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Still I stand a tempest shock, for my anchor grips the rock. And it holds, my anchor holds. Blow your wildest then, oh gale, on my bark so small and frail. By his grace, I shall not fail, for my anchor holds, my anchor holds. I can feel the anchor fast, as I meet each sudden blast. And the cable, though unseen, bears the heavy strain between. I safely ride till the turning of the tide. And it holds, my anchor holds. Blow your wildest then, oh gale, on my bark so small and frail. By his grace, I shall not fail, for my anchor holds. My anchor holds. Troubles almost wound the soul. Greaves like billows o'er me roll. Temptors seek to lure us straight. Storms obscure the light of day. But in Christ, I can be bold. I've an anchor that shall hold. And it holds, my anchor holds. Blow your wildest then, oh gale, on my bark so small and frail. By his grace, I shall not fail, for my anchor holds. My anchor holds. All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, again, we just want to thank you, God, for another Sunday that we get to gather in your house and to hear your word preached, Lord, and to serve you through soul winning. And Lord, just pray, Lord, now that you would just be honored and glorified out of everything that's said and done. We love you, Lord, for it's in Jesus' name we ask all of it. Amen. All right, you may be seated. And take your Mountain Baptist songbooks, blue songbooks that are there in your, should be by your seats. Mountain Baptist Psalms, Sims, and Spiritual Songbooks. And turn to page number eight. Page number eight. We'll sing Psalm 126 on page number eight. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord had done great things for them, the Lord had done great things for us. Whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity. Oh, Lord, as the streams in the south, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord had done great things for them, the Lord had done great things for us. Whereof we are glad. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Then said they among the heathen, the Lord had done great things for them, the Lord had done great things for us. Whereof we are glad. And we'll welcome Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday morning. A little colder today, but it's supposed to be in the 60s the rest of this week. So it's just one day. As far as church times today, everything should be normal. So we'll have our 4 p.m. service starting a new series tonight. So we got off the angels and the devils and we're going into something else. But as far as our soul winning time, 1 p.m. So if you want to go out soul winning with us, meet up here a little before 1 o'clock. We'll get teamed up and go out soul winning. And then the regional soul winning time's on there. Just be on the church group there as far as the times and locations and all of that. We did reschedule the Buchanan Soul Winning Marathon due to the rain and everything yesterday. So that'll be on the 23rd. So Saturday on the 23rd. And so if you want more information about that, I'm sure there's a group set up for that. So if you're wanting to go to that, just let brother Richie know he'll let you into that group there. And then as far as prayer meetings, we had the women's prayer meeting on the 24th, the men's prayer meeting on the 29th. And Easter is actually the end of this month. So I was forgetting about it because usually I'm thinking April. But we're gonna do an Easter fellowship like we did last year. And so between the services, we're gonna have food and everything and do like a candy scramble for the kids and everything. So depending on whether, as far as whether it's outside, like as far as the, obviously we had that pavilion and everything, but we're just gonna assume we're gonna have the food in here and then the candy scramble depending on weather. So you never know. It could be 70 degrees and sunny. It could be two feet of snow out there, who knows? But so we're gonna be planning on that. We're gonna kind of do just see, we're gonna put up a list as far as if anybody wants to bring food, whether it's a main course type thing. I remember we're in the New Testament. So ham is acceptable, bacon, all of that stuff. So, and so we're praising the Lord for the resurrection and being in the New Testament. So, but that Wednesday before, I'm not sure what day that is exactly, but that Wednesday before Easter, we're gonna have the Lord's Supper. So we kind of do that. Usually we do it on Sunday evening, but because obviously the Lord was crucified, I believe, on a Thursday night and then rose again on Sunday, I think it makes sense to do it that evening on Wednesday there to kind of go into Easter. And so remember his death on Wednesday and then celebrate his resurrection on Sunday. And so, so yeah, so just keep that in mind that that Wednesday, you know, if you wanna come out here and make sure that you're in your place for the Lord's Supper there. As far as our Bible memory, our chapter memory for the month is Jonah chapter two. So we're gonna be memorizing the book of Jonah, but we're in chapter two this month. Romans 4, three is our memory verse for the week. For what set the scripture Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. That's our memory verse for the week, Romans 4, three. And then as far as birthdays, is there anybody's birthday that's not this week? But we missed it. Anybody wanna admit to that? Well, we have Jennifer Simes coming up here. And then James will be next week. And then we got a bunch coming up. So next, we got James next week. And then the next week after that, we got a bunch, so. And so, so yeah. So we'll sing happy birthday to Jennifer here in a little bit. And then anniversaries, we do, we'll have the Crandalls next week. So we won't forget about you guys. And so got a couple of anniversaries here in March. Then pregnancies, obviously congratulations to the Gandy family, but also congratulations to the McShea family for their new additions there that have arrived. And then be in prayer for Crystal McCloy as she's on the pregnancy list there due in August. And so praise the Lord for all the safe and safe deliveries, healthy children, all of that. So just keep all these families in your prayers. And I think that's about all I have for announcements that I can think of. Again, we've had aunt issues. Aunts really try to make sure that you clean up. Like, obviously the kids, obviously things happen, things fall on the ground. But just make sure that you're jawning on the spot, I guess, when it comes to cleaning that up. Specifically the mother baby room, because the mother baby room, one, we don't wanna have food in there between services and everything, because then there's a cake there, the little kids pick it up and they chew on it when they shouldn't be eating anything anyway, let alone that gross stuff. So we wanna make sure that, especially the mother baby room is clean of any food on the floor. But just in general, we don't want ants, all that fun stuff. So just be wary of that. Besides that, offering boxes in the back there, if you wanna give a tithe and an offering, mother baby room for the mothers babies only. Brother Dave's gonna come, we're gonna sing Happy Birthday to Miss Jennifer, do one more song, and who's reading this morning? Brother Wade. Brother Wade's gonna be reading Roman chapter four for us. After that, it is snowing outside, that's cool. All right, go. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song number 37. Song number 37 in your songbooks. Before we do that, sing Happy Birthday to Mrs. Simes. She's already shaking her head, I didn't even say anything. It is your birthday week, right? All right. All right, brother Richie, I'll let you make the call, man. What are we doing? You know what, Jennifer makes delicious food, so you don't wanna bite the hand that feeds you. You know what I mean? So I'll let her have a pass here. This will be the one and only time next year, though. Put the pressure on you. All right, so your birthday's on Tuesday? Yep, all right. We'll sing Happy Birthday to Mrs. Simes. Here we go, ready? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, God bless you. Happy birthday to you. Well, happy birthday to you. And we will sing song number 37. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. Together his love wants home. Together his love wants home. Together his love wants home. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. Together his love wants home. There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes. There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes. But a glorious morrow when Jesus comes. Together his love wants home. Together his love wants home. Together his love wants home. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. Together his love wants home. There'll be no more weeping when Jesus comes. There'll be no more weeping when Jesus comes. But a blessed reaping when Jesus comes. Together his love wants home. Together his love wants home. Together his love wants home. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. Together his love wants home. There'll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes. There'll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes. And a joyful meeting when Jesus comes. Together his love wants home. Together his love wants home. Together his love wants home. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. Together his love wants home. All right, if you would take your Bibles and turn to the book of Romans chapter four. Romans chapter four in your Bibles. And we'll have Brother Wade come and read that for us. Romans chapter four. What shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what sayeth the scriptures? Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also. For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it reckoned? How was it then reckoned when he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision, not in uncircumcision, or not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision, and he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised that he might be the father of all them that believe. Though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he had being yet uncircuricized. For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to receive through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of none effect. Because the law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is a faith that it might be of grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations. Be before him whom he believed, even God, who quickened the dead and called those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead when he was about 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able to also perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Dear Lord, let's pray. Dear Lord, please be with us today. Be with the pastor as we hear your word. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen, so you're there in Romans chapter four, and we'll be coming back to that, but the name of the sermon is imputed righteousness. Imputed righteousness, and this doctrine, if you will, righteousness being imputed unto us, obviously deals with salvation, but I think it's gonna help understand a couple passages that maybe you've read through and you're like, what is that talking about? How does that make sense? And so that's kind of where I see a couple verses that if you understand this doctrine of imputed righteousness, then those verses will make a lot of sense, and it's not a problem at all. So, but first I wanna get to, we're gonna come back to Romans chapter four, but go to Deuteronomy six, Deuteronomy six, and go to the end of the chapter there, Deuteronomy chapter six, look at verse 24. This idea of imputed righteousness or righteousness being imputed unto us, there's other words that are used, counted, reckoned, accounted, and so there's different ways that it's basically saying the same thing, but basically the idea is that you are being counted as righteous, you're being accounted, reckoned, it's being imputed, meaning it's basically being put on you, right? It's basically on your account, it's as if you did it kind of thing. Now, imputing something onto somebody and just in the world isn't always good, right? You can impute guilt on somebody or innocence, different things like that, but obviously we're talking about imputing righteousness, which would obviously be a good thing. So, Deuteronomy six and verse 24, the first thing that I wanna point out is that there is a difference between God's righteousness and our righteousness, or man's righteousness and the Lord Jesus' righteousness, okay? So, the first thing that you have to realize is that there's a righteousness that we possess or that we can obtain through doing the law, and notice what it says here in Deuteronomy six and verse 24, it says, and the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always that he might preserve us alive as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us. So, when it comes to keeping the commandments and keeping the law, that's our righteousness, okay? That's how we obtain righteousness ourselves, right? And go to Romans chapter 10, Romans chapter 10, and there's a difference between righteousness that you obtain by law and righteousness that you obtain by faith, okay? And these are in stark contrast from each other, and this is why when it comes to salvation, when people say, well, you need to have faith, but you need to also do the good works, what you're basically saying is that the righteousness that's imputed by faith isn't enough, that you have to have your righteousness in there, you have to have the righteousness which is of the law, and nothing can be further from the truth, but I want you to see that there's a stark contrast between our righteousness and God's righteousness, our righteousness and the Lord Jesus' righteousness, and what I wanted to show you is that when you get saved, it's Jesus Christ's righteousness that's being imputed to you, and when God, the Father looks at us, he sees Jesus' righteousness as saved people, and we believe on him, he sees his son's righteousness, and that's why we are justified, that's why we are made, why we are righteous in the sight of God, and it has nothing to do with our righteousness, okay? That's completely separate issues, they are polar opposites, and you can't mix the two, okay? And in Romans chapter 10 and verse one, it says, 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 going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Do you see a stark difference, a big separation between our righteousness and God's righteousness, okay? Big separation, it says, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. For Moses described the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them. So that's where you get into Deuteronomy six, where it says, this shall be our righteousness if we keep these commandments. But notice the difference, that's not God's righteousness, that's our righteousness, okay? So there's a stark difference between our righteousness and his righteousness. Go to Galatians chapter three and verse 10. This is a really simple sermon, so I'm just wanting to show you a bunch of verses to kind of just make the same point, but it really comes down to this, is that keeping the law is our righteousness, and in order to get God's righteousness, it has to be by faith alone. And that is the only righteousness that's gonna make it there, to get you into heaven, for you to be saved, and what I'm gonna show you is that our righteousness can't do it. And it says in Galatians three and verse 10, it says, for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not, notice this, in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them, but that no man is justified by the law inside of God. It is evident for the just shall live by faith, and the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. And so, yeah, I mean, if you kept all the law, right, then sure, you'd live and you'd have righteousness, but no one does that, right? No one, and I'm gonna show you that, the Bible's very clear on this, is that no one keeps the whole law, and the idea is that therefore, no one is justified by the law. No one can be justified by his own righteousness because all our righteousness comes short. And notice that the law is not of faith, so these are polar opposites, just as much as grace is not of works, right? The law is not of faith, and if it was by the law, then the promise is made of none effect, your faith is void, just as much as it is by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. You can't mix these two, and this is obviously what most people try to do, is they try to mix their righteousness with God's righteousness, and they don't mix. You can't overlap them, you can't mix them, it's one or the other. If you don't accept it's by Jesus Christ alone, and it's by his righteousness alone, then you're gonna have to go by your own righteousness, and you're going to fail, you're going to come short. And go to Isaiah 64, Isaiah 64 and verse six, Isaiah 64 and verse six, I want you to understand, God gives us an example of, if you were to compare our righteousness to his righteousness, okay? So here's a comparison, and let's see how our righteousness stacks up to his. Isaiah 64 and verse six says this, for we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fate as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. When someone tries to say, well, you have to have works with faith, you're basically saying, I need to add these filthy rags to God's righteousness, because that's the comparison. The comparison of our righteousness, of keeping the law, is likened unto filthy rags. And so we can't mix those two, and you're not gonna make it with filthy rags. Listen, the only way that you're gonna make it is with that fine, clean linen, which is the righteousness of saints, not the filthy garment that is our flesh. And the Bible says, and some have compassion making a difference, and others, save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh, and that garment is not gonna be made clean by your own righteousness. The only way it's gonna be made clean is by the blood of the lamb. And go to Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes 7, verse 20. I know this is very well known. I'm not preaching anything new. This isn't new doctrine. I just wanna make this very abundantly clear that one, our righteousness is that which we keep the law, and that is completely separate from God's righteousness. So if you get that much, our righteousness, keeping the commandments, God's righteousness is over here, completely separate from that, okay? And our righteousness in comparison to that, filthy rags. And in, I'm sorry, Ecclesiastes 7, verse 20, it says, for there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. So the best person that you find, the most just man upon the earth, sins. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I mean, that is fact. Go to James, chapter two, and verse 10. James, chapter two, and verse 10. James, chapter two, and verse 10, we fail the test because cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them, right? You wanna live by them? You know, it's like, well, you know, you can live by them, right? Yeah, if you keep them all, then you can live. But you don't, and no one does. Because, I mean, if the Bible says there's not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not, then there's no one. And this is stated over and over again in different places in the Bible. But in James, chapter two, notice what it says in verse 10. James, chapter two, and verse 10, it says, for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of all. So get this, let's say somehow you kept every bit of the law, and you didn't sin at all except for one time. Guess what? You're done, done. Now, it's insanity to think that you only sinned one time. Right? But even if it was one time, you're guilty of the law. You're guilty, you're a transgressor of the law. Now, that doesn't mean that if you break one commandment, you're guilty of every commandment being broken. Because it states, when it explains this, that thou shalt not commit adultery, and thou shalt not kill. Now, if you kill, but you don't, if you commit adultery, but you don't kill, you know, you're still a transgressor. Or vice versa, right? You're still a transgressor of the law. What the point is, it doesn't matter which commandment you break, you've broken the law, you're a transgressor of the law, you've come short of the glory of God, you have filthy rags, and you're not gonna make it. So it doesn't matter what commandment you break. That's the whole point. So, and go to Romans chapter nine, Romans chapter nine and verse 30. Romans chapter nine and verse 30. Again, I want you to see the stark contrast between our righteousness and God's righteousness. Because then, when you understand that God's righteousness, when we get saved, is imputed unto us, then you understand why we go to heaven. Right, I mean, why we can actually make it there. Because it's his righteousness. I mean, can Jesus go to heaven? Is Jesus worthy of heaven? Then that's why we are. We live, because he lived, we live. We are dead with him and we're raised to walk in the newness of life the moment we get saved. We are made a new creature. We are, I mean, the Bible says this in so many different ways. I know I preach a sermon on once for all, right? The idea of that it was one sacrifice for all our sins. It was one sacrifice for every single person. But this is just another avenue to understand this is why salvation is once. This is why salvation cannot be lost. This is why salvation is by faith alone and not by works at all. Because if you think that works are involved, you're saying Jesus' righteousness isn't enough. And that is blasphemous. But it also shows, I'm gonna show you that it's gonna help understand some passages when it comes to this. Now, Romans chapter nine verse 30, it says, what shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. So notice that there's a righteousness which is of faith and there's a righteousness which is of the law. And it's basically saying the Gentiles, they obtained it, Israel didn't, and here's why. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. So notice the stark contrast. Keeping the commandments, your righteousness. Faith, his righteousness. And I'm gonna show you some more on that. Go to Romans chapter, well, go to Galatians chapter two. Romans three, famous verses, as it's written, there's none righteous, no, not one. He has concluded both Jews and Gentiles, that they are both under sin. There is no one that doeth good. There's no one that is righteous before God. All have sinned and come to the glory of God. There's not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. I mean, many times throughout the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament, it's very clear, there's no one that is sinless, and the only one that ever walked on the face of the earth that was sinless is Jesus. And Galatians 2, 21 says this, and this is really what it comes down to, is that if our righteousness is involved, then it makes Christ and his righteousness null and void. Notice what it says here in Galatians 2, 21. It says, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. When someone believes that they have to do good works, keep the commandments, and that they have to have their righteousness involved, they're saying Christ died in vain. You know what another way of saying that? He died for nothing. Go to Galatians 3, 21, Galatians 3, 21. Galatians 3, 21, it says this, is the law then against the promises of God? Because you know what we're talking about, the fact that it's not about the law, it's not about keeping the law, and it's just like, well, is the law against the promises of God? It's kind of like, do we make void the law through faith? It's like, no, we establish the law. It's just the same thing when people are like, should we sin that grace should abound? Because where grace abounded, or where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. It's like, well, should we sin that grace should abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? But guess what? The answer is yes, it would. Right, it's kind of like, should we? No, but would it? Yes. I mean, that's what it says, isn't it? Isn't that exactly what it says? Yeah, people just can't get it through their head that, well, are you saying that you can sin and grace would abound? I'm not saying that, the Bible's saying that. Right, the Bible's the one that says that. Now, we shouldn't do that. You know, there's a big difference between if it will or should we go that route, right? And so anyway, going on from that, Galatians three and verse 21, it says, is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. Guess what? You know what that means? There isn't a law given that can give life. After you've sinned, there is no law that you can keep to where you're saved by that law. And it says, but the scripture has concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them to believe. See that stark contrast? Go to, and here you say, well, you know, what's the point of this sermon? Well, there's some passages where you're just like, what is, what's being said here? Go to Matthew chapter five, Matthew chapter five. And when you understand this, our righteousness by the law can't do it. And no one can do it. You break one, you've broken one commandment, you're guilty of the law, you're done. You know, I've kind of, you know, some people have kind of explained it. If you had like a book that was like considered the law and then you had like, let's say 10 links in the chain to just, let's say represent the 10 commandments, for example, obviously there's more than 10 commandments in the Bible, but if it was hanging from the wall or from the ceiling here, and then that book was hanging there, would it matter which link you broke for that to fall? Wouldn't matter which one, right? Top one, bottom one, middle one, in between, multiple ones, right? Once one of those links is gone, the whole thing falls. That's what it's like when it comes to dealing with trying to keep the law to be safe. You offend him at one point, the whole law has been broken. You're a transgressor of the law, you're now guilty before God, you are now needing a savior. Now, in Matthew 5, verse 20, this is that famous Sermon on the Mount. And when you're going through the Sermon on the Mount, one thing that you have to understand is that he's talking to his disciples, but he's talking to save people, but then he's also, it's kinda open to, obviously Judas was in the midst of that, and there may be people that aren't saved and all that. And so some of these things, the way he phrases it, you're like, well, do we need to be righteous? But what you have to understand is he's making a point that you can't make it that way, right? Sometimes he'll say things, and even his disciples are like, who then can't be saved, right? Dealing with the rich young ruler? It's like, he even answers that and says, is it possible? So, no, you can't be saved that way, that's the whole point. And so what Jesus does sometimes is he gives examples to where you're just like, we can't make it that way. And that's the whole point of why he's saying it. It's for you to be like, no, we can't, then we're not gonna make it. Good, that's where you need to be. I can't make it on my own. Therefore, you need a savior. Therefore, you need to believe on Christ for salvation. And that's where we have to get everybody at, is where when we're out soul-winding, you have to get them at the point where you're like, I can't get there myself. It can't be by me. I'll never make it that way. And that's where it all starts. Matthew 5, verse 20 says, for I say unto you, except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now, I want you to think about that in the light of what we were just talking about. Your righteousness, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. See how that makes sense? You know what it means? You can't. You can't make it in your righteousness. He's basically saying, unless you do more than them, you're not making it. And guess what he says to the Pharisees? He's like, you're not making it either, right? I mean, he's constantly telling them, you're not gonna make it. And if it has to exceed them, that means they're not making it, right? And the whole point is, is that it doesn't matter how righteous someone is and how many commandments they keep it has to exceed that. And therefore, you're not gonna make it that way. And let me just show you the rich young ruler, just to kind of show you that he uses the same kind of example to get people to understand that you can't go that route. There's two ways to go to heaven. Keep the whole law, never sin, and be completely sinless. Or believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and his righteousness is being imputed unto you and you're saved by that. Which one do you think is possible? And what it really comes down to is that one is possible, one is impossible. So we have to go the possible route, okay? And most of the world is trying to go the impossible. They're trying to go that wide way, that broad way. And you're like, why is it broad? Why is it wide? Because there are so many different flavors of the same thing. I mean, every religion is just a different flavor of the same thing. Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Catholicism. When I say Christianity, I'm talking about most under the umbrella of Christianity that believes you have to be a good person to be saved. And they just all have different things. Oh, you gotta be baptized, well, different flavor. Over here, you gotta do these sacraments, different flavor. Different flavor, the same thing. It's all the same religion really over there. Trust in some higher power, be a good person. That's the same, it can be all summed up in that. And that is the broad way that leads under destruction. That is the way which is their righteousness. You're trying to get there on your own righteousness and no one's gonna make it that way. And that's what Jesus is pointing out. Notice what the rich young ruler here, in Matthew 19 and verse 16, it says, and behold, one came and said unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that it may have eternal life? So notice that there's a lot packed into this question that he asks, but basically, he starts off with saying you gotta do something good to go to heaven to have eternal life, right? He's already starting off with a premise that you must be good or do something good in order to go to heaven. And Jesus flips the script on him and says in verse 17, and he said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one that is God. Now, Jesus is good, but guess what? He's also God, right? So that's why he obviously is the good shepherd and he's making a point, well, first of all, do you know who you're talking to, right? It's kinda like, do you know, you called me good, but there's only one that's good that's God, so you have to recognize that he's God, because he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So when it comes to the premise here, one, this guy's coming to him thinking you have to do something good, and then Jesus is pointing out no one's good, but one that is God, which one shows you that you're not good then, right? He's telling this rich young ruler, you're not good, because no one is. But also, recognize who you're speaking to, right? Because Jesus is God in the flesh, and therefore, he's right to call him good, right? But he doesn't recognize why he's calling him good, right? Or why that is a big deal that he's good, okay? Because there's only one that's good, and there's only one that's walked on the face of the earth that is good, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. But then he goes on to say, basically, the question was, what good thing shall I do, right? And Jesus already nipped that in the bud, basically, well, no one's good, so. Kinda falls flat on its face to begin with, doesn't it? But then he says, but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments, because if you keep his commandments, you shall live by them, right? Now, we've already seen that that's not possible, right? Not possible to go that route, because all of a sudden it comes to the glory of God. There's not a just man upon earth to do good and sin is not. Our righteousness is our filthy rags. We know that that's not possible to go that route, but Jesus is trying to get that across to him. Because he's basically saying, okay, you wanna do something good, well, you need to keep the commandments. And then he says unto him, which? Which we kinda already covered that you gotta keep them all, right? You can't just keep some of them, right? Because if you keep the whole law and you had to fend at one point, you're guilty of all. So notice that he says, which? Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, which is basically a catch-all of everything, right? The law is fulfilled in one word even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And so he's basically saying, basically you gotta keep it all, right? Keep all the commandments, right? And what does this guy say? The young man saith unto him, all these things have I kept for my youth up. What lack I yet? You know what he doesn't realize? That he's come short of the glory of God, that he sinned. He's basically denying that he's ever sinned. And this is why Jesus says, okay, well, if you're perfect then, then okay, get some treasures in heaven, right? He's not saying like, you know, sell what you have and give to the poor so that you'll go to heaven. He's basically saying, you'll have treasures in heaven. And then his disciples go on to say, because Jesus said, how hard is it for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven because it says, how hard is it for those that trust in riches? You know, they're trusting in the riches. You know, that's what they're putting their faith in, not in God. And his disciples say, well, who then can be saved, right? They just got done hearing Jesus say, keep the commandments. You know, it's like all this stuff. And you can imagine from a saved perspective, if you believe it's by faith, that if you heard Jesus say, keep the commandments and thou shalt live, you'd be like, who can make it? And you know what Jesus says? With men, it's impossible. That route is impossible. Theoretically, theoretically, yes. I mean, the wages of sin is death. So if you never sinned, why would you die? In theory, right? But here's the problem. There's not just men upon the earth that do as good in sin as not. There's none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned and come true with the glory of God. And that's what this rich young ruler doesn't understand. So these passages where it seems like he's saying, you need to be righteous, because you know that people are gonna take you to Matthew five and say, see, you need to be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees and it's just right over their head. They're thinking, well, you need to be super righteous then. Just completely missed the point. Just as much as the rich young ruler missed the point of what he's trying to get to him is that, you're a sinner, you're not good. He even starts the conversation saying, you're not good. And then the guy proceeds to say, I've kept it all. You know what he's saying? No, I am good. So these passages aren't negating salvation by faith. It's just these passages are tools in which Jesus uses to win people to Christ. You cannot get someone saved if they don't admit they're a sinner. What are they getting saved from? Why would they even need a savior? That's the first step is for them to realize they need, that they aren't deficient, that they've already messed up. And so when it comes to that passage in Matthew 5, 20, it's very simple actually, is that our righteousness won't be able to exceed to the point of entering into the kingdom of heaven. It's just not possible. He's just, it's like, you see that over there? You're gonna have to be better than that. It's like, well, no one's gonna be able to be good enough. So that's not a route to go. Go to Romans chapter two, Romans chapter two. This is another, Romans chapter two sets you up for Romans three and four, okay? Meaning this is that Romans two is a lot of times misconstrued as being some, a passage to teach that you can be good to go to heaven. And again, unsaved people miss the entire point. It's just like goes right over their head of why Paul's even writing this. Because it's kind of like, yeah, I mean, if you do good, then you'll have righteousness, life, and all this stuff. It's like, it's like, see? And don't look at the beginning of Romans two and be like, see, you need to do right. And unto them that doeth good to the Jew first and also the Greek, and they just stop right there, right? Except for the fact that then he rebukes the person and says, you know, you say that you do this, but don't you do this? And basically puts it in their face saying, you're saying that you keep the law, but you don't. You're saying that you're over here preaching this, but you do it. And making a point that whether Jew or Gentile, you're all under sin. All have sinned. And there's no preeminence of a Jew over the Greek. The only thing that basically it states in Romans three at the beginning is that, you know, what's the advantage? Well, you have the oracles of God, right? It's kind of like, what's the advantage of the American? Well, you have the truth just at your front door, essentially, compared to other places where it's a lot darker. But is salvation, you know, any different for you than the person that's in like Hong Kong, China? No, salvation's the same for all of us. So in Romans chapter two and verse 17, it says, Behold, thou art called a Jew, and resteth, restest in the law. Now, it says there, called a Jew is because it's gonna later on say, he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly. So basically, Paul's already set up to the point, he's like, you're called a Jew, but you're not really a Jew. Because a Jew is which is one inwardly in the heart and in the spirit, not in the flesh. So, but what he's dealing with here is a Jew that is resting in the law. Basically, they're trusting in the law. This is where Israel obviously stumbled that stumbling stone to obtain their own righteousness, which is of the law, and they're ignorant of God's righteousness, right? This is what he's dealing with here. It says, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of law, and art confident that thou, thyself, art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which has the form of knowledge and of the truth, of the truth in the law. So think about this, who did Jesus say that their righteousness needs to exceed? The scribes and the Pharisees, who are they? The teachers of the law, right? Those were the leaders at that time, the Jews, the leaders at that time that were teaching the law, and you know what Paul's doing here? He's making a point that you're not gonna make it to these Jews that rested in the law, because it says, thou therefore, which teacheth another, teacheth thou not thyself? Thou that preacheth a man should not steal, dost thou steal? These are rhetorical questions, by the way, meaning, yes, they do, okay? It says, thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that apporced idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law dishonors thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written, for circumcision verily profited, if thou keep the law, but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. It doesn't matter if you're circumcised if you don't keep the law, it's not gonna help you. Actually, your circumcision is regarded as uncircumcision at that point, because unless you keep the whole law, for cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. So if you don't keep them all, you're cursed. You offended one point, you're transgressed for the law. And this applies to every single person, to Jew, to the Gentile, to barbarian, Scythian, male, female, this applies to everybody we've all sinned and come to the glory of God. Now let's get into the imputed righteousness. So we see that obviously our righteousness can't make it. And these passages where, go to Romans chapter three, these passages where Jesus says, basically, your righteousness needs to exceed the righteousness of the tribes and the Pharisees. Well, he's just making a point that if you're gonna enter the kingdom of heaven that way, you need to be more righteous than them. And guess what, you say, well, is that possible? No, it's not. And Jesus says that to his disciples. Because he says, with men, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. And why is that true? Because all things are possible to him that what? Believe it. And this is what it really comes down to, is the righteousness which is of the law compared to the righteousness which is of faith. Our righteousness or God's righteousness? Complete separation between the two. Now, obviously, our righteousness plays a role in our lives both before you get saved and after you get saved. So this isn't a whole sermon on like, what do we do about our righteousness and keeping the law? Cornelius was a righteous man in the eyes of men as far as, obviously, he's still a sinner, right? But he was still a good guy trying to do what, trying to fear God, trying to do that. You know what, God heard his prayer and sent someone to give him the gospel even though he was an outsider and all this other stuff, right? And therefore, that righteousness helped him. But also, as a saved person, your righteousness after you're saved, physically speaking, can help you and bless you and you can be not only saved but the friend of God. And just as much as Abraham believed God and was impeded on him for righteousness, you could also be called the friend of God if you perfect your faith with your works, okay? And that's another sermon for another day, okay? But the idea that I'm gonna cross here is that our righteousness, filthy rags compared to his righteousness, our righteousness can never get us to heaven. It would have to exceed the righteousness that describes the Pharisees, not possible with men, that route. Though, hypothetically, it could go that route, no one has, no one will, okay? That's essentially what you have there. And so that means there is only one way to heaven because there's only one way that's possible, okay? And Romans chapter three and verse 21 says this. Romans 3, 21 says, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested. So now, okay, we can't make it that way with our righteousness, which is of the law. We need to go the righteousness of God. And this is without the law, okay? Being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith, or by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all that believe, for there is no difference, for all of sin to come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just in the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. How could anybody read this passage right here and come away thinking works are involved? Say, if anybody, you say, can a saved person read that and think works are involved? No way. No way. They're unsaved. You know, a saved person can be bewitched, but if you read that passage to them and you say, are any works involved? And they say, I still think there is, unsaved. I mean, that is as clear as the nose is on my face. I mean, it doesn't get any clearer than that. I mean, how many times did I say it's by faith, not by works? It even says, of works? Question mark? Nay. He's just like, no, and on top of that, we conclude, it's kind of like, we get it, right? But we're gonna conclude this, we're gonna summarize this, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. So it's clear as day that it's his righteousness, right? Not the righteous which is of the law, because our righteousness are filthy rags. Our righteousness, which is of the law, is not gonna attain unto that. It has to exceed the righteousness described in the Pharisees, and with men, this is impossible. Therefore, it has to be his righteousness. Now go to Romans chapter four. Now this is why this passage, once you understand, okay, our righteousness, no, can't be that route, this passage is so powerful, because what it's really showing you is that Jesus, in his righteousness, he fulfilled all righteousness, okay? That's why, I mean, he got baptized not to wash away his sins, but to fulfill all righteousness, that he did all those things which are pleasing to the Father, and that he was perfect in every way, never sinned, but not only didn't sin, but did everything right. You think about a passage where it says, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth not, to him that is sinned, every time Jesus knew to do good, he did it. He went about doing good, the Bible says. So think about this. Not everything is a negative commandment. Some commandments are kind of a, if you were to think about it as a offense, you know, basically, you think of defense as far as like, okay, don't do this, right? You're kind of like, I'm not gonna kill, I'm not gonna do these different things, but then there's kind of like, we're on the offense of doing good, right? And you're out there actually going above and beyond, and you're actually helping people out, and all of that, Jesus did all of that. And when you get saved, and I want you to just think about the beauty of this, okay? Jesus doesn't just forgive us of our sins. And I say that loosely, right? Because that's obviously huge, right? He doesn't just forgive us of our sins. He literally puts his righteousness on us, and we are regarded to have Jesus Christ's righteousness. That is huge. I mean, something that we can't even fathom. Again, when you think about like, well, how much of a difference is our righteousness? Filthy rags. Think about the person that does great things, person that helps people out, people that maybe they save someone's life, they do different things, like the best person you can imagine, right? The biggest hero in the world that you can imagine that's just out there trying to help someone out, filthy rags compared to God's righteousness. Comparatively, right? I'm not like downplaying that person, okay? As far as comparing to us. But if you know this, is that we shouldn't compare ourselves among ourselves, because that's not wise. Because obviously, if I compare myself to Joseph Stalin, I look amazing, right? Or Joe Biden, maybe I should get it up to a little, Joseph Stalin, Joe Biden, what's the difference? You're like Joseph Stalin, he's been dead for a long time. But anyway, obviously if we compare ourselves among ourselves, then we can look at, okay, this person's really not good and all of that. But if you put God in that picture, all of us are filthy rags. You ever look at a chart, and you're like getting into engineering, huh? If you ever look at a chart where you have kind of like a bar graph type thing, right? But then, let's say you're down here in a bar graph and it only goes up to 10. But then you add another factor in there, like another example, and that is like 1,000, okay? If you didn't have that one in there, what you'd see is a lot of deviations between those different ones, okay? But once you put that one that's so far up, you know what that other ones look like? The same. Because it's so zoomed out to get a picture of the one that's like, let's say, a thousand, a million, whatever it is, right? You're so zoomed out from that that you look at the other ones, which before you could kind of see all those different deviations between them, it looks like a straight line. So when it comes to God's righteousness, I mean, it's kind of like everybody's on the same playing field, right? Obviously, don't get me wrong, not all sin is equal, okay? Because when it comes to people being judged for their sins, guess what? It's being zoomed in on all that, okay? Now you got those deviations between it, okay? But when it comes to heaven and hell, as far as how you're justified, it's six of one, half a dozen of another, okay? Meaning this, I don't care how much you've sinned or how much you didn't sin, we're all getting saved the same way, and it's gonna be the same amount. Listen, it's not like someone that did cocaine and murdered a whole bunch of people and they get saved and they got extra saved or something, you know? It's like, they've really got saved. It's like, no, you either saved you or not, okay? And so, it's like you're either pregnant or you're not, right, it's like, but are you really pregnant? You know? And don't get me wrong, obviously, if you're like, I get it that if you're like in your third term, you're basically all the way at the end there and you're like, I feel really pregnant, I get it, okay? But guess what? You were pregnant 100% at conception and you're pregnant at 100% right before birth and it is what it is. When it comes to salvation, same thing. Now I'll go to Romans chapter four, Romans chapter four and verse one here, Romans chapter four and verse one. Okay. Can you see why when people attack eternal security and they attack salvation by faith alone, how ludicrous that is? Do you see how like just insane that is? When you just think about all the different ways that the Bible describes this, right? I mean, I'm not even talking about eternal life right now. I'm not even talking about that Jesus saved us from all our sins or that all means all, right? I'm just talking about the fact that when we get saved, this point alone, that his righteousness is imputed unto you at that point, how could you go to hell? If you have Jesus' righteousness is regarded on your account how aren't you going to heaven, right? That point alone seals the deal. We don't even have to go into the other ones. And so in Romans chapter four and verse one here, it says, what shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath to wear up the glory, but not before God. This gets into obviously famous verse, verses Ephesians two, eight, nine. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God and not of works. Now, when you say not of yourselves, not of works, you say, well, why is it saying of yourself? Because if you keep the commandments, whose righteousness is that? Our righteousness, isn't it? It's our righteousness. They're seeking their own righteousness. And therefore this would be a cause to what? Not of works, let's say any man should what? Boast. And therefore what's another way of saying boast, but basically glorying over what you've done. And so therefore Abraham, if you're justified by his works, he hath to wear up the glory, but not before God. Meaning this, he could boast. He could boast about the fact that he has been justified by his own works. But it says in verse three there, for what set the scripture? Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now this is where we're gonna get into impute, account, account, reckon. These words are used interchangeably. But basically you think about you have an account, the old account will settle long ago, we have that song. You have an account, imagine that your account is in a deficit. Let's think bank account. Nowadays with the economy the way it is, let's just look at that. Let's say you're in the hole in your bank account because of your sin, because of you're trying to help that thing out. Okay, God imputes his account on yours, right? Think about this, it's on a monetary scale. He owns cattle on a thousand hills. I don't know if you know this, but cows are worth a lot right now. And so just imagine cattle on a thousand hills, your bank account just went through the roof. But it had nothing to do with your money that was put into it, okay? So, and there's no way that you would have been able to earn that, okay? It's basically, his, because Abraham believed, it was basically that belief made him righteous, okay? He was counted righteous because of that. He was accounted righteous, he was reckoned righteous. And this wasn't just for Abraham, it says, now to him that worketh not is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. This really just shows you that hey, grace is one thing, debt is another. A gift works, right? You either get it as a gift or you earn it, okay? And so it says in verse five, it says, but to him that worketh not believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. So it wasn't just for Abraham, this is for anybody that believes, doesn't work, but believes it's counted for him for righteousness. Notice what it says in verse six, even as David also described it, the blessings of the man under whom God what? Imputed righteousness without works. So here's that word impute, okay? And this is also used in, so this passage where it says Abraham believed God and it was counted on him for righteousness is used in three different places in New Testament. Right here, Galatians chapter three where it says accounted to him for righteousness, or in James chapter two where it says imputed, okay? So accounted, counted, imputed, we're talking about the same thing, okay? But David also described that because in verse 32 it says this, I'm not reading Psalm 32, but this is obviously being quoted from Psalm 32 in verse seven, it says, saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. So when you think about this, not only does he impute his righteousness, he literally will not impute sin, okay? Which is obviously future tense, right? So the idea is that righteousness has been counted to your account, but sin will no longer be imputed, okay? Again, how can someone go to hell if they're in this state, okay? Righteousness, imputed on their account. And sin will not be imputed onto his account, right? You're literally just covered by both ends of the spectrum there. Then it goes on to say in verse nine, cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also. For we say that faith was reckoned Abraham for righteous. So we know that Paul is from West Virginia, at least a southerner, right? Because he uses the term reckon all the time, I reckon. But honestly, reckon just means like basically accounted or that's just what it means, right? It's reckoned on your account, right? But he's basically saying, is it just for the circumcision? Is it just for the Jews? And then he's making a point that it was by faith that it was reckoned to Abraham, okay? And it says in verse 10 there, it says, how was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision but in uncircumcision. So if you know the story, when was circumcision established? Genesis chapter 17, right? Genesis 15 is where we see the quote of Abraham believed in the Lord and it was accounted to him for righteousness, okay? 15 comes before 17. Now, I personally believe that that's just making a statement of what he already believed even back in Genesis chapter 12, okay? And if you don't agree with me on that, it doesn't matter because it's still before circumcision, okay? And that's the point he's making, right? The point that's being made here is that he believed before he was circumcised. So therefore, it wouldn't make any sense to say it's only for the circumcision. Does that make sense? Like how could it make sense that it's only for the circumcision if Abraham wasn't circumcised when he believed, right? And when it was counted to him for righteousness. And he even goes on further to say this. It says in verse 11, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised, right? It's kinda like, circumcision was just like a sign, right? It was just, it's an outward show of what happened inwardly. That's why in the New Testament, it says he's not a Jew which is one outwardly, and circumcision is not that which is outward in the flesh, but circumcision is that which is in the heart and the spirit. And so it's clear that salvation is the circumcision of the heart. The outward circumcision that was imposed on Abraham and throughout Israel in the Old Testament was a sign of what was to happen inwardly, okay? Just as much as baptism, water baptism, is the same type of thing in the New Testament where it's an outward show of what happens inwardly the moment you believe, okay? And so, you know, someone believing they have to be circumcised to be saved is the same person that believes you gotta be baptized to be saved. Same mentality, it's the same logic, right? And going on from that, it says, in verse, in the middle of verse 11, it says, that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also, and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. I think it's abundantly clear that he wasn't circumcised when he believed, right? So therefore, it's not a circumcision. So when you go to Galatians, it's like, you must be circumcised to be saved. What? Doesn't make any sense. And so, go to Romans chapter four and verse 21, where also, I love this chapter, because not only does it make it very abundantly clear that you get that righteousness of Christ imputed on you by faith and not by works, but it also explains what it means to believe. You know, if you're like, well, what does believe mean? It means what repentance is. Except there's no word that says that, right? But actually, in the place where it's like the most famous, like believing and righteousness is imputed unto you, it actually does explain to you what it's meaning by that, right? Because then it says in verse 21, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform and therefore is imputed to him for righteousness. So if you wanna know, like if you're wanting to break down, what does it mean to believe? It means that you're persuaded, right? It's like, what is faith? The faith is the evidence of things hoped for, I'm sorry, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And basically, evidence, meaning you're persuaded, right? Evidence persuades you to believe something, right? Faith is that evidence. But faith, obviously, faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, so the word of God, you could say, is our evidence to say, hey, this is what, this is the reason why I believe this. But the thing is is that what you're believing is that you're persuaded that he's going to perform what he promised. And in this passage, what is it saying specifically, right? Now, I know in 1 John it says, and this is the promise that he had promised us, even eternal life, so we can definitely say that. But in this passage, what is he promising here? What is he saying you'll get if you believe on him? Righteousness imputed on you, okay? And it says here, therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness, why? Because he's fully persuaded of what he promised, he's able also to perform. So if someone doesn't believe that they're actually getting righteousness imputed unto them, then they didn't believe. If they don't believe that he's given him, if Jesus says, believe on me, he that believes on me hath everlasting life, what do you, you know, it's like, if you don't believe it's everlasting, then what do you, you're not believing it, okay? You're not persuaded. Now, you know what people say with this passage? They'll say, well, Abraham's the exception to the rule. He's the exception. And they'll literally take this passage and just basically kind of null and void it, and be like, well, yeah, for Abraham, sure. But not everybody else. Verse 23, now it was not written for his sake alone. Well, I'll put that one to bed. But it says, now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Now, I think I skipped the passage in, yeah. Obviously, again, in Philippians 3, nine, it says, and be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness which is of God by faith. And so, you know, that's obviously just showing you that it's the righteousness of God, right? So, go to, go to, go to Matthew chapter 11, and I'm just gonna state this, in Revelation 19, in your homework, because I'm running out of time, you're going to Matthew chapter 11, Revelation 19 states that righteousness is likened unto a garment, okay? And so, when it comes to this, it talks about the fine linen, you know, that's clean and white, it says for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And meaning this is that what happens when, think about it, when faith, when righteousness is reckoned unto you, you know what it likens it to? Is putting on a garment. Basically, you're putting off the fleshly garment and you're putting on this fine linen, okay? And that fine linen is righteousness being imputed unto you. And now, what you have to understand is that spiritually speaking, we have that fine linen, but fleshly speaking, we don't, okay? And that's a whole nother story for another day, dealing with the old man, new man. But inwardly speaking, we have righteousness imputed unto us, we have eternal life, we are children of God, we have this garment that's on us, right? And that's why on a daily basis, you know what you need to do? Put on the new man. And it's putting it on like a garment, essentially. You're putting on that righteousness, you're putting on that new man, you're putting on that child of God that's inwardly there, okay? And Matthew chapter 11 is, the last thing I'm gonna cover here, is another passage where you're just like, what's being said here? And maybe you all know it, maybe I'm preaching to the choir and you're just like, we already knew that, we got it, you're preaching to the choir. Well, so be it, you know? But there's always probably someone out there that's looked at this passage, or looked at these passages where it says you need to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees and be like, why is he saying that? Or the rich young ruler, why is he telling them to keep the commandments, you know? And so this is another passage dealing with John the Baptist, okay? Verse 11 here, so Matthew chapter 11, verse 11, it says, verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. Now, I believe it's in Luke, it says there's not risen a greater prophet than John the Baptist. And it could just be talking about profit, but I think it's talking about both. Is that at least in John's day, there wasn't a greater prophet, or I believe a greater man that was born of a woman. Now, obviously Jesus is the exception to that, right? It's kinda like Jesus has gotten the flesh, he's in this whole other category, okay? So don't look at it and be like, whoa, is he greater than Jesus? This is like, you know, obviously God is in his own category, okay? We're talking about among men, okay? And you say, okay, there's none that's risen greater than him, that could be saying that he's the greatest prophet that ever been born, okay? Obviously minus the Lord Jesus, you know, Jesus is obviously the greatest. But it could be talking about in his day, but either way, it's basically saying he's the greatest, okay? But then it says, notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Now that's where it's kinda like, what, right? Because if you think about it, like if he's the greatest prophet to ever walk, you know, like on the face of the earth, why would he be least in the kingdom of heaven, okay? And what you have to understand is that what he's talking about is physically on this earth, the most just person that's on the earth, the most righteous person that you can find on the earth is less than the least person in the kingdom of heaven, why? Because the person that's in heaven has Christ's righteousness imputed unto him. That's the difference, right? It's kinda like the idea of like the filthy rags to God's righteousness. Well, God's righteousness to the most just person on the earth, the least, I mean, the thief on the cross is greater because he has Christ's righteousness imputed on him than the most just man to ever be born of a woman, right? And throughout history, you'll see different men that were considered just because of their righteousness. Noah, Daniel, and Job is one that kinda just sticks out in my mind. I want you to go to Ezekiel chapter 14. But I want you to think about this, is that Noah, for example, in Genesis 6, it stated this, Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Job, God says about Job, okay? It says that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man. So think about it, in Noah's generation, he was the most upright and perfect man to be walking at that time. That doesn't mean Noah was sinless, because Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, right? But the thing is is that same thing with Job. It's not that Job was sinless, it's just the fact that in his generation, Job was the most just and upright man. And when it's talking about that, it's talking about their righteousness, okay? It's talking about them keeping the law, walking with God, all of that. And in Ezekiel chapter 14, in verse 14, it says this, though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, talking about Jerusalem being destroyed, all of this, okay? And he's basically saying, if these three men were in it, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, said the Lord God, okay? Meaning this is that everybody's getting destroyed. It's getting annihilated, right? And only Noah, Daniel, and Job would I basically save. If they were in that city, they would be the only ones that I would save because of their righteousness, okay? Meaning physically save them from destruction, right? And even down in verse 20, it says, though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, said the Lord, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter, they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. I mean, that's a strong statement. It's like, I won't even deliver their family. Just them, okay? That's how harsh this punishment is, and it's obviously showing you how harsh the punishment is, is that you have to be top-notch, like level, righteous, just man upon the earth for God to deliver you out of that one, okay? But the point that I'm getting across here is that John the Baptist, I believe, was in his generation, the most just man upon the earth. Obviously, the Lord Jesus is in his own category, right? Obviously, he is the Lord, you know? And he's obviously more just than any man. But at that time, the most just man upon the earth is still lower than the person that has Christ's righteous imputed unto him. And obviously, John the Baptist would say, I believe what he's showing you is the comparison of physically speaking, physically speaking, your righteousness, still lower than the least person in the kingdom of heaven. Still lower than the person that believed on Christ and didn't do anything for him. But the him that worketh not, but believeth on him to justify the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. So hopefully, if anything, this idea of righteousness being imputed, one will give you another route, obviously, to prove salvation's by faith, and it's not by works, and it's not by our righteousness, right? It's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. By the washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us, abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, being justified by grace. And the idea is that, you know, these passages sometimes, where it'll kind of state things like this, if you understand imputed righteousness, God's righteousness, and you put that into the equation, all that makes sense. Okay, yeah, your righteousness needs to exceed the describes of the Pharisees, you can't enter the kingdom of heaven. Well, how do you do that? Have Jesus' righteousness, that's how you do it. Well, why are these people that are leasing the kingdom of heaven, you know, why are they above the most just man on the earth? Because that man's righteousness, compared to Christ's righteousness, is filthy rags. Even though he's the most just man upon the earth, okay? That's the separation, you know. And sometimes I think what people do is they don't realize how stark of a difference it is between God and man. As far as his righteousness and ours, it is a huge difference. And I think this helps understand that. So, let's end with a word of prayer. The only problem we think of today, and just pray that you be with us throughout the rest of the day. I pray for many souls to be saved, soul winning, I pray that you keep everybody safe, keep everybody warm, and Lord, just bring us back at the point in time. Thank you, Lord, for imputing your righteousness unto us, and Lord, just what a blessing it is to be in your family. And Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen. By the day, we'll come and sing one more song, and that will be dismissed. All right, take your song books, and turn to song number 50. Song number 50 in your song books, we'll sing, Peace, Perfect Peace. And if you would stand, we'll sing song number 50. Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin, the blood of Jesus whispers peace within. Peace, perfect peace, with sorrow surging round, on Jesus' bosom, not but calm is found. Peace, perfect peace, our future all is found. Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown. Jesus, we know, and he is on the throne. Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and earth, Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers. It is he who is with us, who is with us. Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown.