Speaker 1: I'm starting this sermon a little bit different today because I'm welcoming all those who are watching us online.
Speaker 1: And I got in a little trouble this couple of weeks ago because I mentioned that we had some people in Southern California watching us.
Speaker 1: And I mentioned that we had some people in Northern California watching us.
Speaker 1: And then I mentioned that we had some people in Florida watching us.
Speaker 1: And then I, uh, received that week.
Speaker 1: People saying, thank you for mentioning us.
Speaker 1: And you know, that was really kind of you.
Speaker 1: And then I had other people saying, I'm watching you in Georgia and you didn't say anything about Georgia.
Speaker 1: And so hello, Georgia.
Speaker 1: We're glad you're here.
Speaker 1: We're honored that you're part of what God's doing here.
Speaker 1: Um, there are people in Hawaii that let us know that they're watching,
Speaker 2: Uh, hello, Hawaii, uh,
Speaker 1: Zona.
Speaker 1: We're glad that Arizona's represented in the house.
Speaker 1: Praise the Lord, people in Louisiana.
Speaker 1: I've got family in Louisiana that watch us, and we're happy for them that I know you're not saved.
Speaker 1: And you need to get
Speaker 2: Saved.
Speaker 1: A lot of safe people in Louisiana does not relate it to all of them.
Speaker 1: Anyway, uh, people in Illinois have been watching and we're thankful for that.
Speaker 1: People in Texas have been watching and we're grateful that Texas has represented people in Colorado had been watching.
Speaker 1: Delaware has been watching, uh, Alaska has been watching.
Speaker 1: We, we love all.
Speaker 1: Y'all just wanted you to know that wherever you may be in all 50 States, we are just thankful and whatever country you may be watching from, we're honored and delighted that you're here next week.
Speaker 1: I will name all the countries in alphabetical order.
Speaker 1: So we don't miss anybody.
Speaker 1: Uh, but I will want to say a special shout out to Indiana because this, this week I, I found out that pastor David Clark, he's a retired pastor.
Speaker 1: He's 102 years old and he has been watching our sermons.
Speaker 1: And he and I found out this week that he's also reading the book I wrote called Noel.
Speaker 1: And I just was deeply touched by that honored by that.
Speaker 1: And, um, and sir, I honor you today.
Speaker 1: I'm grateful for you and grateful for the many years that you've served in the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1: I'm blessed, blessed by that.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure that you're probably fact checking all of my sermons, so might need it and praise
Speaker 2: The Lord.
Speaker 2: But I, we
Speaker 1: Do enjoy hearing where people are from.
Speaker 1: And so if you're watching us and want to let us know where you're from, we'd love to give a shout out to you.
Speaker 1: Um, let's, let's get into the word of God today.
Speaker 1: We're in our series written and read revolutionary ideas of Jesus.
Speaker 1: And, uh, I just had a thought I'm going to have to start saying, and people from mommy are here and people
Speaker 2: Well from hallelujah.
Speaker 2: Okay,
Speaker 1: Boy, am I getting into in some trouble?
Speaker 1: So we're looking at written and read and those revolutionary ideas of Jesus.
Speaker 1: And we've been talking through the sermon on the Mount.
Speaker 1: In fact, we've started with the beatitudes just about the, these things that Jesus is, these phrases that Jesus is putting out there saying blessed are.
Speaker 1: And, and that's why they're called the be attitudes.
Speaker 1: Cause the Latin word there is be Addison.
Speaker 1: And it means blessed.
Speaker 1: Okay, so blessed are.
Speaker 1: And so he he's giving this sermon on the mountain.
Speaker 1: We don't know exactly where it was given, but we know the content and the content is strong and he is, he is bringing forth revolutionary ideas, concepts, and his words are leading the way.
Speaker 1: And we've said each time, that words change worlds.
Speaker 1: If you want to change the world that you're living in, change the words that you are saying, it will make a huge difference in your life.
Speaker 1: And he begins in Matthew five and verse three, he said, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Speaker 1: And we discovered there that the first work of the Holy spirit in our life is conviction conviction.
Speaker 1: And the first work of grace in our life is repentance.
Speaker 1: And you can go back and listen or watch those sermons.
Speaker 1: And then in verse four, he said, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.
Speaker 1: These are mourning as the external expression of internal grief.
Speaker 1: And he said, there's comfort.
Speaker 1: That comes into your life.
Speaker 1: If you will express what's going on inside.
Speaker 1: And we said, addressed hurts, heal things that you let be known.
Speaker 1: They are the things that will heal in your life.
Speaker 1: And then Jesus said, blessed are the meek for, they shall inherit the earth.
Speaker 1: And we talked about this last week, that meekness is controlled strength and ultimately controlled strength rules.
Speaker 1: It's maturity and action.
Speaker 1: You don't tell me that you're mature.
Speaker 1: If you can't control your responses to situations in the world around you, a maturity is controlled strength.
Speaker 1: If you have the opportunity and the ability rather to, to make a difference because you're strong in a particular area and you could do something on your own behalf, controlled strength says I'm going to do what's right for the whole, instead of just doing what's right for me, I'm strength under control.
Speaker 1: Why are we do we control the strength that we have because we are heirs of Christ.
Speaker 1: Those who control their sprints, Trent, those who are the meek, they will inherit the earth.
Speaker 1: We are heirs of the earth with Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: And so we are meek because we are heirs of the earth.
Speaker 1: Our future empowers are present.
Speaker 1: And so today we step into verse number six, where the, the, the savior of the world says blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.
Speaker 1: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.
Speaker 1: And we've been identifying their, um, defining these, these words and blessed again means supremely blessed, happy, fortunate, well off it's consistent with the rest.
Speaker 1: And then he says, blessed are those who are hungry, who hunger, hunger, there is the word, uh, for hungry or famished.
Speaker 1: It, it doesn't mean a munchie.
Speaker 1: It means starving.
Speaker 1: I'm hungry for something I'm desperate for something I'm craving something.
Speaker 1: And then the word for thirsty there.
Speaker 1: If you go back in the original language, it means thirsty, very difficult to understand very, very S very deep it's deep water.
Speaker 1: Anyway.
Speaker 1: Uh, and then he says, righteous, what are we, what are we hungry and thirsty for?
Speaker 1: We're hungry and thirsty for righteousness.
Speaker 1: Now the word there is equity of character and means that you are the same over here.
Speaker 1: As you are over there, that your character is consistent across the board.
Speaker 1: In Christian terms, we would say the word justified.
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 1: So with God, we here's God, and here's us.
Speaker 1: Every time we try to touch him every time we try to meet him, every time we try to reach him, we're not on the same playing field, if you will.
Speaker 1: But Jesus Christ allows us to be justified or brought into relationship brought into right standing with God.
Speaker 1: And so he's saying that, that we are righteous.
Speaker 1: Those who hunger and thirst after right, standing with God, what's going to happen with them.
Speaker 1: Um, they will be, they will be filled the word filled there means gorged or supplied with abundance.
Speaker 1: It means supplied and satisfied will.
Speaker 1: It means that that what they are filled with becomes so, so prevalent in their life that it's overflowing from them.
Speaker 1: It's there.
Speaker 1: They are completely full in every way.
Speaker 1: And this was a revolutionary idea for those listening to Jesus speak revolutionary because they were raised under the law of Moses, the law of Moses.
Speaker 1: Many of us have, if you read through the scripture, you might know the 10 commandments.
Speaker 1: They're the laws that say, don't do this and don't do this and don't do this and don't do this.
Speaker 1: And if you're going to do this, do it this way.
Speaker 1: And, and they're, they are bringing structure to a people who had just come out of slavery, but it is a list of rules.
Speaker 1: Is it a list of laws?
Speaker 1: And the law of Moses is often portrayed as bad as negative.
Speaker 1: If you read the new Testament, you see, you see Paul saying, writing things like, Hey, are, are you under the law?
Speaker 1: You don't need to be under the law.
Speaker 1: And if you listen to people, speak and preach today.
Speaker 1: And in our day in church, you might hear them say, so, are you legally mystic?
Speaker 1: Or are you operating under the law?
Speaker 1: And so it's easy to have this idea that the law of Moses was bad or negative, but stop for a moment and think about who gave the law to Israel.
Speaker 1: It was God.
Speaker 1: So dig God, give Israel something that was bad.
Speaker 1: Something that was terrible is did God give Moses something to write out?
Speaker 1: That was, that was going to be, uh, harmful to Israel.
Speaker 1: No, the law was not bad.
Speaker 1: It was a teacher.
Speaker 1: It was a tutor.
Speaker 1: It was, it was to reveal righteousness and unrighteousness too, who had no ability at the time to deal with the sin issue, the law revealed sin.
Speaker 1: It told them what was right.
Speaker 1: It told them what was wrong.
Speaker 1: It's it's like a parent with a, with a child, the parent who is the, who is trying to raise up this child in a, in a reasonable way, sets down the rules in the house.
Speaker 1: They say, you can do this.
Speaker 1: You can't do that.
Speaker 1: You say things like don't touch the stove.
Speaker 1: Now, do you think that never in their entire life, should they ever touch a stove?
Speaker 1: Well, no.
Speaker 1: They might even be able to touch that stove, but at this point in their life, at this point in their existence, they don't need to touch the stove because they don't have the wisdom to know how to touch it in a safe manner.
Speaker 1: So they don't touch the stove.
Speaker 1: When Talon was young, maybe two and a half, three years old, we were in Chicago and we were sitting at this at this buffet and this lady, very nice older woman in her seventies, maybe eighties came by our table and she stopped and she patted her hand on our table.
Speaker 1: And she said, I just have to say, I have never seen such young children behave so well in a restaurant before.
Speaker 1: And just thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you for these wonderful, beautiful children.
Speaker 1: And I went, Oh, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: And very kind of you.
Speaker 1: And she went with her tray and sat down and was eating her food.
Speaker 1: Well, a little while later, Talon picked up a dinner roll and he acted like he was going to throw it at me.
Speaker 1: And I said, don't do that.
Speaker 1: And he laughed and he acted like he was going to throw it again.
Speaker 1: And I said, don't do that.
Speaker 1: And he laughed and he threw it at me.
Speaker 1: And, and so he and I very, we got up from the table and he and I went out to the V to the car.
Speaker 1: We sat in the car and he and I had a little conversation about proper behavior and etiquette.
Speaker 1: When sitting in a restaurant, you don't throw dinner rolls.
Speaker 1: Now he was super repentant.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was weeping and wailing and gnashing his teeth.
Speaker 1: And he had tears running down his face.
Speaker 1: And, and he, and I had a very clear understanding of what was right and, and what was wrong in this scenario.
Speaker 1: And so he, we came back into the restaurant to sit back down and, uh, and as I was carrying him in and he would go, yeah, and he had big, big Brown eyes and he was super cute little kid.
Speaker 1: And, and that same woman was carrying her tray to go back up to the buffet line again.
Speaker 1: And, and she looked over me and she walked up to me right there in the middle of the restaurant.
Speaker 1: And she said, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Speaker 1: And I went, excuse me.
Speaker 1: She said, hi, I know what you did to that little boy.
Speaker 1: I said, okay.
Speaker 1: And she said, he is a good little boy.
Speaker 1: You should be ashamed of yourself.
Speaker 3: And I thought,
Speaker 1: And I had something welled up in me.
Speaker 1: See, she didn't know as a preacher, I was used to getting given speeches on the spur of the moment.
Speaker 1: And I said, man, you know what the problem is?
Speaker 1: And she said, what is that?
Speaker 1: I said, you like the result?
Speaker 1: You don't like the process A minute ago.
Speaker 1: You were telling me, my boys were the best little boys you'd ever seen in the restaurant.
Speaker 1: And now you don't like the process that got them there.
Speaker 1: The law of Moses was a process.
Speaker 1: It was a process for the children of Israel.
Speaker 1: And God was saying, this is how you're going to operate.
Speaker 1: And this is, if you, when you approach me, this is how you do it.
Speaker 1: And if you're gonna, if you're gonna come to me, this is how you do it.
Speaker 1: And you're going to act with one another.
Speaker 1: This is how you're going to do it.
Speaker 1: And, and this is the rules.
Speaker 1: And, and, and if you didn't do it, according to what he wanted you to do, he took you out to the proverbial car and had a direct conversation with you.
Speaker 1: He God.
Speaker 1: Gotcha.
Speaker 1: And when God's getting you, you got, and he was pretty specific about it.
Speaker 1: All.
Speaker 1: This is how it's going to be the soccer.
Speaker 1: The law revealed sin.
Speaker 1: The sacrifice was a payment for their sin.
Speaker 1: It could not do away with the payment for sin or the debt for sin, but it would roll it forward, like an interest only loan.
Speaker 1: And every time they would give their sacrifices, it would roll the principal debt forward until the next year.
Speaker 1: And if they died, while the interest payment was made, then they were good with God.
Speaker 1: If they died without making that interest payment, then they were responsible for the loan payment.
Speaker 1: They couldn't pay the loan payment.
Speaker 1: They couldn't be good enough to, to make, to be able to pay that debt.
Speaker 1: Neither can you neither can.
Speaker 1: I, they couldn't do it.
Speaker 1: And so God said, this is how it's going to be done.
Speaker 1: But in, under the law, they could not arrive at this place called righteousness, right.
Speaker 1: Standing with God, because they could not uphold the law 100% and the debt was never paid off.
Speaker 1: And now Jesus was saying, if you hunger and thirst for righteousness, then you'll be filled.
Speaker 1: You won't have lack if you hunger and thirst for righteousness, but how does this make any sense?
Speaker 1: Because he's asking us to hunger and thirst and try to hit the unhittable Mark.
Speaker 1: He's asking us to hunger and thirst and to crave this thing called righteousness, which is unreachable goal.
Speaker 1: And they did not understand that things were changing.
Speaker 1: They didn't understand that Jesus was speaking to what would come to pass maybe in their lifetime.
Speaker 1: And he was certainly talking about what was going to come pass, come to pass for all those who would live after them.
Speaker 1: Because the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the earth was beginning his process of walking out salvation and making it available for all who would call upon his name.
Speaker 1: Jesus was the savior.
Speaker 1: And as the savior, he was saying hunger and thirst after righteousness, and you will be filled.
Speaker 1: And here's our big idea today.
Speaker 1: If you seek right things, God brings fullness to all things.
Speaker 1: If you see great things, God brings fullness to all things.
Speaker 1: The law could not bring fullness.
Speaker 1: There was always lack, but Jesus fulfilled the law.
Speaker 1: He didn't come to condemn the law.
Speaker 1: He didn't come through break the law.
Speaker 1: He came to fulfill the law that had been given by the father to Moses.
Speaker 1: He fulfilled the law and he fulfilled life.
Speaker 1: And it's total.
Speaker 1: Grace is grace on every level because we could not earn it.
Speaker 1: And we did not deserve it.
Speaker 1: No one that's ever lived has ever earned what Jesus did nor have we ever deserved what Jesus did.
Speaker 1: So it's complete grace.
Speaker 1: Jesus is teaching grace when he said blessed are the poor in spirit.
Speaker 1: He was talking about grace in relationship with God.
Speaker 1: When he said, bless it are those who mourn.
Speaker 1: He's talking about grace in relationship to self.
Speaker 1: When he said, blessed are the meek for, they shall inherit the earth.
Speaker 1: He's talking about grace in relationship to those around us.
Speaker 1: And then he says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled.
Speaker 1: He is talking about grace in relationship to the ambition of our, our lives.
Speaker 1: What drives us?
Speaker 1: What is pulling us toward a goal what's causing us to, to, to forego this and cleaves to that too, to say no to this.
Speaker 1: So we can say yes to that.
Speaker 1: It's ambition of our lives.
Speaker 1: It's the why behind the, what we do grand thirst after righteousness, after righteousness, and what Jesus was doing was with law by fulfilling, it was indicative of what he was doing with old things, fulfilling it.
Speaker 1: And as the savior, he was the right thing to fulfill all things.
Speaker 1: Now, three thoughts for us today and thought number one is this righteousness means meeting God standard, meeting gods standard.
Speaker 1: He requires perfect rightness in character before God, the intention of our heart always righteous and righteousness of action before mankind.
Speaker 1: So what we're thinking of doing what we intend to do and what we actually do, all of it matters before God.
Speaker 1: And he requires perfect rightness of character and rightness of action.
Speaker 1: So that means that you've never sinned in your heart.
Speaker 1: Never send in your mind, never send out of your mouth, never sinned with your body.
Speaker 1: And that's the whole sermon.
Speaker 1: That's all you gotta do.
Speaker 1: That's what he requires go forth and do likewise.
Speaker 1: But we can't.
Speaker 1: How do you not think a bad thought who fungus has never done a bad thing?
Speaker 1: I mean, talent learned to not throw dinners roles, but just barely.
Speaker 1: There's some other things he's still working on.
Speaker 1: How about never say a bad word, but our intentions are always pure.
Speaker 1: How about we're so close to God and so aligned with him that every part of our life aligns with his will and his word every single way.
Speaker 1: Can any of us say that that's what we do.
Speaker 1: And in fact, humanity often says, well, that's just too much.
Speaker 1: Isn't God thinking just a little bit too highly, maybe even of himself.
Speaker 1: And isn't God requiring maybe too much of people.
Speaker 1: I mean, how can he really require those things from us?
Speaker 1: But if you, if we think about it, every truly intimate relationship we have with anyone, we require the same of them.
Speaker 1: We want them to give us their very best as we offer them our very best.
Speaker 1: If we're married, we, we never, I don't know any married person who says, Hey, I really love you.
Speaker 1: And I'm really happy to be married to you, but you know, if you want to cheat on me every once in a while, you know, it's okay with me.
Speaker 1: I've never met that person.
Speaker 1: If they exist, I've never met anybody who said, Hey, you know, you and I are really good friends.
Speaker 1: And I really love our friendship and we're super close, but you know, I'm going to, I'm going to divulge all the intimate details of my heart to you.
Speaker 1: And if you, every once in a while, I mean, just every once in a while, want to put that out on Facebook or your Instagram, or, you know, just tell the world about it, then, you know, no harm, no foul, cool, never met that person.
Speaker 1: Never met anyone, buddy that said, Hey, you know, I know that we're in business together.
Speaker 1: But if every once in a while, you just want to steal a little bit from whatever we'd bring in.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not going to worry about it that much.
Speaker 1: Cause you know, I mean, we're, we're, we're real friends now intimacy means openness with one another.
Speaker 1: And, and every relationship we have, we say, I want your best.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to do my best to give you the best of who I am at the same time.
Speaker 1: And that's exactly what God was doing.
Speaker 1: It's exactly what God is doing.
Speaker 1: And he created you and I, in order to be our best in the garden with Adam and Eve, they weren't created with sin.
Speaker 1: They weren't created with this idea that they were going to fall and that they were going to mess it up.
Speaker 1: And that sin would enter the world we were in right standing with God.
Speaker 1: That's how it was supposed to be.
Speaker 1: But mankind sin, we failed.
Speaker 1: We messed up and at the failing of Adam and Eve sin into the world.
Speaker 1: And from that point, until this we've struggled with this deal of it being about me and not about him, we've struggled with our will being done.
Speaker 1: And from that point until now we couldn't meet God's standard.
Speaker 1: And through time he offered opportunity after opportunity for a relationship to, to be developed and thank God for it.
Speaker 1: But every opportunity he gave did not bring us to the place called righteous.
Speaker 1: We were not in right standing with God.
Speaker 1: There was always a separation there until Jesus until Jesus.
Speaker 1: And here's what humanity does when we find ourselves consistently in the negative, if you will.
Speaker 1: Humanity's favorite response to failure is to question, then change the standard requesting the standard, just like Satan did, did God really say that you can't eat of the tree?
Speaker 1: Is that what he really said?
Speaker 1: Is that the standard he really put out there today, did God really mean that this was wrong?
Speaker 1: That God really mean that that was sinful.
Speaker 1: Oh, don't use the word sin because you know, sin, sin, that's not a popular topic.
Speaker 1: So don't say that pastor.
Speaker 1: Well, he did say simply means hitting, not hitting the Mark, missing the Mark.
Speaker 1: It means that he had a standard at night.
Speaker 1: I didn't hit it, but, but really is that the actual standard I is, is that really what he meant?
Speaker 1: And then if we can't, once we question it, then we begin to change it.
Speaker 1: We say things like, well, that was written a long time ago.
Speaker 1: Is it really applying now?
Speaker 1: Or that's super confusing.
Speaker 1: I mean, how can we possibly understand what he really meant?
Speaker 1: And I found the more confusing we find something that easier it is to ignore that thing.
Speaker 1: So sometimes I don't think people are actually that confused about what the Bible said.
Speaker 1: They just would rather it be confusing to ignore it.
Speaker 1: Moving on.
Speaker 1: We change it it's written long ago.
Speaker 1: It doesn't apply now.
Speaker 1: Well, well when among consenting adults, adultery or fornication, well that's okay because I mean, they're consenting adults lying.
Speaker 1: Well, if it's for the right reasons, then lines, okay.
Speaker 1: Sexuality and gender.
Speaker 1: Well, who really sets your standards.
Speaker 1: I mean, you are the one who decides for you, aren't you?
Speaker 1: I mean, you're the one, who's the one who can say this is right or this is wrong and your life.
Speaker 1: And I, and I hear people say, well, I feel like I'm missing something.
Speaker 1: Or I feel like something in my life is just all for, I don't feel like I have power or authority in my life, the way that I should.
Speaker 1: And, and, and, and I questioned, do I really need God?
Speaker 1: Uh, I, maybe I'm looking for God.
Speaker 1: And I've said to many people over the years, I think God is calling for you.
Speaker 1: I think God is reaching for you, but in the way of questioning and in the way of changing the world says, well, you don't need God because there is no God, if there is a God, then you still control you.
Speaker 1: He can't set the standard for you.
Speaker 1: In essence, you be your own God.
Speaker 1: And Elsa tells us you are the one you've been waiting for all of your life, frozen to reference.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: What she's saying is if you, you, you may look around the world for what you're looking for, but ultimately what you will find is what you were looking for is actually you.
Speaker 1: And if you take that a little further, she's saying, so if you're confused, if you're unhappy, if things, aren't what you want them to be, you really need to have a better understanding of yourself.
Speaker 1: And then everything will become clear.
Speaker 1: Everything will be okay.
Speaker 1: It's a self focused, humanistic theology.
Speaker 1: And so we declare ourselves righteous.
Speaker 1: We say found me and I'm righteous.
Speaker 1: Just like I am.
Speaker 1: We take control of our destiny.
Speaker 1: And we say, Hey, now, now that I've got control of my destiny, now that I'm righteous with myself, then I'm going to have joy and I'm going to have peace.
Speaker 1: I'm going to have, I'm going to there's patients.
Speaker 1: The world is going to be a happier, better, more joy-filled place because I'm in control of my world.
Speaker 1: Now I've set the standard and everything's going to be good.
Speaker 1: But we are shocked when actually what happens is hatred rises, depression and anxiety, sore in the lives of those who are choosing their own way.
Speaker 1: Anger grows crime proliferates, tempers flare meanness is on display.
Speaker 1: Poverty is still impacting the world around us.
Speaker 1: Lack of faithfulness is prevalent.
Speaker 1: I read a statistic recently that statisticians and, and sociology, uh, sociologists are shocked because they found that in the, just the few years, that same sex marriage has been legal.
Speaker 1: And they have found that same sex divorces are equal to save to heterosexual divorces.
Speaker 1: People who are making their own way, do it, making their own choices can do their own thing.
Speaker 1: Shouldn't they just be happy now.
Speaker 1: No, that's not how it works.
Speaker 1: When we set our standard, it feels better for a moment, but ultimately nothing works.
Speaker 1: Like we hope it would.
Speaker 1: We're still people in the end, we create chaos and disappointment.
Speaker 1: When we're in control.
Speaker 1: In fact, this is what Romans says for being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish there own righteousness.
Speaker 1: They do.
Speaker 1: I did not submit to God's righteousness.
Speaker 1: And God said to Israel through the prophet, Isaiah and I believe God would say to us, as we set our own standard, your righteousness is as filthy rags.
Speaker 1: You want it to clean?
Speaker 1: You want it to look good.
Speaker 1: You want it to be right, but you can't use something filthy in order to make something else clean.
Speaker 1: He said, I want you to seek right things.
Speaker 1: Thought number two is desires, drive decisions.
Speaker 1: And we understand desires drive because when we really desire something, we take action.
Speaker 1: We take action.
Speaker 1: [inaudible] we will do almost anything to be with the person that we desire.
Speaker 1: We call it love, and we will drive any distance, spend any money, do anything to make that happen, lose as much sleep, as necessary to be with them.
Speaker 1: We'll sacrifice anything to get the look that we desire.
Speaker 1: Maybe not anything, but we'll sacrifice a lot.
Speaker 1: People that wouldn't walk on a treadmill for 10 minutes, we'll walk for 40 miles in a mall, Spin hours on a website, trying to pick out the right furniture, the right knickknack, the right clothes, the right look, the right, whatever we call it need we'll make any sacrifice.
Speaker 1: We'll go anywhere.
Speaker 1: We'll take time away from family.
Speaker 1: For friends.
Speaker 1: We'll take a lot of risk in our life to establish a business that we want.
Speaker 1: And we call that entrepreneurship people sleep in parking lots overnight to buy a game, to buy a game system or blowing my mind even more donuts.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 1: But how many of us put that kind of effort in to pursuit of righteousness, right?
Speaker 1: Standing with God.
Speaker 1: We don't always share that same drive in our areas of faith and many people, not all, but most people give an hour a week for church.
Speaker 1: We, the stats say that that a regular church attender today goes to church once or twice a month.
Speaker 1: We hope the sermon isn't too long.
Speaker 1: We hope that the offering is kept short and we hope they sing songs that we like.
Speaker 1: We love righteousness when it's convenient, we will inconvenience ourself in a heartbeat for our family, for our friends, for work, for sports, for school, for hobbies.
Speaker 1: But when we're called to reach our neighbor for the kingdom of God, or when we're called to, uh, to fasting or devotion, or when we're called to repping Christ well in the world.
Speaker 1: Well, you know,
Speaker 3: This may not be
Speaker 1: My most popular sermon this
Speaker 3: Year,
Speaker 1: But it will be a right sermon this year being desperate for right things.
Speaker 1: Doesn't come naturally.
Speaker 1: That's why in second, Timothy, Paul writes this.
Speaker 1: He said, all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training.
Speaker 1: What is all this for in righteousness that teaching that, that reproved, that correction, that training, it's all for the purpose of pushing us in the direction of being righteous before God, we intentionally receive the word.
Speaker 1: We intentionally align with scripture and it moves us towards righteousness.
Speaker 1: At first, it reveals the need for a savior.
Speaker 1: Second, it identifies God's plan and God's standard.
Speaker 1: Mexico corrects us.
Speaker 1: It corrects our behavior.
Speaker 1: It lets us know, Hey, you're wrong here?
Speaker 1: Get it right.
Speaker 1: Then it trains us to think like Jesus.
Speaker 1: And then he says that the believer will be perfect equipped for every good work.
Speaker 1: Complete that work complete is perfect equipped for every good work.
Speaker 1: He said, if you do this, as you do this through the word of God, it will cause you to be perfect before him.
Speaker 1: And you will be able to do all that.
Speaker 1: God's called you to do one thing God's called you to do through the words of Jesus himself, his hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Speaker 1: And so Jesus is saying experience God's righteousness.
Speaker 1: And then you, and I rightfully say, and the people sitting there that day, listening to him give this sermon.
Speaker 1: They would have also said, we can't that we, we can't get there.
Speaker 1: And it's, it seems like Jesus is calling you and me, them to a goal that cannot be achieved to hunger, to crave this.
Speaker 1: Isn't the idea that, that I I'm a little hungry.
Speaker 1: I'm a little Darcy.
Speaker 1: I'd like a little snack.
Speaker 1: This is I'm starving.
Speaker 1: I'm the hydrated.
Speaker 1: I am desperate for this thing called righteousness.
Speaker 1: And he's calling us to that.
Speaker 1: And we're rightfully saying I can't meet it.
Speaker 1: And that brings us to thought number three, meeting God's standard requires your desire and his provision, meaning God's standard requires your desire and his provision.
Speaker 1: The bottom line is if you seek your own standard, you're going to find your own results.
Speaker 1: But if you will seek God's standard, you will find the results.
Speaker 1: He promises, praise, God, God never calls you to something you can achieve.
Speaker 1: Alone.
Speaker 1: Looks through scripture.
Speaker 1: From the beginning to the end, God's always calling people to something that they cannot do all by themselves.
Speaker 1: And he says, go for them.
Speaker 1: And they, they start going.
Speaker 1: Sometimes they fight.
Speaker 1: Sometimes they mess up.
Speaker 1: Sometimes they walk away.
Speaker 1: So they do all kinds of things.
Speaker 1: But as if they start going, you find over and over and over where their ability ends, God's provision, remains and ends.
Speaker 1: He carries them through.
Speaker 1: He says, seek me.
Speaker 1: And you will find me.
Speaker 1: And I think about it kind of like, I think parents with a kid, sometimes with a child, the parent wants something for the child that the child cannot afford on their own.
Speaker 1: And I've seen, I've seen parents do this my whole life.
Speaker 1: And we have the privilege of doing it with art, for our children right now.
Speaker 1: And that is, we say, you bring to the table, what you can bring.
Speaker 1: And then your mom and I will make up the difference.
Speaker 4: Oh, you can't go on that vacation.
Speaker 4: You bring to the table, what you can bring and your mom, and I will make up the difference.
Speaker 1: I know families that are living in$200,000 homes,
Speaker 4: But they
Speaker 1: Paid a hundred thousand dollar price and their parents made up
Speaker 4: The difference.
Speaker 4: I know
Speaker 1: People who are driving cars that they couldn't afford, but their parents made up the difference.
Speaker 1: And I believe what Jesus is calling us to, is he saying, Hey, you cannot do this alone.
Speaker 4: But if
Speaker 1: You will, hunger and thirst, if you will passionately pursue this thing called righteousness, you will become
Speaker 4: Righteous.
Speaker 4: But
Speaker 1: Hold on, I can't do this.
Speaker 1: I can't do it on my own.
Speaker 1: I don't, I can pursue it till the day I die.
Speaker 1: How can I ever reach that goal?
Speaker 1: And this is what he says in second Corinthians, for our sake, he, God made him Jesus to be sin who knew no sin so that in him, Jesus, we might become the righteousness
Speaker 4: Of God.
Speaker 1: He might become the righteousness of God.
Speaker 1: So Jesus comes to this earth.
Speaker 1: He lives a perfect life.
Speaker 1: And then he died.
Speaker 4: Nice and remember, remember,
Speaker 1: And I said all the way back at the beginning about this thing called the mosaic,
Speaker 4: The mosaic wall couldn't be hit,
Speaker 1: But Jesus lives out that law in perfection.
Speaker 1: And then he goes to the cross and he willingly gives his blood
Speaker 4: His life for you and for me, and then not
Speaker 1: Only did he give his life that paid the penalty,
Speaker 4: But then he
Speaker 1: Was in the grave three days and Rose again, and now sits at the right hand of the father, which gives us the ability, the authority to live with authority in this earth.
Speaker 1: But the penalty can be pay, has been paid.
Speaker 1: So when you and I come to him and say, I need you, I cannot do this.
Speaker 1: What he says is, okay, I apply my righteousness
Speaker 4: To your life,
Speaker 1: But he doesn't say, I'm applying my righteous to see your life,
Speaker 4: Do whatever you want.
Speaker 4: However you want to do it with whatever.
Speaker 4: And however, and I'll just make it good.
Speaker 4: No, he says hunger thirst.
Speaker 4: After
Speaker 1: Righteousness,
Speaker 4: He says,
Speaker 1: Come to me all who are weary and are heavy
Speaker 4: Late.
Speaker 4: He says,
Speaker 1: Let me be your Lord and savior.
Speaker 1: You give me all of you and you get all of them
Speaker 4: Me.
Speaker 4: But in short, this is what he's saying.
Speaker 4: You bring the desire.
Speaker 4: I'll ensure the destination.
Speaker 4: If you're pushing for it, I'll make sure you get there.
Speaker 1: Shouldn't for it.
Speaker 1: I'll make sure you get there.
Speaker 1: If you'll bring everything you've got, I'll make sure you get everything.
Speaker 4: And I personally believe this goes further than just the specific of righteousness, because what he's saying is hungry,
Speaker 1: Thirst after righteousness, hunger, and thirst after righteousness, hunger, and thirst at the right standing with God.
Speaker 1: And when you hunger and thirst after righteousness, what you find in the end,
Speaker 4: Jesus, because Jesus is the righteousness of God and his righteousness is applied to us so we can become the righteousness of God.
Speaker 4: So
Speaker 1: When we hunger and thirst after righteousness, it's not just that we become righteous.
Speaker 1: If that works
Speaker 4: Not awesome enough, I believe you.
Speaker 1: He's telling us that we will be filled, that every aspect of our life will have wholeness and completeness.
Speaker 4: So
Speaker 1: If you're seeking right things, God brings fullness to every part of your life.
Speaker 1: If you're, if you need companionship in your life right now, then I encourage you.
Speaker 1: Hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Speaker 4: If you need
Speaker 1: Provision in your life than hunger and thirst after righteousness, if you need a career, you need a job, hunger and thirst after righteousness, you need peace, joy, hope, hunger, and thirst after righteousness.
Speaker 1: And you say, well, I need to be pursuing the things that I'm looking for.
Speaker 1: No, no, no.
Speaker 1: If you will pursue him, your life will be filled
Speaker 4: And it
Speaker 1: Be filled with the wrong thing.
Speaker 1: You'll be filled with the right thing.
Speaker 1: I promise if you're looking for companionship, you'll hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Speaker 1: And you're probably not going to find a jacked up.
Speaker 1: Joe, Every Joe in the world's not jacked up, but there's a lot of jacked up Joseph.
Speaker 4: So
Speaker 1: If you seek right things, God brings fullness to all
Speaker 4: Things.
Speaker 4: What do you need in your
Speaker 1: Life today?
Speaker 1: What is what's, what's going on in your world right
Speaker 4: Now?
Speaker 4: You can't manipulate God.
Speaker 4: I've had people say, well, I prayed for this thing and it didn't happen the way I thought, are you hungry and thirsty after righteousness?
Speaker 4: Or are you hungering and thirsting after your will to be done?
Speaker 4: I think that's a bigger question than we'd like it to be.
Speaker 4: Because usually when I'm upset with God, it's not because I was pursuing righteousness is because I was pursuing my plan.
Speaker 4: But when a
Speaker 1: Hunger and thirst for righteousness and I, that then
Speaker 4: He brings filmless fullness to anything.
Speaker 1: Encourage you a couple of just quick things that you can do to begin this process.
Speaker 1: If you haven't already or to elevate this process in your life, one, developing
Speaker 4: Devotional reading, use the website, five lakes.church.
Speaker 4: It's gotten great
Speaker 1: Devotional readings already prepared for you.
Speaker 1: Just click on
Speaker 4: The date, use the soap method, journaling it's it's,
Speaker 1: It's explained right there on the website and you will help you.
Speaker 1: I guarantee you that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we'll help you get engaged in prayer a specific time, a specific place get engaged with it.
Speaker 1: What does that matter?
Speaker 1: If you don't talk to somebody for long enough, you lose relationship with them.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying you'll lose your salvation, but I am saying it's hard to hunger and thirst after something you never talked to or never,
Speaker 4: Or around pursue him.
Speaker 4: Life groups, life groups are a great place to develop this relationship, to pursue righteousness, weekly attendance in church, you say, well,
Speaker 1: Aren't you preaching to the choir I am.
Speaker 1: But some of you are only here once a month.
Speaker 1: I've got you right now.
Speaker 4: Dedicate
Speaker 1: Yourself to weekly attendance online onsite.
Speaker 1: I don't care,
Speaker 4: Weekly
Speaker 1: Attendance and apply what you're learning, applying
Speaker 4: What you're hearing.
Speaker 4: Give us one year consistent.
Speaker 1: When we apply what we teach one year and see if your life's not better, your career's not better.
Speaker 1: Your business is not better, et cetera.
Speaker 1: And you say, well, wow, don't you think a lot of yourself?
Speaker 1: Oh no, no, no,
Speaker 4: No, no.
Speaker 4: It will be the pursuit
Speaker 1: Of righteousness that brings fullness.
Speaker 1: In theory,
Speaker 4: Holy Spirit's in this room right now, Lord Jesus.
Speaker 4: I trust you to do more with my words than they deserve.
Speaker 4: I trust you
Speaker 1: The spirit that between my mouth and heres the ears that
Speaker 4: You're changing things.
Speaker 4: And you're, you're doing what cannot be done by humanity.
Speaker 4: You're
Speaker 1: Convicting hearts and working in minds.
Speaker 4: And because we want anybody to feel bad or, but because we want people to get right and pursue right things and allow your fullness and then their lives grateful to you, Lord, for all that you've done, I'm believing
Speaker 1: You for some incredible things,
Speaker 4: Trusting you to do them.
Speaker 4: We hunger after you today.
Speaker 4: We thirst after you.
Speaker 4: And we trust that you'll be filled as you called in Jesus.
Speaker 4: If that's your prayer, would you just say.