========================================================================
  THAT PRECIOUS RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ANOTHER
  by Horatius Bonar
========================================================================

Summary: True religion is not just a doctrine or profession, but a
living relationship with a God who fills the heart and pervades the man.

Topics: "Faith", "Righteousness of God"
Scripture References: Isaiah 61:10, Matthew 5:6, John 15:5, Romans 1:17, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 3:9, Hebrews 11:35, 1 John 5:4

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Horatius Bonar emphasizes the necessity of genuine faith and the
righteousness of God in true religion, contrasting it with the
superficiality of contemporary religious practices. He argues that
without a deep, personal relationship with God, religion becomes hollow
and ineffective, leaving individuals unfulfilled despite outward
appearances of piety. Bonar highlights that true spiritual health comes
from understanding one's relationship with God, which empowers believers
to face challenges and perform great deeds in the church. He asserts
that faith is the foundation of the Christian life, from justification
to victory, culminating in the ultimate reward of righteousness through
Christ. The sermon calls for a return to the authentic, transformative
power of faith in God.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Religion is fashionable in our age. But is it that which sprang up,
after centuries of darkness, among our fathers in Europe? Is it that of
apostles and prophets? Is it the calm yet thorough religion which did
such great deeds in other days? Has it gone deep into the conscience?
Has it filled the heart? Has it pervaded the man? Or has it left the
conscience unpacified, the heart unfilled, the man unchanged, save with
some external appliances of religiousness, which leaves him hollow as
before? There is at this moment many an aching spirit, bitterly
conscious of this hollowness. The doctrine, the profession, the good
report of others, the bustle of work, will not fill the soul. God
Himself must be there, with His covering righteousness, His cleansing
blood, His quickening Spirit. Without this, religion is but a shell:
holy services are dull and irksome. Joy in God, which is the soul and
essence of worship, is unknown. Sacraments, prayer-meetings, religious
services, labours of charity, will not make up for the living God.

Men with their feet firmly set on Luther's rock, "the righteousness of
God," filled with the Spirit, and pervaded with the peace of God, do the
great things in the church; others do the little. The men of robust
spiritual health are they who, like Luther, have made sure of their
filial relationship to God. They shrink from no battle, nor succumb to
any toil. The men who go to work with an unascertained relationship give
way in the warfare, and faint under the labour: their life is not
perhaps a failure or defeat; but it is not a victory, it is not a
triumph...

...By faith we choose affliction with the people of God, and despise
Egypt's treasures. By faith we keep our passover; pass through the Red
Sea; overthrow Jerichos; subdue kingdoms; work righteousness; stop the
mouth of lions; quench the violence of fire; turn to flight the armies
of the aliens, and refuse deliverance in the day of trial, that we may
obtain a better resurrection (Hebrews 11:35).

It is "believing" from first to last. We begin, we go on, we end in
faith. The faith that justifies is the faith that overcomes (1 John
5:4). By faith we obtain the "good report" both with God and man. By
faith we receive forgiveness; by faith we live; by faith we work, and
endure, and suffer; by faith we win the crown,--a crown of
righteousness, which shall be ours in the day of the appearing of Him
who is OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

-Taken from The Everlasting Righteousness by Horatius Bonar, 1873.

========================================================================
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/horatius-bonar/that-precious-righteousness-of-another/
========================================================================