clare I unto you."
And he set him forth in a rational light. He told them about God's
righteousness. He told them that God had appointed a day in which he
would judge the world in RIGHTEOUSNESS by that man whom he hath
ordained, and of whom he hath given assurance or proof unto all men in
that he hath raised him from the dead. This man was Jesus Christ the
Lord. Here, also, he spoke of a JUDGMENT to come. And it becomes a
thing self-evident that a judgment to come is the main fact upon which
all moral and religious truth depends for its power over the hearts
and lives of men. Take away from man all fear of accountability in a
future state, and his bestial appetites assert their sway. "Let us eat
and drink, for to-morrow we die" gives loose rein to every passion,
and lust holds high carnival.

For our instruction here, it may be well to speak upon the subject of
_righteousness_. What is it? Righteousness is obedience to law. This
is its most general meaning. This is its human sense. In its divine
sense it is obedience to the laws of God. Wherein the laws of men
depart from the laws of God obedience to their laws is disobedience to
God's laws. Here arises a conflict in which each individual may decide
for himself which he will do, the will of men or the will of God. The
decision of the apostles was "to obey God rather than men." By this
obedience they stood righteous in the eyes of God. To be sinners in
the sight of men gave them no distress, so long as they felt sure of
being righteous in the sight of God.

Jesus is called Christ the righteous. He is set forth in the Word as
the only example of perfect righteousness the world has ever had, for
"he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." He challenged
the Jews with the question: "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" They
could bring up no charge. Sin is the opposite of righteousness. It is
sin, or the love of sin, which is impersonated by our Lord in Matt.
10:28 as a monster of awful power: "And be not afraid of them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." The version of
the same matter as given by Luke is terribly sublime: "Fear him, which
after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto
you, Fear him." Brethren and friends, this is the only power we have
real cause to be afraid of, and this is the enemy of all
righteousness. And this enemy is right in