Living Truly Godly Lives
An all-creatures Bible Message

Living Truly Godly Lives
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
23 September 2018
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Psalm 1:1-6
Proverbs 29:11-27
Mark 9:30-37

Living truly Godly lives means that we are living in the heavenly will of God here on earth as it is in heaven, which has no room for compromising with any of the corrupt ways of this world with all its violence, pain, suffering, bloodshed, and death that kills millions of human beings and billions of animals every year.
 
This also means that we are following the teaching of Jesus, which was filled with love, compassion, empathy, and peace, and in order to fulfill the name “Christian” we need to have these same qualities.
 
This is what it means to be living truly Godly lives.
 
Last week we talked about how Godly living produces wisdom, and here in
Psalm 1:1-6 we can see the results…

1. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

By living in the heavenly will of God, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we avoid the ungodly people in this world and their ways of life.

2. But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

It’s not so much that we have to do something or read something special to meditate upon; it becomes a part of our nature when we are truly born again, and we just naturally live in the heavenly will of God here on earth as it is in heaven, and by so doing we help free creation from its present corruption, and end the violence and bloodshed that plagues the earth and causes millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year.
 
This is what it means to be living truly Godly lives.

3. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season,
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

In other words, these children of God are examples of God’s heavenly will and witnesses against those who insist on living in the corrupt and evil ways of this world.

4. The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
 
5. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

The people who live in the corrupt and ungodly ways of this world will end up going the way of the devil and his minion, and will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
 
These are the people who enjoy the fruits of the pain, suffering and death that put animal flesh and by-products on their plates.

6. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
NASB

Unfortunately, when we look around the world today, it appears that most of the people will perish, unless they truly repent and change their lives.
 
As we continue with our study of living truly Godly lives, let’s take a look at Proverbs 29:11-27…

11. A fool always loses his temper,
But a wise man holds it back.

This kind of wise man or people are the ones who are living truly Godly lives.

12. If a ruler pays attention to falsehood,
All his ministers become wicked.

We have seen this happen in our own government, and even if such a person or people do some good things, God sees the evil intent of their heart and soul, and will bring their evil back upon their own heads either in this lifetime or later, but they shall not enter the kingdom of heaven unless they truly repent in this lifetime.

13. The poor man and the oppressor have this in common:
The LORD gives light to the eyes of both.

In other words, God has given both the ability to know the truth, and because of this the oppressor really knows what he or she is doing and knows that any oppressive act is against the heavenly will of God.

14. If a king judges the poor with truth,
His throne will be established forever.

This only happens when people in power retain their empathy and feel the needs of all who are under their control, whether they are rich or poor, or even human or other animals for all were created by God, to enjoy the freedom and life that He gave them.

15. The rod and reproof give wisdom,
But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.

All people need direction in their life and a sense of responsibility to live in the heavenly will of God and to cause no harm to any other living being or to the environment in which we all live.

16. When the wicked increase, transgression increases;
But the righteous will see their fall.

People who live in the corrupt and evil ways of this world encourage more and more corrupt ways of living, but Godly people also set the example of Godly living, and one day they will see the fall of the wicked

17. Correct your son, and he will give you comfort;
He will also delight your soul.
 
18. Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained,
But happy is he who keeps the law.

Unfortunately most of the people in this world are living these unrestrained and ungodly ways, and bringing even more corruption upon the earth.
 
We need to reverse the evil trend and begin living truly Godly lives.

19. A slave will not be instructed by words alone;
For though he understands, there will be no response.

First of all no one should ever be another person’s slave, so let’s refer to them as hired servants, in which case we must disagree because they can understand or not understand just like any other person.

20. Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Again, this is not always true, because some people are just quick of mind and are not saying stupid things as does a fool.

21. He who pampers his slave from childhood
Will in the end find him to be a son.

This can happen, but instead of being like a son, they may also take advantage of the person in charge.

22. An angry man stirs up strife,
And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.

This happens because neither of them is living in the heavenly will of God, but instead they are seeking to follow the wicked ways of this world.

23. A man's pride will bring him low,
But a humble spirit will obtain honor.

The three basic sins are: the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life, which we believe that this proverb is referring to, for they are seeking honor among their peers, and such pride is definitely following the corrupt ways of this world; however, people who have a humble spirit are those who are living in the heavenly will of God, and because of that they obtain honor from God, which is what we all should be seeking.

24. He who is a partner with a thief hates his own life;
He hears the oath but tells nothing.
 
25. The fear of man brings a snare,
But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted.

We are to put our trust in God and not in our fellow human beings, because human beings often fail us, but God never does.

26. Many seek the ruler's favor,
But justice for man comes from the LORD.
 
27. An unjust man is abominable to the righteous,
And he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked.
NASB

In other words, those who are evil and unjust like others who are unjust are in agreement, and the same is true for the righteous, and each group sees the other as abominable.
 
We see this all the time in the world when it comes to the way people who truly care about all animals are viewed by the people who continually corrupt creation and are eating the flesh and by-products of animals, for the latter group knows that their lifestyle causes pain and suffering to billions of animals every year, but they just don’t care; however, they don’t want to be reminded of their indifference to the suffering and death of animals, that the very presence of vegans brings upon them.
 
Sometimes people find it hard to be living truly Godly lives as we will see as we look at Mark 9:30-37…

30. And from there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He was unwilling for anyone to know about it.

Jesus just wanted to have some alone time with His disciples.

31. For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later." 
 
32. But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

One of the requirements of living truly Godly lives is that we believe the things that Jesus teaches us either directly or through the unction of the Holy Spirit, and to pray for answers we don’t understand,

33 And they came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, "What were you discussing on the way?" 
 
34. But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.

This is the sin of the boastful pride of life, which none of the disciples should have after being in Jesus’ presence all the time.
 
However, Jesus knows what they were discussing.

35. And sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all." 

Jesus is plainly telling them that their thinking was not in the heavenly will of God, but is worldly.
 
It shouldn’t matter who we are or what we do in the kingdom of God as long as we’re with the Lord; this is what we need to be to be living truly Godly lives.
 
Then Jesus does something very interesting to show them an example.

36. And taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them,
 
37. "Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me." 
NASB

In other words, when we receive Jesus in our heart and soul, we also receive God the Father, and the Holy Spirit.
 
This is living truly Godly lives that can free creation from its present corruption and end the pain and suffering that causes millions of human beings and billions of other animals every year.
 
Amen?
 
Amen.

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