Well, I want to turn your attention
back to Psalm 97 this morning, Psalm 97. I never intended to
do a series on the Psalms, but it looks like this is becoming
one. Believers are encouraged to grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The scriptures are quite
clear. End of Peter's second epistle says exactly that. Grow
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Nowhere are we told to progressively
become more sanctified, but we are told to grow in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The
kingdom of God is to be received, says Jesus to the disciples,
as a little child. Simple belief, just straightforward,
not sophisticated. Receive, believe as a little
child, but we are not to stay children, except as we read in
1 Corinthians chapter 14, except in malice, so be children in
malice. But in understanding, be men, be mature, be grown up
in the things of God. Yes, receive the kingdom of God
as a child, but grow up, mature, grow in grace and the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so we do that. How
do we do it? We seek to do it through His
Word, by His Spirit, reading His Word, praying to Him that
His Spirit would open our eyes. And at times, a portion of God's
Word strikes us with a particularly clear view of our blessings in
the gospel of His grace. And I believe such is Psalm 97,
certainly the last few verses of it. Psalm 97 speaks of progressing
in the knowledge of God. Verse 11, says, light is sown
for the righteous and gladness for the upright of heart. And
the idea of sowing speaks of progress. There's a bit and then
there's a bit more, seed by seed. Light is sown and it speaks of
progressing in the knowledge of our God and Savior, of the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So I want to look at this psalm
to get the context, look at all of it to get the context, but
then focus on verses 8 to 12. So first of all then, just follow
it with me. Verse 1. The Lord reigneth, let the earth
rejoice, let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof. It
speaks first of all of our God. of our eternal God. It begins
with eternal realities. The Lord reigns. The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Creation
knows it. Creation, which Paul tells us
in Romans 8, 22, is groaning because of sin. It groans because
of sin, but creation knows that the Lord reigns. And this world
around us of people who live as if there is no God, who live
as if They're just here for a while and eat, drink and be merry for
tomorrow we die. This hedonistic idea that everybody
has yet, irrespective of what they and the majority of people
around us think, the scripture stands firm. The Lord reigneth. God reigns. God reigns. He is
in control. Verse 2, clouds and darkness
are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are
the habitation of his throne. There's the idea of the mystery
and majesty of God's rule. You know, the clouds and the
darkness that surrounded Sinai and the tabernacle as the children
of Israel went through the wilderness. It's speaking of the majesty
and of the mystery of the rule of God. It speaks here of His
righteousness and judgment, of His moral perfection, of His
unchangeable moral perfection. Righteousness and judgment are
the habitation of His throne. They're around Him. They're His
permanent characteristics. The Lord reigns, and this is
what He's like. This is the One who created us,
who created all things, to whom we must give an answer. This
is what He is like. And whatever this world around
us and those that we come across day by day may say or may think,
this is what reality is. God is there. God reigns. Clouds and darkness are round
about him, but always righteousness and judgment are the habitation
of his throne. Verse 3, a fire goeth before
him and burneth up his enemies round about. The scripture tells
us. The New Testament scripture tells
us. Hebrews tells us. The epistle to the Hebrews tells
us. Our God is a consuming fire. Not was. Our God is a consuming
fire. He's the same God yesterday,
today, and forever. Our God is a consuming fire. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God in your own sins. accountable
for your own sins. Our God is a consuming fire.
A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about. He's
holy. He is a God of justice, unchangeable,
absolutely strict justice and judgment. He is a refining fire. says elsewhere in the scriptures,
is a refining fire. The refining fire is the fire,
the searingly hot flame that is applied to the crucible to
separate out the pure from the contaminants that are in that
metal as they refine it. The refiner's fire and gospel
fire comes from the throne of God. A gospel fire of discriminating
grace comes from the throne of God. A fire goeth before him. That fire of the gospel which
goes before him, it says elsewhere in the scriptures that it is
a savor, a taste, a scent of life to those who believe. But to those who reject, it's
the smell, it's the stench of death. Because it just speaks
judgment to them. This is the God to whom we must
all give an account. This one. Not the God of a man's
imagination. This is the God of Scripture,
to whom we are all accountable, for it's appointed to man to
die once, and then judgment. Verse four. His lightnings enlightened
the world. The earth saw and trembled. His lightnings, his gospel lightnings,
enlightened the world. His gospel enlightenings, When
there was just darkness, his gospel lightenings enlightened
the world. And though the natural man willfully
closes his eyes, yet God's gospel lightenings accomplish his purpose. Jesus said to the apostles in
the Sermon on the Mount, to the disciples who became the apostles,
he said, ye are the light of the world. He said that he was
too. He is the source, he is the origin
of that light. But he said to those that would
take his word, ye are the light of the world. You are the gospel
lightenings of the world. The gospel lightenings of God,
going and spreading the gospel of his grace. His lightenings
enlightened the world. You think of the history of the
time, and you think of the history of the great empires that were
coming and going and waxing and waning, and yet in the midst
of that, because it's all in the judgment and control of God,
his lightnings enlightened the world. They said, the secular
politicians, they said of this sect of Christians, they've turned
the world upside down. That's remarkable, isn't it?
When you think, a Roman army turned the world upside down,
but the lightnings of the God who is over all turned the world
upside down, the rapid spread of the gospel. And it says, the
earth saw and trembled. Even kings trembled at the sound
of that gospel. Remember when Paul was speaking
to Felix, King Felix, the proconsul Felix, in Acts 24 verse 25, and
he spoke to him of judgment, and he spoke to him of the justice
of God, and it says, and Felix trembled. Oh yes. trembled. Verse five, the hills melted
like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the
Lord of the whole earth. Hills, what's he talking about?
Well, it's using pictorial language. The hills of stubborn unbelief
melted at the word of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The proud and
the arrogant in their defiance of God we know, because Isaiah
tells us and then Paul repeats it, that at the name of Jesus,
every knee shall bow. They'll bow. They melted at the
presence of the Lord of the whole earth. He is, our Lord Jesus
Christ, is the Lord of the whole earth. He is the Lord who reigns. For God has given him a name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow. There's none higher, none higher. God will not share his glory
with another. But the Lord Jesus Christ prayed,
Father, restore to me the glory I had with you. Before he laid
that glory aside, he who was in the form of God and thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, laid aside his glory to
come to earth. And when he'd accomplished his
purposes, that night that he was betrayed, he prayed, Father,
restore to me the glory that I had with you before the beginning
of time. Before he came and laid that
glory aside, the hills melted like wax at the presence of the
Lord. The Lord it's speaking of is not the Old Testament God,
this is our Lord Jesus Christ, for these are they which speak
of him. And it melted the hearts of the
proud and arrogant in their defiance. Verse six, the heavens declare
his righteousness, and all the people see his glory. The heavens,
or the inhabitants of the heavens, declare the righteousness of
God. in glory, that the theme is that God is just and justifier
of his people. Revelation 16 verse 7, the vision
that John saw, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments,
the heavens declare the righteousness of God. Romans 1.17, in the gospel
is the righteousness of God revealed. It's the power of God to salvation
to everyone that believes, both Jew and Greek. For in it, in
the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed. Where do we
see this righteousness? The heavens declare the righteousness
of God. It's revealed in the gospel of
His grace. It's revealed there. 2 Corinthians
3 verse 9, the gospel is the ministration of righteousness
as opposed to the Old Testament law. The gospel is the ministration
of righteousness. And Hebrews 5 verse 13, the scriptures
The Word. It's the Word of His... What's
this Word about? The Word of His righteousness.
Why is it the Word of His righteousness? Because Christ is the Lord, our
righteousness. And in Him is His righteousness
found. This is eternal, unchanging,
Gospel truth. This is God over all. And to
the eye of faith, this is God who is so obvious. I know as
I speak to you who believe that you can see this is God overall,
so obvious and yet so hidden from the natural mind that will
not believe God, that will not have this man to rule over them.
Our God is a consuming fire. Our God is permanent, eternal,
unchanging. This is the one with whom we
have to do. This is our creator. This is
our sustainer. This is our judge. This is what
the scriptures declare concerning our God. Not the weak fallible
God of false religion. Not the one who's trying to do
things and totally failing. Not the one who is hoping that
man might come alongside and learn his lessons. Not that God,
but the God who accomplishes all of his purposes. This is
who it is. But then look at verse 7. Let's
see natural man. That's the statement of our God
who is a consuming fire. But now let's look at the natural
man. as he is, men and women as they are, confounded in idolatry. Verse 7, confounded be all they
that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols. Worship
him, all ye gods. This is mankind in general. Not
just religious idolaters. Not just a narrow group. This
is mankind in general. For professing themselves to
be wise, says Romans, they became fools. And the fool has said
in his heart, no God for me. No God. The fool has said that
in his heart. Atheism is idolatry. Atheism. is idolatry. You say atheism, surely it's
not idolatry. Atheism is I don't believe in
anything. It's a form of idolatry. It's having an idea in mind that
you bow down to as a god. This idea that man's salvation,
like at the Tower of Babel, is entirely within his own grasp.
Atheism is idolatry. False religion is idolatry. Some
of it is so obvious idolatry. Of course it is. We know that.
We see the falsehood of it. It's so obvious, but some is
much more subtle. And we're surrounded by it in
our day. There are those who preach a gospel. They claim it
is an authentic gospel. They claim it is a gospel which
is based on scripture, but it's no gospel at all. It's an idol. It's a figment of their imagination.
It's a God, like all idols, that claims to give eternal life,
that claims to give some sort of eternal life through things
other than God's sovereign, particular redemption of his elect. It's
an idolatrous claim. You know, there are people who
would say, well, we're not that far away from you. They believe
that Christ died, and his death was a substitutionary death,
and his death has accomplished salvation. And they say, it's
a death which was sufficient for the redemption of all, if
only all would believe the gospel. Then all would be saved. That's
not what the scriptures teach. And to maintain such, in the
face of scripture, is idolatry. Idolatry. Confounded be all they
that serve graven images, whether they be images carved in wood
with their hands, or whether they be images carved in the
mind. They're idols. They're idols.
Confounded be all they that serve images, that boast themselves
of idols. Worship Him, all ye gods. It's
the natural condition of man to believe the lie of Satan,
who came and said to Eve in the Garden of Eden, has God really
said? Casting doubt on what God has
said. Has God really said this? This is the natural condition
of man, to be idolatrous in his thinking, to be against God in
his thinking. The one who says, as I once heard
a man say, My Jesus died for the sins of everyone. Well, his
Jesus probably did, but his Jesus was an idol, a figment of his
own imagination. His Jesus was not the Jesus who
came to save his people from their sins. That's how I know
his Jesus is an idol, because his Jesus was not the Jesus of
Scripture. For the Jesus of Scripture, the angel said, call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Not make
it possible for everybody if they want to. No. It's an idol. And it produces an ineffectual
salvation. and a salvation which is confounded. Confounded be all they. They
think they're going to glory, they think they're going to heaven
on the basis of a gospel that they believe, but when it comes
to that day when they stand before the judgment seat of Christ,
they will be found outside of him. And they will say, Lord,
Lord, didn't we do this in your name and that in your name? And
he will say to them, depart from me, ye that work evil, I never
knew you. I never knew you. But we did
all, no, I never knew you. Confounded be all they that serve
graven images, that boast themselves of idols. And people are very
proud. They boast themselves of their
idols. very proud of their idols. You
look, you know, you can say all sorts of things, but don't you
say anything negative about my religion. Don't you say anything
that says there's anything wrong with what I believed and my family
had believed. I remember speaking to a French
lady who was getting on quite a bit and in one of the bed and
breakfasts we used to stay at and I remember how proud she
was that she had been baptized in a particular cathedral Remember
that lady, she'd been baptized in a particular cathedral, and
she was so proud that she had been baptized there because some
other saint, some other Catholic saint, had been baptized there. And so she would be conferred
with the same blessings that that saint was, and how proud
she was. But look what the scripture says,
confounded. Be all they that serve graven
images, that boast themselves of idols. Worship him. Get down
in your place, all ye gods with a small g. All ye idols. All ye false gods. All ye gods
that can do nothing. Worship him. Get down in your
proper place. Confounded. Be all they. confounded
be all they that serve graven images. This is the state of
natural man. There is God there who is unchanging,
who is unquestionable, who is there in all of his majesty and
glory, and there's the natural man in his natural state of idolatry,
not knowing the true God. Saying, as the fool says, no
God for me, I will not have a God. All this idolatrous falsehood
must bow down in submission to the God who is true, to true
God. So seeing what God is like in
the scriptures, and seeing what the natural man is like, and
we see them all around us, you know, the overwhelming majority. How many, how many believe the
truth? And how many believe a lie and
follow gods of idolatry? What a blessing it is to know
the true and living God. This is what we see in verses
8 to 12. In contrast, there is God in the first six verses.
There is the idolatrous world in verse 7, but then in the rest
of the psalm is the people of God. the people to whom God has
revealed himself. Here is Zion clothed in righteousness. We've seen our God who is a consuming
fire. We've seen the natural man who
is confounded in his idolatry. And here we see Zion clothed
in the righteousness of God. Zion heard and was glad, and
the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Lord.
What a contrast there is. What a blessing it is. to have
heard the joyful sound. What a blessing it is to know
the power of sins forgiven. This is a blessed people, favored
by God. And look at the names that are
used of this people, who out of all of the idolatrous world
around us, under the hand of Almighty God, look at the names
that's used of this people that God calls to himself, Zion. Zion heard. Zion is the people
and city of God. Zion. It means a monument of
grace. A monument of grace. In the Psalms
it's said, beautiful for situation. The joy of the whole earth is
Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great
king. Glorious things, it says, of thee are spoken, and I think
it was Charles Wesley, wasn't it, turned it into a hymn, Zion,
city of our God. Glorious things of thee are spoken.
He whose work cannot be broken formed thee for his own abode.
On the rock of ages founded, who can shake thy sure repose?
Zion, the city of our God. Zion is Jerusalem, pictured by
Jerusalem. That city in the Middle East
in these days is just the historical site. It has no religious significance
to us today, but in history it was symbolical of the Zion of
God, the true Jerusalem. Who is it that comes down out
of heaven prepared for the bridegroom, for Christ, for the wedding in
Revelation. Zion, the new Jerusalem, comes
down out of heaven. This is pictorial of the people
of God. It's where David built a type
of the city of God. That city of Jerusalem was a
picture of the true city of God, which is his people in Christ.
It's the place where David's son, Solomon, built a temple. And there, that temple was a
type, a picture of the body of Christ, of the physical body
of Christ coming to earth to accomplish the redemption of
his people. It's filled with the symbology of the gospel of
his grace. Zion is the place where God reveals
his truth. The God who is true and judge
over all things in grace reveals his truth to his people in Zion. In Zion, Jehovah laid a precious
cornerstone. on which everything else of that
temple is built, and that cornerstone is the one that the builders
which were the Jewish nation rejected. But Christ is exalted,
he's the precious cornerstone. We see the Lamb and the redeemed
standing on Mount Zion in Revelation 14 verse 1. There on Mount Zion
is the Lamb with his redeemed standing there, the Lamb of God
which is Christ. It's to Mount Zion where his
people come. Oh, the idolaters go off in their
own religion, but look where the people of God come. Hebrews
12, verses 22 to 24. But ye, you people of God, you
believing people of God, ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, Yeah, not many of us here this
morning are there. This is where you've come, says the scriptures
to us. You've come to Mount Zion, to
the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn. You know, there
are these pompous religious organizations that have their general assemblies
and councils that determine what's right and what's wrong. But God
says to his people, you have come in Christ. You individuals
have come in Christ, the redeemed, to the general assembly and church
of the firstborn, which are written in heaven. Their names were written
in heaven before the beginning of time when they were given
to Christ, when the Father gave them to the Son. You've come
to God, who is the judge of all. But you've not come in fear,
you've come in joy and gladness, knowing that the Judge of all
has declared you just in His Son. You've come to the spirits
of just men made perfect. Yes, we're justified, but we
live in the flesh, and the flesh is sinful until the day we die.
But there, there, in that heavenly Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem,
you've come to just men made perfect, the spirits of them,
and to Jesus. to Jesus, to our God, to Jehovah
Jesus, to the one who is our Savior, who is the mediator of
the new covenant, for there is one mediator between God and
man, only one. He who comes to the Father must
come by the Son. There's only one, Christ Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
his blood of sprinkling. The blood was sprinkled in the
temple, symbolical of the cleansing of the blood, that the price
of sin had been paid. And Christ's blood is sprinkled.
He goes in to the Holy of Holies, into heaven itself with his own
blood, that blood of sprinkling. This is where you've come, to
that blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than the
blood of Abel. Abel was the first man to be
murdered. Cain, his brother, shed his blood. He slew him and
shed his blood. And Abel's blood spoke of judgment. Abel's blood spoke of sin. Abel's
blood spoke of rebellion against God. But the blood of Jesus Christ
speaks peace. Abel's blood cried out for retribution. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
cleanses his people from all sin. There's a broad way which
is the way of idolatry. Confounded be all they that serve
graven images. But there's a narrow way that
is a way of such blessing, which is Zion. You have come through
that narrow way. If you believe the Lord Jesus
Christ, you have come. And it says, and Zion heard. Zion heard. Don't the others
hear? No. Zion heard. All these that follow idols,
are they not trying to be religious? Yes, but they're not hearing
the voice of God. Zion heard and was glad. When the rest were hardened in
their unbelief, discriminating grace came from God on high and
Zion heard and hearts were opened by the Holy Spirit, by his grace.
As Paul went to Philippi, and met those women by the riverbank
and there was the lady called Lydia selling her purple and
she was trying to be religious. She was trying to be religious,
but in discriminating grace, it says, God opened her heart. God did it. He opened her heart
in discriminating grace. She was in Zion. When others
didn't hear in Philippi, she heard. He came to that jailer
in Philippi. And when others didn't hear,
the Philippian jailer heard the voice of God and cried out, what
must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Zion heard. 1 Thessalonians chapter
1 and verse 5, Paul says to these Thessalonians, these idolatrous
people, with all of their idol gods around them, he says, for
our gospel came not unto you in word only. You didn't just
hear words with your ears, but it came with power, and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. They were shaken. They were stopped
in their tracks. Verse 9 of the same chapter about
the testimony that said of these Thessalonians, they say, what
manner of entering in we had unto you. Where others put up
a wall of defense and shut their ears and shut their minds to
the gospel of grace, the Thessalonians God opened their hearts. And
what manner of entering in we had unto you. And how you turn
to God from your idols. to serve the living and true
God. Zion heard. The world around
was confounded in idolatry, but Zion heard. You turn to God from
idols to serve the living and true God. Look at the next name
that's used of them. Daughters of Judah. Daughters
of Judah. What could that be? It could
be any number of things, but I speculate that it's churches.
Gatherings of the people of God. They rejoiced in his judgments. How can people, sinners, rejoice
in the judgments of God? People, in their sins, must only
fear before the judgments of God. For our God is a consuming
fire, and it is a fearful thing to fall into His hands. But daughters
of Judah You who are Zion, who have heard the gospel of grace,
you rejoice because of his judgments. Rejoice because of his justice.
Rejoice because of his character. Rejoice because justice is maintained. Because sinners are justified.
Because salvation is accomplished. Because our God is just and justifier
of the one whose faith is in Christ Jesus. Verse 9, For thou,
Lord, For thou, Lord, art high above all the earth, thou art
exalted far above all gods, false gods, gods of idolatry. This is to rightly praise our
God, having heard his voice in the gospel of his grace. Then
in verse 10, the first phrase, this is how else these people
are described. Ye that love the Lord hate evil. Ye that love the Lord Are you
that people? Are you amongst that people?
Ye that love the Lord? Who is it that loves God in these
days? Does anybody? Is there any? When
the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Is there
any that love God? Ye that love the Lord. Another
one of these names. Zion, the daughters of Judah.
Ye that love the Lord. Why do you love him, if you do
love him? Because he first loved us. 1
John chapter 4, verse 19, we love him if we do because he
first loved us and set his love upon us and called us out of
darkness into his marvelous light. He called us in accordance with
his purpose. All things, Romans 8, 28, work
together for good to those that love God. Ye that love God, all
things work together for good to those that love God. How are
they those that love God? They are the called according
to his purpose. All things work together for
good for them. They're given a heart to hate evil. They're
given a new nature in the rebirth to hate evil. All ye that love
the Lord hate evil. The natural man is evil altogether. The sinful heart of the natural
man which we all possess in this flesh until the day we die We
have this tendency in our flesh to evil, but there's a new man
planted by the Spirit of God. Ye that love the Lord hate evil. John says this of that new man,
1 John chapter 3 verse 9, he says, Whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he
cannot sin because he is born of God, you see. but I sin every
day. Does that mean I'm not a believer?
You know, that was a real dilemma to me when I first heard what
purported to be the gospel, was how could it say that whoever
is born of God doth not commit sin? When I know that at the
start of John's epistle, he says, if we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. He says, of course
we have sin in this flesh. We are sinners by nature. We're
sinners to the core. But yet there is a new man born
in, the child of God. And so the child of God is a
dilemma. The child of God is a camp of
two armies, as Song of Solomon chapter 6 verse 13 says. There
are two natures within the one person. There's that old nature
of sin, which loves evil, which is evil, And there's this new
one that's born of the Spirit of God, which does not commit
sin, which cannot commit sin, which hates evil, which loves
the things of God. And he preserves their souls.
He preserves the souls of his saints. His saints, here's another
name, his saints are those who are set apart and preserved by
God. They're delivered from evil by
God. He has set them apart. He has
made them holy himself. He has done it. God has done
these things. He preserveth the souls of his
saints. He delivereth them out of the
hand of the wicked. blessed place to be. What a blessed
place to be here, where God pours out his blessings on his people.
In the midst of an idolatrous world, you look around us, look
at the overwhelming majority that we see, but to be in this
place, Zion, those that love the Lord, the daughters of Judah,
the saints of God, Verse 11, light is sown for the righteous
and gladness for the upright in heart. Here's two more names,
the righteous and the upright in heart. In contrast to the
world of idolatry, How can that be a description of the people
favored by God's grace? How can that be a description
of you and me, if we're amongst that number? To be called the
righteous, to be called the upright in heart. Is that what you are?
Can you look and honestly say, that's me? Yes, I'm righteous,
I'm upright in heart. How can it be that that's the
case? It's not in your own righteousness.
It's not in any works of righteousness that we have done. For as Isaiah
64 tells us, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in his sight. They're fit to be burned. Not
by works of the law, for by the works of the law no flesh shall
be justified, or sanctified for that matter, in his sight. No,
but by the righteousness of God which is in Christ. Three ways.
Firstly, by the imputation of Christ's righteousness. By the
making over of Christ's righteousness to his people. In a way that
is a mystery, I acknowledge, but it's clearly declared by
the Scriptures in that verse that we know so well. He made
Him, 2 Corinthians 5, 21. He made Him, Christ, who knew
no sin, to be sin for us. He made Him sin. that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. It's imputed, it's
made over to our account, the righteousness that God will accept,
the righteousness of which he said, this is my beloved son
in whom I am well pleased. That righteousness is made over
to his people by imputation. Those who are righteous in that
way can say, yes, I'm counted righteous in God. For God has
said, I will look for iniquity in Judah, in his people, and
none shall be found, because Christ's righteousness is made
over to them. Then there's implanted righteousness,
or imparted righteousness, because in the new birth, God, the Holy
Spirit, gives a new nature of which we were reading earlier,
whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, an implanted
righteousness, an imparted righteousness. There's that righteousness of
Christ and his people being in him, which is the righteousness
with which they stand before the throne of God. But in this
life, even now in the experience, there's an implanted righteousness
that the Holy Spirit puts there. when he calls his people out
of darkness into the marvelous light of God. When he makes alive
you who are dead in trespasses and sins, he hath quickened,
he hath made alive, Ephesians 2 verse 1. It's that which comes
not just in word, lots of people hear the words of the gospel
of grace, but when the Holy Spirit imparts that new life, it comes
with power. transforming power, and teaches
the people of God the things of God. Teaches, in a way that
only the Spirit of God can. The theologians can study and
come up with their theories, but only the child of God can
be taught by the Spirit of God, the things of God. Isaiah 54
verse 12, taught by God himself. To know what? To know that which
the natural man doesn't know. the right and proper fear of
the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom and the beginning of
knowledge. And he imparts and comes and gives faith, for by
grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. He imparts faith, faith to believe
Christ. when the rest of the world remains
in idolatrous criticism. Faith to believe Christ. He gives
hope of eternal glory. These are the characteristics
I was mentioning them earlier. Faith, hope, and love. These
three remain, but the greatest of these is love. Faith. Paul
writing to the Colossians. What is it that marks them out? When he heard of their faith,
when he heard of their hope, when he heard of their love for
the brethren. Faith, hope, and love are the marks of true believers. your faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, your hope of eternal glory, your love for God and
for the brethren, the fact that you are led by the Spirit of
God, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according
to the Spirit, by the Spirit's leading. There's an implanted
righteousness, an implanted righteousness. And then thirdly, and let's not
underestimate this, Let's not underestimate it. There's a manifest
righteousness. Yes, we're righteous by the imputation
of the righteousness of Christ. Yes, the Holy Spirit, in giving
belief and new life, implants a righteous nature alongside
that sinful nature of the flesh. So it's like a camp of two warring
armies. But that righteous nature is
one which manifests the righteousness of God. How does it do it? How
does it do it? Well, it itself doesn't know. For Jesus says, when he welcomes
his people into glory, he says, you ministered to me. When I
was poor and naked, you came and ministered. And the true
people of God say, when did we do that? We don't remember doing
that. No, they don't. No, they don't.
But there should be evidence. There should be evidence. There
should be evidence of an honest character. The child of God is
honest in his dealings, even to his own hurt, even to his
own personal loss. The child of God is honest. The
child of God is truthful. This manifests righteousness.
The child of God is gentle in his dealings with other people.
He's upright in heart, which is what it says here, verse 11.
Righteous and upright in heart. These are gospel precepts. These
are the workings out of the gospel of grace in that principle that's
planted within. Now, what does this word say?
For these people, favored by God's grace, light and gladness
are sown. Light and gladness. They're not
left to themselves as they walk through this life. Light and
gladness are sown. The light of God's Word illuminates
the darkness of the human flesh, of the human condition. The light
of the knowledge of the glory of God is seen in the face of
Jesus Christ in the gospel of His grace. The light of the knowledge
of sin being taken away is there. Light is sown. The light of knowing
that the sin debt is discharged. That light is sown for the righteous
and for the upright in heart. It brings gladness. New life
is implanted to see the wisdom that is in Christ. That He has
made unto us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. And all of it is in Christ for
His people. And it leads to gladness. Light
is sown and gladness for the righteous, for the upright in
heart. You can trust the religious world,
the idolatrous world of mankind in general, and the God with
whom they have to do and what a fearful thing it is to fall
into the hands of that living God outside of Christ. But what
a blessing it is to be in Him, to be numbered amongst Zion,
to be numbered amongst the daughters of Judah, to be numbered amongst
the saints of God, as those who love God, as those who are counted
righteous in Christ, who are counted upright in heart. Rejoice
in the Lord, ye righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance
of His holiness. This sowing like being sown. It speaks of preparation. It's
that time of year when we break up the soil and we nourish it
and we sow seed that just looks like dead grains and we sow it
in the ground and there's an expectation. There's an expectation
of life and of growth, of growth in grace, growing grace in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There's an expectation
of some fruit to come from it. There's an expectation of a harvest.
And it's all as a result of how God sows this light and gladness
for the righteous and the upright in heart. It comes through God's
providential dealings with us as he causes all things to work
together for our good. It comes through his chastisement
of his people, which for a season doesn't seem pleasurable, but
painful, but yields a fruit. It comes through the conviction
of sin that He brings, and temptations that He brings, because that
causes us to see more and more the sinfulness of sin, so that
we revel more and more in the salvation of Christ, and rejoice
in the gospel of His grace. We're not left to ourselves.
These people, who are His people, light is sown for them. for the
righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. We're not left
to ourselves, but we're husbanded, we're tended, we're nurtured
by God on the road to heaven. Do you see what it is? I've barely
scratched the surface of this, but do you see what a blessed
state it is to be found in Christ, compared with outside of him?
To be found in Christ, in Zion, clothed with righteousness, blessed,
preserved, tended, and nurtured. Because as Psalm 31 15 says,
my times are in thy hand. The times of his people are in
his hands. What a blessed place to be.