Latest / Chapel Talks / What Does It Really Mean to Know God? | Jeremiah 9 | Chris Wright

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What Does It Really Mean to Know God? | Jeremiah 9 | Chris Wright · Chapel Talks

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It's great to be with you. Now, I'm sure that
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these words are very familiar to you. They're
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words from Jeremiah, where he talks about the
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new covenant. And he said, no longer will they
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teach their neighbor or say to one another, know
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the Lord, because they will all know me from
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the least of them to the greatest of them. One
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of the great promises there of the new covenant,
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which, of course, is picked up in the book of
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Hebrews. And we often, when we're preaching that
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sort of text, we say, well, this is great because
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we know that as New Testament believers, we have
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the presence of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge
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of God, that intimate personal relationship with
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God that we can have in Christ is such a wonderful
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blessing. And that's true. But I wonder if we
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were to ask Jeremiah when he'd said that, well,
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Jeremiah, what do you mean by knowing God? What
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are you talking about? i think he probably would
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have said well haven't you been listening because
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twice already in his book He has talked about
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knowing God and spoken exactly about what it
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means. One of them is in Jeremiah chapter 22.
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It's perhaps the more negative one. He's contrasting
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the King Josiah with his father Jehoiakim, who
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had been cruel and oppressive and unjust and
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wicked and greedy. And Jeremiah says, but your
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father, he's talking about Josiah, he did what
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was right and just and all went well with him.
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him he defended the cause of the poor and the
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needy and so all went well is that not what it
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means to know me says the Lord it's just a few
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words in Hebrew that is To know me, says God,
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is to do righteousness and justice. But the text
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that I thought we would just spend a few moments,
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the one that was read to us a moment or two ago,
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is from Jeremiah chapter 9. Those are the beautiful
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two verses there, 23 and 24. They're like a little
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gem in the midst of a pretty miserable chapter.
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I didn't ask for the whole bit to be read because
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the last verse talks about dead bodies in the
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field and things like that. But here we have
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these two verses. And it's almost like a little
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seesaw. balanced text On the one side are three
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things that human beings value as good gifts.
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Let not the wise boast of their wisdom, or the
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strong boast of their strength, or the rich boast
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of their riches. Three things, wisdom, strength,
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riches. And on the other side of the fulcrum,
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which we'll come to in a minute, are three things
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that God values, which are actually characteristic
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of him, that they understand and know me, that
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I am the Lord who exists. exercises kindness
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and justice and righteousness on the earth, for
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in these things, says God, I delight. And in
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the middle of that seesaw, the three things on
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one side and three on the other, comes this,
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that he knows me. The knowing of God is there
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in the middle of those two verses. So let's just
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think of the three good gifts of God that we
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shouldn't boast about and what that means, and
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then these three things that God values and delights,
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and ask, well, how will that impact what we mean
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by knowing God in our studies, in our life, in
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our ministry, and in the future? Three wonderful
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things. Verse 23, in fact, is rather surprising
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when Jeremiah says don't boast about these things
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because they're all very good things. Wisdom,
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strength, riches, they're all gifts of God. They're
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often described as a blessing. These are not,
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in a sense, you know, some evil tycoon just throwing
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his weight around. Wisdom. is highly praised,
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isn't it? It's applied knowledge, it's experience,
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it's skill, it's discernment. It's all over the
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book of Proverbs and the wisdom literature requested
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by Solomon instead of riches and given by God
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who gave him both. So yeah, wisdom, it's a good
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thing. It's God's gift. Strength, well, there's
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physical strength is often thought of and praised
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in the Old Testament. I mean, there's Moses who
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could sort of zap an Egyptian at the age of 40
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and look after sheep at 80 and climb a mountain
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at 120. Clearly a man of enormous physical strength.
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There's Samson. Book of Psalms celebrates when
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it talks about God has lifted up my horn. In
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other words, given me strength to do what God,
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we sometimes talk about being as strong as an
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ox. That's from the Psalms. So strength, again,
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when we have it, is a good gift of God. And riches,
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again, the gift of God. Here's what God promised
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to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 28 and verses
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8 to 11. If they would obey God and follow him,
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then the Lord will send you a blessing on your
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barns and everything you put your hand to, the
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Lord will bless you in that land. Then all the
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peoples on the earth will call you blessed because
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you will have an abundance of prosperity. So
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there's nothing wrong intrinsically with these
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gifts of God. wisdom strength riches the problem
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is what happens when we boast of them which is
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what verse 23 says let not the wise or the strong
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or the wealthy boast of those things. Because
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then what happens is, of course, that we fall
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into the trap again of what Deuteronomy warns
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against in chapter eight, when he says, when
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you get into that land and God has given you
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all of these things, then you may say to yourself
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in verse 17, my power and the strength of my
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hands have produced this wealth for me. That's
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the yuppies boast, isn't it? It's all mine. I've
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done it. I've achieved it. And it's for me. And
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when we boast of these things, then the good
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gifts of God can actually become pretty horrible
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parodies of themselves. So wisdom can easily
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fall into the temptation of becoming intellectual
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arrogance, which Proverbs says actually becomes
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folly. The idolatry of the glittering prizes,
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the things that somehow... Prove how wise and
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able you are when you boast of it. Or strength
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when it becomes simply violence and oppression.
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I was really struck just the other day reading
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some interview with Stephen Miller, who is one
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of the closest advisors to President Trump in
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the White House. And this is what he said in
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an interview with CNN. He said, we live in a
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world in which you can talk all you like about
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international niceties. Presumably meaning international
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law, I presume he means, and everything else.
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But we live in a world, the real world, Jake,
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that is governed by strength, that is governed
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by force, that is governed by power. And so he
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went on. And that is clearly being shown in the
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kind of way strength is being used and abused
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by some in God's world. And riches, well, of
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course, as we know, can easily lead to greed,
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to exploitation, to misery, to the growing inequality
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that we see in our world today. So good gifts
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are also dangerous gifts. They're good in themselves,
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but when we exalt them, when we idolize them,
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they corrupt us. And I think the temptation in
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all of these three areas is just as real when
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we're thinking about Christian ministry and mission
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and what God calls us into, especially if we
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are in this world of theological education and
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training for God's work. Wisdom, even in Christian
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missions and ministry and organization in churches,
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there's the wisdom of our strategic plans. and
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our traditions and our excellencies and our consultancies
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and so on. We can boast of those. Or we can boast
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of our strength, the resources that God gives
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to us, our management, our leadership, our wonderful
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staff, our structures, our governance. Or we
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can think of our riches, if we have them, fortunate
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enough, with endowments and income and so on.
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So gifts that are there, but when they're boasted
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of, they themselves can become idolatrous and
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indeed something that lack anything of the character
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of god himself so what then does god through
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jeremiah say is the fulcrum here what what really
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matters well god says don't boast of those things
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but if you're going to boast at all it should
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be about that you have the understanding to know
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me which is an interesting way of putting it
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not just that you know me but you know what it
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means to know me You understand that knowing
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God is actually more important than anything
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else. And so for the person who knows God, says
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God, they need to also share what God himself
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delights in. And what's that? Well, that's what
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verse 24 tells us. Kindness and justice and righteousness.
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Kindness in our Bible, of course, is one of the
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many possible translations of that beautiful
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Hebrew word chesed, which, yes, means mercy,
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kindness. It also means faithfulness, committed
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love, unfailing love. It's characteristic of
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God, of course, as we were singing. No, we weren't
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singing it. We were reciting in Psalm 103 all
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the way through the compassion, the unfailing
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love of God. But then it is practiced by those
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who know God. And so we see it exemplified, for
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example, in Moses with his committed, faithful
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love for the crowd of stiff -necked rebels that
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God entrusted to him, that God actually offered
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to get rid of them. Say, you know, get rid of
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this lot and I'll start again with you, Moses.
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And Moses says, not a bit, God. You can't do
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that. You've got to be faithful to your promise
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to Abraham. And if you're faithful to that promise,
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then I will go on looking after these people.
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Or, of course, there's the faithfulness of Boaz
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and of Ruth to Naomi, and, of course, the chesed
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mercy, kindness, and love of Jesus himself to
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outsiders, to the needy, to a Bartimaeus, a blind
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beggar, to a Zacchaeus or the prostitutes. And
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so this chesed love, that's characteristic of
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God, and one who knows God should therefore be
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characterized by that too. And then justice,
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mishpat, the act of putting things right for
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those who are wronged. The Old Testament often
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speaks of the widow's case, advocating for those
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who are otherwise on the wrong end of what's
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happening in society. And that's what we saw
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just a moment ago from Jeremiah 22, that Jeremiah
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talks about Josiah. He was one who did justice
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for the poor and the needy. And so, says God,
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That's what it means to know me. And I was just
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reflecting on this, that within our Anglican
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communion, as you know, there's the thing called
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the five marks of mission. I hope you've heard
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of that expression. I was just discussing it
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a bit with a few students earlier, that the theory
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that within the church's mission, there is, of
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course, evangelism, proclaiming the kingdom,
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discipling and teaching new believers, but also
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works of compassion and mercy, doing good, as
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Jesus did, and seeking justice. as we are commanded
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to do. And yesterday evening, in our prayer gathering
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at All Souls Church, we were thinking of the
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ministry of Tamar, which is the ministry of All
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Souls among trafficked women, people in the sex
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industry, which is not just showing compassion
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for these women, but also seeking, wherever possible,
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to act justly for them, to advocate for them,
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to seek to give them the means of getting their
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immigration status sorted out or be freed from
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the influence of gangs and so on. So to be...
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lovers of mercy and seekers of justice and righteousness
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tzedakah righteousness which means that which
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is straight and true and honest the word for
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that i think would be integrity in a personal
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sense one of john stott's favorite verses in
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the bible was first chronicles 29 verse 17. where
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David, in the moment of his great, very successful
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fundraising opportunity, when he raised all the
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money for the building of the temple, says to
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God, I know, my God, that you search the heart
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and you are pleased with integrity. And John
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Stott used to say that that was such an important
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verse, that people who are serving the Lord should
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be men and women of integrity on the inside and
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the outside. So, says our text, these are the
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things then that God delights in. They're not
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just, in a sense, part of his character only.
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They're not just, as it were, attributes of God.
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They are actually things that bring a smile to
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his face. God says, this is what gives me pleasure.
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When I see on earth, not just in heaven, but
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on earth, when I see acts of kindness and justice
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and righteousness, integrity taking place, God
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is pleased. And of course, we see that from not
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just Psalm 103 that we quoted earlier, but from
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Exodus chapter 34, God's name tag, as it were.
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I had one here. I took it off. But when God gives
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his name tag, he says he's the Lord, the Lord,
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the compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding
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in love. And even before that, when he called
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Abraham to follow him, he said, I have chosen
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Abraham. I've chosen him so that he will direct
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his household to keep the way of the Lord by
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doing righteousness and justice. even before
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the law had been given so that the lord can bring
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about what he has promised him which was blessing
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for all nations so this is what god delights
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in and therefore this is what it means to be
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a people who know the lord god the mission of
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israel in the old testament was supposed to be
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to be the people of yahweh the god of israel
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a people of chesed and righteousness and justice
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and mercy in a world going the way of solomon
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gomorrah which is precisely when God called Abraham
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and gave him that commandment. That's what it
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means to know God, and that's what it ought to
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be, to be boasted of. So for us then to claim
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to know God, if that's what we want to do, means
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to know this God, the God who calls for and longs
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for and delights in love and justice and righteousness.
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Those are his priorities. And I think Jesus would
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say, and if you seek those things, As part of
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the kingdom of God, this is the way God exercises
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his kingship. Then these other things will be
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added to you. So you need wisdom? Well, says
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James, if any of you lacks wisdom, you should
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ask God because he gives it generously to all
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without finding fault and it would be given to
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him. Or you need strength? Well, remember Paul
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who says, God said to him, my grace is sufficient
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for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.
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So Paul says, therefore, I will boast all the
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more gladly about my weakness. Maybe he was thinking
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of Jeremiah 9, 23, when he wrote that, so that
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Christ's power may rest on me. For when I'm weak,
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then I'm strong, says Paul. And you need money,
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you need resources. We all do one way or another.
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And we remember Paul saying that I have learned
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what it is to be content, whatever circumstances.
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whether well fed living in plenty or in want
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and my god will meet all your needs according
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to the riches of his glory in christ jesus so
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wisdom strength riches resources they're all
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ours in christ as long as you don't boast and
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corrupt them so that's really all i wanted to
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bring with these two verses and to suggest that
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As you're here in some form of training or another
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for some kind of ministry and service that God
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wants you to do, some of you, I'm sure, will
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go on to become pastors and leaders in God's
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church. You'll be wanting to lead others to come
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to know Christ. That's what you want to do, isn't
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it? And those who already know Christ, to know
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him more and to grow in their discipleship. But
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I trust that you yourself will be someone who
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knows God in this way and what it is as God to
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know him. that you delight in the things that
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bring delight to God himself. Let's pray together
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as we move on to our communion. Heavenly Father,
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we thank you for your word. We thank you for
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the surprise that it sometimes brings to us in
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the midst of the words of doom and judgment and
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darkness that are there in the book of Jeremiah,
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that we have this little gem of showing us what
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it means to know you. We ask that you help us
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to take these things to heart, that we will indeed
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trust you for the wisdom and the strength and
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the riches that we need, but that we may rather
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know you by being people who are characterized
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by loving kindness and by justice and seeking
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justice, walking humbly with you, and men and
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women of integrity and righteousness in all that
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we do. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.