Untitled Sermon (4)

Righteousness, Peace, and Joy

09-09-2018

Intro -

Welcome

This morning when we go into the message I want you to remember why we gather

This is not a remember why we are here because I am going to say some harsh things, but this should serve as a reminder for you why you come to church

Hebrews 10:24–25 NASB95

24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

The reason we meet is so that you and I can grow as a believer and as a body

When we come to church we are to encourage one another

So this morning

It's my prayer that you are encouraged

That you are encouraged to grow in your walk with Jesus, that you are challenge to spend your faith

This morning we will look at

Romans 14:17 NASB95

17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

before we read this I must give credit to Doyal and our Tuesday Night Bible study, because this sermon is from that

First we need some background on what is going on in the letter at this point

Remember Paul is writing to Jews in Rome and in this part of the letter he begins to explain more of the difference between the Physical Law they understood and the Law of Jesus

Mind you they are the same law but there are some differences

The physical law said they could not eat certain things and with certain things, but Jesus says the physical law is good but I want to make it a heart issue

Remember when Jesus came he did not come to abolish the physical law but fulfill it, and he did by taking it from the physical to the heart

So Paul is tell them don't focus so much on the physical law, don't get bent out of shape because this person is eating pork or that thing touched pork, because bacon is good

In verse 17 Paul goes on to explain that the Kingdom of God is more food and drink

that is it not just food and drinking, that it is not just following the physical law

It is however

Righteous Living, Peace, and the Joy of the Holy Spirit

I had to call Doyal since he did Tuesdays Study and ask what were his verses he used, so these are some of his and some of mine, probably more of his though

I believe though vs 17 is a progressive verse

meaning that if you are living right and are righteous, then you will have peace and if you are living right and have peace then you will have joy

So we are going to do that this morning, we are going to go through them progressively

Right Living

Matthew 5:6 NASB95

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

This is part of the beatitudes

But simply put when you and I seek righteous living, we are blessed by that

think of it in your own life, when you honestly seek right living, you are blessed because you are seeking Jesus, and you don’t want anything else

But we need to be honest though, we need to maybe to a self check in are we seeking righteous living?

Isaiah 26:7 NASB95

7 The way of the righteous is smooth; O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.

When you and I seek righteous living, we are blessed but our paths are smooth

Lets face it, life is not all candy and lollipops, but it is better than the other

Our lives are better when we are seeking the righteous living,

I know as parents thats what we want, we don’t want our kids to make the same mistakes

When you and I are living right, our lives are better

So maybe you are sitting here today and you say that sounds good, but what does it look like to live right

we could take you to the 10 commandments, but I wanted a bit more application

Psalm 37:30 NASB95

30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice.

Now the self check begins

Do you speak wisdom, and justice, or not

Do people seek you out for wisdom and justice by the way you speak?

If you and I are living right, speaking wisdom is a by product of that

the same would also be true, if you are not living right then speaking stupidity is a by product of that

Ephesians 4:22–24 NASB95

22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

If you intend to live right then lets be honest

you cannot live the way you used to before you came to Christ, and if you are then we have a problem

you need to put off the old self

next week we are going to do baptism, and the baptism is a picture of the old self dying and being laid in a grave

You and I are to put on Christ, we are to put on the Armor of God, we are to read our Bibles, Pray, worship Jesus, fellowship with other believers, and tell people about Jesus

That is not an exhaustive list but I think when we put on Christ that is what that looks like

And finally

Matthew 6:33 NASB95

33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

We are to seek Jesus with our entire being, with the way we talk, the way we work, the way we eat, they way we live our lives, how we spend our time, and our money

I believe that tells us that if we are going to live righteous and pursue right living in our lives then we will experience peace in this world

Peace

Isaiah 26:3 NASB95

3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.

Part of righteous living is to trust God and when we trust the creator of the universe, the speaker of stars, the breath of life

we will experience his perfect peace

When are minds are pursuing Jesus and not the things of this world

we will experience his perfect peace

Isaiah 32:17 NASB95

17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.

When you and I trust God and begin to work for Him, the by product is peace

Peace, some of us long for peace and we will do whatever to experience Peace,

I would offer to you to simple seek Jesus

To seek His kingdom and you will have peace

John 14:27 NASB95

27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

Peace being a by product of following Jesus

This is a promise from Jesus to his followers

The peace though is not of this world, it is a peace that only comes from Jesus and as we seen earlier it is his perfect peace

Philippians 4:6–7 NASB95

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I love this verse

In it we seek that His perfect peace that this world cannot explain will protect us, but it will only protect us if we are going to Jesus in prayer, if we are living righteous

lets be honest again some of us do not have peace and the reason we don't have peace is because we are not living right, we are not seeking the kingdom of Jesus

See the first thing to go when we stop seeking the kingdom of Jesus is our peace

I wonder if it is a bumper of sorts

when we stop seeking Jesus the first thing we lose is our peace, now it's not as sudden as that

if usually starts of with I just want to sleep in and I miss my morning time with Jesus for a few extra minuets of sleep or to watch TV

with the intention of being in the word later in the morning at work, but then something happens at work and I miss that causing me to get anxious and upset of something so small

then I dwell on it and it begins to grow into something it should have never grown into and my peace begins to fade

and as my peace fades then my Joy leaves

Joy

Luke 24:52 NASB95

52 And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

See after the disciples had Worshiped Jesus they returned to their house in Jerusalem with what?

I pray that as you leave here today you leave with Joy because you have experienced right living and peace and Joy!

Psalm 51:12 NASB95

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.

Jesus is Joy

Psalm 65:8 NASB95

8 They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs; You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.

Those of us who dwell with Jesus and walk with Jesus will experience this

I hope by now you have understood that this verse

Romans 14:17 NASB95

17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

is progressive

is progressive

If you will seek the Kingdom of God, if you will walk with Jesus

I believe then and only then will you experience true peace, peace apart from God is not peace

Then as you are walking with Jesus and experiencing peace you will have the Joy of the Lord

I do not believe you will have Joy apart from right living, and the peace of Jesus

Closing

This morning we are invitation is an invitation to return to right living in your life

maybe you are here today and you do not have a relationship with Jesus and you have never experienced peace or true joy

I would invite you to the front and we can walk you through scripture in how to begin a relationship with Jesus

or maybe you are here and you have a relationship with Jesus, but you are not living righteously, well you need to

the altar is open