THE RIGHTEOUS SERVANT!
- The righteous follows after righteousness, God uses them mightily
- God's security and provision abound with the righteous
- The eyes of the Lord is constantly overlooking the righteousness and all his needs are met by God.
- It shall be well with him-for they shall eat the fruit of their labour".
INTRODUCTION:
Living righteously is God's expectation for all His children. That is why the gift of righteousness is free to all receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour. From the scriptures, we can see that righteousness is manifest in the internal and external.
A righteous man is surrounded by favour, leading to his financial abundance. The Lord prospers them because of the large heart they have to help others, without expecting anything in return, and without being proud. Many people in this category are comfortable, but their money is hardly able to meet the needs of the people he has committed himself to provide.
Righteous people have a willing heart to partner with God in good works. They can give to their last USD to help a needy person, which makes God love them passionately. Righteousness is not complete without good works, otherwise, you are then talking about holiness. A righteous man must have the financial ability and a good heart to support people in need, relief the poor, visit people in Hospital and pay the medical bills that is keeping them in hospital, after treatment. A heart of love and kindness is very important, just as financial resources is important also.
A righteous man is a spiritually sensitive person and highly disciplined. A righteous man hates sin and love righteousness. They are blessed, which hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled is how the scriptures assure them of God's grace. Such a man or woman is ever conscious of their behaviour and what information their attitude transmits to the public.
Righteousness is a gift from God, at redemption. Its attributes are discussed in Mathew 5 as attitudes. The first of such attitude is that a righteous person should not think more highly of himself than he ought to think. This is because the bible says in Mathew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". To be poor in spirit means to be humble, and to have a correct estimate of self.
A righteous man should not look down on himself, but at the same time, he should not be puffed-up. He should not consider himself any better than others, even when he is occupying an exalted political position like a Governor or Senator, he should rather think soberly, according to the measure of faith he has received from the Lord. Jesus was among His disciples, and people could not single Him out, because of humility and the love with which he related with His disciples.
What is Righteousness?
Righteousness is a free gift given to us by the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross of Calvary. Righteousness is one of the natures of God, that God expects His children to manifest. Since we are not made righteous by works, how are we supposed to live it? Every believer can live righteously when the Holy Ghost has come upon him or her.
The Holy Ghost is the enabler of righteous living. It is possible for a person to say 'Jesus is Lord' and yet continue to live his life like an unbeliever. It is possible for you to be preaching against anger, bitterness and unforgiveness, yet the person cannot forgive his son at home. The reason is simple...The Holy Ghost is yet to enter that man. When a person received Holy Ghost baptism, the strange divergence will disappear.
This was what happened in Ephesus when Apostle Paul met certain disciples, who were probably speaking like Saints, but their behaviour was carnal. In Acts 19:2, Paul asked them, if they have received the Holy Ghost since they believed? They answered and said, "We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost". Paul knew that a person cannot be professing Christ, while his conducts are saying something else. He then asked them "Unto what then were you baptized? And they said unto John's baptism. Paul then baptised them and as soon as he laid hands on them, they began to speak in tongues. The 12 men receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost that day. Acts 19:2-7.
When the Holy Ghost comes, sympathy comes, love and kindness that that human reasoning cannot explain comes. One of the major aspects of righteousness is doing good, just as Christ did. But you cannot develop the heart to do good until the Holy Ghost comes upon you.
Nature of Righteousness
Righteous living pleases God so much because a righteous man will remember to help people around them. They show people the love of God. There is the story of a couple that decided to help a man that was in admission for three months, who had nowhere to and no close relative to stay with. They took him home and catered for him until he got a job and could take care of himself. When they gave him a car, as a parting gift, he broke down in tears, and confess to them he was trained to kill Christians, but he was shocked to find a Christian family that can love him, a stranger that way. He received Christ as Lord and Savior that day, and all the glory went to God, but, it took a righteous couple to accomplish that.
The righteous want to glorify the Lord all the time.
The righteous want to glorify the Lord all the time.
Characters of the Righteous:
1. Seeking Kingdom righteousness - A righteous man or woman is one that deliberately and "diligently keeps the commandments of the LORD His God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded"
2. A person that is righteous is expected live and walk without fear, who is not seeking after vanity. A man or woman that hates pride and sin, he abhors iniquity, evil works and flees from every appearance of sin.
3. A righteous man/woman diligently seeks to do things that please God. He makes deliberate efforts to keep the commands of the Lord and obey His voice. He loves the Lord, and purposes in his heart to please Him. A righteous man is a lover of righteousness and he hates evil
4. A righteous is a man or woman that has the grace of God to abide in the tabernacle of the Lord always, who walks uprightly and speak the truth in his heart. He/she does not take up a reproach against his neighbour or do them any harm and in whose eyes a vile person is not honoured or celebrated, rather he celebrates people that fear the Lord.
5. A righteous person does not gossip or backbite with his/tongue, neither does he conspire or lie against the innocent. A righteous man keeps his word and maintains his integrity at all times.
6. A righteous man or woman is a friend of God who has the grace to live holy with a pure heart, who does not lift up his heart unto vanity to seek things that do not edify and he does not deceive anyone. He presents things honestly and truly to people.
7. A righteous man or woman fear God and seek Him continually and trust in Him. These are some of the reason why he is as bold as a lion. The righteous studies and delights himself in the word of God and does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful – mockers are not his friends.
8. The righteous is that man that falls severally, but will always get up and keep matching on. He knows that victory belongs to those that keep looking at the goal, those that persevere and despite the hardship, they are moved, they keep believing and trusting in God. And putting behind their challenges, they hold on to the promise of eternal life in Christ, they will get up and keep running.
9. A righteous man or woman is one that received grace to be free from sin or dead to sin. The motions of sin do not move him anymore. They have crucified their flesh and their spirit is constantly alive. They are prayerful, kind and patient. They are merciful and easily forgive offences.
10. He confesses Christ Daily in word and action. They are rich in goodness – helping the needy, poor, visiting the poor and those in Prison and praying for them.
Importance of Righteousness:
1. Righteousness is so important that Jesus said in Mathew 5:7 - “Those that hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be satisfied”, and those who are persecuted for righteousness conduct in their places of work, homes and business, Jesus says theirs is the kingdom of heaven - great reward.
3. The Scribes and the Pharisees fast 3 days a week and pay their tithes and probably offering, but righteousness goes beyond tithe and offering or fasting to include the deeper things as Faith, love and showing mercy. Jesus later rebuked them for neglecting the deeper things of the Word like faith, love and showing mercy.
4. Again the bible says the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. The attitude of love, kindness, mercy and fairness to all, standing for justice and speaking the truth must become part of you as a born again Christian. Jesus in Mathew 25:31-46, commended the righteous servants, for helping their neighbours in diverse challenges of life, the same is expected from us today, and if we are not doing so, we are not doing well.
5. God uses the righteous - We see in Isaiah 45 that it is God uses the righteous for a special assignment in the fulfilment of His will on earth. The Lord speaking in Isaiah 44:28 described Cyrus as a shepherd, who shall perform all His pleasure.
He continued to say that He raised him up in righteousness and He will direct his ways; he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, says Lord Isaiah 45:13.
Doing Exploits in the Kingdom
Doing exploits in the Kingdom of God is a function of knowing God, you are serving. It is not enough to know about Him. It is possible to know much about the Lord, His nature and attributes, and yet not to know Him personally. We must go on to know Him. If we do, we become bold and fearless about facing challenges of life.
The righteous delights in the Word of the Lord and obey it. They are pure in heart, full of love for God and man. The exploits of righteous men are the good works they do to the poor and needy around them. Helping people-in-need without expecting anything in return.
The exploit of a righteous man is the fulfilment of scriptures, written concerning him. He is surrounded by favour from the Almighty God, so he lives in abundance, and can afford to bless lesser people around him. In the bible, they were going about helping people and doing good. Let's see from the Scriptures in Mathew 25:31-40.
The described them as the sheep among the people and in verse 34, Jesus called them 'ye blessed of my Father', He invited them to enter into the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. Why?:
1. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
2. Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
3. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
4. When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
5. Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
6. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Being righteous
1. Being righteous is being acceptable to God. Noah is the first person in the Bible to be called righteous: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). Here we see the two aspects of righteousness: doing the right thing (Good works, being blameless) and having a relationship with God (walked with God).
2. Being righteous is dependent on faith. We see this in the case of Abraham, whose faith was counted for righteousness. Living righteously is a function of who we yield ourselves to obey - Sin or the Lord.
God commanded us to be righteous because, in our righteous nature, we radiate the lights of God, our prayers are answered and we manifest His glory the more. So, it is required that all those seeking God should be righteous.
He continued to say that He raised him up in righteousness and He will direct his ways; he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, says Lord Isaiah 45:13.
Doing Exploits in the Kingdom
Doing exploits in the Kingdom of God is a function of knowing God, you are serving. It is not enough to know about Him. It is possible to know much about the Lord, His nature and attributes, and yet not to know Him personally. We must go on to know Him. If we do, we become bold and fearless about facing challenges of life.
The righteous delights in the Word of the Lord and obey it. They are pure in heart, full of love for God and man. The exploits of righteous men are the good works they do to the poor and needy around them. Helping people-in-need without expecting anything in return.
The exploit of a righteous man is the fulfilment of scriptures, written concerning him. He is surrounded by favour from the Almighty God, so he lives in abundance, and can afford to bless lesser people around him. In the bible, they were going about helping people and doing good. Let's see from the Scriptures in Mathew 25:31-40.
The described them as the sheep among the people and in verse 34, Jesus called them 'ye blessed of my Father', He invited them to enter into the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. Why?:
1. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
2. Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
3. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
4. When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
5. Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
6. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Being righteous
1. Being righteous is being acceptable to God. Noah is the first person in the Bible to be called righteous: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). Here we see the two aspects of righteousness: doing the right thing (Good works, being blameless) and having a relationship with God (walked with God).
2. Being righteous is dependent on faith. We see this in the case of Abraham, whose faith was counted for righteousness. Living righteously is a function of who we yield ourselves to obey - Sin or the Lord.
3. If you are righteousness-minded, you will shun sin. They are patient to think their actions through, before taking steps. They will consider what the Word of God says about the matter and the consequences of their action. This is why they are not easily moved by sight.
God commanded us to be righteous because, in our righteous nature, we radiate the lights of God, our prayers are answered and we manifest His glory the more. So, it is required that all those seeking God should be righteous.
Rewards:
1. The reward for righteous living is enormous - God remembers the righteous man to answer his prayers, surrounds him with favour and blessing and extends the goodwill to his children.
2. The bible says the righteous are in everlasting remembrance - Are we remembering Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Paul, Peter today? What about Kenneth Hagin, T.L Osborn, Watchman Nee, Smith Wigglesworth – Are we not remembering them? We are.
Conclusion
Righteousness is not a title. Like salvation, the righteous man must continue in righteousness till the end to inherit eternal life, otherwise, if he departs and begins to do evil. The Lord is no respecter of persons.
A righteous man deliberately yields his members as instruments of righteousness unto God. I mean yielding your eyes, legs, hands, ear and whole body to obey the word of the Living God. You can make a covenant with your eyes like Job did not desire to see evil; your hands not to touch evil, your legs not to go to places that you are not expected to go.
If sin reigns in your mortal body, righteousness will be difficult. The bible says if sin reign in your mortal body, you are likely to yield to sin and its lusts. But, if you are dead unto sin, it becomes easy to yield yourself unto righteousness and God. Sin wars against righteousness as darkness fights light. So, to live righteously, you will have to decide who to yield your body to...To sin and unto death or obedience and unto righteousness, holiness and God.
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