1 00:00:00,100 --> 00:00:05,500 So given that my name is Mandy. I am on staff here at reality 2 00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:08,700 and have the privilege of sharing from God's word with 3 00:00:08,700 --> 00:00:09,700 you. This morning. 4 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:12,900 Hopefully, everyone will have Grace towards me. 5 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:16,100 If like you the daylight savings is kind of impacted my energy 6 00:00:16,100 --> 00:00:19,700 level but we're just gonna lean into the Holy Spirit and trust 7 00:00:19,700 --> 00:00:21,500 that God wants to speak to us this morning. 8 00:00:22,700 --> 00:00:25,200 So yeah, the Beatitudes this has been ton of fun. 9 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,800 We are now halfway through our series. 10 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,300 It's this collection of of the bad attitude are this collection 11 00:00:31,300 --> 00:00:34,300 of as a one author calls, it, Soulful riddles. 12 00:00:34,300 --> 00:00:38,000 I really like that phrasing that are put forward by Jesus at the 13 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,900 beginning of his most famous teaching, The Sermon on the 14 00:00:40,900 --> 00:00:43,800 Mount and the Beatitudes are likely going to capture our 15 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,200 attention. If we have ever wanted our lives 16 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,500 to be hashtag blessed, that's the hook at the beginning. 17 00:00:50,500 --> 00:00:53,900 Of each of these sayings. The word makarios in Greek which 18 00:00:53,900 --> 00:00:59,300 means blessed, happy fortunate, the poet, Elizabeth, Rundle 19 00:00:59,300 --> 00:01:02,800 Charles. Described makarios as a heart in 20 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:07,600 harmony with itself, a trust content satisfied. 21 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,100 Full of all the music of which the human hearts, are capable, 22 00:01:11,500 --> 00:01:12,100 isn't it? Lovely? 23 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:17,300 I really like that idea of true contentment a heart at rest. 24 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:22,400 A soul that is satisfied, a blessed life and to some degree 25 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:24,100 I would say that that's what I was looking for. 26 00:01:24,100 --> 00:01:27,000 When I started reading the Bible for the first time at the age of 27 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:31,200 19, I was longing for guidance on How to live my life in a way 28 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,000 that would lead to flourishing and not damage or 29 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,100 disappointment. And I was trying to make sense 30 00:01:36,100 --> 00:01:38,900 of these competing voices in the world, telling me what to pursue 31 00:01:39,100 --> 00:01:41,400 Each of, which seemed to contradict the others. 32 00:01:41,900 --> 00:01:45,000 I was looking for truth, but I was also just looking for a way 33 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:49,100 to calm the anxiety inside me that feared taking a wrong turn 34 00:01:49,100 --> 00:01:53,300 and wasting my life. So a lot of you know me, you 35 00:01:53,300 --> 00:01:56,000 know this my story but I started when I started college, I wasn't 36 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,100 a Christian. I actually hadn't been raised to 37 00:01:58,107 --> 00:01:59,800 follow any particular religion or ideology. 38 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,800 Balaji. So when I was suddenly sent out 39 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:06,000 into the world as an adult free to pick any path, I chose it 40 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,100 struck me that they didn't seem to be any way to know what the 41 00:02:08,100 --> 00:02:10,699 right path was, until you actually walked it. 42 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,500 And I found that to be terrifying, but the only 43 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:17,500 alternative is to try to figure out which voices I could trust. 44 00:02:17,700 --> 00:02:20,100 And I thought, if I could just look more deeply into another 45 00:02:20,100 --> 00:02:22,700 person's life and see what it actually looked like, to follow 46 00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:25,600 the path that they were recommending, maybe I could see 47 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,900 down that path. Far enough to predict where it 48 00:02:27,908 --> 00:02:29,800 was actually leading and make a good decision. 49 00:02:29,900 --> 00:02:33,100 And so, one thing I found compelling about the Bible is 50 00:02:33,100 --> 00:02:36,600 that it's biographical the gospels in particular Center, on 51 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:41,300 a person who is the Son of God, the Divine being incarnate, the 52 00:02:41,300 --> 00:02:45,600 Savior, the Christ and me to watch him live out. 53 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,900 The ideology that the beliefs, the the faith that was named 54 00:02:48,900 --> 00:02:52,200 after him Christianity. So in the gospel of Matthew, 55 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,800 which is what we're in today, chapter four marks, the 56 00:02:54,808 --> 00:02:57,700 beginning of Jesus ministry, as he begins, proclaiming, the 57 00:02:57,700 --> 00:03:00,900 gospel of the kingdom and healing every Disease and every 58 00:03:00,900 --> 00:03:05,500 Affliction among the people at their core, the people of Israel 59 00:03:05,500 --> 00:03:09,300 listening to Jesus message. One of the same thing that we do 60 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:12,800 a life of blessing, and they saw in Jesus, something 61 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:17,600 extraordinary, his words are compelling and their follow up 62 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,300 with action. He doesn't merely preach an 63 00:03:20,300 --> 00:03:22,900 abstract concept of God in heaven. 64 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,500 He brings God and Heaven here to Earth. 65 00:03:27,100 --> 00:03:30,300 He heals the sick, he liberates. Those oppressed by Demons. 66 00:03:30,300 --> 00:03:31,900 He causes paralytics to walk again. 67 00:03:31,900 --> 00:03:34,600 And as the people see this, they find themselves thinking, if 68 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,200 anyone can help us move toward a better life and a better world. 69 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,100 It's got to be him. You've never seen anything like 70 00:03:41,100 --> 00:03:44,100 this. So as we turn to Matthew Chapter 71 00:03:44,100 --> 00:03:47,500 5, Jesus is already surrounded by crowds of people. 72 00:03:47,700 --> 00:03:49,300 And so, he sits down to teach them. 73 00:03:49,900 --> 00:03:54,400 And the first thing Jesus says, is a complete reversal of 74 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:56,700 everything. His listeners associate with the 75 00:03:56,708 --> 00:04:00,000 good life. He speaks blessing not over 76 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:04,200 those who are like the religious Elite but over the poor in 77 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:08,500 spirit, he speaks blessing, not over those living in comfort and 78 00:04:08,500 --> 00:04:12,100 ease. But over those who mourn, and he 79 00:04:12,100 --> 00:04:15,000 speaks blessing Not Over The Bold and The Powerful, but over 80 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,700 the meek So the Beatitudes kind of subvert our expectations by 81 00:04:19,700 --> 00:04:21,899 giving the kingdom of God and all of its richness to the 82 00:04:21,899 --> 00:04:26,000 people that society would least expect and Jesus's teachings 83 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:27,800 function like a kind of reset button. 84 00:04:28,100 --> 00:04:31,200 We realized that if what he's saying is true, we must not 85 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:32,800 understand the blessed life at all. 86 00:04:33,700 --> 00:04:36,900 His word should stir up a curiosity about these blessings, 87 00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:40,200 what they mean for our lives and the type of Kingdom that Jesus 88 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,500 is announcing. So Dallas Willard, Christian, 89 00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:47,000 philosopher and author had this insight about the attitudes. 90 00:04:47,100 --> 00:04:50,900 He says that the Beatitudes, served to clarify, Jesus 91 00:04:50,900 --> 00:04:55,700 fundamental message, which is that the free availability of 92 00:04:55,700 --> 00:04:59,500 God's rule in righteousness, to all of humanity, through 93 00:04:59,500 --> 00:05:03,600 Reliance Upon Jesus himself. And the Beatitudes do this, 94 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,500 simply by taking those who from the human point of view are 95 00:05:07,500 --> 00:05:11,300 regarded as most hopeless. Most beyond all possibility of 96 00:05:11,300 --> 00:05:15,700 God's blessing or even interest and exhibiting them as enjoying 97 00:05:15,700 --> 00:05:17,800 God's touch. Abundant provision from the 98 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,200 heavens, the religious system of his day. 99 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,500 Left the multitudes out but Jesus welcomed them all into his 100 00:05:24,500 --> 00:05:27,400 kingdom. Anyone could come as well as any 101 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,300 other and they still can that is the gospel of the Beatitudes. 102 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,700 So as we begin this conversation about the Beatitudes we need to 103 00:05:34,700 --> 00:05:38,100 remember that we're not just talking about rules and virtues 104 00:05:38,100 --> 00:05:40,200 in the pathway to blessing. We were talking about a 105 00:05:40,207 --> 00:05:44,600 revolution in which God the king of creation comes to reclaim his 106 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,900 throne and he cast a vision for Russ about what his kingdom will 107 00:05:47,900 --> 00:05:49,800 look like. And who will be invited to his 108 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,200 table and the question for us will be? 109 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,300 Do we want in? Do we want to see his Kingdom? 110 00:05:55,300 --> 00:05:57,500 Come On Earth as it is in heaven. 111 00:05:58,300 --> 00:06:01,500 So as we ponder that, let me pray for us for a start. 112 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:08,600 Jesus, we come to, you wanting to learn your ways. 113 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,900 God, we come to, you wanting to understand more about who you 114 00:06:11,900 --> 00:06:16,700 are, wanting to understand more about your kingdom, wanting to 115 00:06:16,700 --> 00:06:19,700 be shaved by you. Lord, I pray that today. 116 00:06:19,700 --> 00:06:22,200 No matter what, we've come in here with whether we're feeling 117 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,500 tired or full of energy, if we're feeling burdened, if we 118 00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:29,900 have questions on our minds, if we are asking ourselves, if we 119 00:06:29,900 --> 00:06:32,800 want to follow you God, regardless of where we are right 120 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,200 now, we just Pray that you would speak to us and that you would 121 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,800 show us more of yourself. Lord God, we pray that your word 122 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,500 become a life to us. We pray that your spirit would 123 00:06:41,500 --> 00:06:44,800 be tangibly present with us. We pray that this would be a 124 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,100 space where we are able to encounter you and be stirred up 125 00:06:48,100 --> 00:06:51,800 to remember why, why it is that we can come together and Worship 126 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:53,100 You? Lord, that we would see you for 127 00:06:53,100 --> 00:06:55,500 all your goodness and righteousness and Beauty today. 128 00:06:56,100 --> 00:06:58,300 I pray these things in Jesus name, amen. 129 00:06:59,900 --> 00:07:05,100 So the P attitude that we're focused on today is Matthew 5, 130 00:07:05,100 --> 00:07:07,700 6. Blessed are those who hunger and 131 00:07:07,700 --> 00:07:11,100 thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. 132 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,500 So, when I was assigned this verse to teach on, I was nervous 133 00:07:14,500 --> 00:07:18,100 about it because I have so many questions about it, and I still 134 00:07:18,100 --> 00:07:21,000 do so congratulations. You get to join me an unpacking, 135 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,500 these questions and looking to see what God's word might have 136 00:07:23,500 --> 00:07:25,900 to say about them. Even my main sermon points are 137 00:07:25,900 --> 00:07:27,300 questions and I have three of them. 138 00:07:27,300 --> 00:07:31,900 So first what exactly is righteousness? 139 00:07:32,900 --> 00:07:37,000 Second, why are those who hunger and thirst for it? 140 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,200 Blessed and third. What does it mean that we will 141 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,600 be satisfied or filled as some translations say? 142 00:07:44,500 --> 00:07:47,900 So first Big Kahuna. What is righteousness? 143 00:07:48,300 --> 00:07:50,900 Since question is important for readers of the Bible because the 144 00:07:50,900 --> 00:07:55,900 word righteousness appears in the English Bible 277 times. 145 00:07:56,300 --> 00:08:03,100 I'll pause to let that sink in 277 times, which means It, 146 00:08:03,100 --> 00:08:07,600 outranks mercy and Justice in terms of frequency and it almost 147 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,800 outranks Faith, which is mentioned 278 times. 148 00:08:11,900 --> 00:08:14,900 So both the Greek and the Hebrew word that we translate as 149 00:08:14,900 --> 00:08:18,800 righteousness imply being right. In a moral sense like walking on 150 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,700 a straight path. So one who is righteous is 151 00:08:21,700 --> 00:08:25,000 truthful? Ethical, just Equitable. 152 00:08:25,100 --> 00:08:29,000 Holy some authors Define righteousness as the perfect 153 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:34,200 Holiness of Christ moral Purity or to act in keeping what with 154 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:40,100 what is right and just So coming up with a nice pithy definition 155 00:08:40,100 --> 00:08:43,799 is one thing, actually imagining what it looks like to live. 156 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:48,700 This out is completely different because we as Humanity can't 157 00:08:48,700 --> 00:08:52,900 seem to agree on what constitutes truth, justice and 158 00:08:52,900 --> 00:08:55,300 morality. And even if we agree that these 159 00:08:55,300 --> 00:08:58,100 things were worth pursuing, we would all likely set off on 160 00:08:58,100 --> 00:09:02,000 somewhat different paths. So in theory, the church should 161 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,800 have a shared golden standard for what it looks like to live a 162 00:09:04,808 --> 00:09:07,000 righteous life, but we seem to struggle as much. 163 00:09:07,100 --> 00:09:10,300 Is anyone in my lifetime? The church has not always had a 164 00:09:10,300 --> 00:09:14,200 reputation for being righteous unless you add the prefix self 165 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,500 to the front, which changes the definition and not in a good 166 00:09:17,500 --> 00:09:23,200 way, religious people for religious people in particular, 167 00:09:23,900 --> 00:09:27,000 there seems to be a slippery slope leading into 168 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,900 self-righteousness. So this week, I stumbled upon 169 00:09:29,900 --> 00:09:34,700 this article in Psychology today of all places that attempts to 170 00:09:34,700 --> 00:09:37,100 distinguish between righteousness and If 171 00:09:37,100 --> 00:09:38,900 righteousness and I thought was interesting because even though 172 00:09:38,908 --> 00:09:41,700 it's a secular article, the author actually chose to begin 173 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:44,500 by exploring the perspective of religion on these topics. 174 00:09:44,700 --> 00:09:47,400 So it's fascinating. So the article says, biblically 175 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:51,900 speaking righteousness is about being in right standing with God 176 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,700 versus self righteousness, which is giving final Authority for 177 00:09:56,700 --> 00:10:00,200 one's decisions. Not to God, but to oneself. 178 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,600 So self-righteousness becomes paradoxically a kind of self 179 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:09,000 trusting sacrilege the Person isn't serving God's will, but 180 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,100 profaning, God by serving or taking vinyl direction from 181 00:10:12,100 --> 00:10:15,800 themselves? So when I read that I was like 182 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,600 oh that stings a little, the tendency to take direction from 183 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,500 ourselves to give final Authority for decisions to 184 00:10:22,500 --> 00:10:25,200 ourselves. So way to relatable, 185 00:10:26,100 --> 00:10:30,900 self-righteousness sets our very selves up as Rivals to God. 186 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,300 And the trouble for Humanity is that are longing for 187 00:10:33,300 --> 00:10:36,200 righteousness on the one hand and our propensity towards 188 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:38,200 unrighteousness in self-righteousness. 189 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:41,000 On the other hand are intermixed inside of us in ways that are 190 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,200 really hard to untangle most times humans often. 191 00:10:44,300 --> 00:10:47,600 Make kind of poor measuring sticks for what righteousness 192 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:52,100 actually looks like. With one exception, Jesus has 193 00:10:52,100 --> 00:10:56,700 the benefit of being both human and divine free from sin. 194 00:10:57,300 --> 00:11:00,600 So when he speaks on the topic of righteousness, it's time to 195 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,700 listen closely. So Mom, Jesus is mentioned of 196 00:11:04,700 --> 00:11:07,400 righteousness. One, Parable stood out to me 197 00:11:08,100 --> 00:11:11,100 from Luke 18 and now I was, I was biased and choosing this one 198 00:11:11,100 --> 00:11:13,500 because I already love this story so much that I've actually 199 00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:16,100 been excited. Share it with you, it's so good. 200 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:18,400 So if you recognize it, if you know it just pretend that you 201 00:11:18,408 --> 00:11:20,800 don't for a moment so you can actually hear it a fresh. 202 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:26,200 But it's about a Pharisee and the tax collector and a Pharisee 203 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:30,600 is a member of a strict devout Jewish religious sect and a tax 204 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:33,600 collector is basically the poster child for betraying, your 205 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,300 nation for personal gain. So that's what we're dealing 206 00:11:36,300 --> 00:11:40,100 with here. But the passage says that Jesus 207 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:44,600 told this, Parable to some who trusted in themselves, Elves 208 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,400 that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. 209 00:11:49,100 --> 00:11:54,300 So goes like, this, two men went up to the temple, to pray, one, 210 00:11:54,300 --> 00:11:58,600 a Pharisee and the other a tax collector, the Pharisee standing 211 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,000 by himself prayed. Thus God, I thank you that. 212 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:08,000 I'm not like other men, extortioners unjust adulterers 213 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:12,200 or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. 214 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:14,800 I give tithes of all that. I Get. 215 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:20,500 But the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up 216 00:12:20,500 --> 00:12:26,100 his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, God, be merciful 217 00:12:26,100 --> 00:12:31,300 to me a sinner. They tell you this man went down 218 00:12:31,300 --> 00:12:35,800 to his house Justified, rather than the other for everyone who 219 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:40,200 exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself 220 00:12:40,500 --> 00:12:47,000 will be exalted So, once again, Jesus is inverting the expected 221 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,100 order of things because the listeners expect the Pharisee to 222 00:12:50,100 --> 00:12:53,200 be elevated and praise to be in the right spiritual posture. 223 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,500 But instead the person who is praised is the tax collector, 224 00:12:56,700 --> 00:12:59,600 the one who is despised by society and assumed to be 225 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,100 unrighteous and I want to point out this one phrase so the tax 226 00:13:03,100 --> 00:13:07,000 collector it says went down to his house Justified. 227 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,100 So do you know what the text actually says the Greek word 228 00:13:10,100 --> 00:13:13,000 translated Justified is de gallo. 229 00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:18,300 O Greek, which is the verb form of the word righteous. 230 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,000 So another way of saying this is that the tax collector was 231 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:27,700 rendered righteous. How well the reveal is given at 232 00:13:27,700 --> 00:13:31,300 the end of the parable, everyone who exalts himself will be 233 00:13:31,300 --> 00:13:37,300 humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted So the 234 00:13:37,300 --> 00:13:42,300 righteous are not the ones who think they have all arrived 235 00:13:42,300 --> 00:13:45,900 spiritually, the ones who think they've figured out how to play 236 00:13:45,900 --> 00:13:50,800 the game and win brownie points with God, the righteous based on 237 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,500 this. Parable are those who repent. 238 00:13:55,100 --> 00:13:58,300 Is that what you think of when you think of righteousness? 239 00:13:59,300 --> 00:14:01,900 It's not what I think of first. I was very surprised to make 240 00:14:01,900 --> 00:14:02,900 this discovery. I'll say it again. 241 00:14:02,900 --> 00:14:06,400 It's so surprising. Those who are counted as 242 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:11,500 righteous by God, are those who repent, who humble themselves 243 00:14:11,500 --> 00:14:15,300 before God, who are willing to be set right with God and so 244 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:20,200 call upon his mercy, God be merciful to me a sinner. 245 00:14:21,500 --> 00:14:22,900 This Revelation actually gave me chills. 246 00:14:22,900 --> 00:14:25,900 When I was reading these things because this is not, this is not 247 00:14:25,900 --> 00:14:29,300 the wisdom of the world and it's not even the wisdom of most 248 00:14:29,300 --> 00:14:32,100 religious ideology, but it is the wisdom of Jesus. 249 00:14:33,100 --> 00:14:35,600 And so we need to know more about the surprising teaching. 250 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,800 So let's turn to the Apostle. Paul, who is an Ardent follower 251 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,900 of Jesus because Paul talks about righteousness in an 252 00:14:41,900 --> 00:14:45,600 unexpected way, Paul has this obsession with a connection 253 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,100 between righteousness and faith. And we see that especially in 254 00:14:49,108 --> 00:14:51,100 the Book of Romans. So here are just a few examples. 255 00:14:51,300 --> 00:14:55,000 Romans chapter 1. For, in the gospel, the 256 00:14:55,000 --> 00:15:00,000 righteousness of God is revealed a righteousness that is by faith 257 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,100 From First to Last. Just as it is written, the 258 00:15:03,100 --> 00:15:08,600 righteous will live by faith. Romans 3, but now the 259 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,700 righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, 260 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,100 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. 261 00:15:15,100 --> 00:15:21,900 For all who believe Romans for what the scriptures say, Abraham 262 00:15:21,900 --> 00:15:25,600 believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. 263 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:28,900 Now to the one who works his wages are not counted as a gift, 264 00:15:28,900 --> 00:15:32,900 but as his due and to the one who does not work, but believes 265 00:15:32,900 --> 00:15:37,100 in him, who justifies the ungodly, his faith is Is counted 266 00:15:37,100 --> 00:15:40,400 as righteousness. So this is not the end of the 267 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,000 list. But again, and again, Paul 268 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,500 connects righteousness with faith with belief, with the 269 00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:49,400 gospel of grace, and I think this highlights for us kind of 270 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:53,000 this hidden trap, which is that the tricky thing, is that it is 271 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:57,500 so easy to let righteousness become about rules alone, but 272 00:15:57,500 --> 00:16:00,600 righteousness is not in the law itself, although good laws 273 00:16:00,700 --> 00:16:04,000 should reflect and steer us towards a righteous living. 274 00:16:04,100 --> 00:16:06,800 But when we talk about true righteousness, We are talking 275 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:11,400 about a person righteousness is in God himself. 276 00:16:11,500 --> 00:16:15,900 He defines it, he embodies it. Jesus himself is how we know 277 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:21,000 what righteousness actually is. And for Christians, Jesus is our 278 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:22,800 righteousness. That's how the Bible talks 279 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,100 about. He is our righteousness and that 280 00:16:25,100 --> 00:16:27,900 is a major point for Paul that he's trying to emphasize for us 281 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,700 as a former Pharisee. If we divorce righteousness from 282 00:16:32,700 --> 00:16:37,400 the person of God, it quickly becomes, shame or legalism. 283 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:41,300 We might even start out by defining a set of rules that are 284 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,200 inspired by Jesus and modeled after Jesus. 285 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,500 But then once we have those rules, it becomes tempting to 286 00:16:47,900 --> 00:16:51,000 act like the Goal is to live righteously on our own without 287 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,700 Jesus, but we write God out of the picture and we make it about 288 00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:00,100 our own performance, but the law, the guidelines me, which we 289 00:17:00,100 --> 00:17:02,300 live the values that govern our Behavior. 290 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,900 It's good. But laws are only guardrails. 291 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,800 They're not our savior. Jesus is and the righteousness 292 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,099 we receive through faith, belongs to him, becoming 293 00:17:13,099 --> 00:17:18,400 righteous is becoming like him. He is Equitable, just holy and 294 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:19,599 more. The pure. 295 00:17:19,700 --> 00:17:22,700 He's the only one who unfailingly acts and keeping 296 00:17:22,700 --> 00:17:26,599 with what is right and Faith turns us toward Jesus. 297 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:32,200 It leads us to submit to Jesus it teaches to love Jesus and the 298 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:34,900 righteousness that we receive through, faith is transformative 299 00:17:34,900 --> 00:17:39,700 because it brings who Jesus is the one righteous person alive 300 00:17:39,700 --> 00:17:42,700 in our hearts. And so we learn too long for him 301 00:17:43,100 --> 00:17:46,300 and for the goodness that we see in him and true. 302 00:17:46,300 --> 00:17:48,600 Righteousness is born from that longing for God. 303 00:17:48,700 --> 00:17:52,300 God himself and for a world that reflects who he is. 304 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,200 So that brings us to our second major question, which is what is 305 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,000 the significance of that? These words, hungering and 306 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,500 thirsting for righteousness? How is that connected to 307 00:18:02,500 --> 00:18:05,000 blessing? So what I find interesting about 308 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,800 Jesus's word choice, is that hunger and thirst are 309 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:12,300 instinctive longings. We need food, we need water and 310 00:18:12,300 --> 00:18:15,000 something inside of us aches when we don't get that 311 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:17,900 sustenance and reminds us to go out and seek it. 312 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,200 So in the Bible hunger is often also used metaphorically. 313 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:23,100 One commentary says that the hunger. 314 00:18:23,300 --> 00:18:28,700 Means to Crave ardently to seek with eager desire and a thirst 315 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:31,700 is so painfully. Feel your want of or your lack 316 00:18:31,700 --> 00:18:36,900 of those things, by which the soul is refreshed supported and 317 00:18:36,900 --> 00:18:41,500 strengthened so on a soul level, righteousness is meant to fill 318 00:18:41,500 --> 00:18:45,100 an essential need and it's possible for her inner being to 319 00:18:45,100 --> 00:18:48,600 egg with a desire to be set right ourselves for our world to 320 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,800 be set, right? So when I was in high school, 321 00:18:51,900 --> 00:18:54,600 it's a long time ago before I really began my spiritual 322 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:56,600 journey. I started reading self-help 323 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,600 articles, which is maybe a weird thing for a 16 year old to do. 324 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,900 But I think I was at a point where I was really starting to 325 00:19:02,900 --> 00:19:06,500 recognize things inside of myself that I did, not like 326 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:12,500 selfishness, Envy vanity, a critical and prideful Spirit, 327 00:19:13,300 --> 00:19:15,000 but I didn't have any clue what to do about it. 328 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,600 If I had been taught really any strategies, theoretically, it 329 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,900 was more along the lines of To focus on your strengths or 330 00:19:21,900 --> 00:19:24,500 honestly, to compare yourself to people who are more frog than 331 00:19:24,500 --> 00:19:25,500 you. So you can feel better about 332 00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:27,500 yourself. So those were the coping 333 00:19:27,500 --> 00:19:31,600 mechanisms available to me, positive, reframing, and pride, 334 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,000 and they were like, Band-Aids on a flesh wound. 335 00:19:35,100 --> 00:19:38,800 They were wildly and sufficient to change my heart into heal the 336 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,900 Brokenness. I discovered inside of me, maybe 337 00:19:41,900 --> 00:19:45,600 you relate to that, but even if we struggle to identify our own 338 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:48,300 Brokenness, we usually have no problem seeing it in other 339 00:19:48,300 --> 00:19:53,000 people and This technological age, it has become harder and 340 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,600 harder to ignore the Brokenness in the world around us. 341 00:19:56,500 --> 00:20:00,300 War is rage on. Seemingly fueled by power-hungry 342 00:20:00,300 --> 00:20:03,300 arrogance. People are trafficked as if 343 00:20:03,300 --> 00:20:06,500 they're less than human con artists, he people out of their 344 00:20:06,500 --> 00:20:08,700 money in compromise, their ability to provide for their 345 00:20:08,700 --> 00:20:12,700 families, marriages end in betrayal and contempt, and even 346 00:20:12,700 --> 00:20:15,100 violence. And I'm literally just listing 347 00:20:15,100 --> 00:20:16,700 things that I've seen on the news recently. 348 00:20:17,700 --> 00:20:22,000 But none of it is new war violence, corruption, abuse. 349 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:26,000 All of it was present during Biblical times, but can you see 350 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,900 why people flocked to Jesus? It is time even the most 351 00:20:30,900 --> 00:20:34,100 religious, the most supposedly Pious in upright, people of the 352 00:20:34,100 --> 00:20:37,000 day cared more about strictly following these rules that 353 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,500 they'd created that about the welfare of people. 354 00:20:40,100 --> 00:20:42,600 So, I'll give you an example. This is from Matthew chapter 12, 355 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,700 Jesus interest, a synagogue, so synagogues, so he's in a place 356 00:20:46,700 --> 00:20:47,600 of worship. Up. 357 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:51,700 And he sees a man with a withered hand, but the Pharisees 358 00:20:51,700 --> 00:20:55,200 who are there, the religious leaders are totally focused on 359 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,700 just trying to entrap Jesus and to somehow prove that he's less 360 00:20:58,700 --> 00:21:01,800 than holy and so they essentially display, no mercy to 361 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,900 the man who is likely struggling to provide for himself whose 362 00:21:05,900 --> 00:21:08,100 limited Mobility. Probably means that he feels a 363 00:21:08,108 --> 00:21:12,200 sense of shame in his Society. So a man who was in desperate 364 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:16,800 need is standing right there and the Pharisees want to play mind 365 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,700 games. Oh, are you ailing or injured? 366 00:21:21,300 --> 00:21:25,000 Sorry, it's the Sabbath. We don't work on the Sabbath so 367 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:26,700 you'll just have to suffer one more day. 368 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:32,200 But Jesus says, never mind, I can heal you. 369 00:21:34,100 --> 00:21:38,000 And when Jesus heals the man, the Pharisees don't celebrate at 370 00:21:38,008 --> 00:21:41,500 the site of the miracle. It says they went out and 371 00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:44,900 conspired against Jesus how to destroy him. 372 00:21:46,100 --> 00:21:49,200 Does that sound anything like righteousness? 373 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:52,800 But the Pharisees reputation was that they were righteous people, 374 00:21:53,100 --> 00:21:56,100 they cared about the law. Many people had drifted far from 375 00:21:56,100 --> 00:21:58,700 God's ways and they are religious group is dedicated to 376 00:21:58,700 --> 00:22:01,200 Bringing people back to the way of Holiness of modeling. 377 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,000 What it looks like to be faithful to God. 378 00:22:03,700 --> 00:22:05,400 So how did they get? So off track? 379 00:22:06,700 --> 00:22:10,800 Many of us in this room are religious people, and we want to 380 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,200 live by the words of scripture, and we want to call others, to 381 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,800 do the same. But if our pursuit of 382 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:20,000 righteousness, is not deeply rooted in our love of God, and 383 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,600 our love of others, the two greatest Commandments. 384 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,600 If our righteousness, is not interconnected with our 385 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:29,300 relationship with Jesus, we will completely miss the point. 386 00:22:30,100 --> 00:22:32,800 Jesus cares about healing about restored. 387 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,500 Relationships about Justice about forgiveness. 388 00:22:37,100 --> 00:22:40,400 The point is not just to be a law-abiding citizen as if that 389 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:44,000 were an end in itself. The end goal is the reign of God 390 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,500 flooding the Earth like a cleansing power and making 391 00:22:46,500 --> 00:22:49,700 everything new reshaping, our hearts to reflect God's very 392 00:22:49,700 --> 00:22:53,800 character and drawing Us in to God's very presence to worship 393 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:55,400 him. For all of eternity. 394 00:22:55,400 --> 00:23:00,000 That is the point. Hungering and thirsting puts us 395 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:04,300 in a posture of seeking, God of clinging to him of wanting to be 396 00:23:04,300 --> 00:23:08,900 filled by him longing, for who Jesus is and what he brings into 397 00:23:08,900 --> 00:23:11,900 this world. It puts us in the mindset of the 398 00:23:11,900 --> 00:23:16,300 tax collectors and prostitutes, who knew that they were broken, 399 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,400 and wanted to be made right with God. 400 00:23:19,300 --> 00:23:22,600 So when Jesus opened his arms to them, and invited them to his 401 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:26,000 table, they came running and they were healed. 402 00:23:26,300 --> 00:23:29,200 They were changed. They were redeemed. 403 00:23:30,300 --> 00:23:33,500 Do you see the two halves of the kindness of God in that 404 00:23:34,100 --> 00:23:38,200 receiving the unbelievable? Grace of God, lays a foundation 405 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:41,300 of Faith, where we know that we need Jesus, but we also just 406 00:23:41,300 --> 00:23:43,700 love him. We are in awe of him. 407 00:23:44,100 --> 00:23:47,600 And if we are stunned and preoccupied and overwhelmed by 408 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:51,000 the beauty that we see in, Jesus won't we naturally want to live 409 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:56,300 in Imitation of him, won't we want to live righteously Blessed 410 00:23:56,300 --> 00:24:00,300 are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall 411 00:24:00,300 --> 00:24:04,100 be satisfied. So final question, what does it 412 00:24:04,100 --> 00:24:06,600 mean that we will be satisfied or filled? 413 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,800 So, the beauty of this beatitude is that we learn that God is 414 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,600 responsive to our hunger and to our thirst. 415 00:24:13,900 --> 00:24:16,700 He wants to fill our desire for righteousness. 416 00:24:16,900 --> 00:24:19,200 And again, hunger and thirst are natural, impulses. 417 00:24:19,300 --> 00:24:22,100 So we're not looking to manufacture an air of longing as 418 00:24:22,100 --> 00:24:24,300 if that would help us to secure a blessing somehow. 419 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,900 But by recognizing that hungering and thirsting for 420 00:24:27,900 --> 00:24:31,500 righteousness, is a state of the soul that Jesus celebrates, we 421 00:24:31,500 --> 00:24:35,100 can lean into it and look for how he wants to use that ache 422 00:24:35,100 --> 00:24:37,300 inside of us to bring about good. 423 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,600 So to end our time today, I have kind of three suggestions if you 424 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:46,700 will to help us to just focus on seeking satisfaction from God. 425 00:24:46,700 --> 00:24:52,900 So first Let your heart be filled with awe at God's Beauty. 426 00:24:54,200 --> 00:25:00,300 Second repent and receive God's righteousness by faith and 427 00:25:00,300 --> 00:25:04,900 third, let your soul stay desperate for a better world. 428 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:11,200 So first, let your heart be filled with awe and God's Beauty 429 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,900 meditating on the person of Jesus in the way that he lived 430 00:25:14,900 --> 00:25:17,800 in the purity of his heart, it isn't just an intellectual 431 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,000 exercise or like a practical exercise to figure out when we 432 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,500 do the core of it is to look at Jesus and to find him. 433 00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:26,100 Lovely. To want more of him to find his 434 00:25:26,100 --> 00:25:29,000 presence to be satisfying in Jesus. 435 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,900 We have this beautiful purity of character, which is something 436 00:25:31,900 --> 00:25:34,400 that we do not see much of in this world, and by walking 437 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,000 closely with him seeking to know his heart. 438 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,500 And miring him to the point that we long to imitate him, that 439 00:25:40,500 --> 00:25:44,800 will change us righteousness, is the byproduct of a life lived 440 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:49,700 truly and fully with God. Psalm 27 verse 4 King. 441 00:25:49,700 --> 00:25:53,800 David says, one thing I have asked of the Lord that I will 442 00:25:53,900 --> 00:25:57,700 Seek after that, I may dwell in the house of the Lord, all the 443 00:25:57,700 --> 00:26:01,900 days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to 444 00:26:01,900 --> 00:26:06,200 inquire in his Temple. So, David lists this up as his 445 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,600 ultimate goal gazing upon the beauty of God and seeking his 446 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,200 presence. And his goodness, and similarly 447 00:26:12,500 --> 00:26:15,100 standing, a knob Jesus can become a part of our devotional 448 00:26:15,100 --> 00:26:17,800 lives. Read the gospels, pay attention 449 00:26:17,900 --> 00:26:20,300 to Jesus character. And the way that he seamlessly 450 00:26:20,300 --> 00:26:25,300 integrates mercy and Justice, obedience, Cultural courage, 451 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:27,800 reconciling, love, and moral Purity. 452 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:31,100 Let your heart be filled with awe at God's Beauty. 453 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:36,900 Secondly, repent and receive God's righteousness by faith. 454 00:26:37,700 --> 00:26:40,600 So, earlier, we talked about the connection between repentance 455 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,900 and righteousness and the one who confessed his sin and came 456 00:26:43,900 --> 00:26:45,400 to God for. Healing, was the one who was 457 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:47,700 rendered righteous by the grace of God. 458 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,300 Repent. Does not have to be a scary 459 00:26:50,300 --> 00:26:52,800 word. The call to repent can be an 460 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,500 invitation to let Jesus renovate our hearts. 461 00:26:55,900 --> 00:26:58,600 Imagine you can like a pagan Temple. 462 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,000 If the ones that you read about in the Old Testament, so it's 463 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,600 filled with like, Choose and murals and iconography 464 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,300 everywhere celebrating these false gods. 465 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,000 This is what the human heart is like without Christ. 466 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:15,400 Putting our faith in Jesus means letting him renovate that Temple 467 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,000 and remove all evidence of Every Idle. 468 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,800 We've ever worshipped clearing out the Clutter from her past 469 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,900 life and sanding down. Like the patterns of sin that 470 00:27:23,900 --> 00:27:26,600 have been engraved into us until they're no longer visible. 471 00:27:27,500 --> 00:27:31,000 And at the end of it, all the temple will be clean as if it 472 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,500 were brand new. And it will be a place where 473 00:27:33,500 --> 00:27:37,200 Jesus alone is worshipped in, this is what happens through 474 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,000 repentance. We, our hearts are slowly made 475 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,900 new. Now, the one hand, this 476 00:27:42,900 --> 00:27:47,000 renovation project is in Jesus's hands, so we can rest in the 477 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:48,200 fact that it's going to be finished. 478 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,000 Because Jesus, finishes everything he starts. 479 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:57,400 On the other hand, it's a lifelong journey for us and so 480 00:27:57,500 --> 00:28:01,700 we can grow weary of repenting again and again and uncovering 481 00:28:01,700 --> 00:28:04,500 more remnants of sin and like every nook and cranny in our 482 00:28:04,500 --> 00:28:08,500 lives. But we have a vision of who 483 00:28:08,500 --> 00:28:12,600 Jesus is and who we can become. If you have a longing to be 484 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,000 cleansed of idolatry and may be drawn near to Jesus. 485 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,100 And to be filled with God, that is the motivation. 486 00:28:18,100 --> 00:28:22,300 We need to lean into that and to be transformed, Jesus is calling 487 00:28:22,300 --> 00:28:26,900 us just to Repent, and to the leave, the good news, hand over 488 00:28:26,900 --> 00:28:30,300 your sins, your past, your Brokenness, or selfishness, your 489 00:28:30,300 --> 00:28:35,200 self-righteousness, Give It All to Jesus and say, God have mercy 490 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:39,100 on me. A sinner repentance is a simple. 491 00:28:39,300 --> 00:28:42,100 But powerful way to say, God, I want more of you in my life. 492 00:28:42,100 --> 00:28:44,800 I want to clear more space. I want to be filled by your 493 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:48,000 goodness, Jesus. Lastly. 494 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,200 Let your soul stayed desperate for a better world. 495 00:28:53,300 --> 00:28:57,500 Life is fairly satisfying and even when it is, it usually only 496 00:28:57,500 --> 00:29:00,200 lasts for a moment or a temporary span of time. 497 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,100 So we often end up chasing one high after another trying to 498 00:29:04,100 --> 00:29:07,700 fill ourselves up somehow or we just despair of it all and just 499 00:29:07,700 --> 00:29:11,400 learn to live perpetually cynically dissatisfied. 500 00:29:12,100 --> 00:29:15,100 But the Paradox of scripture is that through our fellowship with 501 00:29:15,100 --> 00:29:18,200 God, through our life of faith, we can experience a type of 502 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,600 satisfaction in God that actually then stirs up more 503 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:25,100 hunger and more Athirst. So, for example, I can think of 504 00:29:25,100 --> 00:29:27,900 many times when I've been let's say I'd like a worship night or 505 00:29:27,900 --> 00:29:31,200 or a prayer Gathering and God's presence is suddenly. 506 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,900 So Putin to me that it feels as if the cloud of his glory is 507 00:29:34,900 --> 00:29:39,600 filling the air around us and for a moment, it satisfies that 508 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:44,100 desire to be close to him. But in the Gathering ends and we 509 00:29:44,100 --> 00:29:48,700 wake up as if from a dream, the man, you just want that back. 510 00:29:48,900 --> 00:29:52,000 It could be tempting to try to schedule like paradise and 511 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,000 Retreats and all those things like every night and hopes of 512 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,300 recapturing, that feeling. But what's happening is, we're 513 00:29:57,300 --> 00:30:00,600 getting a taste of what we were made for to dwell in the 514 00:30:00,608 --> 00:30:03,800 presence of God in a world. That is saturated with his 515 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,600 goodness. Always our hearts want Eden back 516 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:11,400 and God Stokes that hunger so that we will seek him and move 517 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,100 deeper into The life that we have for him or that he has for 518 00:30:14,100 --> 00:30:16,700 us. So you probably heard this quote 519 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,500 popular 1 by c.s. Lewis, but it's really great, 520 00:30:19,500 --> 00:30:23,600 so, it does bear repeating. He says, if we find ourselves 521 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:27,300 with a desired that nothing in this world, can satisfy the most 522 00:30:27,300 --> 00:30:31,400 probable explanation is that we were made for another world and 523 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,900 I think the Beatitudes suggest that the goal is not to try to 524 00:30:33,900 --> 00:30:37,400 extinguish that hunger or eliminate that desire for more. 525 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,500 We should want more because a better world is coming through 526 00:30:40,500 --> 00:30:43,000 Christ. I think God wants us to Crave 527 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,100 it. The discomfort of that craving 528 00:30:45,100 --> 00:30:48,400 might up to us, to try to scratch that itch ourselves and 529 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:50,300 look for things in this world that at least temporarily 530 00:30:50,300 --> 00:30:54,000 satisfying, but the kind of satisfaction that actually gives 531 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,100 life and creates growth can only come from God. 532 00:30:58,100 --> 00:31:01,100 So church let yourself long for these things, these things that 533 00:31:01,100 --> 00:31:06,000 God promises his presence. His goodness, his healing, his 534 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:11,600 Justice, his righteousness. And find your rest in the truth. 535 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:16,400 That God always comes through on his promises. has second Peter 536 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:21,900 chapter 3 verse 13 says, In keeping with God's promise, we 537 00:31:21,900 --> 00:31:25,900 are looking forward to a new Heaven and a new Earth where 538 00:31:25,900 --> 00:31:30,300 righteousness dwells. So, let's pray now that God 539 00:31:30,300 --> 00:31:33,400 would Empower us to seek first, his kingdom and his 540 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:37,000 righteousness until we don't him alone for satisfaction. 541 00:31:37,100 --> 00:31:37,600 That's right.