I want you to turn with me to
the book of Jeremiah. I'm going to read several verses
from chapter 23. Jeremiah 23, verse 1 through
6. Woe be unto the pastors that
destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, against the pastors
that feed my people. You've scattered my flock and
driven them away, have not visited them. Behold, I will visit upon
you the evil of your doing, saith the Lord, and I will gather the
remnant of my flock out of all countries, whether I have driven
them and will bring them again to their foes, and they shall
be fruitful and increase And I will set up shepherds over
them, which shall feed them. And they shall fear no more,
nor be dismayed. Neither shall they be lacking,
saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch." Notice,
capital B-R-A-N-C-H. This is Christ. And a king shall
reign and prosper. and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness." The Lord our
righteousness. Now the Lord Jesus Christ one
of these days will be coming back to the earth. According
to the scriptures, he shall come in the glory of his father with
the holy angels. And all men shall be raised from
the grave, and before him shall be gathered all nations. Let's look at a few verses of
scripture. In Acts chapter 17, In Acts,
the 17th chapter, now, while you're finding that, I'll quote
one with which you're quite familiar. It's appointed unto men once
to die, after that, the judgment. And another with which you're
quite familiar, the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment to the Son. Now, this one, Acts 17, 31, behold, God hath appointed a day in which
he will judge the world, in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. God
hath appointed a day in which he'll judge the world. Christ
is coming back. And the sea is going to give
up the dead which are in it, death and hell, and the grave
are going to deliver up the dead. And all men, small and great,
shall stand before God, and the books will be opened. Let's turn
to Revelation 20 and see what it says. Revelation chapter 20,
reading verses 12 and 13. Revelation 20, 12 and 13. And
I saw the dead. small and great stand before
God. And the books were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works." Now, remember those four
words, according to their works. He said he's appointed a day
in which he'll judge the world in righteousness, according to
their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, death and hell delivered up the dead which were
in them, and they were judged, every man, every man, judged,
every man, according to their works. And they were judged,
every man. All right, one other verse, 2
Corinthians 5, verse 10. The point which I'm establishing
is this, that there's going to be a day of reckoning. It's going
to be a day of judgment. It's going to be a day when God's
going to judge everybody. It says in 2 Corinthians 5, 10,
and I'm going to put this one in because somebody will remember
if I don't. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or evil. Now, here's the point I'm establishing
first. Christ is coming. And when Christ comes, there's
going to be a resurrection. And there's going to be a day
appointed by God in which He, in the person of His Son, is
going to judge this world. It's appointed unto men once
to die, and after that, the judgment. Now, here's the second thing
I want to establish. There are many theories about
the judgment. Many of them. I'll tell you what
some people hold, and then I'm going to tell you what I believe
the Scripture teaches. There are a lot of people who
speak of the judgment seat of Christ as being designed for
Christians. Now, this is what they teach,
that we go through this life, we've got certain responsibilities
and duties and so forth, and we go through this life, and
then after we die, live in heaven a while, Christ comes, we're
raised from the dead, then all the Christians are going to be
assembled, all believers, All people for whom Christ died,
all people for whom He suffered, all people who are ordained of
the Spirit and anointed by the Spirit and indwelt by the Spirit
and redeemed by the blood of Christ are going to be gathered
before the Lord to be judged for what we did or didn't do
while we were here on the earth. And some who did well are going
to be given crowns. Some of them are going to have
a half a dozen crowns on their heads, and they're going to have
stars in those crowns, and they're going to have trophies and they're
going to have ribbons hanging all over them, you know, like
we give these little Sunday school pins that dangle all the way
down to your shoe tops, and they're going to do all... Barnard used
to call it Yo-Yo Day, when God gives out the yo-yos. Some are
going to have decals, and some are going to have glistening
diamonds, and some of us are not even going to get a yo-yo.
We won't have nothing to play with in heaven. We'll just have
to sit there and watch everybody else yo-yo, you know. But anyway,
They say that's the judgment seat of Christ, and that's for
Christians. Then there's another theory that
some speak of a judgment of nations. You'll find this in Matthew,
when the Lord Jesus, after all this is over, he's going to call
all the nations. There's going to be Germany and
Russia and Babylon and Egypt, all America, all these nations,
a judgment of nations. And God's going to judge them
for the way they treated the Jews. He said, they take that
from this scripture, and as much as you've done it unto the least
of these my brethren, the Jews, you've done it to me. And so
God's going to judge those nations for the way they treated the
Jews. Be nice to the Jew, or you have to come to the judgment.
And then the next, they talk about the judgment of the wicked.
There's going to be a judgment. This is only for the wicked.
This is only for the unbeliever. He's going to be assembled before
God, and he's going to be judged. According to his works and cast
into hell and then some people discount all of this All of this
or they don't have any they don't believe in the judgment seat
of Christ for Christians No rewards. They don't believe in in the
judgment of nations They don't believe in the judgment of the
wicked only they believe in a general judgment in which every human
being, every son of Adam, every soul, every person who's ever
lived on this earth from the day Adam was made until the last
day of this earth's existence, everybody's going to be gathered
before Christ, and that's when the sheep will be put on the
right and the goats on the left. He's going to say to those on
the right hand, enter ye blessed, and to those on the left, depart
from me and be cast into hell. Now, I'm going to be perfectly
candid and honest with you as I can be. Because I want to be
candid and honest with myself. And I only want to preach those
things of which I am fairly certain. And I only want to present those
things to you which I can say from my heart that God has taught
me or revealed to me. So I will say this. I'm not really
prepared to voice any definite opinion about what part believers
are going to have in any kind of judgment. I just don't know,
and I've never read in all of my years of reading and studying.
I read again this morning for a long, long time. And I cannot
find anything that satisfies me at all or leads me to believe
that when a believer in Christ, redeemed, saved, his sins forgiven,
justified, holy without guilt, sins blotted out, shall ever,
under any circumstances, for any reason ever be brought to
judgment. Now, I have some scriptures that
encourage me concerning this. The first one is found in Romans
chapter 8, verse 1. Romans chapter 8, verse 1. Now,
I certainly believe there's some judgment that goes on in this
life. I believe that God judges his
servants and God deals with his people. I believe that God, if
God has enabled a man to preach, he'd better preach. If God has
gifted a man to pray, he'd better pray. And I know one of you is
going to say, if God gifted a man to sing, he ought to sing, won't
he, Joe? They've been on Joe all night about that, about not
singing, you know. They said, if a bird can sing,
he ought to be made to sing. But if God gives a man a gift
to pray, to preach, to give, to witness, then he'd better
be a good steward of the grace of God. Or God will judge him. God will deal with him. If God has given us an opportunity
to hear the gospel, we better hear it. And God's not going
to wait until we come before some kind of rewards tribunal
to deal with us. He'll deal with us right here
on this earth. There's a scripture over there in Corinthians written
to preachers about building on the foundation wood, hay, and
stubble, gold, silver, and precious stone. We're not going to wait
until the judgment to watch our works. Burn and watch them consume. We'll see it right here on this
earth before our eyes. And that's so. But here in Romans
8 verse 1 it says, now listen to this, there is therefore now,
right now, no condemnation. From this moment on, from the
time of redemption on, there is no condemnation to them who
are in Christ Jesus. And that word as I understand
it is judgment. There is no judgment. to them
who in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after
the spirit. Christ has borne my judgment. Christ has endured
my penalty. Christ has paid my debt. Christ
has put away my transgressions. I have nothing for which to answer
before a holy God. Look at Romans 8 verse 31. Now you know what precedes this.
No need reading all of it. Romans 8, 29, 20, 30, and then
he says Now what shall we say to these things? If God be for
us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely
give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who's going to charge me? And
with what will they charge me? If you've got a court and a judgment,
you've got to have some kind of charge. You've got to have
some kind of issue. And Paul says, who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? God has justified them. Who's
going to bring a charge? Is God going to bring it? Well,
he's the one that justified it. Are the angels going to bring
it? Is Christ going to bring it? He's the one that paid the
debt. I'm not going to bring it. And then he goes in the next
verse and he says this, who is he that condemneth? Christ died,
is risen, ascended, and maketh intercession for us." My friends,
it seemed clear to me, turn to 1 Corinthians 6, that whatever
appearing before the judgment seat of Christ means, whatever
judgments are reserved in the future, there is no judgment
for the believer. There is no charge to be brought
against him. There is no condemnation to be
laid against him. He's justified. In 1 Corinthians
6, 2, do you not know that the saints shall judge the world?
Now wait a minute. Am I going to be judged or am
I going to be judging? It says here I'm going to be
judging. Saints shall judge the world. If the world shall be
judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
No, I'll be totally honest with you. I do not believe that there
is recorded in heaven on the pages of whatever books are kept
there, one charge against a believer. I do not believe that any child
of the living God shall ever be brought before any kind of
heavenly court or heavenly tribunal or heavenly judgment seat to
be charged with and to be held accountable for and to give an
account for and to pay for anything. Jesus paid it all. all the debt
I owed. Sin left a crimson stain. He
washed it white as snow." However, and the next point I wish to
make is this, and I invite you to study this subject. I invite
you to study it carefully. We had one man who used to attend
this church frequently, and when I got on this rewards business
one night, he quit church. He hasn't been back since. And
I asked him in my study when he told me he's leaving, I said,
do you feel like you deserve a reward? No, I don't. Well,
I said, I don't feel like I deserve one either. And I've never really
met a Christian who, they always talk about somebody else getting
one, but I've never met anybody that said he deserves one. And
I said, isn't Christ our reward? What is there better than Christ?
I'm going to be made like Christ. Anything you can think of better
than that? I'm going to enjoy Him forever. Do you know anything
better than that? Every believer, the scripture says the first
shall be last and the last shall be first. Do you know anything
better than that? What rewards, we get plenty here. God has blessed us and given
us all things in Christ Jesus. I have all things. There's nothing
better than that. And certainly If God gave me
a reward, it'd be rewarding me for something He did, because
I can do nothing without Him. He's my sufficiency, He's my
ability, He's my grace, He's my sanctification, He's my wisdom. It'd simply be God rewarding
me for what He has done. And so when a scripture preaches
or talks about a crown of life and a crown of hope and a crown
of righteousness, it's that which is provided by Christ for everyone
that loves His appearance. everyone. However, this judgment,
and we're going to talk about the judgment tonight, and as
I say, the believer, and I'm going to show you why the believer
has no part in the judgment in a moment. This judgment shall
be on the basis, turn to Acts 17 again, and this is the word
I want you to look at, Acts chapter 17, verse 31. God hath appointed
a day in which he shall judge the world
in righteousness." Now here is the cause of judgment, righteousness. Here is the basis for judgment,
righteousness. Here's the foundation of judgment,
righteousness. This is what it's all about.
Men and women are going to be judged upon the basis of righteousness. Now let me show you that from
the Scripture. I'm not going to ask you to turn to all these because I want
to move along, but I want you to listen to this. Romans 1.16,
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against unrighteousness. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against the unrighteousness of men. 1 Corinthians 6.9, the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Psalm 11.7,
the righteous Lord loveth righteousness. In Matthew 25, 46, these shall
go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Revelation 22, 11, he that is
filthy, let him be filthy still. He that's righteous, let him
be righteous still. So this is the basis of the judgment.
It's not a judgment concerning treatment of the Jew. It's not
a judgment concerning rewards or no rewards. It's a judgment
based upon the lack of righteousness. That's what God's dealing with,
unrighteousness. And that's what it's all about,
righteousness. And all the way through the Scripture,
if you'll get your nave's topical Bible and study the Scriptures
referring to the general judgment, you'll find that the subject
there is righteousness. That's what God's dealing with.
That's what God's dealing with. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against unrighteousness. Now then, here are three things
that we're going to deal with tonight. Whatever a man holds
concerning the judgments of God, like one preacher said, be my
guest, because most of it is speculation. But I know concerning
the judgments of God that three things are true. I'm as sure
of these as I'm sure that that I'm standing before you tonight.
Number one, I must have a perfect righteousness with which God
himself is pleased or I'll never be saved, I'll be damned, whatever
judgment I stand in. Now that's so, that's as true
as this Bible is a word of God. I must have a righteousness,
a perfect righteousness with which the Holy God is pleased,
one that will satisfy Him, or I'll be damned. I'll never be
saved. I'll be cast out of His presence.
Now, that's so righteous. All right, secondly, I know this
is true. Whatever you hold about judgment, I do know this, that
I don't have that kind of righteousness by nature. I just do not have
the kind of righteousness that will meet God's approval at whatever
judgment I stand, whether it be a judgment of nations, or
so-called professed believers, or a general judgment, or whatever
it might be, judgment of the wicked, I don't have, and you
don't have that righteousness that will please, that will meet
with God's approval, that will satisfy the court of heaven.
that will pass muster before the tribunal of God Almighty's
judgment. I don't have it. I cannot produce
it. So then any kind of reward or
salvation or acceptance is impossible as far as I'm concerned myself. All right, the third thing I
know is true. There is a righteousness to be
had because God says himself that he's going to have a people.
that He's predestinated some folks to be like Christ. God
Almighty speaks of this righteousness Himself throughout the New Testament.
He talks about that righteousness of God, that righteousness of
Christ, that acceptable righteousness, which if a man has, he'll see
the Lord. He'll be alright. From this moment
on, he'll be alright. He'll never lack for anything
if he has this righteousness. So let's briefly enlarge upon
those three things. All right, now listen to this.
Here's the first one. I've got to have a perfect righteousness,
a perfect holiness. There's a difference in morality
and holiness. There's a difference. Morality
has to do with the habits. Holiness has to do with the heart. Morality produces acts of love,
Holiness produces thoughts of love. Morality is motivated by
pride, personal reputation. Holiness is motivated by humility,
love for Christ, concern for His glory. Morality is by determination. Holiness is by regeneration.
There's a difference. But now I want you to think for
a moment. I never cease to be amazed at the folly of people
who talk in a general and familiar way about their hope for eternal
life. I never cease to be amazed. I
hear people talk like this. This is the way they talk. Well,
I know that I'm not perfect. I know that I'm not without sin.
But God is merciful and I hope to be forgiven. Now wait a minute. You know that you're not perfect
and yet you say a perfect God's going to accept you without perfection? What kind of God is that? He
lowers and raises his standard according to the moment or according
to the person? Is that what you're saying? Here's
another comment. I've always believed in God and
tried to live a good life. I believe I'll go to heaven.
Now wait a minute. You've lived a good life according to your
standard. Have you lived a perfect life
according to God's standards? Well, no, I've just lived a pretty
good life according to people around me. Then God is going
to raise or lower his standards according to the people around
you. What kind of God is this, who has no standard of holiness
or righteousness? Here's another. Well, I believe
God is love, and I don't believe God's willing that any should
perish, and I believe we'll all make it somehow. God is all love
and no righteousness? No holiness? Well, I attend church, and I've
been going to church since I was a child, and I've served the
Lord as best I could, and I believe I'm saved, and salvation is an
exchange for your service. You give to God, and He gives
to you. Have you not read in the Bible that God is holy, holy,
holy? I wish I could impress upon you
this one statement, God is holy. I believe we'd start there. Somebody
said we ought to start with man's depravity. I don't know. I believe
we ought to start with God's holiness, and then men with any
sense at all will see their depravity. God is holy. He's holy in character,
He's holy in law, He's holy in His commandments, He's holy in
His dwelling place. He said, Be ye holy, for I am
holy. He is a holy God, the scripture
says, he will not forgive your trespasses. The scripture says
God is a purer eye than to behold evil and he cannot look upon
iniquity. The scripture says it shall be
called the way of holiness and the unclean shall not pass over
it. The scripture says without holiness
no man shall see the Lord. Scripture says, who shall stand
in his presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. And our Lord said, accept your
righteousness, and he picked out the most moral men of his
day. He picked out the most reputable, highly religious, outstandingly
moral men of his day, and he said, if your righteousness Your
holiness doesn't exceed theirs. You shall not enter the kingdom
of God. And you mean to tell me in the
face of all these scriptures that men, corrupt, unclean, defiled,
sinful, as the best of men are, and the scripture said man at
his best state is altogether vanity. You mean to tell me that
men, corrupt, defiled, unclean, women, sinful, depraved, wretched,
are going to pass through that fiery test of judgment and enter
into the holy presence of this God by simply believing that
he's merciful? Without one rag to cover our
nakedness? Without one rag to cover our
uncleanness? Without one rag to cover our
wreckedness? And God is just going to take
us in as we are? And God's going to walk with
us and fellowship with us, and we're going to inhabit his holy
kingdom? I don't believe a word of it,
because it just cannot be. It just cannot be. God is holy. And if anybody ever passes through
that judgment of God, he's going to have to have a perfect holiness. If any man ever walks with God,
and lives with God, and fellowships with God, and abides with God
in a spiritual communion, he's going to be like God. Because
God is not lowering his character, or his demands, or his attributes. Somebody's got to be brought
up, not halfway up, not two-thirds of the way up, all the way up,
to a perfect holiness. Have you not read that God is
just? Now think a minute. Well, I believe
God's good. I know that. God is good. The
very fact I can stand here and breathe, God is good. The very
fact that you and I are not in hell right now means God is good.
The very fact this old world's got a sun coming up in the morning
says God is good. Barney, you say anything this
side of hell is mercy. But have you not read that God
is just? Now think about this. His law
cannot be broken without punishment. Listen to these scriptures. Justice
and judgment are the habitation of His throne. Justice and judgment. I know the preachers today say
God is love, God loves everybody, smile, God loves you. Wait a
minute now. Justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne.
Why don't they mention that? Listen to this, I will by no
means, God says, clear the guilty, by no means. Why don't people
say that? The soul that's in it shall surely
die, the Scripture says. Why don't they say it shall surely
die? That's what the Scripture says.
I want you to read one, Matthew 5, Matthew chapter 5. Verse 17. Now listen to Christ
here, Matthew 5, 17. He says, think not. And this is what I think a lot
of folks think today. Think not. Christ said that I'm
come to destroy the law or the prophets. I'm not come to destroy,
but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law till it all be fulfilled, every one of them."
Now, God doesn't say, do the best you can. He says, do perfectly. That's what he commands. That's
God's law. God's law cannot say, well, just come as close as you
can. Shall a man be saved without the claims of the law being obeyed?
Shall a man be saved without the curse of the law being satisfied?
This is to make mockery of God's attributes and make mockery of
God's law. The Bible only sets forth two
ways of life. One of them is do this and live. Do this and live. Do the whole
law and live. That's what it says. Do the whole
of. A man that does not do the whole
of, then he can't live by that law. The second way is to do
it in another. Somebody do it for you. That's
the only two alternatives you have. So what I've got to have
is this. I've got to have, according to
the scriptures I've read, because God is holy. I've got to have
a holiness with which God is pleased. I've got to have a holiness
akin to the holiness of God. I've got to have a protection,
a holiness, a righteousness which God can accept himself being
immaculately holy. And I've got to have justice
satisfied on my behalf. My sins have got to be paid for.
They've got to be put away. The debt's got to be settled.
There can't be anything on the books. It's got to be paid in
full. Turn to Matthew 22. Matthew 22,
and here is a story our Lord gave, and I think it illustrates
what I'm saying. Matthew 22. You turn to that
scripture, and then I'm going to read a scripture from Isaiah.
Matthew 22. And when the king, verse 11,
Matthew 22, verse 11, when the king came in to see the guests,
he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And
he said to him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding
garment? And the man was speechless. Then
said the king to the servants, bind him hand and foot, and take
him away, cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth, for many a call, but few a chosen. Now
let me read you a scripture in Isaiah 61.10. Now listen in view
of that scripture. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He
hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewel. He hath covered me with a robe
of righteousness." That's what's got to happen for you and me.
All right, the second point now that I make is this. This is
established. If we're going to be accepted,
if we're going to be received by God, if we're going to have
fellowship with the living God, if we're going to be sons of
God, if we're going to be delivered from judgment and condemnation,
it's not going to be a balancing of our good deeds and bad deeds.
The only way we could be received on the basis of our deeds is
for all of them to be good. Not only in birth and nature
and choice, but practice. And that lets us all out. So
judgment, it's a waiting, there's no hope. But if we have a perfect
righteousness, a righteousness like God, there can be no charge
brought against us. The law can't bring a charge
because it's been honored. Justice can't bring a charge
because it's been satisfied. The books cannot bring a charge
because they've been blotted out. There's nothing on them
against us. You see that? All right. Secondly, I do not,
and you do not, by nature, choice or practice, have such a righteousness.
We just don't have it. Now, there's no need for me to
talk about the world in general. Let me talk about I'm not talking
about religious people. It's perfectly obvious that the
whole world lies in wickedness. That's perfectly obvious that
the drunks and the harlots and the prostitutes and the homosexuals
and the perverts and the liars and the murderers and the rapists
and all these things, we know they don't have any righteousness,
but we think some of us do in the church. After all, now, we
We're good people. We don't do these things that
the world does. That's what the Pharisees said.
Lord, I thank you. I'm not like other men. I'm not
an adulterer. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
unjust. I tithe and I fast twice a week
and I give alms to the poor. Now that's us. Those folks I
want to talk about. Let's see about them. Let's talk
about their righteousness. And let's pick out the best one.
Let's don't fool with me and you. Let's pick out the, if we
were going to push someone forward and say, Lord, here's what we're
like. Let's take Job. Let's take Job
first, because God himself bragged on Job compared to other men.
Let's see about Job. Job, you got that? Could you
come up with that righteousness? Listen to Job. I hate myself. I repent in sackcloth and ashes. Woe is me." Well, we push you
aside, Job. Let's get Isaiah. Isaiah was
the gospel prophet of the Old Testament. Isaiah was the man
who wrote of the crucifixion of Christ hundreds of years.
Come here, Isaiah, and tell God about men. I'm a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips." That's no way
to talk, Isaiah. You can talk better than that,
can't you? We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf,
and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. We don't
want him talking for us, do we? Let's get Paul to talk. Paul,
the great apostle, the man to whom Christ appeared, the man
who was taught the gospel from the mouth of the Lord Jesus himself.
Paul, what have you got to say? In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from this body of death? The things I would
do, I do them not. The things I would not do, I
do them. Oh, Paul, we don't want you talking
for us. We run plum out of representatives.
We don't have anybody. What are we going to say? Will
we be like those in Matthew 7? Well, Lord, we preached in your
name and cast out devils and did many wonderful works. I never
knew you'd depart from me. Or perhaps we'll be like those
in Romans 10 of whom Paul spoke when he said, they have a zeal
for God. but they're going about to establish
their own righteousness. Let's be like this man over here
in Philippians 3. This is the man that speaks for
every one of us in Philippians 3. And we couldn't carry his
Bible. We couldn't shine his shoes. We couldn't sweep his floor.
And he talks about his religious accomplishments and then he says
in verse 8, Philippians 3, Doubtless I count all things but loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, all things, and
I do count them but rubbish, that I may win Christ and be
found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, holiness,
morality, which is of the law, but that which is through the
faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of God by faith. There,
now, there's the righteousness. That's the third point. God demands. God has to demand. God has to
require. God will require. And God does
require a perfect righteousness. I do not have it, have no way
to attain it in the flesh. That's the reason Christ said,
with me it's impossible. impossible. You could live the
best life any man ever lived on this earth and you could give
your body to be burned as a martyr and your goods to feed the poor
and speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have all
kind of religious faith and knowledge and know-how and without Christ,
without love, be nothing. Nothing. But there's a righteousness
to be had. And that's what it says over
here in my text, in Jeremiah, chapter 23, verse 6. Oh, what
good news, and it's capitalized all the way through. The Lord
in his days, Judah, will be saved. In his days this will dwell safely,
and this is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our
righteousness. The Lord our righteousness. How is he our righteousness?
Let me show you. Turn to Romans chapter 5. Let's
go to 3rd verse. Romans chapter 5. We know how
we got unrighteous. It says in Romans 5, 19, by one
man's disobedience. In other words, representation. That's what it's all about, representation. Adam, when God made Adam, he
made every man. They won, but God didn't create
but one man. All the rest of us came from
Him. That's so. God made one man. He didn't create
another man. There are only two men. And that
is, the first is of the earth, earthy, and the second is the
Lord from heaven. There are two atoms. And everybody's considered
in those two atoms. That's so. I can't explain to
you why that is. I just explain to you the fact
that it is. In Adam, we died. In Christ,
we're made alive. In Adam, we were sinners. In
Christ, we're made holy. In Adam, we became unrighteous.
In Christ, we became righteous. In Adam, we're refused. In Christ,
we're restored. You can just go right on. In
Adam, it was death. In Christ, it's life. In Adam, it's darkness. In Christ, it's life. In Adam,
it's the grave and dust. In Christ, it's heaven and glory. It says that here, therefore,
or for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. That's
how it happened. Adam became defiled and corrupt
and he passed it on to his son, he passed it on to his son like
an inherited disease, born in sin, chafing in iniquity, brought
forth speaking lies. A member of a fallen race, a
part of a corrupt race, corrupt people. As the leper cannot change
his spots, he's born with them. The Ethiopian cannot change his
skin, he's born with it. So you can't do good to the customer
born doing evil. He's got to be born again. It
came from Adam. All right, look at the next line.
So, and even so, by the obedience, by the obedience of one, or the
one, shall the many be made righteous. those Christ represented. Turn to Romans 3. Now watch this,
Romans 3, 19. We know that what things soever
the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that's
everybody, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty, guilty, guilty before God. Therefore, because
we're guilty before God, By the deeds of the law, by the works
of the flesh, there shall no flesh, no man, no son of Adam
be justified in God's sight." We justify ourselves in our own
sight, in the sight of men, but not in God's sight, for by the
law is the knowledge of sin, not the remedy of sin, not the
cleansing of sin. But now, good news, the righteousness
of God! Oh, that's righteous, the righteousness
of God. We talk about the righteousness
of Job or the righteousness of Isaiah or the righteousness of
John the Baptist. No, we're not talking about that.
We're talking about the righteousness of God without the law, without
obedience to the law on my part. It's already been proven that
I couldn't produce it without the law, without obedience to
the law, without fulfilling the law. It's manifested or revealed
and it's witnessed by the law or by the scriptures and the
prophets. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith, by
faith, that's how it becomes mine, by faith, in Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them that believe, for there's no difference. Romans 4, over one page. Abraham, Romans 4, 20. staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, and was fully persuaded that what God
had promised he was able to perform. Therefore it was imputed to Abraham
for righteousness. It was not written for his sake
alone, it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it shall
be imputed." What imputed? Righteousness. Righteousness. If we believe. Not if we work
and labor and strive and promise and decide and consecrate. If we believe on Him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses
and raised for our justification. Let me tell you something. The
power of God to save a sinner does not rest in the strength
of God to do what He wants to do. The power of God to redeem
a sinner does not rest in the determination of God to do it. The power of God to redeem a
sinner and accept him as righteous is in Christ's obedience and
Christ's substitutionary death. That releases God to reveal His
mercy. That unties the hands of God. Now, I hate to word it like that,
but it's so. It releases God. to deal with
us, not in judgment and wrath, but to deal with us in mercy
and love, because His holy law has been obeyed, and His righteous
judgments have been satisfied. I've got to have a righteousness.
Let me tell you something, I can't produce it, and you can't either. You can sign all the pledge cards
they bring you, and all the daily Bible reading cards they bring
you, and do all the witnessing, door knocking, and all the tithing
and giving, and all the church attendance, Abstinence from this,
that, and the other, and you're not going to produce a righteousness
with which God will be pleased. You'll produce one that will
win you a lot of acclaim from church members, but it will win
you anathema from Almighty God. You've got to have a perfect
holiness. And if there's one place that's found, that's in
Christ. And if you have Him, you have
Him. And the only way you have Christ is by faith. Our Father, make the Gospel plain. Thou knowest our hearts and ambitions
and motivations and desires. We hide nothing from Thee. Our
hearts are as open to Thee as the back of our hands to ourselves.
You know our thoughts before we think them. You know what
our intentions are. We tremble before such knowledge,
but we do not tremble when we can boldly stand before thee
in the name of Christ and say, O Lord our God, don't let us
miss Christ. We would have Christ above all
things. We would have that righteousness, that perfect holiness, without
which no man will see the Lord. We want to see the Lord. And
we make no profession of having any ability to see the Lord with
our own eyes of sin, nor to hear His voice with these ears of
corruption. or to walk with Thee as we walked
in the cesspools of our own iniquity, but to walk with Thee in Christ.
Accept us in the Beloved. He's our only hope. He's our
foundation. He's our hiding place. He's our
robe of righteousness that covers our nakedness and our shame. Our hope is Christ. Make that
the hope of everybody here tonight. Do that work of grace that no
one can do, O God, but Thee. And may Christ alone be glorified. In His blessed name we pray.
Amen.