Guidelines for the Godly Man

(For those called to a life of full consecration, obedience and service unto the Kingdom of God) THE CALLING OF THE MAN OF GOD: 1. The purpose of the man of God is to be God's man. As Adam bore a son in his own likeness and image, so the Christian man must conform to the image of the Father. This is the chief aim of His training. (Genesis 5:3) 2. The man of God reforms His life unto the likeness of the Father. The best way to do this is to compare oneself to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who Himself said: "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:5-14) 3. Therefore, the attitude of the Christian is that of Christ's on earth: "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do." This is the motive. (John 17:4) 4. Achieving to bring glory to God is entirely possible in every kind of situation, whether it is big or small, when with company or alone. It is, in fact, attainable in everything the Christian does. (1 Corinthians 10:31) 5. Each individual is also given specific tasks apart from these universal opportunities, in accordance with the Spirit, to bring forth fruit. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) 6. To one is given 1 talent, to another 5 talents, and to yet another 10 talents. "To whom much is given, much is required." Much has been given to the redeemed. (Deuteronomy 16:17) 7. Like a good soldier, the man of God must keep focused on the greater task of achieving the glory of God, placing that as the highest priority in life above self-gratifaction and personal goals. (Philippians 3:8) 8. The calling of the man of God will ultimately consume every ounce of his being, until the point where Christ wholly dwells in the Christian, and there is no man left to live. Then and only can one say: "In Him we live and move and have our being." This is the definition of God's man.(Galatians 2:20) THE SOLITARY PRACTISE OF THE MAN OF GOD: 9. The Christian must devote Himself to regular study of the Word and to prayer. These both must essentially be private, done for the eyes of none but God alone, and should not be boasted of or mentioned unneccessarily in public, unless for the the cause of edification. (Matthew 6:1) 10. As said above, regularity is vital for these practises to be effective. The private reading of the Word is best done in the early morning, well before common disturbances and distractions of life, and best enhances your day and service for the Lord therein. "Give us this day our daily bread" is of no use at the end of the day. (Matthew 6:11) 11. Likewise, prayer is most effective in the early morning, wherefore you may commit your day to the Lord and seek His blessing and provision. Commonly, after a season of Bible reading does prayer become best directed. Also, the Lord has added His blessing to morning prayer: (Psalm 5:3) 12. The man of God will pray all during the day. In everything, by prayer and supplication, will He conduct Himself in the world, which benefits not only the focus of the mind on the Kingdom of God, but lays hold of the promise of God: who makes the paths straight if we would but acknowledge Him in all we do. (Psalm 55:17) 13. In the same way, the man of God should never be without a Bible in any circumstance. If there is any time of idleness, the Christian can be prepared to invest that time wisely in the Scriptures, which acts as water to the roots of soul. (Psalm 1:2-3) 14. The Christian must always be aware of his being observed by God in every word, thought and deed. He must behave alone in the same way He would as if others were present. An action must never be committed if it were not acceptable to commit in the presence of others. And He who is greater than all is forever present. (Proverbs 15:3) 15. Therefore, the man of God must never whisper a thing in secret that could not be loudly proclaimed from a rooftop. There must never pass a thought or word through his body that can not be appropriately heard in the hearing of all. (Proverbs 10:11) 16. The man of God must be soundly above reproach in all manner of life. It must never be thought that any misdeeds are ever committed by the Christian in private, so careful attention to one's behavior, surroundings and company are absolutely critical. (Philippians 1:27) 17. It is a common fact that most Christians are polite and pleasant in the public eye but are deceptively the opposite in the home when in relation with the family. Shame! This should never be true of God's man, who's character is defined by love, which is God, for every creature. (1 John 3:14) 18. And so in keeping with this state of private uprightness, the Christian abides with Christ, in the secret place, being constantly renewed by the life of the vine, which is the Holy Spirit, and is continually filled and ready for every good deed. (2 Timothy 2:21) 19. It must be known that the private life of the Christian is of far more incomparable importance than that of the public reputation. The latter means nothing if the former is neglected. (Matthew 23:25-26) THE PUBLIC PRACTISE OF THE MAN OF GOD: 20. The whole aim of the public Christian is to literally represent God on earth. It has been said: "We are ambassadors for Christ", but this is to be understood far more seriously than has been in the past. Moses' great sin which cost him entrance into the Promised Land was that he did not "sanctify the Lord in the eyes of the people." There is much erroneous talk of sanctification, but what sanctification actually does is it sanctifies, not us, but the LORD in the earth sight. There is a critical difference. If we do not represent a holy God to this world, then the world will not believe in a holy God. God is only as holy to the world as the Church is holy. (Isaiah 29:23) 21. Therefore the Christian's aim is to disclose to the world the qualities of God that it lacks, namely, the fruit of Spirit which was lost in the Garden. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. "Against such things there is no law." (Matthew 5:16) 22. The benefits of bearing such fruit is manifold: (a) It brings great delight to the Father; (b) It fulfills the mandate of the Christian; (c) It points a darkened world towards the light; and (d) It floods the soul with inexpressible peace. (Psalm 103:2) 23. Just as the man of God is above reproach in the private life, so must he be utterly above reproach in the public eye. This is absolutely essential if the Christian is going to maintain his witness for Christ. If the man of God is to be publically proclaiming the gospel (which will be discussed shortly), then the life of the evangelist can be nothing less than what is in accordance with the gospel. In this way no man can discredit the Christian or the message. (1 Peter 3:16) 24. Therefore, this includes all manner of indirect sanctification, in which men might observe the Christian without actually ever speaking with him. Indirect sanctification is just as, if not more, important than directly communicating with any person, for it reveals more accurately and quickly what is in the heart of the Christian. (Luke 6:45) 25. In addressing indirect sanctification, we deal with: (a) The presentation of the body; (b) The presentation of speech; (c) The presentation of environment; (d) The presentation of company; and (e) The presentation of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 8:9) 26. The presentation of the body is how the man of God presents Christ to the world by means of clothing, accessories and bodily behavior. The Christian who preaches the gospel cannot and will not adorn himself with decoration of any kind other than the adorning of good deeds and true godliness (which is of great value in God's sight). It is a sin for the man of God to spend the Lord's wealth in the pursuit of vanity of any kind. The adoption of gold and silver to the body is not only morally wrong but serves as a hindrance to the Kingdom of God, as the world will accuse the Christians of wasting money and not taking the gospel of Christ seriously. (1 Peter 3:3-4) 27. In the same way, the Christian has no other option but to dress modestly and plainly, so as not to draw attention to the flesh in any way. Anything beyond this can only be vanity, and serves as a stumblingblock to others. We are not to dress immorally, which is the way the world accepts. (Romans 12:1-2) 28. There must not be excessive ownership of clothes. (Luke 3:11) 29. The man of God should keep himself in the best form he can, without sacrificing the work of God for the work of physical exercise. He should never be a glutton but learn the discipline of proper eating habits, as well as fasting and self-control (not given to excessive sweets). (1 Timothy 4:8) 30. The man of God must not tattoo himself. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and if any marks must be borne upon the body let them be the marks of Christ, which is suffering for the sake of the gospel. (Leviticus 19:28) 31. The manner in which the man of God upholds himself will be in accordance with his private life. A life of sin will lead to a fallen composure, without joy and victory, but a life of abiding will bring with it the presence of God. (Genesis 4:6) 33. The goal of the body is to alleviate the focus away from the Christian and onto Christ Jesus, which can be done effectively if one so desires. (John 3:30) 34. The presentation of speech pertains to what you say and what you speak of. Much the same as in private, all conversations of the man of God must be "seasoned with salt", meaning: edifying, pure and above reproach. Indirect speech involves others listening to you without you being aware of it. (Proverbs 8:8) 35. The man of God must stay away from silly and unfruitful talk which amounts to nothing, but rather leads to sin. He must be always encouraging, always building up, never swearing, never gossiping, never tearing down. To have, unceasingly, praise and worship on his lips to the Lord. (James 3:11) 36. He must be slow to speak and not given to a multitude of words, which, as noted above, leads to sin. (Proverbs 10:19) 37. Being mindful of this: that by our words we shall be judged. (Matthew 12:37) 38. The presentation of environment is the places where others see the man of God. A bar or club is no place for the Christian, for the reputation of these places are immoral. The Christian must be willing to die to self in all areas of his life, sacrificing self-pleasure for the glory of God (see 7). (Psalm 1:1) 39. This cutting away from immoral environments does not include restraining the work of evangelism in these locations. There is an expansive difference between attending a place of debauchery for the sake of indulgence than for the sake of the lost. (Mark 2:16-17) 40. In all this, the Christian must use discretion as to which place is acceptable to attend or not. (Luke 12:57) 41. The presentation of company is who the man of God regularily associates himself with. The Christian's first priority is to let others know he is associated with Jesus Christ and the Kindgom of Heaven. As a citizen of heaven, he will gather together with those of like mind and faith, with the one purpose of bringing glory to the Son. It becomes increasingly confusing to the unbeliever when you are associated with others of peculiar doctrines. The gospel will not be clear to the sinner if those hearing the message then see you fellowshipping with a cult or an opposing body. Our borders must be clear. (Acts 2:44) 42. To associate with bad company will undoubtably blemish the character of the Christian. If not right away, it shall in due time. (1 Corinthians 15:33) 43. The finding of Christian fellowship is three-fold: (a) It edifies the believer; (b) It allows the Christian to edify others; and (c) The Lord promises to be in the midst of the gathered believers. (Matthew 18:20) 44. Lastly, the presentation of Christ is the chief aim of public practise. As stated above (20), God's man sanctifies the Lord in the eyes of the people and fulfills the mandate of being Christ's ambassador. (2 Corinthians 5:20) 45. By presenting our body, speech, environment and company to the world, we present Christ indirectly through the observation of the sinner. Thus, we stand out from the world as Christians. (John 17:15-16)