PRINCIPLES OF PRESERVATION IN DIFFICULT TIMES

No. 8, RIGHTEOUS LIVING-DANIEL'S EXAMPLE!

How did Daniel escape God's judgment? He was delivered because of his righteousness (Ezekiel 14:12-20). What was the righteousness Daniel exemplified that delivered him from judgment?

1. Daniel purposed in his heart to do righteousness.

Daniel 1:8 says, "Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself..." The heart is the seat of our affections and desires. It governs the center of our being. It is the place where we determine our deepest convictions and from where our character stems. It is the place where God's Spirit dwells. Psalm 51:10 says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

Daniel's righteousness flowed out of a heart that was purposed to please God in every situation, even in adverse circumstances. The reason why Daniel made righteous decisions was because his heart was steadfastly resolute to do righteousness. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Our hearts need God more than any other part of our being. It is the heart that needs to be converted. If our heart is right toward God, everything else in our lives will be right.

2. Daniel purposed to keep pure.

Daniel 1:8 says, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, or with the wine which he drank." How easy it would have been for Daniel to have compromised his convictions about food and wine. To many of his contemporaries his standard would have appeared fanatical, legalistic and illogical. I am sure that others of the captivity were envious of Daniel and his companions for having access to such a bountiful provision from the king's own table. They may have regarded this provision as from the Lord! But Daniel would not be defiled. Defilement meant uncleanness and a guilty conscience. Defilement would have hindered his fellowship with God. Daniel knew that his God was a Holy God and uses clean vessels.

What an impact we would have upon the world if today's church would have the same righteous commitment to purity as Daniel. No wonder God used Daniel mightily to challenge and change the lives of some of the world's most powerful kings. Because of his non-compromising commitment to righteousness and purity, Daniel influenced much of the then known world, as many nations were under the control of Babylon at that time.

2 Timothy 2:21 says, "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto ever good work."

Pulse and water sounds a boring diet to me! But the alternative diet, though sumptuous, meant defilement because...

a)    Daniel did not want to break any dietary laws that would offend God.

b)    Daniel understood that the king served heathen idols and a portion of the wine and food was customarily first offered to their gods.

c)    Daniel realized that he and his friends were not only the captives of the King of Babylon but they were primarily God's captives and under His discipline. It was not appropriate conduct to break God's laws and compromise His standards. This was not a time to "eat, drink and be merry" but to walk humbly before the Lord. Daniel's diet was a form of fasting and humility. Pulse and water is the food of repentance. John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey, hardly the food of the careless and worldly, but the food of the prophet preaching repentance.

The pulse and water extremist was favored by God to interpret dreams of kings! Amazing!

3. Daniel refused to take glory to himself.

Daniel 2:30 says, "But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living." The righteousness of humility is a strong doctrine throughout the pages of the Bible. Daniel could have easily allowed himself to get puffed up with pride because God chose him to receive the interpretation of the king's dream. He did not have to confess these words of self-depreciation as they did not concern King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel was careful to speak humbly because He knew God was mercifully using him for His glory-and for his preservation and that of his friends.

4. Daniel promoted others.

Daniel 2:49, "Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon." Daniel used his promotion to promote his righteous friends into influential positions of leadership, thereby increasing the affects of righteousness in the nation and protecting the Jewish captivity in Babylon.  True righteousness is not self-seeking. Instead, it seeks to promote godliness, goodness and blessing wherever it finds opportunity.

For the sake of Christ, the Apostle Paul was bound in chains in order to silence his righteous influence of boldly proclaiming the saving grace of Christ. However, not even chains could stop Paul's righteous influence upon the guards, jailers, leaders and kings (Philippians 1:12-13). 2 Timothy 2:9 says, "I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point or chains; but the word of God is not chained."

5. Daniel did not give in to fear.

Daniel's righteousness enabled him to conquer fear. After God gave Daniel the interpretation to the dream, he was horrified for one hour! Daniel realized that sharing such bad news to a proud and sinful king could seriously jeopardize his life. The king was aware of Daniel's plight and encouraged him to not hold back. This made it even more difficult because if he refused to speak he could have been killed-and if he told the interpretation he could have been killed. (Daniel 4:19b).

True righteousness comes from God. It is God-breathed. Because of this Daniel was able to overcome fear and faithfully tell the king the interpretation as well as counsel the king to "break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor." Such bold counsel was dangerous ground coming from a captive, but he put his neck on the line and righteous boldness prevailed. Righteousness is coupled with fearlessness. Proverbs 28:1 says, "The righteous are as bold as a lion."

In the same sense, "perfect love casts our fear" (1 John 4:18). Love is a form of righteousness and perfect love will often take one into very dangerous places in order to reach another sinner for Christ.

In our next message, we will discover five more points about Daniel's righteousness.

COLIN CAMPBELL

Colin will continue to give you biblical principles for preservation in difficult times. To receive these messages, send a blank email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Colin is the husband of Nancy Campbell, Editor of Above Rubies www.aboverubies.org

Colin can be contacted at 615 948 5958 for speaking engagements.

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PRINCIPLES OF PRESERVATION IN DIFFICULT TIMES

No. 8b, RIGHTEOUS LIVING—DANIEL’S EXAMPLE!

We continue to discover the kind of righteousness Daniel exemplified that delivered him from judgment.

6. Daniel refused gifts of bribery.

Daniel 5:17 says, “Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.” Daniel did not allow himself to be influenced by the rewards of any man, not even from the king, no matter how tempting. He was offered to be clothed with scarlet, a chain of gold about his neck, and to be the third ruler in the kingdom (Daniel 5:16). How would we respond to such a tempting opportunity to become rich and famous? Daniel did not allow rewards to influence him or to weaken the interpretation of the writing on the wall.

On the other hand, Balaam “loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Peter 2:15). He wanted to receive the handsome reward offered to him if he cursed the children of Israel. Read Numbers, chapters 22-24. Although Balaam ended up only prophesying what God told Him, he still hoped for the reward. But Balaam’s love of the reward cost him his life (Numbers 31:8). Tradition states that he advised Balak to invite the children of Israel to an idolatrous feast.

Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, learned a severe lesson for receiving gifts (2 Kings 5:27). God did not want a reward for His act of mercy in healing Naaman of his leprosy and Elisha knew that God did not want him to take a reward either. On the other hand, Gehazi lusted after the reward, lied about his master, deceived Elisha and ended up with the curse of leprosy on his body as “white as snow” and on his descendants forever (2 Kings 5:26-27).

Achan brought a curse, not only on himself, but his entire family, by coveting after rewards that God did not want him to have. The whole nation of Israel remained in defeat until his sin of covetousness was dealt with (Joshua 7:1-26).

Jesus said to His disciples, “Freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8).

7. Daniel was faultless in every area of his life.

Daniel 6:5 says, “Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom: but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.”

What an amazing testimony of practical righteousness. You can guarantee they searched diligently to see if he had abused his privileges, spoken negatively of the king, disobeyed any command, been dishonest in accounting, lied in any way, accepted bribes or acted immorally. They would have searched the records and ordered spies to check on him. Despite the thorough check, they could not point the finger at anything! There was no error or fault found in him.

Daniel was a man of the highest integrity. Would to God this was the example of our leaders today. Instead, people accept the fact that bribes, abuse of privileges and falsifying the books are normal politics. Lying and compromising truth are accepted as standard procedure. You just have to be clever enough to get away with it and that’s all that is required to be successful. However, when God’s judgments fall, it is only the Daniels that are guaranteed escape! As I write this article, judgments are beginning to fall. That’s why we need to take a good look at Daniel who was singled out in Ezekiel 14:12-20 as one of the three men who would escape the judgment.

Revelation 17:14 says, “They that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” God is calling for men who will be faithful and faultless like Daniel.

8. Daniel committed himself to prayer.

Daniel 6:10 says, “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”

Praying was the key to Daniel’s righteousness. Daniel was faithful, without fault and a man of the highest integrity because He depended upon God to make him the man that God called him to be. Daniel’s payers made a demand on God’s righteousness to flow through him. Without prayer, Daniel would not have had the mighty impact upon these heathen nations and kings. Instead, he would have been as weak as other men who rarely call on God.

Prayer was not an occasional thing with Daniel. Prayer was not something he did only when he was in trouble. Praying once a day would make Daniel feel he was backsliding. Even twice a day was too slack for Daniel. He prayed three times a day without fail. How ashamed and challenged this 21st century prayerless church should feel over our week, haphazard commitment to prayer. Even a once-a-day prayer time would make a difference. What about three times?

Daniel would not deny his customary commitment to prayer. This commitment was obviously established in his life at a very early age for he was still a young man when the life-threatening test came. I’m sure Daniel had parents who encouraged and trained him to value this great ministry. Daniel 6:5 says, “Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” There was no law from God telling them to pray and give thanks three times per day. However, because Daniel was so committed to praying on his knees three times every day, they must have thought it was a law from God.

Daniel 9:21 says, “While I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.” The law of the morning and evening sacrifice, coupled with prayer, was a well established practice in Israel (Exodus 29:39; 30:7-8; Luke 1:10 and Acts 3:1). Elijah rebuilt the broken down altar and called on the name of the Lord at the time of the evening sacrifice and the fire of the Lord fell (1 Kings 18:38). Ezra interceded for his people at the time of the evening sacrifice (Ezra 9:5).

According to tradition, the Jews prayed three times per day: 9 00 am morning sacrifice, 12.00 noon (tradition only) and 3.00 pm evening sacrifice. This exercise in prayer was primarily the duty of the priests, but was often exercised by the devout followers of Jehovah. The priests were obligated by law but the people were privileged to join in by the exercise of their own will. David mentions that he prayed three times a day in Psalm 55:17. Daniel would have been familiar with this Scripture.

Daniel did not view this ministry of praying three times per day as a burdensome duty but as a life-giving principle. How easy it is for us to cave in and give up on prayer-- a sore throat or a feeling of tiredness, but not Daniel. Not even the threat of hungry lions tearing him apart and ripping him to shreds stopped him from praying. I’m sure our lukewarm 21st century church would have found a compromise to get around the lion’s den! They would suggest, I’m sure our God of grace would surely understand if we took a few weeks off praying until this whole thing blows over. Or: There is no need to get down on our knees to pray. Perhaps we should pray secretly in our hearts only. What wimps we are when it comes to praying compared to Daniel. No wonder the church has such little impact upon our present evil world compared to Daniel’s impact upon his evil world!

9. Daniel served God continually.

Daniel 6:16 says, “The king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.” (Verse 20). Daniel’s service to God was not half-hearted, spasmodic or dependent upon favorable circumstances. He was faithful to the king, but when it came down to it and the king got in the road of his loyalty to God, his devotion to the King of kings and Lord of lords came first! The king became aware that Daniel’s allegiance to his kingdom was secondary to his allegiance to God and he admired him for it.

10. Daniel impacted the nation.

Daniel’s righteousness and unwavering commitment to prayer brought about an amazing edict from the powerful heathen king.

Daniel 6:25-28 says, “Then King Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and this dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”

Does our 21^st century Christianity have such an impact upon the rulers of our present world? If not, why not? The truth is certain that the God of Daniel has not changed. But where are the Daniels of God?

Revelation 19:8 says, “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” Daniel executed righteous acts as well as having righteous faith. Many translations interpret “righteousness” as “righteous acts.”

COLIN CAMPBELL

Colin will continue to give you biblical principles for preservation in difficult times. To receive these messages, send a blank email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Colin is the husband of Nancy Campbell, Editor of Above Rubies www.aboverubies.org

Colin can be contacted at 615 948 5958 for speaking engagements.

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PRINCIPLES OF PRESERVATION IN DIFFICULT TIMES

No. 9, RIGHTEOUS LIVING—JOB’S EXAMPLE!

Job is the final man mentioned in Ezekiel 14:12-20 as an example of the practical righteousness that is required to escape judgment. God rises up to judge the nations of the earth when “the land sins against me by trespassing grievously” (Ezekiel 14:13). This judgment comes on cities and nations when God says, “Enough is enough!”

1. Job was perfect (Job 1:1).

This was God’s first description of Job. It does not mean that Job was in a state of sinless perfection, for no man, other than Jesus Christ, could make that claim. Job was a fallen man, but lived a life that was exemplary before God and his fellow man. Job’s lifestyle, despite his fallen nature, pleased God and caused God to bless him, his family and all that he owned. Job’s perfectness is understood in relationship to his fellow men. Job 1:18 says, “There is none like him in the earth.” Job’s lifestyle met all of God’s requirements in order for God to shower His blessings on him.

The word “perfect” is tam in Hebrew, meaning “perfect, upright, undefiled, utter simplicity, no hidden agenda.” Job was not cunning or devious. There was nothing hidden that he did not want others to know about. The word also means that Job was “sincere, free from guile and evil intentions toward anyone, having no part lacking in outward life, conduct and religion.”

Job believed in the sacrificial system that required the shedding of blood, as well as the offering of burnt sacrifices, for the sins of himself and his children. Many believe that Job lived before the giving of the law, but so did Abel, who made a blood sacrifice.

Job was obviously a very exemplary father who, unlike Eli, had a very sensitive heart toward God about his adult sons and daughters and their possible offenses toward God. On their special days, most probably their birthdays, they feasted and drank in each other’s homes. Job had patriarchal respect and command over his children. They came to him when he called in order to sanctify and pray over them after they had feasted together. This was not a “one off event” for the Scripture says that “Thus did Job continually” (Job 1:5b). This reveals Job’s faithful commitment to fatherhood.

What an amazing father Job was. He did not excuse himself from his patriarchal responsibilities just because his sons and daughters were adults and no longer under his roof. Job was a pattern father and this type of fatherhood is still the great need of the world.

1. Job was upright (Job 1:1).

The Hebrew word for “upright” is yashar which means “to be straight, right, righteous, just and having equity.” As the English word implies, "upright" means “up” and “right.” Job was not morally bowed down. On the contrary, he stood up straight in every situation. Job did not compromise. He stood “ram rod” straight on all matters of righteousness. There are many who believe in a certain code of ethics, but are lukewarm when it comes to standing up and speaking up for what they believe. If we do not stand up for, and live out, what we believe, we will have no impact on our fellow man.

1. Job feared God (Job 1:1).

The Hebrew word for “fear” is yare which means “to revere, be afraid of, to have deep respect for.” In Scripture, true religion is represented by the fear of God.

Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

Proverbs 8:13, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”

Even some of Pharaoh’s servants feared God sufficiently to obey the exhortation God gave through Moses to house their livestock so that would be protect from the hail (Exodus 9:20).

1 Kings 18:3 says that “Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.” Obadiah was governor of King Ahab’s house. During Jezebel’s slaughter of the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah hid 100 of the Lord’s prophets in a cave and fed them with his own finances.

2 Kings 17:33 tells us that alien nations who replaced the Jews in the cities of Samaria “feared the Lord and served their own gods.” They obviously feared the Lord in a very shallow way, only sufficient enough to keep the lions from tearing them to pieces. The question we must ask ourselves is, “How great is my fear of the Lord?” Is it enough to save me from the lions, or is it enough to cause God to shower me with His blessings?

1. Job eschewed evil. (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3)

The word “eschewed” which is used in the King James Version is sur in the Hebrew and means “to turn aside, depart from, put down, rebel against, and remove.”

1 Peter 3:10-11, “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.”

Job confesses in Job 27:5, “Till I die, I will not remove mine integrity from me.”

Perhaps the greatest display of Job’s righteousness which gave him favor with God was his integrity. Satan’s challenge to God concerned Job’s integrity, especially the integrity of his words toward God.

Satan challenged God in Job 1:11, “But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.”

Again, he challenged God in Job 2:5-10, “But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him, Doest thou still retain thine integrity> curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”

It was resisting evil speech about God, under extreme temptation, that completely foiled and defeated Satan’s allegations that Job would curse God to His face. Job guarded his lips with integrity.

Job 1:22 says, “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”

Integrity was the great preservative of Job’s life even though he was tested sorely. Without a doubt, integrity is still the great preservative in our times. How sad that a man’s word is no longer his bond. Even his signature does not mean much these days. We may get away with broken promises down here, but the God of integrity will catch up with us up there.

Breaking marriage vows breaks integrity. No wonder God is saying, “Enough is enough!”

Let’s pray that God in His infinite mercy will grant us repentance all over this land and restore integrity back to all of us.

Psalm 25:21, “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me.”

Psalm 26:11, “But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.”

Psalm 41:12, “As for me, you uphold me in my integrity.”

Proverbs 11:5, “The integrity of the upright shall guide them.”

I believe that integrity is a very precious jewel to those who realize its worth.

COLIN CAMPBELL

 Colin will continue to give you biblical principles for preservation in difficult times. To receive these messages, go to: Subscribe to Meat For Men

Colin is the husband of Nancy Campbell, Editor of Above Rubies www.aboverubies.org

Colin can be contacted at 615 948 5958 for speaking engagements.

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PRINCIPLES OF PRESERVATION IN

DIFFICULT TIMES

No. 7, RIGHTEOUS LIVING-NOAH'S EXAMPLE!

"For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness;

His countenance beholds the upright" Psalm 11:7.

"The house of the righteous shall stand" Proverbs 12:7.

Encouraging people to understand and walk in the principles of preservation is a very positive thing. The enemy of our souls tries to abuse, take to extreme and discredit every good doctrine. He tries to make people believe it is all "doom and gloom" and those who dare to warn God's people are killjoys! He seeks to turn people away from sound doctrine, resulting in deprivation of truth, which eventually leads to error and ultimately God's discipline.

To be a faithful proclaimer of God's Word, we must warn of the consequences of not walking in preservation principles. Just as Israel placed watchman on the walls of Jerusalem to guard against physical enemies, God placed watchmen on the walls to guard against spiritual enemies. These watchmen were called prophets and almost all were killed and persecuted by the leaders of Jerusalem who did not want to listen to the principles of preservation, along with the warnings of judgment for refusing to listen.

We face the same spiritual enemy today who does his best to malign the watchmen, who God in His grace, gives to be on the walls of the church today. His strategies are the same as of old. If we desire to be wise, it would pay us to listen to the watchmen who have a message for today's church.

The first 14 verses of Deuteronomy 28 are packed full of amazing blessings and promises to Israel if they obey God's principles. But should we write off Deuteronomy 28 because the next 53 verses speak of "doom and gloom" (judgment) to those who disobey the principles? Many New Testament believers glibly skip over these Old Testament admonitions by saying they do not apply to us today. But in 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 Paul states, "Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

There are many in today's church who believe they stand in a grace that permits almost anything. Sad to say, they are standing in a false grace which is not taught in the New Testament. The New Testament that I read abounds with many great and precious promises to those who walk in the principles of preservation, but this same New Testament also abounds with many warnings and admonitions of dire consequences to those who do not walk in these principles. Jesus Christ himself gave many warnings to those who claimed to be His disciples, but who did not build their house on His teaching. Read Matthew, chapters five, six and seven.

In Ezekiel 14:12-20 three men, Noah, Daniel and Job, are mentioned four times as examples of those who can expect deliverance when the Lord brings judgment upon the land. These three men lived at different times with many years between them. Two of them, Noah and Job, did not even live in the land of Israel. None of them had any relationship with each other. But the one common denominator of these three men, which guaranteed their protection and deliverance from destruction, was their righteousness. They were called righteous, not because they were perfect or sinless, but because of their righteous faith in God and their righteous deeds.

In this study we will look at the righteousness of Noah. Genesis 6:1-7 tells us of the great wickedness of man, to the extent that God repented that He had made man on the earth. Verse 5-8 say, "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually... But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." What was it about Noah that caused him to find grace in the eyes of the Lord? Ezekiel 14:14 and 20 tells us that it was his "righteousness."

We find four areas of righteousness regarding Noah in the Bible. Genesis 6:9 mentions three of them.

1. Noah was a just man.

He was godly. He did that which was right, good, honest and just in his daily living. This Hebrew word for "just" is tsaddiyq and means righteous. Noah did righteous things because he was righteous in heart, thought and faith toward God. His lifestyle of justice and righteousness provided him with protection and deliverance.

Genesis 7;1 says, "Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous (tsaddiyq) before me."

The saving factor that Abraham used in his intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah was righteousness. He prayed in Genesis 18:25, "Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

2 Peter 2:7-8 says, "And delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)." In comparison to Abraham's righteousness, Lot fell very short, but the fact that his righteous soul was vexed daily was enough righteousness to get him delivered. We see in this passage that in order to escape destruction, God does not require a pharisaical "super squeaky clean," "goody-goody two shoes" righteousness, but rather that our soul is daily vexed and grieved with the filthy lifestyle that surrounds us. This degree of righteousness saved Lot. Although Noah, like Lot, lived amongst godless and unclean people, he did not participate in their conduct, but rather opposed and acted justly amongst the lawless people.

2. Noah was perfect in his generations.

What an amazing statement! What a blessing for Noah to have forbears who had not allowed any form of contamination to affect the future generations. Noah's forbears had not mingled their offspring with the ungodly seed of Cain, nor had his forefathers, as some believe, mingled their seed with fallen angels, if it were possible!

We cannot underestimate the powerful blessing of a godly heritage.

Psalm 112:1-21 says, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in his commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed."

Psalm 25:12-13, "Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way he chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth."

Isaiah 44:3, "For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring." To be thirsty for God is a righteous attitude and brings forth great blessing to future generations. In fact, every aspect of our day-to-day relationship with God will have impact on future generations.

3. Noah walked with God.

I am sure that even if there had been no other virtue of righteousness in Noah's life, except that he walked with God, it would have been more than enough to assure his deliverance from the flood. Is it possible that the influence of his great-grandfather had a powerful impact on Noah? Enoch so earnestly walked with God that he was translated straight into the presence of God when the Lord decided that his exemplary life had served its purpose on this earth.

Believers today need to discover what it really means to walk with God. Walking into church does not mean walking with God, although I am a strong believer in regular church attendance. Reading the Word of God does not necessarily imply that one is walking with God, although I believe it is an important daily exercise for every Christian. Walking with God is a daily, constant lifting up of our heart to God for direction, fellowship and every daily need. It is child-like trust in God our Father who knows our every need. It is a lifting up of the heart's affections to the things that come from above. It is a continual flow of gratitude and thankfulness to God, irrespective of the times we live in, whether they are good or evil.

We cannot walk with God and at the same time hold a bad attitude toward someone whom God loves. We cannot walk with God and at the same time fellowship with the things of the world, the flesh and the devil. Many want God to walk with them on their own terms, but that will not work. It is not God walking with us, but rather us walking with God!

2 Corinthians 6:16-17 says, "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

4.    Noah was a preacher of righteousness. (2 Peter 2:5)

Preachers can preach many things in order to be popular, but like Noah, the preachers of righteousness are not often popular. The only people who were saved through Noah's righteous' preaching were his own family! It is great that his own family was saved, but sad that his preaching of righteousness was so unpopular that no one else was saved. Was the fault with Noah's preaching? Was he just too righteous? I think not.

Jesus said at the conclusion of his sermon the Mount, which primarily dealt with righteous attitudes and conduct, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" Matthew 7:13-14. Christianity that turns a blind eye towards worldliness and fleshliness is broad and false. Does Jesus love sinners? Yes, a thousand times, yes. He loved them enough to die on a cruel, rugged cross, but He loves us even more if we will repent of all our sins and accept His loving gift of forgiveness, mercy and grace.

Let's all aim to have a righteousness like Noah's that will deliver us, no matter what judgments may fall upon the cities of our nations. May we aim to be just in all of our dealings with our fellowman. Let us remember that our righteous lives will influence the generations to come. Most important of all, may we learn in all our daily experiences in life to walk with God.

In our next message, we will look at Daniel's righteousness.

COLIN CAMPBELL

Colin will continue to give you biblical principles for preservation in difficult times. To receive these messages, send a blank email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Colin is the husband of Nancy Campbell, Editor of Above Rubies www.aboverubies.org

Colin can be contacted at 615 948 5958 for speaking engagements.

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