RIGHTEOUSNESS LEARNED
[p. 94] RIGHTEOUSNESS LEARNED
Acts 22:14 - 16; Matthew 27:3,4; Matthew 27:19 - 27; Luke 23:39 - 47
I desire to speak about righteousness, particularly to seek to show how it is learned. It is said in the prophets, “When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness”, Isaiah 26:9. That time is coming. They are not learning it now. They are developing in unrighteousness, they are well sophisticated in the ways of unrighteousness, whereas in the coming day when God’s judgments are on the earth the inhabitants will learn righteousness. It will be a time of learning in many ways, but initially they must learn righteousness. They will learn it from Christ — by seeing judgments executed. Now righteousness takes the form of grace. At least it manifests itself thus, and the unregenerate take licence, whereas we believers learn righteousness as it comes to us through the way of grace. It is not the age of the reign of righteousness. Righteousness will reign by and by. It will dwell in the new heavens and new earth. Now it is grace reigning through righteousness, and it is learned by believers only, as I hope to show.
So I select the passage in the Acts to bring forward one who was chosen of God to do His will and to see the Just One and to hear the voice of His mouth. Thus we have one selected specially to do the will of God. That element is implanted in a man’s soul before he conceives the idea of righteousness, and desiring to learn it he perceives it in perfection in the One whom Scripture designates as the Just One. That is, if God takes up a man and makes a model out of him for us He foreknows him. The natural mind never rises to it, but foreknowledge precedes predestination. He foreknows and He predestinates, and those predestinated are to be conformed [p. 95] to the image of His Son. Whom He predestinates He calls and justifies, and whom He justifies He also glorifies. God acted with perfect precision in selecting this person to whom Ananias is speaking. The apostle himself is giving the account of it. He refers to Ananias as a devout man who comes and addresses him as brother Saul, that he should receive his sight — an important thing if we are to approach this great subject of righteousness. Then he says to him, “The God of our fathers has chosen thee beforehand to know his will, and to see the just one, and to hear a voice out of his mouth”. Thus the apostle was set in the position of learning righteousness, and he learned it as no one else learned it. He became the minister of it, the vessel through which the light of righteousness should reach all men. Ere he could become such he had to learn it. No one can preach righteousness until he becomes righteous. Noah was “a preacher of righteousness”, 2 Peter 2:5 but personally he was righteous. That is, you are what you preach, to be effective. So that Saul had to learn righteousness and he learned it as no other.
I want to show from Matthew 27, before I proceed, types of those who do not learn righteousness, who have the opportunity, at the time when it is easiest to receive and learn. I take Judas as a type of those who do not learn it although having every opportunity to do so. This evangelist alone tells us that he had remorse on account of his traitorship. Remorse is not repentance in a spiritual sense. He had remorse because he betrayed the Lord Jesus, and he handed back the money, but he had not learned righteousness; if he had he would have done much more. Man in the flesh is not capable of this, as in the case of Esau — he sought the blessing earnestly with tears, but there was no true repentance, no righteousness, no taking account of things [p. 96] as before God. So Judas throws down the pieces of silver in the temple and says, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed” not righteous, but “the innocent blood”. Innocence is not righteousness. Judas had not learned righteousness. He knew Jesus was innocent, but he never learned that He was the righteous One. If you stop with the idea of mere innocence, unless you acquire a knowledge of Jesus as the righteous One you will fail. Righteousness implies the knowledge of good and evil; it chooses the good and judges the evil and refuses it.
Pilate did not learn righteousness, though he had an immense opportunity. “Jesus stood before the governor”. Matthew 27:11 The Judge of all, the One before whom every knee shall bow, stands before the governor! In full view of heaven, in all the majesty of His Person, He stands there. Pilate had every opportunity of looking at Him, and he did look at Him and adjudged Him not guilty. He called Him a righteous man, but where did he get the word? Evidently from his wife, and she got it from God. What thoughts are filling Pilate’s mind as he sat there on the judgment-seat! He was representative of God, for the Lord recognised the power he had from God. As one thinks of the judges of this land and other lands, sitting in their robes of office to judge, how the need of judgment should arise in them! The Judge of all mankind was before Pilate. At that moment a message comes from his wife: “Have thou nothing to do with that just man”. Where did she learn it? She had suffered many things that day in a dream on account of Him. It was God intervening that that man should learn righteousness; but he failed. He took up the word ‘just’, but only in his lips. He takes water and washes his hands, as if that were righteousness.
What are you going to do, Pilate? He evaded his responsibility, notwithstanding the message from [p. 97] God through his wife. He failed and brings in a wretched substitute for justice — takes water and washes his hands before the multitude. He hands that righteous Person over to His enemies to put Him to death. By and by he will stand before the Governor (the Man then standing before him) to be judged at the great white throne. Pilate will have to give account of that message from his wife. He gave way. He had no need to scourge Jesus, but he did. And the soldiers of the governor put on Him a crown of thorns and mocked Him. What value was there in the water and the hand-washing? It is true he had no animosity to the Lord, but he took sides against Him when he should have stood up for Him. What an opportunity for Pilate! People are not unfriendly, not antagonistic, and yet do not learn righteousness — they give way when tested. With Judas it was a question of avarice; with Pilate of power. You may not be antagonistic, but yet not be in the school of righteousness. You may be washing your hands with mere water, but it is the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from sin; the blood of Jesus Christ the righteous. Pilate never used that.
We may now see how Paul learned righteousness. Ananias said to him, “The God of our fathers has chosen thee beforehand to know his will, and to see the just one, and to hear a voice out of his mouth; for thou shalt be a witness for him to all men”. These were stirring things, but Saul was not moving. I want you to see how righteousness is learned. Saul was not doing anything, although listening to wonderful things about himself. The gospel is about Christ, but it also tells us great and blessed things about ourselves — what God does for us. Listening is one thing, moving is another. Listening is not enough. To learn righteousness you have to move. Jesus said to John, “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”. Matthew 3:15. Thus He went down into the waters of baptism. So Ananias says, “Why lingerest thou?”. In the movements of faith righteousness appears. You become comely in your going when you begin to move thus (Proverbs 30:29). “Arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord”. How was he to preach unless he moves in this connection; how could he baptise unless baptised himself? But he acted on the word (Acts 9:18) and was baptised, and receiving meat was strengthened. In chapter 9 we learn of his movements when he was among the brethren. He had to go into the city to learn what he was. If you are to be effective in the Lord’s service you must learn to respect the brethren. You cannot be greater than those through whom the light has come. The light is by the Spirit in the assembly. The Lord could have told him all, but he must be led into the city to be told there what he is to do. Although wonderful things were said about his future he is humbly one of the brethren, moving in and out among them. However learned or distinguished, it is right that you should take your place among those that have been in the truth before you. Paul says elsewhere, “Who were also in Christ before me”. Romans 16:7 Certain ones had that advantage over him and he owns it. The light has to come to us through them, and it is a matter of righteousness to take our place humbly in the midst of our brethren.
I might add that Paul experienced what it was to move among them, sometimes to receive the cold shoulder, to find his level at Antioch — he is mentioned last; certain prophets and teachers were there and he was the last named. The Holy Spirit waits His own time to distinguish him. Later he says he was “less than the least of all saints”. Ephesians 3:8 That was righteousness. What a learner he was! So the Spirit says, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them”. Acts 13:2 What a [p. 99] work was before them! They had learned righteousness. Hence in Romans righteousness is taught as in no other book by this great vessel. He has seen the Just One and so the great truth dependent on this is worked out. He said to Timothy, “There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness”, 2 Timothy 4:8 one of the greatest things, but it is given to all who love the appearing of Christ (2 Timothy 4:8). Righteousness in the believer longs for that. We long for His appearing; it is not the rapture here, but His appearing.
“We look for Thine appearing,
Thy presence here to bless;
We greet the day that’s nearing,
When all this woe shall cease”. (200:4)
Daniel, we may say, longed for it, and so a date was given him for the bringing in of everlasting righteousness. All that love His appearing get the crown of righteousness, not only Paul. It is like a college degree. There is only one degree as Bachelor of Arts and so on, but many may attain to it. Those who love Christ’s appearing will stand out in that day as possessing the crown of righteousness.
Luke 23 shows further how righteousness is learned. The thieves were suffering the extreme penalty. Capital punishment was committed to Noah a preacher of righteousness. His life is demanded of the man who sheds man’s blood (Genesis 9:6). But one thief was not learning righteousness — he spoke insultingly to Christ. He was suffering for his guilt, but made no acknowledgment of it. His attitude shows how impossible it is for man in the flesh to learn righteousness. But the other one, although in accord with him a little before, has changed his mind. We learn elsewhere (Matthew 27:44) that both reviled the Lord; but the light of righteousness streamed into the other thief’s soul. Jesus had just said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”.
[p. 100] The repentant thief no doubt heard it and was affected; at any rate, the light of righteousness reached his soul. He rebukes his fellow thief; he was learning righteousness. He says, “We indeed justly ... but this man has done nothing amiss”. He learned righteousness in Christ; he saw it there. He has learned righteousness as to himself — that he is suffering righteously; also as to Christ, for He had done nothing amiss. Luke does not give us the forsaking of God, but that was happening. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Saul saw the Just One, so did the thief; he says, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” — he was learning righteousness as he hung there in excruciating agony, and he learned something of the kingdom in those few moments. He says, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom”. The righteous One has a kingdom. The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The centurion also learned righteousness. It was there in the righteous One who was bearing for us the righteous ire of God. He cried with a loud voice. The centurion witnessing said, “Certainly this was a righteous man”. He evidently learned it in that moment. The centurion learned it in His voice — that one dying in such a manner should have such a loud voice. He is righteous in the midst of judgment. It was not the death of an ordinary man; Christ did not die of weakness. He died in power — laid down His life. That loud voice spoke volumes. The One who there was in the midst of judgment has come out in triumph, in power — the voice of the King was heard. In keeping with Luke, the centurion said He was a righteous Man. Matthew and Mark quote him as saying the Lord was Son of God. Pilate had not said it, the other thief had not said it, Judas [p. 101] had not said it, but the centurion said, “Certainly this was a righteous man”. Are we learning righteousness? The Lord says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me”. Matthew 11:29. “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him”, 1 John 2:29. Having learned righteousness we are to follow it. In 2 Timothy 2:22 righteousness is the first thing we are enjoined to follow. The family of God are marked off as righteous. They have, as it were, seen the Just One and have heard the voice of His mouth.
Pages 102 to 324 — “Spiritual Features seen in Samson” and Other Ministry. 1929 - 1932 (Volume 204).