I thought of several things as
Brother Chris was preaching. I preached with Chris before,
and one of the reasons I like to preach with Chris, people
have accused me of butchering their English language. And I
wrote this quote down, and I have it if you want. It ain't fixing
to happen. The next person that looks at
me and says, now what? I'm going to give them this quote. I want you to turn to Psalms
chapter 71 with me. Psalms chapter 71, and I just
want to read the first two verses. Thank you, Todd, for asking me
to come. privilege and honor and awesome
responsibility it is to stand here before such a crowd and
proclaim the gospel. Psalm 71 and verses 1 and 2,
I was thinking, I thought about what I wanted to say here, what
I wanted to preach here. And if I had just one message,
this was my last message, this is the message I want to preach.
And I hope it's not very long. I wouldn't want my last message
to be very long. But I hope it's very plain. I
hope it's clear. I hope it's simple. I've thought
over this and I've tried and I've labored and with God's help
I hope to make this as simple as I can possibly make it. Psalm chapter 71 and verses 1
and verse 2. In thee, O Lord, do I put my
trust. Let me never be put to confusion. Let me never be ashamed. Put
to shame. And here's my text. Deliver me
in thy righteousness and cause me to escape. Incline thine ear
unto me and save me. Deliver me. in thy righteousness. Now I'm sure David had many enemies,
many physical enemies. Sometimes when we read the Psalms
and David's life, we realize that he had many enemies, physical
enemies that followed him and persecuted him. And I'm sure
there are times that he prayed against these physical enemies.
When he was a boy out watching his father's sheep, there were
animals, beasts, lions and bears and animals that could devour
him and his sheep. I imagine he prayed against these
animals to be kept from these animals. There were invading
armies that come against this man. Invaded the South, the Amalekites
were a cruel, cruel nation, an army of men. And I'm sure he
prayed against that. Saul, the king, sought him as
a man would seek a bird to kill him. And we often find in him,
I think, praying, Lord, deliver me from this man, this wicked
man. His own flesh and blood sought
his life. But when David says here, Lord,
deliver me, in thy righteousness, I think it was much, much more
than physical concerns. It was more than physical enemies
that were coming against this man. He expresses here in this
verse the same concerns that you and I have ourselves. We have had in the past and we
have to this very day. Their enemy is more dangerous
than any physical enemy. What is the claws of a bear compared
to the sting of death? What is the roaring of a lion
compared to Satan's rage? What is an invading army compared
to the coming wrath of God? What is it to prepare to meet
your enemy here below compared to preparing to meet God above. These were spiritual concerns.
When David was saying, Lord, deliver me in thy righteousness,
he was praying the same thing that you prayed and the same
thing that I prayed. These spiritual enemies. If we
carried this word, deliver, and this word, saved, over into the
New Testament, I think it really explains itself. It explains
clearly what David was saying when he said, Lord, deliver me.
Listen to some of these things as we quote them from the New
Testament. In 2 Corinthians 1 and 10, God hath delivered us from
so great a death, spiritual death, the second death. Eternal death. A death from which there is no
remedy. God has delivered us. Romans
7, 6, listen to this. But now we are delivered from
the law. We don't hear much about that,
do we, today? Being delivered from the law,
its demands, its obligations, its requirements, its curse,
Lord, deliver me from the law. Galatians 1.4, Christ gave himself
for our sins to deliver us from this present evil world, from
its fall, from its course, from its end. How important it is,
brothers and sisters, to be delivered from that. Colossians 1.13, God
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, a power that can
be felt so thick, a power that you can't escape from on your
own. With man this is impossible,
a power that blinded our eyes. We sat in darkness God has delivered
us from the power of darkness. And listen to this one. 1 Thessalonians 1.10 We are waiting
for his Son from heaven, who delivered us from the wrath to
come. The wrath to come. Boy, what's
all the armies of the world? I'd rather face all the armies
of the world than to face God and his wrath on you. God hath
delivered us from the wrath to come. People aren't much concerned
with the wrath of God today, are they? They're busy. People are busy. People have
cares. People have concerns. People
are busy. But there's coming a day when
people will be so concerned with the wrath of God. that they will
literally pray for the rocks and mountains to fall on them.
Cover us from the face of him that sits on the throne for the
great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand? Nobody but those who have been
delivered from it. No wonder David prayed. No wonder
this was his concern. Oh, deliver me. You say it's
already been delivered. I have too. And you have too. But don't you yet pray? Aren't
you yet concerned about it? Aren't you concerned for others
who haven't? Lord deliver me, deliver me. And this one, he hath delivered
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. The fear of death. I tell you, if you've visited
many bedsides, you've witnessed some people
in their dying hours that would have given the wealth they had.
to escape death. Everything they had meant nothing
when they laid their face in the king of terrors. He hath
delivered us from this bondage. Consider this word saved Incline
thine ear, O Lord, and save me. If we consider this word save,
it basically means the same thing, but David mentioned both of these
words. And the angel who announced the
coming of our Lord Jesus, his birth, this is what he said. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. That was David's
concern, over above all his physical enemies, to be saved from his
sins. Brothers and sisters, I would
rather live a pauper, I would rather live a beggar full of
sores, and be saved from my sins, than to live and farce sumptuously
every day, and die in my sins. What is it that has hid God's
smiling face What is it that has grieved Him? What is it that
has angered God? What is it that He's threatened
to punish with everlasting punishment? Is it not sin? We don't find
in all the Word of God where God is angry with anything but
sin. And yet we've all sinned and
we've come short of God's glory. Lord, deliver me. Save me from
my sins. Secondly, that's what David wanted
to be delivered from. Quickly look at his plea. What
did he ground this plea upon? Deliver me. You've got to have
a plea, doesn't you? You have to plead something.
Either something I've done, or something I am, or hope to be,
or can be. You either plead yourself, or
you plead someone else. What was David's plea for such
a deliverance as this? And I tell you, if you don't
consider this to be a deliverance, then you've never faced what
he was facing. You've never faced what I faced.
You've never faced what Greg Enquist has faced. In our minds,
in our thoughts, and in our hearts, We live daily with this thought,
I have to be delivered. I must be delivered. What was his plea? Deliver me
in thy righteousness. What is that? It can't be God's
essential righteousness. It can't be that eternal attribute
of holiness. That can't deliver anybody. That's
what makes us afraid, isn't it? God is holy. He's holy. He's holy. And none of us can
stand in His presence. We're sinners. And He can see
sin in us when and where we can't even see it in ourselves. He's
holy. He's holy. And that would only
serve to condemn us, wouldn't it? We dare not plead. the holiness of God or the righteousness
of God. What is this righteousness then
David was pleading? It's a gospel righteousness.
It's what we call a gospel righteousness. Listen to Romans 1 16. I am not
ashamed of the gospel. It's the gospel of Christ. It's
the power of God. to salvation. The gospel is good
news because it�s the power of God to save sinners. The gospel that I preached unto
you, Paul said, the gospel that you received wherein you stand
by which you are saved. The gospel comes to us and it
delivers But Paul didn't stop there when he said it's the power
of God's salvation. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. This righteousness that David
was pleading is revealed in the gospel. What does this righteousness
do? That's a good question, isn't it? Save me in thy righteousness. It's a gospel righteousness.
How does it save us? It reveals to us a righteousness
that satisfies all the claims and requirements and obligations
and demands of God's moral law. Now that's a mouthful, isn't
it? Think of that. This righteousness satisfies
all the claims that the law has upon you and upon me. If we're saved by this righteousness,
then we're saved in a way that the law is perfectly satisfied
with our salvation. No wonder it doesn't condemn
the believer. All its requirements have been
met. It satisfies the sentence of death that has gone out against
the lawbreaker. It is a righteousness that has
made reconciliation for sin by atoning for it, rendering satisfaction
to justice. This righteousness has spanned
the great gulf between God who is holy and man who is a sinner. It's a righteousness that meets
all God's just requirements and all the sinners need. It's a
righteousness that enables God to be just and yet justify the
ungodly. No wonder David pleaded it. But this righteousness that justifies
the guilty sinner from the moral law by this gospel righteousness,
it puts away sin, it remits sin, delivers us from spiritual death,
delivers us out of the hand of our damnable enemies. It takes away the sin. It takes
away the wrath of God. It brings reconciliation. But
it's not just what it takes away. It's what it brings. It's what
it gives. It brings us to God. It brings
Him to us. It brings His smile and face.
It brings the life of God to us. And at last, heaven. Lord, save me in this righteousness. If there's a righteousness like
that, that'll meet all your demands and all my needs, save me. Save me in that righteousness. But notice how careful David
was here in his plea. He just didn't say, save me in
righteousness. He said, save me in thy righteousness. Five times in the 71st chapter
of Psalms, he mentions the word righteousness. And every time
he says, thy righteousness, thy righteousness. This is the personal
righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, David's Lord. David wasn't merely pleading
the doctrine of imputed righteousness. But he was pleading the personal
righteousness of Jesus Christ the Savior who stood in his room
and stood and represented him as a poor sinner before God and
laid the foundation for his deliverance by his personal obedience unto
death, even the death of the cross. I want you to turn quickly over
to Romans with me, chapter 5. I want you to put a little marker
in that Psalms because I want to go back there in just a second.
But look here in Romans chapter 5 and verse 17. has a right to demand of us perfect
obedience. It really can't demand anything
less. It deserves that. It requires
that. You and I can't render it. We
cannot render it. We've been weakened by sin. Sin has utterly depraved us.
Our heart is desperately wicked and from this heart cannot come
one good deed to please God. This righteousness, this righteous
one has stood in the place of sinners and met all the righteous
demands, all the requirements of God's holy law. All of them. The Bible says he went about
doing good. He did that from his cradle all
the way to his grave. He did good. Perfectly good. Completely good. Before God good. God could find no fault with
him. God testified, you're my son. I love you. I'm pleased
with everything you've done. But here, here is the wonderful
thing about this. He did none of that for himself.
Jesus Christ did not come here to represent Himself. He came
to represent poor, fallen sinners who weren't able to represent
themselves. But you know it's not enough to live because the
law had been broken and therefore it required death. Justice required
blood, either yours or His. He gave His. He gave His life
in service to God on your behalf. He gave His blood for our sins
without the shedding of His blood. There's no remission. He did
all of that in other people's place and room and stead. Look here how He says it in Romans
5 and verse 17. If by one man's offense, Adam's
offense, death reigned by one, much more they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life. Adam's disobedience brought death.
Christ's righteousness, which is a gift, gives life. It brings life. Isn't that what
we need? Verse 18, therefore as by the
offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. We're condemned by nature. Even
so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. Adam's disobedience condemned
us. Christ's righteousness justifies us. In verse 19, for as by one
man's disobedience many were made sinners, look at this, so
by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Christ is a public person, isn't
he? He's not a private person at
all. What he did was not for himself. What he did was for
poor, fallen, guilty sinners. And this righteousness is given
to them to deliver them and to save them. No wonder David pleaded it, huh?
John Bunyan said this about this righteousness, and we read the
old timers, and you find this righteousness, the Lord our righteousness,
all through their preaching. And John Bunyan said, this is
a marvelous thing, that I, a poor sinner upon this earth, should
have the righteousness of one who is in heaven. God hath made
him to be sin, for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Let God give me His righteousness
and I'm delivered. Let Him give to me what belongs
to Jesus Christ and I'm saved. I'm saved. And I live in the assurance of
it. This righteousness is often spoken
of in the scripture as a covering, as clothes, as a robe and so
on. Adam and Eve had sinned, they
had disobeyed God and they stood naked, tried to clothe their
selves until God came searching and he saw through their fig
leaves. And there they stood naked and the Lord God slew an
animal. and made skins out of those animals
and clothed their nakedness. What is that a beautiful picture
of? Just what we're saying, thy righteousness. We come over to
Ezekiel and the little infant cast out into the field and he
was defenseless and he was in his blood and he was filthy.
And the Lord said, when I passed by you, I saw you polluted in
your blood, and I said, live, and I washed you. And then what
did He do? I spread my skirt over you, and
I covered your nakedness. Is that not this righteousness?
Doesn't He give us these beautiful pictures to teach us, to let
us imagine what it's like? What is this righteousness like?
It's a clothing. that hides our shame. And your
renown went abroad for your beauty through my comeliness that I
put upon you. My beauty upon you. We sing about it sometimes, don't
we? My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. When He shall come with
trumpet sound, oh, may I then in Him be found, dressed in His
righteousness alone, faultless to stand before His throne. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are, my glorious dress, misflaming worlds in these arrayed,
with joy shall I lift up my head. I wonder what Cody is saying.
I bet he's saying that isn't I was talking with Brother David
Pledger the other day, and he was telling me about when a dress
in Cody's body, putting his suit on, and the folks there in the
church had met him. They'd never seen him decked
out like that, David said. They were just making over him,
how handsome he looked and eloquent he looked. Oh, he was just beautiful
laying there in that fine outfit. Then they started talking. Can
you imagine how beautiful he really is? There in heaven, dressed
in this fine linen, clean and white. Thy beauty, my glorious dress. That poor prodigal come home
in his filthy rag, smelling like a pig. And what did his father
say? Bring here the best robe. the
best robe and put on it. It's fit, brethren, it'll do
to plead deliverance. There's those standing right
now and will stand when the last elect soul is saved and they're
all gathered around the throne. That number that no man can number
of every nation and kindred and tongue and tribe and they will
stand there clothed in white linen pure and white. What is that? That's the righteousness
of saints. That delivered them here below
from all of their enemies and took them up to heaven and set
them in the presence of God without fault or wrinkle or any such
thing. That'll do to plead, brothers
and sisters. You may be the vilest sinner
in your own mind that ever lived. This will do to plead. Deliver
me, Lord, in thy righteousness. We've utterly failed, haven't
we? Everything we've done, sin is so mixed with it, we abhor
ourselves. There's no failure there. There's
no spot there. It's a perfect righteousness.
It's the righteousness of God in Christ. Plead it. Your promises
won't do. Your reformation won't do. Your
resolves won't do. Plead His righteousness. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. And who is He? Jesus Christ the
righteous. Plead Him. Plead Him. Lord save me in Thy righteousness. Lastly is this. You may remember
I read it to you, so you won't have to turn back over there.
Deliver me in thy righteousness, and he says this, and calls me
to escape. There's not only a deliverance
in this righteousness, but it's also our escape. Our escape. We must escape. You look yonder
at Noah's Ark. Don't you imagine there was a
lot of people? I imagine 120 years building that ark and that's
a huge thing. Huge ark. Don't you imagine it
got rather popular? People taking their vacation
coming and looking at this art. Architects, man you just wouldn't
believe it. Families taking their vacation
coming and looking at this art. Look at the design of that thing.
They've got drawings of it. What a mystery this is. What's
this all about? You see some fellow coming and
trying to peep inside and he sees nothing but darkness so
he leaves. But what is this ark? What is
this ark? It's the only place of refuge from the coming devastation. Devastation is coming. God is
angry. He's going to destroy all life
from this earth. except those in that ark. This ark wasn't to gaze at, wasn't
to draw and take pictures of. It was the only place of escape. And look in the side of that
ark. What do you see in the side of that ark? The door. The door. Not a door. The door in that ark. And the only way to get inside
that refuge was through that door. You couldn't be saved by cleaving
to that ark. You had to be in the ark. And to get in the ark,
you must go through the door. And what am I saying? I'm saying
Jesus Christ is that door. I am the door. He's not only
the ark, He's the door into the ark. And I'm saying this, brothers
and sisters, the only means to escape is to escape to Jesus
Christ. You want to be saved from your
sins? Here's your escape to Jesus Christ. He's the door. But it gets more closer than
that. Here's your escape. Faith in Him. Faith in Him. You want to escape
all of these things? You want to be delivered? Cause
me to escape. If God saves anybody here tonight,
it will be this one way. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. No other way. What must I do
to be saved? Here is your escape. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Look, Your Honor, to that city
of refuge and you see a man fleeing to that city. He has just killed
his neighbor. He shed his neighbor's blood
and he's fleeing for his life. The avenger of blood is on his
trail, and he feels like at any time he's going to get an arrow
in his back. You say, well, if God has elected
him, he'll make it. Yes, he will. But he'll not know
he's one of his until he enters the gates of that city. And he
better not sit down and rest and think, I could be one of
his. The only safe place is inside that city, inside those walls. And the only way to get inside
that wall is through the gate. And the only way to get through
that gate is by faith. It's by faith. I have a neighbor, sometimes
she complains at me, and she says, Bruce, you make too much
of faith. God makes quite a bit of it, doesn't he? He says you
can't please me without it. You won't be saved without believing
in Christ. All your efforts to be saved,
apart from believing in Christ Jesus alone, will only further
add to your debt. Here's your escape. Listen to
me. I've come here tonight and labored
the best I can, and Chris has too, to preach unto you the clear
gospel. And here's my advice. Here's
God's command. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, and believe Him at this instant. That's your
escape. That's your only escape. And when you have, when you have,
when you're like those forbidden Jews, you look to that serpent
on the tree. When you believe in Christ, When
you've come to Christ, when you've looked to Christ and Him alone,
then you'll say, He calls me to believe. He calls me to escape. And not only will you praise
Him for delivering you, you'll praise Him for causing you to
escape. You'll never get over it. You'll
never get over it. Thank you, God.