The 23rd chapter of Jeremiah
is a prophecy in which the Lord God exposes false prophets and
false shepherds. He announces judgment and desolation
upon the nation because they have followed other gods at the
lead of false prophets and shepherds who have devoured his sheep.
But right in the midst of the prophecy of judgment, of wrath,
of condemnation. Right in the midst of this prophecy
in which the Lord God declares the horrible corruption of the
people, walking after their own ways, following their own lust,
worshiping gods of their own imagination, the Lord God makes
a promise. And oh, what a promise it is.
Let's begin, if you will, in verse 3. Jeremiah 23, verse 3. And I will gather the remnant
of my flock. In every age, in every time,
in every society, God has a remnant. A remnant shall be saved. A remnant
according to the election of grace. I have a good friend down in
North Carolina who deals in remnants. Just remnants. He has for years. He goes around and buys up what
most folks throw away. Made a good living at it. Deals
in remnants. God Almighty goes through the
earth and gathers up what most folks throw away. They're his
remnant. Worthless. Useless. insignificant,
meaningless in themselves, but his remnant. And he says, I will
gather the remnant of my flock. They're a scattered flock, and
they are a scattered remnant, but they're his flock. I'll gather
them out of all countries. I'm going to destroy this physical
seed, this physical nation, Israel. These who broke my promise, broke
my covenant, broke my word, but I'm going to keep my people,
and I'm going to gather them out of all nations, all nations,
look at this, whether I have driven them. When Adam sinned
in the garden, the race was plunged into despair and death and sin,
and God began scattering the race. When the children of men
built a tower at Babel and thought that they would build a tower,
making themselves acceptable to God by their own works. God
confused the language and scattered the race. God has been scattering
the races through the earth, and he still does. He scatters
them that he might gather his remnant, that he might gather
his flock, nothing by accident. Nothing done by the whim of man
or even by the sin of man. Nothing done by the whim of hell
or by the rebellion of Satan. Nothing. Everything by the purpose
of God. He drives all men through the
four corners of the earth because he determined to gather his elect
out of the four corners of the earth. We don't. And will bring
them again to their foes. Bring them as sheep into the
fold, their folds, their folds, their rightful house, their rightful
home, their rightful privileges to their rightful shepherd. And
they shall be fruitful. Things are dealt with it this
morning. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and so on. Fruitful. God's people fruitful,
not fruitful by their works, not fruitful by something that
depends on them. Go ahead and try to bring forth
fruit. Go ahead and try. Push all you
want to, you can't make it pop out on the limb. It's not going
to happen. But God's people are fruitful.
He says, from me is thy fruit found. Fruitful. They love God
and one another. They walk before him in faith
and commitment. They're fruitful. They shall
be fruitful and increase. Increase in number? Yeah. His
kingdom is a constantly increasing kingdom. Not increasing in such
a way that men see it and applaud it, but increasing. He never
ceases so long as time stands to gather his elect and to build
his kingdom. And I will set up shepherds over
them. I'll set up pastors over them
which shall feed them. What a great privilege for the
sheep. or a great responsibility for the shepherd. Feed them. Feed them with words of understanding,
with knowledge. Feed them with God's own word,
with grace in due season. Feed them. Feed them. I get upset when I see folks
neglect the house of God, neglect the worship of God. But it's
something more than upset. Oh, I hurt for you. I hurt for
you. I fear for you. I fear for you. How come? Because if you were
hungry, you'd come to be fed. It's simple. This is a feeding
place for sheep. They shall feed them. And now
watch this. I'll gather them. I'll make them
fruitful. I'll bring them to their fold.
I'll set up shepherds over them. I'll feed them. And they shall
fear no more. I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me." Fear no more. I have so much fear. God forgive
you and me both. Me too. Me too. Oh, but bless God, there's a
day coming when there will be no more fear, because there will
be no more danger or the appearance of it. Now, I chose my words
deliberately. There's lots of appearance of
danger now. Lots of apparent danger. How apprehensive we are at shadows
and noises. Apprehensive we are because we
do not believe God as we ought. And we must continually look
to Christ as our Redeemer and our Savior and our only acceptance
before God because we are ourselves unbelieving sinners at best,
even in the midst of believing God. But they shall not fear. Tell you something I don't fear.
Tell you something I don't fear. I fear pain. Isn't that amazing? I fear pain. Man, I despise pain. Physical or emotional. I fear
pain. I don't fear men. And I don't fear hell. And I don't fear death. And I don't fear judgment. Because I don't fear God anymore. Oh, but aren't we supposed to
fear God? Oh, yeah. Oh, how I fear Him. But I'm not afraid of Him. I'm
not afraid of Him. He's my Father. He's my Father. They shall fear no more. I used
to be. I used to be terribly afraid
of Him. Now watch this. Nor be dismayed, confounded, confused, put to
confusion, ashamed. They that trust Him, they who
are built on the rock, Christ Jesus, shall never be dismayed. They shall never be confounded,
confused, or shamed. Neither shall they be lacking,
saith the Lord. You remember what our Lord said
to his disciples? I think it was Peter came and
said, Lord, we've forsaken all and followed you, as if to suggest
somehow we have really done something for you. And the Lord Jesus said,
lack ye anything? What did you say it cost you?
What did you say you sacrificed? What did you say you gave up?
Lacked ye anything that shall lack no more? I have been young
and now I am old, the psalmist said, and I'll tell you what
I've never seen. I've never seen a righteous person forsaken,
and I've never seen his seed begging bread. I've seen lots
of folks in lots of circumstances. I've had the experience of lots
of people knocking on the door here, calling the house, daylight,
dark, late at night, early in the morning, begging, begging. And I try to be generous to them,
best we can. But you know what I've never
had happen to me? You know what I've never had happen to me?
Not in 54 years, I've never had it happen. I have never had one
man or woman who walked with God knocking on the door begging
for bread. Not one. Not one. Lacked ye anything? Lacked ye
anything? Grace in time of need? No. Acceptance with God? No. A smile
upon his face? No. Hope, consolation, peace? No. Strength for the day? No. Neither shall they be lacking,
saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord. Now here's the reason they'll
not be lacking. I'll raise unto David, that is, unto the house
of David, God's elect. I'll raise unto David a righteous
branch, a righteous branch. One comes out of the house of
David in whom is the branch of salvation and a king. This righteous branch shall be
a king, a king, Jesus Christ. infant child born of Mary in
Bethlehem's manger more than 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ
is not a poor, helpless, pathetic creature that men must sympathize
with. He's a king. A king. Folks, look at pictures of Christ,
what they think of pictures of Christ. walking on this earth
and look at him in those silly, idolatrous, blasphemous portrayals
in the movies. Oh, poor Jesus. Poor, poor Jesus. He said, don't weep for me. I'm
in charge here. Don't weep for me. Weep for yourselves.
Weep for yourselves. He's a king. And when you come
to deal with him, you're dealing with a king. But he don't. A
king shall reign. He's not a propped up king, he's
a real king. He's not a king whose authority
and dominion depends upon you or me. Oh, no, no, no. He's a
real king. A king shall reign and prosper. That's what a king does when
he reigns. A king in hiding can't do much because he ain't really
a king. A king who's abdicated his throne can't prosper, he's
not really a king. A king who has been shoved off
his throne can't prosper. He's not really a king. A king
whose throne is in any way in jeopardy can't prosper. He's
not really a king. I'm talking about a king. God
said concerning this king I have sent my king upon my holy hill
of Zion and his throne shall not be moved. He shall prosper. What's that mean? That means
everything he wants done is done. That means everything he wants
he has. That means everything he wills
comes to pass and he shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. Now let me tell you how King
Jesus always deals with all human beings in judgment and justice. in righteousness and justice,
in wisdom and injustice, never any other way. Never any other
way. He exercises judgment, discernment,
wisdom. He's the only wise God and he
does what's right. He does what's right. You and I look at things and we say that's not fair. Merle, who are you and who am
I to tell God what's fair? He does what's right. Right. If it takes you or your
son You or your daughter, you or your wife, you or your husband
to hell, He does what's right. And if He takes you to glory,
He does what's right. He cannot do wrong. He exercises
judgment and justice in the earth. What does that mean? If He does
what is right, If this king does that which is absolutely right,
absolutely wise, absolutely just, absolutely righteous, what shall
happen? Watch this. In his days, in his
days, in the days of his reign, while he executes judgment and
justice in the earth, in his days, Judah shall be saved. All of them, not one missing. Everyone in the elect house shall
be saved. Judah, that one of whom the Lord
Jesus Christ has described, he's the lion of the tribe of Judah,
Jehovah's tribe, shall be saved. And Israel, all the chosen holy
nation, all the Israel of God, all who were chosen and ordained
from eternity to be princes with God, shall dwell safely. In His days, let me give it to
you the long and short of it. In His days, He's going to save
all the Father gave Him from eternity and said, In his days,
he's going to gather all his sheep. In his days, he's going
to save all his elect. And Israel, the whole Israel
of God, as long as this king sits on his throne, Israel shall
dwell safely. Now, if that won't float your
boat, I don't know what will. He sits on his throne. That means
all is well in Zion. He sits on his throne. That means
all is well for Zion, no matter what happens somewhere else.
All is well. Now watch this. And this is the
name whereby he shall be called. The name. The name. We don't pay too much attention
to names these days. I don't know much about our family
tree. I've never been much interested in it, because I know too much
about it, I reckon. But the name is a German derivative. Fortner, Faulkner, Fortner, all
those names come from a German stock named after people who
tinned fords. I guess that means we were trolls
back then, but named after something. Folks named Smith used to be
because they were some way connected with being Smiths. Taylors, somehow
connected with being Taylors. Now we name folks strange, funny
things. Some folks do. Mamas and Daddies,
you wonder, you know, how bad did they hate having that kid
put a name on him like that? But for the most part, names
don't mean anything. In the old days, they did. And
the name, of our Lord represents who he is. When the scripture
says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved, that doesn't mean say, oh Jesus, save me and you'll
be saved. That's not what it means. I'm sorry. I'm not sorry. That's contrary
to the religious age in which we live. And I'm sorry for that.
But I'm telling you, saying, Oh Jesus save me is not calling
on His name. Any more than a sailor when he's
in a horrible mess curses and calls on His name. No difference. None at all. What does it mean
to call on the name of the Lord? It means worship Him as He reveals
Himself in His Word. His name. He's called Jehovah
Jireh, the Lord who provides. He's called Jehovah Ratha, the
Lord who heals. He's called Jehovah Nisseh, the
Lord our banner. He's called Jehovah Shalom, the
Lord our peace. He's called Jehovah Shema, the
Lord is there. God with you. God with you. but
of all the names by which our Lord Jesus reveals himself in
this book, none is sweeter than this, the Lord our righteousness. Jehovah siddiqui, the Lord our
righteousness. Now, what is the message of this
text? The scriptures teach us plainly
that we suffered a terrible loss in the sin and fall of our father
Adam. We lost all righteousness before God. Among many other
things, we lost all righteousness. Adam was created upright. He was created upright before
God, both physically and morally. He was created in creature righteousness. That is, he had no sin before
God Almighty. And when he sinned against God,
The whole race was plunged into death and sin, so that we, the
sons and daughters of Adam, ever since the day that he sinned,
all his sons and daughters have come forth from their mother's
womb with Adam's nature, speaking lies, rebelling against God.
Now, I don't know why folks object to the doctrine of total depravity
so much, except that they think it doesn't mean them. Everybody
believes everybody else is just as depraved as they can be. Brother
Mayhem preached in Paintsville, Kentucky one time, and he preached
on depravity, and he was talking about man's depravity, man's
depravity. He got done preaching, the lady
met him at the door, she said, I always knew men were that way. He was
talking about them, talking about them. Depravity. Oh, let's see what he's talking
about. How would you like for me to see what's in your heart
right now? That's what I'm talking about.
Depravity. Corruption. Selfishness. Self-centeredness. Lust. That's not talking just about
pornography and all that trash. Lust, Bobby, is desiring to please
me. That's it. Living for self. Living for myself. Without regard
to God or man. Just pretend to regard God and
me whenever it's good for me. Living for self. That's man's
depravity. But God requires righteousness.
God requires righteousness. Did you know that? God says it
shall be perfect to be accepted. Perfect. Holy. Be ye holy as I am holy. That's his requirement. It shall
be perfect to be accepted. That which is not perfectly righteous
before God can never be accepted of God. Well, where on earth
can we find this righteousness? How can sinful men be made righteous
before God? This is certain. Surely, everybody
here has got enough sense to recognize this. If you don't,
you ought to have. We can't produce any. By the deeds of the law, there
shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. How are you going
to make yourself righteous before God? What are you going to offer Him? Let's forget about trying to
make up for the past. Let's just, just for right now,
talk about right now. What are you going to do? What
are you going to give that God Almighty can accept? What? These polluted hands? If you
touch it, it's polluted. And those hands are nothing compared
to your heart. Now, what are you going to offer
God? Well, preacher, I believe my righteousness counts for something.
Do you now? Do you now? Let's see. Take it to God. Take it. Take your best deeds,
your best thoughts, your best righteousness. Take it now and
go out to meet God with it. Let's see how comfortable you
are. Why don't you quit deceiving yourself? Quit playing games
with yourself. A good friend of mine, his dad
is right on the brink of eternity. He used to be a preacher, after
a sort. Talking to his son, he asked
him, son, how can I have peace? And he looked at him, he said,
dad, you've got to find all righteousness in Christ and give up all of
your own. He said, I just can't do that.
That's your problem. You just can't give up your righteousness.
And that's the only reason you don't trust Christ alone for
righteousness. Where can righteousness be found? Some folks think that
somehow in sanctification When God the Holy Spirit comes in
regeneration and causes His people to bring forth fruit for the
glory of God, that somehow God the Holy Spirit supplements the
work of Christ, and by coming into our hearts and giving us
His grace, He causes us to be obedient to the law and thereby
we work out our righteousness and we have righteousness before
God both that which is imputed by Christ and imputed in Christ
and that which is worked out in us by the Holy Spirit. But
it is never the work of God's Spirit in us that supplements
the work of Christ for us. It needs no supplement. The Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world and performed righteousness for
us. And let me show it to you in
two texts. Turn, if you will, to John chapter 17. John chapter
17. This is our Lord's high priestly
prayer. Verse 4. He says, I have finished the
work which thou gavest me to do. Finished? Now wait a minute.
We've got another two chapters to go yet before he cries it's
finished. He says, I finished the work thou gavest me to do.
What's he talking about? Well, he's speaking prophetically.
Isn't it amazing how fellows when they can't find out or will
not submit to what a book text says, they say, let's talk about
the past or let's talk about the future. He said, I have finished
the work thou gavest me to do. From the time that he lifted
his hands to the Father. and said, Lo, I come to do thy
will, O my God, as he was coming into the world. As he broke his
mother's womb, that infant, that infant that was as much an infant
as any infant ever born to a woman, he, the servant of Jehovah in
all the fullness of his divine manhood, says, Lo, I come to
do thy will, O my God, and until at last He bowed his head in
triumph and said, Father into thy hands I commend my spirit
and gave up the ghost. He was doing something. He was
performing the work of righteousness. Obeying God's holy law in the
room instead of his people. Perfectly obeying God's law.
Jesus Christ is called the Lord, our righteousness, because while
he walked on this earth, through all the days of his life on this
earth, he was weaving a garment of spotless righteousness, called
a garment clean and white, fine linen clean and white, without
spot, a garment that God Almighty takes and puts on his people,
called the garment of salvation, a robe of righteousness. But
then something else has got to be done. Look at John 19 verse
30. Our Lord comes in John 17 with
his high priestly prayer, having completely lived a full life
of manhood in perfect obedience to God as our substitute. He didn't do it for himself. He said, I've finished the work
you gave me to do. I've finished all obedience. I've walked on this earth as
a man, in the most contrary circumstances any man ever lived. I've walked
on this earth as a man, tempted as no man's ever been tempted.
I've walked on this earth as a man, hated as no man was ever
hated. I've walked on this earth as
a man, misunderstood as no man was ever misunderstood. I walked
on this earth as a man, a man utterly, utterly despised and
rejected a man. Father, I've walked on this earth
as a man in perfect obedience to your will, with perfect love for you, with
perfect love for my neighbor, never deviated. Not once, not
even on the inside. I finished the work. And that,
Larry Brown, God Almighty says is our righteousness. Of Him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us righteousness. Now look at this, John 19, 30.
When our Lord Jesus saw that all things were fulfilled, He
said, it's finished. It is finished. And by the shedding of His blood, all the horrid mass of our sin
that was imputed to Him was washed away. All the holy justice of God that
demanded our everlasting punishment in hell, all the strict severity
of God's holy law that said the soul that sinneth it shall die,
all of it was finished in our substitute. It is finished. by his life of obedience as by
his death upon the cursed tree, one as much as the other, both
absolutely necessary for this is his obedience unto death as
Jehovah's righteous servant. Now, this is the name. Wherewith
he who sits yonder on the throne of God, the king of Zion, he
who sits yonder as the king of grace on the throne of grace,
this is the name wherewith he shall be called Jehovah Sidkenu,
the Lord our righteousness. He is the Lord. Jehovah. Yes, Jesus Christ who died in
our stead is God. He's God. God over all, blessed
forever. Folks, sometimes think we make
too much of this thing insisting upon the deity of Christ. Either
he's God or he's a fake. Either he's God or he's a liar. The Jews understood what he said,
didn't they? John chapter 10, they picked up stones and fixed
to kill him. He said, what did I do to make you kill me? They
said, it wasn't something you did. Oh no, you didn't do anything.
But you're a man, and you said you're God. They understood it
well. He's God Almighty. Only God in
human flesh could perform righteousness, righteousness worthy righteousness
of infinite worth, value and efficacy so as to make all for
whom it is performed worthy of God. Only God in human flesh
could at one time suffer all the wrath of a holy God to the
full satisfaction of justice so that it's worthy of acceptance
with God forever for everybody for whom the blood was shed.
None but God. He is the Lord. He is the Lord
who is righteousness. Jesus Christ is righteousness. Did you hear that? He is righteousness. In Romans 9, Paul talks about
the Jews who stumble over the stumbling stone. God's laid in
Zion, a foundation stone. But for most folks, it's a stumbling
stone. They're walking along the road, and they walk down
the path, the path they think is the way of life and salvation,
but as they're walking along, they stumble over a rock. Stumble
right into hell, over the rock on which all Zion is built. How's
that? Because they, being ignorant
of the righteousness of God, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. He alone is righteousness. That's it. But preacher, you
don't know my mama. She was a really righteous person.
You don't know your mama, and you don't know you, and you don't
know God. That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. Christ is righteousness. Christ
is righteousness. He is himself righteousness,
and he alone is our righteousness, who of God is made unto us righteousness. God made His Son to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. His righteousness is all our
righteousness before God, both in justification and in sanctification. We have no righteousness but
Him. We stand accepted of God in the Beloved, robed in His
righteousness. made righteous before God in
him. And now, 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 5, 1 Peter chapter 2
verse 5, we offer to God gifts and prayers as a sweet-smelling
sacrifice acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. gave whatever you wanted to give
this morning because of Christ. If you give to Christ, whatever
you give, God accepts it because of Christ. And he accepts it
just as he accepts the blood and righteousness and person
of his darling son. I try to pray. You try to pray. My God tries a flattering way
of expressing it. Try to worship God. Try to meditate
on him. Try to sing his praise. He accepts it. He says, it smells good to me. He smiles at it. He relishes
it. He delights in it. Just exactly
as he does Christ's blood and Christ's righteousness and Christ's
person. You come to God. You come to God. I've come to
worship Him. And He accepts us. You and me. Sometimes we stink before one
another and always before ourselves. He accepts us. Now listen to
me. Listen to me. Oh, God help you
to hear me. Larry Chris, Don Wood, Don Fortner,
he accepts us just as delightfully, just as
happily, just as fully as he accepts the blood and righteousness
and person of his darling son. with His spotless garments on,
I am as holy as God's own Son. Near, so very near to God, nearer
I could not be, for in the person of His Son, I am as near as He. Dear, so very dear to God, dearer
I could not be. For in the person of Christ his
Son, I am as dear as he. Would you have righteousness
before God? Your conscience tells you God
demands it. Your conscience tells you. The
word of God tells you, but your conscience verifies it. The thing
that makes you afraid to meet God is lack of righteousness. That's what makes you afraid
of Him. Would you have righteousness before God? Righteousness. Righteousness. So that you stand before God as one who
is worthy to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints
in light. I'm talking about righteousness.
Righteousness. Oh preacher, can a man be worthy
of heaven? Can a sinner be worthy of God's
smile? Can a man be worthy to stand
before God in judgment, accepted and declared righteous? Indeed
he can. Indeed he can. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe it. Believe unto righteousness. Righteousness finished. Call
upon the name of the Lord. Worship him as Jehovah seeking
you. The Lord, our righteousness. You can look at it when you go
home. Jeremiah chapter, no, let's look at it. Just a second. Turn
over there if you will. Jeremiah chapter 33. Jeremiah 33. Let
me find it here. Look at verse 15. How fully, how completely is
Christ made unto us righteousness? Remember the text we read back
in Jeremiah 23, talking about Christ. Now look here at chapter
33, verse 15. In those days and at that time
I will cause the branch of righteousness to grow upon to David. And he
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. That's what we read
in chapter 23, isn't it? In those days shall Judah be
saved, and Jerusalem, the city of God, Israel, shall dwell safely. That's what we read in chapter
23. And this is the name wherewith, what does it say? I didn't hear
you. What? She. What She? Judah, Jerusalem, Israel, Zion,
the Church of God, the Bride of Christ, She who is robed in
His righteousness. This is the name wherewith She
shall be called, called by God Himself. The Lord, our righteousness. One with Him. One with Him. So really one,
Ron. So really one. That His name
really is my name. His obedience. is my obedience. His death is my death. His life is my life. His righteousness is my righteousness. Amen.