In this third chapter of Matthew
that we just read together, we find our Lord coming to John
the Baptist to be baptized. And John objects to that and
says, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me. And our Lord replies, suffer
it to be so now, For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness."
That is the title of this message, to fulfill all righteousness. I want us to look at what God
says about righteousness, about how to obtain that righteousness
that is required by God, and where that righteousness that
is required by God is to be found. And I also want to look at some
places where the Scripture talks about the requirements of the
law being fulfilled, and where things that were prophesied about
our Lord are fulfilled. This word fulfilled means to
satisfy, to carry out, to bring to completion an obligation or
requirement. So when Christ told John that
his baptism must take place, He meant that it was a necessary
part of what was required by him to fulfill all that was required
for him to become that perfect sacrifice on our behalf. There
are many places and many things required by the law which Christ
had to fulfill in order to redeem us, and I want to look at some
of those tonight. In the book of 1 Chronicles,
I'll be turning to several scriptures. You can turn with me or just
listen, whatever you desire. In the book of 1 Chronicles,
chapter 22, we find David the king giving instruction
to his son Solomon. In 1 Chronicles 22, verses 11,
12, and 13, David tells Solomon, Now my son, The Lord be with thee and prosper
thou, and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath
said of thee. Only the Lord give thee wisdom
and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that
thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God. Then shalt thou
prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfill the statutes and judgments
which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel, be strong
and of good courage, dread not, nor be dismayed." Now in verse
13, David gives Solomon a charge to keep, which is impossible
for any man to keep. He tells him that he will prosper
if he takes heed to fulfill, to complete to perfection, the
statutes and judgments of the Lord. Not most of them, all of
them. And we know from both our life
experience and from reading the scriptures that that is a charge
that no man can fulfill except one. Christ came to this earth
to fulfill all righteousness because he could not be that
perfect sacrifice to be offered for our transgressions unless
he had first lived a perfect right life that fulfilled every
single requirement of the law. In Matthew 5, verses 17 and 18, Christ tells
us exactly this same thing. Think not that I am come to destroy
the law, or the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Now first, what does
God have to say about the righteousness that is required of us to stand
before him in perfection and to enter into his presence. In
Romans 10.3, Paul describes us in our fallen state. He's addressing
the nation of Israel, but it is also a perfect description
of all men and women in their fallen state. He says, for they,
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the
righteousness of God. That righteousness of God which
is described in Psalm 119 and verse 142 as an everlasting righteousness. And we're warned in Ezekiel about
the vanity of trusting in our own righteousness. Let me read
just two verses that illustrate that. First Ezekiel 18.24 says, But when the righteous turneth
away from his righteousness, and commiteth iniquity, and doth
according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall
he live? All his righteousness that he
hath done shall not be mentioned. In his trespass that he hath
trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, and them shall
he die. This verse tells us that no matter
how righteous a man or a woman may fancy themselves being, it
only takes one trespass of God's holy law to negate all of the
so-called righteous acts that we think we may have committed.
Men turn away from their supposed righteousness and fall into sin
because theirs is not the everlasting righteousness that I just read
about in Psalm 149. Or Psalm 119, I should say. The second verse in Ezekiel that
warns us about trusting in our own righteousness is in Ezekiel
33.12. It says, Therefore thou son of
man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness
of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression,
So we see that our righteousness will never deliver us from the
wrath to come, because first of all, it is no righteousness
at all, and secondly, even if it were, it is not the everlasting
righteousness that is required by God. He requires us to present
a holiness that is equal to His holiness. He tells us, be ye
holy, for I am holy. Anybody here meet that requirement?
Christ told us in Matthew 5.48, Be ye therefore perfect, even
as your Father in heaven is perfect. Anybody meet that requirement?
I don't either. Our pastor used to, many times,
ask the question, How good do you have to be to enter into
heaven? And he'd tell us, you have to be as good as God. Any sacrifice offered to the
Lord was to be faultless. Leviticus 22.21 says, of any
sacrifice offered to the Lord, it shall be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no blemish therein. You can keep God's law better
than any other human who has ever lived a nearly perfect and
righteous life, but when you or even in the smallest requirement
of the law, you are now guilty of violating every single statute
in the law. James tells us in James 2.10,
listen to this, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point,
he is guilty of all. In other words, you can live
a near-perfect life and just before you die, commit one sin,
and you may as well have lived the most vile, disgusting, immoral
life possible because you are still guilty of violating every
single statute that we find in God's law. There's none that
doeth good, no, not one. So we see that the righteousness
required in order for us to be redeemed is a righteousness that
we cannot produce. Paul, writing to Timothy, told
him that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done,
how then can we be saved? But it is according to his mercy
that he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Ghost. Sin leads to death. We're told
the wages of sin is death. But the Scriptures tell us that
righteousness frees us from the curse of death. Proverbs 11,
4 says, Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness
delivereth from death. When it comes your day to die
and my day to die, no amount of money will buy us a single
extra moment of life. If that were true, rich men would
live much longer than the rest of us. And in Proverbs 12, 28,
it says much the same thing. In the way of righteousness,
is life, and in the path thereof there is no death. And Proverbs
11, 19 says, as righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth
evil, it is to his own death. Righteousness is one of the things
that Paul listed in his letter to Timothy as being among those
things to seek after. He told Timothy to follow after
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. Now secondly, the question is
how do men and women obtain the righteousness that is required
by God to stand before him in perfection? The answer of course
is that it has to be provided by an outside source. It has
to be given to the sinner. It has to be imputed to him or
her. This word imputed, it means to
attribute or ascribe something to someone, to attribute righteousness
or guilt to a person or persons vicariously, and by or through
a substitute. This doctrine of substitution
that we proclaim is the very essence, the very heart, the
very foundation of the gospel. We see it taking place in the
garden when Adam was representative of the entire human race and
disobeyed the commandment of God and plunged the entire race
that was in him, in his loins, into sin and death. The very
first commandment that we read being given by God is the commandment
that was given to Adam in Genesis 2.16. Simple commandment. of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat." Simple command, not a list of commands, just one, a single
one. And yet, Adam disobeyed that
command, and the entire human race that was to be born throughout
all the ages of time was, by substitution, as guilty as Adam. So we see then that by substitution
we became guilty and worthy of condemnation, Thank God He didn't
leave us there. No, He provided a way which sets
us on a higher status than Adam ever had. Paul elaborates on
this very thing, substitution, in Romans 5, 12-21. Let's turn
to Romans. Romans 5. A very familiar text, but one that
never gets old. As we read this, notice the frequent
reference to righteousness in its direct link to Christ. Romans 5, we'll begin reading
in verse 12 and read through verse 21. Wherefore, as by one
man sin entered into the world, 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 where there is no
law. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that
was to come. But not as the offense, so also
as a free gift. For if through the offense of
one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift of
grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense death
reigns by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace
and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus
Christ. Therefore, as by 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 offense many
were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be
made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. And that sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So as death came by a substitute,
So much more righteousness came by a substitute, and that substitute
is named in the last four words of the text we just read, Jesus
Christ our Lord. Which brings me to my last and
final question that I ask at the beginning. Where is the righteousness
that is required by God and God's holy law to be found? This is a vital question, so
I want to spend a little more time here. It's one thing to
know you have a disease that's going to one day take your life.
It's quite another to know that there is a cure for that disease
and where that cure is to be found. And thanks to God giving
us His written Word, which we hold in our hands, we know that
the cure for our disease, the disease of sin and death, where
it is to be found, that cure, which is the righteousness of
God, Jeremiah 33, 12 reads, In those days, and at that time,
will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. The branch wherein
is found all righteousness. That branch that was promised
in Zechariah 3, 8, it says, Hear now, O Joseph Joshua, The high
priest thou and thy fellows it set before thee, for they are
men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth
my servant, the branch." And in Zechariah 6, 12 and 13 it
reads, Behold the man whose name is the branch. He shall grow
up out of this place and he shall build the temple of the Lord.
Even He shall build the temple of the Lord, and He shall bear
the glory, and shall set and rule upon His throne. The branch
here spoken of, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the source of all righteousness. It is found only in Him, and
wonder of wonders it is imputed to us. In Psalm 35, 24, David
asked of the Lord, Judge me, O Lord, my God, according to
thy righteousness." Now that request of David would be the
height of insanity if it were not for the fact that David is
asking God to judge him. And I find this amazing because
if you look at God's judgments, they're strict, they're unbending,
they're holy. And there's only one way that
that standard can be met, that standard of God's righteousness.
that a man can ask God to judge him by his righteousness and
not be damned, and that is through the merits of another, the merits
of a substitute. Paul elaborated at this very
point in Romans 3, 21-26, Romans 3, we're already a couple pages
over. But now, starting in chapter 3, verse
21 of Romans. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all men that believe, for there
is no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness, that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. to declare His righteousness.
Paul tells us plainly that the only righteousness that God will
accept is to be found in only one place and in one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Any other supposed righteousness
will fall short of what is required of God to satisfy the demands
of His holy law. Christ Himself commands us in
Matthew 6, verse 33, to seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness. Not seek the kingdom of God and
be as righteous as you can, but seek after the only righteousness
that will suffice to make you perfect in the sight of God's
holy law, his righteousness, that righteousness that is found
in the person of his dear son. And going back to the doctrine
of substitution, as Christ was made sin on our behalf and suffered
the punishment due our sins, So much more has He made unto
us the righteousness we need to stand before a holy God, completely
perfect in every way. Paul says as much in his letter
to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul
is explaining to them how that the wisdom of God is so much
more superior to the so-called wisdom of man. And then he tells
them how that wisdom and righteousness required of God is made ours.
Verse 30 reads, But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who is made,
the same way that He was made sin, who is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. All of our eggs
are in one basket. We have only one hope, and that
is the finished work in person of Christ. My hope is built on
nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. In Psalm 51.14,
David proclaims this very truth. He says, Deliver me from blood
guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation, and my tongue will
sing aloud of Thy righteousness. David knew that he needed deliverance
from the sin of guilt and unrighteousness, and he knew that that deliverance
had to come from something outside of himself, which is why he says
that he will sing aloud of thy righteousness. He wanted to proclaim
it from the housetops. He wanted to let everyone know
that the righteousness is found in only one place, in his God. David also said in Psalm 35,
28, and my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and thy
praise all the day long. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians,
told them how we are blessed with the fruits of righteousness.
In chapter 1 of Philippians, verses 10 and 11, Paul wrote,
that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be
sincere and violent without offense till the day of Christ, being
filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto
the glory and praise of God. Any and all righteousness that
we possess, and any resulting good works from that righteousness,
come by the person and work of Christ. So in review, we see
what God says about righteousness. We have seen that righteousness
is required by God, but it cannot be produced by sinful men and
women. We have seen that The righteousness
required by God must then, of necessity, be provided by a substitute. And we have seen that that substitute
is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ himself. Paul tells us
in Romans 1 that the preaching of the gospel of Christ crucified
is the revelation of God's righteousness, revealed to his elect by God's
good pleasure. Paul says, for I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, For it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. For therein in the gospel is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. The preaching of the
gospel of Christ crucified declares It reveals, it makes plain the
righteousness of God. And we who have been given the
gift of faith to believe shall forever enjoy the benefits of
the righteousness of Christ. Because in Isaiah 32, 17, we
read, and the works of righteousness shall be peace and the effects
of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. Psalm 113.3
says, his work is honorable and glorious, and his righteousness
endureth forever. And the reason it shall endure
forever, because he who is the righteousness of God shall endure
forever, sitting on a throne, receiving praise from redeemed
sinners. In Revelation 19.8, it describes
the marriage of the lamb and his bride and her dress. And it reads as follows, and
to her it was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of
saints. The righteousness of saints.
And that is, of course, the same as the righteousness of Christ.
And that's why it stated to her it was granted or given. She didn't sew the dress in which
she was clothed. It was purchased. and provided
by the bridegroom. In Isaiah 61, 10, it describes
this perfectly. It says, I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for he hath clothed me with the garment 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. My soul shall be joyful in my
God. In that same joy that is described
in Jeremiah 33, it says, Thus saith the Lord, again shall be
heard in this place, which he shall say, or which he say shall
be desolate without man and without beast, the voice of joy, the
voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice
of the bride, The voice of them that shall say, praise the Lord
of hosts, for the Lord is good, His mercy endureth forever. I pray that the Lord will bless
His Word to your heart. And for those of you sitting
here tonight or perhaps listening over the screening that don't
know Christ, that have not bowed the knee to His Lordship, I pray
that you would see that you have no righteousness, that there
is only righteousness to be found in one place, and that is in
the person and in the work of Christ. Lord willing, Todd will
be with us a week from tonight, and I will be bringing the message
on New Year's Day this coming Sunday, so be in prayer for me,
be in prayer for Todd. Lord bless you, you're dismissed.