A "godly" Man. 2 Tim 3:16-17 NAS
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Introduction.
When Kurt Warner played for the St. Louis Rams Football team he was considered the hottest quarterback in the National Football League. He prints his own trading cards.
But it’s not an ego thing . . . The cards tell the story of Warner turning his life over to Christ. He carries them around so he’ll have something meaningful to hand out to fans who ask for his autograph . . . His life in Christ is intertwined with his dramatic rags-to-riches football career. The NFL’s most valuable player led his team to victory against the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV.
Warner became a Christian several years ago, shortly after tragedy touched his life. The parents of his then girlfriend Brenda, now his wife, were killed when a tornado demolished their home in Mountain View, Ark. They had planned to be baptized that night, but stayed home because Brenda’s mother had a headache, USA Today said. People at the church were spared.
Kurt watched as Brenda, a Christian, responded to the tragedy with poise and grace rather than self-pity. He also knew how she had dealt with a crippling accident suffered by her son, Zachary, eight years earlier, when he was dropped on his head as a baby.
Brenda sat in a rocking chair next to Zachary’s hospital crib for 17 days, watching as he suffered seizures, quoting Bible verses, and asking God to perform a miracle. Although legally blind and
brain-damaged, Zachary is now can read, gets around fairly well, and takes mainstream and special education classes.
Three months after the deaths of Brenda’s parents, Kurt became a Christian. Two months after that he proposed to her, and he has adopted Zachary, and her daughter Jesse.
Kurt got involved in a Bible study and began to "understand what was really important in life," he told Crosswalk.com. "I had my life and my faith, and they were two separate things. But as I began to grow in my relationship with God, I began to understand how they fit together." The family attends St. Louis Family Church, as does Isaac Bruce, a Rams receiver. Pastor Jeff Perry leads a Bible study at the Warner’s home each Wednesday night during football season.
At this time Kurt Warner makes every effort to live a godly life. I think all men can be guided toward a godly life by honoring the: The . . Word of God. The . . Name of God. The . . Day of God. And The . . Ways of God.
1. A godly Man and the . . Word of God. 1 Tim 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Illustration The Bible is True
New archaeological evidence shows that stories recorded in the Bible occurred, U.S. News & World Report (10-25-99) says. A number of findings refute skeptical secular scholars who assumed that accounts of the supernatural were only stories meant to illustrate theological points, not actual occurrences, according to the news weekly’s current issue. The cover features a painting of Adam and Eve.
The article cites the discovery of an Assyrian stone tablet in Israel dating to the ninth century B.C. that mentions David, the "king of Israel," as among Assyria’s foes. Skeptics had assumed that King David was a legend. The discovery of the remains of a crucified man, who was a contemporary of Jesus, buried in a family grave shows that the Romans allowed for that kind of burial, a fact that scholars have long doubted, the article said.
Application
I am pleased when such finds occur, but they do not change my position at all. I believed it all along, why because the Bible said it was so.
Godly men need to be men of the book.
2. A godly Man and the . . . . Name of God. Deut. 5:11
11 ’You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. NAS
A. The godly man will Avoid . . Swearing Words. Lev 19:12 And you shall not swear
falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD. NAS
B. The godly man will Avoid . . Supplement Words. Matt 5:37
"But let your statement be, ’Yes, yes’ or ’No, no’; and anything beyond these is of evil. NAS
Illustration
A football coach I listened to said "my players never hear me give them a lot of Bull Manure." (Not his exact words) I don’t do that." They know I say what I mean"
Application
The man who desires to be a godly man does not need to add clichés to his word. If I am trying to be honest I don’t have to say "let me be perfectly honest with you". It will be superfluous.
3. A godly Man and the. . Day of God. Mark 2:27
27 And He was saying to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. NAS
A. The godly Man Looks . . Righteously at the Day of God.
John 7:23-24 23"If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? 24 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." NAS
1. The Law said "circumcise a boy child on the 8th day.
2. Suppose the eight day came on the Sabbath?
a. The boy was circumcised.
b. Look further at what Jesus did on a Sabbath Day.
3. We need to focus on Righteousness on the Sabbath.
B. The godly Man Looks . . Respectfully at the Day of God.
Col. 2:16 Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- NAS
1. The Holy Spirit will teach Us If We Will Listen.
2. We do not need earthly judges.
Illustration
If I pastored in the city where the Super Bowl will be played, and was offered tickets I would not take them. I do not tell anyone else how they should relate to that possibility but I think it would not be an act of righteousness or respectful to the Lord’s Day for me to go to that game.
Application
What do you do differently because it is the day of the Lord.
Do you look righteously on the Lord’s Day?
Do you look respectfully on the Lord’s Day?
4. A godly Man and the . . Ways of God. Luke 23:50-54
50 And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man
51 (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; 52 this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. 54 It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. NASU
A. Standing . . Against the Ways of Man. v 51
51 (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God;
1. We need to go on record as opposing Unrighteousness.
B. Standing . . Actively for the Ways of God. v 52 -53
52 this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
53 And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.
1. We need have actions in favor of . . Righteousness.
Illustration
This is an interesting study. Max Jukes lived in New York. He did not believe in Christ or in Christian training. He refused to take his children to church, even when they asked to go. He has had 1,026 descendants; 300 were sent to prison for an average term of thirteen years; 190 were public prostitutes; 680 were admitted alcoholics. His family, thus far, has cost the state in excess of $420,000. They made no contribution to society.
Jonathan Edwards lived in the same state, at the same time as Jukes. He loved the Lord and saw that his children were in church every Sunday, as he served the Lord to the best of his ability. He has had 929 descendants, and of these 430 were ministers; 86 became university professors; 13 became university presidents; 75 authored good books; 7 were elected to the United States Congress. One was vice president of his nation. His family never cost the state one cent but has contributed immeasurably to the life of plenty in this land today.
Conclusion
A godly Man and
The . . Word of God. The . . Name of God. The . . Day of God. The . . Ways of God.
