Well, I hadn't intended to stay
in Jeremiah's writings, but our daily readings at home have been
in Jeremiah in the last few days, and also there was something
that struck me the other day, reading chapter 33, and as it's
the Lord's Supper that we're remembering this morning, it
struck me particularly. The book of Jeremiah is a pronouncement
of judgment on Israel, on Judah, and on Jerusalem, all symbolical
of God's people. And you read it, it can be, like
many of the prophets, it can be quite heavy going in places
because it's just full of condemnation. It really is, like the first
few verses that we read earlier. It's a litany of judgment and
condemnation on the sins of these people, and the judgment that's
coming, and the Chaldeans and the Babylonians are coming, and
all the liberty and the blessings that they had are being taken
away, and they're going to be slain with the sword. these are symbolical
of God's people, obviously they weren't strictly God's, God's
people were among them, as Paul tells us, they're not all Israel,
that are of Israel, they weren't all true Israel of God, that
were Israel by birth, he says that today, he says it's the
people that have the same faith as Abraham, that are those, that
are the true people of God, but in Romans 3, 22 and 23, Paul is writing there and he
talks about, just turn over to it, Romans chapter 3 and verse 22, he's talking about
the righteousness that we need of God. Where do we get this
righteousness from? Verse 22, even the righteousness
of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe for there is no difference for all. Now we always take this verse
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God meaning
all of mankind without exception and indeed it does mean that.
all of mankind without exception have sinned and come short of
the glory of God, but look at it in the context. Who is the
all there? It's all them that believe, isn't
it? Without distinction between them
that believe, Jew or Gentile. All that believe righteousness
of God by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that
believe for there is no difference because all of them without exception
that believe have sinned and come short of the glory of God
God's people are sinners all of them all of God's people have
sinned and come short of the glory of God all of them they
may be elect in the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace of God but
in the flesh Paul says, Ephesians 2, verse 1 or 2, thereabouts,
that we're children of wrath, just like everybody else. Don't
go bragging on how much better you are. Don't go saying, as
the Israelites of old said, I am holier than thou, don't stand
near to me. No, children of wrath, even as
others. As Paul says, in my flesh, this
is the apostle, in my flesh there dwells no good thing. The flesh
always remains fallen, sinful flesh. So, this is the question. Think about it. This is the question.
God is absolutely just. How is God's elect? Sinners. Sinners, children of wrath like
the others, how is God's elect to be saved from the just condemnation
that God must pronounce? When they die. It's appointed
to man to die once. All of us. It's just a matter
of time. Appointed to die once and then the judgment. How are
we to be saved from just condemnation? Hebrews 12 verse 14 says, follow
peace with all men and holiness. Follow holiness. Go after it. Without which, that holiness
without which, no man shall see the Lord. Oh, every eye shall
see Him. Every knee shall bow, but not in a saving sense, not
in a sense of coming before Abba Father, If you have that holiness
you will, but without that no man shall see the Lord in that
way. We need righteousness. We need the righteousness of
God. But what does the scripture say? Psalm 14 verses 1 to 3 and
then echoed in Romans chapter 3 and verse 10. There is none
righteous. No, not one. What about Abraham? No, none. What about the the
prophets, Elijah he was pretty good wasn't he? No, none righteous,
no not one in their flesh because righteousness you see we misunderstand
the human fleshly view the religious view of righteousness is that
it's about morality it isn't The righteousness that God requires
is not simply about morality. You know, being a better neighbor
than the others, being an honest person. No, it's not about morality. It isn't. It isn't about doing
your religious duty. It isn't about having an upright
character. You know, there are those that,
and quite rightly, it's something to be sought and desired. you
know those that truly knew the gospel the testimony of those
around them that really knew them was that they were of upright
character not in themselves but Christ had made them like that
no but righteousness the righteousness that we must have to see God
that we must have to be accepted by him is not about uprightness
of character it's about rightness before the law of God it's a
strict judicial thing strictly. You know, it's not about what
you feel about it, it's absolutely black and white objective. It's
rightness before the law of God. And in the fall of Adam, and
what did Adam do? Adam's sin was a sin of willful
disobedience. Eve was deceived by the serpent,
Adam wasn't. Adam knew he loved her so much
that he saw what had happened, and in her being lost under that
fall, he deliberately, he not being deceived, He ate that which
God had forbidden, the sin of willful disobedience. And in
that fall, we all, all of Adam's race, all human beings since,
all lost that righteous nature which is in the image of God
that God created within man at creation. We lost at that time,
and we've all had it since, we lost all legal righteousness. We lost it. How are we going
to see God? How is that going to be done?
Because the testimony of scripture, it's in Deuteronomy and then
quoted clearly in Galatians 3 verse 10. Cursed. Cursed is everyone
that does not continue in all things written in the book of
the law to do them. Sin brings God's judgment. You
know, I quote this often, but it's true. Our God is a consuming
fire. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. The soul that sins, it shall
die. But even in that death, God says
he takes no pleasure by which he means there is no satisfaction
of justice. There is no completeness of it.
It goes on forever. Ezekiel 33 verse 11, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked. Why not? Our reaction
to the language is, well, don't do it then, if it doesn't make
you happy. Generally, that's the language
of our society. What doesn't make you happy,
don't do it. But God doesn't mean that. He means it doesn't
satisfy his justice. It must go on forever and ever
in order to make satisfaction for justice. Jeremiah and the
other prophets are full of condemnation and judgment on sin. It's pages
and pages and pages. Do you ever see these cases reported
in the news that you know that the high court in in the Strand,
you go down the Strand, you go to the High Court, and they'll
sometimes say that, you know, they needed wheelbarrows to take
in the volumes of the indictments, one party against another, you
know, the legal pages, just ran to huge great libraries of books
of legal arguments. The Word of God, the prophets,
the large, large parts of it are indictments against sin,
indictments against you and me, But here and there, as we saw
when we were going through Isaiah in the Bible class a few months,
maybe it's getting into years now, ago, here and there, scattered
among the judgments, there is the promise of salvation for
God's people. promise of salvation. And Jeremiah
33 is just such a promise. In other places, in amongst these
judgments, do you remember that one where he says, is it chapter
29, about verse 11, I know the thoughts that I think of you,
thoughts of goodness and of mercy, and I'm not quoting it correctly,
but I think you know the text that I mean. In amongst all the
judgments, God says to his people, but I know the thoughts that
I think toward you. their thoughts of salvation their
thoughts of good and Jeremiah 33 is just such a promise for
salvation is promised to sinners turn to it with me Jeremiah chapter
33 And verse five is a pretty grim
verse. He's talking about, you're going
to try and fight with the Chaldeans, but I'm just going to fill, I'm
going to fill the trenches with the dead bodies of men whom I
have slain in mine anger and in my fury. And for all whose
wickedness I have hid my face from this city. Pretty grim,
isn't it? And then look what he says in
verse six. Behold, I will bring it health and cure. What a contrast. And I will cure them and will
reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. Health and
cure. Verse 7, I will cause the captivity
of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return. What he means
is he will cause those that have been taken away into Babylonian
captivity to be able to come back. you know that was a judgment
against them and I will build them as at the first I'll put
them back how they were verse 8 I will cleanse them this is
God speaking having said he's going to fill the trenches with
dead bodies because of the wickedness he says I will cleanse them from
all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against me and I
will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned and
whereby they have transgressed against me cleansing from iniquity
like David cried out after that sin with Bathsheba that sin of
having her husband murdered and committing adultery with her
David was aware of the filth and vileness of his sin, of the
corruption and the stain on his heart. And he cries out in Psalm
51 verse 2, cleanse me from my sin, wash it away, purge away
the stain of it. Now look at verses 9 and 10.
to eleven, and it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and
an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear
all the good that I do unto them. And they shall fear and tremble
for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure
unto it. Thus saith the Lord, again they
shall be heard in this place which ye say shall be desolate
without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah and
in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate without man and
without inhabitant and without beast, even there there will
be, verse 11, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the
voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. It's difficult
to have a happy wedding when you're in the midst of great
trial and tribulation and sorrow. But he says here, there's going
to be the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride, the voice of
all then that shall say, praise the Lord of hosts for the Lord
is good. praise praise and joy reminds
me of Isaiah 61 verse 3 where there again as a pinnacle of
promise of salvation God says to his people to appoint unto
them that mourn in Zion for blessed are they that mourn for they
shall be comforted to appoint to them that mourn in Zion and
to give them beauty for ashes the oil of joy in the place of
mourning, a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
They will be trees of righteousness, he says. This is such a contrast
with the judgment, the just judgment on sin, is this promise of salvation. Verse 12, thus says the Lord
of hosts, again in this place which is desolate, without man
and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be
an habitation of shepherds, causing their flocks to lie down. The
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He leads me by green
pastures, by the still waters. He makes me to lie down in green
pastures. That's the image there. It's
an image of pastors and churches and living in safety and in the
blessing of God. How do we know? that we can interpret
these scriptures in this way, of a promise of blessing, not
just in a sort of restoration pictured in Israel and Judah
coming back from their captivity, but in the church of the living
God. Turn over to the book of Amos. Just turn over to the book of
Amos with me, just for a moment. I just want to show you this,
because you say, how do you know that you can interpret these
scriptures of the Old Testament about Jerusalem and Judah coming
back into their land as applying to the church today. You see,
there's a whole load of premillennial teaching predominantly amongst
Presbyterians, but there's a whole load of it which talks about
what's happening in Israel today is the Jews, as God promised
in the prophecies, are going back to the land of Israel, and
they're re-establishing Jerusalem, and the sacrifices are going
to be set up there, and Christ is going to come and reign in
Jerusalem over an earthly kingdom of Israel and Judah. And that's
what they teach, I believe in complete contradiction to what
the rest of the scriptures teach us. Why don't I believe that? Why do I believe that all of
those scriptures are actually talking about the church and
God's blessing upon the church? Well, if you look at verse 11
of chapter 9 of Amos, so chapter 9 and verse 11, this is what
the prophet says, In that day, a day to come, will I raise up
the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches,
the holes in the wall thereof, and I will raise up its ruins,
and I will build it as in the days of old. Oh, so there's God
saying that the temple's going to be rebuilt, and that's what
we've got to look forward to. Okay, is that right? Turn over
to Acts. chapter 15 turn over to the book
of Acts chapter 15 verse 16 verse 15 verse 14 even it's the council
of Jerusalem should the Gentiles be let into the church This is
what they're discussing. All the apostles and the leaders
of the church are there. And James stands up in verse
13. Men and brethren, hearken to
me. Simeon hath declared Simon Peter how God at the first did
visit the Gentiles and take out of them a people for his name
when he went to Cornelius. And to this agree the words of
the prophets as it is written. Look what he quotes. Look what
he quotes. After this I will return, and
will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down,
and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up."
He quotes the verse that we've just read in Amos chapter 9.
as applying to the Jews. No, he says it's the church,
it's Cornelius, it's the Gentiles coming into the church. That's
why we have scriptural apostolic authority to interpret these
Old Testament prophecies of Jewish restoration as they appear at
face value as being fulfilled in the church, in Christ saving
his people, taking a people for himself. And how does he do it? He comes. Look on then to verse to verse 15, verse 15. Again, we're talking in those
days, in those New Testament days, in those days when all
of these things are fulfilled, 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. Remember, we're
looking at what is necessary for the people whom God has chosen
in Christ to be accepted by Him. They must have holiness. Follow
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. How are they
going to get it? A branch is going to be raised
up. What a contrast it is. What a contrast here. How can
God remain just and yet save sinners? How can He remain just,
perfectly just, and yet save sinners? His people who are sinners,
each one of us, for all of his people have sinned and come short
of the glory of God, must have that holiness and righteousness
that he demands to see him. How holy, how righteous must
you be to enter heaven? Well, I try my best with what
years I've got left and hopefully I'll be good enough and he'll
accept me. Not one bit of it. Not on that basis. If that's
your hope, not in the slightest. There's only one righteousness
that he will accept. and that's the righteousness
that is in his son and in his son alone. That's where it is.
We'll never earn it by the works of the law, for as the scripture
says again and again, no flesh shall be justified in his sight. The law is weak because it's
weak through the flesh which cannot keep it. The righteousness
we need is never going to be earned, it must be imputed. It must be credited to the account
of the sinner. It must be reckoned by virtue
of union with the God-man. Isaiah talks of this branch coming
again in chapter 11 and 1 and 2 of Isaiah, he says, and there
shall come forth a rod of the stem of Jesse. Jesse, the father
of David. There will come forth a rod of
the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
David. Ah, but not David physically.
spiritual David, who is Christ, and the spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him, and the spirit of wisdom and understanding Christ
is made unto us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit
of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. The righteousness that
is required by God must be imputed to the sinners he loved before
the beginning of time if there to be made the righteousness
of God in him. And what does this branch do?
This is clearly a promise of Christ to come. This root of
David, this is the king who will reign on David's throne. He executes,
he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. This
is what he'll do. Where there's a want of righteousness,
he will execute judgment and righteousness in the land. What
he'll do is he'll establish it, now here's a long word, vicariously,
in the place of others, on behalf of others, as a substitute for
others, as a surety. You know if you In various legal
transactions that involve money, it may well be that one party
requires there to be a guarantor, or a surety of the contract,
so that here's two people agreeing, but one of them defaults. Ah,
we have a guarantor. If that one defaults, somebody
else who is able steps in to the breach, steps in and makes
up the loss, so that the other party doesn't suffer any loss.
So it is. Christ does this. He is the surety,
the substitute, the legal representative of his people. He comes, this
branch must come in a body that is prepared. Psalm 40 verse 7,
Lo I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me. A body
is prepared, Hebrews 10 verse 7, quoting that psalm and expanding
on it. A body is prepared because it must be in a human body that
he comes. If he's to save those who are
clothed in flesh and blood, who are sinners in that flesh and
blood, for all have sinned in that flesh and blood, and fall
short of the glory of God, and must suffer the condemnation
which his judgment pronounces again and again, he must come
in a body. prepared for him lo he comes
to partake of the children's flesh his children which the
father gave to him before the beginning of time are clothed
with flesh and blood sinners and he must come in the likeness
of sinful flesh yet without sin in the likeness of sinful flesh
yet without sin so that in that flesh with that blood by death
as Hebrews 2 tells us he might destroy him that had the power
of death that is the devil And he comes that judgment might
be fully established on behalf of the sinners he represented,
those that are in him, by bearing their sin, by being made sin
for them, that they might be made the righteousness of God.
He executes judgment and he executes righteousness in the land. He
executes judgment by taking the sins of his people and bearing
the penalty for it. Judgment is upheld The judgment
of God is upheld. He maintains His justice. He is a just God. Yet, because
He's established that justice on behalf of His people, He's
able to save His people. He's just and justifier of those
who are sinners, because He's borne their sin and borne it
away. And in bearing it away and being made the sin of His
people and bearing it on the cross, and bearing the wrath
of God for it on the cross, and being made sin himself, and being
forsaken by his father, his people, in that, and made the righteousness
of God in him. He is, as we were thinking a
little bit earlier in the study, he is Christ, our Passover, who
is sacrificed for us. He, that perfect Lamb of God. He obeyed the law of God perfectly. They found no sin in Him, because
He was God. Because He was that Lamb of God,
who was perfect. Many believe that in His obeying
the law of God, he was earning righteousness for his people.
I'm not going to fall out too strongly with anybody that thinks
that, but I personally don't see that in the scriptures. I
think what he did was he perfectly obeyed the law of God because
he was righteous, he was God. He was God in his essence, but
at the cross, in bearing the sins of his people, it is there
that he made over to his people the righteousness of God that
is in him. And so he makes his people that righteousness of
God in him. And if you just look on in verse
16, in those days shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall
dwell safely. What are these prophecies about?
About the land of Judah and about the city of Jerusalem? No, we've
seen that Think of the apostles in Acts 15. They interpreted
as the church, as the people of God. The people of God is
Judah and Jerusalem, the place where God shows his peace. In
those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safety. This is a message of salvation
and safety, a message of hope, a message of comfort, a message
of assurance. Now, I want to show you this.
in those days shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem dwell safely
and this is the name wherewith what does that say? she shall
be called this is the name wherewith she shall be called the Lord
our righteousness hold on turn back to Jeremiah 23 and verse
6 turn back to 23 and verse 6 you got it? In his days Judah shall be saved. Sounds the same. And Israel shall
dwell safely. And this is his name, whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. So is there a
mistake? 23 verse 6, it's he that shall
be called the Lord our righteousness. I don't have any problem with
that, do you? Christ is righteous. He's speaking of Christ. He's
speaking of the Savior coming, the branch, the king, David the
righteous. You know, that will be raised
up. He, undoubtedly, is the Lord
our righteousness. I don't have a problem with it.
But look here, chapter 33, And verse 16, this is the name wherewith
she shall be called the Lord. Who's she? It's there in the
verse. Jerusalem. Judah and Jerusalem. She shall be called with the
same name. Judah and Jerusalem, the people
of God, shall be called the Lord, our righteousness. That's it. She shall be called it. His people
are named with his name. Where does that happen? Where
does somebody get another name? Well, I know it's going out of
fashion in these days, where people like to be liberated and
not do this, but in traditional marriage, the wife takes the
name of her husband. My wife had to take on a name,
and all of our offspring that follow from it, that can be twisted
and used for all sorts of playground insults. But never mind that,
she took my name. And wives take the name of their
husband. It's a picture in marriage. taking
on that name of the husband, the husband and his bride. They're
saying that they're one together. In 2 Corinthians 5, 21, you know
that this is the case. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
We might be made. This is the name wherewith she
shall be called the righteousness of God. the Lord our righteousness. This is the name wherewith she
shall be called. This righteousness is imputed
by virtue of the marriage union between our Lord Jesus Christ
and his people. Judgment and righteousness are
executed by virtue of that marriage union. You know in the marriage
union, the marriage service, do you remember the words of
the traditional marriage service? I know they come up with all
sorts of weird distortions of it, but it used to say this,
The husband would say to the wife, with all my worldly goods,
I thee endow. Am I right? That is right, isn't
it? With all my worldly goods, I thee endow. Christ says to
his people, with all my spiritual goods, I thee endow. I give you
all of my spiritual goods, all of his spiritual wealth. So Paul
writes to the Ephesians, he has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in heavenly places in Christ. He takes, you know, the
husband takes responsibility for the wife, and I know it's
a two-way thing, but joint responsibility in the marriage union, joint
ownership of all things in the marriage union. I know there's
a great tendency to keep all accounts separate and so on and
so forth. We've always just completely,
it's ours, we just share it, it's ours together. Ephesians
5, you know that chapter where Paul, it looks like he's just
telling husbands to be more loving and wives to be more obedient.
And in verses 31 and 32 he says, for this, quoting the Old Testament,
right at the back of the dawn of time, for this cause, shall
a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his
wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is in the word of
God. This is in the word of God. You
know, there's mistaken, zealous parents who try to constantly
interfere and pretend that that isn't the case. That's the case.
The man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his
wife and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. There's more to it than seems
to be lying on the surface. He says, I'm talking about Christ
and his church. That's the great marriage. That's
the one in which she shall be called by his name, the Lord,
our righteousness. She is called with his name.
And what is the ultimate result of the union? Turn over to Revelation
chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19 and verse
6. We'll just read these few verses
for the sake of time. Revelation 19 and verse 6. This
is the ultimate end of that relationship. I heard, as it were, the voice
of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and
as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia. for the Lord
God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him, now watch this, for the marriage of the
Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready. The Lamb
is Christ, his wife is his people, the church. And to her was granted
that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white,
For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." Where is the
righteousness of the saints woven together? Oh, so many would tell
us it's woven together in our works of sanctification. Our
works of obeying the law of God is the believer's rule of life.
The scriptures tell us otherwise. The scriptures tell us that it
is made over to us as a gift from God. It's that righteousness
of Christ with which he clothes his people, of which we were
singing in that hymn just before this service. Jesus, thy blood
and righteousness, my beauty are my glorious dress. Midst
flaming worlds in these arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head. When from the dust of death I
rise, To take my mansion in the skies, E'en then shall this be
all my plea, Jesus has lived and died for me. Verse four. This spotless robe, the same
appears, When ruined nature sinks in years. No age can change its
glorious hue. It's white. It's clean and white.
The robe of Christ is ever new. That's a glorious prospect. a
glorious prospect, blessed assurance, fitted out with the holiness
which is necessary to see, to be accepted by God. This is what
it's saying, not that which you've earned, but that which he has
credited. The scriptures tell it again and again. Amongst the
condemnation for sin, there are these pinnacles of salvation,
saying this is the name with which she shall be called, the
Lord our righteousness. This is what she's arrayed in,
fine linen. It's granted to her, clean and
white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints,
the Lord, our righteousness, blessed assurance. It doesn't
depend on anything I do or don't do in the flesh, only what is
made over to his bride. Only what's made of all my worldly
goods, all my spiritual heavenly goods, I thee endow, he says.
It says, this is the name, wherewith she shall be called, this is,
she shall be passive, not call herself, passive, accomplished
by God, how? Because the branch has come and
judgment and righteousness has been executed. And that's what
we remember as we share the bread and drink the wine together,
remembering his broken body and his shed blood, which executed
judgment and established righteousness for his people. Amen.