WEBVTT 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:05.020 Well, good morning, church. Would you turn with me to Matthew chapter 5? 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:12.220 This summer we've been studying the Beatitudes, and we're going to continue that study this morning. 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:21.160 And the Beatitudes are Jesus' description of the character of God-centered, kingdom-centered disciples. 00:00:21.940 --> 00:00:27.420 This is what they're like, and that means that these Beatitudes are Jesus' description 00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:32.940 of what we've been calling a genuinely flourishing human life. 00:00:33.060 --> 00:00:39.260 You see, for Jesus, the flourishing life and the life centered on God and God's kingdom are one and the same. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:45.960 So in the Beatitudes, Jesus is inviting us to the life that's truly worth living, 00:00:46.040 --> 00:00:48.260 the life with God and God's kingdom at its center. 00:00:49.400 --> 00:00:54.700 And this morning, we're looking at the fourth Beatitude in Matthew chapter 5, verse 6. 00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:57.640 That's page 759 in the Pew Bible. 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:00.460 In Matthew 5, 6, we read, 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.740 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they should be satisfied. 00:01:03.900 --> 00:01:07.799 But I'm going to read the whole section of this part of Matthew so we get the context. 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:12.719 And then we'll circle back to verse 6 as we explore the rest of our sermon this morning. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:17.120 So let me read Matthew 5, 1 through 12, and then I'll pray. 00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:23.700 Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:26.519 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:30.260 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:34.260 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 00:01:35.159 --> 00:01:37.859 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:43.600 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:48.359 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:52.939 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 00:01:52.939 --> 00:01:58.060 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 00:01:59.179 --> 00:02:04.060 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:02:05.420 --> 00:02:10.740 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:14.460 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. 00:02:15.419 --> 00:02:18.259 For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 00:02:18.259 --> 00:02:20.539 All right, let's pray together. 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:24.179 Father, help us as we consider these beatitudes again today. 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:29.920 And as we consider particularly this hungering, this thirsting after righteousness. 00:02:30.920 --> 00:02:35.980 By your Holy Spirit, make us those sort of people as we attend to your word. 00:02:36.939 --> 00:02:42.580 Spirit, this morning, would you blow through our dry bones and cause us to come alive to your kingdom 00:02:42.580 --> 00:02:50.820 and above all to your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the true and only satisfaction for our souls. 00:02:52.020 --> 00:02:53.680 In his name we pray. Amen. 00:02:55.780 --> 00:03:01.020 Well, I think it goes without saying that nearly everyone wants to be happy. 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:06.260 Or better, we want to be, as the end of Matthew 5, 6 puts it, satisfied. 00:03:07.820 --> 00:03:10.820 Isn't that what the life worth living should feel like? 00:03:11.540 --> 00:03:15.020 A deep and lasting satisfaction, a fullness. 00:03:17.020 --> 00:03:22.379 But the great tragedy is that many of us are seeking satisfaction but not finding it. 00:03:23.340 --> 00:03:26.420 And this is true for those inside and outside the church. 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:30.639 Outside the church, people seek all sorts of means to feel satisfied. 00:03:31.099 --> 00:03:33.759 Money, pleasure, success, power. 00:03:34.799 --> 00:03:39.179 But in seeking satisfaction in those things, the irony is, 00:03:40.579 --> 00:03:42.839 we end up feeling not filled but empty. 00:03:44.699 --> 00:03:47.899 Now inside the church, we can seek satisfaction in the same things, can't we? 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:51.899 We often fall to the same temptations as our neighbors, if we're honest. 00:03:51.899 --> 00:03:54.959 We seek money and pleasure and success and power. 00:03:56.419 --> 00:04:02.219 But in the church, on top of those things, we can seek satisfaction in spiritual experiences 00:04:02.219 --> 00:04:06.019 or in relationships. 00:04:07.459 --> 00:04:12.039 But these things, too, also leave us feeling not full but empty. 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:15.459 The spiritual experiences are fleeting. 00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:18.839 The relationships are never deep enough. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:20.079 They always let us down. 00:04:20.180 --> 00:04:21.300 They never meet our needs. 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:29.480 So Jesus' words in this beatitude come to us first as a diagnostic question, 00:04:29.579 --> 00:04:31.740 a soul question to examine ourselves. 00:04:32.960 --> 00:04:34.680 What are you hungering for? 00:04:36.060 --> 00:04:38.960 What do you think will really satisfy you? 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:40.600 What do you think will fill your emptiness? 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:43.660 And is it working? 00:04:43.660 --> 00:04:52.880 You know, at times, sure, it feels like your life is a well-tuned bicycle, right? 00:04:52.939 --> 00:04:53.880 The wheels are turning. 00:04:54.520 --> 00:04:56.560 The sun and the wind are blowing through your hair. 00:04:56.640 --> 00:04:59.860 You can almost just lift your feet from the pedals and roll along. 00:05:01.340 --> 00:05:06.700 But even in those rare moments, isn't there still a lingering sense 00:05:06.699 --> 00:05:10.279 that life must be more than this? 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:19.439 Isn't life more than just a self-centered pursuit of getting my needs met 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:25.879 and living as long as we can at the corner of happy and healthy, 00:05:26.620 --> 00:05:28.800 as the Walgreens commercials used to say? 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:29.819 Do you remember those? 00:05:29.819 --> 00:05:39.719 But here Jesus isn't just trying to expose our faulty attempts at finding satisfaction. 00:05:41.339 --> 00:05:48.719 He's also inviting us to redirect our desires to the true place where they can be met. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:54.920 Jesus is not merely a cynic pointing out the futility of human life. 00:05:54.920 --> 00:06:01.100 Jesus is our good shepherd who's come to lead us in the way that we should go 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:07.680 to the green pastures and the still waters where we will find the filling our souls long for. 00:06:09.700 --> 00:06:11.759 And where is that to be found? 00:06:13.060 --> 00:06:15.520 What should we hunger and thirst for? 00:06:18.379 --> 00:06:21.420 Jesus says, righteousness. 00:06:21.420 --> 00:06:27.780 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. 00:06:30.699 --> 00:06:38.740 Now, righteousness is one of those rich biblical words that we must all come to know and love 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:42.639 if we're to understand true biblical Christianity. 00:06:43.580 --> 00:06:45.500 More than that, according to Jesus in this verse, 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:49.379 knowing what righteousness is and hungering for it and thirsting for it 00:06:49.379 --> 00:06:51.300 is the only way to real satisfaction. 00:06:53.740 --> 00:06:59.180 So I want to spend most of our time considering what righteousness is 00:06:59.180 --> 00:07:03.899 and what it looks like to hunger and thirst for it. 00:07:05.379 --> 00:07:06.699 So then, what is righteousness? 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:13.800 Well, in Scripture, the word righteousness has three aspects or three meanings 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:16.899 which are all relevant here in Matthew 5-6. 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:18.879 And these three aspects are all interconnected. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:22.420 They're sort of like a prism with three sides. 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:26.060 You know, you look through one side of a prism and you sort of see the other two, right? 00:07:27.719 --> 00:07:30.879 That's what these three meanings or aspects of righteousness are like. 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:33.519 To see one of them, you see the other two as well. 00:07:33.620 --> 00:07:37.139 They're interconnected and they're all relevant here in Matthew 5-6. 00:07:37.579 --> 00:07:41.980 But we're going to look at them one at a time so that we can get the fullness of what Jesus is saying. 00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:53.740 So first then, to hunger and thirst for righteousness means that we must hunger and thirst for God's delivering righteousness. 00:07:54.540 --> 00:08:01.800 In other words, we hunger and thirst for God's full future saving justice. 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:10.240 Righteousness in this sense is something God is and something that God will do. 00:08:11.180 --> 00:08:21.600 God will act to deliver his people, to end oppression and violence, and to restore peace and wholeness to his creation. 00:08:21.819 --> 00:08:25.879 God will save and God will judge. 00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:27.879 God will save and thirst for peace and thirst for peace and thirst for peace and thirst for peace and thirst for peace and thirst for peace. 00:08:27.879 --> 00:08:29.719 This is what all the prophets looked forward to. 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:35.679 This was the vision that fueled their hope and perseverance through dark days when it seemed like all hope was lost. 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:41.639 Now, we could consider many passages from the prophets and from the Psalms, actually. 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:45.840 You see it often, David talking about, God, save me in your righteousness. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:52.440 But one passage I think that captures it well from Isaiah is Isaiah chapter 11. 00:08:53.960 --> 00:09:02.580 In this chapter, Isaiah speaks of the coming Messiah whose righteousness will judge evil, restore his people to safety, and heal the broken creation. 00:09:02.660 --> 00:09:06.180 If you want to turn there, it's page 539 in the Pew Bible. 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:17.799 I'm going to read the whole chapter just so we get a sense of this sweeping vision of what the prophets looked for and longed for when they spoke of God's righteousness, his justice to come. 00:09:19.139 --> 00:09:21.419 So Isaiah 11, starting in verse 1. 00:09:21.419 --> 00:09:51.399 Verse 1. 00:09:51.419 --> 00:10:21.399 Verse 1. 00:10:21.419 --> 00:10:51.399 Verse 1. 00:10:51.399 --> 00:11:21.399 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:51.379 Verse 1. 00:11:51.379 --> 00:12:04.840 Now, the prophet here is obviously speaking in rich, figurative language about this coming day when God's righteousness will be expressed in full. 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:06.840 And we see the different elements here in this passage. 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:13.540 And we see the different elements here in this passage that just like God acted in delivering justice to save his people from Egypt and lead them home. 00:12:13.539 --> 00:12:14.539 So the prophet. 00:12:14.539 --> 00:12:23.120 So the prophet longed for the prophet longed for the prophet long, to put down the evil oppressors of God's people and God's creation, 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:32.360 and lead all of his redeemed people, Jew and Gentile, into a healed creation where there was no more sin or sickness or death, 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:42.379 where there was no more violence, where there was no more violence, where there was no more violence, where even the wolf could dwell with the lamb and a little child could lead them. 00:12:42.379 --> 00:12:43.379 Righteousness, right? 00:13:12.379 --> 00:13:13.379 Your will be done. 00:13:13.379 --> 00:13:14.379 Your will be done. 00:13:14.379 --> 00:13:16.200 Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.659 That's God's righteousness. 00:13:20.659 --> 00:13:26.639 The inbreaking of God's reign when he will at long last put the world to rights. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:37.340 And friends, this is why Jesus came, to inaugurate this kingdom righteousness, to set it in motion. 00:13:39.340 --> 00:13:46.639 In Luke chapter 4, Jesus used the words of Isaiah 61 to describe his own ministry. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:50.419 In Isaiah 61, 1 through 4, we read, 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:56.500 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. 00:13:57.240 --> 00:14:03.779 He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, 00:14:04.539 --> 00:14:09.039 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:13.220 to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:18.680 to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, and the oil of gladness instead of mourning, 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:23.879 the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, 00:14:24.540 --> 00:14:28.100 the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. 00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:30.960 They shall build up the ancient ruins. 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.840 They shall raise up the former devastations. 00:14:34.540 --> 00:14:39.540 They shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. 00:14:39.539 --> 00:14:46.399 So you see this picture that the Old Testament has of God's righteousness, 00:14:46.599 --> 00:14:51.539 of his delivering, healing, restoring, world-fixing justice 00:14:51.539 --> 00:14:55.679 that Jesus himself set in motion in his earthly ministry, 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:00.799 and that will be fulfilled one day when he returns in glory. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:08.219 Hunger and thirst for that, Jesus says. 00:15:08.220 --> 00:15:09.220 Jesus says. 00:15:09.220 --> 00:15:10.220 Jesus says. 00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:11.220 Jesus says. 00:15:11.220 --> 00:15:17.320 Friends, you were meant to be consumed by a vision so much greater 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:24.019 and of so much more weight and importance and eternal significance 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:29.980 than to merely live at the corner of happy and healthy for as long as you can manage it. 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:30.980 Jesus is saying. 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:33.159 Jesus is saying. 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:43.779 Break out of your small dreams and step into a longing that is as wide and as bold 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:46.820 as the restorative reign of God's righteousness. 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:57.440 One person's heart who was captured by a hunger and thirst for God's righteousness was Ida Wells. 00:15:58.100 --> 00:15:59.900 I don't know if you know the story of Ida Wells. 00:16:00.040 --> 00:16:04.920 Here's how her story went as told in a book called Life Worth Living. 00:16:05.920 --> 00:16:09.660 Ida Wells was a young woman building a life in the midst of difficult circumstances. 00:16:09.659 --> 00:16:16.379 She was born into slavery in Mississippi and freed as a child by the Emancipation Proclamation. 00:16:17.579 --> 00:16:22.240 And Wells lost her parents and her infant brother to a yellow fever epidemic when she was 16. 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:27.959 To support herself and her surviving siblings, she took a job as a schoolteacher. 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:36.540 And by her 20s, she had saved enough money to purchase one-third in an upstart newspaper called The Free Speech 00:16:36.540 --> 00:16:38.580 and to start a journalistic career. 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:41.340 Things were looking up for Ida. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:48.180 Until a horrifying but all-too-predictable injustice changed everything. 00:16:48.179 --> 00:16:59.179 On March 9, 1892, Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and William Henry Stewart were lynched just outside the Memphis city limits. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:02.620 And this crime was personal for Wells. 00:17:02.739 --> 00:17:05.559 She was the godmother to Moss's daughter, Maureen. 00:17:07.259 --> 00:17:12.700 And the experience led Wells to see that she had actually been fed a lie. 00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:42.680 She wrote, 00:17:42.700 --> 00:17:45.460 It was different because Wells knew Moss and McDowell and Stewart. 00:17:46.460 --> 00:17:49.819 And she knew they had committed no crime against white women. 00:17:51.740 --> 00:18:00.200 And suddenly she saw that lynching was really, as she wrote, an excuse to get rid of Negroes 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:05.620 who were acquiring wealth and property and thus keep the race terrorized. 00:18:05.619 --> 00:18:13.779 Few others in Ida Wells' time would speak this truth so clearly. 00:18:13.779 --> 00:18:20.859 And when Wells said it plainly in print, a mob of vigilantes ransacked the Office of Free Speech 00:18:20.859 --> 00:18:25.299 and left a note saying that anyone trying to publish the paper again would be punished with death. 00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:28.460 So Wells lost her paper. 00:18:28.460 --> 00:18:36.720 But she stood firm in her vocation to tell the truth about lynching to a world that didn't want to listen. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:46.120 Now, friends, what was it that fueled Ida B. Wells to do what she did with such courage? 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:55.319 Well, when you study her life a little more closely, you begin to realize that it was her tenacious faith in God 00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:57.219 and in God's righteousness. 00:18:58.379 --> 00:19:03.579 Her journals show us a woman who had a deep and resilient faith in the Lord Jesus, 00:19:04.479 --> 00:19:07.719 believing that God would fight for her no matter what was happening. 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:13.059 Ida Wells' life was not lived at the corner of happy and healthy. 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:17.900 It was lived hungering and thirsting for God's delivering righteousness, 00:19:19.339 --> 00:19:22.740 His future justice that would put the world to rights. 00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:26.680 How about us today? 00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:36.360 Where is God's coming righteousness inaugurated in Jesus calling you to speak and act? 00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:47.240 Where is the righteousness of God unmasking the lies of our day and age like it unmasked the world's lies for Ida Wells? 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:56.220 Perhaps God's righteousness is opening your eyes to the vulnerability of unborn children 00:19:56.220 --> 00:20:00.920 in a culture that would seek to dehumanize them with the rhetoric that we use. 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:11.019 Perhaps it's the vulnerability of migrants and refugees in a culture that seems equally hell-bent on dehumanizing them. 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:16.740 Perhaps it's the vulnerability of children needing foster homes, 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:19.259 or the vulnerability of our aging neighbors, 00:20:19.660 --> 00:20:24.000 or the vulnerability of women with unplanned pregnancies feeling scared and lost, 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:26.920 those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:27.960 Jesus says. 00:20:29.559 --> 00:20:34.339 Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. 00:20:38.019 --> 00:20:42.680 Now, this doesn't mean we will necessarily see all the change that we desire to see in the world. 00:20:42.759 --> 00:20:46.440 In fact, we can be assured, we can be assured that we will not see 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:49.180 all the change we desire to see in the world. 00:20:49.180 --> 00:20:54.799 The righteousness of God will only be fully complete when the Lord Jesus returns in glory, 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:59.960 and all evil and injustice is excluded from His good creation once and for all. 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:06.120 But until that day, we hunger and thirst for it. 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:12.700 We don't let Walgreens' vision of being happy and healthy lull us to sleep. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:15.180 There's no satisfaction there. 00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:18.860 Only in hungering for righteousness. 00:21:19.180 --> 00:21:28.320 But as we hunger for this delivering kingdom righteousness of God, 00:21:28.560 --> 00:21:31.480 God's full and complete justice that's coming one day, 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:35.840 we begin to realize that there's another aspect to this righteousness. 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:38.500 For if we begin to hunger, 00:21:39.100 --> 00:21:43.140 if we begin to hunger for that justice to be complete in the world, 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:53.140 we also begin to realize that it's we ourselves who need reformation just as badly as the world. 00:21:53.140 --> 00:21:57.880 And this brings us to the second aspect of righteousness. 00:21:58.520 --> 00:22:06.440 To hunger and thirst for righteousness means that we must hunger and thirst for right living. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:11.480 To hunger and thirst for our own actions and desires, 00:22:11.900 --> 00:22:15.540 to be in accord with God's righteous character and God's good commands. 00:22:15.539 --> 00:22:20.440 If the first aspect of righteousness points us to God's justice, 00:22:20.819 --> 00:22:24.420 the second aspect of righteousness points us to godly living. 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:30.700 And just as the first aspect of righteousness has as its center Jesus, 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:31.980 God's just king, 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:38.480 so this second aspect of righteousness has Jesus at the center as well. 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:45.880 For when we hunger and thirst for the righteousness of right living, 00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:52.640 we are hungering and thirsting for conformity to Jesus, the righteous one. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:58.980 And that is the hunger and thirst of every genuine Christian, 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:01.180 to be like Christ. 00:23:03.620 --> 00:23:06.319 Growing up, you probably had a hero or two. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:10.899 Maybe it was a sports figure that you longed to be like. 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:15.720 So you studied her movements, you learned about her training routine, 00:23:16.279 --> 00:23:19.359 maybe even bought the products that they endorsed, right? 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:21.939 As a kid growing up in the 90s, 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:25.359 you know, any kid growing up in the late 80s, early 90s, 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:27.879 knew all about wanting to be like Mike, right? 00:23:28.740 --> 00:23:32.379 You know, so we all stuck out our tongues when we drove to the hoop, 00:23:32.439 --> 00:23:35.519 and we all spread our legs as we jumped for our layups. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:39.519 You know, you see the same thing today as young kids are playing soccer, 00:23:39.679 --> 00:23:40.619 and they score a goal and yell, 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:41.000 Sue! 00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:42.059 Right? 00:23:42.539 --> 00:23:44.019 They're imitating their heroes. 00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:49.679 But a small dream, isn't it? 00:23:50.679 --> 00:23:51.980 It's a petty desire, 00:23:52.980 --> 00:23:55.720 compared to hungering and thirsting, 00:23:55.720 --> 00:24:01.339 to be like the one we see walk across the pages of the New Testament. 00:24:04.339 --> 00:24:08.000 Every earthly hero we discover sooner or later has feet of clay. 00:24:09.120 --> 00:24:09.880 But this one, 00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:12.860 in this one there was no guile, 00:24:13.339 --> 00:24:15.019 no secret motive, 00:24:15.160 --> 00:24:16.420 no selfish desire. 00:24:17.059 --> 00:24:20.240 He was powerful enough to calm the raging seas, 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:23.220 to speak with an authority that no one had ever known, 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:27.140 and yet humble enough to wash his disciples' feet, 00:24:27.740 --> 00:24:30.839 and to receive the lowest of low and call them his friends. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:38.980 Isn't this the great question our culture is asking again and again and again? 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:41.240 Who do I want to be? 00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:45.380 What identity should I construct for myself? 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:49.680 Friend, there is one 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.400 who is able 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:53.019 to be the model 00:24:53.019 --> 00:24:54.779 for your humanity 00:24:54.779 --> 00:24:56.920 and leave you satisfied. 00:24:58.299 --> 00:25:01.019 The Lord Jesus Christ. 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:03.779 He is the truly human one. 00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:06.420 When you learn of his life 00:25:06.420 --> 00:25:07.779 in the pages of the New Testament, 00:25:07.779 --> 00:25:09.879 you are seeing the portrait 00:25:09.879 --> 00:25:11.139 of the full, 00:25:11.639 --> 00:25:13.059 flourishing life 00:25:13.059 --> 00:25:14.700 that you were meant to live. 00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:18.899 And wonder of wonders, 00:25:19.059 --> 00:25:20.819 this Jesus does not say 00:25:20.819 --> 00:25:22.579 that only the best 00:25:22.579 --> 00:25:24.119 and only the brightest 00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:26.519 can enter his school of living. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:28.019 No. 00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:29.240 He says, 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:30.980 anyone who comes to me, 00:25:31.319 --> 00:25:33.259 I will in no wise cast out. 00:25:34.379 --> 00:25:36.000 There are no tryouts 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:37.279 in his school of life 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:39.779 the doors wide open 00:25:39.779 --> 00:25:41.000 for you to come in. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:45.160 But Christian, 00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:48.180 do you hunger for this? 00:25:49.619 --> 00:25:50.799 Do you thirst 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:53.000 to be more like Jesus? 00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:57.879 Perhaps the reason 00:25:57.879 --> 00:25:59.259 you're feeling so empty, 00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:00.940 so lost, 00:26:00.940 --> 00:26:03.480 is because your hunger 00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:05.400 hunger has been captured 00:26:05.400 --> 00:26:06.559 momentarily 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:08.380 by a meal 00:26:08.380 --> 00:26:10.059 that can't really satisfy. 00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:13.019 You thought a relationship 00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:13.640 could do it. 00:26:13.700 --> 00:26:14.700 You thought a new job 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:15.099 could do it. 00:26:15.140 --> 00:26:16.079 You thought a new city 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:16.539 could do it, 00:26:16.579 --> 00:26:17.900 but the hunger remains. 00:26:20.980 --> 00:26:21.880 Hunger and thirst 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:22.720 for righteousness. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:26.160 Hunger to become like Jesus. 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:27.819 Thirst for conformity 00:26:27.819 --> 00:26:28.799 to Christ. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:31.779 hunger and thirst 00:26:31.779 --> 00:26:32.980 to be transformed 00:26:32.980 --> 00:26:34.019 into his image 00:26:34.019 --> 00:26:35.659 in increasing measure. 00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:40.220 I wonder, 00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:41.139 is there an area 00:26:41.139 --> 00:26:42.119 of your life 00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:43.180 right now 00:26:43.180 --> 00:26:45.279 that you know 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:47.059 falls short 00:26:47.059 --> 00:26:48.519 of his ways 00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:49.359 or his words? 00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:52.460 Perhaps you're stuck 00:26:52.460 --> 00:26:53.619 in an addiction 00:26:53.619 --> 00:26:55.739 and you need help. 00:26:56.979 --> 00:26:57.419 Friend, 00:26:57.459 --> 00:26:58.259 if that's you, 00:26:59.019 --> 00:27:00.099 this is the place 00:27:00.099 --> 00:27:00.539 for you. 00:27:01.459 --> 00:27:03.139 We're all sinners 00:27:03.139 --> 00:27:04.939 needing redemption 00:27:04.939 --> 00:27:05.919 and needing help. 00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:07.899 And if you're stuck, 00:27:08.579 --> 00:27:09.299 come talk to me 00:27:09.299 --> 00:27:10.079 or talk to Alex 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:10.519 at the door. 00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:11.619 We can connect you 00:27:11.619 --> 00:27:12.839 with fellow brothers 00:27:12.839 --> 00:27:13.299 or sisters 00:27:13.299 --> 00:27:14.099 who can help. 00:27:14.879 --> 00:27:16.059 Change is possible. 00:27:16.179 --> 00:27:17.059 It's not easy, 00:27:17.339 --> 00:27:18.219 but it's real. 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:20.500 You can find 00:27:20.500 --> 00:27:22.099 a new satisfaction 00:27:22.099 --> 00:27:23.859 in the arms of Christ. 00:27:26.879 --> 00:27:27.639 Perhaps for you 00:27:27.639 --> 00:27:28.519 it's not an addiction. 00:27:28.740 --> 00:27:30.799 Perhaps it's a character trait 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:31.419 that you want 00:27:31.419 --> 00:27:32.199 to see more of 00:27:32.199 --> 00:27:32.719 in your life 00:27:32.719 --> 00:27:33.919 or it's an attitude 00:27:33.919 --> 00:27:34.939 or an action 00:27:34.939 --> 00:27:36.579 that you want to see 00:27:36.579 --> 00:27:37.399 less or more of 00:27:37.399 --> 00:27:38.079 in your life. 00:27:38.859 --> 00:27:39.519 The Holy Spirit 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:40.539 maybe right now 00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:41.319 is impressing 00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:42.199 something on you. 00:27:43.719 --> 00:27:44.000 Friend, 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:45.539 don't let that desire go. 00:27:46.579 --> 00:27:47.339 Hunger for it. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:48.459 Thirst for it. 00:27:48.699 --> 00:27:49.519 Pray for it. 00:27:50.179 --> 00:27:51.099 Share that desire 00:27:51.099 --> 00:27:52.179 with trusted friends. 00:27:52.579 --> 00:27:53.719 Study it in the pages 00:27:53.719 --> 00:27:54.240 of Scripture 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:54.980 and in the life 00:27:54.980 --> 00:27:56.219 of Jesus most of all. 00:27:57.919 --> 00:27:58.879 Think of ways 00:27:58.879 --> 00:27:59.480 that you can be 00:27:59.480 --> 00:28:00.399 cooperating 00:28:00.399 --> 00:28:01.339 with the Holy Spirit 00:28:01.339 --> 00:28:02.319 and the means of grace 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:03.519 to see that virtue, 00:28:03.619 --> 00:28:04.379 to see that action 00:28:04.379 --> 00:28:05.359 develop more and more 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:06.019 in your life. 00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:09.899 Your humanity, 00:28:10.859 --> 00:28:11.119 brother, 00:28:11.779 --> 00:28:12.139 sister, 00:28:12.839 --> 00:28:14.299 is a beautiful thing. 00:28:16.119 --> 00:28:17.639 Christ became flesh 00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:18.500 to redeem 00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:19.560 your whole life. 00:28:21.280 --> 00:28:22.259 So don't hunger 00:28:22.259 --> 00:28:22.900 or thirst 00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:24.060 for anything less 00:28:24.060 --> 00:28:25.320 than righteousness. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:26.759 Righteousness 00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:28.240 in every area of life. 00:28:31.040 --> 00:28:31.580 Of course, 00:28:31.640 --> 00:28:32.500 we won't see this work 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:33.360 of ongoing growth 00:28:33.360 --> 00:28:33.980 and righteousness 00:28:33.980 --> 00:28:35.900 completed in this life. 00:28:35.900 --> 00:28:36.920 We'll never reach 00:28:36.920 --> 00:28:37.900 sinless perfection, 00:28:38.540 --> 00:28:39.640 so we'll always be 00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:40.960 hungering and thirsting. 00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:43.300 But we will also 00:28:43.300 --> 00:28:44.280 know satisfaction. 00:28:44.279 --> 00:28:47.039 We can know 00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:47.879 a closer walk 00:28:47.879 --> 00:28:48.539 with Christ 00:28:48.539 --> 00:28:50.460 and a closer likeness 00:28:50.460 --> 00:28:50.859 to Him. 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:53.039 And when we see Him 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:53.920 on the last day, 00:28:54.740 --> 00:28:56.819 we'll be like Him 00:28:56.819 --> 00:28:58.920 because we'll see Him 00:28:58.920 --> 00:28:59.559 as He is. 00:29:01.319 --> 00:29:02.319 God promises 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:03.579 that Jesus will complete 00:29:03.579 --> 00:29:04.200 the good work 00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:04.839 He's begun 00:29:04.839 --> 00:29:07.220 and that will be 00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:08.500 eternal satisfaction. 00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:14.519 But there's one final aspect 00:29:14.519 --> 00:29:15.559 to this hungering 00:29:15.559 --> 00:29:16.160 and thirsting 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:16.779 for righteousness. 00:29:17.420 --> 00:29:18.420 The first aspect 00:29:18.420 --> 00:29:20.480 was God's saving righteousness, 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:22.299 His world-righting justice. 00:29:23.299 --> 00:29:24.099 But our hunger 00:29:24.099 --> 00:29:25.660 for that sort of righteousness 00:29:25.660 --> 00:29:27.039 drove us to a hunger 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:28.500 for personal righteousness 00:29:28.500 --> 00:29:30.279 because we can't just hunger 00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:31.480 for God's righteousness 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:32.319 in the world 00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:33.240 and not at the same time 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:34.359 hunger for God's righteousness 00:29:34.359 --> 00:29:35.220 in us 00:29:35.220 --> 00:29:36.599 in our personal 00:29:36.599 --> 00:29:38.099 daily likeness to Christ, 00:29:38.099 --> 00:29:38.959 the righteous one. 00:29:40.619 --> 00:29:41.939 But this hunger 00:29:41.939 --> 00:29:43.619 for personal righteousness, 00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:46.619 it drives us 00:29:46.619 --> 00:29:47.980 to yet another hunger. 00:29:50.439 --> 00:29:51.759 For as we hunger 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:53.779 for personal righteousness, 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:54.839 we realize 00:29:54.839 --> 00:29:57.059 that our progress 00:29:57.059 --> 00:29:58.699 in righteousness 00:29:58.699 --> 00:30:00.939 will never be enough. 00:30:00.940 --> 00:30:03.880 even as the Holy Spirit 00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:05.340 conforms us more and more 00:30:05.340 --> 00:30:06.400 into the image of Christ, 00:30:06.460 --> 00:30:07.080 we know 00:30:07.080 --> 00:30:08.980 that we're still lacking, 00:30:10.059 --> 00:30:11.160 that we're still poor 00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:11.700 in spirit. 00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:13.799 You know, 00:30:13.820 --> 00:30:14.360 the experience 00:30:14.360 --> 00:30:15.019 of all the saints 00:30:15.019 --> 00:30:15.820 throughout church history 00:30:15.820 --> 00:30:16.500 has been like this. 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:17.759 The closer they get to Christ, 00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:19.059 seemingly more 00:30:19.059 --> 00:30:20.500 holy and Christ-like 00:30:20.500 --> 00:30:21.180 they become, 00:30:21.820 --> 00:30:23.240 the more they understand 00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:24.160 their deep sinfulness 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:26.120 and their unrighteousness. 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:29.239 At the age of 21, 00:30:29.439 --> 00:30:30.379 David Brainerd 00:30:30.379 --> 00:30:31.759 came to see 00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:32.879 the kind of awesome 00:30:32.879 --> 00:30:34.239 worthiness of God 00:30:34.239 --> 00:30:35.000 and God's kingdom. 00:30:36.179 --> 00:30:37.019 Two months before 00:30:37.019 --> 00:30:37.779 entering Yale 00:30:37.779 --> 00:30:38.859 to train for the ministry, 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:39.559 Brainerd wrote, 00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:40.979 the Lord I trust 00:30:40.979 --> 00:30:41.639 brought me 00:30:41.639 --> 00:30:43.119 to a hearty desire 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:44.259 to exalt Him, 00:30:44.619 --> 00:30:45.919 to set Him on the throne 00:30:45.919 --> 00:30:46.919 and to seek first 00:30:46.919 --> 00:30:47.559 His kingdom. 00:30:48.239 --> 00:30:49.599 That is principally 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:50.699 and ultimately 00:30:50.699 --> 00:30:52.199 to aim at His honor 00:30:52.199 --> 00:30:52.839 and glory 00:30:52.839 --> 00:30:53.439 as the King 00:30:53.439 --> 00:30:53.959 and Sovereign 00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:54.680 of the universe. 00:30:55.299 --> 00:30:55.700 He says, 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:56.960 I felt myself 00:30:56.960 --> 00:30:58.059 in a new world. 00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:00.340 It was a conversion 00:31:00.340 --> 00:31:01.519 experience for Brainerd 00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:03.600 and his zeal 00:31:03.600 --> 00:31:04.039 for the Lord 00:31:04.039 --> 00:31:04.799 only grew. 00:31:05.539 --> 00:31:06.200 While at Yale, 00:31:06.360 --> 00:31:07.180 the Great Awakening 00:31:07.180 --> 00:31:08.579 was taking hold 00:31:08.579 --> 00:31:09.900 and Brainerd's love 00:31:09.900 --> 00:31:10.480 for Christ 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:11.460 kept burning hot. 00:31:11.559 --> 00:31:12.519 It burned so hot, 00:31:12.579 --> 00:31:12.980 in fact, 00:31:13.360 --> 00:31:14.180 that he was expelled 00:31:14.180 --> 00:31:15.579 from Yale in 1742. 00:31:16.840 --> 00:31:17.680 He was kicked out 00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:18.680 for being overheard 00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:19.259 as saying that 00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:20.200 one of the Tudors, 00:31:20.920 --> 00:31:21.860 Chaunceley Wittlesley, 00:31:22.380 --> 00:31:23.460 had no more grace 00:31:23.460 --> 00:31:24.180 than a chair. 00:31:27.380 --> 00:31:28.240 And he wondered 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:29.220 why the rector of Yale 00:31:29.220 --> 00:31:30.720 did not drop down dead 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:32.259 for finding students 00:31:32.259 --> 00:31:33.720 for their evangelical zeal. 00:31:35.720 --> 00:31:36.840 So that was Brainerd 00:31:36.840 --> 00:31:37.400 in his youth. 00:31:38.779 --> 00:31:40.140 So Brainerd left Yale 00:31:40.140 --> 00:31:41.039 and became a missionary 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:42.100 to Native Americans. 00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:42.539 First, 00:31:42.620 --> 00:31:43.539 the Housatonic Indians 00:31:43.539 --> 00:31:44.880 about 20 miles northwest 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:46.160 of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. 00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:48.059 And then among 00:31:48.059 --> 00:31:48.680 Native Americans 00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:49.340 in New Jersey 00:31:49.340 --> 00:31:50.019 and Pennsylvania 00:31:50.019 --> 00:31:51.200 along the Delaware River. 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:53.400 Tragically, 00:31:53.500 --> 00:31:54.039 Brainerd's life 00:31:54.039 --> 00:31:54.759 would be cut short. 00:31:54.860 --> 00:31:56.160 He contracted tuberculosis 00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:57.240 and eventually died 00:31:57.240 --> 00:31:57.759 at the house 00:31:57.759 --> 00:31:58.779 of Jonathan Edwards 00:31:58.779 --> 00:32:00.319 back in Stockbridge, 00:32:00.440 --> 00:32:01.000 Massachusetts 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:03.220 in 1747, 00:32:03.740 --> 00:32:05.059 only five years 00:32:05.059 --> 00:32:06.039 after leaving Yale. 00:32:07.700 --> 00:32:08.620 Now, surely, 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:09.360 for someone 00:32:09.360 --> 00:32:10.259 whose life 00:32:10.259 --> 00:32:12.160 burned that bright 00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:13.100 for the gospel, 00:32:13.640 --> 00:32:14.180 there would be 00:32:14.180 --> 00:32:15.779 just an overwhelming, 00:32:16.340 --> 00:32:17.500 unrelenting sense 00:32:17.500 --> 00:32:18.920 of satisfaction, right? 00:32:18.920 --> 00:32:20.660 After all, 00:32:20.740 --> 00:32:21.680 what a great example 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:22.220 Brainerd is 00:32:22.220 --> 00:32:22.740 of hungering 00:32:22.740 --> 00:32:23.240 and thirsting 00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:23.960 after righteousness. 00:32:24.420 --> 00:32:25.039 Brainerd loved 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:25.620 the Lord Jesus. 00:32:25.779 --> 00:32:27.019 He laid down his life 00:32:27.019 --> 00:32:27.740 as a missionary, 00:32:28.060 --> 00:32:29.000 preaching the gospel, 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:30.039 loving the lost, 00:32:30.259 --> 00:32:31.220 planting churches, 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:33.220 aspiring for God's kingdom 00:32:33.220 --> 00:32:34.000 and righteousness. 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:36.740 But yet, 00:32:38.460 --> 00:32:40.560 the same Brainerd 00:32:40.560 --> 00:32:41.320 would also write 00:32:41.320 --> 00:32:42.140 in his diary 00:32:42.140 --> 00:32:45.279 entries such as these. 00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:47.940 In preparing to go 00:32:47.940 --> 00:32:50.059 to the Konomic Indians, 00:32:50.680 --> 00:32:51.639 about halfway between 00:32:51.639 --> 00:32:52.879 Stockbridge and Albany, 00:32:54.200 --> 00:32:54.779 Brainerd said 00:32:54.779 --> 00:32:57.019 on November 27, 1742, 00:32:58.019 --> 00:33:00.680 Surely I may well love 00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:01.460 all my brethren, 00:33:02.059 --> 00:33:03.399 for none of them all 00:33:03.399 --> 00:33:05.879 is so vile as I. 00:33:07.899 --> 00:33:09.359 Whatever they do outwardly, 00:33:09.399 --> 00:33:10.099 yet it seems to me 00:33:10.099 --> 00:33:11.000 none is conscious 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:12.299 of so much guilt 00:33:12.299 --> 00:33:13.160 before God. 00:33:13.160 --> 00:33:15.220 Oh, my leanness, 00:33:15.820 --> 00:33:16.920 my barrenness, 00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:18.600 my carnality 00:33:18.600 --> 00:33:20.340 and past bitterness 00:33:20.340 --> 00:33:21.680 and want 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:23.019 of a gospel temper. 00:33:24.259 --> 00:33:25.080 These things 00:33:25.080 --> 00:33:26.180 oppress my soul. 00:33:27.320 --> 00:33:28.320 I rode from New York 00:33:28.320 --> 00:33:29.160 30 miles 00:33:29.160 --> 00:33:30.080 to White Plains 00:33:30.080 --> 00:33:31.040 and most of the way 00:33:31.040 --> 00:33:32.140 continued lifting up 00:33:32.140 --> 00:33:33.019 my heart to God 00:33:33.019 --> 00:33:33.779 for mercy 00:33:33.779 --> 00:33:35.860 and purifying grace 00:33:35.860 --> 00:33:37.980 and spent the evening 00:33:37.980 --> 00:33:39.180 much dejected 00:33:39.180 --> 00:33:39.759 in spirit. 00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:43.879 How could that be? 00:33:46.740 --> 00:33:47.619 Was Brainerd 00:33:47.619 --> 00:33:49.339 just a bit morose, 00:33:49.460 --> 00:33:50.879 a bit too introspective? 00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:52.599 Did he suffer 00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:54.640 from a bit of depression 00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:55.299 perhaps? 00:33:56.460 --> 00:33:57.240 Well, maybe. 00:33:59.339 --> 00:34:00.279 But there's truth 00:34:00.279 --> 00:34:00.879 in what Brainerd 00:34:00.879 --> 00:34:01.779 saw too, you know. 00:34:03.059 --> 00:34:04.359 Like the Apostle Paul, 00:34:04.500 --> 00:34:05.099 Brainerd knew 00:34:05.099 --> 00:34:05.900 what it was like 00:34:05.900 --> 00:34:06.599 to say, 00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:08.619 I am the chief 00:34:08.619 --> 00:34:09.480 of sinners. 00:34:12.019 --> 00:34:12.739 And the more 00:34:12.739 --> 00:34:13.420 we hunger 00:34:13.420 --> 00:34:15.219 for personal righteousness, 00:34:15.980 --> 00:34:17.420 the more we will 00:34:17.420 --> 00:34:18.159 see that too. 00:34:19.619 --> 00:34:20.380 We'll be like 00:34:20.380 --> 00:34:21.219 the tax collector 00:34:21.219 --> 00:34:22.259 in Jesus' parable 00:34:22.259 --> 00:34:22.839 who goes up 00:34:22.839 --> 00:34:23.460 to the temple 00:34:23.460 --> 00:34:24.579 beating his breast 00:34:24.579 --> 00:34:24.819 saying, 00:34:24.940 --> 00:34:25.239 Lord, 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:26.900 be merciful to me, 00:34:27.299 --> 00:34:27.739 the sinner. 00:34:30.619 --> 00:34:31.099 Now, 00:34:31.139 --> 00:34:32.059 where does this leave us? 00:34:32.059 --> 00:34:34.699 It leaves us hungering 00:34:34.699 --> 00:34:35.500 and thirsting 00:34:35.500 --> 00:34:36.699 for the final 00:34:36.699 --> 00:34:38.340 and the most surprising 00:34:38.340 --> 00:34:39.920 aspect of biblical 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:40.460 righteousness. 00:34:41.619 --> 00:34:42.880 For this third aspect 00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:43.820 is not the kind of 00:34:43.820 --> 00:34:45.299 final saving justice 00:34:45.299 --> 00:34:45.880 of God 00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:46.880 and his in-breaking reign. 00:34:48.039 --> 00:34:48.619 This righteousness 00:34:48.619 --> 00:34:49.779 is not the ongoing 00:34:49.779 --> 00:34:50.900 personal holiness 00:34:50.900 --> 00:34:52.079 or Christ-likeness 00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:53.000 that God works in us 00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:53.639 through his spirit. 00:34:55.519 --> 00:34:56.759 This righteousness 00:34:56.759 --> 00:34:59.179 is the gift 00:34:59.179 --> 00:35:01.480 of what Scripture 00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:02.739 calls justification, 00:35:03.859 --> 00:35:04.619 the righteousness 00:35:04.619 --> 00:35:06.359 that is credited 00:35:06.359 --> 00:35:07.099 to us 00:35:07.099 --> 00:35:09.799 simply through faith 00:35:09.799 --> 00:35:11.339 in Jesus Christ. 00:35:13.279 --> 00:35:13.940 You see, 00:35:14.019 --> 00:35:15.440 Jesus didn't just live 00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:17.440 the model human life, 00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:19.199 the life worth living. 00:35:20.440 --> 00:35:20.679 No, 00:35:20.739 --> 00:35:22.139 much more than that, 00:35:22.399 --> 00:35:23.579 Jesus Christ lived 00:35:23.579 --> 00:35:25.919 the only truly worthy life. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:28.200 The life he lived 00:35:28.200 --> 00:35:28.599 on earth 00:35:28.599 --> 00:35:29.680 before the Father 00:35:29.680 --> 00:35:30.300 was the life 00:35:30.300 --> 00:35:30.820 you and I 00:35:30.820 --> 00:35:31.940 were meant to live 00:35:31.940 --> 00:35:33.019 but did not. 00:35:34.240 --> 00:35:34.780 And the death 00:35:34.780 --> 00:35:36.300 he died on the cross 00:35:36.300 --> 00:35:37.500 was the death 00:35:37.500 --> 00:35:37.940 you and I 00:35:37.940 --> 00:35:38.940 deserve to die 00:35:38.940 --> 00:35:40.280 because of our great sin. 00:35:42.260 --> 00:35:43.119 And everyone 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:44.360 who comes to admit 00:35:44.360 --> 00:35:45.920 that their own righteousness 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:47.159 cannot save them 00:35:47.159 --> 00:35:49.440 and who come to trust 00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:50.680 instead in Christ's 00:35:50.680 --> 00:35:51.380 person and work 00:35:51.380 --> 00:35:52.420 on their behalf, 00:35:52.420 --> 00:35:56.220 they are declared 00:35:56.220 --> 00:35:57.380 right. 00:35:57.800 --> 00:35:59.019 They're justified 00:35:59.019 --> 00:36:00.820 freely 00:36:00.820 --> 00:36:02.420 by grace. 00:36:03.460 --> 00:36:04.039 God, 00:36:04.119 --> 00:36:04.360 you see, 00:36:04.579 --> 00:36:05.200 credits 00:36:05.200 --> 00:36:06.400 the righteousness 00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:07.200 of Christ 00:36:07.200 --> 00:36:08.639 to their account 00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:10.860 and they're fully accepted 00:36:10.860 --> 00:36:12.500 not on the basis 00:36:12.500 --> 00:36:13.380 of their works 00:36:13.380 --> 00:36:15.740 but solely 00:36:15.740 --> 00:36:16.300 on the basis 00:36:16.300 --> 00:36:17.119 of Christ 00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:18.579 to whom 00:36:18.579 --> 00:36:19.400 they are united 00:36:19.400 --> 00:36:20.860 by faith. 00:36:20.860 --> 00:36:24.940 hunger and thirst 00:36:24.940 --> 00:36:27.120 for that righteousness. 00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:30.680 The righteousness 00:36:30.680 --> 00:36:31.800 that fills 00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:33.680 your deepest hunger 00:36:33.680 --> 00:36:36.519 because your deepest hunger, 00:36:36.720 --> 00:36:36.920 friend, 00:36:37.720 --> 00:36:38.960 is to be in a right 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:39.599 relationship 00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:40.599 with God. 00:36:42.599 --> 00:36:43.740 Why do you seek 00:36:43.740 --> 00:36:45.000 satisfaction in money, 00:36:45.660 --> 00:36:46.640 in relationships, 00:36:46.940 --> 00:36:47.500 in power, 00:36:47.660 --> 00:36:48.180 in success? 00:36:48.420 --> 00:36:49.079 Why do you seek 00:36:49.079 --> 00:36:50.160 satisfaction in those things 00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:51.199 when you know 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:51.960 they don't work? 00:36:54.399 --> 00:36:55.399 Why does your life 00:36:55.399 --> 00:36:56.639 feel like an endless search 00:36:56.639 --> 00:36:57.099 for something 00:36:57.099 --> 00:36:58.239 you can't find? 00:37:01.279 --> 00:37:02.559 Because you were created 00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:03.739 to be gods 00:37:03.739 --> 00:37:05.619 and gods alone 00:37:05.619 --> 00:37:09.139 and sin has separated you 00:37:09.139 --> 00:37:10.619 from that God. 00:37:12.039 --> 00:37:13.039 But the beauty 00:37:13.039 --> 00:37:13.899 of Christianity 00:37:13.899 --> 00:37:15.679 and what sets it apart 00:37:15.679 --> 00:37:16.739 from all other religions 00:37:16.739 --> 00:37:18.839 is that in Christianity 00:37:18.839 --> 00:37:21.259 the triune God of love, 00:37:21.379 --> 00:37:21.979 Father, Son, 00:37:22.039 --> 00:37:22.799 and Holy Spirit 00:37:22.799 --> 00:37:24.679 planned for eternity 00:37:24.679 --> 00:37:26.500 to provide you 00:37:26.500 --> 00:37:27.939 the very thing 00:37:27.939 --> 00:37:29.539 that was required, 00:37:30.099 --> 00:37:32.319 a perfect righteousness 00:37:32.319 --> 00:37:34.419 so that you could 00:37:34.419 --> 00:37:35.239 spend eternity 00:37:35.239 --> 00:37:36.699 reconciled to Him, 00:37:37.179 --> 00:37:38.419 living in His presence 00:37:38.419 --> 00:37:39.839 and be satisfied. 00:37:41.839 --> 00:37:42.959 God the Son 00:37:42.959 --> 00:37:44.039 became flesh. 00:37:44.039 --> 00:37:45.500 He lived and died 00:37:45.500 --> 00:37:46.360 in love for you 00:37:46.360 --> 00:37:47.259 so that you could be 00:37:47.259 --> 00:37:48.759 credited His righteousness 00:37:48.759 --> 00:37:49.920 not by works 00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:51.039 but by faith alone. 00:37:52.259 --> 00:37:53.059 And if you hunger 00:37:53.059 --> 00:37:53.539 and thirst 00:37:53.539 --> 00:37:54.800 for that gift 00:37:54.800 --> 00:37:55.500 of righteousness, 00:37:55.920 --> 00:37:57.400 you will be satisfied. 00:37:59.900 --> 00:38:01.420 As the prophet Isaiah wrote, 00:38:01.619 --> 00:38:01.940 come, 00:38:02.940 --> 00:38:04.039 everyone who thirsts, 00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:06.079 come to the waters 00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:07.320 and he who has no money, 00:38:07.500 --> 00:38:08.380 come, buy and eat. 00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:10.279 Come, buy milk and wine 00:38:10.279 --> 00:38:10.900 without money 00:38:10.900 --> 00:38:11.699 and without price. 00:38:11.699 --> 00:38:13.460 Why do you spend your money 00:38:13.460 --> 00:38:15.359 for that which is not bread 00:38:15.359 --> 00:38:16.980 and your labor 00:38:16.980 --> 00:38:18.659 for that which does not satisfy? 00:38:20.019 --> 00:38:20.339 Friends, 00:38:20.419 --> 00:38:21.239 Christ has accomplished 00:38:21.239 --> 00:38:22.579 everything we need 00:38:22.579 --> 00:38:23.239 to be accepted 00:38:23.239 --> 00:38:24.500 as righteous before God 00:38:24.500 --> 00:38:26.039 so we can come 00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:27.319 without money 00:38:27.319 --> 00:38:29.139 and we can eat 00:38:29.139 --> 00:38:31.000 and we can come 00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:31.819 without payment 00:38:31.819 --> 00:38:33.579 and we can drink 00:38:33.579 --> 00:38:35.980 and we can be satisfied. 00:38:35.980 --> 00:38:39.840 And from that place, 00:38:40.139 --> 00:38:41.460 from that place 00:38:41.460 --> 00:38:43.300 of deep security 00:38:43.300 --> 00:38:44.820 in the gift 00:38:44.820 --> 00:38:45.519 of righteousness 00:38:45.519 --> 00:38:46.719 in Christ, 00:38:47.860 --> 00:38:48.920 purchased by His own 00:38:48.920 --> 00:38:49.780 death for us, 00:38:50.019 --> 00:38:51.099 in that place, 00:38:51.659 --> 00:38:54.599 we have a settled place 00:38:54.599 --> 00:38:55.579 now 00:38:55.579 --> 00:38:58.380 from which our hunger 00:38:58.380 --> 00:38:59.519 for personal righteousness 00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:01.679 and our hunger 00:39:01.679 --> 00:39:02.920 for God's ultimate justice 00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:03.599 can grow. 00:39:03.599 --> 00:39:06.500 You see, 00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:07.880 only if you know 00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:09.259 this last sort 00:39:09.259 --> 00:39:09.860 of righteousness, 00:39:10.819 --> 00:39:11.639 the free gift 00:39:11.639 --> 00:39:12.360 of righteousness 00:39:12.360 --> 00:39:14.139 for sinners, 00:39:15.659 --> 00:39:16.679 only then 00:39:16.679 --> 00:39:19.099 can you know 00:39:19.099 --> 00:39:20.019 peace 00:39:20.019 --> 00:39:21.759 when your personal righteousness 00:39:21.759 --> 00:39:22.759 falls short, right? 00:39:24.659 --> 00:39:25.900 And it's only then 00:39:25.900 --> 00:39:27.039 that you can know humility 00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:28.900 when your personal righteousness 00:39:28.900 --> 00:39:29.819 seems to be growing. 00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:32.299 Knowing that gift 00:39:32.299 --> 00:39:32.960 of righteousness, 00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:33.559 in other words, 00:39:33.599 --> 00:39:34.099 will keep you 00:39:34.099 --> 00:39:34.639 from becoming 00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:35.480 self-righteous 00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:38.179 even as you grow 00:39:38.179 --> 00:39:39.099 in Christlikeness. 00:39:41.179 --> 00:39:42.059 And it's only 00:39:42.059 --> 00:39:42.519 when you know 00:39:42.519 --> 00:39:43.039 the grace 00:39:43.039 --> 00:39:44.220 of God's justifying 00:39:44.220 --> 00:39:45.500 righteousness, 00:39:45.940 --> 00:39:46.980 the gift of righteousness, 00:39:47.500 --> 00:39:48.519 that you can hunger 00:39:48.519 --> 00:39:49.059 and thirst 00:39:49.059 --> 00:39:50.720 for His ultimate justice 00:39:50.720 --> 00:39:52.760 and hunger 00:39:52.760 --> 00:39:53.119 and thirst 00:39:53.119 --> 00:39:53.780 for it rightly 00:39:53.780 --> 00:39:55.199 in a fallen world 00:39:55.199 --> 00:39:57.879 because a right hunger 00:39:57.879 --> 00:39:59.379 for God's ultimate justice 00:39:59.379 --> 00:40:01.299 also includes 00:40:01.299 --> 00:40:03.480 a love for our enemies. 00:40:05.159 --> 00:40:06.079 Our hunger 00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:07.199 includes a desire 00:40:07.199 --> 00:40:09.279 that those who work evil 00:40:09.279 --> 00:40:10.980 would come to repentance 00:40:10.980 --> 00:40:12.279 and know God's grace 00:40:12.279 --> 00:40:14.719 just as we 00:40:14.719 --> 00:40:15.819 who were once evil 00:40:15.819 --> 00:40:17.199 have come to know 00:40:17.199 --> 00:40:17.919 God's grace. 00:40:17.920 --> 00:40:20.460 You see, 00:40:20.519 --> 00:40:22.260 without justifying grace, 00:40:22.940 --> 00:40:24.460 your longing for justice 00:40:24.460 --> 00:40:25.619 will turn cold 00:40:25.619 --> 00:40:27.880 and it will become violence. 00:40:30.460 --> 00:40:32.079 So justifying righteousness 00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:33.240 puts everything else 00:40:33.240 --> 00:40:34.360 in its proper place. 00:40:35.639 --> 00:40:36.800 And it ultimately 00:40:36.800 --> 00:40:37.860 puts our hunger 00:40:37.860 --> 00:40:39.480 in the proper place. 00:40:39.480 --> 00:40:41.639 for when we hunger 00:40:41.639 --> 00:40:43.440 for this justifying righteousness, 00:40:43.699 --> 00:40:45.099 this third aspect 00:40:45.099 --> 00:40:45.820 of righteousness, 00:40:46.699 --> 00:40:48.420 what we're ultimately 00:40:48.420 --> 00:40:49.619 hungering for 00:40:49.619 --> 00:40:52.280 is Christ Himself. 00:40:54.500 --> 00:40:56.099 And it's in union 00:40:56.099 --> 00:40:57.159 with Christ, 00:40:57.860 --> 00:40:58.760 personal, 00:40:59.260 --> 00:41:01.059 close union with Him, 00:41:02.519 --> 00:41:04.760 that though we may be hungry 00:41:04.760 --> 00:41:06.940 and though we may be thirsty, 00:41:07.780 --> 00:41:08.800 and even though He calls us 00:41:08.800 --> 00:41:09.780 to take up our cross 00:41:09.780 --> 00:41:10.560 and follow Him, 00:41:10.620 --> 00:41:12.560 it's in union with Christ 00:41:12.560 --> 00:41:15.740 that we will always be satisfied. 00:41:17.260 --> 00:41:18.200 Let's pray together. 00:41:21.860 --> 00:41:22.620 Lord Jesus, 00:41:22.620 --> 00:41:22.760 Lord Jesus, 00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:26.680 work by Your Spirit 00:41:26.680 --> 00:41:29.700 to make us a people 00:41:29.700 --> 00:41:33.760 who hunger and thirst 00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:35.780 for righteousness. 00:41:38.800 --> 00:41:39.519 and would we know 00:41:39.519 --> 00:41:40.160 what it means 00:41:40.160 --> 00:41:41.580 to be satisfied in You. 00:41:42.480 --> 00:41:42.860 Amen.