“. . . Supplement . . . Your Steadfastness with Godliness”
Date: October 26, 2014
Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 1:3-11
Introduction:
Asking questions of a text or passage of Scripture can be a very helpful
exercise. In fact, the monthly Bible Reading Plan that I prepare for those who
would like some guidance reading the Scriptures, or at present, in preparing for
and expanding on the messages I am bringing as a part of our emphasis on “What
is a disciple?” suggests that you ask some questions of the passages read.
Sometimes, however, it can make us look for something that isn’t there.
If I were to put up a number of words on a Power Point, and ask you what
the relation of the words to one another is, you would likely assume that there was
actually a relation, when, in fact, they could simply be random words with no
particular relation to one another.
We have been looking at 2 Peter 1:5-6 thus far, a series of things that Peter
tells us to make every effort to add to or supply along with out faith – “make every
effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and
knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness
with godliness – that’s where we are today – 7 and godliness with brotherly
affection, and brotherly affection with love.” So, is there a relationship or
rationale in the order of these words? Commentators are divided on that subject,
and it is not absolutely critical one way or another, I don’t suppose.
But I think there IS some relationship and order. It seems to me that “faith,”
which was at the very beginning of our Christian experience, is to be
supplemented with virtue or moral excellence in order that our lives begin to
reflect the character and will of God; and that virtue is to be supplemented with
knowledge of God and his will, so that we can continue to grow beyond that level
that we could originally pursue with our then limited understanding; and such
knowledge of God and of his will is to be supplemented with self-control, because
without self-control to guide and direct the application of that knowledge in our
lives, the knowledge itself would be useless; but self-control must be
supplemented by steadfastness or endurance lest it be like a mere flash of light in
the dark, temporary and soon gone; and now, steadfastness must be supplemented
with godliness.
So, what does that mean? How does godliness supplement those things
Peter has already mentioned?
But before we try to answer that question, let me say that I don’t think the
logical relationship of these words moves from first to last along a time-line: as
though one adds virtue or moral excellence to faith, and when that is all done, then
moves on to knowledge, and later to self-control. These are all aspects of growth
08~Supplement Steadfastness with Godliness, p 2
that are constantly interacting with each other, all of which are to be pursued all
the time. But it still seems to me that there is something of a logical order to how
they relate, an order that reflects the interaction of one with another.
The first four, besides “faith,” are things that could almost be said to a
morally-oriented non-Christian. But the last three put all of those in a particular
context: the first in relation to God – godliness; the second in relation to our
brothers and sisters in Christ – brotherly affection; and the third in relation to the
world in general – love. We’ll deal briefly with “godliness” today, and with
“brotherly affection” and “love” next week.
I.
What is “Godliness”?
That is a huge question to answer succinctly.
A.
One might say that Godliness is living all of life in proper
relationship to the true and living God. But let’s expand that a
little.
B.
Jerry Bridges has written a very fine book entitled “The Practice of
Godliness.” I would highly recommend it!
Between us, we probably know quite a number of Christians. But I
doubt that there are a great many that we would describe as genuinely
“godly.” Jerry Bridges is one that I would. He is now an elderly
man who has served with the Navigators for many years, and is the
author of a number of very good books, all worth reading.
Jerry Bridges defines “Godliness” as “devotion to God which
results in a life that is pleasing to him.” He says: “Godliness is
more than Christian character: It is Christian character that springs
from a devotion to God. But it is also true that devotion to God
always results in godly character.” (The Practice of Godliness, p 20)
He then develops that by defining or describing “devotion to God” as
including 1) the fear of God, understood as reverence and awe,
leading to adoration and love, 2) the love of God, fueled by a
knowledge of the Gospel and all that he has done for us in Christ, and
3) a desire for God, to know him and to have fellowship with him.
It would be hard to improve on that greatly.
08~Supplement Steadfastness with Godliness, p 3
C.
Another who has given a very good definition or description of
“Godliness” is an older Scottish minister, living in the 1st half of the
1800s – John Brown.
John Brown wrote: “To know and believe the truth respecting
God, to love, trust, fear, believe, obey God, to submit to and
worship Him, to seek and find happiness in Him, to be conformed
to Him, to maintain fellowship with Him, supremely to desire His
approbation [or approval], and steadily to seek the promotion of
His glory, habitually to think of Him, and to look on every thing
in its connection with Him – all this is included in godliness.” (2
Peter 1, p 96)
I think it is obvious from all those definitions or descriptions, that a “godly”
life is a life focused upon God throughout, in every area, all of life lived in
reference to God. It can hardly be put better than in the hymn we’ll sing as
a prayer at the end of the service: “Be Thou My Vision.”
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heav’n’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
In our WPC Vision statement we put it this way: “We exist to develop in
ourselves and others a passion for the glory of God and the preeminence of
Christ in all of life and in all the world.” And I often say that a “passion for
the glory of God” includes three things:
08~Supplement Steadfastness with Godliness, p 4
1)
2)
3)
II.
A passion to know God as the glorious being that he is,
A passion to glorify him by how we live, and
A passion to declare his glory to the nations
If that is what “Godliness” is in a general sense, how do we determine
what it is in detail, in specifics?
A.
Peter tells us in the verses immediately before our text: 3 His divine
power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and
excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very
great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the
world because of sinful desire.
That knowledge of God comes to us through his word revealed in the
Gospel – 1 Peter 1:22-25
B.
Paul makes that same point in 1 Corinthians 2:6-13 . . .
2 Timothy 3:10-17 – note vss 12 and then 14-17 – here Paul has in
view spelling out what a godly life is like
Titus 1:1 and then 2:11-14
C.
One of the old Puritan writers, George Swinnock, said: “Godliness is
a worshipping of the true God in heart and life, according to his
revealed will.” (The Works of George Swinnock, Vol 1, p 31)
“... according to his revealed will” – a very important matter. God
tells us both who he is and what he is like, and also declares his will
for how we live, in his Word.
D.
The ultimate example of Godliness is Jesus, who perfectly reflected
the image of his Father in his life, and who can testify: “I always do
the things pleasing to him” (John 8:29).
And, for that reason, it is the purpose of the Father that we become
like his Son, conformed to his image. His was a life lived wholly
unto his Father, so that he could say to his disciples: “Whoever has
seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
08~Supplement Steadfastness with Godliness, p 5
Of all people who have ever lived there has never been one who you
could say was more “godly” than Jesus, whose whole life was
consumed with a passion for the glory of God.
And when one reads passages like Galatians 5:22-23 – the fruit of the
Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience [or longsuffering], kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control – or Colossians 3:12ff
– 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13
bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another,
forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must
forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything
together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and
admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And
whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him – [when one
reads those] one knows that what he is reading is essentially that we
are to become like Christ, and so reflect the very image of God.
That is why in both Colossians 3, just before what I just read, and in
Ephesians 4, we are told that we have put on the new self [man],
which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator
(Col 3:10). In Ephesians 4:20-24, Paul, having told us not to live in
the manner of the unbelieving world, says: But that is not the way you
learned Christ! – 21 assuming that you have heard about him and
were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self,
which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through
deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24
and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true
righteousness and holiness.
III.
So, finally, how do we do that? How do we supplement our faith, virtue
or moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, and steadfastness with
godliness?
I only want to point one particular direction this morning, and perhaps next
week, and Wednesday evening of this week, we’ll develop it in other ways –
we’ll SUPPLEMENT what we say this morning with other things.
08~Supplement Steadfastness with Godliness, p 6
A.
Perhaps the best couple of passages to suggest how we supplement
the other qualities with GODLINESS are found in 1st and 2nd
Timothy:
Reading a little selectively, leaving out some phrases to zero in on my
point, 1 Timothy 4:7b-16 reads: “train yourself for godliness; 8 for
while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every
way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to
come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10
For to this end we toil and strive .... 12 Let no one despise you for your
youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love,
in faith, in purity.... Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,
so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself
and on the teaching.”
And then in what was likely Paul’s last letter, 2nd Timothy, Paul
exhorts Timothy: “You, [Timothy], have followed my teaching, my
conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my
steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that . . . I endured; . . .
12
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to
worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in
what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom
you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted
with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out
by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for
training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete,
equipped for every good work.”
B.
From these two passages, several quick points and our conclusion
1.
Train yourself for godliness – an athletic picture that makes the
point that we must devote ourselves whole-heartedly to the
development of godliness – Practice these things, immerse
yourself in them, so that all may see your progress . . .
2.
At the heart of what that involved is the right use of the
Scriptures. . .
Or, as Paul put it in Colossians, “let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly” . . .
08~Supplement Steadfastness with Godliness, p 7
Conclusion:
One of the major keys to the development of godliness, whether in terms of
becoming ever more like God in character, or living in a manner pleasing to him in
all of life, is spending time in the Word of God with those purposes in mind: to
become like Christ, and to order one’s life in accord with God’s will so as to
please him in all we do.
When Paul says, “train yourself for godliness,” he meant just that: like an
athlete devoting himself to the development of his body, committing time and
effort daily to that goal, so we must train for godliness by devoting ourselves to
that end. And at the heart of it is time in God’s Word, praying over it, meditating
on it, using it to renew our minds, to change and mold the way we think, and then
applying it to every area of life – seeking to live all of life unto God.
I don’t think you and I can ever be “godly” unless we devote time to God’s
Word, prayerfully, thoughtfully, carefully, diligently:
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.