1 00:00:04,750 --> 00:00:10,330 Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with the 2 00:00:10,330 --> 00:00:15,029 Moment of Truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. 3 00:00:15,630 --> 00:00:23,170 And today, I want to challenge you to think through the issue of Reformation Sunday. This 4 00:00:23,170 --> 00:00:34,450 is in the church calendar, Reformation Sunday, when the frustrated monk, Martin Luther, posted 5 00:00:34,450 --> 00:00:48,929 96 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Chapel in 1517. And he did so on October 31st, 1517. 6 00:00:48,929 --> 00:00:58,070 Instead of going out trick-or-treating, Martin Luther posted 96 theses for debate and challenged 7 00:00:58,070 --> 00:01:05,390 the Roman Catholic Church, and nothing has ever been the same since. And we'll cover this 8 00:01:05,390 --> 00:01:12,629 here very soon, but I am Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 9 00:01:12,950 --> 00:01:20,489 and we celebrated Reformation Sunday in our worship service today. And I want to touch on this 10 00:01:20,489 --> 00:01:27,150 briefly because it has very much to do with what's going on currently in the life of the church, 11 00:01:27,150 --> 00:01:34,430 whether you're Roman Catholic or Protestant, whatever denominational flag you may fly, even 12 00:01:34,430 --> 00:01:42,030 non-denominational, you consider yourself an independent Christian. And that's an oxymoron 13 00:01:42,030 --> 00:01:48,629 because no Christian is independent from another. We are all bound together in the Lord Jesus Christ. 14 00:01:48,870 --> 00:01:54,349 So you need to understand what has gotten you to this place and the historical background and 15 00:01:54,349 --> 00:02:02,390 perspective. But before I get into that, what I'd like to do is just invite you to our community Bible 16 00:02:02,390 --> 00:02:13,349 study on the book of Revelation. We have started this up again. We paused during the lockdown and we are 17 00:02:13,349 --> 00:02:23,189 healthy and strong. Everybody who was at the Bible study before the lockdown indeed has survived and is 18 00:02:23,189 --> 00:02:29,310 healthy and strong. And, uh, in attendance again, now we have restarted that Bible study. It's been 19 00:02:29,310 --> 00:02:35,270 gone for a couple of weeks now. And, uh, I'd like to invite you to it because it's, um, not being held 20 00:02:35,270 --> 00:02:43,469 in a church and it's not just one church. It's not just New Geneva who is sponsoring and teaching in this 21 00:02:43,469 --> 00:02:55,849 class. Um, both myself, uh, pastor David Bass at New Geneva and, uh, pastor Mike Gillia, um, are teaching 22 00:02:55,849 --> 00:03:04,469 this course. And so, uh, we're team teaching and we're inviting the entire, uh, community to come and 23 00:03:04,469 --> 00:03:11,870 join us, uh, whatever your denominational flag. And I think you'll enjoy the fellowship and perhaps, uh, 24 00:03:11,870 --> 00:03:21,330 see a perspective on the book of Revelation that you may not have ever seen before. And we meet at 25 00:03:21,330 --> 00:03:34,710 7 PM on Thursday evening at Leo's place. And, um, that is on the corner of first and homes. And we invite 26 00:03:34,710 --> 00:03:42,930 you to come and join us. Leo's has great pizza and, and other foods and beverages. And we meet in one of 27 00:03:42,930 --> 00:03:49,110 the side rooms. So we're, uh, sequestered away. It's nice and quiet. And we just have a great time 28 00:03:49,110 --> 00:03:54,909 of fellowship and discussion, uh, bring your opinions, bring your points of view. And, uh, 29 00:03:54,909 --> 00:04:01,710 hopefully, uh, pastor, uh, Gilea and myself will be able to communicate a perspective on the 30 00:04:01,710 --> 00:04:08,150 apocalypse, the book of Revelation that you may or may not have heard before, but it'll be, uh, one 31 00:04:08,150 --> 00:04:15,050 that will be open for discussion and open for, uh, communication. Seven o'clock on Thursday evenings 32 00:04:15,050 --> 00:04:22,149 at Leo's place. Come and join us. Well, let me get back to the idea of Reformation Sunday. It's 33 00:04:22,149 --> 00:04:28,129 very important in the life of the church. And, uh, most of you out there who consider yourselves 34 00:04:28,129 --> 00:04:34,990 Protestants, you need to understand that Martin Luther did a lot more for you than your pastors, 35 00:04:35,230 --> 00:04:41,829 your teachers may be communicating to you, your pastors, your teachers may be denigrating, 36 00:04:41,829 --> 00:04:47,870 um, Dr. Martin Luther. I found this to be the case in the past few years. And it's very disturbing 37 00:04:47,870 --> 00:04:55,970 for me to, uh, to know that there are Protestants out there, Protestants. That's what that word is. 38 00:04:55,970 --> 00:05:05,509 We are protesting against the, um, teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, uh, because they do 39 00:05:05,509 --> 00:05:12,209 indeed inhibit salvation rather than encourage it. And so we are Protestants ever since the day of 40 00:05:12,209 --> 00:05:19,649 Martin Luther, and he has helped to define what it means to be a Protestant. So those of you out there 41 00:05:19,649 --> 00:05:27,509 who denigrate, uh, Dr. Martin, you need to, you say things like, well, oh, he baptized babies, 42 00:05:27,509 --> 00:05:36,750 or he helped Hitler hate the Jews, those kinds of naive and frankly, stupid, uh, assertions about 43 00:05:36,750 --> 00:05:43,509 Martin Luther. You need to refresh, pick up a history book, pick up a church history book, 44 00:05:43,509 --> 00:05:51,209 and you'll see the great heritage that we owe to Dr. Martin Luther. He was, uh, born in 1483, 45 00:05:51,629 --> 00:05:59,470 died in 1546. And, uh, for much of his life, uh, Luther was frankly a miserable man until he 46 00:05:59,470 --> 00:06:06,610 discovered the gospel. He was wracked by guilt and fear. And no matter how long he confessed, he 47 00:06:06,610 --> 00:06:12,569 spent a lot of time in the confessional. He had times he can confess up to six hours in a row. 48 00:06:12,569 --> 00:06:23,449 He never found peace for his soul. Now, he grew up then in, uh, Eisleben, Eisleben, excuse me, Germany, 49 00:06:23,449 --> 00:06:33,389 uh, in 1483. And, uh, he promised his father that he would indeed become a lawyer. Yes, a lawyer. Just 50 00:06:33,389 --> 00:06:39,310 what the world needed was another lawyer. But his father wanted the distinction of having his son, 51 00:06:39,310 --> 00:06:48,050 uh, being a lawyer and the resources that came in from being a lawyer. But what happened then to him 52 00:06:48,050 --> 00:06:53,970 was that he had a very traumatic experience during a thunderstorm when he was trapped outside. 53 00:06:54,189 --> 00:07:01,029 A bolt of lightning struck very, very near him, knocking to the ground and terrified. He screamed, 54 00:07:01,029 --> 00:07:07,449 help me, St. Anne, I'll become a monk. Yes, this was the part of the superstition of the Middle Ages 55 00:07:07,449 --> 00:07:13,470 was that indeed the saints stood ready to help one, uh, in dire straits. And he made a promise. 56 00:07:13,810 --> 00:07:20,730 Now, even though that promise was made under duress and in great fear, he nevertheless made a vow. And so 57 00:07:20,730 --> 00:07:29,449 he honored that vow by becoming an Augustinian monk. Uh, but monastic life was no better for his soul 58 00:07:29,449 --> 00:07:38,629 than being outside the monastery. He afflicted himself, continued to do so, afflicted himself 59 00:07:38,629 --> 00:07:46,410 for his sins. He spent hours in confession, struggled to find the love of God. But frankly, 60 00:07:46,529 --> 00:07:54,889 he only saw a future of retribution for his sins. Guilt dogged his steps no matter how righteously 61 00:07:54,889 --> 00:08:02,750 he lived. Luther hated himself for his imagined sins and no amount of good work alleviated that 62 00:08:02,750 --> 00:08:12,730 negative stew of emotion that roiled in him. No. Now, Luther was also a brilliant man, very bright, 63 00:08:12,829 --> 00:08:20,149 very smart, albeit a troubled one. He had earned his early degrees in the shortest time allowed by the 64 00:08:20,149 --> 00:08:26,290 university. So he was very smart. He went on to earn his doctorate in theology and ever the diligent 65 00:08:26,290 --> 00:08:34,029 student. He also began to teach. And as he was working through the book of Romans, he came upon 66 00:08:34,029 --> 00:08:44,009 Romans 1 verse 17, and this would transform his life. And of course, Romans 1 17 reads the following, 67 00:08:44,009 --> 00:08:52,450 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, 68 00:08:52,750 --> 00:09:00,730 to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to 69 00:09:00,730 --> 00:09:09,230 faith. As it is written, the righteous man shall live by faith. The clarion call of the Reformation, 70 00:09:09,230 --> 00:09:19,809 the righteous shall live by faith. Faith overworks. Now, to us, as Protestants, and I still consider 71 00:09:19,809 --> 00:09:28,830 myself a Protestant, pronounce it the way it's in the dictionary, a protestant, I am still a protestant, 72 00:09:29,169 --> 00:09:37,250 and it's a common and well-known doctrine. Faith overworks. But to Martin Luther and to many, 73 00:09:37,250 --> 00:09:43,970 many of the Catholics of his day, it was a new idea. And it changed everything. For so long, 74 00:09:44,070 --> 00:09:50,610 Luther had tried to earn God's love, to be righteous in God's eyes by his works. And here, 75 00:09:50,809 --> 00:09:58,750 the Apostle Paul was teaching that all one needed was faith to be saved. He says in his journals, 76 00:09:59,389 --> 00:10:00,409 and I quote Luther, 77 00:10:00,409 --> 00:10:07,870 Night and day, I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that 78 00:10:07,870 --> 00:10:14,330 the just shall live by faith. Then I grasped that the justice of God is the justice which, 79 00:10:14,730 --> 00:10:22,990 through grace and sheer mercy, God justifies us through faith. Thereupon, I felt myself to be reborn 80 00:10:22,990 --> 00:10:31,309 and to have gone through open doors into paradise. Unquote. This is Luther's born-again experience, 81 00:10:31,309 --> 00:10:39,309 if we can put it that way. Indeed, Martin Luther, when it came to him in truth and reality that the 82 00:10:39,309 --> 00:10:46,730 just shall live by faith, that through grace and sheer mercy, God justifies us through faith, 83 00:10:46,730 --> 00:10:53,570 when we understand this and grasp it and embrace it, we are born again as well. 84 00:10:54,210 --> 00:11:01,350 Ah, this passage from Romans unlocked the emotional shackles that Luther had put on himself. And 85 00:11:01,350 --> 00:11:07,529 once he had challenged the idea of a works-based salvation, he had been taught and replaced it with 86 00:11:07,529 --> 00:11:15,809 a faith-based belief. Luther began examining other things that he had been taught, things like the need 87 00:11:15,809 --> 00:11:23,529 for priests to intercede for the believer between himself and Christ. He reexamined things like 88 00:11:23,529 --> 00:11:30,669 the mass, transubstantiation, where the bread and the wine become the literal body of Christ. He 89 00:11:30,669 --> 00:11:36,929 reexamined this teaching, praying to the saints, indeed for intercession, when Christ is all we need 90 00:11:36,929 --> 00:11:44,129 for intercession, or the doctrine of purgatory, which can be found nowhere in the scriptures. And then 91 00:11:44,129 --> 00:11:54,090 indulgences, too. That is, that one can buy one's way out of purgatory or hell. So, if, as Martin Luther 92 00:11:54,090 --> 00:12:00,909 had come to believe, that faith was the key to salvation and the Bible, the key to understanding 93 00:12:00,909 --> 00:12:09,950 God, what good were all these trappings, then, of Roman Catholicism? Oh, and my dear Catholic 94 00:12:09,950 --> 00:12:16,909 brothers and sisters, you need to understand some of these things, too, because it was indeed Martin 95 00:12:16,909 --> 00:12:23,230 Luther's understanding of these things that helped to bring about a Reformation within the Catholic 96 00:12:23,230 --> 00:12:32,509 Church itself. Many of the course corrections that the Roman Catholic Church made, both morally and 97 00:12:32,509 --> 00:12:41,450 doctrinally, were precipitated by the ministry of Martin Luther. And so, we need to understand that 98 00:12:41,450 --> 00:12:48,610 that is indeed one of the main factors for both Roman Catholics and Protestants in the Reformation 99 00:12:48,610 --> 00:12:57,090 of the Church, whether it's Protestant or Roman Catholic. And what I'd like to do is perhaps dwell just a 100 00:12:57,090 --> 00:13:06,009 little bit longer now on this verse under consideration, Romans 1, verse 17, because it is very important 101 00:13:06,009 --> 00:13:16,049 for us in understanding how, why, and where we need to acquire this righteousness of God, because the book 102 00:13:16,049 --> 00:13:25,490 of Romans is indeed an extended treatise on the righteousness of God. What it is, why we need it, 103 00:13:25,490 --> 00:13:33,190 how we acquire that righteousness, how we acquire that righteousness, and what it has implication-wise 104 00:13:33,190 --> 00:13:42,309 for the rest of our lives, both here and in eternity, how crucial it is to acquire the righteousness of 105 00:13:42,309 --> 00:13:49,730 God. The book of Romans is an extended treatise on that very topic, and it's crucial for our salvation. 106 00:13:49,730 --> 00:14:00,990 So, let me look at verse 17, which indeed does have, in a very hard kernel-wise, an understanding of the 107 00:14:00,990 --> 00:14:05,429 righteousness of God. So, once again, verse 17 is, 108 00:14:05,429 --> 00:14:34,750 Ah, Paul is continuing here in this verse to succinctly lay down motifs, 109 00:14:34,750 --> 00:14:41,950 themes, themes that will recur throughout the book of Romans, and he's setting them all up here in 110 00:14:41,950 --> 00:14:48,389 chapter 1. And as we move through the book of Romans, as you continue to read through the book 111 00:14:48,389 --> 00:14:56,909 of Romans, it will ring bells that chime and reverberate throughout this letter. Now, Paul begins to unpack 112 00:14:56,909 --> 00:15:04,529 the contents of the contents of the gospel. He says, for I am not ashamed. For, that is a deductive 113 00:15:04,529 --> 00:15:12,509 proposition. That is, what follows serves as the ground, as the basis for what I have previously said. 114 00:15:13,169 --> 00:15:20,610 And so, when Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, he's saying what follows then serves as 115 00:15:20,610 --> 00:15:29,210 ground for what went before. He says, for in it, that is, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is 116 00:15:29,210 --> 00:15:37,470 revealed. Number one, the righteousness of God is revealed. Dear brother and sister, you're going to 117 00:15:37,470 --> 00:15:42,690 need the righteousness of God in the last day. Do you realize that? Do you realize how important 118 00:15:42,690 --> 00:15:49,730 it is for eternity for you to be equipped with the righteousness of God? The good news is that a thing 119 00:15:49,730 --> 00:15:55,769 that is very important to God, not necessarily to man, and therefore not on man's radar screen, 120 00:15:55,889 --> 00:16:01,690 most men don't give a rip, do they, about righteousness of God, and it better will be to 121 00:16:01,690 --> 00:16:09,330 their own chagrin on the last day. The good news is, however, that a thing important to God is revealed, 122 00:16:09,330 --> 00:16:18,710 that is righteousness. To be revealed is to uncover, to make known, to fully articulate. In the gospel, 123 00:16:18,870 --> 00:16:23,690 these things are fully articulated, the righteousness of God. Yes, that thing is the 124 00:16:23,690 --> 00:16:32,830 righteousness of God. Who would not seek to acquire, dear listener, that which the authority demands for 125 00:16:32,830 --> 00:16:39,529 the saving of your life. Yes, God requires this for the saving of your life. You may blow it off now. 126 00:16:39,649 --> 00:16:45,950 You may dismiss it and poo-poo it, but on the last day, when you stand at the judgment seat of God, 127 00:16:46,509 --> 00:16:53,490 you're going to remember these words and say, why didn't I acquire the righteousness of God while I 128 00:16:53,490 --> 00:17:01,750 could? Ah, dear listener, your doctor gives you a list of things to bring or maybe to do before your 129 00:17:01,750 --> 00:17:09,529 surgery, doesn't he? Right? Fast, bring a sample of some kind, right? Or your accountant gives you a list 130 00:17:09,529 --> 00:17:16,430 of items to bring with you to complete your taxes, right? Or maybe your prospective employer gives you a 131 00:17:16,430 --> 00:17:22,710 list of things to bring with you to your interview, right? We take these things for granted, but let me 132 00:17:22,710 --> 00:17:30,990 tell you, dear sinner, dear listener, who will not listen to his God when he reveals what he requires on that 133 00:17:30,990 --> 00:17:37,930 last day. The apostle Paul in the book of Romans is telling you what you need to bring with you on the 134 00:17:37,930 --> 00:17:45,829 last day, on the day of judgment. And it is nothing less than the righteousness of God that must also 135 00:17:45,829 --> 00:17:53,849 somehow be yours. Yes, this righteousness of God must be yours on that last day if you indeed are to spend 136 00:17:53,849 --> 00:18:03,809 eternity in his presence in bliss and joy and peace. So it's important to know what the righteousness of 137 00:18:03,809 --> 00:18:11,529 God is and how do you acquire it. In Luther's day, he knew intimately the righteousness of God, but very 138 00:18:11,529 --> 00:18:19,329 little of justification by faith alone. In our day, we know, many of us Protestants, although I'm finding 139 00:18:19,329 --> 00:18:26,670 this to be less and less the case, that many Protestants don't know intimately justification 140 00:18:26,670 --> 00:18:31,470 by faith alone. We don't know anything about the righteousness of God, but so many Protestants don't 141 00:18:31,470 --> 00:18:37,849 know anything either about justification by faith. Well, then, what is it exactly, the righteousness of 142 00:18:37,849 --> 00:18:43,769 God? There are several features to the righteousness of God, and let me go through them with you. Number one, 143 00:18:43,769 --> 00:18:50,410 it is the attribute of God's justice. The righteousness of God is the attribute of his 144 00:18:50,410 --> 00:18:57,490 justice. This is indeed the premier sense of the word, at least at the core of its meaning. It is 145 00:18:57,490 --> 00:19:05,410 God's justice. His righteousness is his justice. He always does right. He is in perfect accord with his 146 00:19:05,410 --> 00:19:12,230 law and its requirements. Deuteronomy 32.4 puts it very succinctly. That verse says, 147 00:19:12,230 --> 00:19:20,950 The rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness, and without 148 00:19:20,950 --> 00:19:30,769 iniquity, just and upright is he. Ah, so the righteousness of God is first and foremost his 149 00:19:30,769 --> 00:19:38,769 justice. And secondly, it is also God's faithfulness. His righteousness is sometimes equated with his 150 00:19:38,769 --> 00:19:46,150 perfect keeping of covenant with his people. God keeps all the stipulations on his side in every 151 00:19:46,150 --> 00:19:53,950 covenant, and a covenant is always a two-way street between the king and the vassal, God being the king 152 00:19:53,950 --> 00:20:01,769 in our covenant with him, and we being the vassals. And God always perfectly fulfills every one of the 153 00:20:01,769 --> 00:20:07,809 stipulations of the covenant that he is responsible for. We don't do that very well, do we? But God does. 154 00:20:08,470 --> 00:20:16,710 So, his righteousness is oftentimes his faithfulness. He always keeps covenant to perfection, and thus is 155 00:20:16,710 --> 00:20:23,609 righteous. Psalm 31.1 says, In you, O Lord, do I take refuge. Let me never be put to shame. In your 156 00:20:23,609 --> 00:20:30,029 righteousness deliver me. There's righteousness with a sense of faithfulness. Wow. Thirdly, then, 157 00:20:30,029 --> 00:20:37,109 the righteousness of God is also the status of righteousness given to us by God. The righteousness 158 00:20:37,109 --> 00:20:44,210 of God is also the status of righteousness given by God. And here we have the classic understanding 159 00:20:44,210 --> 00:20:52,150 without which we cannot be just and thus cannot be saved. The free imputation of a just condition 160 00:20:52,150 --> 00:20:58,950 before God, that is what the status of righteousness given by God to us is. It is the free 161 00:20:58,950 --> 00:21:05,329 imputation of a just condition to us before God. This is very important, dear listener, 162 00:21:06,029 --> 00:21:13,930 because it is a forensic. That is a law-oriented thing having to do with the courtroom and God's 163 00:21:13,930 --> 00:21:21,049 bar of justice. We will all stand before God's bar of justice. Will you be righteous in his sight? 164 00:21:21,769 --> 00:21:27,130 Luther puts it this way. He says, God's righteousness here is not the righteousness by which 165 00:21:27,130 --> 00:21:34,109 he is righteous in himself, but the righteousness by which we are made righteous by God. Unquote. 166 00:21:34,470 --> 00:21:40,750 We are not made righteous internally, constitutionally. That is the doctrine of 167 00:21:40,750 --> 00:21:46,049 sanctification, where we actually internally and constitutionally become righteous. But no, rather, 168 00:21:46,849 --> 00:21:54,710 the justification by faith is that we are declared righteous in a courtroom, for the record, 169 00:21:54,710 --> 00:22:03,609 in a judicial sense. So, that is the third aspect of the righteousness of God. That is the status of 170 00:22:03,609 --> 00:22:10,549 righteousness given freely, graciously by God. Then fourthly, the fourth aspect of the righteousness 171 00:22:10,549 --> 00:22:19,130 of God is the act of putting people in the right performed by God. Putting people in the right in 172 00:22:19,130 --> 00:22:24,690 that performed by God. The Old Testament gives evidence of God's saving intervention on behalf of 173 00:22:24,690 --> 00:22:32,789 his people. It has a dynamic quality, not often brought out in English. They cannot be put in a box. 174 00:22:33,529 --> 00:22:39,890 They're not mutually exclusive. No. For Paul, as in the Old Testament, righteousness of God 175 00:22:39,890 --> 00:22:49,529 is a relational concept bringing together the aspects of activity and status that we can define it as 176 00:22:49,529 --> 00:22:56,289 the act by which God brings people into right relationship with himself. That is the key then 177 00:22:56,289 --> 00:23:03,390 to understanding how we obtain righteousness. It is an act by God, not by ourselves, not by our own 178 00:23:03,390 --> 00:23:11,829 works, but it is an act by God, by which he brings people, us, the saints, the saved, the elect, the 179 00:23:11,829 --> 00:23:18,589 church. He brings us into right relationship with himself. God who does this. This is the righteousness 180 00:23:18,589 --> 00:23:24,890 of God, the core of it, which Paul is talking about. What then is the means by which we become 181 00:23:24,890 --> 00:23:31,869 righteous? Oh, we see the cruciality, the utter insistence, the utter necessity of becoming 182 00:23:31,869 --> 00:23:36,849 righteous to be saved. Well, then, what is the means by which we become righteous, right? Our verse 183 00:23:36,849 --> 00:23:43,589 tells us it is acquired and practiced by faith from beginning to end, from faith to faith. We deal here 184 00:23:43,589 --> 00:23:50,650 with an expression over which a lot of ink has been spilled. Now, it's an idiomatic saying. That is a 185 00:23:50,650 --> 00:23:58,210 saying that derives its meaning from its context and not a bare reading of the words, right? So ambiguous 186 00:23:58,210 --> 00:24:05,710 is the statement that it spawned several interpretations, but at the bottom line, it means 187 00:24:05,710 --> 00:24:13,529 faith and nothing by faith. We acquire God's righteousness by faith and nothing by faith. 188 00:24:14,109 --> 00:24:20,990 Oh, it's one of Paul's major motifs, and it's confirmed by an Old Testament quote that is, 189 00:24:21,190 --> 00:24:27,650 the one who by faith is righteous shall live. That's from the book of Habakkuk, and that is the verse that 190 00:24:27,650 --> 00:24:34,869 Paul is quoting right here in Romans. Yes, how important it is to have what God requires. That 191 00:24:34,869 --> 00:24:40,329 is his righteousness, and it's acquired not by works. You cannot work for this because your works 192 00:24:40,329 --> 00:24:48,329 are as filthy rags, as Isaiah says. No, the good news is he has told us what it is. It is revealed to 193 00:24:48,329 --> 00:24:56,470 us. So let us first make sure it is ours, right? Like the proverbial oxygen mask in a burning building 194 00:24:56,470 --> 00:25:02,930 or in a gas attack, right? And then let's tell others about it too, because that is indeed what 195 00:25:02,930 --> 00:25:10,589 we need. On the last day, you will be required to have God's righteousness, and you can acquire it now 196 00:25:10,589 --> 00:25:19,410 by faith, by confessing Christ as your Savior and pleading with him indeed to endow you with his 197 00:25:19,410 --> 00:25:26,470 righteousness purchased at the cross for you. His righteousness can be yours so that on the last day 198 00:25:26,470 --> 00:25:32,829 you will stand in perfect, glistening righteousness of Christ. This is yours. Tell others and believe it 199 00:25:32,829 --> 00:25:39,990 yourself. This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and I want to 200 00:25:39,990 --> 00:25:49,049 invite you again to join us for our Community Bible Study on Revelation. And we meet on Thursdays for that 201 00:25:49,049 --> 00:25:55,150 at 7 p.m. at Leo's Place. It's been a great time of fellowship, and we've discussed the book of 202 00:25:55,150 --> 00:26:01,369 Revelation, beloved by so many, and perhaps you will gain a perspective on it that you may not have had 203 00:26:01,369 --> 00:26:10,789 before. That's 7 o'clock for the Community Bible Study on Revelation, 7 p.m. at Leo's Place. Come and 204 00:26:10,789 --> 00:26:17,049 join us. We look forward to meeting you. Also, New Geneva Meets for Holy Worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. 205 00:26:17,250 --> 00:26:22,309 at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. Perhaps you've been thinking about crossing our 206 00:26:22,309 --> 00:26:29,369 threshold. Come and see us. Come and visit us, and we'll be glad to meet you. You'll find a friendly 207 00:26:29,369 --> 00:26:37,390 reception at New Geneva on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. 208 00:26:37,390 --> 00:26:49,509 For more information, you can call us at 208-523-0196. Area code 208-523-0196.