Hebrews chapter 11 and we want to read verse 32 and 33 and our subject tonight will be that by faith or through faith wrought righteousness wrought righteousness And I tell you what, the word righteousness is a difficult one to define because when you look up the word righteousness in a commentary or a dictionary, they say, well, it's an old English term and it means right-wiseness. To which my reply is, great, what does that mean? And I have come to the conclusion As far as righteousness is concerned about sinners, it is what God requires and what you lack. And when it comes to children of God, righteousness pertains to that which is right. That's the simplest way I think that we can explain it. That which is right. So when we look at it in verse 32 and what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah of David also and Samuel and of the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms wrought righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouths of lions And we'll just stop our reading there for time's sake this evening. But it says here that, and we can take it, this verse, verse 33, who, referring back unto those written in verse 32, and remember, there's others, because this is in the prophets, who through faith wrought righteousness. So, we want to look at tonight this glorious, wonderful truth of work righteousness. And I want you to look, first of all and foremost, the great contrast. Because there was a day when Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah and David and Samuel and all the prophets worked unrighteousness. Because they were lost. And the first thing, that's the first thing I want to know is the original position of everyone. And that is that we are unrighteous. So in order for us, or you, or anyone to by faith work righteousness, something has to change. That's the first thing. So I'd like you to turn over to Romans chapter 3, if you would. Romans chapter 3. And notice, if you would please, verse 10. And you understand this, and we like to think, and we've got a neighbor, across the way over here to the south, and they're good neighbors. And as the expression is, I heard years ago in law enforcement, and people just say, well, they're good people. Well, that's true. You meet some folks and they're good people, but it doesn't mean they're righteous in the eyes of God. We're talking about two different things. In the eyes of God, the Bible says in Romans 3.10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. So there is none who is right in the eyes of God. And His eyes are the only eyes that matter. And I think Frankie is going to bring a lesson on the eyes of God in our absence. And so we find here that the Bible says, there is none righteous, no not one. And if you turn over into Romans chapter 10, we see a tremendous problem. And it wasn't just Israel's problem alone. Every single individual has this problem. And that is that they think that they're good enough. And the works that they do are good enough. And that what I do is right. And yeah, I sin, but... And they have that problem. But it says here, if you would notice, in Romans 10, it says, Paul writing in verse 1, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and they shouldn't have been ignorant, because God had revealed it to Israel, more so than any other people. But he says they were ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness. Have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. That's the first, this is it. And everybody who ever comes into this world, after Adam and after Eve, except for Christ, seeks to establish their own righteousness in some way. And you'll do that until either the Lord stops you and saves you, or until you leave this world. You will build a mountain of your own righteousness. And the sad thing is, if you'll turn over to Isaiah chapter 64, Isaiah chapter 64 is that that mountain of righteousness that you are building is nothing but vile and filthy rags. That's all it is. And when we look at it, we look at this massive pile, we say, boy, isn't it great? And God says, it stinks. And I don't mean to be vulgar here, but I'm going to read this verse and then I'm going to tell you what the Hebrew literally means. In verse 6 it says of Isaiah 64, But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses, notice that plural, all of our righteousnesses put together, are as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Or as Brother Crowder brought out last Wednesday night, all our lawlessnesses have taken us away. The Bible says in this verse that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. The phrase, filthy rags, literally in the Hebrew would read the menstruous cloth of a woman. It would be used feminine hygiene products today. That's what it would be. And I want you to understand that, that you are piling up lost sinners, all their quote-unquote good works, all of their righteous deeds, you are piling up here used feminine hygiene products. That's what the Bible literally would say. Filthy rags. And the best that I can equate that to is we used to cloth diaper. And just imagine, I'm sure some of you did, and just imagine just a pile of that and saying, God, isn't it great? You wouldn't offer that to anybody else, would you? But we offer that to God. In fact, that's the very best we can do. No wonder the Bible tells us that Jesus had to be made sin for us so that we might be made righteous in Him because this pile of filthy rags is the very best we can do. That's the best we can offer God. The best we can do is we offer him aprons of fig leaves, which God will not accept. The Bible tells us that this again is our original position. But in Christ Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. The law, when it meets Christ Jesus, it has found righteousness in His person. So much so that the law cannot find one thing in Christ contrary to it. And you and I who have believed by God's grace, His righteousness, just as Adam and Eve were clothed in those animal skins, we have been clothed in Christ's righteousness. Just as the Bible says on Abraham, it was accounted to him. Abraham had a list of debt, and Christ had nothing on it. And then it is said that it was accounted to him, or imputed, which means that Christ's debt ledger was transferred over to Abraham, and Abraham's debt ledger was transferred over to Christ. I don't know if any of you have a thing called bills. Maybe you've got a credit card. You get that statement at the end of the month. And you know, you don't have enough to pay it in full. Well, Christ pays it in full. He takes care of it all. And if your sin debt is paid for, that is the most greatest, most significant debt that you ought to be concerned about. And if you're saved, It's all been paid for. It'll never come back on you. Because it's been paid for once and for all completely. And so this again, in order to work righteousness, an individual has to first be made righteous. Because evil cannot come from a good tree, and good cannot come forth from an evil tree. Unrighteous cannot produce righteousness. Let's turn over and read in Scriptures that very thing, if you would. Job chapter 14. The book of Job chapter 14. And the Bible tells us here in verse 4. Boy, I tell you, this is a tremendous truth. When you and I came into this world, the Bible tells us that we were sinners, that we were unrighteous. There is none righteous, no, not one. And folks say, yeah, what about this one? There is none righteous, no, not one. That's the answer. And Job says in Job 14.4, who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean, not one? You and I are unclean. So who can bring, who can produce something that is clean out of something that is unclean? The answer is no one. In fact, if you know anything about salvation, you'll know that what does God do with you and I? He doesn't take the unclean and make it clean. He creates anew, doesn't He? One day that unclean will be disregarded in the death of this body. and will be one day raised clean and immortal like unto Christ. When this corruption shall put on incorruption. Turn over to Genesis chapter 1 and verse 24. You see there's a principle in scripture and we'll get to the working righteousness but first we must deal with the being made righteous. Not a one of those individuals. not Gideon or Barak or Samson or Jephthah or David or Samuel or any of the prophets. As great as they were, there was not one of them who did not need to be made righteous before he or she could work righteousness. All of them had to have that. There's so many people today who look at their own stuff and look at their own works and they say, oh, look at all the good things I've done. Not so, my friend. Not so. Like, there's a principle in Scripture, and like begets like. Like makes like. You know, we've got some oak trees, and this one back here, I was in the study this afternoon, and there's one that fell on the roof. I thought a bomb hit the roof or something. Just came down and thwopped it. And, you know, what do these oak trees and them acorns drop, and them squirrels get them, or the birds get them, and they take them someplace, and if the lawnmower doesn't keep mowing over it, what does that acorn produce? Does it produce a pine tree? It produces an oak tree. Because like begets like. That's true in everything. And you read in Genesis 1 verse 24, it says, And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind. Notice that. After his kind. cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth after his kind and it was so. And you can go on and read through this. That is a principle that God revealed to us in the very beginning that life can only produce after its own kind. And so if there is to be righteousness that is done, then the one who is doing the righteousness must first be made righteous. And that can only be done in, by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ. It must be so. Look over, if you would, in 1 John chapter 3. Not only in order to work righteousness must we be made righteous, but the Bible also teaches us that those who are righteous will do righteousness. They will do it. In 1 John 3, verse 7, notice how John records this. Notice how the Holy Spirit moves him. Notice how God breathed these words. He says, little children, Let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. Notice that. Now the opposite is true. If you're not doing righteous, it's because you're not righteous. Do you understand that? So these individuals, because we're always producing something, there is no such thing as neutrality. There used to be folks that would come to a doctrinal issue and they'd say, well, I'm going to sit on the fence on that one. And Grandpa Hillary would say, well, be careful, you'll fall off one side or the other. And then they'd say, well, I'm going to stand in the middle of the road. He'd say, be careful, you'll get hit from both sides, or both directions. There's no such thing as neutrality. It doesn't exist. We're always producing something. Now, this new man that is created in righteousness in Christ Jesus, he only produces righteousness. That new man does. He doesn't produce sin. Now, you and I still have our old man with us, don't we? He can't produce righteousness. He only produces unrighteousness. And then there's lost sinners, and all they are is, they're still that old sinful man, that unrighteousness. All they ever produce is unrighteousness. And to this human eye right here, sometimes we can't tell the difference, but God knows all about it. Because God sees the motive. You see, working or doing righteousness, there's always a motive behind it. And it might look exactly like it should. And I don't know, maybe you all have, you know, you've gotten a piece of fruit or something, it looks real good, doesn't it? And you take a bite into it, and that's the mealiest thing you ever put in your mouth. I mean, the meat is just all, it's kind of, I don't want to say it's rotten, but it doesn't have the texture that it should, and the whole flavor is gone. And then you take another one that looked just like it and you bite into it, and it's, you know, as my Grandma Hilly said, that's the best thing I ever put in my mouth. That's the same thing with works of righteousness. Sometimes they all look the same, don't they, to you and I. But God knows the motive, doesn't He? He knows the motive behind what we do, behind our praying, behind our almsgiving. He knows the motive behind the sermons, behind the singing, behind the specials, behind the giving of tithes and offerings. He knows the motive behind everything. And I think that there's some folks who are saved by God's grace, and they think that they've just got all these wonderful good works that are gold and silver and precious stones, but when God looks at them on that great day, at the judgment seat of Christ, they're going to get burned up. Because the motives were all wrong. And they're going to be destroyed by fire. There are some folks who do things to be seen of men. There are preachers who do things to be seen of men. There are some preachers who want to build themselves a great legacy. And I'm not talking about the world's preachers, I'm talking about Baptist preachers in the Lord's churches. They want to build up their own great name. Listen, there's only one name worth proclaiming, and that's the name of Jesus Christ. That's it. And they want to make a name for themselves. And there's some churches that want to make a name for themselves. They want to be known. It ought to be enough that the Lord knows your name and it's written in the Lamb's Book of Life. That ought to be enough. We have to be made righteous. And once you are made righteous, the Bible says, little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. We need to ask ourselves, and I ask myself a lot of questions, and I ask my soul a lot of questions, and I talk and I preach to myself, and I comment unto my own soul. But I want to ask you this, and I ask myself this question, what righteousness have I wrought, and then what righteousness have we as a church wrought by faith? By faith. And we need to answer that question, not out loud at this very second, but that needs to be asked and answered. Now, what does it mean, secondly this evening, what does it mean to work righteousness? And again, realize that you and I work a lot of unrighteous things, even in the fact that we're saved. We still do unrighteousness. As the Bible says in Ecclesiastes, there is... Well, it left me. Let me turn over there to Ecclesiastes. And I'll read it to you, and we'll get it the right way. Because I'm going to butcher it if I don't. There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Now the word just means to be pronounced righteous. And who does that pronouncing? That's God. God justifies us. So when God saves you, that's in Ecclesiastes 7.20. When God saves us, He pronounces us just. And God says, there is not a just man, a saved person, one who I have pronounced righteous, that does good and sins not. He already knows that we're still sinning. It's not a surprise to Him. Now it does offend Him. It does bother Him, to put it mildly. But there's not a sinless person on this face of this earth except for Christ Jesus. That's it. So what does it mean to work righteousness? It doesn't mean to live without sin. That's not it. If we took the definition of the word righteous, which means doing that which is right, it would mean doing that which is right. By faith, these did that which was right. I don't know if you happen to catch the news. I caught some of it on the way back and forth from Horatio's brain balance. And, I tell you what, our government doesn't know right from wrong. And they haven't for years. And the corruption, and the colluding, and all the other words that describe what they're doing, they couldn't do right if somebody did it for them. I mean, they go out of their way to do what's wrong when the right thing is easier and simpler and right there in front of them. They can't help themselves. And it's not our government isn't the only one doing it. And the government, like I said, it's not just the government, it's the people who are there. do the right thing. All children of God have a desire to do the right thing. Now the world says that there's black and white and gray. God's word says there's right and wrong. That's it. And Joshua, remember Joshua as he challenged the people of God, there as he was departing off of the scene in Joshua 24, he says, choose you this day whom ye will serve. And he said, and if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord. And you know what they said? We will serve the Lord. You know what they did? They chose to do what was right, didn't they? If you're saved by God's grace, you have the glorious privilege to choose to do what's right. We all have a desire to do what's right. Look in Romans 7. We who are saved by God's grace, that is. And I think that, you know, it's kind of like people say about ethics, or they say, well, this is what you do when nobody's looking. Well, God's looking, He's always looking. But we choose to do the right thing, not because He's looking, but because it's well-pleasing to Him. In Romans 7 and verse 15, Paul said, For that which I do, I allow not. Now notice, For what I would, that I do not, but what I hate, that I do. Notice that, for what I would. He wanted to do righteousness. He had a desire to do it. And then in verse, the Bible, if you'll look up into verse 18, he says, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me. What? What will is present with you, Paul? The will to do righteousness. And then he says, but how to perform that which is good I find not. And you know what? Samson, Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, and David, and Sam, and all the other prophets, they had the same problem as Paul. And the same problem that you and I have. We desire to do good, we desire to do righteousness, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. I can't find it in my flesh. But you know where I can find it? I can find it in the grace and strength and in the power of the person of Jesus Christ by faith. That's where I can find it. And so can you and I. So did Paul. And so did all those Old Testament saints. Because if they never had, we wouldn't have this verse, through faith work righteousness. Because you can't work righteousness except by faith with the Lord. It cannot be done. Look over in Psalm 15 if you would. Psalm 15. Now there are some folks who want to say that, and I don't think this is necessarily wrong or harms the Scriptures, but they want to say that this working of righteousness is exercising of vindicative justice. Like Elijah, when he did the things that he did. I think it's more simpler than that. I think it's just doing right. You know, there were millions, if not more, Israelites whose names are not recorded in the Old Testament who did right. We have conversed with people, and I know you have too, and you know, and I'm sitting there and I'm listening, they're telling me what's going on in their life, and my jaw is just hitting the floor. And then they'll get done with it and they'll say, you know what I'm talking about. And my answer is, I don't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about. I have never experienced that. In fact, I didn't even know it was even possible to go through such a thing as that. I didn't know it existed. Do you realize how complicated the lives of people are when they don't do what God says? how far away, how just unbelievable their lives are. My life is relatively simple. And you know what it revolves around? The glory of God. And in particular, the worship of God in and through His church. My life is set up in the times of the day and then everything revolves around, and it always has. I was forced upon me, and then after I was saved, it was voluntary. But it has always revolved around the worship of God in and through His church. And I give all credit to God. I don't want any of it. But I say that for us to understand There is a working of righteousness that is not what Samson and Gideon and Jephthah and David and all of these guys did that we know of. There is the day-to-day, daily grind working of righteousness. That which will never make the headlines of any religious paper. that will never get some well-known preacher and it will get you in his paper or on his website or you interviewed by the Christian News or whatever there is. There is a working of righteousness that no one will ever know or see except for your God and Savior Jesus Christ. And in Psalm 15, And in verse 1, Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? And here is the response. He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart, he that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. Well, I tell you, God's got some pretty high standards there, doesn't He? Of who's going to be in his tabernacle and in his holy hill. And in Christ we meet those standards, don't we? But now we're supposed to work the same works that He did. Now we're supposed to, these things here, Christ, this all speaks about the Lord in verse 2 and 3. However, we're supposed to be conforming to that image, aren't we? We're supposed to be walking uprightly, and working righteousness, and speaking truth in our hearts, and backbiting not with our tongues, nor doing evil to our neighbors, which simply means another, nor taking up reproach against another person. Because we're conforming to His image, and that is a picture of Christ. There are those, again, as we said, who think that this deals with these, you know, like Phineas. I don't know if you remember Phineas. There were those that had sinned, and they committed sin, and he took a javelin, and he pierced them through, and he stayed the plague of God. And they say, well, he worked righteousness. And he did work righteousness. He did. That was the right thing to do. But you know, that's one of those, and I say this, tongue-in-cheek, that's one of those headlines one, isn't it? I'm going to tell you something. The virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 will never make the news. She will never receive accolades in this life except for, as the Bible says, from her children and her husband and from the Lord. And she doesn't do it to seek those things. But I will tell you, and we did a study verse by verse, not even verse by verse, it was phrase by phrase, when I was in Kansas, of the woman who fears the Lord. And I will tell you, it takes faith to work that righteousness. Because that's what she did. That woman was industrious. The virtuous woman does more than most people do in a year. She did it in a day. And I marveled at the description that's given. You sit down and you study that out, line by line. I tell you what, you will come away in awe in awe. And when you begin to look, you'll see how valuable a virtuous woman is today because she's a rarity. She's a rarity. But she can only do those things by faith. Just have faith to do them. Because the world places zero value on the things that God says in His Word. The world places zero value on what God says a Bible father ought to be, a Bible husband ought to be, a Bible man ought to be, and the same thing for a woman, a mother, or children, or a wife. Those things are valueless to this world. And the way that you and I as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the way that God says we are to conduct ourselves and carry out the Great Commission and carry on the work of the Lord, the world says you're doing it all wrong. And it takes faith to do it the right way. It takes faith. Remember what Peter said? And Jesus asked him the question there at the end of John chapter 6. When Jesus had preached some strong teachings and the multitude went away and said, this is a hard saying, who can know it? Jesus said to Simon Peter, will you go also? And what did Peter say? To whom shall we go? For thou hast the words of life. I'll tell you what. That's the same thing today when it comes to our homes, our social lives, our church life, our prayer life, whatever that it is, there is the right way to do it, which is recorded in God's Word, and then there's the wrong way to do it. And some folks will say, well, you're just being stubborn. No, I'm being steadfast. There's a difference. You cannot be stubborn when you're doing it the right way. Stubbornness only pertains to that which is sinful. Steadfastness pertains to doing it the right way. My father said that one of the things that's lacked in our day is stick-to-itiveness. God's people don't have any stick-to-itiveness. They don't stick to what God's Word says. We always want to try something new. Well, maybe this will work better. Jeremiah said, ask for the old paths and walk therein, and that's what we need to do. No, this working righteousness pertains to our civil righteousness and the discharge of our duties and offices. It pertains to our moral righteousness and our daily conversations with God and with fellow man. These here walked and acted righteously toward God and man. I remember as a young boy, my mother and I, we were leaving VG's. That's the name of the grocery store. If you ever hear me say, give me a VG's bag, I mean a plastic bag. That's all I want. But we were leaving VG's and she said, I've got to go back in. I said, what'd they do, overcharge you? Because you know we had coupons and they had sales and whatnot. She goes, no, they undercharged me. And I said, great. It's our lucky break. That was before I learned that there's no such thing as luck. And my mother said to me, she said, listen, if they'd have overcharged me, I would have went back in there and had them fix it. And since they undercharged me, we have to go back in there and fix it. And I tell you what, and here I am, be 36 years old tomorrow, and what an impression that made upon me. See, it's either right or wrong. It'd have been one thing if she never saw it, but she saw it, and it had to be made right. And we went back in over to the service desk, and they've remodeled it, but I can still see the old way it was, and you walk in, you go down all the way to the end, and we waited in line. It was like 10 minutes waiting in line. I thought, well surely just waiting here ought to pay for it. We got up to the counter, And she says, you didn't charge me for this item. And it's right here. And the guy that was there, he was the store manager, he said, in all my years of being here, you're the first person who's ever come in and said, you didn't charge me for this item. And it might be because people didn't know they weren't charged for it. I'm just saying. You see, there's both sides of the coin on the working righteousness, isn't there? We expect people to do right by us, we have to do right by them. And we find that this is to be done. It's a rarity today to see folks work righteousness. They don't do right, and again, and now I'm referring to people who say that they're saved. This book, this book called the Bible, these 66 books, this is right. And it's the only thing that's right. Anything that isn't in here, or contrary to it, it's not, well it could be right, it's wrong. I don't like being told I'm wrong, and I'm pretty sure you don't like it either. But some people need to be told they're wrong. They're not working righteousness. They don't walk by faith. They don't trust God. The average response to them is, yes, that's what the Bible says, but they have a butt problem. Their butts are hindering them doing righteousness. I have a lot more to say here on working righteousness, but I want to press on and just turn over to Titus chapter 2. Jesus worked righteousness. In fact, he told John the Baptist when he was about to be baptized and John forbid him, he said, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Or, it might also be rendered that it becometh us to perform completely whatever is right. That's our example to do whatever is right. Now I want you to understand this, and I say this and you understand the meaning. At what time did Jesus or any of his disciples or the first church ever write letters to Rome talking about the oppression of their lives? Never. So this righteousness we're talking about is not these social injustices. I'm not saying that these injustices do not exist. There are some injustices going on in the world. And as long as man is in charge of the government, as he is right now, we know God's in charge, but you understand what I mean. Until Jesus is ruling and reigning for a thousand years, there is going to be injustice. This is not the working of righteousness that the Bible is talking about, that you and I are to go out into the community and go to the courthouses and go out to our government and oppose all of the injustices. It is talking about doing right by God. And we can only do that by faith. Which means I have to believe what God says in this book. Period. I can't say, yeah, but. I have to say that's what it says and that's what we're going to do. And I don't understand why some folks can't get that. Well, I want to pray about it. You don't need to pray about it. It says it right there. People used to tell Grandpa Hilly, they said, well, I'm going to pray about being baptized and joining the church. He says, you'll need to pray about it. God's Word already says what to do. We don't need to pray about what the Bible says to do. It's not complicated. God will provide for doing those things. He always has and He always will. In Titus chapter 2, if I said 3, I meant 2, it says in verse 11, for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, notice, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. God's grace teaches you and I that you and I are to live right in this present world. And you know what? It is no more difficult today than it ever has been before. The problem is that we entangle ourselves with the affairs of this world. The problem is that we allow God's Word to be choked out by the cares of this world and the riches of this life. The problem is, as our scripture reading was, that we, like Israel of old, want to be like the nations. Well, the nations don't do right by God. I'd like you to turn over to Revelation. Now, I want you to understand this. These here that were listed in Hebrews chapter 11, they were Old Testament saints. But New Testament saints, who are saved by God's grace, who have been scripturally baptized, member of the Lord's churches, have the opportunity to be in the Bride of Jesus Christ. Have the opportunity. Just because your name was once or is on a church roll of the Lord's does not mean you will be in the Bride. Revelation, the church, I think it was Sardis, makes that very clear when the writer wrote, Jesus spoke and John recorded, there are some who will walk with me in white, for they have not defiled their garments. Not every member is going to be in the bride. And I'll be honest with you, when you look at the standards of the scriptures of righteousness, I have to say, I don't think I'll be there. It is amazing the righteousness that these saints of old in our Baptist heritage did. I can't say I can be in it. I read the Trail of Blood and I just don't know. I know I'm saved, I know I'm a member of the Lord's Church, but that working of righteousness, boy, I just don't know. And that's not any false humility. Well, I want you to notice here in Revelation 19 and verse 7. The Bride of Christ works righteousness. And again, it can only be done by faith. When we talk about by faith, the first thing is we have to understand that by faith means this is what God's Word said, this is it. But not only this is it, but this is how you do it. This is how it's to be done. It's one thing to say, this is what we're supposed to do. It's another thing to say, yes, and this is how we're to do it. This is God's rule book of what to do and how to do it. And it says here in Revelation chapter 19 verse 7, Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Are you making yourself ready? How do you make yourself ready? With righteous works. Notice what it says in verse 8, And to her it was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of saints. This word righteousness here is plural in the origin, not singular, plural, and it is not the imputed righteousness of Christ here. These are the righteous acts of church members. The righteous acts of church members. They'll be clothed in them. So what will I be clothed in? What righteous acts will be left when that fire comes through at the judgment seat of Christ when I am upon it? What will be left? Will there be any gold, silver, and precious stones, or will it all be hay, wood, and stubble? From the day you were saved, you began to build upon that foundation. So what righteous works are we doing? And then, what more righteous works does God have for us to do? They're all ordained. Ephesians 2.10 tells us that they're all ordained for us. We just have to walk in them. And we can do it by faith. And it'll be scary to the flesh. that it will be just fine when we keep our eyes on the author and finisher of our faith. So we pray that the Lord will bless the message to our hearts. Let's stand.