And the Apostle Paul said, where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. If you will, let's
open our Bibles this evening to Isaiah chapter 57. Isaiah
chapter 57 and verse 1. The righteous perisheth, and
no man layeth it to heart. Merciful men are taken away,
none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil. When I was in Bible College,
we had a course called homiletics. Homiletics. And in this course,
we were taught to prepare and deliver homilets. You say, what
is a homily? A homily is an old word that's
not used anymore that means sermon. And over 50 years of preaching,
I believe I've only been told one time, a man told me that
was a good homily. but it simply means sermon. I
think the Roman Catholic Church still uses it, maybe. I've seen
some programs of their services, and they talk about the scripture,
the Old Testament, the New Testament, and then the priest reads, the
people read, and then there's the homily. The priest delivers
his homily. So the preparation and delivery
of a sermon. If I remember right, we were
taught that there are three types of sermons. There is the expository
sermon. There is the subject sermon. That's when the preacher takes
a subject like justification, or glorification, or calling,
or election, subject and preaches on that. And then there is a
textual sermon, and that's what I want to bring to us tonight,
a textual sermon. We're looking at one text, and
actually we're only looking at part of this text. The last part
of this scripture says the righteous is taken away from the evil. The righteous is taken away.
We see evil to come, the words to come have been added. And
so it actually is the righteous is taken away from the evil. And I have a very simple outline. First of all, who is the righteous? And secondly, who takes the righteous
away? And third, from what evil is
the righteous taken? First of all, who is the righteous? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's dear Son, God manifest in the flesh, He is the righteous. The law of God declared that
a matter would be established in the mouth of two or three
witnesses, and this matter of Jesus Christ being the righteous
Let me establish tonight, not in the mouth of two or three,
but in the mouth of four witnesses, who is the righteous, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the righteous. The first
witness is God the Father. God the Father testified at His
baptism, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Now God could not say that, God
would not say Lord Jesus Christ was not righteous if he was not
holy. The righteous, God would never
say that he was well pleased in anyone and he will never be
well pleased in you apart from righteousness, apart from being
righteous. So this matter is established
first in the mouth of God. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. Second, this matter is established
in the mouth of God the Holy Spirit, for he too testified
of him being righteous in this word which he inspired in the
letter of Hebrews. He tells us that such a high
priest became us who is holy. First thing that is mentioned
about him. who is holy, that is, righteous,
undefiled, separate from sinners. Third, this matter is established
in the mouth of a holy angel, Gabriel. When Gabriel came to
announce to Mary that she should have a child, he testified to
him as being the righteous, that is, even before his conception.
Because we read in Luke, And the angel answered and said unto
her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the
hash shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing,
or that holy one which shall be born of thee, shall be called
the Son of God. That holy one, that righteous
one that was born of the Virgin Mary. And then, fourthly, we
have this matter established in the mouth of a demon spirit. A demon spirit. Look at this
passage, if you will, in Mark's Gospel, chapter 1. In Mark chapter 1, in verse 24. Let's begin reading in verse
23. And there was in their synagogue
a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, Let
us along. What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. So this matter
who is the righteous, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the righteous,
and it is established in the mouth of many witnesses. Now, clearly this evening, the
verse that we are looking at, the text that we are looking
at tonight, is not speaking of Jesus Christ, the righteous. Who then are the righteous of
which this text speaks? The righteous are all who have
Christ as their righteousness. And this is so important that
we understand this. This is when a person truly understands
the gospel, when he understands how it is that God may be both
just and the justifier. Who are the righteous? The only
righteous people on the face of God's earth, the only righteous
people who have ever been on the face of God's earth, are
those who are made righteous by having the righteousness of
Christ imputed unto them, charged unto their account. Look with
me, if you still have your Bibles open here in Isaiah, back to
chapter 45. Now, Isaiah chapter 45 and verse
24. We read, Surely, surely shall
one say, and I'm one of these, my friends, and you too, if you
know Christ tonight as your Lord and Savior, you are one who will
say this very same thing. Surely shall one say, and the
Lord have our righteousness and strength. He is our righteousness. In Jeremiah chapter 23, you know
he is called the Lord, our righteousness. And look, if you will, in Jeremiah
23 at this verse, and then Jeremiah 33. Who is the righteous? Well, Christ is the righteous.
We know that. But this text is speaking of
others who are called the righteous, and they are the righteous because
The righteousness of Christ is theirs. He is their righteousness. He is our righteousness. I have no righteousness of my
own. I want no righteousness of my
own. You know, the righteousness which
we have is greater and better than the righteousness that even
Adam had before he sinned. Yes, He was righteous, He was
holy, but it was a created righteousness, a created holiness. But our righteousness
is the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God. That is the righteousness of
Christ. He is God. And the righteousness
is His obedience. His perfect obedience as the
surety of God's covenant people. He obeyed perfectly, absolutely,
every jot and every tittle of the law of God, He fulfilled. He, that's His name, Jehovah
Peschnu, the Lord, our righteousness. I rejoice in this, don't you?
I rejoice in knowing that I have a righteousness that is accepted
of God, that is the righteousness of God. I mean, you could turn
the greatest spotlight that's ever been on this righteousness
and you will not find a speck. You will not find any flaw. in this righteousness. It's perfect. Jeremiah 23, and verse 6, the
Scripture says, In his days Judah shall be saved. This is speaking
of God's people. Judah shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell safely. And this is his name, whereby
he, notice that, whereby he, singular, whereby he shall be
called. the Lord our righteousness. But now turn over just a few
pages to chapter 33. That's his name. He is called the Lord our righteousness. But in chapter 33 and verse 16,
we read In those days shall Judah be
saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name
wherewith she shall be called." What is the church called? What is the bride of Christ called? The bride takes the name of her
husband, doesn't she? She does. And the name of our
husband is the Lord our righteousness. And we take his name. This is
the name whereby she shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Who are the righteous? They are
all who have the righteousness of God, that is Christ's perfect
obedience imputed to them. That word imputed is a word that
is important. It means to have something charged
to them. All who trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ for all the righteousness, we have his righteousness imputed
or charged to our account. Paul in describing in Romans
how a man or woman is justified by faith in Christ. He gives
two examples. And he's showing that it's not
by works, Romans chapter 4. He's showing that it is not by
works. And he first gives Abraham as
an example. Our father Abraham, what did
he find? Was he justified by works? Of
course not. He was justified by faith. And
then he quotes David from the psalm. even as David also described
it, the blessedness of the man. Who's the happy man? Who's the
blessed man? You read those Beatitudes, the
happy man, the blessed man, and you will find that they are contrary
to what the world thought of the happy man, the happy person
is. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Have you ever been poor in spirit,
recognizing Your sin? Blessed are they that mourn.
Have you ever mourned? Have you ever been convicted
of sin? Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Have you ever hungered and thirsted
after righteousness? A righteousness that will allow
you to stand one day in the presence of God and be accepted. Blessed, happy, happy is the
man unto whom God, this is something God does. Salvation is not of
works lest any man should go. Salvation is of the Lord. Blessed, happy is the man unto
whom God imputed righteousness without works. Every child of
God, by faith in Christ this evening, each one of us here
who know Him, we know that He is our righteousness. Let me
read this verse of Scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. You're familiar with it, I'm
sure, but let's read it again. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Well, I'm going to read more
than just the one scripture. Verse 26 of chapter 1. For you say your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to naught things that are, that in order that no flesh should
glory in his presence. But of him, that is, of God,
are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. Amen. To God be the glory. Great things he hath done. My second point, who takes the
righteous away? So first of all, we've seen who
the righteous are. They are those who are declared
to be righteous, that is, they are justified by the imputed
righteousness of Jesus Christ, credited to their account. And
before God, we are just as if we had never sinned. All right,
second, who takes the righteous away? Our text tells us that
the righteous is taken away from the evil. Who takes the righteous
away? Is it chance? Is it fate? Or is it, as some people say
today, that's just the luck of the draw? Oh, no. No, no. The righteous have nothing to
do with such things as chance and luck and happening stance
and things like that, the luck of the draw. Oh no, no, the righteous
is taken away from the evil. Now listen, by their best friend,
by their very best friend, the righteous is taken away from
the evil. The righteous are taken away
by the one who loved them. and gave himself for them. Now this passage in John chapter
14 is very well known, but it declares this truth. John chapter
14. And you know, it's good to notice
these verse and chapter divisions were made by men. They're not
inspired. The Word of God is inspired.
Now I'm thankful for the verses being divided and the chapters
being divided, but don't miss this. If you look at the last
part of chapter 13 of John, when Peter, and we all are familiar
with Peter's boastful declaration that he was ready to go with
the Lord even unto death, Jesus in verse 38 said, Wilt thou lay
down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
you're going to fail. You are going to miserably fail,
Peter. Your soul full of pride, your
boasting, your self-confidence, your natural ability you think
is going to carry you through, but Satan hath desire to sift Makes all the difference in the
world, doesn't it? Who's praying for us? Who is our intercessor
tonight? Jesus Christ, the righteous,
at the Father's right hand. The cock shall not crow till
thou hast denied me thrice. And continuing on, let not thou
heart be troubled. He just told them one of them
was going to betray him. They were all going to be offended
that night. But let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. Believe me. Believe me. If it were not so, I would not
have told you. He's got many dwelling places.
And every one of those dwelling places is going to be inhabited
by one that he loved and redeemed. In my father's house are many
mansions, many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have
told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And he did. He went
to the cross. He went to the grave. He's gone
to the Father's right hand. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again, and I'll take you away from the evil. And I'll receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. Now we think about his second
coming, the rapture when he comes again, and we thank the Lord
for that. But my friends, every time one
of his children passes away, leaves this world, he's come
for them. He's the one that takes them
away. It doesn't happen by chance.
It's not because the doctors failed. It's not because of this,
that, and the other. No, it was God's appointed time. And He came and took them away. Some glad morning, I'll fly away. You know, people have made fun
of that song for some reason. I don't know why. But I believe
it. Don't you? Some glad morning I'll fly away. Amen. Who takes the righteous
away? The Lord does. He comes. He comes
for us all. And third, from what evil is
the righteous taken? Well, there's many things that
could be mentioned here, but I want to mention four. From
what evil is the righteous taken? The righteous is taken away from
an evil nature, an evil nature. The Lord Jesus Christ, in speaking
to Nicodemus about the new birth, told him, you must be born again
in order to see the kingdom of God. A man who's dead in trespasses
and sins, spiritually dead, he cannot understand the things
of the Spirit of God. You must be born again, and then
our Lord said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
that which is born of the spirit is spirit. And that new man that
is created in righteousness and true holiness is born in us. But that old man, that flesh,
continues with us. And as long as we are in this
world, It is our experience, as the Apostle Paul said, the
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh,
and these are contrary, the one to the other. From the time that
a person is born again, and that new man is created in him, there's
this ongoing battle, this ongoing tension, this ongoing conflict. It's as though there's two armies,
two opposing armies in the believer. One is denominated the flesh,
the other the spirit. And they're contrary one to the
other. But thank God when the righteous is taken away from
the evil, he's taken away from that evil nature, the flesh. That which is trying to drag
him down, pull him down, hold him down, discourage him, do
everything if possibly can, to cause him to sin and bring reproach
upon the name of Christ. He's going to leave that. He's
going to be taken away from the evil nature. Number two, the
righteous are taken away from the evil of sin. What the Lord Jesus said to his
disciples the night before his crucifixion is true of sin. With
the exception of one word, he told his disciples that night,
whither I go, you cannot follow me now. But concerning sin, every believer
at death is able to say, whither I go, you cannot follow me now. You can't do that. Sin can never
come into the place where the Lord Jesus Christ resides. And
that's where the righteous is taken. While in this world the
righteous are not under the dominion of sin, but it is present, it
is always present with them, causing them many times to cry
out, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ. Sin brought death into the world,
and death shall be the grave of sin. And third, the righteous
are taken away from the evil of evil's unbelief. I know that this is included
under sin, but this calls for a special hallelujah. This calls
for a special hallelujah. The righteous is taken away from
the sin the evil of evils, that is, unbelief, taken away from
the awful sin of unbelief. I was reading a sermon by Spurgeon
recently in which he told of being corrected by one of the
men in his congregation. He had made the statement in
his message about being guilty himself of unbelief. his struggle
with unbelief. And every pastor, every believer,
we all know what this is. Even though we serve a God, we
have the word of a God who cannot lie, who cannot change, and yet,
many times we still give you unbelief. And this man in Spurgeon's
congregation told him these words, according to Spurgeon. He said,
Pastor, I do not think that you were right in speaking of your
own transgressions so freely. You encouraged the people, certainly,
by what you said about yourself, but I hardly think they ought
to be encouraged. Now, suppose you were to go into
the pulpit and say, there are some of you who are thieves.
It is very wrong of you, but still do not despair, for I thieve
a little myself. And yet thieving, as Brother
told Spurgeon, yet thieving is not more truly a sin than doubting
God. In fact, there is the utmost
sin in unbelief." And Charles Spurgeon's response was, Thank
you. Thank you, my brother. he has
stood corrected. How sinful it is for us to believe
the word of a frail man, and how many times we do. There's
men in this building tonight, men and women, and if you told
me something, I'd believe you. Why? Because I know you, and
yet I also know this, that you at your very best are just like
me, a frail, changeable person. And many times we give our word
and have every intention of keeping it, but circumstances change
and we're not able to keep our word. None of that, none of that
is true of God. Oh, the awful sin of unbelief,
not just believing God's word. And I like that word when he
said, come unto me, heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That's
the word of God, the God-man. Come unto me. If you're laboring
under a load of sin, a burden of sin, come unto me. Look unto me. I'll give you rest. Amen? Amen. And number four,
the righteous are taken away from all the evils of this present
world. And by that I mean all the pains,
all the trials, all the afflictions. To them all we shall say goodbye. This has been called the negative
blessedness of the righteous, taken away from all of these
evils. And heaven is described, as you
think about it, heaven is described mainly by what is not there. No more tears, no more sorrow,
no more sickness, no more death. Why? Why is it described more
by what is not there than by the positive? I suppose because
we don't have the language, we don't have the vocabulary to
express what God has prepared for those who love Him. This the righteous will not know,
this positive happiness, until we're taken away. God bless the
day when you and I, those of us who know Christ tonight, when
we are taken away from the evil. I pray that the Lord would bless
this word to all of us here tonight.