First, King of Righteousness, and after That, King of Peace
(No. 1768)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 8, 1884,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"First being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that
also King of Salem, which is, King of peace." Hebrews 7:2.
WE will not enlarge upon the story of Melchisedec, nor discuss the
question as to who he was. It is near enough for us to believe that he
was one who worshipped God after the primitive fashion, a believer in
God such as Job was in the land of Uz, one of the world's gray fathers
who had kept faithful to the Most High God. He combined in his own
person the kingship and the priesthood–a conjunction by no means
unusual in the first ages. Of this man we know very little and it is
partly because we know so little of him that he is all the better type
of our Lord, of whom we may enquire, "Who shall declare His
generation?"
The very mystery which hangs about Melchisedec serves to set forth the
mystery of the Person of our Divine Lord. "Without father, without
mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of
life, but made like unto the Son of God, he abides a priest
continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the
Patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils." Melchisedec seems to
have been, first by name, and then by place of office, doubly
designated a king. First, his name is Melchisedec, which signifies by
interpretation, "King of righteousness." His personal name is "King of
righteousness." As a matter of fact, he was also the monarch of some
town called Salem. It is not at all likely to have been Jerusalem,
although that may have been the case. The interpretation of his
official name is "King of peace."
A teaching was intended by the Holy Spirit in the names–so the Apostle
instructs us in the passage before us. I believe in the verbal
Inspiration of Scripture and, therefore, I can see how there can be
instruction for us even in the proper names of persons and of places.
Those who reject verbal Inspiration must, in effect, condemn the great
Apostle of the Gentiles, whose teaching is so frequently based upon a
Word of God. He makes more of words and names than any of us would have
thought of doing and he was guided therein by the Spirit of the Lord
and, therefore, he was right. For my part, I am far more afraid of
making too little of the Word than of seeing too much in it. This man
is, first, named "Mel-chiz-edek"–"King of righteousness" by
interpretation–and herein he is like our Divine Lord, whose name and
Character can only come to us by interpretation.
What He is and who He is and all His Character, no angel's tongue could
tell. No human language can ever describe to the full what Jesus is. He
is King, but that is a poor word for such royalty as His. He reigns,
but that word, "reigns," is but a slender description of that supreme
empire which He continually exercises. He is said to be King of
Righteousness, but that is, by interpretation–by the toning down of
His Character to our comprehension. Scripture might have called Him
King of Holiness, for He is "glorious in holiness." His Character,
better known to spirits before the Throne of God than to us, is not to
be comprehended in that one word, "righteousness." It is but an
interpretation and most things lose by translation, and so the perfect
Character of the Son of God, as it stands before the Eternal Mind,
cannot be fully expressed in human language.
In fact, when our faculties are enlarged and our spirits raised to the
highest platform, they can never reach the eternity of our Lord's
Sonship and the Glory of His Kingdom–the equity of His Character and
the loveliness of His mind, both as God and Man, must still be far
beyond us! But this much is translated to us into our own tongue–that
He is a King, and that He is a righteous King–yes, the very King of
Righteousness–the Sovereign of the realm of equity, the
Supreme Lord of everything that is good and holy. That, you see, is
wrapped up in His name and Nature. Jesus is Righteousness and every
righteous thing gathers beneath the right scepter of His Kingdom.
But the second word, Salem, which, brought down to our tongues
signifies, "peace," is in reference to a place rather than a person.
You see, our Lord Jesus is essentially Righteousness–that is
interwoven with His name and Person–but He gives, bestows, deposits
and pours forth peace in a place which He has chosen. And upon a people
whom He has ordained and whom He has brought near unto Himself–so that
His Kingdom of peace links Him with His redeemed, to whom He has given
the peace of God.
"First, King of righteousness." How early that "first" was, I cannot
tell you. "In the beginning was the Word," but when that beginning was,
who knows?–for is He not, indeed, without beginning? First and
firstborn, from everlasting You are God, O mighty Son of Jehovah!
First, King of Righteousness, and then afterwards, when men fell, when
rebellion, strife and war had sprung up–then He came to heal the
mischief and become, "King of Peace." He comes Himself as the Divine
Ambassador, our Peacemaker and Peace. He comes here into this place
even into the midst of His Salem, into the midst of His people, and
gives us, now, as He has long given, the vision of peace–opening up
before the eyes of faith the completeness, the sureness and the delight
of perfect peace in Himself.
The one matter which I am going to set forth at this time is just
this–"First King of righteousness, and after that also King of peace."
Note well the order of these two and the dependence of the one upon the
other, for there could be no true peace that was not grounded upon
righteousness. And out of righteousness peace is sure to spring up.
Righteousness is essential to peace. If it were not first, peace could
not be second. If there could be a lying peace apart from
righteousness, it would be dank, dark, deadly–a horrible peace ending
in a worse misery than war, itself, could inflict! It is necessary,
where an unrighteous peace exists, that it should be broken up, that a
better peace should be established upon a true foundation which will
last forever.
I shall ask you–and may the Spirit of God help us to do it–first, to
admire the King, and, secondly, to enjoy Him– to enter with holy
delight into the full meaning of His name and Character as King of
Righteousness and King of Peace.
I. First, I ask you to ADMIRE THIS KING. This Melchisedec, whom we
exhibit as a type, is such a king as God is. He is according to the
Divine model. He is priest of the Most High God and he is like the Most
High God, for the Lord Jehovah, Himself, is, first, King of
Righteousness, and after that also King of Peace. The great Creator
entered the Garden of Eden in that sorrowful hour when our parents had
rebelled and were hiding among the trees to escape His call, and He
bade them answer for their fault. When they stood trembling before Him
in the nakedness of their conscious guilt, they knew Him as their King
and their Judge.
At that moment He was not first, the King of Peace to them, but first
the King of Righteousness! He pronounced sentence upon the serpent,
upon the woman and upon the man, gently making much of the punishment
to fall, also, upon the ground; but yet vindicating justice before He
spoke a word of peace. After that discourse, yes, in the midst of His
sentences, He spoke of peace when He mentioned the woman's Seed that
should bruise the serpent's head. Then, also, there happened the
slaying of a victim, for the Lord God made unto them coats of skins, of
beasts which had, no doubt, been slain in sacrifice–and with these
they were covered.
In beginning to deal with an apostate race, the Lord observed the
fitting order of our text–He began first, righteousness, and
afterwards went on to peace. At the gate of the Garden commenced the
dispensation of mercy and peace, but first of all there was the
pronouncing of the sentence that man should eat bread in the sweat of
his face and that unto dust he should return. Substantial righteousness
was dealt out to the guilty and then peace was provided for the
troubled. At the Fall, God first set up a Judgment Seat and right
speedily a Mercy Seat! Righteousness must always lead the van.
Well, the times went on and men began to sin with a high hand. There
were giants in those days and the people of God were mixed up with the
men of the world. This is the worst sign of the world's depravity–when
there ceases to be a division between the people of God and the sons of
men. There was an unholy alliance between sin and righteousness. And
then the King came forth, again, and displayed His Countenance and
began to judge, correct, and call to repentance. Men perceived that the
Countenance of God towards them was the face of one who is first, King
of Righteousness. Noah's teaching taught men to return unto the Lord,
or He would surely deal with them in righteousness and make a full
end. Space most ample was given for repentance, but men were mad upon
their follies. He is first, King of Righteousness, and afterwards King
of Peace–and so He dealt with that guilty world.
He pulled up the sluices of the great deep which lies under. He let
loose all the cataracts of Heaven from above and He swept men from off
the face of the earth. Then afterwards He hung the rainbow in the sky
and He smelled a sweet savor of rest–and there was peace, once more,
between God and a race that had to begin, again, with father Noah
instead of father Adam. Righteousness ruled first and washed out, with
a flood, the traces of ungodliness. And then Peace set up her gentle
reign upon a new world. All along, in the history of God's dealings
with men, He kept to this unvarying rule. God has never forsaken
righteousness, not even for the sake of love! He selected a people for
Himself. He called His Son out of Egypt. He brought His chosen people
through the Red Sea into the wilderness and there He communed with
them.
But they went astray after graven images. They defiled themselves with
the vices of the surrounding heathen. They became degraded and
polluted. And then He came again among them as the King of
Righteousness, setting Sinai on a blaze, making even Moses to fear and
quake, compelling the earth to open and swallow up rebels, causing the
fire to break out among them, or fiery serpents to inflame their veins
with death! Though to them He was a King of Peace and walked among them
in tenderness, and by the fiery cloudy pillar led their band, and in
the midst of the tabernacle by His Shekinah unveiled His Glory, yet it
was then true, as it is now true–"The Lord your God is a jealous God."
He would not bear iniquity. He could not look upon sin without
indignation. His anger smoked against it, for He is and always must be
"first, King of righteousness, and after that also King of peace." That
wonderful wilderness journey is bright with mercy, but it is equally
dark with justice. Remember the graves of lusting and the burnings.
Israel's God was always sternly righteous though glorious in Grace. It
is a high but terrible privilege to dwell near to God, for His holiness
burns like a consuming fire and will not endure evil! Yes, and when He
had brought His people into the promised land, and had given them their
heritage by lot, we must remember how they sinned against Him–and it
was not long before He brought upon them the Midianites, or the
Philistines, or foes of one race or another, so that they were
grievously oppressed, quieted and brought low.
When they cried to Him, then He delivered them, but He took vengeance
upon their inventions. He would not bear their sin–He took it
exceedingly ill from them that a people so highly favored should so
constantly rebel. He said, "You only have I known of all the families
of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." He
was, to His own elect nation, first, King of Righteousness, and then
King of Peace! And so it went on until, at last, Israel provoked the
Lord beyond measure and the chosen people went astray to their own
confusion. And then, with the besom of destruction, He swept them off
from the face of their land. He scattered them as a man scatters dung
upon the field. Are they not divided to this day among all the people?
Are they not, still, a by-word and a proverb, for men everywhere say,
"These are the people that forgot their God and He banished them from
their land and will keep them in banishment till they return unto their
God in spirit and in truth"?
Every Jew whom we see pacing our streets, far off from the city of his
fathers, is a proof that the Lord of Heaven is, first, King of
Righteousness. All over the world, and everywhere, this is God's way of
dealing with men! Do not imagine that God will ever lay aside His
righteousness for the sake of saving a sinner–that He will ever deal
with men unrighteously in order that they may escape the penalty due to
their transgression. He has never done so and He never will! Glorious
in holiness is He forever and ever. That blazing Throne of God must
consume iniquity! Transgression cannot stand before it! There can be no
exception to this rule. The Judge of all the earth must do right.
Whatever things may change, the Law of God cannot alter and the
Character of God cannot deteriorate. High as the great mountains, deep
as the abyss, eternal as His being is the righteousness of the Most
High.
Peace can never come to men from the Lord God Almighty except by
righteousness. The two can never be separated without the most fearful
consequences. Peace without righteousness is like the smooth surface of
the stream before it takes its awful Niagara plunge. If there is to be
peace between God and man, God must still be a righteous God–and by
some means or other the transgression of man must be justly put away,
for God cannot wink at it, or permit it to go unpunished. Salvation
must first of all provide for righteousness, or peace will never lodge
within its chambers. The Lord of Heaven is first King of Righteousness
and then King of Peace, so that Melchisedec was such a king as God is.
And now, next, the type is especially meant to teach us that He was
such a king as Christ is, for when the Lord Jesus Christ came into the
world, He came with this everlasting and unchangeable rule girt about
Him–that, though He
should be a King, yet He would be first, King of Righteousness and
after that also King of Peace. Why did He not set up a kingdom here
below among the Jews? Many spirits would have welcomed Him. If He had
only set Himself up to be a king, promising them sure conquest and
abundant plunder, the zealots of the Jewish nation would have fought
like tigers at His side. But, no, He came, first, to be a King of
Righteousness, and that was a topic for which they cared nothing. He
went into His own Father's House like a king into his palace, but it
was with a scourge of small cords, crying, "Take these things hence!"
The Temple was no abode for Him while greed, self and mammon defiled
its courts. In that Temple He looked round about Him with indignation,
for He saw no trace of righteousness there, but every indication that
up to the very veil of the Temple all was given over to human
unrighteousness! They wanted an unrighteous kingdom, but He would not
have it. His fan was in His hand and He would thoroughly purge His
floor. His Laws were not to be like those of Caesar! His soldiers were
not to fight with carnal weapons. He came not to set up a kingdom of
power and force, but a kingdom of love and truth and righteousness and,
therefore, His own people knew Him not and rendered Him no homage! His
holiness stood in the way of such a kingdom as the Jews desired and,
therefore, they turned upon Him and cried, "Let Him be crucified."
Though they would not acknowledge His Sovereignty, He was their King!
And at His death He bore above His head the superscription, "This is
Jesus, the King of the Jews." He would not set up a carnal kingdom of
their sort. Church and State, truth and force united in some form or
other, must have been suggested to Him, but no–He must be first, King
of Righteousness, and then King of Peace. He preached no peace apart
from purity. He never made little of vice or error. He was the deadly
foe of all evil. He said, "I came not to bring peace, but a sword."
Until there is righteousness, there must be conflict–and peace can
only enter when righteousness has won the field. Oh, my Brothers and
Sisters, I wish I had power to describe to you how our Divine Master,
in all His lowliness, began to be the King of Righteousness by His
superlative, unrivalled Character!
Here among us there was never such Righteousness as His–such royal
Righteousness throughout all His career in all the details of life. I
see an imperial Righteousness in the Character of my Divine
Lord–Righteousness that is master and superior of all others! Even
those that hate Jesus cannot find fault with Him! Books written to
disprove His Divine mission are, nevertheless, full of almost fulsome
adulation of Him–I call it by no better word because I think that the
praises which Infidels have given to our Lord are no more acceptable to
Him than were the praises of devils when they said, "This is the Son of
God!" Then He bade them hold their peace and I think He has the same
wish at this moment touching His Unitarian and Infidel admirers! All
sorts of men have been compelled to do homage to this kingly One who
has passed across the pages of history, the very Sovereign of all that
is right and good. But ah, I think He was most king of Righteousness
when He said unto Himself, "My Father's Law has been broken: I will
restore its honor. Men have defied it and trampled on it: I will pay to
it the highest homage."
With this strong desire upon Him, He went up to the Cross and gave His
hands and feet to the nails, and His side to the spear! And with a
crown of thorns upon His dying brow, He became, in very deed, the King
of Righteousness! As the Son of God, He rendered unto the Divine
Majesty all the honor due to the Law by reason of the many insults
which sin had heaped thereon. The transgressions of His people were
laid upon their Great Shepherd–they were made to meet upon Him in one
dreadful storm–and that hurricane spent itself upon Him! Our Great
Substitute endured the consequences of human guilt on our behalf and
thus He is able to pacify the troubled conscience. He is, first, King
of Righteousness. He knew that He could not be King of Peace to us
till, first of all, He had woven a perfect Righteousness in the loom of
His life and dyed it in His own heart's blood in His death! But when He
had achieved this, then He became King of Righteousness, demonstrated
to be so before the eyes of all–and then to you and to me He became,
from then on– the King of Peace.
How glorious is His name! Oh, for a voice of thunder with which to
praise Him! Today our Lord and Master has gone His way up to the
eternal hills where He reigns. But His Kingdom, for which we daily
pray, is coming and, mark you, it will come by righteousness! I say no
word against those who endeavor to bring peace to the nations by the
extension of commerce, facilities for travel and so forth. But it is
not thus that the sword of war will be broken! Would God the sword of
the Lord were quiet in its scabbard forever, but I never anticipate the
reign of universal peace on earth till first, the King of Righteousness
is acknowledged in every place. I do not think that we shall ever see
the fruits without
the tree, or the stream without the source, or peace without the
enthronement of the principle of righteousness from which it springs.
There shall come a day when the lion shall eat straw like the ox and
the wolf shall lie down with the lamb–when they shall hang the useless
helmet in the hall and study war no more! But that reign of the joyous
King–that era of plenty, love, and joy–can only commence as a reign
of righteousness! It cannot be anything else! And until sin is
dethroned, till iniquity is banished, we shall not see the Divine fruit
of peace upon the face of the earth. Wherever Jesus is King, He must be
first, King of Righteousness, and after that King of Peace. So, then,
Melchisedec is such a king as God is, and such a king as Jesus is.
Note, next, that he is such a king as right-hearted minds desire. I say
"right-hearted minds." I mean not only those who are saved, but those
in whom there is some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel. There
is an honest and good ground not yet sown and we know what that soil
waits for. I remember what my thoughts used to be when I was seeking
the Lord. I longed to be saved. I desired to escape from my sin, but
with it there always went this thought–"God must be just." I had
always a certain trembling sense of guilt, but at the same time a deep
reverence for righteousness. In my heart of hearts I said, "Let not the
Lord, even for my sake, do an unrighteous thing. I am nothing, but God
and His Righteousness are All in All. It were a greater calamity for
God to be unjust than for me to be lost! It were a dark day for all the
aspirations of noble minds if it were possible for God to swerve from
the strict rule of His integrity. Though He slay me, yet let His name
be honored, and let His righteousness remain untarnished."
I remember distinctly being the subject of that feeling. Sinner as I
was, I had a care for the perfect Law of the Lord, and would by no
means have agreed to its being dishonored in order to my own personal
salvation. I needed this question answered–"How can God be just and
yet the Justifier of him that believes?" I did not know, at that time,
the sweet secret of Substitution, but when I did know it, no music ever
sounded so sweetly in the human ear as that sounded in my heart! When I
saw that, by the interposition of the Son of God and His bearing my
guilt, God could be sternly, strictly, severely just to the letter–in
every jot and tittle–and yet could put all my sin away and take me to
His bosom and let me be His child, then I said, "This must be of God!
This Divine secret bears upon its own face its own warranty of
truthfulness, for no man could have invented a system at once so just
to God, so safe to man."
To be able to look for mercy as just and receive pardon on the ground
of righteousness is certainly a high ground to reach! And yet every
Believer stands there before God! I say that every right-minded man
feels a deep concern for the Righteousness of God when he is soberly in
his senses and thinking the matter over. He longs to be saved–that is
more than natural–but he does not wish to be saved in a way that would
derogate from the supreme splendor of the Righteousness of God! Let the
Lord God be glorious in justice and then, if I can be saved, well and
good! Blessed be God, we can be thus saved! Our entrance to Heaven can
be as justly secured as our banishment to Hell was righteously
deserved! How Justice and Peace have kissed each other is now made
known!
That secret is told us in the Word of God. Is it not written on the
Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? And I am sure, again, that no
right-hearted man wants Christ to come and be to him the King of Peace
and then to let him live in sin. Brothers and Sisters, I want no peace
in my heart concerning any fault. If I know myself before God, my
heart's inmost prayer is that I may never be able to rest till I am rid
of every relic of evil. I do not want to make myself happy and yet to
live in a single known sin. If I could have the offer of Heaven and be
a drunk, I wish not for a drunk's heaven! What could it be but a scene
of riot, strife, and obscenity? If I could have Heaven and be a liar, I
want not a liar's heaven. What could the heaven of falsehood be but
Hell in truth?
No, I would not wish for a heaven in which I might freely indulge some
minor sin, or be jovial in the commission of some unconsidered
transgression. No, there can be no Heaven for me till evil in every
form is expelled from my nature! My God, my longing is not for
happiness, first, but for purity, first, and happiness afterwards and,
therefore, it is my delight to read that my King is first, the King of
Righteousness, and then the King of Peace! My heart rejoices in a
sin-killing King and then a peace-bestowing King, sweeping out the
buyers and the sellers from the Temple, and then manifesting Himself
there in all His majesty to His waiting people! Melchisedec, therefore,
sets forth such a king as all right-minded people desire.
Again, this wonderful Melchisedec is such a king as Jesus must be to
every one of you who have not yet known Him, if you are ever to receive
Him as your Savior. Let me not sew pillows to all arm-holes by
preaching salvation to those who do
not repent of their evil ways. I do not come here to chant in dulcet
tones sweet lullabies to men who sleep in unrighteousness. If you would
have peace with God, you must repent of sin! If you love evil you
cannot love God. There must be a divorce between you and sin, or there
can be no marriage between you and Christ. When Jesus comes to a soul,
He comes as King of Righteousness first, and after that as King of
Peace. We must have a positive righteousness of life, a cleanness of
heart and hand–or we shall not be found at the right hand of the
Judge!
Let no man deceive himself. "Whatever a man sows, that shall he also
reap." He that comes to Christ and takes Christ to be his Savior, must
take Christ also to be his Ruler and, Christ ruling him, there must be
in that man's heart an active, energetic pursuit of everything that is
good and holy, for, "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." He
that lives in sin is dead while he lives and knows nothing of the life
of God in his soul. Righteousness must hold the scepter, or Peace will
not attend the court. I know that I speak to many who long to be saved,
but will you give up your sin? Christ has come to save His people from
their sins. It you do not wish to be saved from sinning, you will never
be saved from damning!
Do you hug your Delilah? Then shall you lose your eyes like Samson. Do
you hold to the viper and press the asp to your bosom? Then shall the
poison boil within your veins. Christ cannot save you while sin is
loved and followed after, and has a reigning power in you, for it is an
essential of His salvation that He should deliver you from the mastery
of evil. I would to God that many here would cry, "That is the very
thing I want. I long for it. Can I be helped to renounce sin?" O poor
Heart, if you hunger after righteousness you shall be filled! You shall
be helped to conquer evil–you are being helped by the fiery desire
which has been breathed into you! "Oh," says one, "can I break off the
iron yoke and come out of the Egyptian bondage of my lust?" You can!
For Christ has come to set you free. Trust in Him, the great
Emancipator! But if you say, "I will live in sin and yet go to Heaven,"
you shall never do so! There shall, by no means, enter into the
Celestial City anything that defiles. He that takes men to Heaven is
first, King of Righteousness, and after that He is King of Peace.
I have closed this first head when I have noticed that that is the kind
of king that God would have every one of us to be. We ought all to be
first, kings of righteousness, and then kings of peace. The Lord has
appointed each man his kingdom–let us see to it that we reign for good
and not for evil. On all sides we hear voices inviting us to peace
apart from righteousness. "Oh," they say to us, "a confederacy, a
confederacy." What do you mean? You are to preach a lie and we are to
preach the Truth of God, and yet we are to call each other brothers? We
are not brothers and we will not, by our silence, aid the fraud. "Oh,
but," they say, "be charitable." Charitable with what? Charitable with
God's Truth, flinging it down into the mire of error? Charitable by
deceiving our fellow men? That we cannot be!
Brothers and Sisters, we must so hold and love the Truth of God as to
hate every false way, for the way of error is ruinous to the souls of
men and it will go hard with us if, even by our silence, we lead men to
run therein. If any man shall say to you, "Come and let us sin
together," reply to him, "I cannot enter into association with you, for
I must first be pure and then peaceable, since I serve a Lord who is
first, King of Righteousness, and after that King of Peace." "Hold your
tongue," says the world. "Do not fight against error. Why need you
speak so loudly against a wrong thing?" We must speak and speak,
sharply, too, for souls are in danger! We must uplift the banner of the
Truth of God or we shall be the worst of all cowards! God has made us
kings, and we must be first, kings of righteousness, and after that
kings of peace.
God's people are tempted, sometimes, to be a little too peaceable.
Remember that our Lord Jesus has not come to make us live at peace with
sin. He has come to set a man against his brother–to divide a
household where iniquity holds sway. There can be no peace between the
child of God and wrong doing or wrong thinking of any kind. We must
have "war to the knife" with that which would rob God of His Glory and
men of their salvation! Our peace is on the footing of righteousness
and on no other ground. We are for all that is good and right, but we
dare not cry, "Peace, peace, where there is no peace."
II. Now my time has fled, but I must occupy a little upon the best part
of my subject. I have asked you to admire the King. I now beg you to
ENJOY HIM. Our Lord Jesus Christ is, first, King of Righteousness. You
know what it means. Shall I tell you what it includes? You who are in
Him and one with Him in His Kingdom, are righteous in His
Righteousness. His is a righteous kingdom and those who obey it will be
found to have done rightly. If we follow Christ's rule we need never be
afraid that it will mislead us. We are righteous, certainly, when we
are doing His bidding. If any laugh
and say, "Why do you do this?" quote the King's authority! Do not be
afraid if you do the King's bidding! He is a King of Righteousness and
you are righteous in obeying His righteous ordinances. He who
religiously obeys Mohammed may yet be doing grievous moral wrong–but
it is never so with the disciple of Jesus–obedience to Jesus is
holiness!
Notice, next, that if we trust this King of Righteousness we are
righteous in His merit. I want you to believe this. If you had always
kept God's Law and had never sinned, you would have been conscious of
righteousness. Now, by faith, as many of you who believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ are as righteous as He is righteous in the sight of
God–as righteous as if you had never sinned! Oh, I want you to feel
this. "Being justified by faith we have peace with God." But there must
first be this justifying righteousness before there can be peace! What
Christ did, He did for His people. I say not that what Christ did is
imputed to His people, though I believe that it is so–but it belongs
to His people–for they are part and parcel of Him and so are partakers
with Him.
They are in Him as in their Federal Head, and whatever Christ is, or
has, or does, belongs in itself, in the very nature of things, to all
that are in Him and in that Covenant of which He is the Head. Stand up
straight, then, before your God, and though, in yourself, the
publican's humble demeanor suits you well, yet in your Lord you may
take another stand and say, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is
Christ that died; yes, rather, that is risen again." The Lord Jesus is
"made of God unto us wisdom and righteousness." "This is His name
whereby He shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness," for, "as by
one man's disobedience many were made sinners," as you and I know to
our cost, "so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous."
"By His knowledge"–by the knowledge of Him–"shall My righteous
Servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities."
Now, then, do you believe in Christ? Then you have no sin. Your sin was
laid upon Christ of old and He bore the punishment of it, and you can
not be punished for it. Divine Righteousness cannot exact a double
penalty for the same offense. Do you believe in Jesus? Then He has made
an end of all the sin which was once written against you! He has buried
your transgressions forever in His own sepulcher! If you are in Christ,
His perfect Righteousness is wrapped about your loins, and you stand,
this day, "accepted in the Beloved." Oh, it is a glorious standing,
Jesus the King of Right-eousness–and we, in our King, made righteous!
We are comely through the comeliness of Christ which is put upon us!
Now this I want you to think of. Whenever you are enjoying the
salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, please remember that He never gives
you any part of salvation without giving it to you righteously! And if
He gives it to you righteously, you are possessed of it righteously. My
sins are pardoned. Yes, and righteously pardoned! Oh, is not this a
wonder? Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other! If I pray, I
have naturally no right to be heard as a sinner, but, using the name of
Christ, I expect to be heard as righteously as if I were the
new-created Adam fresh from the hand of Deity! When I come before God
and ask His protection, I look for it as righteously as Christ looked
for it when He was here below, for He has put upon me, a poor unworthy
Believer, all His regal rights!
And all His righteousness is mine, so that I may use His name at the
foot of my prayers and stamp my petitions with His Christly authority.
I may take the blessings of the Covenant as freely as He may take them
who bought them with His blood–for He bought them for all His people
and He has made transfer of all the covenant estate to all who are in
Him. Oh, Brothers and Sisters, it is a dreadful thing to be under a
sense of sin, but it is an equally blessed thing to be under a sense of
righteousness! We are righteous even as He is righteous! Let us never
forget this.
And then, next, He is after that, King of Peace. I want you to try,
tonight–no, I do not want you to try, I want the Holy Spirit to do it
for you–I want you to enjoy the King of Salem, the King of peace! Do
you know that at this moment, if you are a Believer, you have peace
with God through Jesus Christ our Lord? There is no quarrel between you
and God tonight. You are one with Him! Your delight is in Him! I know
not now in my own soul of anything that I could say against the Lord's
dealings with me throughout the whole of my life! Nor, let Him deal
with me as He wills, do I feel any repugnance to putting myself
entirely into His hands. For happiness or sorrow, for wealth or
poverty, for life or death I am content to hand myself absolutely over
to the Lord. And now, there being peace on the poor creature's side, it
is such a joy to think that there is peace from God's side, only still
more perfect and enduring. He looks at you through His dear Son, and He
sees no sin in you–no iniquity in you! He loves you with a perfect
love at this moment and He knows of no just cause or impediment why He
should not love you.
"Why," says one, "I have not been a Believer more than a week." I do
not care if you have not been a Believer more than 10 minutes! He that
believes has everlasting life and everlasting love! As soon as the
prodigal son was home, what
did his father do? Upbraid him? No, he kissed him! Had his father no
fault to find? No, not any. He said, "Bring forth the best robe and put
it on him. Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. Let us eat and
be merry." Why did he not say, "Come, my dear Son, I must have a little
sharp talk with you, for your own good. You know you have behaved very
badly to me. I must chide you and upbraid you"? No, no! Not a word of
the sort! Not a syllable or even a look after that fashion! He gives
liberally and upbraids not. He puts his dear child at perfect ease with
himself and says, "Be at home. Be happy. Eat, drink and be merry with
me; for you are my child, and though you were lost, you are found. You
were dead, but you are alive again. Let us rejoice together in this
blessed salvation which glorifies my son."
I want you to sit in those pews–you that really believe in Jesus–and
receive this bread and wine in perfect contentment, saying within
yourselves, "It is well. It is all well. It is well from beginning to
end–from top to bottom. Being justified by faith, I have peace with
God. The peace of God that passes all understanding keeps my heart and
soul by Jesus Christ." Come. If you have never enjoyed it before, enjoy
it tonight, and do not be afraid! If you go to the devil's feasts, put
a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite, for you may
soon eat and drink and be drunk. Solomon is the author of this prudent
advice. But when you come to the feasts of love, drink–yes, drink
abundantly, O Beloved! There never was a Christian man that was too
happy in God! There never was a Believer that was too peaceful, too
serene, too confident, too hopeful! You cannot drink too much of this
heavenly nectar. Oh, that you would but have Grace to take in all that
you may have!
I know what you will do. You will come, tonight, into my Lord's
treasury, and He will say, "Take what you will." There will be mints of
gold and silver before you and you will look all round and take up some
brass farthing or other and say, "Bless the Lord for this!" Such
gratitude is right enough. Bless the Lord for anything. At the same
time, why not take something better? "Oh, I have been a mourner," you
say, "all my days." Whose fault is that? "Oh, but I have never had any
great light or any great joy." Whose fault is that? Is it not your own?
The Lord seems to me to say tonight, even to the elder Brothers here,
"Rejoice and be glad." I do not think that many grumblers come to the
Tabernacle, but there are certain grumpy elder Brothers that are apt to
say, "Neither at any time transgressed I Your commandments, and yet You
never gave me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. I never
have any joy. I am a regular seat-holder and a member. I go to the
communion. I do all I can, but I never get any of these holy raptures
and spiritual delights. These reformed thieves and converted rascals,
when they are converted, seem to monopolize all the music and the
dancing. I never have a dance to myself at all."
But the father was in such a blessed humor that night that he did not
even upbraid the elder brother! He said, "Son, you are always with me,
and all that I have is yours. If you have had no kid with which to make
a supper for your friends, why did you not take it? All that I have is
yours." Come in, dear elder Brother, as well as you younger ones, and
let us eat and drink and be merry this night in the name of Him who,
having been the King of Righteousness upon the bloody tree, is now,
tonight, the King of Peace upon His glorious Throne! It is He, who upon
this table, shows you how He worked out perfect Righteousness, breaking
His body and pouring out His blood for you! And He now bids you come
and see how all this is worked for your peace, for His flesh and blood
are now your bread and wine to make you glad! Rejoice in the Lord! And
again I say, Rejoice! Amen.