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[1386.94 --> 1389.74] I want obedience that comes from the heart.
[1390.30 --> 1394.44] I want love for neighbor that shows up in generosity and justice and all the rest.
[1394.68 --> 1397.64] And we hear this and we say, okay, Jesus wants us to be more righteous
[1397.64 --> 1400.10] and He wants us to love Him in our depths.
[1400.18 --> 1402.36] He wants us to operate out of love for Him and neighbor.
[1402.94 --> 1405.34] How in the world do we do this?
[1407.94 --> 1410.28] And now I want to ask you, are you ready for some good news, church?
[1410.28 --> 1418.04] Because Jesus was sent to make us righteous.
[1419.94 --> 1428.84] Jesus was sent to put us in right relationship with the Father and neighbor and non-human creation and self.
[1429.58 --> 1433.12] He knew that righteousness, this right relatedness, we cannot do on our own.
[1433.22 --> 1434.40] We cannot accomplish this on our own.
[1434.40 --> 1436.68] We do not have it within ourselves to be righteous.
[1436.80 --> 1441.50] And Jesus comes to put us back together righteous.
[1443.14 --> 1448.30] Not only does He show what righteousness looks like in relationship and obedience to the law,
[1448.62 --> 1452.46] He then does what the law could never do and the prophets could never do.
[1452.54 --> 1457.02] The laws were good, but the human heart was too wicked and did not want to obey.
[1457.28 --> 1461.52] The prophets gave wisdom and truth, but our rebellious hearts rejected that.
[1461.52 --> 1467.64] And now Jesus comes and He says, I'm going to finally deal with the thing that keeps your hearts from obedience.
[1468.10 --> 1471.28] I'm going to break the power of sin through the cross.
[1472.06 --> 1477.80] Once and for all, dealing with its power, dealing with its guilt, dealing with its destruction,
[1478.06 --> 1482.06] I will take that so that you, church, can be righteous.
[1482.78 --> 1484.46] Back into relationship with the Father.
[1484.98 --> 1486.58] Back into right relationship with each other.
[1486.96 --> 1490.18] Back into right relationship with creation and your own selves.
[1490.18 --> 1496.38] And when Jesus dies on the cross and He says, it is finished, righteousness has come.
[1497.24 --> 1501.76] Through His resurrection, by His power, righteousness has come.
[1502.72 --> 1504.96] He comes to make us righteous.
[1505.24 --> 1506.10] And I love this line.
[1506.16 --> 1507.60] It comes from a commentary on Matthew.
[1508.02 --> 1512.88] One writer says, Jesus demands for righteousness flow from His gifts.
[1512.88 --> 1515.84] The finished work on the cross makes us righteous.
[1515.94 --> 1522.48] And His power in the resurrection enables us to live in obedience to the good instruction of the Word.
[1525.38 --> 1528.42] I want to read for us a passage from Ezekiel.
[1529.28 --> 1531.62] One of those neglected prophets in the Old Testament.
[1531.84 --> 1533.68] And I want you just to hear these words.
[1533.72 --> 1534.38] I'm going to read it slowly.
[1534.48 --> 1537.36] I want you to hear it through the lens of Jesus.
[1537.36 --> 1540.22] And by the way, that's the best way to read the Old Testament.
[1540.40 --> 1541.86] You read it through the lens of Jesus.
[1541.98 --> 1542.76] You know where it's going.
[1542.86 --> 1546.06] But listen to these beautiful, powerful words.
[1546.06 --> 1550.04] I will sprinkle clean water on you.
[1551.24 --> 1552.46] And you will be clean.
[1553.16 --> 1556.94] I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
[1557.86 --> 1562.70] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.
[1563.44 --> 1569.68] I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
[1569.68 --> 1581.10] And I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
[1581.60 --> 1582.50] Do you see it?
[1583.32 --> 1584.66] Do you see what Jesus is doing?
[1585.16 --> 1587.38] He's not saying I'm abolishing these laws because they're bad.
[1587.42 --> 1588.70] He's like, no, these laws are good.
[1588.76 --> 1589.60] The prophets are good.
[1589.76 --> 1596.00] And I'm going to defeat the power of sin so that you can follow by the power of the spirit
[1596.00 --> 1603.16] that is at work within us prophesied way before Jesus came in the words of Ezekiel.
[1604.84 --> 1608.36] And I mean, there's so many things I want to say about this, but maybe I'll just say this.
[1608.74 --> 1611.20] I've seen what this looks like.
[1611.84 --> 1616.80] As I pastor in our church and I see people come to faith in Jesus, I see people begin to pray.
[1616.80 --> 1622.32] I see the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ take hold of ordinary hearts,
[1622.32 --> 1627.74] parents, parents, and children, old and young, to give them a desire to follow,
[1628.76 --> 1634.42] a desire to listen, a desire to pick up the Scriptures and say,
[1634.54 --> 1639.74] Lord, I want to lead a life that follows your instruction.
[1640.56 --> 1647.22] I want to live in obedience to you because it's a life of love to the Lord
[1647.22 --> 1649.18] and a life of loving neighbor.
[1649.18 --> 1657.80] If I haven't emphasized this enough already, the laws that God gives always lead to life.
[1658.32 --> 1663.22] The instruction that Jesus teaches always leads to blessing.
[1663.76 --> 1667.36] And as the Spirit moves in our church, it will lead to people who say,
[1667.62 --> 1672.22] yes, Lord, I want to follow your instruction because it is life.
[1672.22 --> 1681.20] One of the burdens I have as a pastor for our city, as our country in general deconstructs
[1681.20 --> 1686.14] any sense of what is normative, that is, rules and laws that are true for everyone,
[1686.50 --> 1689.68] there is almost a loss of how we are to live.
[1690.10 --> 1692.36] In fact, many psychologists and philosophers are saying,
[1692.44 --> 1697.18] we live in this strange time where no one really knows how we're supposed to live.
[1697.18 --> 1701.60] No one really knows where to turn for true instruction that leads to life.
[1701.68 --> 1705.04] And I think, what a beautiful moment for the church of Jesus Christ.
[1705.60 --> 1709.36] What a beautiful moment for us to say, we know the way of life.
[1709.96 --> 1713.12] And we have the Spirit of the living God who enables us to live it.
[1713.40 --> 1721.60] And when we do, it shines brightly in a dark culture where people do not know how to live.
[1721.60 --> 1729.36] Maybe you haven't thought about this much lately, but isn't it a gift that Jesus teaches us how to live?
[1730.38 --> 1733.28] And isn't it a gift that He says, I'm not just going to teach you and show you,
[1733.40 --> 1736.28] I'm going to give you my Spirit so you can experience it.
[1737.38 --> 1740.28] And maybe the to-do list for us this week is simply saying,
[1740.36 --> 1743.98] Lord, I don't know your Word, but I ask that you give me a love for it.
[1745.32 --> 1747.10] I'm not very good at following your ways,
[1747.10 --> 1750.94] but I pray that your Spirit would give me the strength to follow step by step,
[1751.14 --> 1754.02] the grace when I fail to stand up again and follow in your ways,
[1754.16 --> 1758.74] so that I experience life and those around me can experience blessing through my obedience.
[1760.62 --> 1765.56] Jesus has come to draw out the deepest meaning of the law,
[1766.02 --> 1767.92] which is love of God and love of neighbor.
[1768.06 --> 1770.84] And He says, because I finished the work on the cross,
[1771.34 --> 1773.50] you can begin to experience that now.
[1773.50 --> 1779.92] And not just you, your families, your neighborhoods, and your friends.
[1781.00 --> 1781.82] Praise be to God.
[1782.68 --> 1783.84] Let me lead us in prayer.
[1788.56 --> 1790.58] Father, we praise You for Your Word.
[1791.84 --> 1796.40] We thank You for the beautiful, divine inspiration of the Scriptures.
[1797.78 --> 1800.82] And we receive it as a gift again this morning to our lives,
[1800.92 --> 1802.28] to our families, to our world.
[1802.28 --> 1809.04] Lord, we thank You that Jesus has accomplished and fulfilled the law and the prophets.
[1810.72 --> 1817.04] And Lord, we ask that we would experience the renewing power of His resurrection life,
[1817.96 --> 1820.42] and that this life would lead us to obedience,