SERMON: RIGHTEOUSNESS OF OUR LORD

20190908su-Sermon- Righeousness of Our Lord Job 29:14 / Mt 6:33

SERMON SYNOPSIS

RIGHTEOUSNESS. Job 29:14  "I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. Righteousnessis awonderful and powerful ATTRIBUTE of our God. Horribly afflicted, Job voiced his many offerings of righteousness in behavior towards others.

Mat 6:33  [Jesus is speaking] --"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Those THINGS to which Jesus refers are the things that YOU NEED. God knows that you need them. Our Lord teaches that we need to seek HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS FIRST. What we need will then be added to us.

OPENING PRAYER

Father, we come to you this Lord's day in the very presence of Your Son, Jesus the Christ and of the Holy Spirit. We gather as one family of believers who are kin to all of Your flock and pasture where-ever they might reside. We do so on this day to receive WORD from You as we understand the attribute of RIGHTEOUSNESS. Open our Eyes and Our Ears as we join in fellowship and in love in Holy Worship of all that You are. Amen.

SERMON

The word RIGHTEOUSNESS, in the Old Testament has its root in the Aramaic word "Tsdq", amplified in Hebrew as "Tsadaq". IN New Testament Greek, RIGHTEOUSNESS is expressed in the word "Dikaios", or more correctly "Dikaioma". RIGHTEOUSNESS is simply the out working or physical or mental motivation of RIGHT thinking or actions, or NOT RIGHT thinking or actions. Its either one or the other. RIGHT or WRONG. The "NESS" portion of this word has to do with the degree or frequency of the action or thought related to RIGHTEOUSNESS or UN-RIGHTEOUSNESS in performance.

This word and its concept appears many times in the Bible. Many instances surround judicial proceedings; Deu 25:1-2  "If there is a dispute between men and they go to court, and the judges decide their case, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked,  (2)  then it shall be if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall then make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of stripes according to his guilt. or in Deu 1:16  "Then I charged your judges at that time, saying, 'Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen, and judge righteously between a man and his fellow countryman, or the alien who is with him. The words of God dictating to Moses as he taught God's Laws to a lawless nation called Israel.

There is a theme developing here, can you identify what it is? Isa 16:5  A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, And a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; Moreover, he will seek justice And be prompt in righteousness. Here we see a portend of the coming Christ and His role as Judge over all things.

As with all of God's attributes, He is unchanging. He is constantly constant. In His binary economy, we are either RIGHTEOUS or we are not. We are fortunate and blessed that God affords us, His creation, (full of flaws), a balance scale whereby one can quickly determine to what degree we comply or do not comply with expressing RIGHTEOUSNESS. If God is 100% RIGHTEOUSNESS, then we have a very high bar to reach!

For you and I who have frequent periods of UN-RIGHTEOUSNESS, the Lord blesses us with that same judgmental system that can, with the Balance Scales, demonstrate to us how much repentance and compliance it will take to move the scales back to the RIGHTEOUSNESS side. We have first examined RIGHTEOUSNESS applied in the Judicial. Now, let us look at our everyday life and our religious responsibilities:

Eze 18:5-9  "But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness,  (6)  and does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period—  (7)  if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing,  (8)  if he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he keeps his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between man and man,  (9)  if he walks in My statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—he is righteous and will surely live," declares the Lord GOD.

From the earliest mention in the Old Testament, lets see where RIGHTEOUSNESS takes us in the New Testament:

Mat 5:6  "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Mat 5:10  "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mat 5:20  "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Mat 6:1  "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. Mat 6:33  "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Mat 21:32  "For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him. Mat 3:15  But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he *permitted Him.

The motivation that drives a Christian to sincerely WANT and STRIVE to be RIGHTEOUS is born out of LOVE. It is the kind of LOVE that does not come natural for man. This LOVE must come from outside. From a source that first LOVED us.

As He loved us so we desire to love Him back, and share that love with others. So it is as He becomes the example to us of RIGHTEOUSNESS, THROUGH the indwelling Holy Spirit. WE are compelled to reach beyond our fleshly capabilities and bond ourselves to His RIGHTEOUSNESS, to duplicate, replicate His example.

We can be eternally thankful that the SCALES of the LORD's JUSTICE will accurately measure the degree of our success. Pray that you will be found HEAVY in this attribute. WEIGHTY in your expression of that which is RIGHTEOUS.

In the Gospel of John we read: Joh 16:8  "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

SUMMARY

As we sojourn through this time on earth, wearing this tent of flesh, refresh your mind and heart often in reflection of the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Our LORD. It is by His example, when we follow Him, that we witness and learn His mastery of the RIGHTEOUS art of Godly RIGHTEOUSNESS. In the kingdom there is no middle ground. It is either RIGHT or it is WRONG. It is RIGHTEOUS or it is UN-RIGHTEOUS. Thank-You Lord and Judge that you carry Balance Scales with which to judge the child.

How do we, you and I practice our RIGHTEOUSNESS in our daily activities? We earnestly look for the GOOD in all situations. Two sides of a coin, one dark and oxidized, the other shiney. Purposely pick the shiney side. Two sides to an argument, but only one result. Pick the best. Someone offends you and your options are get angry and correct them harshly, or smile and thank them for their assist. Pick the Smile.

Four Words: BE GOOD, DO GOOD.

Deu 6:25  "It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the LORD our God, just as He commanded us.

CLOSING PRAYER

Mighty and sovereign Lord of Lords, being a follower of Your precious Son, Jesus, the Christ, is difficult. More than difficult, it's success is impossible without the Holy Spirit that You have baptized us with. We pray, Father, for Your continued divine strength, through our Savior; guiding and leading us in the RIGHTEOUSNESS of our meditation and our behavior in all our doings in Glory to You Forever. Keep us strong O Lord, Amen.

BENEDICTION AND CLOSE

Rom 1:17  [FAITH] For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." Go in Peace and in LOVE, Amen

SUPPORTING SCRIPTURE

Job 29:14, Mt 6:33, Deu 6:25, 25:1-2, Isa 16:5, Eze 18:5-9, Mt 3:15, 5:6, 5:10, 5:20, 6:1, 6:33, 21:32, Jn 16:8, Rom 1:17

HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?