I. Seeking To Live As A Righteous Man What is the importance of living as a Righteous man? Why does the Bible contain so much information about how to live as a Righteous man? First of all, God does not fulfill His promises to an unrighteous man (except the promise of judgment) Secondly, Satan has targeted us as Christians. He is determined to undermine our beliefs, destroy our faith, and bring us down with whatever means necessary. He uses deception, pride, selfishness, confusion, and a host of other weapons at his disposal. One of our strongest weapons against his attacks is a Righteous heart. A Righteous heart is developed and strengthened over time. It is not something that is instantly given, or quickly made. A Righteous heart takes lots of maintenance, and help from God. As long as we are striving to strengthen our Righteousness, God is more than willing to give us what we need in order to do so. Thirdly, God made a deal with us. We agree to live our lives according to: 1. His Word - this means following the Bible’s teachings about how we are to live our lives, treat our neighbors, seek a closer walk and fellowship with Him, the condition of our hearts, throwing off the old self and putting on the new self, etc…   2. His Will - this means doing whatever He wants us to do versus what we want us to do. We live our lives according to His will and not our own. We give up the right to question His intentions, His purpose for us, or His methods. We simply obey His will, and do whatever it is He would have us do. We have agreed to give up our own lives and live a life for Christ. We have agreed to let Him be in complete control of us, using us whenever and wherever He chooses. We are at His disposal for whatever purposes or intentions He would have of us. If we are inconvenienced or put out, so be it. We agreed to this when we agreed to give our lives to Him. We did not give Him part of our lives, we gave Him our whole self. This is a very hard thing for us to do because we always want to have a hand in our destiny, or the paths that we take. We want to know what is going on, and try to control the outcomes to best suit us. It is difficult to just let go and trust God to lead us and take care of us. 3. Our belief in His Son Jesus Christ (who is our Redeemer and our Savior). If we do not hold up our end of the deal, how can we expect God to hold up His end? Imagine this scenario: A son comes to his father one morning and asks him to take him fishing. He really wants to go fishing, and has been thinking about it for awhile. His father tells him this: “I have to go run an errand this morning, but I’ll take you fishing this afternoon if you clean out the garage while I’m gone.” “Is that a promise?” asks the little boy? “That’s a promise!” assures the dad. Well, the little boy works on cleaning out the garage for awhile, but finds that it is hard work, and more than he cares to do. He worked a while at it, but he did not put forth a very big effort, and he finally gave up and went back into the house to watch cartoons. When his father came home, the boy had his fishing tackle all ready. His father went into the garage to check it out, and found that the garage was still messy. He could see a small effort had been made, but the garage had not been cleaned out. Because the garage had not been cleaned, he told his son that he would not take him fishing. “But dad, you promised me that you would take me fishing!” If we hold up our end of the deal, He promises to bless us, hear our prayers, provide for our needs, reward us, grant our heart’s desires, bring us joy and happiness, give us His Spirit as a helper, and much, much more. Most importantly, He promises to grant us life everlasting with Him. 1 Peter 3:10 – 12 10For “He who would love life and see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. 11Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.” John 9:31 31Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Psalm 66:16 – 20 16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul.  17 I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled (praised) with my tongue. 18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. 19 But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20  Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me! 1 John 3:18 – 24 18My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (Paul chastising Peter for shying away from the gentiles while prominent Jews were visiting the Apostles) Galatians 2:16 - 21 16knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. 17“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” II. Humbling Ourselves Before God We must always keep in mind that we are nothing in comparison to God. He spoke the universe into existence, sent His Son to pay for our sins, and offers us life everlasting with Him in heaven. We are not worthy of any of this, yet by His loving kindness, His grace, His mercy, and His wonderful love for us, He allows us to receive anyway. When we come before Him in thanksgiving, in worship, in praise, or with petition, we must keep in mind His greatness, and our unworthiness. Luke 18:9 – 14 9Also He spoke this parable to some,  who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Isaiah 57:15 15 For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite (repentant) and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Romans 12:16 16Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. James 4:6 – 10 6But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  7Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. 1 Peter 5:5 – 7 5Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. III. Posture Of A Righteous Man Before God Keeping in mind His greatness, and our unworthiness, as well as the joy that swells in us whenever we come before Him, we should be of certain posture when we address the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Lord God on High. We should set aside our personal, prideful thoughts about how we might look to others, or what they might think of us for our actions and just let the Lord know that you love Him, exalt Him, praise Him, and thank Him for all the He is, and all that He has done. Concentrate on your communication with Him, and forget about everything else around you. Raise your hands, bow down before Him, shout to the Lord with joy and thanksgiving, dance before Him, and let your praises be heard. It is perfectly o.k. to even be a little undignified if the Spirit leads you. When coming before the Lord to ask forgiveness, or to bring a petition before Him, keep your heart humble and repentant and He will listen to you. When in the presence of the Lord God, remember His greatness, and come before Him with all humbleness, and do not be ashamed or afraid to show your praises and adoration for Him in any way that the Holy Spirit leads you. It is Biblical, acceptable, and highly favored by God to come before Him lifting our hands, bowing before Him, lifting our eyes up to the heavens, and joyfully praising Him with thanksgiving in our hearts - both publicly and privately! Psalms 63:4 4Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. Psalms 95:6 6Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. Psalms 123:1 - 2 1Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. 2Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, until He has mercy on us. Psalms 134:2 2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. John 11:41 41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me." John 17:1 1Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, Acts 21:5 5When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed. Romans 14:11 11For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 1 Timothy 2:8 8I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;