When I preached one of my best sermons on the Spirit of Christ I contrasted the spirit of a carnal man with the Spirit of Christ. I received the best reviews from you at that time so I wished to revisit this subject with another look at it from a slightly different angle. However, this time I wish to look at the righteous and how they differ from the half hearted and lukewarm professor of Christ.
There is a popular saying that goes "how the other half live." I think of this saying when I ponder how the righteous live. All my early Christian life I have wondered how the lives of the righteous differed from the ordinary Christian. It cannot be denied that not every Christian who calls on the name of Christ will be saved. In fact, if you read Ellen White you learn that at the last day, the church will appear to fall while sinners are sifted out of Zion. That means more than half our church members are going to be lost. That's an undeniable fact you dare not controvert.
Many years ago I talked to a psychologist about the righteous, his concern was that they were not examined in character tests, and thus the norms they exhibited were unknown to scientific enquiry. His point was that we only have tests of carnal people and lukewarm Christians at best, as the normal standard for the behavioural patterns of humanity. Put your hand up if you understand my point.
In Rm 3.10 it says that “There is none righteous, no not one.” What?!! Really? None whatsoever? But the Bible says over and over men like Noah, Daniel, Abraham, Job were righteous. Jesus said I came not to call the righteous, but the wicked. So they must exist. It means there is none naturally righteous, no one is born righteous. There is no such thing as a natural born again Christian.
In 1 Peter 4: 17-18 it says that “judgment begins at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God. And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” This doesn't mean the righteous wont be saved, they will.
It puts the question in doubt- to contrast what will happen to the sinner?
THE LADDER HEAVENWARD. Christian Growth. The Christian is to make continual advance-ment heavenwards. His Christian experience is to enlarge, his knowledge increase. Jesus Christ connects heaven to earth. The base is in his humanity, the topmost round reaches to divinity at the throne of God. His divinity links with his humanity to bring man up to God. We are saved by climbing round after round of the ladder, by constantly looking to Christ.
We mount step after step to the heights of Jesus Christ. All these graces or virtues are to be manifested in the Christian character. Where we will be increasingly like Christ, and we are fitted for translation. We are to learn lessons of instruction from closely studied Scriptures that we have admired, where we become imbued with the Spirit, His Spirit.
2 Peter 1:5. Faith, Virtue, Knowledge, Temperance, Patience, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness, Love. Another analogy is of stairs to heaven, steps seen in the life of the saint as he ascends.
The essential definition of the inner life of the righteous can be seen in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a where the Apostle Paul writes about love.
'Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.' NKJV
The spirit that actuated Jesus Christ was totally opposite to that which animates mankind. Jesus said of James and John his two most faithful disciples, when they were semi unconverted, that they were mistaken what spirit they were of; they were unregenerate men. These He called "sons of thunder". See Lk 9: 55 and Mk 3: 17. They wanted to destroy men and call down fire from heaven upon the Samaritans who rejected Jesus. These are the lukewarm professors I intend to compare the righteous with.
The spirit of Christ in a righteous soul enables a spirit of patience and kindness. "They do not envy, they do not boast, they are not proud or rude. They are not self-seeking in attitude; they are not easily angered, and keep no record of wrongs. They do not delight in evil but rejoice in the truth. The righteous" bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things. Their spirit of love in them is said to never fail.' 1 Cor 13. 4-8a. (Read in Marilyn's Bible Version).
