The Kingdom of God in the New Era

 This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on August 21st 2022  by Navaz D. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE NEW ERA.

INTRODUCTION – 

The world has seen many watershed events in history right from the time of creation. To trace a few: creation, the Fall, the flood, the tower of Babel,( the bronze and iron age) The Egyptian empire, the Red sea crossing, The covenants given to Moses and the birth of the nation Israel, The Kings, the rise of the Babylonian empire, the fall of Jerusalem and the period of captivity and exile, the return from exile, the rise of the Greek and Roman Empires, and the Old Testament Era ending in 400 years of silence.

THE NEW ERA- THE KINGDOM HERE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

Then a New Era burst upon the scene not with fanfare but in humble obscurity in a cowshed, witnessed by animals and lowly shepherds. The King of the universe stepped down from the heights of heaven into darkness and sinful humanity. A New Era was indeed birthed that night and heaven would not keep silent but rushed towards earth to sing “Glory in the highest and peace on earth”.

This was important. The world was reeling under oppressive rules from Kingdoms and religious systems. God’s salvation plan was coming to a culmination and is now in play. The Messiah is born. He was going to usher in a kingdom unlike any other – where the humble will be exalted, the servant of all will be the greatest of all, the one who denies his life will gain it, and the just shall live by faith and not rituals.

Jesus started his ministry by saying the Kingdom of God has come. He taught His disciples to pray “Your kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven”. So, it was all about ushering in a New Era unlike any other people had encountered. He explains what His kingdom looks like and how its subjects ought to behave in the Sermon on the Mount. It was counter to anything they had heard before. Where the Jews wanted a physical revolution, Jesus said offer your other cheek, walk the extra mile, give your cloak to anyone who asks, you be the first to forgive and so much more. Jesus was creating a counter culture at the core of which was heart transformation. He created a body of disciples who were apostolic that would bring about cultural transformation – from inside -out.

 An apostle is a person who shapes and facilitates cultural transformation. An apostolic people are those who live with that knowledge and mandate to affect and influence change. Not everyone is apostolic in the way they function – but everyone can learn. Are you?

Apostolic people will be the salt in the community bringing flavour and light that would dispel darkness. Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God 127 times and spoke about the church only twice. The Kingdom is larger than the church, however, without the church, there is no kingdom advance.

What has happened over the centuries is the church has forgotten the reason for her existence – she has forgotten her apostolic mandate. It has become that fancy lighthouse club for the exclusive. Instead of going into stormy waters and rescuing people from capsized ships and from drowning, it has become a club for the exclusive where we care for each other, eat together, plan events for the young, the teens, the mothers, the old, men's breakfast club etc.

God forbid that Word of Grace would become a happy-clappy club. We are here for the lost, the broken, the disillusioned, the people trapped in addictions, and alternate lifestyles. We need to ready ourselves for these are they are going to come in large numbers. Will we be salt that will heal, will we be light that will dispel spiritual darkness and confusion?

Ephesians 2 tells us that we have been chosen for a great purpose -to do good works.

When we bring the Kingdom of God to earth – we can experience in measure heaven on earth here and now. God’s desire has always been that His people would shine and be His glory and image bearers. Today that is you and I.

My text for today if you like is Isaiah 61 & Matt 28:18-20

Is 61 Is a Kingdom apostolic mandate – to preach the good news, bind up the broken hearted, set the captive free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
³     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendour.

⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
    that have been devastated for generations.

 

Is 61 Is a Kingdom apostolic mandate – to preach the good news, bind up the broken hearted, set the captive free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

In Isaiah 60 we are told to arise and shine. V18 God’s glory would come upon us (this happens when we receive salvation) and we will be a light to the Gentiles. The nations will come to your light, the kings to the brightness of your dawn.

V4. Talks about the ones that were once broken come alongside you to rebuild ancient ruins – so they in turn become world changers. This is who we are and have been saved for. It is not about your blessing, but about being a blessing. It is not about your comfort but bringing comfort to the discomforted. It is not about your brokenness, but about being the healing to the nations. It is not about looking at the darkness and getting discouraged – it is about rising and being that city set on a hill and being the hope of the nations.

 Matt 28 is also a Kingdom apostolic mandate to be world changers and cultural transformers. We are also told that one generation will commend our deeds to the next.

One generation commends your works to another;
    they tell of your mighty acts.
⁵ They speak of the glorious splendour of your majesty—
    and I will meditate on your wonderful works.^[b]
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works ( Ps 145:4-6)

It means we are a multi-generational movement – embracing the young and old. We need to have a generational mindset of leaving a legacy. Because our forefathers invested in cultural change by building schools, hospitals, and works amongst the less fortunate they brought about cultural transformation.

This is for everyone. We are part of a family of churches called Regions Beyond. A couple of years back we received a prophetic word about all of us stepping into a New Era- New Era means there is no blueprint to follow. We will have to learn to walk by the Spirit. Therefore, in this era our intimacy with God, where we hear His voice is critical. There is no grid to follow or copy-paste. There has been a lot of copy paste in the past. It is not wrong to learn from each other – everything we do must be submitted to the Holy Spirit and needs to be in line with principles laid down in scripture. There is no ‘one size fits all’.

Matt 28:18-20 – we are commanded to make disciples of all nations and teach them to obey Jesus' commands. This is an apostolic mandate because the obedience of the disciples will bring about cultural transformation. This means each one of us has a responsibility: to be discipled and disciple new believers. When revival comes all of us should have been used to being activated. There are no observers and consumers in the kingdom of God.

In line with what I have shared, I am going to share what Steve Oliver shared about 4 threats and 3 opportunities in the New Era. There are some things we have that apply to us as a church and some things that you as individuals can take hold of as well.

Before I share them – I want to alert us to get ready for a gear change, an increase in pace and momentum. Word of Grace got a word at the conference to get ready for big growth. We will only be able to contain it if we have good strong nets: that is everyone activated to hold the catch in. Are you ready?

KEYNOTE BY STEVE OLIVER

We all want the next new thing/ new word, and it appeals to a consumer mentality. We must be obedient to what God has already said and called us to. He spoke to us about being in a New Era and building bigger boats to reach new horizons.

As Steve started to travel again, he began to feel that we as churches have some lessons to learn from the pandemic and he divided them into

4 Threats that we need to be careful about and 3 opportunities not to be missed.

 

4 THREATS 

1. Not taking the prophetic seriously and acting upon what God has said. We must weigh the words and settle them in our hearts.

2. Not adjusting to the lessons, we have learnt from the Pandemic years which are:

i) It’s a time to be intentional about the discipleship of all believers and not just looking for converts.

ii) The Pandemic has undone the platform-focused ministry.

iii) We must activate every member of the church and see gifts emerging.

iv) We must see more Kingdom expression outside the church building.

v) Gospel must go to the unreached.

 

3. Another threat is too much focus on the present and not the future. Steve was concerned about how many churches do not have a succession plan and do not understand the transition.

4. Limited penetration of a lack of flow of the broader vision into each church. What happens at conferences like this one, must percolate down to the rest of the leadership and church so they catch the heart of what God is saying to us as a family.

 

 

3 OPPORTUNITIES NOT TO BE MISSED

1. Acts 4:33 There is great grace in the new Era for acts of faith. We need to run at a new pace and take risks. Those who adopt this position will see great grace.

2. Intentionality and focus will be rewarded. There is an open heaven over this. It is time to build well and when we do, God will come through for us.

3. God will entrust key people to us if we are faithful.  They will be partners for gospel advance.

CONCLUSION

Therefore what? What does this mean for you? What does this mean for the church? The leadership team sat with these words, and we spent a few hours deconstructing them and seeing how we need to move forward, and what changes we need to make to embrace this prophetic word and move in the direction God wants for us.

 

DISCUSSION 

• ·       How can I embrace a kingdom mindset in everything I do?
• ·       Is my light being seen in my place of work: Am I helping maintain the moral standard and a good work ethic around me by being an example first?
• ·       What can I do in my neighbourhood/ building to be salt and light?
• ·    How can I make my gifts and service available to the church in a way that will help us get ready for growth? Talk about this with your Gym leaders and we will look at how to develop and deploy you.
• ·       Am I being discipled by anyone? Am I willing to be? ( get in touch with us and we will partner you with someone).

 

  Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.  

 

 

 

Creating A Counterculture Part 5

 This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on Oct 17th 2021 byNavaz D via zoom. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

CREATING A COUNTERCULTURE – PART 5.

CREATING A COUNTERCULTURE – PART 5

 

1. INTRODUCTION

Over the last few weeks, we have been looking at how Jesus came to usher in the Father's Kingdom- an upside, inside out Kingdom Jesus came to establish a spiritual kingdom not of this world and which is eternal.

Jesus was describing how a true disciple or citizen of the Kingdom should live.  The Jews had encountered and experienced cold, cruel religion that was ritualistic. It fulfilled the letter of the law, but it was cold and heartless. Through this sermon, he is showing them how the law really needs to be interpreted and applied.

Here is a caution I would like to add as we listen to God's word this morning. Jesus ends his sermon with a parable of two men; one who built on sand and one who built on the Rock. Sand is the religious ritualistic approach where we like our ears to be tickled with information but makes no transformational impact. The one who builds on Rock is like a true citizen of the Kingdom where it is transformation inside out. My prayer is we will not merely be hearers of the WORD but allow Him to rearrange our hearts, minds, and actions.

SUMMARY

Jesus starts with the foundational core beliefs, which are these:

Unless you see yourself as insufficient, poor, and depraved spiritually, you will never in humility to God nor acknowledge your need of a Saviour. When we encounter our human depravity, we need to mourn our sinful state so that we may know God's pardon and comfort. Godly sorrow or mourning leads to true repentance, i.e., heart conviction that leads to behavioural transformation. This requires meekness – surrender to God because you know that you can do nothing apart from Jesus. From this place of dependence and surrender, we will seek, hunger and thirst for His Kingdom and righteous rule first and above all else. And He promises that all this and more shall be added to us.

 Today we are going to look at the next beatitude. Probably one of the most difficult to put into practice.

2.BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL, FOR THEY SHALL OBTAIN MERCY. MATT 5:7

Blessed or happy- Everybody is in pursuit of happiness. Is it wrong? No. Here is what Jesus is saying: you want to be happy? Then this is how you will find true happiness. Happiness is a by-product of the kingdom lifestyle.

Happiness is found in being poor of spirit, mourning, meekness and hungering after righteousness.

Today people are in the pursuit of happiness. They feel it's in the accumulation of wealth, things, and a certain lifestyle that they will be happy. This is the great deception. Depression has been on the rise despite this. This great deception is leading to greatest depression of all time.

As Christ-followers the secret of the Kingdom has been given to us. We need to be the happiest people on earth because Jesus has shown us how.

The true pursuit of happiness will drive us into the presence of Jesus. He said if we abide in Him our Joy will be made complete

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL:

Keep in mind that Jesus is addressing his followers. If you are in the Kingdom of God, you have already obtained mercy. You can only enter the Kingdom of God if you seek God's mercy.

The mercy seat is the starting place. We all come to God and receive pardon because of His rich mercy.

Mercy is at the heartbeat of God. Were that not the case God would not have made a way for His people to obtain forgiveness. We can look at all the animal sacrifices in the OT and think God was so harsh. Quite the opposite. He was providing them with a way out until the fullness of time when He sent Jesus to die and be that sacrificial lamb once and for all. So, it is mercy all the way through. Ps103 reminds us that He does not treat us as our sins deserve. Let us never forget that.

The central message of the gospel is God who is rich in mercy made us alive in Christ.[1] He demonstrated his love for us while we were yet sinners.[2] He chose us before the foundations of the world were laid.[3] Just stop and thank God that He chose to have mercy on you and me.

The Kingdom of God is all about giving not getting. And even what we receive from God is so that we in turn can give.

Jesus has always been concerned with what's going on in our hearts- because out of the overflow of the heart we speak and act. That is why the first 4 beatitudes deal with our hearts. From that place and only that place can we do the rest.

3. WHAT IS MERCY.

The Romans and the religious leaders were merciless. The Romans saw mercy as a sign of weakness. Jesus was merciful and compassionate to the poor, the blind, the cripple, the demon-possessed, the sinners, tax collectors.

This word mercy – Elemnes is used only twice in the NT. Here and in Hebrews 2:16. The other Hebrew word Chesed is the more commonly used word.

Kingdom people are mercy givers. It is tangible.

Mercy is an element of salvation[4] (Eph.2) So mercy is behind the scenes in salvation. Mercy is behind forgiveness.  Mercy and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin.

God's mercies are new every morning (Lam 3:23, Is 43:19). He gives us a fresh start each day. Mercy is more than forgiveness. Mercy gives us a second chance, because we are commanded to forgive 70x7.

Mercy is not giving someone what they deserve.

Grace is giving someone what they don't deserve.

E.g.) Someone steals a meal from the canteen. Judgement would be you call out the wrongdoing and punish the crime.

Mercy is not punishing the crime.

Grace is giving you another hot meal. You cannot have grace without mercy. You cannot show grace without a proper understanding of mercy. Mercy also requires action.

Where can we expect mercy from?

Can I expect people to be merciful to me? I cannot demand it, nor can I expect it, nor am I entitled to it. I can expect mercy only from God. It is not your right to ask or expect mercy from people. Jesus who showed so much mercy to the broken were the very ones who screamed crucify him!!

Is this mercy deal a tit for tat? If I show mercy, I will be shown mercy? No! this is addressing people who are already in the Kingdom who are there because they were shown mercy first. Also, it would be a contradiction of salvation based on grace alone. So, we must always understand scripture in the context of the whole counsel of scripture.

4. WHAT MERCY IS NOT.

We cannot give mercy where we are not authorized to. As a teacher, I must grade a student in all fairness. It is not up to me to overlook the wrong answers and mark them right.

Mercy does not excuse wrongdoing. It is not calling wrong as right. Remember Jesus in His mercy did not condemn the woman caught in adultery but neither did he condone her sin. He told her to go and sin no more. He called her up to a higher standard.

Mercy is not avoiding confrontation. We could disguise as mercy when we are afraid to confront conflict because of our need to please people.

Mercy does not encourage dishonesty, disloyalty etc.

Mercy does not condone indiscipline.

Mercy is not toxic where it enables irresponsible behaviour.

5.WHAT IS MERCY? (CONTINUED)

And yet mercy is not treating a person as they might rightfully deserve. It is like the parable of the unmerciful servant. The other servant owed him money. He had every right to throw him in jail…. But he was shown the better way. He was forgiven a debt he could NEVER repay. He had an opportunity to do likewise.

Mercy requires that we are able to see people's pain and respond with a heart of pity and make the effort to help, even if it is someone who has illtreated you — that's mercy.[5]

It is kindness, compassion in action.

Mercy is costly- it will cost you even financially, emotionally etc. It is to give someone something they don't deserve when they have hurt you.

Jesus is not interested in our religion. He said I desire mercy and not sacrifice. You can pray, you can tithe, you can attend all the meetings and harbour unmerciful thoughts towards people. That is what Jesus was getting at when the teacher of the law asked Him what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus did not commend his religious acts. He gave him the story of the Good Samaritan where the kindness and mercy of the Samaritan toward the Jew (who considered him as unclean)

6. THE DILEMMA[6]

Real-life is complex for Christian people who seriously want to live out their faith in a sinful world. It is not black and white as some might think.

Remember truth comes in layers and is multidimensional. Sometimes we must hold two truths in tension i.e., Justice and mercy. We are called to be merciful while not allowing God's standard to righteousness to slide. For this we need wisdom from above: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:17

7.                CONCLUSION Mingle Justice and Mercy

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you. But to do justly,
To love ^[a]mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

God's will is that sometimes we deal with people with what they deserve, whether punishment or reward (call that justice).

And God's will is that sometimes we recompense people with better than what they deserve (call that mercy). In upholding the claims of justice, we bear witness to the truth that God is a God of justice. In showing mercy we bear witness to the truth that God is a God of mercy.

 

So how do we know when to show mercy and when to show justice? This balance will come only as we walk closer to Jesus. We may get it wrong at times and we need to trust our redeeming God to overturn our wrong choices.

Even in our execution of justice we can show mercy. While we sometime cannot condone the action of a person, we can still be gracious and loving in our dealing with the person.

Remind yourself of how merciful God has been to you.

Remind yourself of how people have been merciful to you.

Think about how you can show mercy today. How can you make being merciful a lifestyle because it is a core belief? If we want to be more like Jesus then we have no choice but to be merciful.

 

---

[1] Eph 2: 4-5

[2] Rom 5:8

[3] Eph 1:5

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

Creating A Counterculture Part 4

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on Oct 3rd 2021 by Lasya D via zoom. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

CREATING A COUNTERCULTURE – PART 4. Lasya D

CREATING A COUNTER-CULTURE PART 4

 

Q: How many of you have experienced hunger for something specific after a meal? ice cream, something sweet, coffee, saunf, or something else… Our appetites are so distinct and are developed by our culture, our habits and our own propensities.

 Today we will look at what Jesus says Christians need to have an appetite for. We are in a series on the beatitudes in Matthew 5 where Jesus is introducing this upside down inside out kingdom of God. We have dealt with issues of heart attitude - Poverty of spirit, meekness, mourning - but today we change gears a little and talk about the appetites of a Christian. What should we long for? What does God bless? What longing does he satisfy?

 Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

1.     Righteousness:

a.      What is righteousness? Simply a right relation with God and man- Illustration with legos.

                                                       i.            Positional righteousness- the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God

Romans 3:23- 25 “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

We cannot be made righteous by our works. In fact in Isaiah 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags”

Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6 and James 2:23 - Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Gospel presentation - Romans 1:17 “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

 

                                                     ii.            Personal righteousness - integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting

This does not come by striving but by yielding - in surrender.

1 Peter 1: 14-16 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct”

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling

Illustration of the court disposal of cases - If you have put your faith in Jesus for your salvation you are justified - there remains no record of wrong against you - but if you have been justified by faith, the outworking of that is sanctification.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

 

                                                  iii.            Public righteousness - justice or the virtue which gives each his due

This is righteousness in the land - we live in a time of rampant unrighteousness - murder, rape, human trafficking, dictatorship, corruption, persecution of believers, war, and all forms of sin. The very worst attitude we can take as Christians during this time is to be content in the fact that we are going to heaven and let the rest of humanity go to hell. Have you heard the phrase Rome was burning, Nero was fiddling. Let’s not be Nero. In the cause of Justice, let us not be apathetic or accusatory, but let us be ardent.

 

Isaiah 9:7 “He will reign on David’s throne

    and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

    with justice and righteousness

    from that time on and forever.

 Let’s run this race with the shoes of the gospel of peace and the breastplate of righteousness and take hold of that for which Christ has taken hold of us.

 

b.     Why righteousness?

                                                       i.            Because he himself is righteous and we are called to be like him.

Jeremiah 33:15 “in those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

Psalm 119:137, 138 and 142 “You are righteous, Lord, and your laws are right. The statutes you have laid down are righteous”

 

                                                     ii.            It is a facet of his kingdom

Romans 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Psalm 89:14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.”

 

Psalm 119: 142 “they are fully trustworthy. Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true.”

 

When righteousness - right standing with God and man is establish in our lives, we become trustworthy. When that is the foundation we can actually build a life on it that pleases God.

 

                                                  iii.            It is of primary importance to God

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” All the blessings of God flow through a right relationship with God.

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”

Amos 5:23-24 “Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Not that God despises worship, but we need to do that in tandem with righteousness - position, personal and public righteousness.

 

 

2.     Response - Hunger and Thirst

to crave ardently, to seek with eager desire; those who are said to thirst who painfully feel their want of, and eagerly long for, those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, strengthened

 All of us hunger and thirst for something! What do you hunger and thirst for? Validation, recognition, security, comfort - let's think about what drives us.

 The person who doesn’t hunger and thirst is the one who is 6 feet under.

 But by the grace of God we have been brought from death to life! In fact even when we are unwell, we have trouble with hunger. So it is a sign of spiritual health when we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

 Colossians 3:1-3 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God”

 It is important what we long for. The Psalmist says in Psalm 84: 2 “My soul yearns, even faints,  for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Psalm 42:1 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God” Psalm 63:1 “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” Can you see the intense desire - the longing to see God? For his Righteousness, his Kingdom… that is the hunger and thirst that God responds to.

 What do we do to grow in this hunger and thirst?

●     Pray for the nations and these issues (the spirit will himself intercede through us with groanings too deep for utterance). There are only 2 things mentioned in the bible where heaven responds to something man does - when a person turns to Jesus (Luke 15:7 “n the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!) and when saints pray (it rises as incense to His throne- Rev 8:3 and Psalm 141:2). If the prayers of the saints are as incense before the throne, let us saturate the air of heaven with the smoke of our incense. Let us be persistent in prayer.

 

●       In your area of influence, be diligent and watchful about righteousness - remember progress not perfection.

 

3.     Reward - Shall be satisfied

 

What is the reward of hungering and thirsting after righteousness? That we will be satisfied. Psalm 63:5 “I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods” Since righteousness is not of man but of God, we cannot satisfy ourselves. But when we hunger and thirst after righteousness - he promises to satisfy us. Psalm 104:28 “when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.” St, Augustine said “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you”

 So how does he satisfy us?

a.      Past - The wrath of God was satisfied on the cross - so when we place our trust in Jesus, our longing to be right with God is satisfied - not because of righteous deeds but by faith. Isaiah 53:11 “When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.” The one who can satisfy is He who has satisfied himself in the work on the cross - so there is no wrath that remains towards those who put their faith in Jesus.  Romans 8:1 - 2 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

 

b.     Present - Psalm 23: 3 “He guides me along the paths of righteousness” Titus 2:11- 13 “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” He satisfies us not only in salvation but in sanctification  by giving us the grace that is required - he not only buys us the car but also fills up the fuel.

 

c.      Future -  But on this side of eternity we will never experience utter satisfaction for our hunger and thirst for righteousness - because sin and injustice still plague this world. Which is why Jesus says in John 4: 13 -14 “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

 

We can be wearied by the unrighteousness and injustice in the world. But we await a saviour from above and it is only in His presence that this becomes clear to us.

 The Psalmist felt this way when he says in Psalm 73: 3 “For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. V.13 “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction. In an instant they are destroyed, completely swept away by terrors. When you arise, O Lord, you will laugh at their silly ideas as a person laughs at dreams in the morning. Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside. I was so foolish and ignorant-  I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. Yet I still belong to you, you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.”

 

 

Revelation 21: 4, 6 “ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 22: 1 - 3 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.”

 On that day our longing will be fully satisfied and until then we need to continue to hunger and thirst for righteousness. 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.