Godly Living Versus Worldly Living
An all-creatures Bible Message

Godly Living Versus Worldly Living
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
21 September 2014
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Genesis 6:13-22
Genesis 8:20-21
Exodus 16:1–21

Godly living versus worldly living is one of the major themes in the Bible; a tug of war, so to speak, between the heavenly will of God, and the corrupted and evil ways of this world.
 
Jesus even commands us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48), and to pray for His heavenly will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10), but unfortunately only a relatively small percentage of the people follow His teachings.
 
This divergence from God began when people rebelled against His creation intent and began to kill and eat animals, which we believe is the major reason for bringing the Flood upon the earth.
 
In Genesis 6:13-22, we are told about how God tried to bring this world back to eating only the plant foods He originally created for us to eat, without taking away our free will.

13. Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.
 
14. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.

The ark is a symbolic way of separating ourselves from the violent and evil ways of the world.

15. And this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
 
16. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
 
17. And behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

God has come to the end of His patience, and if the people will not repent and truly change their ways before the time the ark is built, all will perish in the Flood.

18. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark —  you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.
 
19. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

This is further proof that God intends all humans and animals to return to eating only plant foods, for He specifically tells Noah that he is to keep the animals alive.

20. Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind shall come to you to keep them alive.
 
21. And as for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them."

Since Noah is to keep the animals alive, the food that he is to bring into the ark must be only plant foods.
 
The time (300 days) aboard the ark will be a vegan journey.

22. Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.
NASB

Noah was being obedient to God, unlike the other people in the world; but alas, at the end of the flood even righteous Noah fell away.
 
Note what we are told in Genesis 8:20-21, as we continue our discussion on Godly living versus worldly living…

20. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Noah killed some of the animals against God’s instructions and His heavenly will to keep them alive.

21. And the LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
NASB

Verse 21 may be a little confusing, in that He accepted Noah’s repentance and perhaps the repentance of other members of his family, but He was not pleased; He was angry.
 
The key to this understanding is in the end of the verse, “the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth.”
 
Killing and eating flesh is evil!
 
The Flood did not accomplish what God intended; evil was not left behind, but came along with Noah on the ark.
 
And evil once again prevailed upon the earth.
 
Let’s keep this discussion on Godly living versus worldly living in mind as we look at Exodus 16:1-21…

1. Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt.
 
2. And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
 
3. And the sons of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

This is the hardness of heart and indifference to the suffering of animals that God was trying to lead the people away from, but they didn’t want the Godly living that the Lord was offering them; they wanted to continue in their worldly living.

4. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.

This bread from heaven was vegan in keeping with the Godly living that the Lord wanted for his chosen people.

5. And it will come about on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily."
 
6. So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, "At evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt;
 
7. and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, for He hears your grumblings against the LORD; and what are we, that you grumble against us? " 
 
8. And Moses said, "This will happen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the LORD hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD."

God appears to be reluctantly giving these rebellious people the meat they are grumbling about this one time, for it is not mentioned again in this passage, and from the description, it also appears that the quail were already dead.

9. Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, 'Come near before the LORD, for He has heard your grumblings.' "
 
10. And it came about as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
 
11. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
 
12. "I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God.' "

God wants all the people to know that He is in charge.

13. So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

Remember that the quail seem to be a onetime event, and the fact that they covered the camp is further indication that they are already dead.

14. When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground.
 
15. When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" [manna] For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.

And because this bread is from the Lord, we know that it is also vegan, which is all part of the Lord’s leading people back to Godly living versus worldly living.
 
Then Moses tells about what happened with God’s gift of manna.

16. This is what the LORD has commanded, 'Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.' "
 
17. And the sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little.
 
18. When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat.

This is another way that God uses to show the people that He is in control, and wants them to return to Godly living.

19. And Moses said to them, "Let no man leave any of it until morning."
 
20. But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them.
 
21. And they gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.
NASB

Over and over again God has shown us that He wants us to live according to His heavenly will, and no longer live in the worldly ways of this corrupted world.
 
We are to separate ourselves from death and destruction, and see the Godly living of peace and justice for the whole of creation.
 
Amen.

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