The Righteous Man

INTRODUCTION

• Righteousness. What do you think of when you hear that word? Holier than thou? Think you’re better than others? Those things reflect self-righteousness?

• What does it mean to be righteous? The word in our usage means, purity of heart. Doing the right thing, being “upright”

• There is more to the meaning than just doing good deeds. In the biblical sense it deals with maintaining a standard of behavior which is in keeping with the two-way relationship between God and man.

• A righteous person is one who in thought and conduct reflects their relationship with God through Jesus Christ! God desires us to be righteous. Being a righteous person is a good thing in the eyes of God. Noah was called a righteous man (Genesis 6:9). In Genesis 18, God said He would spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah if just 10 righteous people existed. God desires righteousness!

• How do we know how we are doing in this area? How do we know if we are being successful? The world has its ways of measuring success. They look at your power, prestige and position. Measuring your spiritual success is a little more difficult. Often, there is little tangible, visible evidence, which you can put your hands on to prove you are living a successful Christian life. Generally, success for the believer is more internal that external.

• One of the difficulties of the Christian life is we do not wear a badge on our sleeve that tells other people where we are with God. Because of the fact that much of our relationship is internal, we can make people think what we want them to think concerning our relationship with God. The Pharisee’s in the New Testament were good at this, they looked good on the outside, but inside they were dead. Matthew 23:27.

• Thankfully Psalm 1 exists. In this worthy doorkeeper to the psalms, we find insight into what makes a believer successful. We can see what God wants from us, what He says we need to do to be right in His sight.

• The book of Psalms is a book that we should all spend time in because we get insights to the heart and character of God, we get to read about the real life struggles of those who wrote them and how God answers them. Psalm 1 is the preface to the rest of the book.

• Today we are going to look at “The Righteous Man.” The Psalmist gives us a road map that will help us to be a righteous person.

SERMON

I. CHARACTER OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 1-2

Your character is what makes you what you are, the distinctive qualities that make you, you. What is it that makes your character?

A. The counsel you seek. 1

1. The righteous person does not seek the advice of the wicked. Who are wicked people? The bible tells us that a person who does not walk with God is wicked. That sounds harsh, but when you realize that there are only two sides, God or Satan, and then you can see why this is true. By man’s standard not you have to be pretty rotten to be wicked, but in God’s sight all it takes is a person who does not walk with Him to be considered wicked. MAL 3:18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. (300 References to “wicked” in the bible)

2. When you belong to Jesus, you should seek the counsel of other Christians. I believe that mean’s in all matters possible, whether they are legal or martial.

3. The Bible asks us the question in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

4. The person who does not know Jesus will not give you the best advice in life; they do not know God’s ways.

5. Who do you go to for your counsel? To be right in God’s sight, you should not get it from the wicked.

A lot can be said about you by:

B. The path you take.

1. If you read the passage carefully, you will see a progression. Take your advice from the wicked, then next thing you know you are walking the way they are.

2. The NASB says that the righteous will not take “stand” in the path of sinners. In the bible, to stand means “to be firm”, “to be fixed on”. What this means is that the righteous will not become fixed on the way of the wicked.

3. READ 1 JOHN 1:5-7

4. MAT 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.