The righteous
THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE WE HAVE A NUMBER OF DESCRIPTIONS THAT TELL US HOW GOD LOOKS UPON THOSE WHO PLEASE HIM.
a) Today we want to look at several of these descriptions.
b) For a lesson such as this, a lot of passages are needed.
c) Because so many verses will be offered, the Scriptures will be offered as references.
2) We begin with Ex. 33:16.
3) This event was shortly after the sin involving the golden calf.
4) As Israel was being chastised, God told the people to remove all their jewelry (Ex. 33:5).
5) Later in this chapter Moses asked to see God’s “glory.”
6) In verse 16 Israel is referred to as “thy people.”
7) Sometimes in the prayers led here and elsewhere we hear this expression.
8) A more modern expression is “your people.”
9) While this is an Old Testament description, it is still suitable for today.
10) God had His people under the Old Testament and He has His people under the New Testament.
11) We might even say, “a congregation of thy people” or “all thy/your people.”
12) Ezra 10:3 is a second description but I have never heard it used.
a) A man described God’s people as those who “tremble at the commandment of God.”
b) A lot of people do not tremble at God’s word (we see quite a few who refuse to respect it).
c) We also find people who think the Bible is just another book.
d) Others see the Scriptures as a document containing erroneous information.
e) If we are among the saved, we should be people who have a strong respect for the Bible.
f) We reverence God’s word to the point where we can say we tremble at God’s commandment.
13) Going back to the kinds of descriptions that are well known, we turn to the first Psalm.
14) A writer said, “blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.”
15) This is a description for the saved. A righteous person wants to walk in righteousness.
16) Beyond this we find that “standing in the way of sinners” is not associated with the saved.
17) A person who is pleasing to God “delights in God’s law and meditates on it” (Ps. 1:2).
18) Just a little later this fascinating statement is made (Ps. 4:3).
19) God “sets apart for Himself” those who are godly.
a) At various times we “set something aside.”
b) A business owner may take the first dollar bill he earns and “set it apart” in a picture frame.
c) Others take a picture and “set it apart” (put it in a prominent place).
d) Often what we set aside is important or valuable.
e) God has chosen to do a similar thing for and with the saved.
f) Someone who is in a right relationship with God has been put into a special place.
20) In Ps. 15 we find the saved being described in a negative (God tells us qualities they do not have).
a) If a person is a child of God, he is not unkind with the tongue/mouth (Ps. 15:3).
b) Someone who pleases God “speaks the truth” (Ps. 15:2), another description.
21) A righteous person is someone who trusts in God (Ps. 64:10).
a) Not every person who trusts in God will be saved.
b) If a person is pleasing to God, that person will be trusting in God.
22) It is not uncommon for us to sing songs about faith.
23) At times faith can be tested, and tested severely.
24) Some pass the test with flying colors; others sort of squeak by, we have seen cases of failure.
25) God can point to His people (the saved) and say, “these people have faith”—true trust.
26) Another description that encourages us is Psa. 119:1: the “undefiled” (KJV).
a) Most of us have experienced some type of stain or blot.
b) Perhaps we were going out to eat and someone opened a ketchup bottle.
c) Out shot a wad of ketchup and it stained our shirt.
d) Maybe our clothing has been spotted with grease or something else.
e) Just as there are stains in the secular realm, so there are stains in the spiritual realm.
f) God refers to these stains as “sin.”
g) Sin keeps people out of heaven unless it is forgiven.
27) When a person becomes a Christian, God removes the stains.
28) When a person is a child of God, he or she is “undefiled” (Ps. 119:1).
29) Isaiah knew a little something about righteousness and pleasing God.
a) In Isa. 51:1 he referred to those who “followed after righteousness.”
b) A person might follow after (pursue) many things in life.
c) Year after year people say “Here is something new to do, try, or get.”
d) Most of the world has never followed after righteousness.
e) God says His people seek the will of God.
f) Many of the devotional songs young people sing reflect this very theme.
g) Christians are people who want and pursue holiness.
h) If we are a child of God, Isa. 51:1 says we are seeking righteousness.
WHEN WE LEAVE THE OLD TESTAMENT AND TURN TO THE NEW, WE FIND EVEN MORE DESCIRPTIONS OF THOSE WHO PLEASE GOD.
a) For instance, the saved are heirs to the “kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3).
b) Sometimes people say, “this is mine; this belongs to me.”
c) A Christian may say, “I am a citizen in the kingdom of God. It’s mine”
d) As a citizen Mt. 5:4 says God will comfort us.
e) Maybe this is not technically a description, but it describe a blessing for the saved.
f) God describes His people and those who are entitled to many good things from God.
2) In this same sermon Jesus said (Mt. 5:7) His people are “merciful.”
a) We may consider this a description for the saved.
b) Not only is this a description, it is a beautiful description.
c) Can we look at a time, recently in our life, when someone was merciful to us?
d) Maybe it was a parent, teacher, someone on the job, or a person in a public place.
e) Perhaps we were completely undeserving of help and compassion.
f) Someone came to our aid (rescue) and said, “I am here to help you.”
g) God’s people are agents of mercy in an often merciless world.
3) Along with mercy and purity in heart we come to the word “peacemakers” (Mt. 5:9).
a) God has described His people as those who actively seek to cultivate and promote peace.
b) Paul once said (Rom. 12) that we are to be at peace as much as possible.
c) Inspiration recognized that peace cannot always be attained.
d) Whenever and wherever this is possible, we are to pursue it.
4) Most of us are old enough to have met at least a few troublemakers.
5) Even in pre-school there are troublemakers.
6) At least some of the troublemakers I can remember would have problem described themselves as TM.
7) God’s people are makers of peace instead of makers of strife.
8) If we are a faithful Christian, this is how God can describe us.
a) Mt. 5:14 gives us another description: a light to the world.
b) Not long ago I heard a man praise the streetlights that surrounded his house.
c) He was thankful for the safety and help they offered.
d) During the daytime, we might not think too much about artificial light.
e) Even during the evenings we may not think too much about light.
f) With modern technology a whole house can be lit up pretty well after dark.
g) In first century times, nighttime meant there was not much light.
h) Whole houses and whole neighborhoods were basically dark in the evening hours.
i) Halogen lights came after the apostles.
j) To be called the light of the world must have made these people sit up and take notice.
k) Yet, this is how God has referred to His people.
9) Moving from the gospels and even Acts, we turn to the book of Acts.
10) Rom. 1:6 says the saved are “called by God.”
a) God’s people have been personally called by heaven.
b) A lot of people get confused about what this means.
c) I have had people tell me God called them through a dream, a voice, or something else.
d) God says He calls people through His word (2 Thess. 2:14).
e) God gives a personal invitation and call to each person through the Bible.
f) When we respond to that offer, we are “called” by Him.
11) In thinking about who God’s people are described, Rom. 6:2 gives us another description.
12) Paul told Christians at Rome they were “dead to sin.”
a) We live in a period when a lot of people like to make testimonials.
b) A person may go on a talk show and say, “I used to be a _____________.
c) For a person who becomes a Christian, there was a previous life.
d) We do not mean “previous” in the sense of Eastern thought (reincarnation).
e) We mean “previous” in that habits and behavior has been drastically changed.
f) In the Bible some lived in a manner that was very bad.
g) There were others who had good morals but still were guilty of sin.
h) That old way of life was put away so Christians are described as people who have a past.
i) They are dead to this past, Rom. 6:1-4, through the blood of Christ.
13) Another description I like is found towards the end of Romans.
14) Rom. 15:14 describes God’s people as “filled with goodness.”
a) Almost everyone admires an individual who is filled with goodness.
b) There is a natural charm and appeal that radiates from such an individual.
c) God says this is an apt description for the redeemed.
d) If a person is filled with goodness, he or she will definitely be a light to the world.
15) Before leaving the book of Romans I should include Rom. 16:19.
16) We cannot be a child of God without obedience.
17) Paul spoke of those at Rome being “obedient.”
18) Whether we think obedience is always easy or not, this is a mark of and for God’s people.
19) Just as Jesus said, “not my will but thine be done,” so Christians say & do a similar thing.
a) A Christian can be described in all these ways because they are “in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17).
b) Being in the Lord means we can be and are described in numerous wonderful ways.
20) As a child of God we might be known as those who know about and resist the devil.
21) Eph. 4:27 says a Christian does not give “place” to the devil.
22) We do not do this because of what Peter said (1 Pet. 2:5).
a) Saved people are like “stones” being used on a house.
b) Peter referred to the saved as “lively” stones used for a “spiritual house.”
c) The right construction materials can cause a person to look at a building and say, “Wow.”
23) We are, in some sense, incorporated into the building process that will last throughout eternity.
24) Not long ago there was the annual “parade of homes.”
25) God’s people in some sense are a showpiece.
26) We are described as being made into a kingdom and priests, Rev. 1:6.
27) Some of the greatest descriptions known to man are applied to God’s people.
28) Think of how coveted the title “peacemaker” is by some people in the world.
29) Every faithful Christian is described in that manner.
30) Bunches of special descriptions are applied to the saved, and they can apply to each one here.