For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
As we hold forth the Word of life as true ministers of God's family, to this “perverse and crooked generation,” we must be blameless and harmless before those in whom we stand. There is no good in us except the good that God has done. He alone has transformed our sinful souls and He alone is the only one who enables through His precious Holy Ghost the blessing of standing before man blameless.
People are deserving of a true preacher and true believers who will stand before them, and proclaim that in Christ, there is hope! In Christ, there is freedom! In Christ, there is release from the bondage of BLAME to the liberty of BLAMELESSNESS! God alone can take the unworthy, stained, sinful soul and transform that soul pure, clean, white, holy and blameless. In Luke 1:6 we read:
Luke 1:6... And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
God will keep the hearts of His children. He enables us to walk in all His commandments and ordinances and be blameless!
The false Church indoctrinates its followers to believe that no one can stand before God blameless. This is false, wicked and untrue. What hopelessness Babylon offers to dear vulnerable souls. As God’s true ministers, we must allow Him to enable the message you give to be full of the grace of God, so much so, that man can see and believe that there is a God. People must see a God who does enable one to live above the cares and pleasures of this world.
When a minister stands before man, they should see a clear picture of mans worthlessness…and Gods grace. They should always be given a picture of the hope and assurance one has who stands alone in the redemption of Christ. They should never see a self righteous, pompous, prideful minister who can only offer empty words. There is no transformation in one’s soul when they believe upon the false word preached. They cannot stand before Christ blameless.
We must show this generation while we have time, that there is one righteous, clean and liberated way that God can enable one to live. There is a freedom in the true love of God. There is a grace that only comes from true repentance with Godly sorrow. This repentance produces one who is blameless before God and man, redeemed, clean, pure and holy, no matter what the world may believe. God’s word will never change; salvation and deliverance can be given now to any soul who dares to believe that God can keep them blameless before God and man!
Daniel is a very good example of living blameless before God and man. In Daniel 6:1-4 we read:
Daniel 6:1-4... It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
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.
It was very obvious to man that Daniel was no ordinary person. Daniel was faithful and blameless. Daniel had favour in the eyes of the King because there was no error or fault found in him. Daniel was a servant of God, and knew exactly how to handle the affairs of the kingdom. King Darius preferred Daniel above the presidents and princes of the kingdom because an excellent spirit was found in him!
The same expectation that was placed upon Daniel must also be upon the Minister of the word of God. God’s children are part of His Kingdom and we must do our utmost to maintain and esteem Gods saints above all else. In order to do this, we must be prayerful and diligent in all that we say and do .Daniel was a living example before the people of the Kingdom. He lived what he believed.
In Daniel 6:5-10 we read: 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. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. 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.
Regardless of the presidents and princes, Daniel continued to stand blameless before God and man. Daniel continued to esteem God and His word above everything else. Daniel continued to pray and commune with God. Daniel’s heart stayed steadfast and fixed upon the God of his salvation. Daniel remained humble and grateful to God for the circumstances and trusted God, in spite of the deceitful work of those around him.
Glory be to God! How this troubled world needs to see this clear picture of God’s saints now! How this “wicked and perverse generation” need to see blameless people upon this earth. Not fixed upon their worldly cares or consumed with the arrogance of this world. The world needs to see the people of God, who are living blameless in this sinful world. Only God’s people are empowered, by the Holy Ghost, to walk pure and blameless.
Arrogance and guile is found in the hearts of those who directly oppose the truth of God’s word. The princes and presidents were directly opposed to the God that Daniel loved and served. The desires of these men were earthly and wicked. There was no desire in their hearts to submit to the will of God. Their desires were selfish and carnal, wanting satisfaction only from the world rather than from God.
In Psalms 10:2 we read: Psalm 10:2-4 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
How plain is the word of God and how foolish to not see it so! These men were to pay a great price for opposing the God that Daniel loved and served. The accusations that they planned against Daniel came back to accuse them. The devil cannot accuse those who are blameless and stand pure and clean before the Lord.
In Daniel 6:15-17 we read: Daniel 6:15-17 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.
Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
As Ministers of God’s word, there would be much opposition who would try and separate us from the work of the Lord. Daniel was separated physically in the lions den. However Daniel was always separate in the spiritual. No matter what would happen to his body, the princes and presidents could not alter his spirit. They could not stop the supernatural God from the keeping of Daniel against any opposition….The world must see that we serve a God that enables us to endure through any circumstance regardless of the cost upon our lives. We are not aloof or unable to bear what we must to ensure the gospel is seen, living, in His ministers and saints. We are living, breathing vessels, for His use, not ours.
In Daniel 6:22-26 we read: Daniel 6:22-28 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. 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 stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his 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.
God enabled Daniel because “innocency” was found in him (verse 22). Innocence in the soul can only come from God’s transforming power upon a penitent soul. The soul of Daniel was pure and blameless. This is what the world must see. The Church is pure, blameless and without spot or wrinkle. There is no place in the family of God for those who oppose the truth of God’s word. Just as the lions’ den was shut and sealed. The word of God is sealed upon the heart of His children. Those who oppose, unless they come to their senses, will be damned forever. They will be forever separated, forever fallen! There is hope for the sinner today, for the fallen, but the condition is, they must come to God with Godly sorrow.
Paul states in 2 Cor 7:10: 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!
Praise the Lord, that as the Ministers of God we can proclaim and be living proof of the gracious workings of God…….
Philippians 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.
Daniel knew where he stood in God. This was evident to all those around him. I pray, as Ministers of the word of God, the evidence would be before your congregations that you are blameless before man and before God. I pray that you also would be fixed and set, selfless and secure…. for the sake of the gospel.