The King of Righteousness | Weekend Service | Josiah Smith

A message by Pastor Josiah Smith on Hebrew: 1:7-9

Compass Bible Church South Valley is located in Kuna, Idaho

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Transcript

ow Expectations Shape Experience

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Well, expectations can often shape and in some ways can determine our experiences. Is that fair to say? Our expectations can shape and determine our experiences. That's why perhaps you found yourself saying, I don't want to have too high of expectations, because then I will be disappointed. That's how my wife and I felt about In N Out the first time we had it. The first time we had In N Out in California, you know, I'm from the South. She's from Ohio. There's no In N Outs in sight. We had other things, checkers, and maybe you don't know about checkers, but it's really good. In N Out. It was not something that was a delicacy where we were from. And so people in California tell you that it is the best burger that has ever existed. And so that's what we were told again and again. Have you gone to In N Out yet? Have you gone to In N Out yet? Have you gone in and out? Oh, it's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. And so we went with the highest expectations we've ever had for any burger ever. And it was okay. It wasn't, it wasn't great, but not at least in the way that it was described to us. It wasn't fantastic. I didn't float through the clouds when I ate it. But it was still good. It was a good burger. I like I like in and out. In and out enthusiasts and purists, I like in and out. There's nothing wrong with it. But our expectations kind of shaped our experience. We went in with lofty expectations because the Californians were telling us it's the best thing you've ever had. And in fact, it wasn't. And so it shaped our, it shaped our experiences. But we have expectations for all kinds of things, right? Our our houses, our careers, our relationships, our kids, our accomplishments, where we would be by a certain age. We have expectations for that. What what our health would look like for us or our kids, how much money we would make, what accomplishments we would achieve, we'd have in the back, or save how much money we'd have saved up for retirement. Our expectations as we engage with each with each of these things can have significant impact on our experience with them, both for good and for bad. And the same is often true in our Christian life. Our expectations of who Jesus is can significantly impact our experience with pursuing a relationship with him. The expectations that we have, if they're not biblical, if they're not aligned with what God has revealed in his word, they can kind of create a dissonance between us and King Jesus. And our expectations can shape the way that we pursue a relationship with him. So, as an example, if Jesus in your mind and in your heart is thought to be permissive or a pushover, that's gonna shape the way that you view him and worship him, or maybe not. Or if you believe him to be domineering and cold and distant, perhaps that'll shape the way that you think of him as your king. Is he distant and aloof, or is he near and accept accessible? What do you believe about Jesus? What expectations do you have? Now, Hebrews chapter one is answering the question: who is Jesus? To a group of Jewish Christians that were wrestling with that. They were facing persecution, they were tempted to go back to Judaism. And so the author of Hebrews is saying, here's who Jesus is. And kicking off last week in verses five and six, we saw that Jesus is the king, that he's the long-awaited king that eventually one day will fully and finally sit and reign on David's throne. But when it comes to your expectations of Jesus, here's a question I want to leave with you, or begin, I guess, with this morning. What expectations do you have of the kind of king Jesus is? What expectations do you have of the kind of king Jesus is? Now maybe you would say, I don't really have any expectations. I don't know. I've never thought about it. Or perhaps you do have expectations, regardless of whatever side of that spectrum you fall on. I want you to allow today's passage, Hebrews 1, 7 through 9, to set the expectations for how you view Jesus as King and how you pursue him from here on out. Because Hebrews chapter 1, 7 through 9 is going to show us exactly the kind of king Jesus really is. And we need to allow Scripture to shape our expectations of who Jesus is, the kind of king that he is, and the response that we have as a result of that truth. So with that, let's go to Hebrews chapter 1, verses 7 through 9. Hebrews 1, 7 through 9. We'll begin reading in verse 1 or in verse 7. It says, Of the angels, he says, He makes his angels wins and his ministers a flame of fire. So he's continuing to draw on that comparison and that contrast that we started last week. Jesus is greater than the angels, he's greater than them. We talked about last week. To which of the angels did God ever say, You are my son, today I have begotten you, or I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. We're continuing that comparison in verse 7. Of the angels, he says, He makes his angels wins and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the Son, he says, of King Jesus, he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. So we continue this comparison. Jesus is greater than the angels. And did you notice what he says there in verse 7? He says, Of the angels, he says, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire. Now, this is a quote from Psalm 104, verse 4. And the author is trying to talk about the power of angels, the work of angels in the world. And he's comparing it to wind and fire. So he's quoting Psalm 104, and he's making this point about how angels they can shift and they can change. Like the effects of wind and fire can ebb and flow, it can come and go. That's his purpose. Their work as angels differs in frequency and in kind. This is in theology called mutability. To be mutable is to be changing, to not be constant. You could be one thing or another, but you're not always the same thing. That's mutability. And so the author of Hebrews is saying, angels, they change. They shift. They like the wind, they may blow one way, they may blow another, like fire, they may burn here, they may burn there. But regardless, they are shifting. They are changing, they're ebbing and flowing. Their work differs in frequency and in kind. But then in verse 8, he quotes a different Psalm, Psalm 45, 6 and 7. And he's making this contrast of the Son with the angels. So the angels, they differ, they they change, they're mutable. But of the Son, and he is going to say, He's unchanging, he's constant. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Of the Son, he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. His throne is forever and ever, and it is unchanging. We'll talk about that more next week, or he gets into in verse 10. You lay the foundations of the earth, they will perish, but you will remain. They will all wear out like a garment, like a robe. You will roll them up, like a garment, they will be changed, but you, King Jesus, are the same, and your years will have no end. But that starts all the way back here in verse 8. Of the Son, he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. Jesus is unlike the angels. He's not constantly changing, he's not shifting and ebbing and flowing. His work is not like wind that blows in one way and then another. His throne is forever and ever. And he says something specific about the way in which Jesus rules. He is telling us the kind of king Jesus is, and he rules in a certain kind of way. His unchanging throne, his eternal throne represents his rule. And the author of Hebrews is saying he rules in a very specific kind of way. This way that he'll go on to say is uh is one of uprightness and what is good and what is fair and what is just. He rules with the scepter of uprightness. That's the kind of king Jesus is. So as we begin this morning, point number one, I want you to write it down this way: appreciate the kind of king Jesus is. Appreciate the kind of king Jesus is, according to Hebrews chapter one. Now, in contrast to the kind of king Jesus is said to be in Hebrews 1:8. Think about the kings in the Old Testament, which by the way, the office of king in the Old Testament sort of prefigures, it's a foreshadowing of the office of king that Jesus steps into. And so there are many kings in the Old Testament, but what were they like? What were the kings of Israel like in the Bible? Well, let's just start with the first three, shall we, to look at the kinds of kings that ruled over Israel. Let's start with King Saul. King Saul ordered the execution of 85 priests and their families because of the perceived help that they provided David. If you know that story, David is on the run from Saul because Saul wanted to murder him. And the priest Ahimelech offers him food basically while he's on the run. And Doag, like a good little boy, runs to Saul and tells Saul, Hey, Ahimelech is helping David, your enemy. And so what does King Saul do? In an in a fury, in a rage, and in anger, he sends his armies to kill and slaughter 85 innocent priests in their family. Not a very great king there. He also, not only did he kill these 85 priests, he tried to kill his own son, Jonathan, and he also pursued David 16 different times to try to kill him. And you read about that in the Psalms if you're following along with us in the Lamp and Light Bible reading plan. We've read many psalms that in the superscription it talks about David on the run from Saul, David hiding in the cave from Saul. David in the aftermath of Doeg going and tattling on David to Saul and all the priests that were slaughtered, and the reflection that he has. That's all throughout the Psalms. So so King Saul, not a very good king. He's murderous, he is jealous, he's envious, and he uh is doing things that are wicked. That's the first king of Israel. Let's go to the second king, King David. How was he? Well, you might think, well, he was a man after God's own heart. He wrote a good majority of the Psalms. He did do some great things. He he was upright in some ways, we can say that, but he he also did some things that were not great. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah murdered to try to cover up. You remember the story in Psalm 51? David's reflecting on that and saying, Against you and you only, Lord, have I sinned? I have done what is wicked in your sight. So King David, though he is said to be a man after God's own heart, he is still plagued with the flesh, and he does things in the flesh. He commits murder and adultery, and he's not a very consistent king. And then if we move on to King Solomon, how did he do? How was King Solomon? Well, he was wise, had a lot of money. He did do some great things. We don't want to belittle that. We have scriptures that were written by his hand. We have things preserved from his rule. But Solomon was consistently idolatrous. He worshipped false gods and built shrines for all the foreign gods of all of his foreign wives. He married women from forbidden nations that were violations of the covenant that God made with him. He disobeyed God repeatedly. And that's King Saul. That's not to mention any of the dozen or so kings of the northern kingdom when it split. Israel split into the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom. Literally never had a righteous king not one. They all built high places, they all worshipped golden calves, they all did things that were wicked in the sight of the Lord. So selfishness, sexual sin, arrogance, disobedience, idolatry, abuse of power. This is what plagued many of the kings of Israel. And perhaps when we think about kings, we don't have kings in America, but when we think about rulers or presidents or governors or whatever, we we we think more of that. We think of selfishness, sexual sin, arrogance, disobedience, idolatry, oh, and the list goes on. That's that's what we think of, maybe rightfully so, and especially in the Old Testament, these are the things that is preserved for us about those kings. But who, according to Hebrews 1, is King Jesus? What kind of king is Jesus? Well, according to the scriptures, Jesus is the king who does the right thing in the right way at the right time, every single time. He rules, it says, with the scepter of uprightness. Do you see that in verse 8? Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. Uprightness, what is good and proper, what leads to life and flourishing. This is the kind of king that King Jesus is. We need to appreciate this kind of king, especially against the backdrop of how heinous the kings of Israel were in the Old Testament, how awful the leadership today in the world is, and those who occupy positions of power, Jesus is anything but that. He does the right thing in the right way at the right time, every single time he rules with the scepter of uprightness. You've heard, I'm sure, the old adage that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Nothing could be farther from the truth when it comes to King Jesus. His rule, by way of comparison, is like the first sight of spring after a long, harsh winter, which we currently know nothing about. But you can imagine it. His rule is like the first sight of spring after a long, harsh winter. It's like the first fall of rain after a season of drought, the first crops of harvest after an unrelenting famine. Jesus' rule brings hope and life and flourishing. Why? Because he rules with the scepter of a brightness. He does what is good and right and proper. And in a world of corrupt leadership, in a world of fallen kings, King Jesus rules with the scepter of a brightness. That's what Hebrews says. That's the kind of king that he is. So he's not like the angels. His his work does not ebb and flow, his character does not change, his effects do not differ in kind and in frequency. His throne, his rule, is forever and ever. And the scepter, which represents his authority and his power, it is the scepter of uprightness in the scepter that is the scepter of his kingdom. We need to appreciate this is the kind of king Jesus is. And this is this is the expectation of Jesus as king and his rule that we should have. That's the kind of king. He does the right thing in the right way at the right time, every single time. He goes on and continues that thought. Look there in verse 9. You have, this is the same quote from Psalm 45, 5, and 6, you have loved righteousness. This king that rules with the scepter of uprightness, here's the manner in which he rules. He loves righteousness and he hates wickedness. Therefore, God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Anytime a king would be inaugurated into office in the Old Testament, they would be anointed with oil. And so it's talking about Jesus in his inauguration as king, he's receiving the oil of gladness from his father. He is this is a joyous occasion, and he's been anointed with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Now, companions could mean any number of things. It could mean uh the kings that he stood in this line of the kings of the Old Testament, stemming back from Solomon, Saul, David, and onward. It could mean the angels in context and the company of angels that surround him. Or the word companion is often also used in Hebrews to talk about Christians. But regardless of which one you choose, it does not change the substance. This is more and better and greater and more joyful than any of those, any of the angels, any of the kings, or any of the Christians, those who follow after Christ. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness and Jesus being king and the inauguration and the coronation of that, with the joy that comes with it when he is anointed is better beyond his companions. And as a result of this, I think if King Jesus is said to rule with the scepter of uprightness, if he is said to rule in a certain way, and he's said to love certain things and hate certain things, I think if we are his subjects, if we are his followers, what should we do? We should love what he loves and learn to hate what he hates. That's point number two. Love and hate what Jesus loves and hates. Now that word hate, I know perhaps maybe grates against her heart, uh, but let's talk about it in a second. We'll get there. But we need to learn to love and hate what Jesus loves and hates. If our king specifically is said to love something, we ought to learn about the thing that he loves. We have to learn about it, not just learn about it, we ought to adopt it as our own. Think about this in the context of your relationship or your marriage. To love your spouse in part is to want to know your spouse and to know what they love and to share in that love with them. And that's part of it. Not always, of course, not in every way, but you are to delight in what your spouse delights in. You are to love what they love. That's part of getting to know them and honoring them and being committed to them, or even beyond that. When you have a tr, when you have trust, when you trust someone that's a respected voice, think about where you turn to for finances, or where you turn to for parenting advice, where you turn to for all these different topics that you're interested in and want to learn about. When you trust a respected voice on a certain topic, you find yourself wanting to hear their perspective, oftentimes even adopting it as your own. I think the same is true for us and our king. We got to learn to love what he loves and hate what he hates. He loves righteousness and it says he hates wickedness. And let's talk about what he loves from the scriptures. There's things that he loves all over the place, but let's just kind of make keep it simple. Jot this verse down. Psalm 33, verse 5. Psalm 33 verse 5 says that God loves righteousness and justice. What does King Jesus love? Well, he loves righteousness. I mean, it says that right there in Hebrews 1, verse 9. He loves righteousness, but Psalm 33 also adds, and justice. He loves what is just, he loves justice. And we ought to adopt that as something that we love. If our king loves that, if our God loves righteousness and justice, we ought to love righteousness and justice. That's one example. Here's another reference for you to jot down. Proverbs 15, verse 9. Proverbs 15 verse 9 says that not only does God, King Jesus, love righteousness and love justice, he also loves those who pursue righteousness. Proverbs 15 verse 9 says, The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who pursues righteousness. And so we ought to love those who pursue righteousness. To put it in New Testament language, we ought to love the body of Christ. We ought to love those who are counted righteous because of the righteousness of Christ. This is what the scriptures say. We ought to love what our king loves. We ought to hate what our king hates. Even here's another reference Psalm 147, verse 11. Psalm 147, verse 11 says, But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, and those who hope in his steadfast love. We ought to fear the Lord, hope in his steadfast love, cling. To him. Ultimately, we are loving God and trusting in God because we recognize that all righteousness flows from God and is a demonstration of his character. We love God. We love him because he is righteous and good and holy and just. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Well, that's the things that he loves. What does the Bible say about what God hates? There's actually a lot of scripture passages that we could turn to. But keep your finger in Hebrews 1 and go to Proverbs chapter 6. Proverbs chapter 6, verses 16 through 19. Here's just a short list of things that the Lord is said to despise, to hate. Proverbs 6, verses 16, 17, 18, and 19. If you're there with me, let's start in verse 16. It says, There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him. Here they are, verse 17. Haughty eyes, pride, pridefulness, arrogance, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among the brothers. This is just a list of basically some pretty common sins that are true of humanity in general, right? Our pride, our lying and deception, the murder of the innocent, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, those who sow discord among the brothers. God is said to hate these things. He despises them. And if we're going to follow King Jesus truthfully and faithfully, this ought to be added to the things that we hate, that we despise, that we want nothing of. We want nothing of haughty eyes. We want nothing of lying tongues. We want to be far away from hands that shed innocent blood. We want to be far away from hearts that devise wicked plans. This could even be a good passage to meditate on and say, Lord, keep these things far from me, deliver me from the temptation of these evils. And if we're going to summarize all of this, of course, in Hebrews 1, it says that we are to love righteousness like our king and hate wickedness. Hate that that which is grievous in the sight of the Lord. Now, when I say hate, okay, when the scriptures say hate, we're not saying be hateful, right? We're not saying go and mistreat others. Well, what the scriptures mean by that is a sense of brokenness and a sense of disgust and a sense of you being grieved by the things that grieve the Lord. You are grieved by sin. You are grieved by your pridefulness at times when you fall into that. You're grieved by lying and all those things lifts listed in Proverbs 6. We are to love what is righteous and hate what is wicked. Be disgusted by sin. Be disgusted by the brokenness of the world and the rebellion that we see in the world at large, shaking their fist at the king of kings. That ought to disgust us in a holy kind of way, not in a hateful, venom-spilled way. We are to grieve the things that grieve the Lord. If we're going to follow King Jesus, we got to recognize that he rules with the scepter of a brightness. He loves righteousness, he hates wickedness. And as a result of for truly following him, we're going to grow in what he loves and we're going to grow in what he hates. Or we should. We should be far away from the things that grieve the Lord. And even there, if we're going to try to grow in loving righteousness, we should probably know. We should know what that means. We should know what righteousness is. You have loved righteousness, it says. And by the way, it connects Jesus, King Jesus, loving righteousness and hating wickedness to this anointing of gladness that is beyond his companions. It's because he loves righteousness, it's because he hates wickedness. It's because he does the right thing in the right way at the right time every time that he's anointed in this joyous way. But we ought to understand what that is. What is righteousness? Well, let me start with a longer kind of explanation of it, and then we'll boil it down and make it simple. Righteousness, one author said this week I read, righteousness is conformity to a certain set of expectations, which can vary from role to role. Righteousness is fulfillment of the expectations in any relationship, whether with God or other people. It is applicable at all levels of society and is relevant in every area of life. Therefore, righteousness denotes the fulfilled expectations and relationships between man and wife, parents and children, fellow citizens, employer and employee, merchant and customers, ruler and citizens and God and man. Let's summarize that and just make it simple. What is righteousness? Righteousness is doing what is right and pleasing to God. That's what righteousness is. Doing what is right and pleasing to God. And it says in the scriptures and no uncertain terms, that Jesus in his earthly life and messianic ministry does what is right and pleasing to God. He fulfills, in fact, all righteousness. Here's another reference. Drop this down. Matthew 3, 15. Jesus himself says he's doing something to fulfill all righteousness, to do what is right and pleasing to God. This is at his baptism. John the Baptist is having a hard time understanding why John should be baptizing Jesus. He says, I'm unworthy to untie the strap of your sandal. Why would I, why would I baptize you? Well, he says, Jesus responds in Matthew 3:15, Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness, to do what is right and pleasing to God. Then John the Baptist consented, and ultimately he baptized him. Do you remember that scene after he comes up out of the water? What happens? The heavens open up, and there's a voice from heaven that says, You are my son, and you I am well pleased. That's righteousness, doing what is right and pleasing to God. And Jesus, through his earthly life, through his incarnation, his earthly life, and his ministry, he does what is right and pleasing to God in everything, in everything that he does. And he sets this example for us to follow. If this is our king, if this is what he loves, if this is what he has done, we ought to follow this example. Point number three, follow Jesus' example of righteous living. Follow Jesus' example of doing what is right and pleasing to God. Follow the example of Jesus in righteous living. And I want to ask you a question. I want you to really wrestle with this. What should it look like for you to please God, act righteously in your life this week? What should that look like? And I don't mean, by the way, and of course this is appropriate, but I don't mean, let's get a little bit below the surface. I don't just mean the exterior things that you do in your work and in your parenting. That's not only what I mean. Sometimes it's easier for us to focus on the outward, but uh, but I mean inwardly and who you are, your inner thoughts, perhaps your internal complaining, your unspoken anger, your silent judgment, your your bitterness and unforgiveness. How can you grow in pleasing God in the areas that no one else sees and no one else knows about? That's the kind of righteousness that Jesus cares about. The inside out kind, not just what we do externally, though that's important, but whether or not that aligns with who we are internally. What will it look like for you to please God, to act righteously in your life this week, in the things and in the areas that no one else sees and that may never come to the surface for anyone on earth to see? But God sees, and God knows. We look on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. What will it look like for you to pursue righteousness in those ways, in ways that perhaps I may never know, your spouse may never know, but between you and the Lord, you're internally pursuing things and addressing things to please him and to do what is right. Let me give you seven encouragements. Seven encouragements to focus on in your pursuit of following Jesus' example of righteous living. I want to I want these to be biblically grounded and practical because I don't want to just leave you with this idea of righteousness is doing what is right and pleasing to God and say, great, go and do it. I want I want to show you from scripture seven encouragements to truly and actually get that done. And we'll finish with that. Seven encouragements. Here's number one: you need to focus on Jesus being the righteous one. Jesus is the righteous one. So this really is kind of getting at where righteousness comes from. Who is the ultimate demonstration of righteousness? So here's the first truth. You need to recognize and understand and believe that Jesus is the righteous one. Here's a reference to go with it, jot this down. 1 John 2, verse 1. It says this in Acts 3, it says this in Acts 7, kind of all over the place. But let's just focus on 1 John 2, verse 1. Jesus is said to be the righteous one. The apostle John says, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin, so that you may not do what is wicked in the sight of the Lord. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is said to be the righteous one. He fulfilled all righteousness. He never sinned. He became like us in every respect, Hebrews says, except without sin. He is the righteous one. So if you're going to successfully pursue righteousness, you need to recognize you don't have it, but Jesus does. Jesus is the righteous one. Now here's the second truth to hold on to, second encouragement that goes with this. They flow one into the next. The second truth to hold on to as you pursue righteousness is to understand that righteousness is a gift from Jesus. Righteousness is a gift from Jesus. We said, you don't have it apart from Christ, you are not righteous. The Bible says, all have sinned, all fall short of the glory of God. But Jesus, the righteous one, does. He does what is right and pleasing to God every time, without exception. And Jesus, who is the righteous, gives righteousness as a gift to those who believe. This is Romans 5, 17 and 18. Can I jot that down? Romans 5, 17 and 18. Righteousness is a gift from Jesus. Paul, beginning in verse 17, says, For if because of one man's trespass, that's Adam he's speaking of, one man's sin, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass, as one sin led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness by the righteous one leads to justification and life for all men. If you're going to successfully live and follow after the example of Jesus' righteousness, you need to recognize He is the righteous one, and you are not, and I am not, and righteousness is given from Him. It comes from Him as a free gift, it says in Romans 5:17. How much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ? If death reigns through Adam because of his sin, how much more will life reign through Christ because of his righteousness? That's his argument in Romans chapter 5. As you seek to follow Jesus' example of righteousness, you need to recognize that righteousness is a gift. It's not earned, it's not something that you can accomplish on your own. Jesus alone in the scriptures is said to be the righteous one in a full sense, and he is the one that gives and bestows righteousness onto others. Righteousness is a gift from Jesus. And in that sense, here's the third encouragement. Faith is required to live righteously. Encouragement number three, faith is required to live a righteous life. Faith. This is Romans 1.17. Without faith, Paul says in Romans 14, it's impossible to please God. Faith is required to live a righteous life. Paul says in Romans 1.17, for in it, in the gospel of God, that is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, that's Romans 1.16, in verse 17, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. If you're going to successfully pursue a life of righteousness, it comes from being completely dependent on the one who is completely righteous. That's Jesus. It's recognizing that righteousness is a gift from him. And it's faith in the promises of God, it's faith in the person of Jesus Christ. It's faith in, as what Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, he made him who knew no sin to become sin so that you might become the righteousness of God. You believe that in faith. You pursue that in faith. Faith is required. Trust, dependence, not just simply acknowledging or agreeing with or mentally comprehending. No, faith is a throwing yourself at the feet of Jesus, clinging to his garment and saying, I need what you have. I need what only you can provide. Faith is required to live righteousness. The righteous shall live by faith, trusting in Jesus, the righteous one, for that free gift of righteousness that comes from Jesus alone. That's the third encouragement. Here's the fourth. Righteousness, though it is a gift, and it's something that we cannot earn, it's something that we receive by faith from Christ. It is nevertheless, after we are saved, righteousness is to be pursued. Righteousness is to be pursued. That's the fourth encouragement. This is what Paul says in a variety of different places, but in 2 Timothy 2, verse 22. That's kind of easy to remember. 2, 2, 2, 2. 2 Timothy 2, verse 22. Righteousness is to be pursued. So Paul says, flee youthful passions. Flee those things that King Jesus is said to hate. He hates what is wicked, he hates wickedness. Flee those things. Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness. Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Righteousness is something to chase after by faith in Christ, looking to the one who is the righteous one. This is kind of what Paul's getting at in Philippians chapter 1, when he says that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. But it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. You are to work out, pursue righteousness, but you got to recognize that it's God who works in you to will and to work. But nevertheless, you pursue, you work out. That's what Paul says in 2 Timothy 2, verse 22. Righteousness is to be pursued in faith. We live in faith. The righteous shall live by faith, recognizing it as a free gift from Christ, because he alone is the righteous one. And because we've been given his righteousness, now we are to pursue it, to pursue righteousness, to pursue that which is pleasing and right in the sight of God. That's what the scriptures say. That's the fourth encouragement. Now, the fifth is what do we need? What has God given us to help us in this pursuit? Here's the fifth encouragement. We need the scriptures. The scriptures train us in righteousness. The scriptures train us in righteousness. This is exactly what Paul says in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16. All scripture is breathed out by God, the very words of God, and profitable. It's beneficial, it's helpful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. The scriptures train us in righteousness. Think about it this way: the scriptures are God's divine curriculum that He's given us to help train us and teach us how to live a righteous life. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. And even the fact that it's training in righteousness, you pursue it, you grow in it, you stumble in it, you don't always do it right, you don't always do it well, then you bring those things to the Lord and you move forward in grace and forgiveness. But the scriptures are so important. The scriptures train us in righteousness. That's why here at A Compass, our first distinctive is the Bible is central because of this, because we want to do what is pleasing and right in the sight of God, and we can't do that apart from the scriptures. We can't do it apart from faith. And where does faith come from? Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. The scriptures train us, even in the same section. Paul talking to Timothy saying, You have been acquainted with the sacred writings since you were young, which are able to make you wise unto salvation. We need the scriptures to train us in righteousness, to help us to see that Jesus is the righteous one, that righteousness is a free gift from Him, that we pursue it and live in it by faith, that we do these things looking to the Scriptures that are God-breathed, that are inspired. They are the very words of God and they're profitable. They're what you need. They're a curriculum, they're a roadmap, they help you, they guide you. The Bible is central in this pursuit. The scriptures train us in righteousness. There was a an infamous desk in the office of Compass Bower Church South Valley that Tyler and I spent probably four hours trying to assemble. And he probably doesn't want me to tell you this, but it almost broke our brother Tyler. It almost broke him. Um it almost broke him. It was insane. It really was, it was the worst piece of furniture that I have ever assembled. There was one part, we were deep into it, probably two hours in, right? Is that fair? And we figured out we did it wrong. We kind of got confident. We got confident. All the pieces are somewhat similar. We did it wrong in a variety of ways, but we had assembled it like backwards because we had gotten confident and we had been like, oh, well, this goes here and that goes there. And you know, men being men, and we were like, we're good. We stopped reading the instructions and we did it wrong. And actually, we used the wrong screws, we punctured it through one of the sides to the fake veneer, and it was just a mess. And we almost lost Tyler and we almost didn't plant this church because of it. It was a mess. We didn't stick to the instructions. That's this that's got the same's gonna happen for us if we don't stick to what God has said in his word. We're gonna put it on backwards, we're gonna pierce through the side of the veneer, we're gonna do it all wrong, and it's gonna get frustrating, and we're gonna go. I wanna quit. I want to go home and do nothing else. We need the scriptures to train us in righteousness. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for approval, for correction, and for training in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. So we need the scriptures. It's our divine curriculum that helps us to grow and train us in righteousness. That's the fifth encouragement. Here's the sixth discipline produces righteousness. Discipline produces righteousness. No, I don't mean discipline as in consistency. I mean discipline as in correction. Discipline and correction produces righteousness. Did you know that this is what Hebrews chapter 12 says? That discipline produces righteousness. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 11 says, for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant. Of course. Discipline seems painful in the moment rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. This is in the context. If you read this section, it's talking about God's discipline of us. God's discipline. Now you might have all kinds of questions about what that looks like and what is considered discipline. The scriptures actually don't tell us a lot of specifics. I don't think the point is to figure out, well, this bad thing happened, is that discipline? I think the point is just in general is that God does discipline those whom he loves. And we should embrace that discipline as something that leads to our furthering of righteousness, our growing in righteousness. The peaceful fruit of righteousness is yielded, it says, by those who are trained by this discipline, by this correction. I embrace this. It's uncomfortable to think about it that way. But you would say that about your kids, right? That you hope that your discipline, your correction of them, produces something good in them, and not exasperate them or make them frustrated, but something that produces over time, if you're faithful and consistent and do it in a right and good way, it produces something good. The same is true for us. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Discipline produces righteousness. And our responsibility is to say we're being trained by the discipline of God, whatever shape that may take in our lives. We've got to embrace that and hope and pray in faith that God will use that to bring about the peaceful fruit of righteousness. That's the sixth encouragement. Discipline, correction produces righteousness, it leads to it. It helps us and aids us. Here's the seventh and final. It is the shepherd, the good shepherd, that leads us in paths of righteousness. The shepherd, Jesus himself, leads us in paths of righteousness. And I hope you notice we started with the righteous one, Jesus. And we're ending with the righteous one, Jesus, the great shepherd, who David, reflecting on this, Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Perhaps you know that. Psalm 23, verse 3 says, He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. And here's the encouragement in your pursuit of righteousness. Jesus is behind you, He's beside you, He's in front of you, He's leading you in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. When I was in third grade, I played coach pitch baseball. It was glamorous. Coach pitch baseball. It was the one year, by the way, that I ever played baseball. I wonder why. But um I was in the third grade. I could not hit the ball to save my life. And if you know coach pitch baseball, they're not throwing fastballs across the plate. Underhanded, hey, are you ready? Are you ready? Look. Whiff every time. We were a couple games in, I think three or four games in, and I had not hit anything. What is it? What is the saying? I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. I mean, I just nothing. So I remember I used to go when I was a kid, I used to go by Joey. So the coach was like, Joey, keep your eye on the ball, he would he would say to me. He was on the mound and he'd throw it. Whiff. I don't know what I was doing, closing my eyes, praying that the Lord would connect the bat to the ball or whatever. But I was not keeping my eye on the ball. So I remember very clearly there was one time in practice, he just kept saying the same thing, Joey, keep your eye on the ball, keep your eye on the ball. And so finally he had enough. You know, he's like, maybe, maybe it's me, maybe it's the coach, you know. But he says, Okay, look. And he holds the ball in his hand from the mound and he says, I don't want you to look away until I tell you. And he walked slowly the ball from the mound across the plate and said, Don't stop looking, don't stop looking, don't stop looking, don't stop looking. And he walked it all the way through. And I did, I didn't stop looking. The very next pitch, I hit a home run. No, I'm just kidding, I didn't, but I but I did hit it. I did hit it. And from then on out, I was a fairly average batter. But I was able to hit the ball because of his just simple encouragement: keep your eye on the ball. In your pursuit of living a righteous life, being appreciative of the kind of king that Jesus is, that he leads with a scepter of a brightness, that he loves righteousness, that he hates wickedness, in your pursuit of living and chasing after that king. Keep your eye on Christ. You, if you don't, you're going to miss the target. You're going to be like third grade Joey whiffing again and again. Or maybe like adult Tyler with instructions and a desk. You're going to miss it. Keep your eyes on Christ. He is the author and perfecter of your faith. He is the righteous one. He is the one that gives the free gift of righteousness. He is the good shepherd that leads us in paths of righteousness. Keep your eye on Christ. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for your word. Thank you for what we see here in Hebrews 1, 7 through 9, the kind of King that Jesus is. He does the right thing in the right way at the right time every single time. So, God, I pray that we would live by faith and that we would pursue the kind of righteousness that marks our King. He loved righteousness, he hated wickedness. God, I pray that that would be increasingly true of us, that we would love what he loves, that we would hate what he hates, and that we would pursue each and every day the righteousness that he provides as a free gift. God help us to keep our eyes on Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, thank you so much for joining us today in worship.