The righteous

“ But where is the righteous person thus scourged, judged, and recompensed? On the earth, even in this life, and in the world. The earth is not that seat which the Lord hath properly appointed for judgment or vengeance, neither is this life the day of the great assize; yet rather than sin shall be unpunished, yea, even in the elect, the Lord will keep a petty sessions in this life, and make the earth a house of correction.—Muffet.
The righteous are under the discipline though not under the curse, of the rod.—Bridges. ”

“ The righteousness of God, the infinite rectitude and perfection of his nature. As he is what he is, so he is what he should be, and in every thing acts as becomes him; there is nothing wanting, nothing amiss, in God; his will is the eternal rule of equity, and he is righteous, for he does all according to it. 2. The righteousness of his government. He rules the world by his providence, according to the principles of justice, and never did, nor ever can do, any wrong to any of his creatures: Upright are thy judgments, the promises and threatenings and the executions of both. ”

“ Here are the two classes—the righteous and the unrighteous, and the righteous must be prepared by suffering and by rendering strict obedience to the commandments of heaven. It seems to be absolutely necessary in the providence of Him who created us, and who organized and fashioned all things according to his wisdom, that man must descend below all things. ”

“ Many times the righteous are recompensed for their righteousness here in the earth, though that is not the principal, much less the only reward either intended for them or intended by them; but whatever the word of God has promised them, or the wisdom of God sees good for them, they shall have in the earth. The wicked also, and the sinner, are sometimes remarkably punished in this life, nations, families, particular persons. ”

“ He will judge righteous judgment (v. 5) : Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins. He shall be righteous in the administration of his government, and his righteousness shall be his girdle; it shall constantly compass him and cleave to him, shall be his ornament and honour; he shall gird himself for every action, shall gird on his sword for war in righteousness; his righteousness shall be his strength, and shall make him expeditious in his undertakings, as a man with his loins girt. ”

“ Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the [pg 521] wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. ”

“ Standing, therefore, between these, and being neither good nor bad nor unjust, he can be called righteous in a sense proper to him, as the judge of the righteousness that corresponds to him, and that god will be lower than the perfect God, and his righteousness lower than His, because he is begotten and not unbegotten. ”

“ This tells us what the desire and expectation of the righteous and of the wicked are and how they will prove, what they would have and what they shall have. 1. The righteous would have good, only good; all they desire is that it may go well with all about them; they wish no hurt to any, but happiness to all; as to themselves, their desire is not to gratify any evil lust, but to obtain the favour of a good God and to preserve the peace of a good conscience; and good they shall have, that good which they desire, Ps. xxxvii. 4. 2. The wicked would have wrath ”

“ For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
18. Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. ”

“ Now, therefore, may neither I myself be righteous among men, nor my son — for then it is a bad thing to be righteous — if indeed the unrighteous shall have the greater right. ”

“ If it be true, that, in general terms, the righteous are shields and sources of blessing to the unholy, it is still more distinctly true that they have access to God's secret place with petitions for others as well as for themselves. ”

“ The righteous, in authority, encourage and countenance the good, relieve the oppressed, 'break the jaws of the wicked, and pluck the spoil out of their teeth,' Job 29. 17. and by their justice and temperance, and reverence to God and to holy things, bring religion and virtue into more esteem, and do as much as in them lies to convert sinners. However, they are such a check and restraint upon them, that their wicked disposition cannot so openly and boldly discover itself as it would if they were let alone, both in doing wrong, and enticing others to the same sins which they commit. ”

“ If any of our people are found mixed up with these iniquities, let them be dealt with as the law of God directs, and let them be purged from our midst. Let righteousness, truth and integrity be maintained, and let God be honored and let the Gospel be sustained and the law of God upheld, and He will stand by the righteous. ”

“ The righteous, on the contrary, make no show; they lie hid, like a foundation, which is low and out of sight, but they are fixed in their resolution to cleave to God, established in virtue, and they shall be an everlasting foundation, immovably good. ”

“ And when the wicked rise, the righteous is hidden, and when they bear rule, the people mourneth, but when righteous men are in authority, the people do rejoice, and when the righteous rejoiceth, there is great glory, Ps. ”

“ The general respect he has for justice and equity: God judgeth the righteous; he owns every righteous cause, and will maintain it in every righteous man, and will protect him. God is a righteous Judge (so some read it) , who not only doeth righteousness himself, but will take care that righteousness be done by the children of men and will avenge and punish all unrighteousness. ”

“ The righteous Lord loveth righteousness. Sometimes for his rectoral equity, or distributive justice, which he exerciseth in the government of the world, rewarding the good, and punishing evil-doers, Psal. ”

“ He that is holy, infinitely holy, shall be sanctified (that is, shall be owned and declared to be holy) in the righteous punishment of proud men. Note, When proud men are humbled the great God is honoured, and ought to be honoured by us. ”

“ If the righteous man commit sin, his righteousness shall be forgotten.——Many, who by their profession appeared to be advancing, have quit their duty ere Christ hath come, and they will be dealt with as them who minted at duty, Psalm cxxv. ”

“ Thou art a Righteous, and a Terrible God. It is a Righteous and an Holy Law that thou hast given unto us. To break that Good Law, and Sin against thy Infinite Majesty, can be no little Evil. Thy Word is always True ”

“ The calamities of the righteous are preparing them for their future blessedness, and the wicked, while their days are prolonged, are but ripening for ruin. There is a judgment to come, which will rectify this seeming irregularity, to the glory of God and the full satisfaction of all his people, and we must wait with patience till then. ”

“ To acknowledge this, then, both with our heart and lips, that is, to disclaim our own righteousness, "the righteousness which is of the law," is to act according to the real nature of things, and, consequently, is an instance of true wisdom. ”

“ That the righteous shall not be as the wicked, v. 25. Though they may suffer with them, yet they do not suffer like them. Common calamities are quite another thing to the righteous than what they are to the wicked, Isa. ”

“ he that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous.' Christ is our righteousness, not that we should escape punishment, still less escape being righteous, but as the live potent creator of righteousness in us, so that we, with our wills receiving his spirit, shall like him resist unto blood, striving against sin; ”

“ He does us no wrong in dealing thus with us, nor can we charge him with any injustice in it; how unrighteous soever men are, we are sure that the Lord is righteous, and manifests his justice, though they contradict all the laws of theirs. ”

“ Righteousnesse also is put either for some one individuall righteous act, done after a manner pleasing and acceptable unto God, which is called the righteousnesse of the fact, or it is put for universall righteousnesse, which is either the matter of justification, or at least the thing required on our part to justification, and is called the righteousnesse of the person: which latter is here to be understood, as is more at large to be shewed hereafter. ”

“ But, irrespective of the miseries which in this life are common to the good and bad, the righteous undergo labours peculiar to themselves, in so far as they make war upon their vices, and are involved in the temptations and perils of such a contest. ”

“ As one that is employed for God to pursue his designs and secure and advance the interests of his glory. "He is my righteous servant, and as such justifies men." God has authorized and appointed him to do it; it is according to God's will and for his honour that he does it. He is himself righteous, and of his righteousness have all we received. He that is himself righteous (for he could not have made atonement for our sin if he had had any sin of his own to answer for) is made of God to us righteousness, the Lord our righteousness. ”

“ I demand of you a righteousness that shall exceed the righteousness of those who seek to obtain the Father's favor by almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. If you would enter the kingdom, you must have a righteousness that consists in love, mercy, and truth—the sincere desire to do the will of my Father in heaven. ”

“ The 18th, the first of the week, we attended the meeting at this place, which was large, composed of Friends and others. I was led to open the great advantages attendant on a life of righteousness, from that scripture passage, “Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people;” and showing the difference between a righteousness, founded on the laws, maxims, and precepts of men, and the righteousness that is witnessed by faith in the Son of God, as revealed to the hearts and souls of the children of men through the holy spirit. ”

“ This is the description of all those that are interested in this privilege—they act from spiritual and not from carnal principles; as for others, the righteousness of the law will be fulfilled upon them in their ruin. ”

“ In the eighteenth article they confess the power of the Free Will—viz. that it has the power to work a civil righteousness, but that it has not, without the Holy Ghost, the virtue to work the righteousness of God. ”

“ The perpetuity of righteousness; but establish the just. As we pray that the bad maybe made good, so we pray that the good may be made better, that they may not be seduced by the wiles of the wicked, nor shocked by their malice; that they may be confirmed in their choice of the ways of God, and in their resolution to persevere therein; may be firm to the interests of God and religion, and zealous in their endeavours to bring the wickedness of the wicked to an end. His plea to enforce this petition is, For the righteous God trieth the hearts and the reins ”

“ IX. I believe, that the matter of the Sinners’ justification before a holy God, is the righteousness of Christ imputed to them; which is, his perfect, spotless obedience to the law, in their room and stead, without the consideration of any works done by them ”

“ I have been told that Your Excellency follows the teachings of Jesus (PBUH) , and believes in the divine promise of the rule of the righteous on Earth. ”

“ Because, instead of seeking God’s righteousness, and saying to themselves, ‘How shall we be righteous, even as our Heavenly Father is righteous, and how shall we teach this great people to be righteous likewise?’ they have sought their own pleasure, and lived in profligacy, covetous and cheating almost beyond belief ”

“ This may serve to refute the Papists and others, who as soone as they reade that any one is called righteous in the Scriptures, presently conclude that a man may fulfill the whole law, and stand upon his own merits before God.
2. To comfort the godly, who sometimes fall through infirmity. For if they continually labour to please God, God in mercy accounts them righteous. ”

“ It is true, some who plead for justification by our own righteousness, allege these scriptures as a proof of it, without distinguishing between the justification of our persons in the sight of God, and the justification of our righteous cause; or our being justified when accused at God’s tribunal, and our being justified, or vindicated from those charges that are brought against us at man’s. ”

“ We must first see the righteousness of God condemning, and then the righteousness of God justifying will appear worthy of all acceptation. ”

“ Acknowledging the righteousness of divine judgment upon ourselves and others for manifold violations of God's law and breaches of our own and our fathers' solemn vows in our domestic, ecclesiastical and civil relations; we desire to humble ourselves before God for these sins, and for others not contained in this enumeration. ”