This sermon explores the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, emphasizing the importance of righteousness through faith and grace, not works or religious credentials.
Good morning, beloved family of God. It's a joy and privilege to gather together in His name, to bask in the warmth of His love, and to find nourishment for our souls from His Word. We are here because we have been called, chosen, and cherished by a God who is not distant and detached, but a God who is intimately involved in the minutiae of our lives. A God who knows our every thought, our every heartbeat, our every tear.
We are here to celebrate His goodness, to acknowledge His sovereignty, and to learn from His wisdom. We are here because we are a people of the Word, a people who believe in the power of the Scriptures to transform, to heal, and to guide. We are here because we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and His mercies endure forever.
When we think about righteousness, we often think about it in terms of our own efforts. We think about the good deeds we've done, the kind words we've spoken, the sacrifices we've made. But the righteousness that Paul is talking about here is not a righteousness that we can earn or achieve. It's a righteousness that is given to us as a gift, a righteousness that comes from God and is received through faith in Christ.
This is a shift from self-reliance to God-reliance, from self-righteousness to Christ-righteousness. It's a shift that requires us to let go of our pride, our self-sufficiency, our need to be in control. And when we make this shift, when we receive this gift of righteousness, we find ourselves in a place of freedom, of joy, of peace. We find ourselves reveling in the righteousness of Christ, basking in the warmth of His love, resting in the assurance of His grace.
But what does it mean to revel in righteousness? What does it look like in our day-to-day lives? How does it impact our relationships, our decisions, our attitudes?
Firstly, to revel in righteousness means to find our identity in Christ. It means to see ourselves not as the world sees us, but as God sees us - loved, accepted, forgiven. It means to live in the truth of who we are in Christ - chosen, cherished, redeemed.
Secondly, to revel in righteousness means to live in obedience to God. We should be aligning our thoughts, our words, our actions with His Word. It means to seek His will in all things, to follow His guidance, to trust His wisdom.
Thirdly, to revel in righteousness means to reflect the character of Christ. It means to love as He loved, to serve as He served, to forgive as He forgave. It means to show kindness, compassion, humility in all situations. It means to let go of our own preferences, our own comfort, our own rights, and to consider others better than ourselves, to put their needs above our own, to love them as Christ has loved us.
Lastly, to revel in righteousness means to find our satisfaction in Christ. It means to find our joy, our peace, our fulfillment in Him. It means to let go of the empty promises, the fleeting pleasures, the false idols of the world, and to find our treasure, our delight, our reward in Christ.
As we continue to examine the richness of this passage, we find ourselves face to face with the beauty of grace ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO
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