RIGHTEOUSNESS
[p. 492] RIGHTEOUSNESS
Matthew 1:19-21; Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 10:41
It is in my mind to speak about righteousness, one of the greatest subjects of Scripture. Matthew speaks of it more than all the other evangelists together, fifteen or sixteen times as compared with about twelve in the other three evangelists; obviously it is because he speaks of the assembly. Of course the others do also, but they do not name it formally, as Matthew does. Righteousness has a great place in relation to the assembly; of course it is a basic thought in the gospel and significantly Matthew stresses the sufferings of Christ on the cross by God. He deals with His extreme sufferings and with the sacrificial service of Christ. Matthew quotes the actual words which the Lord used on the cross: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? ... My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”. Matthew indicates the reason. It was a question of sin. It was a question of God dealing with sin in Christ. It was there upon Him vicariously. He is “separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). It is entirely a case of the forsaking. He is said to have cried twice at the cross, expressing the deep feeling of our blessed Saviour, the Son of God, blessed for ever, in that He should cry as forsaken, God dealing in His infinite holiness with sins in Him. That was vicarious, so that the apostle Paul says: He was “made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21), not only to be accounted righteous, but to be made the righteousness of God, made that because He was made sin for us. So that this is fundamental; this proposition of the righteousness of God is all triumphant, it is manifest, not simply that it exists, it is manifested unto all, and upon all those that believe. It was said of Abraham that his faith was reckoned unto him as righteousness; it could only be [p. 493] reckoned unto him as righteousness on the basis of the cross and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ there. So that these who believe are justified “through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in his blood, for the showing forth of his righteousness, in respect of the passing by the sins that had taken place before, through the forbearance of God; for the shewing forth of his righteousness in the present time, so that he should be just, and justify him that is of the faith of Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26). God is leading a great number out who will fit in with His purpose. It is said: “Whom he has predestinated, these also he has called; and whom he has called, these also he has justified; but whom he has justified, these also he has glorified” (Romans 8:30). All this is in accordance with His eternal purpose. He foreknows us and looking down then He predestinated those whom he foreknew, and then He justified them and glorified them. It is in principle the glorification of the saints, for it is divine Persons vindicating us. Righteousness is a great fundamental item as in relation to the assembly, because in saving us He has the assembly in mind. There are those who preach the gospel, but the assembly is the counterpart of the gospel. If I am saved, it is to be a member of the body of Christ, so that what I have to say is in relation to all those who are believers. Believers are better hearers of the gospel than any others, because they hear in relation to the assembly. Matthew speaks of righteousness more than all the other evangelists. We are given such expressions as “Righteous Abel” (chapter 23:35) and “Then will the righteous shine forth” (chapter 13:43). Daniel says that they that turn the many to righteousness shall be as the stars, but Matthew uses expressions such as: “The blood of righteous Abel”, and “These shall go away into eternal punishment, and the righteous into life eternal” (chapter 25:46). That is a fine term. Maybe some of us have no idea of going into eternal life. We have the idea of having it, but going [p. 494] into it is another feature of it. We realise going into it. Hence the greatness of the thought of righteousness. And it is written of Abraham specially that his faith was reckoned unto him as righteousness, and in his conversation about Sodom he speaks about righteous people. They are the determining factor in all towns. They are that now; not one of the righteous is overlooked. If we are not taken out of the world immediately, God will make a way for us in it so as to carry on in His testimony. These are the two alternatives. If the saints are to continue on for a little longer here, God will make a way for us. He can stop the war; that is a simple matter for Him. If we are to be taken away, the war may go on. The righteous will determine the matter, because God says: ‘ If there are only fifty righteous in the city, I will save the city because of them ‘. God did not stop until Abraham stopped. He went down to ten. If God does right, for righteousness is doing right, then you may be sure the righteous will be cared for in every way by God. Joseph is made more of in this chapter than Mary. It says: “Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham”. There are females, such as Rahab and others, named, but the thought is the male side, that is the legal position, and when we come to Mary, Jesus is called Christ, and Joseph is mentioned as the husband of Mary. That is, he is legally the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it says that he was a righteous man. If ever there was a righteous man needed it was in this position. Not that he was spoken of as Mary was; “Blessed art thou”, but it is said that he was righteous, and God could trust him with such a charge, a most delicate situation, a most holy situation, and he meets the position. He was a righteous man. He thought over the facts. He was not rich. I refer to it now because in a relative sense we have such situations arising maybe in this town in the issue of the testimony, that is, delicate matters that must be taken up in a holy way. Only righteous men have to say in such matters,
[p. 495] and Joseph was a righteous man. Respect for Mary his wife was active. Affection was active. In what we call care-meetings the elders should be in a spirit of fatherhood. It is most important in a holy subject, as well as contemplation, meditation, so as to deny all natural feelings. Do not be in a hurry, do not be in restlessness, but be restful and get into the presence of God, as in Psalm 73 which tells us that Asaph was greatly distressed about public matters and wicked men; of course they do distress us, and so does their literature, never perhaps more so than at the present time. They that follow the national course have much to say, but God says: ‘ It is only a little while till the matter is solved. ‘ Asaph went into the sanctuaries of God, and the matter was settled. Then he could sleep peacefully. Who is there here that has not been distressed at the possibility of what is going on? Asaph went into the sanctuary of God and we may enter in. The holiest is open to us. We have “boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way, which he has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and having a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, sprinkled as to our hearts from a wicked conscience, and washed as to our body with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22). Let us draw near to God! It may not be altered outside, but it is in my heart. What is important is that God is not obliged to tell us all His secrets, but if we get into His presence we are restful there, so Asaph says: “Until I went into the sanctuaries of God; then understood I their end” (Psalm 73:17). Of course our feelings remain, but God will have us maintain those balanced feelings in the current matter. So that Joseph here, we are told, thought over these things. The angel of God appeared to him. That is equivalent to his entering the holiest. God brought it to him to settle his mind, to make him restful, that God was doing this. Think of the magnitude of the matter!
[p. 496] and so the angel appears to him in a dream saying: “Joseph, son of David”, that is the dignity, the royal line. The angel says: “Fear not to take to thee Mary, thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus”. The angel had told Joseph to do this. The point is that it is a message. “Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” That means that the Babe in Himself is God, and He is going to save His people. It is His people. Jesus means: ‘ Jehovah the Saviour ‘. What a wonderful thing to be said to a man like Joseph, who was a carpenter! But he was a righteous man. He was a greater man than Herod, or Pilate, or Caesar. Morally a righteous man is outstanding. The next chapter shows us how he was trusted with the Child and His mother to take them and go into the land of Egypt. God could have killed Herod, but certain things had to be worked out, and this man is trusted with the Lord Jesus, the little Child. And now, while extending this thought to our own times we can see that what is needed is righteousness. How can we face these days without righteousness? Righteousness will win the day and God will use and honour the righteous man. God will surely make the matter clear to us. There can be no solution of severe difficulties save on this line. God is looking for righteousness.
In the next passage we have the Lord Jesus Himself. He came from Galilee to be baptised of John. How He came from Galilee we do not know, but He came to be baptised by John. All the way from Galilee the Lord Jesus had in mind to be baptised of John, and when He came to John, John said: ‘ Oh no, that cannot be ‘. You can never be right in forbidding Christ, however honourable it may be. So the Lord says to him: “Suffer it now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”. “It becometh us”, the Lord and John the baptist, the two of them. Jesus said: “It becometh us”, not only Me. There could be nothing but righteousness in Jesus, but [p. 497] the Lord brings in John the baptist to join Him in righteousness. “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I” (Matthew 18:20); we would recognise one another — unto His name. He would say: “It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”. What an undertaking was that to the Lord Jesus, and He would say it to us, and think of “All righteousness”! He was dealing with all sin, not a feature of it from Adam down was omitted in His holy mind. He was dealing with the whole matter, and He has dealt with it, and it never needs to be dealt with again, it is finished. Whatever the matter is, let us get around and see that everything is weighed. It is a question of all righteousness. One thing after another must be weighed before God and settled, if confession has to be made, for there is no forgiveness without confessing. If we confess our sins, He is just and forgives us. He has established a wonderful system in Christ above and the Holy Spirit here. Advocate is the same word as Comforter. The Advocate above will omit no items in any extreme difficulty. He will work with us until the work is accomplished, and the Holy Spirit operates to bring about a state of self-judgment. If any man sins, we have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. There is no passing over. We might as well face it. Every item has to be dealt with in the new system, so there is joy in the presence of the angels of God for every sinner that repenteth. No matters are left half finished. We must enter into the details, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. This of course extends to all difficulties, extending back however far, even from the blood of righteous Abel.
If things have not been dealt with before God in regard of matters in the past, the sin is there. God will never forgive it unless it is dealt with, nor will there be any deliverance before there is self-judgment. Time will never wipe it out.
[p. 498] We have this word in chapter 10: “He that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man’s reward”. A righteous man will be received by a righteous man. A righteous man is mentioned three times in this matter. I think God keeps a special eye on the righteous men, and we must be amongst them. We have no part and right in the thing save as we are righteous, not only as being made righteous by God through faith, but righteous practically.
“There is then now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, having sent his own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4). That is a most wonderful chapter, and it begins just as I quoted. Not the legal, but the righteous side of the law shall be fulfilled in us by the Spirit, who walk not according to flesh but according to Spirit.
Abraham began with fifty. Exaggeration is a subtle thing which crops up in the best of us, but it has to be judged. Why did he not start at ten? If he knew there were fifty why did he not stick to it? He was concerned that Sodom should be saved, and that Lot should be saved. Was Lot a righteous man? That brings up another matter. If he is confessedly a man in the world, he is upright. Lot was called a righteous soul, because his soul was vexed every day by the unlawful conversation of Sodom, and there is not a man that has a soul like that who does not come under the notice of God. There are Lots, and men like Lot, in christendom. They do not join in with the corruption that they know of. They have a judgment of it. It was the most difficult matter to get Lot to leave Sodom. The angel had to take him by [p. 499] the hand and lead him out. Why should you stay here? You are holding up the judgment of God by staying here. If you are judging what is in Sodom in some sense why not go the whole way with God? Abraham pleaded with Jehovah about Sodom. If there are men who are in the world but conscious of the sin, they should see the history of Lot. What a degrading history in his descendants! Lot suffered the consequences in the government of God of his entry into Sodom. He had taken up a political position and been slow to leave it. God says of Abraham: “I know him that he will command his children and his household after him” (Genesis 18:19). The apostle says to the jailor: “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house” (Acts 16:31). The jailor was baptised, he and all his. Twice over it is mentioned: he and his house, he and all his. So God says he knew Abraham. He knew Lot, He knows you. Jehovah said of Abraham: “For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice” (Genesis 18:19). Abraham pleaded for his brother Lot, and God granted his request, although Lot’s house, but not Abraham’s, was disgraceful. He that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. God will reward a righteous man. Abraham has a wonderful place in Scripture. The Lord Jesus gives us a parable and says of a certain man that he died and he was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom. Did Abraham remove Lazarus? What a reception Lazarus had! it was the reception of a righteous man. And the rich man also died and was buried. And lifting up his eyes he sees Abraham afar off. A great gulf is fixed between him and Abraham. It was a matter of righteousness. Abraham said to the rich man: ‘ In your life you have received good things, but now he is comforted ‘. How valued Abraham was in those days! There may be an [p. 500] Abraham here and there may be the Lots needing adjustment.
God says: I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham lives for Him. He is not God of the dead, but of the living. The Lord Jesus could picture Abraham as receiving a poor man as he died, carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom. It is a parable bringing out what God thought about Abraham, that He should give him such distinction in the gospel. Abraham is mentioned constantly in the gospel. It is the honour God has put upon him as a righteous man. There are very few Abrahams. There may be the Lots that are righteous relatively. They are righteous souls, that are vexed every day. God takes notice of that, but He also takes notice of the fact that he was a hard man to save. Peter says: If the righteous are scarcely saved or difficult to save, where shall the impious and the sinner appear? So I am afraid most of us are just like Lot, righteous men in that sense; and God honoured him; but we want to think of Abraham and the blood of righteous Abel, how precious that blood is. It cries from the ground today. And so in this remarkable passage the Lord says: “He that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man’s reward”. Every Abraham here tonight has got something in the way of reward. “He that receives you receives me, and he that receives me receives him that sent me. He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.” And then the Lord Jesus says, “And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42). A righteous man can give a reward. He is a representative of God, and those can give rewards. They have got something. It is a poor thing to be a liability on the world, because christians are supposed to be rich, not [p. 501] financially, but rich spiritually, so that Paul is speaking about giving. It says the Lord Jesus was rich, and for our sakes He became poor, that we by His poverty might be rich or enriched.
Without righteous men we cannot function. Without righteousness we cannot be representatives of God.