The Lord, Our Righteousness [Part 1]

Pastoral author and Bible teacher I will want you to know and cherish this will change your life if you fester Ellen welcome to another message of good view that will help you see your life in old I'm being excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series remain as presented were an old church in North Carolina that will stay with us throughout the entire program today. Mr. will make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright so as you listen to the page message go deeper as we send you today's special openness contact as a Pastor Alan.org that's Pastor Alan who are G or call 877-5448 60 really be more on all this later in the program but right now let's dig in and get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright are you ready for some good news not only if you're Christian does it mean that Jesus has taken every one of your sentence for it in his own being and paid for that penalty. But if you're Christian. It also means that everyone of his righteous deeds in every aspect of his perfect and holy life has been credited to you as if you had live such a life.

This is what was prophesied amidst many judgment articles by the prophet Jeremiah and we will see it fulfilled in many scriptures today as we continue in our series on Jeremiah and his restorative office he that we pick up reading today in Jeremiah 23 verse one woe to the shepherds shepherds here is use this really a name for the Kings. The leader's Shepherd was often synonymous with the king. Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pastor declares the Lord. So political leaders and religious leaders probably included in this indictment, verse two. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who care for my people. You've scatter my flock and have driven them away, and you not attended to them, behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord, then I will gather the remnant of my flock.

Out of all the countries where I've driven them and were speaking of restoration from exile, but also what I want to see today.

This is speaking of you and me, once you've been restored to the gift of Christ. I will do this he sign and I will bring them back to their fold and they shall be fruitful and multiply. So God saying I got a plan wherein people though they've been disobedient will be restored in community and fellowship with me and they will be restored to the original blessing that I gave to Adam and Eve that they would be fruitful and multiply and have dominion in their he's restoring what he always designed for humanity to be a promising verse four and I will set shepherds over them who will care for them and they shall fear no more nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord all the days are coming to class a lot. When I raise up for David and if you're familiar with your Old Testament you know than second Samuel seven the Lord had told King David that he would never remove his steadfast love from David and that someone from David's family would forever be on the throne were going to be today discussing the last earthly king of Israel on this earth. And so all of this is pointing to a spiritual fulfillment of this great promise for the giving of Jesus Christ. The world is the fulfillment of this, behold, the days are coming out. Raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness. We come into these words today Hebrew words that are to the most important and recurring Old Testament words whenever the covenant is mentioned justice and righteousness.

Mr. pots and said that Mr. Barton said in verse six in his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely and this here we are.

This is the name by which he will be called speaking of this new Davidic king. He will be called the Lord is our righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say is the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Speaking of the Passover, the deliverance from slavery of Exodus by verse eight they'll be saying as the Lord lives, who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel the North country. Out of all the countries were driven them.

Speaking of restoration inheritances and then they shall dwell in their own.

I wish I could describe to you how funny an audit is to be a minister and watch people treat me differently than other human beings. I've been doing this for a long time and I just need to assure you again. I am every bit as human as every other human being and and yet people sometimes they just treat me up from the earliest days of you in the ministry.

I realize they just treat me differently when it when I first started any ministry is in youth ministry by year out of college. I was actually living in Winston-Salem in the renting a house with three other guys and that one day the landlord came in and and he was cussing, discussing up a storm and I walked in the room and he knew I was a youth director at a church, but even just for that I walked in and he said all sorry about that. You know any changes language and I thought this is just weird.

You know is where I just come out of college, they would know by changing their language around me and college and now your use minister and I will change my language because you're more holy and is just where is his people to treat as if somehow you know more righteous and out to the other funny thing where it shows up is that therefore if anything good comes along. My life and people often will credit it to me is because I've got you no special favor with God. I remember one time playing golf. I hit a shot at T shot so bad that it not only went toward the woods. It went over the woods and went all over the trees and it hit the roof of a house so hard that everybody heard it. Just go you know, and we just sat down. The rabbis I got lost ball on that you know is you lose this whole and all of a sudden we saw this ball as if in slow motion come back up over the trees going for the little bit and landed right in little of the fairway and I read it had to travel a long way to get back over the trees and out middle of that fairway and and and all the other guys are playing when they just looked at me like a lie so that's that's that's what's favor you get from God right there. All that right living and so is like everything goes goes well as I get asked because you got, you know you got a little extra connection with the big guy upstairs. I mean that's the way you know a lot of single guys think about the and irony is that anytime a mileage may go well I guess that's what that right living gets you what I really want to say and every now and then I will is if you only knew is not just that I'm a minister in every now and then I do something a little bit holy in Christ. I have become the righteousness of God is not a matter of some kind of special favor. It has already been purchased on my behalf. We're talking today about what theologians call imputed righteousness and I just want to tell you I have said in my study at home repeatedly this week and wept for joy and every thought of it. I want you to know and cherish this it will change your life if you believe it is Alan Wright will have more teaching moment from today's important series.

Many Christians in America today.

You're starting a nation's culture has turned away from God values in our country have changed.

Suddenly, most people don't go to church or had a difficult one to make you feel like an alien in your own culture not to learn from Danielle when he was out the pay demand through our special offer. This night you can learn to live under the favor of guarding and carrying culture the way Daniel dad gave before the end in mind senior Pastor Alan's idea series favored for you may feel like a stranger in this world that is not shared favor to Daniel and his four man race is a timeless brown nation will not only help you through these troubling times. It will also help someone else.

Thanks for your partnership with how I might ministry we missed us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor Alan.org today's teaching now. Can you once again is Alan writing so this text begins with the great problem that the northern and southern kingdoms had faced and that was in the divided monarchy after Josiah's who made many righteous reforms one king after another bad king came foreign and six and succession, and that's why this chapter begins with woe to the shepherd to destroy and scatter the sheep of my ship my pasture so the image of the king is the image here of a shepherd and I think we all understand that she need the shepherd so much to be a good Shepherd because if the shepherd is inattentive. The sheep will scatter the sheep will be destroyed by the enemy. And so in order to understand imputed righteousness, you need to start with this.

There is a connection so close between the shepherd and the sheep that you cannot really separate them. This is a little offensive to the modern mind that as the shepherd is so goes the people, but this is the biblical image. If a shepherd is good. His sheep are going to not be scattered and lost and perishing, and being devoured by wolves if the shepherds bad the sheep will be afraid they'll wander down writes the fall each other off cliffs still drink polluted water and they will scatter and be lost is the nature of the sheep.

So in order to understand this and understand who Jesus is our King. There is a relationship that is inseparable between the king and the people. That's what's happened.

So the people have in a sense, found that they have suffered because of the unrighteousness of the king and in chapter 22. If we were to read it all what you would see as a succession here of three Kings who followed Josiah's all are rebuked by the Lord and Jeremiah 22 to read all of this, but to give you a few verses the first of the son of Josiah's name was shalom, or he was also called Jehovah has Jeremiah 2213 woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, speaking of Jehovah hats in his upper rooms by injustice who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing, and does not give him wages oozes out build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms cuts out windows and it is talking about a luxurious palace that is built on the backs of the oppressed, and he says this is review verse 15 do you think you are a king because you compete in Cedar did not your father. Josiah's eat and drink and do justice and righteousness mission in Seneca and then another son of Josiah followed that was Joya Kim read of him and Jeremiah 2221 the Lord said, I spoke to you in your prosperity but you said I will not listen and this is been your way from your youth and you've not obeyed my voice and into 1/3 son of Joya Kim could Niagara or Jehoiada can verse 20 90 land land land hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord, this man down Joya Kim as childless a man who shall not succeed in his day using this man and his family will not fulfill the lineage of David. And then there's 1/4 king whose name is not specifically mentioned here, but is the one who is the forefront of these two chapters though is not mentioned by name and that's what I want to show you because his name is Zedekiah and he reigned for 11 years, right up until 586 BC and was in 587 that the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem and people are deported and Zedekiah is the last natural king of Israel on this earth not been one sentence and he is here implicitly in this text I want to show you up, show you why, but then in Jeremiah 23 five we see that all of those bad kings are contrasted with the days are coming when I'll raise up for David a righteous branch, shall reign as king and he shall execute justice and righteousness if we had time, I would take you through the Old Testament and show you all the places where these two words mission pot which is justice and said a car which is righteousness and justice has the idea of God does not let evil go unpunished and does not let wrong just keep on happening and righteousness. Seneca is all wrapped up in showing kindness to people and doing the right thing.

It is a huge concept. Here are two examples. Amos 524 let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream guys Sanders what I love is I love you Scott, just moving like a huge waterfall and I like setting flowing like a beautiful never ending river. Let justice and righteousness flow everywhere in the suite wants and Psalm 33 five he love's righteousness and justice's Seneca and Michigan, and yet with those kings of Israel, bad shepherds who didn't attend to the flock didn't care about the flock who built their palaces, ending care of the people were starving there. Cedar homes couldn't care less about the well-being of the people who consulted false gods and worship idols. When the people needed their leadership that no pot and no Seneca goddess and I'm going to send you a king who will administer mission pot and said so here is the king who is not mentioned but is all implied by way of the sharpest critique and that is that the Kia Zedekiah whose name comes from this word Seneca static, righteous centric and the second part of his name is Ya which is short for Yahweh, Jehovah God when you see in the Old Testament and name it as well and it fell short of Elohim, which is God, but it has job in it is short for Yahweh.

The personal covenantal name of the Lord. So Zedekiah means the Lord is righteous and implied in this name. Therefore, in this game who did evil in the sight of God and reigned for 11 years and then eventually was not only dethroned in deported be killed Zedekiah the Lord is righteous stands and other contrasting Zedekiah was.

He was a righteous king but the Lord is righteous so the move you see in this text is from Zedekiah, the Lord is righteous to the promise of God to bring a king whose name will be the Lord is our righteousness the Lord is righteous and that is true, whether for sinner or saint.

There is righteous, apart from Christ and the Lord is righteous, he is Seneca everything wonderful and powerful and glorious about the gospel of Jesus Christ depends on moving from a knowledge that the Lord is righteous and I'm not to this remarkable unimaginable truth that Jesus has come as a fulfillment of the promise to David someone from his throne would be from his family would be on the throne, and that now and Christ, we do not speak of God simply as the one who is righteous, but we actually dare to say he have become his righteousness for the Lord is our success so there comes a great promise as a great problem now great promise bad shepherds. But he says verse three. I'll gather the remnant of my flock. Out of all the countries I've driven them.

I'll bring them back to their fold and they shall be fruitful and multiply. This is what was blessed of Adam and Eve. This is what the design was for humanity and restore all of this in verse five he speaks of this righteous branch, like a fallen tree that then develops a new shoot that comes off of it, this phrase it in the ancient world was commonly used to speak of the one who was the rightful heir. That's the righteous branch, to raise him up and this new king we call the Lord is our righteousness. So here it is. Zedekiah needs Yahweh is static, but the coming king for God's people is Yahweh is our sending prompts Allen right into these good news message the Lord our righteousness in the series remade stick with his pastor Ellen is back with us in the studio, sharing his parting good news thought for the day just like many Christians in America today. Your standby have a nation's culture has turned away from God values in our country have changed.

Suddenly, most people don't go to church or had a biblical one can make you feel like an alien in your own culture. There's a lot to learn from Danielle when he was exiled to the pay command through our special effort is not. You can learn to live under the favor of guarding and carrying culture the way Daniel Ted gave before the end in mind. The senior Pastor Alan's idea series, Daniel favored for you may feel like a stranger in this world that is God should favor to Daniel and his four man God's grace is upon you as well. Nation will not only help you navigate through these troubling times. It will also help someone else.

Thanks for your partnership with our night ministry. We missed call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website Pastor Alan.org you're now a studio with Pastor Alan sporting good news thought for the day were getting some terminology working some some words and then the been the word in the title there righteousness that's that's good of a religious word for the most part I mean outside of maybe 80 slaying righteous dude right you know so but there there is an amazing depth to that when you realize that Jesus is our righteous this message in this point in this theme that theologically we call imputed righteousness. This marvelous gift that is part of the gospel great exchange where Jesus becomes our sin and we become his righteousness. This imputed righteousness means that God we are Christian, God looks upon you, not just as if you never said that he regards you he looks upon you is if you had lived the meritorious life of Jesus Christ that changes everything. Thanks for today. Visit us online@pastorallen.org or call 877-544-4860 877-544-4860 if you only caught part of today's teaching. Not only can you listen again online but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources@pastorout.org that's pastor out.org.

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