Righteousness and Peace Have Kissed
Notes
Transcript
9:30 AM
Welcome Home
Welcome Home
Introduction - Pastor Theresa had planned some time off and is, I pray, enjoying the weekend.
Pray for the Service - Thanksgiving
Let’s praise the Lord together
9:35 AM
Your Grace is Enough
9:39:07 AM
How Can I Keep From Singing
9:43:19 AM
Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost
9:46:57 AM
Indescribable
9:50:57
Spirit Break Out
9:55:11 Message Title
The title of this message is
Righteousness and Peace Have Kissed
Righteousness and Peace Have Kissed
Introduction
Last Tuesday, we had planned to come to the Church to meet Pastor Theresa. It was her birthday and she said, lets meet on Thursday instead.
Noemi insisted that we go out and she drove us toward New Rochelle but skipped our usual exit. She drove this way and that way and I, in my frustration, turned on the phone navigator to get us back to a familiar place.
Just then, we happened on a Barnes & Noble bookstore. They have closed many of their locations so I was a bit surprised to find one open. It was in a large strip mall with many other stores but Lord & Taylor was closed and empty. Brooks Brothers was closed and empty.
When we walked into the Barnes & Noble, it was like walking into the “American Dream”. They had every book, and magazine, They had music and even a section for vinyl (Do you remember records?) and a coffee shop and restaurant. This was the perfect place to sit and read for a few hours.
Then this dread hit me. I realized this was just a remnant of what America has been. The closed stores we passed outside were the reality of America today.
As we started walking through the Bookstore, I overheard one person say: “I don’t have any expectations anymore”.
I thought to myself, people have lost hope.
As I browsed I saw the Religion section. Almost immediately I saw a book, “The Harbinger II” by Jonathan Cahn.
Then I opened the book and read about the “Harbingers”, the signs that God sent to Israel before they were taken into their 70 years of captivity by the Babylonians. The Harbinger books by Jonathan Cahn identify the foundation of the United States on the same principles as Israel. That we are the witness before the world of what a godly nation should be. But just as Israel fell away, so we also have fallen away.
God has sent Harbingers for us.
A harbinger is something that foreshadows a future event, something that gives an anticipatory sign of what is to come.
God has given us a chance to turn around as a nation.
Theme Verse
Our theme verse for today is from Psalm 85:10.
10 Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.
Mercy - is forgiveness and compassion born out of love
Truth - is absolute clarity exposing every success, but also every failure and short-coming and the resulting guilt and pain
Righteousness - is Holy and pure and requires judgement and penalty for wrongs done
Peace - is complete wholeness that allows you to dwell in safety and security without any fear
10:10
Section 1 - Salvation is near those that Fear Him
But lets go back and look at the context by reading Psalm 85:7-13.
7 Show us Your mercy, Lord, And grant us Your salvation.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly.
9 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good; And our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
We find here that “Salvation is near”, and “Truth shall spring out of the earth”, and “The Lord will give what is good” and “our land will yield increase”.
Is that what we are seeing in the world around us?
Our reality over the last year has been “Pandemic”, and shut-down of the economy, and people rioting in streets so lets go back and read this more carefully.
Psalm 87:7 says
7 Show us Your mercy, Lord, And grant us Your salvation.
vs 7 is a call to the Lord for mercy and salvation. We might call this repentance. But this is not individual repentance, this is a call from “us” for God to show us Mercy and grant Salvation.
The way we most often hear this said is from
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Are we willing as a Nation to recognize the places where we have fallen short and change that behavior?
Maybe you would say that this is not in our control and I can’t make a difference in what our nation does. OK, so then what about this:
Are we willing as a local Church body to recognize the places where we have fallen short and change that behavior?
Well, maybe you would say that what happens at The Master’s Hand isn’t up to me and I can’t make a difference in what The Master’s Hand does. Well, then, will you accept this?
Are you willing to recognize places in your own life where you have fallen short and ask God to help you change that behavior?
Now, you might say, my actions and behaviour are right, it is these people around me. Let me suggest that there may be some areas that need an adjustment and ask you to step back from justifying yourself for a moment and open your mind to what follows here in Psalm 85:8
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly.
Will you “hear what God the Lord will speak”?
This is the starting place for us with God: Are we asking for God’s direction? Are we listening?
Will you make this declaration after me? “I will hear what God the Lord will speak”
Let me hear you say it - “I will hear what God the Lord will speak”
vs 8 continues with what we can expect to hear in God’s answer,
“He will speak peace to His people”, He will speak peace to you!
But there are those that will not hear God speak
vs 8 then continues with this warning, “let them not turn back to folly”
The reality is there are those that have never followed God and there are those that have turned back from following.
These are described in
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
Access to God
There is a simple entry criteria for access to God and no one can receive from Him without this:
Here in Psalms it says “I will hear what God the Lord will speak”, in Hebrews 11:6 it says
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
When we have faith in God, when we believe that He is, we can expect something good to come from Him.
Lets go back to Psalm 85:9 where it says
9 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land.
vs 9 begins with “Surely”, but “Surely” what?
“Surely, His salvation is near to those who fear Him”
But this statement as translated, doesn’t serve us well in our common 20th Century English. Yes, God is bigger and more powerful than we are but this “fear” is not that He will squash us.
What it means here to “fear Him” relates to the quality of a person, the sense here is connected with a good person, this is a person that is so good that you have a reverence for them. This is great respect toward a superior. Reverence.
Those who fear Him are:
Faithlife Study Bible Psalm 85
those who honor God by worshiping Him and following His commandments
“Fear” or reverence for God is not just a feeling, but it is demonstrated by action as in
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
God has set a difference between those that Love Him and follow Him.
There are others that refuse to listen.
10:30
Section 2 - Mercy and Truth, Righteousness and Peace
Back again to Psalm 85 and now to our theme verse 10
10 Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.
Lets look at each of these, Truth and Mercy then Righteousness and Peace
Truth is defined as:
Truth is defined as:
Truth
The quality or state of being real or genuine—often in the sense of visible and verifiable reality, demonstrated by facts, actual events, or proven character.
We are not talking here about some spiritual mystical thing that we can’t quite get hold of.
Truth is real, tangible, manifestation and demonstration by facts.
The truth God is talking about is His own Holy Spirit in
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. As the spirit of truth He will dispel any deception and bring the facts to light.
And, the truth God is talking about is His own Word.
17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
God’s Word is truth. We can trust what God says in this reality that we live in. God’s Word is not just for some future time in heaven where it will make a difference. God’s Word is power right here and right now.
But our reason for talking about “Truth” here is not to declare that God’s Word is real and tangible in our world.
What we need to understand here is the impact of God’s Word, the Truth on our lives.
Let’s read part of John 16:8-9 to hear what Jesus said about the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit:
John 16:8–9 (NKJV)
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, … 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
The impact of the truth coming into the world is that it exposes sin for what it is.
Two quick definitions here: Sin
Sin is an act of wrongdoing and it results in guilt.
Sin is any act that is contrary to God’s Word.
Lexham Theological Wordbook (ἐνοχος)
Then, a person is guilty or liable to judgment because of wrongdoing
This guilt and judgement is the penalty rightly deserved for a sinful act.
In many places in the Bible sin is referred to a lawlessness.
This implies that there is a standard of law to follow.
It also implies that there is a just penalty for breaking that law and that punishment is described in 2 Thessalonians 2:10.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
The lawless, those that reject the “love of the truth” will perish.
and by God’s assessment, according to His Word, in Romans 3:23 it says:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
If truth is all we have, all is lost.
But God says, Mercy and Truth are met together in Psalm 85:10 so let’s look at the definition for Mercy
Mercy is defined as
Mercy is defined as
Mercy
Loyal love, unfailing kindness, devotion, i.e., a love or affection that is steadfast based on a prior relationship
Favor, i.e., the giving benefits or good deeds
Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) (2876 II. חֶסֶד)
God had a plan for mercy from the beginning. Moses spoke of God in Deuteronomy 4:31 and said:
31 (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
God’s desire has always been for good and to do good for those that love Him.
Our theme verse, Psalm 85:10a says:
Psalm 85:10a (NKJV)
10 Mercy and truth have met together
The truth is we owe the penalty for sin, death, and belong with those that will “perish” as we read earlier in 2 Thessalonians 2:10 but God is merciful.
And it says in Ephesians 2:4-6:
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
God fulfilled His plan of redemption, He showed us mercy through Jesus Christ.
10:40
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other
Righteousness is defined as:
Righteousness is defined as:
Righteousness
i.e., the act. of doing what is required according to a standard
Honesty, fairness, accuracy, i.e., an act. which is proper according to a standard, and not deviant in any way
Justice, i.e., the act. of fairly deciding what is right in a legal case, without prejudice
Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) (7406 צֶדֶק)
And of course, the standard we are talking about here is the very character and nature of God
God Himself defines Right, Honest, and Just behavior.
God’s Just Treatment of Individuals, Both Righteous and Wicked
God’s Just Treatment of Individuals, Both Righteous and Wicked
The Lord is faithful to his word and he is looking for those that are also faithful.
The Lord is righteous and just and is looking for those that will, in
5 But if a man is just And does what is lawful and right;
do "what is lawful and right”, that is if a man will seek justice and righteousness.
But even more than this, the Lord is looking to put an end to wickedness and oppression and injustice.
And here, through the prophet, he decrees in
4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.
"The person sinning will die".
But it isn’t God’s desire that any should die as it says in 1 Timothy 2:3–4 (NKJV) “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”.
It is God’s desire that all would “come to the knowledge of the truth”
It is God’s desire that one turn from wickedness as it says in Ezekiel 18:23 (NKJV) Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
But God, who is righteousness, cannot allow wickedness to continue. Judgement must come.
If judgement is all we can expect because of wickedness in our nation we have no hope.
But God says, Righteousness and Peace have kissed in Psalm 85:10b so let’s look at the definition for Peace
Psalm 85:10b (NKJV)
10 Righteousness and peace have kissed.
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
(Peace)
Total well-being, prosperity, and security associated with God’s presence among his people
But Peace is not just the absence of war with its downward spiral of death and destruction
Peace is a positive notion that includes the idea of friendly relations between people (see Judg 4:17; Isa 7:14; 1 Kgs 5:4, 26; 22:45).
Peace is to be well, it is to be whole or complete.
Peace and prosperity are paired with Peace seen as a sort of economic freedom. It says it this way in Zechariah 8:12 (NKJV) “For the seed shall be prosperous, The vine shall give its fruit, The ground shall give her increase, And the heavens shall give their dew— I will cause the remnant of this people To possess all these”.
The second letter from Peter opens this way in
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
This peace comes to us through knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Peace is not something that simply happens; it is a content-laden thing that one can lay hold of.
In Isaiah 32:17-18 it says,
17 The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. 18 My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, In secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places,
“The work of righteousness will be peace” but this only comes when people do what is right.
11:00 AM
We are twenty years after 9/11
We are twenty years after the Harbinger attack on our nations gate, towers, and wall.
Did we notice that the tree planted as “the Hope of our Nation” withered and died?
Do we remember the shaking from the financial crisis in 2008.
Weren’t we all impacted by the pandemic in 2020.
This is what Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 60:1-2
1 Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 to tell him what the last time would look like
2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
We can expect signs and wonders. We can expect trouble but we are not left without hope because.
The Holy Spirit has been released into the earth as the “spirit of truth”.
It is the Holy Spirit that will lead and guide us through this age we are in.
Our theme verse says
10 Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.
From this message, we understand that where there is truth, there is also, for this fallen world, guilt
But the gift of God is salvation through Jesus Christ.
God has extended Mercy, the free gift, the price paid for our sin if we will accept it.
From this message we also understand that God is Righteousness and that judgement must come on wickedness
But God always offers a warning before judgement.
God’s desire is always that the wicked would turn to righteousness and be saved.
We can expect the Peace of God when we accept the work of Jesus Christ and walk in His righteousness
Then God says in Psalm 85:11
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
“Truth shall spring out of the earth” as the fruit of the Holy Spirit is manifest in and through us as the sons and daughters of God.
“And righteousness shall look down from heaven” as God the Father and Jesus Christ look down from their throne.
Each and every person, each one of us has a choice to turn and choose Jesus Christ and to live in the power of the Holy Spirit until, as it says in
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord, Now is the time, today is the day.
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
And for us, that believe, Trust in the Lord. Do the work of righteousness. and as it says in Philippians 4:6-7, “be anxious for nothing”
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 understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Tithes and Offerings
Tithes and Offerings
Come and give
Pray for our Nation
Pray for our Nation
Pray for the Sick
Pray for the Sick
Pray for Israel
Pray for Israel
11:20 AM
My Testimony
11:24:01 AM
The Blessing
The Blessing
24 ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. 25 May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. 26 May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’
You are dismissed.