RIGHTEOUSNESS RECKONED AND FULFILLED
[p. 334] RIGHTEOUSNESS RECKONED AND FULFILLED
2 Corinthians 13:7; Matthew 3:15; Psalm 85:10,11
I wish to speak about righteousness, which is one of the widest and most important of all subjects, having in mind especially the working out of righteousness in the believer in relation to the assembly. As regards its imputation, it is said to look down from heaven. That is, it is not a righteousness which is worked up on earth, but which looks down from heaven; having clear scope to come upon all needy, convicted sinners, such as Abraham was, who became the great father of all believers. His faith, we are told, was reckoned to him as righteousness. In Genesis 15 he is directed to look up into the heavens. They display perfect regularity of movement and entire freedom from rivalry. Those heavenly bodies, ponderous, great, and glorious, typically afford light and guidance to all believers. Thus righteousness, as it were, looks down from heaven. And so to Abraham it was said that his faith was reckoned as righteousness. It looked down from heaven, and came down, as it were, so that he was accounted righteous.
If there is one here who has been convicted of sin at any time, this truth should encourage you to be in a position for righteousness to come upon you. It is as if it had looked upon need here, ready to come down to meet it. It suggests the most wonderful freedom and latitude that it has through redemption, to pick out the needy ones on earth and cover them. It is “unto all and upon all them that believe” (Romans 3:22). It is a wonderful presentation of this great theme. So that no one should continue to be suffering from conviction of sins. The guilty conscience may be set at perfect ease, for righteousness has such wonderful scope that it looks down and [p. 335] comes down. It is through no merit of our own that God’s wonderful act of forgiveness is offered: it is all of grace, for we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in his blood”, (Romans 3:24,25). How wonderful the scope of this is! Righteousness can look down, come down, and be effective to myriads.
I would now speak about the working out of righteousness relative to assembly matters. I may say here, that nothing can be greater, in the way of privilege, than that one should have part in the assembly. The Lord Jesus speaks of it as “my assembly”, and then we have the expression, “assembly of the living God” (1 Timothy 3:15) — a striking designation! Think of God being pleased to take us up and bring us into that! And the first great feature in relation to it is righteousness; hence Matthew’s gospel, being the assembly gospel, presents a righteous man, Joseph. He is called here “the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matthew 1:16). That is, the identification is complete. Not only had Christ come into the world as a Babe, but He is known to be that Person. And Joseph was the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born. He is called a righteous man. Now, we should bear that in mind, because it is a voice to us in the introduction of this assembly gospel — that it is men of that kind who are needed in order to work out the truth of the assembly that it might be here in testimony. The assembly is “the pillar and base of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).
Joseph was confronted with a most delicate position at that time. The enemy knew the preciousness of the Babe, but is Joseph to stand in this position where he may be misunderstood, or will he give way to the enemy? Will he allow his feelings to dominate him? Joseph’s circumstances prompted such feelings. Circumstances such as his, in measure, arise constantly. The enemy uses them to promote personal ill-feeling. Will [p. 336] Joseph give his ear to a whisperer who points to possible wrong? The circumstances lent themselves to the enemy in that way. Were there whisperers at that time? Doubtless there were. The Spirit of God is not pleased to record all the details, but just what is enough; He tells us that in this apparently vulnerable position the one most responsible in it was a just man. Now, that is what I have in view. The first man that we get in the New Testament, active in spiritual responsibility, is Joseph. It was, as I stated, a most difficult position. Not that heaven was not perfectly cognisant of it. It was. God had foreseen that a man such as Joseph was needed, and had prepared him for the great situation and the service attaching to it.
Matthew tells us much more about Joseph than about Mary, and the divine communications are all to him; whereas Luke tells us much more about Mary than about Joseph, and the angel Gabriel appears to her. Both were select vessels in relation to the birth of Christ, and as such each fulfilled its function perfectly under God. Joseph was a righteous man, and he stands, as it were, a pillar, in the very forefront of the assembly’s history. In order to maintain the assembly in its service and testimony, there must be righteous men. When things become cloudy, as they do, particularly in remnant times, it is necessary that we be able to distinguish between right and wrong. Difficult cases come up constantly.
In the beginning of Matthew there was to the natural eye this cloudy position. Not that the position was cloudy on God’s part. Far from it! God would display His perfect wisdom in it, and His strength, too, for “the weakness of God is stronger than men”, (1 Corinthians 1:25). The Spirit of God takes the greatest pains to trace the genealogy of Joseph, the reputed father of Him “who is called Christ”; of course, to establish the legality of our Lord’s being thus designated. But Joseph was morally worthy of the place he obtains in [p. 337] the royal line, because he was righteous. He was a fit link in the genealogical line from Abraham through David to Christ. We may establish our title by tracing our genealogy, but we may not be worthy of the title, Joseph was worthy; not only was he the son of David by a careful analysis of the registers, but he was a righteous man. And a righteous man is morally of the genealogy of Abraham and of David!
Well, now, I wish to connect Matthew 3 with verse 7 of 2 Corinthians 13. This verse is near the end of the second of these two epistles, which were written because of unrighteousness amongst the saints in the absence of the apostle, who for eighteen months had laboured so untiringly amongst them, and with two other servants had preached that Jesus was the Son of God. You may be sure that in all his gospel addresses Paul had stressed the idea of righteousness. In his absence unrighteousness lifted up its head. The first thing he noticed was the allowance of partisanship. There were party leaders and their followers — he particularly refers to their followers. I cannot go into all the things he mentioned, but partisanship is the first thing, and he dealt with that. Also he dealt with gross evil, such “as is not even among the nations” (1 Corinthians 5:1). How solemn to think that that should find a place in the assembly of God! What a sorrowful thing! But he does not mention it first; whereas we would probably have mentioned the gross evil of incest first, Paul did not. He had learned, evidently from a devoted person, that there were strifes among the Corinthians. That was an unrighteous state. It worked out in displacement of the great servant through whom they had been converted. So much did it affect the saints in this respect that the apostle himself had to say to the Corinthians, “Receive us: we have injured no one” (2 Corinthians 7:2). Why should he have to say that? Because of an unrighteous spirit that had arisen in Corinth, and had become enlarged in the minds of the saints there, during his absence.
[p. 338] So he writes on in the letter, which God used; but in the second epistle, chapter 1, he refers to the effect of the testimony upon him in suffering, for he endured great persecution in Asia. It was a terrible attack of the devil. He says: he despaired even of living, but God delivered him. And now, hearing of the return of Titus (2 Corinthians 7), and of the effect of his first letter, he says in effect, I overabound with joy because of what I heard. Earlier he had said in effect, Let others in Corinth say what they will about me; wherever I go I speak well of you. You are my letter, known and read of all men. And later in this epistle he says, I am living for you, and am ready to die for you: “if even in abundantly loving you I should be less loved” (2 Corinthians 12:15). But, as I said, such was the effect of the introduction of unrighteousness in the absence of Paul that he has to say to them, “Receive us”. They were not sure that they were ready to receive him. I have not a doubt but that some of them would say. We doubt very much whether Paul should be received back. Such, he says, are false apostles. And why should they not limit him if they could, since he was in their way? You see, dear brethren, that is how unrighteousness works amongst us. “Do we need ... commendatory letters ... from you?” (2 Corinthians 3:1) he says. Why, “Ye are our letter”;(2 Corinthians 3:2) I speak of you everywhere I go. I am not talking evil of you, but well of you. I am telling everybody about the work of God in Corinth.
In this second epistle he is greatly encouraged respecting the Corinthians. He abounds in joy on account of their repentance. And he proceeds to establish them, by bringing in one great truth after another — such as the ministry of the new covenant, of reconciliation, and of new creation, as well as other features of the truth, including “the love of the Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:14). And he says, “In every way ye have proved yourselves to be pure in the matter” (2 Corinthians 7:11). That is, the mass of the saints had cleared themselves. They had not all done so, and the remainder of the [p. 339] letter, from chapter 10 onward, is to deal with those who had not cleared themselves. He now confines his attention, in these latter chapters, to specific cases; and God works and brings about further recovery. With this in mind, he says, “Having in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience shall have been fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10:6).
It is a remarkable thing, that he uses the word “avenge”. But he uses it, and credits the Corinthians with vengeance also. “But”, he says, “what vengeance” (chapter 7:11). They had put away the wicked person. They were told to do it, you may say — but they did it, and were credited with having done it. So, he says, you have cleared yourselves, and with “what vengeance”. How unsparing they were regarding this evil! It called forth holy indignation in the Corinthians as stirred up by Paul’s letter, and they judged it according to God. God poured out His wrath on His beloved Son as He bore our sins. Is it at all likely that He will condone sin in His people? Hence the apostle says, “having in readiness to avenge all disobedience” (2 Corinthians 10:6). And why not avenge disobedience? It is to be nailed to the cross. No person is to be excused if disobedient. Think of what disobedience has brought upon this world! Think of the terrible state of things here, all due to disobedience! Hence the evil of it, and it should not be palliated; “having in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience shall have been fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10:6), the apostle says. Not only on one who disobeyed, but all disobedience. Whether open or covered, God sees it, and it will come under His judgment.
Now, that leads me to the verse in 2 Corinthians 13. The apostle is gradually coming down to specific cases at Corinth. The end of chapter 12 shows that there were some who were guilty of these sins, but then there were others who were direct rivals of the apostle himself. It is a very remarkable thing that he quotes [p. 340] a remark of one of these wretched men: “His letters ... are weighty and strong, but his presence in the body weak, and his speech naught” (2 Corinthians 10:10). This rival of the great apostle would probably whisper disparaging things about him to the saints; he might bring Peter forward, as being more experienced. That is the kind of thing that often appears — this whispering of evil against the saints. Fancy one discrediting a great servant because of his bodily presence! What about the spiritual power of the apostle? What about the truth he ministered, even if physical infirmity existed? How much I would like to see Paul! It will be part of one’s joy above to meet and know him. And this rival of Paul says of him, “his speech naught”. The apostle himself, as I said, quotes the remarks of this man at Corinth, and goes on to speak of him and others there as false apostles. There is no one in Scripture who speaks so much about himself as the apostle Paul does; I think that every time he spoke about himself it caused him suffering. He did not wish to bring himself forward, but was obliged to do it. And so the Spirit of God would say to Paul, ‘I know it is hard for you to talk about yourself, but the truth requires that you do it. These Corinthians must understand what a true Christian is’. Paul was God’s man, he was the best available example, I might say, both as a Christian and a minister. He was therefore compelled to speak of himself.
In chapter 13 he says, “I say ... to those that have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare” (2 Corinthians 13:2). He did not wish to come with a rod, and indeed had remained away to spare them, but now if he came and found some unrepentant he would not spare. This was to warn them. You can understand that these men would have in Paul one stronger than they to contend with. He was an apostle of Jesus Christ, and above all others, he was an apostle to them, and he now warns them that he would live with Christ in God’s power towards them. But he says, “We pray [p. 341] to God that ye may do nothing evil; not that we may appear approved, but that ye may do what is right, and we be as reprobates”, 2 Corinthians 13:7.
You can understand how these evil men would talk of Paul, and some might go so far as to say that he was a reprobate. Suppose I am a reprobate, Paul would say, even though it be so; whatever others say or think about me, you do what is right; whatever you may think about me, you do what is right. Our minds may become darkened so that we begin to excuse ourselves and say, Look at what is reported of Paul; why should not I be excused if I do the same things? The apostle would say. Whatever others do, you do what is right. This is obvious, and yet our weak hearts are often ready to hide behind a false report, also to imply that two wrongs make one right.
I proceed now to Matthew. It is simply a matter o “all righteousness”: the Lord Jesus is the great standard. He said at the outset of His ministry in Matthew, “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”. That word stands out as a voice to us in this assembly gospel. Not that I do a little in my way, in doing what I do, but that fulfilling “all righteousness” is the divine standard. If I am to be an assembly man, I must grasp that thought. If I think a thing is righteous and find out it is unrighteous, I must so regard it and abandon it. The Lord would have us fulfil “all righteousness”, nothing less than that. What a great thought it is as expressed in one Man in this world! Heaven never needed to confer righteousness on Him. It was not a question of righteousness looking down from heaven on Jesus, but of the Father’s eye looking down on an infinitely righteous Man; how delightful it was to God as Jesus said, “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”. May the thought be enlarged and deepened in our view!
I pass on to the psalm. It is experimental; called a psalm. I want to show how that in a crisis, after we [p. 342] have been adjusted, there follows a fixed order of things. We are not to be in fear and suspicion of one another; like birds, when they are feeding, looking round to see if there is an enemy near. We are to be restful in the knowledge of a fixed order of things in Christ. Not that we should be anything but vigilant. The Lord says, “Watch”, but then there is the idea of being restful in an immutable order of things, established on the firm foundation of Christ Himself, as being linked up with Him in heaven.
The first thing I call attention to in Psalm 85 is that the psalmist in verse 8 says, “I will hear what God, Jehovah, will speak; for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his godly ones: but let them not turn again to folly” Psalm 85:8. Now that is a word that fits many of us at this moment, in regard to various circumstances; let us say, “I will hear what God, Jehovah, will speak” (Psalm 85:8). What a fitting resolve! When faced with a problem, we may say, I will see what so-and-so has to say; he is a good brother. In a way it is quite right, but be sure of the person from whom you seek help. Can he give it to you? The point here is, “I will hear what God, Jehovah, will speak” (Psalm 85:8). He is ready to speak. Am I ready to hear? What does He say to me about all these happenings? There is something for everyone in them. It is an educational time for us; am I going to miss my part? If I am not, I must revert to the motive that led me into these things, and turn to God as to it. “I will hear what God, Jehovah, will speak” (Psalm 85:8). He will not spare me, but will let me hear what He has in His mind for me. It goes on to say, “He will speak peace unto his people, and to his godly ones” (Psalm 85:8). That is, God would say, I recognise these. Thank God for any little way in which God recognises us as His people — that He has something here below — a peculiar people, a people for a possession. He visited to take out of the nations a people for His Name, but then the godly ones — that is another matter. We cannot be His [p. 343] people characteristically save as we are saints. That means pious people, those set apart — maintaining separateness.
Then it says, “Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land” (Psalm 85:9). Let us take hold of that beautiful word — “our land”. Do not turn again to folly. We have seen the result of folly: partisanship, backbitings, and all that sort of thing; will the same thing happen amongst us that has happened before? Let it be a question of the fear of God. We may be baffled and hemmed in on every side, but the fear of God will bring in His salvation (verse 9). Those that fear Him, and thus come into His salvation can say that glory dwells in our land. We want to be occupied with glory dwelling in this fixed order of things, which we may call our own.
Next it says, “Loving-kindness and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other”. That is, there is a complete harmonious state of things — a meeting together and a kissing of each other by these great qualities. It is a perfect state of things. Love enters into it. Mercy and truth are in a perfect blend, they have met together. They are not in each other’s way. They are not sundered by man’s will, which may make too much of mercy and not enough of truth, and so be out of balance. They represent a fixed order of things in which God is glorified and men’s needs are met. Happy it is where these great qualities are thus met together, man’s will having ceased to act. Obedience has taken the place of disobedience, and righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Thus you can see that a fixed order of things requires the insistence of righteousness.
Then, truth is to “spring out of the earth”; it is a subjective thought, suggesting effulgence — the earth and the fulness thereof. Then we are told that righteousness is looking down from heaven; it is dominating. We may look for all this: the combination of mercy and [p. 344] truth, righteousness and peace; then the subjective state of things in us, truth springing up, and righteousness free and dominant as looking down from heaven.
May God help us, and bless these thoughts to us!