A Godly Principled People

Children are a wonderful blessing from God. Beginning with the expectation of having a child, comes the anticipation of someone that will be like you. Someone that will start out a little different than you are and then you look. But over time will be molded and shaped, will take on your attributes that perhaps you will be able to see in their very characteristics physically, but also to take on a likeness and a personality that you have. That expectation, when realized, is a wonderful blessing and a gift from God. It's something that is actually a type of what God is doing with you, you and I. We are those things that are starting to look more and more like our father, more and more like our elder brother, taking on the attributes. And God is very excited about an event that He's been waiting for for years. I don't know how many, but it's been a lot. He's been waiting for a harvest that was planned from before the foundation of the world.

It's been a plan that He's been involved in personally with His Son, including life and death and sacrifice and all the principles that the God family uses are poured in to this plan. And we have been called to join in that plan and be part of a first resurrection, a first fruits into the family of God. The festival that we will observe soon, Pentecost, has several names, and they refer to a harvest. They refer to a small first fruits harvest that is very similar to that which was waved 50 days before Jesus Christ Himself being the first of the first fruits. It says in Romans 8.23 that we who have the first fruits of the Spirit and in Revelation 14.4, redeemed from among men being first fruits to God and the Lamb. And in James 1.18, of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of the Logos that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. Yes, children are not only a blessing of God, but they're a blessing to God that He is creating for His family. I cannot imagine the excitement that exists on the throne of God as the clock ticks towards the first resurrection. It's getting close. It's getting exciting. Jesus Christ said, the kingdom of God is at hand. In His time frame, there's not much left, and that was 2,000 years ago, approximately.

The first fruits will have a very exciting future. It says in Revelation 20 and verse 6, Oh blessed are those who have a part in the first resurrection.

They will be also brought into a bride relationship with the Son. They will be brought into a leadership position to help bring in more children in a greater harvest, a much greater harvest later on. One question that is important for each one of us is, will I be in that resurrection?

And that's a question that maybe stops us at times and says, oh, I don't know. I can't tell you how many people have come to me and said, I don't think I'm going to be there. Or people will say, I wonder if I'm going to be there. Or someone like the Apostle Paul says, I'm going to be there. How are we assured that each of us is going to be part of those who are loving and helping and growing and are going to be part of that first resurrection?

We're going to put smiles on the faces of our God. We're going to be the delight of a bridegroom. Well, today, so that we can be rejoicing with an assured hope, full of assurance is what God wants. Not doubt, not wavering, not wondering, but with boldness and assurance. Let's take a look at who Scripture says will be a participant in that.

The title of the sermon today is a Godly-principled people. We talk about preaching the gospel and preparing a people. What are those people? They are children who have the same values, live by the same principles, have internalized and have become the same mindset, in a sense, growing to that, that their parents have. And that's what makes a child a blessing when they are in harmony with and they are loving, they're supporting, they match, they meet the expectations of the parents.

A Godly-principled person, by my definition, is a Godly-principled person. I know it's a simple definition, but that's what it is. It's not a principled person. Everyone has certain principles, but it's a Godly-principled person. I think every child that's out there has certain principles they may wish to develop on their own. And they can cause maybe a certain distance between parents if principles don't match. And so a Godly-principled person will be a Godly-principled person at all times.

It's part of a character that Godly-principled person at all times. It's part of a character that God is growing in us. We can refer to that and often have in the church as holy, righteous character. You see, it's holy because it's God, it's of God. It's righteous because it is right according to God's Word, according to His mindset that He has defined in a certain way for us as humans to understand and live by. But the point is that this isn't just something that we like and we hang on our wall or we keep in our pocket or we paste on the mirror.

It is as God said, He will put His Spirit in us and write His laws, write His values, write His principles on our hearts. It'll be, in a sense, what's pumping the life in us. It's so much a part of us. You can't say, well, I will take the emotional and conviction center out of my head, this thing called the heart, and I'll have it over here and I'll be something else. No, it's inseparable. It's inseparable is what we're going to see.

Jesus said in Luke 6 and verse 40, a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. Jesus Christ is the one who came and modeled what we as children need to be living by, incorporating, as the mindset of the family. He was God-directed. He had all the attributes, and when we talk about a godly, principled person, well, we find it's sort of all this. It starts with faith. It goes through humility, repentance, God's inspiration, forgiveness, all kinds of graciousness, taking on the attributes of the agape love mindset, and then with all of the many facets, it becomes who we are, not what we do, or not just what we do.

It becomes who we are, and you can't take the agape out of the children of God, because that's what they've become. Jesus Christ lived the principles. They were his principles. He said, I and the Father are one, and he wants us to also be one, one of that same mindset. He lived it no matter the cost. Now, in contrast, there was another individual. We might call him church member. Church member I. You can say this. Peter is like me. We all begin at some place, and we transition along the way. After three and a half years, Peter had transitioned to where he knew, and he approved, and he loved, but when it came time to live at all costs, he lied and ran away.

It wasn't something yet that was him, as it were. But through the miracle of God, making us his divine children, through the Holy Spirit, which came on the Feast of Pentecost in a big way, Peter was transformed into a godly, principled person who didn't lie and run away from little girls and danger to save his own skin. He actually stood up to the people who had killed Christ and said, you killed Jesus Christ. Those were his words. You killed Jesus Christ. You were the ones cheering and chanting and saying, no, release Barabbas. Kill the Messiah. They didn't call him the Messiah. And Peter, who before was afraid to be associated, now is convicting them. And they, in a sense, caved because God gave them repentance. And on the same day, he gave them faith, and he gave them forgiveness, and he gave them the Holy Spirit, and he gave them a mind of oneness where they began to come together. That is the power that God can do in our life as we want to be principled and live the life of God. Like we do. Legendary people in the Bible. If you think of the legends in the Bible, they seem to have one thing in common, and that is they stood firmly on the principle of what they lived, what they had become. That was lived above circumstance. It was lived by Abraham. He obeyed God no matter what. He was lived by Moses. He knew that territory. He once was probably the military director of Egypt, and God told him to do something that didn't make sense, and he did it. And that resulted in the seventh day of Feast of Unleavened Bread, the opening of the Red Sea. There was Joshua. There were people like Esther who knew what was right, knew what needed to be done, knew she was toast, and did it anyway. And we look to those individuals. One, let's look in 1 Samuel chapter 17 in verse 4, was named David. 1 Samuel 17 in 4. And let's notice how this legend stood firmly on principle above situational ethics, circumstance, or that which is staring you in the face. Adam Clark refers to this event as an incident where ancient nations used champions to settle disputes through what was termed a camp fight. Rather than the armies fighting it out, you just made camp and you sent your champions out, and whatever happened there dictated the result. My words. And so we see in 1 Samuel 17, 4, and a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, whose height was six cubits and a span. Now, according to the commentary, there are three different measurements for a cubit. No one knows exactly which one this referred to, but if we look at that, the shortest length of a cubit would make him nine feet nine inches tall. The longest length of a cubit would make him 11 feet three inches tall. This is one big guy. In verse 5, he had a bronze helmet on his head.

Bronze.

He was armed with a coat of mail. A coat of mail were brass plates that overlap like fish scales.

And that coat of mail weighed 5,000 shekels of bronze, or 156 pounds, four ounces.

This is one big dude. Strong. He had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam. You know, big. And its iron spearhead weighed about 19 pounds, just the spearhead on the end, the point that's coming after you. And a shield bearer went before him. So not only is he daunting enough, but you have a big shield, but you have a big shield, sort of like the nose of an engine protecting, you know, from cattle or something. This guy's out in front with a shield.

The point is here, if you're considering your options, you don't have any. None.

And the Philistine said in verse 10, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. And in verse 11, we find that Israel was dismayed and greatly afraid. See, using the five senses and dismissing principle, you're left with nothing. Verse 32, then David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail. Five senses and logic are irrelevant to principle here. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. Verse 33, Saul said to David, now, yeah, David, son, you're not able to go against the Philistine to fight with him, for you are a youth. What was Paul standing on? He was standing on logic. He was standing on the fact that if they lost, they would be subject to the Philistines.

And going on, David said, sorry, Saul said, he is a man of war from his youth. So you add it all up, and then the result is, you cave in. You cave in. But David was motivated on this principle. Verse 36, he has defied the armies of the living God.

Another powerful example of godly principle comes in Daniel, Daniel chapter 3. Daniel 3 verses 1 and 2. I'm just amazed by the entire book of Daniel and the powerful lessons of people who, it's not just, oh, I will do this. No, this is who I am. I have come to live. I have come to become, I'm a child here of a certain mindset. In Daniel chapter 3 and verse 1, Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits. And he set it up, and he called all these individuals to come to the dedication, and they came, etc., etc. But the important, you see, preferred chosen people, the leaders of Babylon were there. From the human perspective, this is what's important. In verse 6 of Daniel chapter 3, whoever does not fall down in worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a blazing fiery furnace. So you look at this, and you look at that, and you say, hmm. You start to look at, well, what's ethical in this situation? What should I do here? You see fire, you tend to run. That's what we as humans do. In verse 12, there are certain Jews whom you have set, O king, you have set them over the affairs of the province, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men have not paid due, etc., etc. These individuals had a strong relationship with the king. They had the favor of the king. The king cared about them. He gave them three chances, as the story goes. Please, guys, come on. I want the best for you here. He's trying to help them out. He's probably trying to convince them. He taught them how to bow to avoid the fire. In verse 15, now if you're ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn and the flute, etc., etc., then you fall down and you worship the image and you don't burn. It's a nice guy.

Verse 16, we see a godly principled response embedded in their core. And they answered to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. Verse 18, let it be known to you, king, that we do not serve your gods. We won't worship the golden image you've set up.

They didn't look to their five senses. They didn't do human loyalties to their favored king. Those things were non-applicable when it came to godly principle. And the result was, Nebuchadnezzar said, what? You defy me? Verse 19, he was full of fury and the expression on his face changed toward them. And he spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. Now, these were godly principled people who were assuming that they might fry. We see in Hebrews chapter 11 a few verses there in what we refer to as the faith chapter of people who went through many different things. Some were miraculously saved out of them. Some were not. But all were fixed on principle and all looked to that heavenly country. That we're of a different country. We're of the family of God here. And we go with that. We have become something. We are fixed and live by the principles, the holy righteous character that is formed by living on the principles of our holy God. We have to study God's Word in order for that to happen. The topic of the recent general conference of elders was labor in the Word to the ministry. And how important and how absolutely fundamental to our spiritual life God's Word is. Both the living logos, Jesus the Christ, and the written logos, the Word of God.

But we need to also not just study it but internalize it. And through God's Spirit it becomes part of our character all the way down to the heart. And therefore, when the time comes to rationalize that sin is my best option, that doesn't even really come to mind. This sometimes can make us be fearful and say, oh, well, wow, I don't want to be fearful. But we have to realize God knows. God cares. I mean, there are instances of, I remember an individual saying that one night they woke up, looked up in bed, and there was someone standing at the foot of their bed in the house with a gun aimed at them. And they had surprised this individual. The person simply prayed, and the person with the gun was thrown against the wall and fell to the floor. Talk to two other individuals, one in Pasadena and one in Oklahoma through the years. In each case, a person came to them with a gun, and the gun wouldn't fire.

And so the gun was turned around, the pistol, you know, metal pistols. Those are tough things. And the person was hit over the head with the pistol, and the pistol broke in half. And the person was not harmed. One of them showed me the pistol. He's been in the faith, died almost a hundred years just in the last few months. You know, God loves, He cares for us. He often provides solid solutions. He supports us as we, His precious children, go forward. And He wants us to miss catastrophe. He's pulling for each of us. Jesus coaches us, for instance, in Luke 21 in verse 36, where He said, watch. Keep high alert. Be on alert. Examine yourself. Be, you know, focused here. Be alert. And pray always. Show a God-centeredness in your life. Ask God to be creating you in His image and likeness, and forming you into a son and daughter of His family, so that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and stand before the Son of Man. God wants us to escape the tragedies of the end time. This is in Revelation 3 verse 10, because you have kept my command to persevere. I will keep you from the hour of trial, which will come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. We should be growing now and being tested now. We need to pass those tests. I love Isaiah 26 and verse 20. It's one of the most, I think, encouraging scriptures from a God who loves and knows us and our simplicity and the age in which we live and the God of this age and what He would like to do. Isaiah 26, 20 says, Come, my people. I know you. You're my kids. Enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment until the indignation is passed.

For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. God is pulling for us. He wants us now to really become those precious children who are principled according to Him and living it in a form of a character that has been formed, that is used at all times, in all situations, in every circumstance, so we can eventually become like His Son. That even when He is hanging and in death and in pain and being spat upon, He says, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. He didn't revile in return.

So in conclusion, the stakes are high. The road is challenging. Jesus tells us those things.

There are temptations and tricks that Satan will try to use to get us to deviate from being children of our Father, brothers and sisters of our Lord and Savior, members of that family who have a character that is holy, that it is right. The path, they light very well, and we need to follow that path, even though it's challenging. I'd like to conclude with Psalm chapter 15. It's a very short psalm, but David, who has spoken of highly as God, an individual like you and me, who was human, he went through a lifetime of transitioning, of converting into a more godly child at all phases. He says in Psalm chapter 15 and verse 1, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle, in your home, in your dwelling place?

Who may dwell in your holy hill? That's what we want to know, and we want to ask ourselves, will I be one of them? We should hopefully take courage and encouragement from the following scriptures. He who walks uprightly, that is, the right ways of God, and works righteousness, those are the principles of God's agape mindset, and speaks the truth in his heart, he is always of that mindset. He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend, in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord, who swears to his own hurt, but he doesn't change, even if it doesn't work out for that individual. He who does not put out his money at usury, according to the biblical command, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent, he who does these things shall never be moved. It's part of a package that God lays out in his word, that is part of a mindset that is agape, as we call it, that is love, embracing oneness, always promoting others as much as the things that one wants for himself.

Each one of those things that we just read has absolute resoluteness. There's no wavering. There's no wiggle room. They're absolutely resolute. These individuals who will be in the first resurrection lived God's principles. We see it throughout Scripture. They lived them. It became who they were. You and I are now having the opportunity to grow in the holy righteous character of God, to begin to have these principles and this character that is holy and of God become our character more and more. Every day of our life, we need to be growing to the point when that becomes who we are.

We will become children of our Father in heaven.