Character and Slaying of Our Goliath

Happy Sabbath, everybody! Good to see all of you, and I certainly hope that you had a good week, and you're not getting this cough that's going around. I'm listening to the first message about Dilevening. Imagine when the whole world is Dileven. When the whole world is without sin, as, of course, we see in the world today. Now, all of us have either read or we have heard the story of David and Goliath many times, probably, over the years. So I'm not going to tell that story to you.

But even in this secular world, it is an analogy which is used in many different ways. You know, you can have a battle of a tiny company against a giant in industry, a titan of industry. And, of course, that small company will consider itself David, and that big company they consider to be Goliath that has to be brought down.

Also, it's been used of a person against great odds and seemingly insurmountable circumstances, maybe being able to climb a mountain or being able to accomplish something that very few people have been able to do. Well, brethren, the question I have here for you this morning is, what is the greatest Goliath that we as Christians must slay and conquer? You know, we've got to be like that young man, David, who went out to battle against Goliath. And, of course, with God's help, he brought Goliath down. And we know the story is that he took Goliath's own sword and cut his head off.

Well, you know, is that Goliath that we have to conquer, brethren, Satan? Just who is the Goliath in our life that needs to be conquered? Let's go back to Genesis chapter 1 and verse 31. It's always good to go back to the beginning to begin to really understand and realize what, in fact, the Bible is about so that we can have a full grasp of what God is doing here upon this earth.

Here in chapter 1, we see that God was recreating the earth, as we understand it here. And he was going to put man upon the earth, and he did on the sixth day of the week. And then in verse 31, notice here, and then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. And it says, so the evening and the morning were the sixth day. So God surveyed what he had created, what he had brought into being, the animals and even Adam and Eve, and he said it is very good.

And, of course, all humans, whether we want to admit it or not, go back to the same place. There are some people that perhaps we wouldn't want to claim, but nonetheless, even criminals, people that we see out here that sometimes are prosecuted and put away, you know, they go back to Adam and Eve, and every one of us do, brethren. And when we look around in this world, the way that mankind lives, I don't think we could say it's very good. And we see, of course, in this world, the war that is taking place on a continual basis.

We see criminals running the streets, shooting and killing people. We, of course, hear about rates and different things that occur that are heinous, you know, the murdering of little children and so forth, as we even recently have seen in the news, and that it seems like from time to time happens and occurs.

And so what we see out here, brethren, is not very good. What changed with Adam and Eve? You know, how did they go from very good to the world that we see around us today? You know, when Adam and Eve were created, they were essentially neutral. Like, in fact, a newborn would be neutral. You know, they know not either good or evil.

You know, they are neutral to it. And, you know, it's wonderful to see a small newborn, and, you know, as they begin their trekking life, and, of course, we have a new grandchild. Joan and I were talking to our son this morning, and he was sleeping away. You know, the little guy was, and his mother as well, because they she needed a lot of sleep, being up feeding a child.

But imagine looking at a newborn child and how they are neutral. You know, they're not good, in one sense, and they're not evil. We talk about, of course, the child is being very innocent, and they are. And so they are not set to good or evil. And for Adam and Eve, that was their condition. That was their nature. They were neither moral, nor were they immoral.

The only difference, of course, between them and a newborn is that they were adults.

God created them as adults. And God set them in a beautiful garden, the most beautiful garden, probably, than it ever has been. And He told them a few things. You know, sometimes we assume that God did not tell Adam and Eve very much, but He told them a few things. He told them, no doubt, about sin. He instructed them about sin because sin existed, you know, from the time of Adam.

Because they knew it was wrong, remember, when they had taken the forbidden fruit, they knew it was wrong. They ran and they hid from God because they knew they had sinned. They had done something wrong, contrary to what God had told them to do. And, of course, God had told Adam and Eve that they needed to dress and keep the garden. They had to keep it beautiful, continuing making it beautiful and perhaps improving upon what the garden was. And Adam, also, remember, had the interesting job of naming all of the animals. And we know that's how he discovered that he did not have someone that was just like him around. You know, he had to go through the orangutan. He had to go through the giraffe. He had to, you know, and he had to determine, well, I don't see anyone here that is like me. And, of course, then God created, as we know, on that sixth day, He created a beautiful Eve for Adam. God told Adam and Eve about marriage, because remember, we have a basic marriage ceremony right there that took place between Adam and Eve, and God was the one that performed the ceremony. And He did not forbid them from eating any tree of any tree in all of the garden, by the way, except one. And, you know, that tree was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now, you would think that would be good enough, wouldn't you?

Stay away from that tree, because it's going to be bad for you. It's going to kill you. Suppose you were a small child. Excuse me. And your parents took you out, and they were walking through a garden that had trees in it. And, you know, they told you, that is a good tree.

That is a good tree, but stay away from that tree.

You would think that a child would realize, well, that's a dangerous tree. I don't want to eat from that tree. You know, that tree has horse apples on it. Make me sick if I jump into one of those, any of you have ever seen a horse apple. But, you know, God said, stay away from that tree. So, God told them a lot. He instructed them in a lot. And then, in Genesis 3, Satan came along.

And he lied to Eve. He, you know, after Eve, you know, told Satan that, you know, God had told them to not touch or eat that tree. God's serpent, the serpent said unto the woman, you shall not surely die. For God knows that in the day that you eat thereof, then your eyes are going to be open. And you're going to be like God. You're going to be as God's, knowing good and evil. In other words, that you can decide for yourself for what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong. And after this sin took place, brethren, Adam and Eve were no longer neutral.

They were no longer in the neutral category. They had decided to go the other way. And so, they decided for all mankind to disobey God and what God had instructed them to do. And for what we understand, it was the only thing that he told them not to do. Think about that. It was the only thing that he told them not to do. And they disobeyed God. And again, they were no longer neutral after that. And so, they started deciding for themselves what was right and what was wrong, of course, under the sway of the devil. Now, this is when human nature was born.

This is when human nature was born. And with each decision that they made, contrary to God, in the instructions God had given to them, their human nature grew stronger and stronger.

And of course, with man, of course, that human nature became, you might say, the leavening or the sin producer within the human being. That hard human nature, sometimes it is so resistant to obeying God. And afterwards, Adam and Eve's progeny made the same decisions such that all mankind has had it ingrained in them to go against God's law, to go against, you know, what God instructed. And they had produced, in turn, that human nature, or as we call it, the carnal nature. And when we come to the New Testament, Paul says this in Romans 8 and verse 7, because this carnal nature is there, it's ingrained in all of mankind, it says, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be. So this carnal nature that is in all of mankind will not be subject to God.

You might say it's the opposite of God's way of life, God's way of thinking. And, of course, neither, as he says in that verse in Romans 8 and verse 7, can be. It just can't happen. If people have carnal nature, they will not obey God. And all the world has had and has, brethren, this fleshly human nature that is set in them. It's right there embedded in them. And the greatest Goliath, brethren, that all mankind must slay is our own carnal human nature. That's the biggest thing you've got to conquer. You know, that's the biggest thing that all of us, brethren, have to conquer is that carnal human nature. And, of course, we know when Christ came, He made that possible for us through His sacrifice. So, brethren, slaying Goliath, that Goliath of human nature and then developing godly character is the mission for every Christian. That is your mission, brethren, to fight yourself, to overcome this Goliath. And he is a big, strapping, tall, strong, hard warrior, very hard, like Goliath. Remember, he was the toughest and he was the meanest that, you know, David could stand against. And here was David, just a puny man in one sense, by comparison, that went out to meet Goliath and he brought him down and cut his head off. Now, why did the progeny of Adam and Eve inherit this condition? And the reason is because everybody followed their pattern. Everybody went the same way. They rejected God's instruction and they favored the first lie that was told by the devil. And humanity has chosen that way for the last 6,000 years. And there have been only a few, by the way, only a few. You could count them on your hands and your fingers of your hands and the toes of your feet. Those were called, you know, in the first 4,000 years of mankind. And God had to call them specially. They would not have come forward to do it voluntarily. They would not have done it. Of course, they had that carnal nature as well. They were not subject to God's law either and couldn't be. It was impossible for them. And so God had to especially call them. So carnal nature, brethren, carnal nature is insurmountable.

It is. Of and by yourself and by myself, brethren, carnal nature is insurmountable. We should see that in Romans 8, verse 7. It's impossible to surmount carnal nature, you know, without God's help.

And that nature is ingrained in the heart of all humanity. In Romans 3, in verse 23, I'm not going to have you turn there, but you might want to write it down. For it says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Everybody that has ever lived or existed, you know, has come short of the glory of God and have sinned. So, brethren, why must we conquer our Goliath nature? Why must we do that? Well, you know, think about this fact, brethren. If Adam had been obedient to God, then all humanity would reflect godly character. So Adam and Eve set the pattern.

You know, if Adam had told, you know, Satan, the serpent, that was there, if he had said to Satan, Get behind me, we're going to worship God, we're going to listen to God, imagine this fact, brethren, that everybody in the world would have followed that pattern. But, of course, Adam, unfortunately, played the role of an ambi-pambi husband that did not, in that instance, come forward and put the devil in his place. And only through repentance and forgiveness, brethren, through the sacrifice of Christ can anyone develop character today. You know, that is the only way it can happen today. So the old man, which is human nature, has to be gotten rid of, and then, you know, we begin to build the character of God. So, brethren, we must repent of what we have become with this carnal nature that is in us, because we've had a part in it. We can't blame it all on Adam, and we can't blame it all on the devil, either. You see, Eve could have said, No, I'm not going to go against, you know, what God has said. And Adam could have said, No. But, of course, we know that they did not do that. And so, brethren, we have to, as God's people, have help in order to overcome this Goliath that we've got to stand against. You know, how do we overcome this human nature? You know, it's really hard. It's very difficult. You know how hard it is to overcome the way you are. And one of the reasons is we're surrounded by people living like this.

You know, you start trying to live God's way of life, and you're going to have a dozen people come along and tell you why you should live God's way of life, because that nature is in them as well. And so, brethren, mankind has been about the business of building this carnal human nature for the last 6,000 years, and it's very embedded in us. And so, we somehow have to change around in our lives so that we begin building godly character, a godly character. And sometimes it gets tough. Now, I think we can be very thankful that we live in a country here where we can meet in peace, and we can talk about these things and discuss these things.

We don't have to worry about somebody marching in here and shooting everybody or hurting them up and taking them to jails. You know, our lives are fairly peaceful, I would say. We get to live in homes, fairly nice homes compared to what other people live in. We live in mansions.

You know, we live in a very nice circumstance here in the United States, and many people around the world have the same opportunity. And so, in this business that we have of overcoming, we live in a pretty good circumstance to confront our Carl nature and overcome that nature. You know, we can do it on a week-by-week basis, in other words. And generally speaking, that nobody's going to bother us about doing that. You know, there was a time during the time of Judah and Jeremiah that Jeremiah was given a proverb by God because Jeremiah was complaining about the prosperity of the wicked. He talked about how that they dealt treacherously, but they still prospered. They seemed like they got along just fine. You know, sometimes in our lives we look at that too, don't we? We look at the world and we see perhaps how some are successful according to the world. We should put that in quotes because often their lives are worse than we realize.

But, you know, it looks like they're successful out there and sometimes we look at our lives and maybe we're not, or at least we think we're not as successful. Well, Jeremiah looked at this and he saw the world of his time and thought people were treacherously going against God's way of life and against human beings and treating them badly. But let's notice over here in Jeremiah chapter 12. I'd like you to turn to this particular verse over here. But in Jeremiah chapter 12, amidst all that complaint that Jeremiah spoke to God about, notice what God said to him. And he could say the same thing to us today, by the way. He spoke a proverb to him. He says, if you have run with a footman, talking about, of course, in a time of war, you have men who are, you know, that are, you know, footmen, you might say, that are marching on the ground, the infantry, in other words, and you have some that were, you know, walking and they used horses.

But he says, if you have a hard time running with a footman and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And he says, and if in the land of peace, you're in a land of peace right now, he says, in which you trusted, they wearied you, in other words, you're living in a relative peace right now, and it's not that difficult, God was saying to him, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? I mean, when the real things really get bad, God is saying to Jeremiah, how are you going to do when it really gets bad? It really gets difficult to obey me. And, brethren, this is an instruction to us, the same thing, if we can't obey God right now, in this peaceful world that we live in, generally speaking, here in the United States, there is, again, don't have it that well, but most do in the world. How will we do, brethren, when the prophecies that are talked about in the book of Revelation begin to come to pass? You know, in that time, we may very well be running for our lives. What are we going to do?

And the lesson here, brethren, is if we can't meet the small problems in our lives, how will we meet the big problems when they come along? You know, it is a matter of realizing, brethren, that right now we need to utilize every opportunity, redeeming the time, to work on our character right now and to rid ourselves of the human nature, that carnal human nature that is in us.

And so, brethren, that's our mission right now. That is our mission right now, to overcome our carnal human nature, to mortify that old man, you know, and to build holy righteous character.

Now, what is godly character? Let's try to define that. What exactly is godly character?

Mr. Armstrong used to define it for us in sermons. He did it over the years through that. But let me sort of sum it up, brethren, for all of us here today. You know, godly character is knowing the difference between good and evil and having the desire to do good no matter what until, you know, it becomes a fixed nature in us. In other words, knowing the difference between right and wrong, living the way of right, in other words, until it is a fixed nature that is in us.

It's like here today, if I were to ask you on Wednesday, where are you going to be on Sabbath?

You know where you're going to be. And for the most part, when I look out in this audience, I'm not surprised some of you are here today, you know, because it's your character. It's what's in your character. And you've done that. You've applied yourself to that. And it's something that we can know is going to be there. You know, it's like a husband and wife, you know, they they get to know each other, you know, so well that they know what the other is going to do.

But you know, you know, you're not my wife, but I know some of you well enough to know what, you know, you're going to do. Unless, of course, you're sick, or you're you've got some problem that way. You know, I understand that that happens. In fact, when I see somebody is not here, I've seen, you know, see the members that with I wonder if they're sick, if something has happened, of course, and we have that concern. And so that's what character is just knowing the difference between right and wrong, and doing what is right, regardless, no matter what happens to you. And until it is fixed in us as a character. Now, there are six aspects, main aspects, of the definition of godly character. Let me give you those those aspects, and then we're going to go over them in a little more detail. Number one, a person must have a mind to be free.

You know, it's like when you were wanting to be someone who was a servant of God, you know, when you were younger, when you were studying the Bible, and you were so confused about some of the things that were taught in the world, you could not see them in the Bible.

And you realize that there was so much in this world in terms of religion that conflicted, so you couldn't know what the truth was. And you began to realize that you wanted to know what the truth was, and to have that freedom of knowing, you know, what the truth was. And so a person must have a mind to be free, free of the falsehoods of this world, and knowing, of course, what is God's plan. You have to have that desire to do that. Number two, we must have free moral agency to choose. You know, in order for us to develop character, we have to have the free moral agency to choose ourselves, what is right and what is wrong. So, in a way, what happened in the Garden of Eden was something that would help man and assist man in growing godly character, even though it was going to lead to carnal human nature as well. And number three, a person must know what is right. You have to know what is right.

And number four, a person must make a decision to do right, regardless of what comes along.

You have to commit yourself again to do right. And number five, a person must recognize that this way that is right is contrary to the wrong way.

And number six, a person must overcome doing wrong and make doing right their fixed character.

So, those are the six elements or the aspects, the main aspects of what godly character is. Now, let's talk about, brethren, each one of those, because I think it really, this ties into the Passover season. It ties into our preparation for taking those Passover emblems that we're going to do at the end of this month or so, and we're just a few weeks away from it. Let's notice over here in 1 Corinthians 2, 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 11, you know, in a way what was talked about in getting leavening out of our houses relates to this because we have to get the biggest leavening that is in human beings, and that is the carnal nature out of us. And hopefully, you know, we're going to do that not just during the days of unleavened bread, but we're going to do that year-round. In 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 11, notice it says that we've got to be careful, lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we're not ignorant of his devices. And so, brethren, we have to be very careful about not letting Satan take advantage of us and keep on top of this way of life that God has called us to. I hadn't intended to turn to that, but it is certainly fitting, fits into what we're talking about here. But let's go over to 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 11. And I talked about this last week as well, but it still again applies to what we're talking about here today. In verse 11, it says, For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's house, that there are contentions among you. That's chapter 1. I'm sorry. I've got this Bible where everything's close together, so you look at the top of it and you think you're on one chapter and you end up being on another. But 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 11, it says, For what man knows the things of a man? This is where it's supposed to be. It says, Except the spirit of man which is in him.

So the spirit in man that God imparts to us causes us to know the things of man. And God gave that spirit of man to all human beings. But man needs another spirit. And it says, Even so, no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God. It's the same thing Paul was saying with Romans 8 verse 7. You know, you can't be subject to God if you've got the Carl human nature. And so, in order, brethren, to get rid of our Carl human nature, man has to have the ability to choose. And humans inherently have the ability to choose, and they inherently have the ability to think and reason.

That spirit in man imparts the ability to think and reason. And, you know, according to these scriptures, as we read on down here, only human beings can develop, by the way, godly character. Animals cannot, again, develop godly character because they cannot think and reason. They do things, you know, of course, because it's born in them. But God has given us the ability to think and reason. You know, it's like a cow. You know, the cows in California don't wonder what the cows in South Africa are doing, you know, or, you know, Alabama, for that matter. And the contrary to the California advertisements, you know, the Californians don't have, the California cows don't have California accents, and Alabama cows have an Alabama accent. You know, they don't know how, again, they don't have the ability to think and reason. And that ability to think and reason, brethren, gives a person a mind that can think and reason it wants to be free of falseness.

It wants to be free of lies. Then the next thing, the second thing, brethren, that we must have the freedom to choose, or we must have free moral agency. Let's go over to Deuteronomy chapter 30, and notice what it says over here. Deuteronomy 30 and verse 15. Here's what Moses said to the children of Israel. In Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 15, you know, through Moses, God says, See, I've set before you today life and good, death and evil. I've set it before you here. And so we have a choice. In fact, for Israel, they had a choice. And only the right choice will, by the way, lead to godly character and the blessings that come from that. And so we have set before us, again, the same thing, life or good. And again, we've got to think and reason, and we need to decide which way we want to go. Then verse 16. In that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply. In other words, choose the right way, He's saying, so that you can live and multiply.

And the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you shall go to possess. And so, if you choose the right way, God is saying, you're going to receive blessings if you go that right way. And let's notice down in verse 17. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish. You're going to die, He told them. So you see, God set before them good and evil, and He's saying to them, look, choose good so that you and your children can live.

But if you don't choose good, if you don't choose the right way, then you are going to perish.

And remember, Adam and Eve had that choice, and they chose wrongly. They chose the wrong way, and they ended up dying. And, you know, God has to know, brethren, whether we will do what He commands us to do or not. Will we obey, or will we disobey?

You know, is our character obedience, or is our character disobedience? You know, what is our character, brethren? You know, when Jesus Christ came, even He had to make the choice, by the way. And He set the example for us about making the choice. Remember, in Matthew 4, Jesus Christ was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, it says, and He was tested there by the devil. And the first thing that happened to Him, when Christ was at the point of starvation, and He was unhungered after 40 days and 40 nights of fasting, what did Satan say to Him? He said, if you are the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread. And remember what Jesus Christ said to Him. He used Scripture. He says, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And so Jesus Christ chose, and He chose right. And that's what we've got to do, brethren, in our lives. We need to choose rightly, because choosing rightly leads to life, and choosing the wrong way leads to death, just like God said to the children of Israel. You know, also, brethren, we have to have a knowledge of what is right. What is right? Let's go to John 8, John 8 and verse 31. John 8 and verse 31. Here in John 8 and verse 31, it says, then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him. So there are good many Jews who believed what Jesus Christ was saying. And He says, if you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And so that is what a disciple of Christ is, somebody who abides in His word. In verse 32, and you shall know the truth, He told them, and the truth shall make you free. So you have to have a mind to want to be free, then you have to choose. You have to choose to be free and make that right choice. But we have to have a knowledge of what is right. And, you know, so Christ says, you shall know the truth, and you are going to be free. You are going to be made free as a result of it. In John 1717, Jesus said the Word, His Word was the truth. So this book, brethren, that we have is truth that is here. But, you know, it is a big book. It is a big book, and a lot of people have come to believe things that are not true, that they think that they get out of the Bible.

And so the truth is in the Bible, brethren, and we are led to it by the Holy Spirit. Because in John 16 and verse 13, you know, we'll read this on the night of the Passover, as a matter of fact, how be it when it, or He is, it says here in the New King James, but it is, of course, the new to gender, when it, the Spirit of truth, has come, it will guide you into all truth.

So the Holy Spirit leads us, brethren, into all truth. And so, brethren, we have to, again, have that knowledge of what is right. And the truth, by the way, is simple, not hard to understand.

It's straightforward, and it does not require eloquence on the part of anyone to present that truth. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and we see this.

1 Corinthians chapter 2. This time, let's get the book right.

Notice here in chapter 2 and verse 1, here Paul says, And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech.

or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. The testimony of God has to do, again, with a gospel message. And so, here Paul is saying he didn't come with excellency of speech.

You know, he wasn't some eloquent man that was coming to sort of impress him, the people that were there, you know, with his intellectualism. Paul could have done that, because, remember, as I mentioned last week, he was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He had been, in fact, at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the top teachers in all of Israel. So, he's saying, look, I didn't come with, you know, intellectual vanity to somehow impress you, but I came to you with the simple and easy to understand truth and knowledge. You know, remember Mr. Armstrong used to say that, in fact, the plain truth was written in such a way that someone, you know, who was 7 to 97, I think he used to say, could understand it. It was so simple and so easy. By the way, Barnes' notes on the Bible says this about this particular verse. He said, I declared to you the testimony, the gospel of God, not with excellency of speech, not with arts of rhetoric used by your own philosophers, where the excellence of the speech recommends the matter and compensates for the want of solidity and truth. On the contrary, the testimony concerning Christ and His salvation is so supremely excellent as to dignify any kind of language by which it may be conveyed. In other words, the truth is good enough for us. When we read it, we see it, we understand it. Let's go on down here in verse 7. Verse 7. But it says, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. And so, this is what he was talking about, again, the simple truth of God, which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. And so, he's saying here that no one in this world understood this simple truth that he was giving to the Corinthians here. And on down here, let's notice this. So, the intelligentsia of this world, who often pride themselves in their great middle acumen, haven't found the truth, is what Paul is saying. And down in verse 9, but it is written, it says, eyes not seen or hear heard, neither is entered in the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. And it says, but God has revealed them to us through his Spirit. But for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. And so, we come to understand even the deep things of God. Now, what does the world think about? All this truth that we understand? What do the intellectuals think about it? Let's notice over here, you know, in verse 14. But the natural mind, that is the carnal mind, does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, but they are foolishness to him. Nor can he know, again, like Romans 8, 7, there, he can't know because they are spiritually discerned. And so, the simple truth of God is presented to us, brethren, by the Holy Spirit. You know, sometimes I think people learn about the truth. They think, well, I must be smart, you know, because I try to explain this to my relative, and they think I'm crazy. But it's easy for me. I get it. I understand it. Well, brethren, we are not given these things because we are so smart. It is by God's Holy Spirit. And it is only through God's Spirit that it's revealed to us. If you don't have God's Spirit working with you, if you do not have God's Spirit in you, you cannot understand it. It's impossible to understand it. And the reason is, you've got that big, bad Goliath right inside there that pushes you to the contrary if someone is not converted, if they don't have God's Spirit, or God is not working with them.

And, you know, Paul warned us about the truth, by the way, that we have received to not take it lightly. You know, he says what we should do with the Spirit of God and with the truth that God has given to us. Let's notice in chapter 3 what Paul says. Down in verse 10, he says, according to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation. He laid the foundation of Jesus Christ in the Corinthian church, and another build on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. And once you have the Spirit, once you have God's truth, be careful how you build, is what Paul is saying here to us today.

Going on down, let's notice in verse 13. Verse 13. Because he said, each one's work will become clear, for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire shall test each one's work of what sort it is. So be careful. You want to make sure that when building that holy righteous character, brethren, we don't lay a little carnality in there.

Also, and of course some do that, and they end up, can end up, outside the church and back in the world all over again. And in verse 18, let's notice, it says, let no man deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, he catches the wise in their own craftless. So again, be very careful about how, again, you build. And you know, God is going to test that character that you're building all along the way. And all of us are going to be tested to see this one thing, brethren, whether the character that is in us is real. Is it real? You know, many people came through trials back in 1995, and it determined that there were certain characteristics that were real in them. And that happened for all of us. God found out things about us and our character. But of course, God is not done yet. Let's go to Colossians chapter 1 in verse 1.

Colossians chapter 1.

In verse 1, notice what Paul says here in verse 1 of Colossians 1. It says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Brethren, have we figured out that we are members of God's church by the will of God? Have we really come to see that, as Paul says, that he was apostle by God's will? God had called him for that purpose. I mean, how else could Paul come to any other conclusion? On the road to Damascus, be struck down, the man who was killing Christians?

You know, obviously, Paul came to the realization it was God's will that he be an apostle.

And so, we see here, again, the will of God is very important. Let's notice down in verse 9.

Colossians 1 and verse 9. Here it says, For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you. And so, they were praying for the Colossian church.

And what were they praying about? What were they talking to God about concerning the brethren at the Colossae church? To ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. You be filled with what is God's will, is what he was praying to them about, for spiritual understanding, to have spiritual understanding. And so, brethren, we must be filled with the knowledge of the will of God. What is the will of God? Now, of course, we look in the first commandment. We see that God doesn't want us to worship other gods. That is his will. Look at the fourth commandment. He tells us that we should observe the Sabbath and to keep it holy. That is God's will. And it's a matter of us fulfilling God's will and being filled with that will of God that we might know the truth of God.

The next point along the way here about building godly character is we must decide to will and do right. We must decide to will and do right. Let's notice in Philippians chapter 2. These are the reasons, by the way, that Paul said some of the things he did to the Colossian church and what he says here to the brethren at Philippi. But here in chapter 2 and verse 13, here he was telling the brethren that were there at Philippi that they needed to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, sort of like what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 3 we just read, be careful how you build. In other words, he's saying there. But notice in verse 13, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.

So God allows us, brethren, to see what his will is. And then, you know, he also, brethren, gives us the strength to do his good pleasure. We don't do it on our own strength.

And we need to be careful about that. Mankind out there in this world, by the way, has willed to do wrong. They set their mind to do wrong. But we must do the opposite, brethren. We must will to do right. We don't do this by human power. We have to have God's Spirit to see it, God's Spirit to have the strength to do it, and we cannot do it again by our own physical strength.

Character development, brethren, relies on the Holy Spirit and our closeness to God, how close we are to God. It's so important. We have sometimes sermons about prayer to remind us of that fact. We can't do it on our own. We have, of course, Christ's sacrifice. We have the Holy Spirit that does strengthen us. Let's go to the perfect example to show us, again, that we cannot do it of our own power. And that example, by the way, is one that you would think could have done it on his own steam, his own power, and that is Jesus Christ.

Let's notice over here in Hebrews 5 and verse 7.

You know, Jesus Christ, remember, said even during his ministry, he said, without the Father, I can do nothing. I can do nothing. And, brethren, the same we could say about ourselves. Without God, we can't do anything. Without the Holy Spirit, we can't do anything. Christ relied on God and on God's Spirit. In Hebrews chapter 5 and down in verse 7 here, it says, who, speaking of Jesus Christ, by the way, in the days of his flesh, in other words, the whole time of his flesh, up until the time he ascended to his Father, it says, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to him, speaking of, again, the Father, who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear. So here, talk about how Christ prayed. He besought God with crying and tears.

This, by the way, was the source of the strength. This is why he was so strong. He was close to God.

In verse 8, though he was a son, in other words, it didn't make any difference that he was the son of God, though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. And so Christ suffered, brethren, in his life. And he had to face trials. He had to go through many of the same things that we go through in our lives, but he chose rightly. He chose rightly.

In verse 9, it says, "...and having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obeyed him." With God's Spirit, in other words, brethren, Christ prayed to the Father, and he was obedient to God, even during the times of suffering. So that, brethren, he, in that way, is like us. We've got to do the same things. And he chose right every time. Imagine this. I said one time to you, and I really do believe it, that Jesus Christ, in his life, chose rightly. He was perfect without sin. He chose rightly every time. And he had grown so much in the flesh with God's Spirit, and the help that was given there, he could not remain in the flesh. And the time came, of course, he was crucified. He could not remain in the flesh and continue to grow.

He had to go to the right hand of his Father as a spirit being, and he's an example, brethren, to every one of us. When we talk about Christ living his life over in us, brethren, that's what we're talking about. Living the way Christ did. And we look at, again, the success that Jesus Christ had in his life as a result of it. He did not perish, we know, but he yet lives and operates in heaven as our high priest. And, you know, so it's very important for us to get this, brethren, to understand this. And we need to examine it in our lives that we get on this track if we are not there as we prepare for the Passover. You know, the reason, again, Christ was doing always right is because he was praying to God, he was close to God, and he was always obedient to God in the face of trials and difficulties through the little ones and through the big ones, even the time where he was nailed to a stake and we know he gave his life for all of mankind. Paul says this to us, by the way, and you don't need to turn to it, but in Ephesians 6 and verse 10, it says finally. He says, my brethren, be strong. It says, in the Lord. No, he doesn't say, you know, somehow, you know, be strong in yourself. Be saying, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might, not your own strength, not your own strength. And then, you know, Paul gives the information about how we need to have on the whole armor of God, to put on the whole armor of God and rely upon God. You know, we don't rely upon our own ability. We don't rely upon our own power. You know, we need to understand, brethren, that our strength is on our knees before God and talking to God. That's where we become stronger. And, of course, learning the other things that we've talked about here. Brethren, stop trying to fight your battles by yourself.

It's like you get in the mud, you know, if you've ever been in a car and gotten in the mud and your wheels just keep turning around. You don't go anywhere. You don't do anything. All of us need to stop trying to fight our battles by ourselves. We need to tap in, as I've mentioned, you know, a while back here into the Holy Spirit, the power of God, and develop that closeness to God so that we can choose right. You know, if you fall down, if you make a mistake in your life, do you go to God and say, God, give me the strength the next time this comes around? That I don't make this mistake.

If you do that, brethren, eventually you're going to conquer that problem, whatever it is.

And maybe, you know, sometimes longer than you would like it to be, but you will conquer it. You will overcome it. You know, and what we should be doing, brethren, is God's people, through the years that we're in the church, is we need to have a chisel, one of those spiritual chisels, and be chiseling that old man down. Get rid of that carnal nature. Chip it out. Put in God's nature, which is holy righteous character. That's what we need as God's people. Let's go to Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3, in verse 16.

You know, here Paul, and we'll break into the thought here, but Ephesians 3, down in verse 16, that he, that God, in other words, would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man. You know, the idea, again, is this holy righteous character that we're talking about here. That the inner man, which is the new man, by the way, that it be strengthened. And, you know, in the riches of God's glory, how powerful God is, we should be tapping into that, Paul is referring to here. In verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and you being rooted and grounded in love. This is one of the fruits of God's spirit. In verse 18, again, that love that we should have most is the love of God, and the love of our fellow man. And it says, and may be able to comprehend with all the saints, in other words, with everybody who is a part of the church, what is the width and length and depth and height. In other words, so that there can be a fullness of understanding in us. And it says, now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Again, talking about God here. According to the power that works in us. In other words, through the power of the Holy Spirit. To him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. In other words, just as God was working in Paul's day, he's working in our time right now today. In the same way, in the same manner. I don't think people have fully understood this through all generations in general, but I think there's always been someone who has understood and has grasped the depths of what God is talking about here. So God will lead us, brethren, to character, his character. And he's done that through the generations of the church.

You know, even when the church became very small, God was doing that. And he's doing it, brethren, in our day. You know, Paul in another place says that if God is for us, brethren, who can be against us? If we have God on our side, who can battle against God if they're trying to do evil to us?

And so God is, brethren, on our side. He's there to help us to try to overcome and change.

The next point about, again, this godly character that we need to build and get rid of the carnal nature is godly character development is opposite to going the wrong way. It's, you know, repentance means turning around and going the exact opposite of the way that one is going before.

But let's go to Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. You know, this battle that is in us, again, is like David battling against Goliath. It really is. And when I look through my own personal life, and I know many of you would say that about your own life, is I've been my greatest enemy.

And, of course, we always want to blame the devil. It would be nice if the devil did everything, and we had no responsibility or whatever, but it's just simply not true. You know, many of you remember it used to be that, you know, people used to say the devil made me do it. I guess Flip Wilson was that way, wasn't he? They always said the devil made him do it. I think people, again, would like to blame the devil, but, brethren, again, we are our own greatest enemy. But notice here in Romans 7, verse 15, here Paul talks about, you know, this war that's going on inside of us as we try to, again, build this character. But it says, for what I am doing, I do not understand. He talked about how he was living, the things he was doing. He says, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. You know, that's what happens after that when you do something wrong. That's when you go before God and you say, God, I am sorry for this, and please give me the strength to not do this again. And you may battle against that for a while. It's not going to be overcome. So Paul is talking about this battle that is going on in us. And when we want to do right, by the way, we end up doing wrong.

And there are two opposite things that are going on inside of us, brethren.

You know, if we do right, brethren, in other words, if we have that desire to do right, that is God's spirit working in us. If we do wrong, it's our carnal human nature that's causing us to do wrong. Now, how are we to deal with this kind of paradox that is in us, brethren? Well, let's go on down here to verse 24. You know, sometimes you can battle against problems, you know, so long, you know, you have your reaction, I imagine, as we would have, as Paul had here. In verse 24, oh wretched man that I am! He said, who is going to deliver me from this body of death? And I've said this before, that Paul is talking like here, that this body of death is strapped to his back. And, you know, it is pulling him down, it's bringing him down. Who's going to somehow deal with this body of death that is, you know, attached to me, that is bringing me down, that's causing me to commit sin? You know, as he says to us here. And notice going on in verse 25, he says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. I thank God. So then with the mind, in other words, with that old man, I myself serve the law of God. The mind, he says he serves the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. So this battle again is going on. And hopefully, the old man is getting lighter. You know, in other words, you're chipping away at him, he's becoming weaker. You're trying to starve in the death and destroy him. And, you know, I remember Mr. Armstrong saying quite a number of times that he says, you know, no man has committed himself to God and submitted himself enough to see what God can do. Of course, Jesus Christ is the only one that has ever done it. And so, brethren, we need to be committed to do right. And if we can't do right, if we do wrong, brethren, we fall down, we have Christ to turn to. But don't turn it into license.

Don't turn it into a license. In other words, I'll do wrong and God will forgive me. You know, God will forgive us, brethren, if we have sincere hearts, but will he forgive us if we sort of are going through, you might say, the ritual of saying, oh God, I'm sorry.

You know, in other words, you mean what you're calling upon God to do. So, brethren, we need to call on God and get close to God as God's people. You know, I'm not going to have you turn to it, but in Galatians 5, verse 16 through 17, here Paul says, this I say then, walk in the spirit.

There's not always easy to do, but walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The carnal mind will not direct your life, in other words, to do wrong in this case.

Now, walk in the spirit. Live in God's Holy Spirit. And it says, for the lust, the flesh, lusts after the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. There's this conflict that's inside of us.

And these are contrary to one another. In other words, right is opposite of wrong. So that you cannot do the things that you would. So, again, the closer we get to God, and we call upon Him for His Holy Spirit to help us and to shrink us, and the more we do that, quite frankly, the easier it will be for us battling against this carnality and choosing what is right. You know, godly character, brethren, is being developed because of this almost daily fight that is going on within us in our lives. And brethren, if we do right, then something marvelous happens. The character that's in us begins to grow, begins to develop.

And, you know, I don't know how many tons of rock, by the way, have to be mined in order to produce an ounce of gold, but I know it takes a lot. You know, somebody that might have a gold mine, a very nice gold mine, it's good to find veins where there is gold, but a lot of the gold companies today, you know, they have to mine the gold, and sometimes they have to tear out of mountains, you know, tons and tons of rock to get, you know, an ounce of gold. Let's go to 1 Peter, chapter 1. 1 Peter, chapter 1. And it's like in our lives, brethren, we may very well have to go through trials a long time. Sort of like digging that tons of rock out, in other words. And finally, you know, after you've gone through fiery trials enough, there's a little trickle of gold that comes out of it. And it's precious. It's wonderful. 1 Peter, chapter 1, and verse 5. Let's notice this.

Talk about how that we are kept by the power of God, of course, by the Spirit of God, through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In other words, we're going to be there in the time of the resurrection when Jesus Christ returns.

In this, you greatly rejoice. We rejoice about, in other words, the coming of Jesus Christ. We rejoice about the resurrection that's going to occur. Then Peter says here, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.

Go through these trials. And verse 7, that the genuineness of your faith, because that's being tested, as I said earlier, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation or revealing of Jesus Christ. See, this gold that comes out of the testing and the trials and the difficulties, brethren, of our life, which is godly character, that little trickle of gold that comes out that fills us as much more that character that is building us as much more precious, brethren, than fine gold. And he says that perishes. Think about that. That's what we're doing, brethren, producing that gold character. And we must, of course, as God's people, have a desire to actually produce that gold out of us, that character that needs to be there.

Remember, Jesus Christ said that the world is going the broad way. What did He say about those going the broad way? Now, they don't get to go to stage play, but they get to go to death, right?

That's what Jesus Christ said. And then He said to us, He said that, you know, we have to take the narrow way, the difficult way, the hard way. You know, you've got to go through the trials and the difficulties, but, you know, the produce of it is, you know, character, the character that is very necessary and very good for us. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 2. The next thing, brethren, or chapter 4, the next thing we need is character development is to practice what is right until it is a fixed habit. It's a habit. You know, probably the first habit we develop, one of the first is keeping the Sabbath, isn't it? That's ingrained in us. You know, I imagine if I came into your home and saw you on Friday and Sabbath afternoon, that you probably do basically the same things that you do each Sabbath. You know, I'm not going to show up at your house and find out that you're out golfing, in other words. I'm not going to come to your house and find out that you're doing something obviously you shouldn't do. You've got it ingrained as to how to keep the Sabbath. And what brethren I'm saying is we have need to have everything else ingrained in us, fixed in us.

And we're working toward that. Ephesians chapter 4, in verse 22 through 24. But here, notice, it says in Ephesians 4 and verse 22, it says that you put off concerning your former conduct. Get rid of again that carnal human nature. That the old man which grows corrupt according to the Deceitful lust. You know, we let our lusts direct us in our lives. In other words, what do we want? What do we desire? You know, of course, apart from God. And it says, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Get this new mind that is different, that is opposite of that. And that you put on the new man which was created according to God. In other words, this one was fashioned after God.

And remember, Christ said, become you perfect even as your Father, which is in heaven is perfect.

It says, in true righteousness and holiness. So we have to put off that old fleshly man and put on the new spiritual man. You know, you've heard this saying, Rome wasn't built in a day. Well, godly character wasn't built in a day either. You know, it takes time. It takes the overcoming process in our life. And you know, frankly, until we have God's spirit, the process doesn't even begin. Everything else is leading up to receiving God's spirit. And then from that time on, we battle again against our nature. So we have to put off the old man and put on the new. And also, brethren, don't become discouraged. Don't become discouraged. You're going to find again, you're going to fall down. Everybody does. You get up and you keep going. You know, no matter how many times you keep going. Paul said he prayed for the brethren that were at Colossae. Let's go back to Colossians chapter 1 again. Colossians chapter 1. And down in verse 10, here he says to the brethren at Colossae, he says that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. And so, the reason that they were praying for them night and day, as he talks about here, where he didn't cease in praying for them, is so that they would have a knowledge of God's will and spiritual understanding, so that they would walk worthy of the Lord and please God. That they would be doing that was pleasing to God. And it's strengthened with all might according to His glorious power. In other words, God's Spirit would work in them. And it says, for all patience and long suffering with joy. That in other words, that with the Spirit, we would have patience. Don't get discouraged. That we would have long suffering. That we don't throw in the towel if we make a mistake, but we keep going, as God wants us to do.

You know, remember it says, being confident of this very thing. In Philippians 1.6, it says this, He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. God will not stop working with you, brethren. And each of us needs that work. And remember, Jesus Christ also said, and Christ was the author and finisher of our faith, that He would never leave us or forsake us. He would always be with us, brethren. But remember also, brethren, that Jesus said, He that shall endure to the end, this process that we're going through, endure to the end. He said the same would be saved.

You know, there was an old Comet Strict by the name of Pogo. I don't know if any of you remember the old Pogo Comet Strict. But there was a quote that actually came from that Comet Strict. And it goes like this. It's quoted differently in different places.

We have met the enemy, and He is us. And so, brethren, we have met the enemy.

And the Goliath is us that we have to overcome, that we have to bring Him down.

And we need to raise up the character of God in our... with God's help, we will be able to do that, brethren. With God's help through His Spirit, we'll be able to kill off the old man. And, you know, we can eventually, hopefully, have that character of God that is so strong and in us that, eventually, you know, I don't think we're going to come close to what Christ was, but we know the apostles grew in that way that God could do many things to the apostles. That perhaps, by doing that, brethren, each of us, God can do many things to us because of our faith and our willingness to work on ourselves in that way. Remember, it will not happen by your physical might or my physical might. It will happen by God's Spirit and God's strength that the new man will become stronger and stronger as we move toward perfection, brethren. So, brethren, you have a job. I have a job to do. We've got to slay that Goliath that is inside of us, and we've got to raise up the new man which has godly character. So, let's be about that as we approach the Passover that is just ahead of us.