. There's
none righteous. No, not one. There's not one
who's righteous in Adam's fallen race. How can she ever be called
Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness? It's through a
vital union with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's by being married
to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's through imputation. 22 years ago, I remember the moment. I asked a girl, 20 years old,
her name was Janet Conley. I asked her to marry me. I was
nervous. And I was mighty happy when she
said yes, because I didn't know what I was going to do. She said,
no, what am I going to do now? She said yes. I was quite happy. Still am. A few months later,
we went through the wedding ceremony. She came into that building that
day, Janet Conley. She and I walked out and she
was Janet Tate. She got a new name. Brand new
name. Well, you and me, we're born
sons of Adam. And we bear Adam's name. It's a shameful, shameful name. We bear his name. We look like
him. And we act like Him. We've got
His nature. A sinful, rebellious nature. We are conceived in sin and shaped
in iniquity and we bear Adam's name. And we bear His nature. But when by God's grace, His manifold grace, His infinite
grace, His condescending grace, we are joined to the Lord Jesus
Christ, we receive a new name. Jehovah Sidkenu. The Lord our
righteousness. What a blessing. I don't even
know the words to describe the blessing to be given the name
of Christ. To no longer bear my shameful
name, but to bear his blessed name. Oh, a new name he's given,
Jehovah Sidkenu. But now this is more than a name.
It's not just, well, you know, you're the same sinful rebel
that you always were. You're still totally depraved.
But God's going to call you righteous anyway, because his son made
the mistake of marrying you. No, sir. God said, your name
is Jehovah Sidkenu. God calls things exactly what
they are. Jehovah Sidkenu. And God calls
you by the name of his son because he made you righteous. That's
why He calls you that name. He's given you a new nature and
calls you exactly what you are. Jehovah Sidkenu. You are made
as righteous as God's Holy Son. That's so. Now you say, now wait
a minute. That's going a bit far. If we
are not as holy and righteous as God Almighty, the Father will
never accept us. That's why you're made and called
Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. We've become Jehovah
Sidkenu by being married to Christ. Scripture describes marriage
between a husband and a wife as then becoming one flesh. We've
become married, a spouse to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we've
become one flesh with Him. He's the head, and we're the
body. We've become what He is. We've been made what He is. Righteous. Jehovah said can. Now, when Janet married me, she
got a new name. And she got a new address. She
and I moved in together. Found us a house. We rented.
On little land of Russell. A man came out and we saw off
a rent sign in the window. I had a pickup truck. She stood
up in the pickup truck looking in the windows. And she was really
liking the place. Well, the owner just lives across
the street or across the alley. And he took a shine to her and
lowered the price down. We ran that house. Got a new
address. Sent out a new address to everybody.
Well, believe her. When they're married to Christ,
receives a brand new address. You've been translated from the
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. A new
address. When Janet married me, for better
or for worse, her life changed. Her habits changed. We started
our own family traditions. Each of us had our own family
traditions and we put them together. She and I created a family. Got
our own family traditions. Does things different. She used
to do it. I did some things different. I used to do. Got a new family
tradition. New ways. When a believer becomes
married to the Lord Jesus Christ, you've got a new life. It's a
brand new life. No longer do you walk according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that thou
workest and the children of disobedience. Now, you've got a new way of
life. We worship God in spirit. We
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. A
brand new life. Now, Jen was born Janet Conley. And at this point, she's been
Janet Tate longer than she's been Janet Conley. I like that. But you look at her, she looks
like Conley. I mean, she just looks like Conley.
You see her with her sister, you say, yep, they're all Conleys.
Janet's got an aunt, Aunt Pat. Janet's aunt is a genetic twin
with Janet. I mean, it is the most uncanny
thing you've ever seen. They look alike. They act alike. They talk alike. They talk in
the same cadence. Their daughters get together
talking about their mothers. And they're both kind of amazed
how, even though they don't see each other every day, they do
the same things. They tell their girls the same
things all the time. I mean, it's uncanny. It's genetic. They were both born cleanlies. She may be Janet Tate. That's
her name. Boy, she sure looks like a colony.
I mean, I see the family resemblance. Our name is Jehovah Zedkinu. And to my shame, I look at myself
and boy, I see a lot of Adam. Don't you? I see that family
resemblance. It does not yet appear what we
shall be. And there's coming a day. Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord. There's coming a day when every
resemblance to Adam is wiped away. There's no more family
resemblance to Adam. I have a family resemblance that
most people never get to see to my grandfather, my mom's dad,
Grandpa Livingston. My little toenail on my both
feet grows in the shape of a prism. The rest of them grow flat. Yours
probably grow flat. Mine grow in a prism and they're
very difficult to cut. Just like his. It's a family
resemblance. There's coming a day when your
toenail will not even resemble Adam. Every family resemblance
will be wiped away. And when people see you, They're
going to see you as you are. They're going to look at you
and they're going to see. Jehovah said, can you? There
he is. I see the family resemblance.
Because you've been perfectly conformed to his image. Finally,
been made just like Christ. He promised it in his word, hadn't
he? He promised it. And one day, he'll fulfill it. All right. Well, Lord bless you.