The Righteousness of Saints Part VIII

 

 

 

The Righteousness of Saints Part VIII

 

Revelation 19:8

 

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

 

The righteousness of the Saints was witnessed by the law and prophets, as it is written: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets” (Romans 3:21). According to the witness of the prophet Daniel, Messiah was “to seal” up the vision and prophecy, as it is written: “ Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Daniel 9:24).

 

Strong’s Greek Dictionary gives this definition to the words “seal up”: “to close up; especially to seal: - make an end, mark, seal (up), stop”. The word vision is defined as: “a sight (mentally), that is, a dream, revelation, or oracle”. The word prophecy is defined as: “a pronouncement or statement of a prophet or (generally) inspired man: - prophecy, that prophesy, prophet”. From these words we may understand that Messiah was to make an end of or put a stop to the prophecy. Some may raise an objection to this saying, the Acts and Epistles of the apostles and the Revelation of Jesus Christ were given after the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session of Christ at the right hand of the Majesty on high. They would maintain that Christ Jesus has not made an end of the prophecy. To quell this objection it is necessary to remember that these writings were given by God the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of God and of Christ, as it is written: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9), and again “ Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (I Peter 1:11). The Holy Ghost is called both the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, as it is written: “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you” (Matthew 10:20). The Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, as it is written: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son, as it is written: “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6). The Holy Spirit emanates from both the Father and the Son and He is His own proper Sovereign Person and of the Three in One, as it is written: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (I John 5:7). Jesus Christ is He who “speaketh from heaven”, as it is written: “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven” (Hebrews 12:25).  

 

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:1-3). God sent the prophets to speak to men who would not hear them. Last of all God sent His Son to speak to men, as it is written: “But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son” (Matthew 21:37). Jesus Christ the Son of God is the Word of God, He is the expression and speech of God, and He has revealed that which the Father has been pleased reveal of Himself to the church of God. Furthermore Christ Jesus is the Sum and Substance of the revelation of God. His  is the last word from God so everything that has been written after the revelation of Jesus Christ that is of supposed Divine inspiration is spurious and is from the prince of darkness the deceiver of the souls of men, as it is written: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19). Christ Jesus has sealed up the vision and prophecy.

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Sum and Substance of the word of God. He is Center and Circumference of all that God has for men. Christ Jesus is the fulfilling end of the law of Moses for righteousness to everyone that believeth. And He is the One who the prophets predicted would come to redeem the people of God. He is the King who was to reign: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:1-2). Christ Jesus is the Sanctuary: “Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come” (Ezekiel 11:16). “Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Isaiah 8:13-14).

 

Christ Jesus is the fruit of the womb of the virgin, as it is written: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Jesus Christ is “God with us” as it is written: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Christ Jesus is the “stone of Israel” as it is written: “But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel” (Genesis 49:24). Christ is the “stone cut out the mountain” that is to crush the kingdoms of this world, as it is written: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure” (Daniel 2:44-45).

 

From the prophet Isaiah we learn that “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder” (Isaiah 9:6) and from the prophet Micah we learn that this child is to be born in Bethlehem, as it is written: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). The birth of Him “that is to be ruler in Israel” caused great consternation among the people and rulers of Jerusalem, as it is written: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, and thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel” (Matthew 2:1-6). The government of the universe in now upon the shoulder of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it is written: “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:16-20). The fulfilled prophesies of the Old Testament concerning the Lord Christ, are too many to be mentioned in this short article. It is sufficient to say that Christ Jesus has sealed the vision and prophecy and that His is the last word from God. All who claim to be inspired by the Holy Ghost to write scripture are deluded.

 

Believers do not expect any new revelation from God because God spoke to us by or in His Son (Hebrews 1:1).  The thing we expect next is to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and ever be with the Lord, as it is written: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede: writer) them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (I Thessalonians 4:13-18). Let this be the prayer of the people of God: “Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation” (Psalm 106:4).

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writer’s blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org. webcasting live at listed service times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the everlasting Father since His children are children of the everlasting covenant, they are themselves children from everlasting. That is they are His children from everlasting to everlasting because they are chosen and given to Christ without beginning, and this is shown in the everlasting love of God the Father, as it is written: “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3).