By the Rev. CHARLES J. BROWN.
“Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness; I bring near my righteousness” (Isaiah xlvi. 12, 13).
IT appears, from a comparison of many texts of Scripture, that when the word “righteousness” is connected, as it is in this passage, with “salvation”—“I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory”—it does not mean, in those cases, the divine attribute of justice or rectitude, but the work of righteousness wrought out by the Lord Jesus Christ, and which it is the grand design of the gospel to reveal and make offer of to sinners of mankind for their justification—their salvation. The words of the prophet here are evidently parallel to such as these: “The Lord hath made known His salvation; His righteousness hath He openly showed in the sight of the heathen.” “I will show forth thy righteousness, and thy salvation. I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.” “He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.” “My salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.” “Look unto me, and be ye saved. One shall say, In the Lord have I righteousness.” “Now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe.” “Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness.” Assuming, accordingly, without any further remarks, that such is the meaning of this important word, let us first inquire a little, with reference to the righteousness spoken of, why it is termed, in this and so many other parts of Scripture, “the righteousness of God?”—“I bring near my righteousness,” says He. Why is it called God’s?—“Now the righteousness of God is manifested.” And then let us ask concerning it, where, how, and to what parties or persons the Lord brings it near?—”Hearken unto me, yet stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring my righteousness near.”
I. The Lord, you will observe, terms the work of His Son Christ Jesus—His obedience unto death—His whole endurance of the curse, and fulfilment of the precept of the law, His own, God’s righteousness.
There is no difficulty in seeing why it should be called Christ’s, because He wrought it out; and, accordingly, we often speak of it in this manner—we speak of the righteousness of Christ as the ground of a sinner’s justification. The Scriptures also speak of it thus from time to time. Paul, for instance, when contrasting the first and second Adams, says, “As by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” And again, “As by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners; so by the obedience,” the righteousness, “of one shall many be made righteous.” But much more frequently it is termed in Scripture, God’s righteousness. And our first question is, Why, on what accounts the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ is termed “the righteousness of God?”
(1) It is so called, I remark first of all, in marked contrast and opposition to man’s—to the sinner’s own fancied righteousness.
Paul, for example, speaking of the carnal Jews, says of them, “They being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,” their own imaginary, fancied righteousness, “have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God; for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” He marks the same contrast between God’s and man’s, when he says of himself, “That I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Jesus Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith”—not having mine own, but God’s. The truth is, that there is in the conscience of every man a testimony to this truth, that a righteous and holy God cannot look upon a man without righteousness. I question if any man ever looked death in the face, without a deep secret conviction, that his meeting with God in peace could only be in connection with righteousness—with some kind, at least, of obedience to that law which God has given to man and which He has written so deep upon his heart, that the work of it is found in the souls even of the most degraded heathen, “their conscience,” as Paul says, “bearing them witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.” Hence it is, that every man has a righteousness of some kind or other. He feels that he needs one; he contrives somehow to find one. When Rousseau, the infidel, was upon his death-bed, it is said of him, that he opened his windows towards heaven, and exclaimed (poor, miserable man!) “I give back this soul into the hands of its Maker, unspotted as it came from Him.” Wretched, however, as the delusion was, conscience was there bearing testimony to great and momentous truths. He was deceived, of course, in fancying that his soul was righteous; but he felt, and rightly felt, that he needed righteousness. He was deceived in imagining that he rendered his soul back to God pure as He made it; but he was right in deeming this to be his duty, and resting in nothing short of it. His general conception had much truth about it. The application of it to himself was the lie: he went down to the grave with that “lie in his right hand.” So, brethren, every man has a righteousness. He cannot think of God—of a judgment-seat—of a coming eternity, without looking out for one. Some men, casting their eyes anxiously about, perhaps, in times of dangerous sickness, and not a few things in their lives, with all their faults, on which they can look back with complacency. They have maintained a character without reproach; they have been esteemed kind and upright members of society;—that is their righteousness. Some men find a righteousness in their amiable natural qualities of mind. They are generous, benevolent, sincere; if they pretend to nothing higher, at least they are above the meanness of hypocrisy;—that is their righte-
ousness. Other men find a righteousness in sacraments, in prayers, in devout observance of religious institutions;—that is their righteousness. Other men look to authorities, self-inflicted austerities, which God never required at their hands. Perhaps the merits of Christ combine with all these things, to furnish the righteousness of others still. The shapes, in short, are endless which man’s righteousness assumes. The work of the Lord Jesus is God’s righteousness, in opposition to them all. They are delusions; this is a glorious, divine reality—God’s and man’s. The one is a seamless, perfect robe; the others are filthy rags. The one is a robe that can wrap the sinner completely in from the storm of the divine indignation; the others are rags that cannot cover him—filthy rags, which positively defile him. Man’s righteousness,—that which the sinner would vainly offer to God; God’s righteousness,—that which God alone can or will accept! This leads me to remark,—
(2) Secondly, that the work of Christ is termed ‘God’s righteousness,’ because it is that which God has, for the sinner’s justification, devised, provided, and stamped with the seal of His approbation and acceptance.
Observe, that when we view the righteousness as Christ’s merely—as wrought out by Christ—this does not meet the difficulties of a soul anxiously inquiring for some adequate and solid ground of acceptance before God. It is with God as such—as the Judge of all the earth—as the Creditor to whom my debts are owing,—it is with Him that I have to do in this matter. The question with me, a sinner, is, “Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord?” “How shall man be just with God?” Where shall a righteousness be found which He will accept, at whose judgment-seat I must soon stand? The Lord Himself steps in, saying, “Behold, I bring near my righteousness;” that which, in opposition to all those vanities, I have devised, provided, accepted, sealed, to be the ground, the only and perfect ground, of a sinner’s justification. “Now the righteousness of God is manifested, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe.” God devised it; it is His righteousness. He planned it in the counsels of peace before the world began. “I have made a covenant,” said He, “with my chosen. I have found David, my servant.” “By His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.” God provided it; it is His righteousness. When man had cast away, had trampled in the dust the righteousness which God gave him at his creation—when he stood naked before the Lord—defenceless—without a covering for his guilty soul, God did not leave him thus. He announced the provision of another covering—of a more glorious righteousness still—to be wrought out in due time by the seed of the woman. He announced the provision many ways in the law and the prophets. “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch.” “His name shall be called the Lord our Righteousness.” At length He provided the righteousness itself. He proceeded to carry the eternal purpose into effect. “He sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,” to put more honour upon its curse, by enduring it, than if all the sinners that should be redeemed had together borne it; and more honour upon its precept, by obeying it, than if no one of them had ever transgressed it. He sustained and upheld Him throughout His whole work, until He could say, “It is finished!” Then he put His seal upon it; He stamped it with the seal of divine judicial acceptance. He raised Christ from the dead—He glorified His Son Jesus—he set the surety at liberty when the debt was paid—He set Him down at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, as it is written, “He shall convince the world of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;” that is, “of righteousness” accepted, and in this sealed with the seal of heaven, “that I go to my Father, and ye see me no more.” It is God’s, in short—devised by him, provided by Him, accepted, sealed by Him. What a consolation! What a security for a soul looking anxiously for a ground of justification! “I bring near my righteousness.”
(3) Once more, I remark here, that it is called God’s, because it was brought out by God in the person of His eternal Son,—by Emmanuel, “God manifest in the flesh.”
We have here a more wonderful ground than any we have yet seen, on which this righteousness is termed God’s. He not only devised and provided it; he himself accomplished, wrought it out. It is His own in this highest mysterious sense, that, having for this very purpose taken to Him a created nature, become “manifest in the flesh.” He did therein accomplish a righteousness altogether without a parallel, an obedience truly and strictly divine—a righteousness at once human and divine,—human in the matter of it, divine in the author, and the infinite excellency and glory of it,—human, inasmuch as it was the true and proper obedience of a man under the law,—divine, inasmuch as that man was the very fellow of the Lord of hosts, the Creator of all worlds, “God over all blessed for ever.” “Surely shall one say, in Jehovah have I righteousness,” not only from Him, but in Him, it is His own, His very work. “This is His name whereby He shall be called Jehovah our righteousness.” “Drop down ye heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation; and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.” Thus, is the glory of that expression, “God’s righteousness,” complete. It stands forth the grand central word of divine revelation. It not only tells what it is that God will, and alone can accept, in opposition to all the fancies of men, but it tells why it is that this righteousness can be,—that it is worthy to be accepted for the justification of all that put their trust in it. It is, as Peter calls it, “the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.” It is, truly, “clothing of wrought gold,” God’s own righteousness. Well might the Church exclaim, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God for He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” “Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness.”
II. But this leads us to inquire much more briefly, as proposed, further, where, how, and to what parties or persons the Lord brings this righteousness near?
Where he brings it near I answer in the words of Paul, in the first chapter of Romans, at the 16th verse—”I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, for therein,” in the gospel, “is the righteousness of God revealed.” It is in the gospel that this righteousness is revealed,—that it is “brought near.” This, on the one hand, is the grand central discovery of the gospel, as Paul intimates, when he says—”I am not ashamed of the gospel, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed.” And no where else, on the other hand, but in the gospel, is this discovery to be found. Philosophers never made it. The reason of man never approached it. Men may have some obscure conceptions of Divine mercy. But of divine righteousness in and for the remission of sins, they never dreamed. This is pre-eminently a righteousness revealed, a matter of pure supernatural revelation. As distinguished, moreover, from the shadows and darker intimations of the law, it is revealed in the gospel. “Now the righteousness of God is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.” The text, indeed, in the Old Testament, may seem to oppose this. But this passage is just one of many anticipations of the gospel, which we find scattered up and down through the Old Testament Scriptures. Even here, if we lay out of view the discoveries of later times, the righteousness could scarcely be said to be brought near. The words evidently point forward to gospel days. The law and the prophets had ever borne witness of this righteousness. But now, in the gospel, properly and eminently so called, it is revealed—”brought near.” This leads to our next question, how it is brought near. I answer, in the free and earnest character of the offers and invitations of the gospel. Can any thing be conceived to bring this righteousness nearer, save the very faith that appropriates it, than words like these. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take,”—“behold, I bring near my righteousness,”—“let him take the water of life freely.” Or these words—“If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldst have asked of Him and He would have given thee,”—“I bring near my righteousness”—“He would have given thee living water.” Or these words, “Behold, I stand at the door”—“I bring near my righteousness”—“I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me.” Yes, it is brought, perhaps, still nearer,—it is pressed still more closely home on our acceptance, in commands, and blessed threatenings and expostulations like these—“He that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” “He that believeth not, God hath made Him a liar.” “Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life.” “He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” O, how very near does the Lord thus bring His righteousness to us! He seems to lay it down that, as if in the way between us and hell; and to say that, if we go there, we must make up our minds to tread over the very righteousness of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, into it. The second question runs insensibly into the third and last,—to what parties or persons the Lord brings His righteousness near. Observe, there might be a free, unrestricted offer of it to some particular persons only. This question, therefore, though closely connected with the last, is quite distinct from it. The answer is furnished gloriously in the text—“Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring my righteousness near.” Ye that not only have no righteousness, but are living at ease,—“stout-hearted,” careless, and indifferent, for the present, at least, about finding one,—“I bring near my righteousness” to you. While ye despise it, “stout-hearted,” I offer it to you; while ye are “far from righteousness,” righteousness is brought near to you,—it is pressed and urged upon you.
(1) It may occur to some as an objection, What use in bringing near, and freely offering, a salvation to men wholly indifferent about it?
Now, there can be no doubt, that so long as men are “stout-hearted, and far from righteousness,” they cannot, in the very nature of the thing, embrace this righteousness, and the offer of it to them is thus, in one sense, to no purpose. But only in one sense. For, not to speak of believers, who often find their hearts so hard, that till they see invitations to the “stout-hearted,” they cannot perceive their warrant at all to trust in Christ,—not to speak of them, the very freeness and universality of the offer, coming with overwhelming grace upon the “stout-hearted” sinner, may just be among the most powerful means blessed of the Holy Ghost for awakening him to deep and serious concern and thought. The Laodiceans were stout-hearted, and far from righteousness. Christ, however, is not content with opening up their case,—”Thou art neither cold nor hot;” with threatening them,—”Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth;” with calling them to repentance,—“Be zealous, and repent.” Besides the invitation just noticed, which occurs in that epistle, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold,” and so on, he throws in, immediately after the call to repentance, that other invitation, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.” An eminent minister was asked, what he thought of the question as to the priority of repentance and faith—which of them was first. He replied, that it seemed to him very much a question of words. “Repentance,” said he, “is setting out for heaven; faith, is taking the way to heaven.” This may show the vast importance of mingling, with calls to repentance, free offers of Christ, even to the most careless. It is then, as if we should say to them,— Arise, repent, set out straightway for heaven: behold the way, what hinders you to take it now? “why will ye die?” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness.”
(2) Further; I observe, very briefly, that you may see how little weight there is in the objection to the doctrine of Christ’s righteousness as the ground of justification, that we read comparatively seldom in Scripture of the righteousness of Christ,—generally of the righteousness of God.
We do, however, read of it expressly. Not to speak of numberless texts where it appears by inference and implication, we read expressly of the righteousness of Christ, and that as the ground on which many shall be made righteous. Over and over again, He is declared to be the righteousness which is unto justification. But besides, we have seen, I apprehend, abundant reasons for the justifying righteousness being still more frequently termed “God’s righteousness.” I am deceived, if an awakened sinner, feeling his need of righteousness, will not find, in place of a difficulty, a glorious truth, while he hears the very God with whom he has to do saying, “Behold, I bring near my righteousness.”
(3) In fine, we might have remarked, on the question, how the righteousness is brought near, that, besides the freeness and urgency of gospel offers, the Lord comes specially near at particular seasons, in the events and dealings of His providence.
He comes to the very heart and conscience of sinners. He “stands at the door and knocks” aloud,—awakening in him misgivings which he cannot repress,—appealing to him by arguments which he cannot turn aside. For aught I know, He may be thus coming near to some, even while we speak. Oh! refuse not to listen to His voice. He says, “Hearken unto me.” Say to Him, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” He comes with this message “I bring near my righteousness.” Let your reply be, “I believe, Lord; help mine unbelief.” “In Jehovah have I righteousness.” “This is His name whereby He shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.”