Last week we spoke of the doctrine of assurance
and its relationship with godliness. This week
we speak of the doctrine of perseverance and
its relationship with godliness in the life of
the believer. Now I think it's important... Sometimes
when we're doing consecutive exposition and we're
honing down on single verses or a couple verses
here and there, it's important that we remind
ourselves of the surrounding context and that
we remember the reason that Peter is writing,
what he's addressing, the issues he's dealing
with. So there's a few things I think it's important
that we remind ourselves of this morning. as
we focus on verse 10, where Peter says, Therefore,
brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain
about his calling and choosing you. And then
here's the part of the verse we're going to focus
on today. For as long as you practice these things,
you will never stumble. So before we jump into
that text, let's remind ourselves of a few things.
with reference to what Peter is addressing in
the life of the church in 2 Peter. He's writing
to address specific issues that the church was
facing. We have to remind ourselves of the dangers
that Peter's recipients faced. There was real
threats to the church in Peter's letter. There
were real threats to the church that Peter was
writing to. And one of the biggest threats, the
most significant threats that Peter was writing
to address was this, false teachers. We read
in chapter 2, verse 1, but false prophets also
arose among the people, just as there will also
be false teachers among you. Seemingly, many
of these false teachers, were professing Christians
who had departed or fallen away from the Christian
faith. We read in 2 Peter 2, verses 14 -15, having
eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin,
enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained
in greed, accursed children, forsaking the right
way. They have gone astray, having followed the
way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the
wages of unrighteousness. They've forsaken the
faith. They've departed the faith. And he goes
on, and he says a little bit later in verses
20 -22. For if after they have escaped the defilements
of the world by the knowledge of the Lord, by
the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
they are again entangled in them and overcome
the last... has become worse for them than the
first. For it would be better for them not to
have known the way of righteousness than having
known it to turn away from the holy commandment
handed on to them. It has happened to them, according
to the true proverb, a dog returns to its own
vomit, and a sow, after washing, returns to wallowing
in the mire. The church was witnessing these
events take place. False teachers were a danger
to Peter's recipients. They were exploiting the
people of God. We see this in 2 Peter 2 .3. They
were introducing destructive heresies. They were
enticing unstable souls. We see this in 2 .14.
They were enticing by fleshly desires, by sensuality,
those who barely escape from those who live in
error in 2 .18. They were promising freedom in
and through iniquity and sin. They were saying,
come and enjoy true freedom. Come and know what
it really means to be free. And how were they
doing this? By promising them. By promising them
pleasure. By promising them transgressions and
iniquity. In addition to this, they were mocking
true godliness and true faithfulness in the life
of believers. We read in 2 Peter 3. Know this,
first of all, that in the last day mockers will
come with their mocking, following after their
own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of
his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep,
all continues just as it was from the beginning
of creation. Why are you being faithful? Why
are you seeking after godliness and holiness
in your life? Why are you so committed and diligent
to the Lord Jesus Christ? Nothing's changed.
He's not coming back. Where is the coming of
your Lord, your so -called master, the so -called
one that died for you? They're mocking the gospel
and they're mocking faithfulness. I think we
can all see. the dangers that were facing Peter's
recipients. They were experiencing onslaught
of temptation, trial, seduction, allurement,
and pressure from these carnal, worldly, wicked
men and women around them that were pressuring
them. There was a world all around them that
was huddling around them and pressuring them
and applying this pressure to... They wanted
true saints to join in their filth. They wanted
those whom Christ died for to participate with
them in their sinful deeds. Now, we see the danger,
but it was even more than this. Peter's addressing
the fact that these... False teachers are aiming
their temptations at the church. The reality
that they are strategically aiming them at those
who are weak and vulnerable in the body. They
were being presented and proposed. They were
dangling these realities in front of the weak,
the struggling, and the vulnerable of the church.
Notice in... 2 .13. Peter says this. As they
carouse with you. Meaning. These folks are among
the people of God. These folks are with the people
of God. They are fellowshipping with them. They
are feasting with them. They've departed. But
they remain. They've gone out. They've forsaken
the faith. But they're still. with the church.
We see in verse 18 that Peter says, we see in
2 .14, Peter refers to enticing unstable souls.
So these false teachers are going after not the
strong in faith, but those who are unstable in
their faith. Those who are weak. Those who are
vulnerable. We read in verse 18, Those who barely
escape from the ones who live in error. They
were targeting those in the church who are struggling
with issues in their own lives. They're targeting
those in the church who are wrestling with matters
in their own hearts. There were wolves seeking
to devour Christ's lambs in the people of God.
They wanted to bite them. They wanted to devour
them. They wanted to maul them for their own
purposes, their own plans, their own pleasure,
and their own agendas. We see these dangers.
And brothers and sisters, the first thing I think
is that there is no better argument in the Bible
for solid biblical church membership than this.
We need... Solid church membership. Churches
need it, brothers and sisters. They have to embrace
it. We have to recognize, brothers and sisters,
that we are called as the church to love brothers
and sisters in Christ. We are called and commanded
to love brothers and sisters in Christ. We are
called and commanded in the Word of God to love
non -believers who do not know the faith. Who
do not know Christ by faith and repentance. And
we are called to love those around us. But listen
brothers and sisters. We have to treat church
members as church members. And non -church members
as non -church members. Do you know why? Because
church membership is the first means of defense
against wolves that want to hurt the church of
God. It is vitally. Important. People who are
not members of this church have not covenanted
to walk in holiness with you at this body. They
have not submitted themselves to the headship
of Christ as expressed in the leadership of this
body. They don't have teeth. In the game, you
could say, there's no way of holding them accountable.
Brothers and sisters, this is why it's so vitally
important that members be treated as members.
And we love non -members, as Christians, as brothers
and sisters in Christ. But we don't offer and
give all the privileges and all the blessings
of that membership to those individuals. Because
membership is meaningful and important, brothers
and sisters. It's meant for the health, the vitality,
the protection of God's people. It's meant to
protect the souls of the saints. who have covenanted
to worship here and to protect the purity of
the people of God, that they might worship the
one true living God as a pure and a holy people.
This is why it's so vitally important. We are
thankful and blessed that there are non -members
and non -believers in our midst. But brothers
and sisters, we can love non -members. Without
giving membership to them until they join the
church. Peter is giving us a great basis and
a great reason to value church membership. He's
giving us a great reason to value the church.
Now, we can see how these dangers would impact.
the Christians there in that place. These threats,
these hardships, we can see how they would affect
and influence the souls of the saints that Peter
is writing to. We can imagine that as the church
witnessed and underwent this deluge of trial
and temptation with these false teachers, the
difficulty that this brought about in their own
souls. the hardship and the trial, the conflict
that it brought about in them. We read in 2 Peter,
where Peter's referencing Lot. Listen to his
description concerning Lot. He says, For by what
he saw and heard, that righteous man, while living
among them, felt his righteous soul tormented.
Day after day by their lawless deeds. The dangers
around Lot, the pressures around Lot, the temptations
and the trials around Lot. What was it doing
to Lot's soul? It was producing turmoil. It was
tormenting him. It was tearing him up. Because
he was witnessing lawlessness to his left and
lawlessness. to his right. They were being confronted
with inner conflict because of the pressures
outside of them. They were tormented in their
souls because of the pull of immorality around
them. They were struggling and wrestling continually
because of the temptations in front of them and
being laid at their feet. Some, I'm sure, were
led to hopelessness and despair as a result of
some of this. Others seemingly were led to instability
and lack of steadfastness or neglect or complacency
and carnality and uselessness in the Christian
life. We see this throughout the first chapter
of 2 Peter. I'm sure that many of them are questioning
themselves. asking, how do I know I'm saved?
Or how do I know I won't fall away one day like
those teachers did? How do I know that I won't
forsake the faith as so many around me have?
How can I endure to the end? Some of us, quite
possibly, have asked these similar questions
in recent days as notable Christian leaders have
fallen off of their ministries. As we've seen,
men and women depart, potentially, from the faith
or from faithfulness or from ministry because
of sin and transgression in their lives. Many
of us, I'm sure, have been led to ask the questions.
What if I stumble and fall into deep, gravest
sin? Or, if it has happened to them, can't it
happen to me? If it's happened to him or her,
what's keeping me from doing the same thing?
Peter recognizes and he understands, brothers
and sisters, That dangers and sin outside of
the Christian have the potential to harm the
Christian's soul. Now, this is what Peter is
addressing. These questions, these doubts, these
struggles, this inner turmoil, this instability
in the life of believers. He's dealing with the
saints to encourage them and give them hope.
with regards to the future of their salvation,
and in the face of great trial and difficulty.
But he's also writing to impress it upon their
hearts and their minds the significance of a
diligent pursuit of a life of godliness. So let's
consider Peter's presentation of perseverance
to his readers. Peter says, for as long as you
practice these things, you will never stumble.
We know from Scripture that salvation is by grace.
It's clear. It's unmistakable throughout the
pages of Scripture, and we see this clearly in
2 Peter 1. Peter stated earlier that we, Christians,
have received a faith of the same kind. Meaning,
God has graciously provided us with faith that
lays hold of all the same blessings and all the
same privileges, which is Christ and everything
that comes from the gospel. He's given every
Christian the same kind of faith that receives
the same benefits and the same blessings. That's
grace, brothers and sisters. We have seen that
God's divine power has granted us everything
pertaining to life and godliness in verse 3.
So if an individual enjoys godliness, if an individual
enjoys the work of grace in their souls, what's
the basis of that? What's the ground which that
it grows in? Brothers and sisters, that's gracious
ground. That's the ground that God has given.
It's provided by His divine power and provision
by grace. God has given these things to us. We
have seen that He has granted us His precious
and magnificent promises in verse 4. It is by
these blessed promises, not reward for merit,
but promises. That God himself is freely made
to his people and given to his people. It's by
these promises that we are conformed to the moral
likeness of God. We are made partakers of the
divine nature. This means, brothers and sisters,
listen, godliness is of grace. Godliness, assurance,
perseverance, eternal life. Where does it find
its source for the believer? God. It's grace.
It's from Him. The ground upon which godliness
and holiness are nurtured is ground purchased
by the free grace of God in Jesus Christ. If
we enjoy these realities, It's because God has
been gracious. We've seen in verse 10 that his
calling and election are what we are to diligently
make certain of in our lives. These two blessed,
unconditional, unchanging works of God. That's
grace, brothers and sisters. That's the work
of God. So when we read, for as long as you practice
these things, you will never stumble. Peter is
not teaching us that we are saved by our own
works. He is not teaching us that it's by merit.
He is not teaching us that we earn heaven and
that we further our salvation. What is he teaching
us? Well, what else is clear in Peter, in 2 Peter?
is not just the gracious basis for godliness
and perseverance and assurance and all of these
blessed realities, but it's also clear that grace
is powerful and effective. That grace is productive
and brings about transformation in the life of
the believer. It has results that always manifest
themselves. It works in the life of believers.
God's grace provides men and makes men and gives
men the ability to obey and carry out their responsibilities
and duties in the pursuit of Jesus Christ on
the grounds of grace. Hence, the reality of godliness,
holiness, usefulness, and fruitfulness and assurance,
hence the reality of perseverance. It is the
gracious preservation and work of God which enables
and empowers the saint to persevere and endure
in this life. Peter is not teaching, and we have
to be clear about this, he is not teaching that
we are saved future and finally or justified
by our work, by our effort, our godliness, or
our own perseverance. Peter is demonstrating
That those who do persevere in practicing godliness
over the course of their lives have experienced
a saving work of grace in their lives. They are
proving, they are demonstrating, they are trying,
they are manifesting that God has, in fact, called
them and chosen them by His sovereign will. This
is what godliness is. This is what perseverance
is. It's not us furthering our salvation by our
own effort and our own work. There's a gracious
basis for everything in the Christian life, brothers
and sisters. Everything. Every good and blessed
thing that we enjoy as a result of Christ, it's
the result of grace. Every blessed and wonderful
time we have the motions of the Spirit in our
soul. Every blessed time we move toward Christ.
What's the basis? Grace. Brothers and sisters,
every good work that we perform and we offer
up to God, every sacrifice we make, what's the
basis of it? Grace. The grace of God. not our
own merit, our own worth, or our own goodness.
Peter is clear about this in his letter. So what
is Peter teaching us about perseverance in this
text? He is teaching us that perseverance affords
the believer or the saint stability in life.
The word stumble can mean several different things.
It can mean sin. It can mean apostasy, to fully
and finally depart from the faith. Or it can
mean misfortune, ruin, or disaster. Now, some
translations include the word sin in this sentence
or in this phrase. But it's important to recognize
the word sin is not present in this text right
here. Peter's using the word stumble. Considering
the context, I believe that Peter is teaching
that saints who apply themselves to diligently
pursuing a godly life are afforded a life of
stability free from grievous, overt, disastrous,
life -ruining sin. Now, he's not teaching perfectionism.
The Bible has nothing to do with that. He's not
teaching that the Christian or that Christians
can be free of sin. There is always a remnant
of sin in the believer until we go to be with
the Lord. But he is teaching that it is possible
for believers to live free of besetting sin.
He is teaching that it's possible. for believers
to live in such a way and to enjoy steadfastness
in the truth, a life of balance, a life of consistency,
a life of contentment and satisfaction in Jesus
Christ. Brothers and sisters, a Christian can
never be free of sin in this life, but a Christian
can be free of overt, outward, grievous sin that
destroys their life, brings shame on Christ,
There are degrees of sin. Everybody needs to
understand that. Some sins are much more heinous
than other sins. Just as there is degrees of
punishment in hell, brothers and sisters, which
demonstrates and proves degrees of sin and transgression,
there are degrees of reward. and eternity for
the work of the saint as a believer and a member
of the kingdom of the living God. It goes both
ways. The believer does not have to be unstable
in this life. The believer doesn't have to be
off -kilter the whole of their course in this
world. We don't have to be one who barely escapes
from the ones who live in error. Paul, in 1 Corinthians
3, talks about the foundation in Christ and work
on the foundation, and he's talking about believers.
And he refers to one, he says, the man will be
saved, but it will be as... Through fire. He's
talking about a believer. He's talking about
a Christian that's going to eternal life, brothers
and sisters. The believer in Jesus Christ can
live a steadfast life in the truth of God's word.
Brothers and sisters, when you consider your
times of weakness, Your times of instability,
transgression, lingering frustration and bitterness,
hardness of heart, unbelief, lack of power, lack
of vitality, lack of joy, lack of contentment,
and lack of desire for God. I dare say that there's
almost always a correlation between that and
neglect. of a diligent pursuit of godliness in
your life. Consider your life. Consider how you
live before God. Is there a correlation between
the neglect of godliness and the means of grace
in your life and the low points and the instability
and the bitterness and the anger and the frustration
and the hardness of heart? But now consider your
life, brothers and sisters. Lay your life before
the living God. What about those times where
you feel as though you could raise your fist
and say, bring on what you will? What about those
times where you feel as though you're on the
heights of a mountain and you could face anything
because of your Lord and your Savior who stands
at your side? Were you neglecting grace? Were
you neglecting the Word of God? Were you neglecting
prayer? Were you neglecting the church of the
living God? Brothers and sisters, God has made
a world of means. We have to understand that.
And we live in a world of means. We are people
of means. If we choose not to utilize the means
that God has given to grow in grace, to grow
in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
will not grow as we ought to grow in grace. God
has given us means to grow. Lay hold of those
means and get back to the top of the mountain
with assurance, power, boldness, and certainty.
What's the path? What's the path up the mountain?
Godliness. It's holiness. It's the way of righteousness.
It's the ancient paths that Jeremiah spoke about.
We walk that ancient path. That's the means forward.
Perseverance provides and affords the believer
stability and firmness and steadfastness in this
life, in their soul, in their heart, and regardless
of circumstances. They can possess and enjoy
this regardless of what's taking place in their
life or around them. Is that not a great encouragement
to seek a settled, consistent life of godly living?
To enjoy these great blessings that God has given
us by His grace? So Peter is teaching that perseverance
affords the saints stability, but Peter is also
teaching, and he's not just teaching stability.
He's also teaching. that true saints will fully
and finally persevere in this life. Every single
one. The true Christian, the genuine believer,
brothers and sisters, will never fall away. That's
an absolute statement. I can say that with 100
% certainty because that is what the Word of
God teaches. The true believer will never...
Fully forsake the faith. Though. They can fall
into sin. Though. The true saint will never forsake
the faith. They can get off the path. And come
back the hard way. In the end. Because of God's
grace and his mercy. The believer who has experienced
the grace of God. Will endure. To the end. We
read elsewhere in Jude. Now to him who is able.
To keep you from stumbling. And to make you stand.
In the presence of his glory. Blameless. With
great joy. The believer perseveres. Not because
of their work. In perseverance. But because of
the grace of God. Which sustains them. And energizes
them. and propels them forward. But they will
persevere. From the time of one's calling and
regeneration to the time of one's death at the
end of their life, the saint will make progress.
And they will be renewed progressively by the
Spirit of God. They will never stumble out of
the faith. Because of him who is able to keep
you in the faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
possible, brothers and sisters, for the believer
to be confident and certain of this reality.
To know this reality. This is going back to what
we spoke of last week with assurance. You can
know that you are not going to apostatize. You
can know with certainty that you are never going
to leave the faith because you can have a divine
and supernatural assurance of God that you are
in possession of these realities. You can know
that though life is going to be difficult and
hard and though we're going to have struggles
and difficulties, we are going to persevere to
the end and we are going to bring honor and glory
to our Lord at our death. because assurance is
possible, just as perseverance is guaranteed
for the believer. So what does Peter say about
perseverance, assurance, and godliness? Because
he says, as long as you practice these things.
Last week we considered the reality that saints
are duty -bound to pursue assurance. In their
life. A certain sure. Conscious knowledge. Of
eternal. Realities. That you know Christ. And
that Christ. Knows you and loves you. In absolute
certainty. That you are in. A state. Of saving
grace. In this text. Peter is linking. One's
perseverance in life. You will never stumble.
In verse 10. He's linking perseverance. To practical
godliness. As long as you practice these things.
But he's taking both of those brothers and sisters.
And he's linking them to assurance. So he says.
For. At the beginning of this section. for as
long as you practice these things. He's connecting
it back to making our calling and election sure.
He's bringing us back into the realm of assurance.
Peter is saying that the diligent pursuit of
practical godliness in one's life is a primary
means of strengthening one's assurance of salvation.
Or we could say it another way. I think this
makes it a little bit more clear in our minds
what we're talking about. Those who continue
to persevere and walk in holiness and godliness
in this life can be certain of God's calling
and election of them. They can in fact have great
hope for the future of their souls. They can
have great confidence for their own souls and
the holiness of life that they can have in the
future. Because these testify of God's grace
actively working in them. As godliness is enjoyed
and exercised and sought out, we also enjoy the
grace of God at work in us to provide and produce
and to work alongside of these realities. So
when we know godliness in our lives, brothers
and sisters, what else can we know? God's grace
actively working in and through us. Consider
the dangers. Once again, That the readers were
facing. These things that were taking place around
them. What they were seeing. What they were witnessing.
The struggles and the difficulties that were
brought about. In their souls. The turmoil that
was induced in their souls. Now for Peter. What
is the solution? For Peter. What is it. That
we must give ourselves to. For stability, steadfastness,
strength, assurance of life and eternal realities.
What is the solution for Peter? It is to walk
in a more settled godliness and a stronger and
more thorough holiness of life. Because as the
saint continues, To enjoy and experience godliness
that they continue to derive comfort, peace,
satisfaction, hope, joy from their assurance
of salvation. As the saint grows more certain
of the truthfulness and the reality of heaven,
brothers and sisters, do you know what happens
to their gaze and their focus in this world?
Do you know what happens to the glimmer and the
gleam of the things of this world as our assurance
of eternal realities becomes more and more certain?
The things in this world, their glitter and their
gleam, they start to diminish. They start to
get little. They start to become less appealing
because as our assurance is strengthened and
bolstered, these realities become greater. more
worthy, more valuable, those things which we
ought to pursue and seek out. As the truthfulness
of heaven, hell, sin, redemption, the work of
Christ, and one's own union with the Lord Jesus
Christ, what happens to the temptations in front
of us? They start to shrink. and grow smaller
and grow dim. As one grows in their certainty
of who Christ is, their doubt concerning His
ability to sustain them in this life starts to
fade away. Do you know, the more you come to
know who Christ is, the more you will trust Him?
Because you will start to think and start to
see the reality that He is good, He is faithful,
He is merciful, and He is sovereign, and He is
able to save to the uttermost, brothers and sisters.
And as your gaze is set upon that, and as your
assurance of salvation in those realities increases
and grows and expands, your confidence and your
faith in Him. grows stronger. The more certain
you are of Christ's work on the cross, the less
likely you are to despair of hopelessness and
your own strength. You know why? Because as you
start to see the excellence and the perfection
of his righteousness, you start to realize how
pathetic your own is. As you see how perfect
His holiness and His life and His obedience to
the law of God is, you start to realize, brothers
and sisters, that that's the only way that you're
ever going to be saved. And you have to trust
that and that alone for eternal life. For standing
with God. It drives you to Christ. It shows us
the weakness and the inability of carnality works
in the flesh. And it increases his ability, his
strength, and his might. Once we get our eyes
off of ourselves a lot of times and get our eyes
on the Christ, a lot of our solutions, a lot
of our problems, start to get resolved real quickly.
As we look to him. We begin to recognize that
our standing with God, our usefulness in life,
our effectiveness as parents, as brothers and
sisters in Christ, as ministers of the gospel,
as Christians, brothers and sisters, it's all
of Him. It's all dependent on Him. What happens
when our assurance grows and increases? with
regards to the holiness and the character of
God. What does that do to the allurements? What
does that do to the appeal of pleasure and worldly
and carnal things? When we grow more certain
and more sure of the holy character of God, what
happens to us? When sin is set right in front
of us, and the believer is given the opportunity
to lay hold of it, to sink their teeth into it,
and enjoy the moment. But God is holy. God is
righteous. God is good. He has no sin in Himself.
What happens to the believer? We don't want to
sin because we know God is holy. We want to reject
that because we want to please Him. Brothers
and sisters, we start to realize as the love
of God grows more certain in our hearts that
His providences are not for evil. We can endure.
We can stand. We can be sure. We can be steadfast
in the midst of difficulty and hardship because
we know His love is set upon us. And that these
things which are hard and difficult and trying,
they're for our good. We are less inclined to
certain things as our assurance grows and is
strengthened. We must do the work of holiness
and godliness in our lives, brothers and sisters,
that we might derive comfort from assurance of
salvation. Peter is straightforward in this text.
He says, That it's the practice of these things
by which we gain this comfort. We've seen already
that Peter is very, very straightforward and
he's very, very practical with regards to how
he speaks and how he addresses issues in the
life of the church. I'm reminded of... Philippians
2, 12 -13 So then, my beloved, just as you have
always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but
now much more in my absence, work out your salvation
with fear and trembling. For it is God who is
at work in you, both to will and to work for
His good pleasure. This is what Peter means by
practice. This is what Peter means by practice
these things. True godliness is practical godliness.
It affects and impacts our lives and the way
we live. It means... Implement, carry out, and
apply to one's life. It means to have follow
-through, brothers and sisters, with regards
to conviction in our lives. True godliness is
always practical, so it's really important that
the believer understand what it means to practice
these things, these characteristics, these traits
of godliness that we've been examining. What
I mean is this. What I want to share briefly
here is this. There are several hindrances to
practical godliness. But there's also many helps
for practical godliness in the life of the believer.
Some hindrances to practicing these things, and
some of the main reasons, I think, is superficiality
and shallowness regarding... Godliness. What
I mean by this, brothers and sisters, is that
believers are often so busy, so distracted, or
so focused that they never take the time to deal
with the deep issues of life. They never take
the time to deal with the deep issues of their
heart that they know they have. that they know
are present, but because of the busyness of life,
they don't take the time to deal with them. For
example, how many people have been in worship?
They've been participating in the worship of
God. They've come under the conviction of sin.
The Spirit of God is working on their heart.
The Spirit of God is shining His divine illumination
into their hearts and their minds to help them
understand they need to repent of this sin. They
need to turn their ways. They need to change
this. They need to start doing this. They need
to reconcile. They need to repent. They need
to do any number of things. They sit under that.
They experience that. They have that in their
heart and in their mind. And they sing the last
song. The worship of God finishes. And immediately,
they rush over to start socializing. The issue's
still there. But there's no follow -through.
The issue's actually completely neglected and
overlooked, and it's never dealt with. That's
superficial Christianity. That's shallow godliness,
brothers and sisters. Listen, I'm guilty of the
same thing. Every one of us is guilty of the
same thing. If God is working on our hearts,
practical godliness demands, brothers and sisters,
that we deal with the issue, that we address
the issue, that we work it out. We must implement
the work and the desires and the will that God
is working in us. Or we could think of others
who know that they are neglecting the means of
grace. They're neglecting the Word of God and
prayer. The meditation of the Scriptures, they're
neglecting to walk with God. They know it and
they're conscious of it. They're aware of it.
And they understand that these are shortcomings
in their life. But they don't deal with the issues
because there's more pressing matters. There's
more urgent things to deal with in that moment.
There's things which have to be taken care of.
There's things which have to be dealt with. in
that moment, at that time. There's greater pressures
and there's greater pulls on our soul and on
our hearts and on our lives to deal with these
matters, but not these matters. That's superficial,
shallow godliness. The Word of God requires us
to deal with the issues in our hearts. Godliness
is skin deep oftentimes, brothers and sisters,
because everything else in our life is so deep
in our soul. The reason we don't deal with the
deep issues of our life, brothers and sisters,
oftentimes because we're so concerned with the
lesser significant realities of this life and
of this world. For godliness to be practical,
there must be Follow through. With regards to
conviction of sin. And issues of the heart. This
means. That brothers and sisters. Take care.
Of the thing that's pricking you. Deal with the
problem in your soul. Pray and go to the throne
of grace. Don't get distracted. Don't lose your
focus. It means. Stay in the pew. Pray to God.
Deal with the issue in your heart if you have
to. It means don't talk to somebody if that's
what it requires. Go home. Get by your bed. Pray
to God. Wrestle with Him. Deal with Him. Take
care of the issue. It means going to a person
and talking to them even if it's awkward and
hard. Go to the person and talk to them even
if it's hard. Deal with the issue. Deal with
the heart problem. If it means confessing sin,
repenting of sin, confess the sin, and repent
of the sin, act. That is practical godliness.
If you have to shut yourself in a room with the
word of God and refuse to come out until you
have been reconciled to your maker, then do it.
True godliness requires wrestling with ourselves
and wrestling with God and ending where we submit
to him. That's how we make progress in the Christian
life. It requires time. And that is a precious
commodity. Brothers and sisters, godliness requires
time. Now there's another aspect that can be
a hindrance. Not just superficial Christianity.
Many are hindered from practicing these things
because they incorrectly see godliness as a part
of their life. They understand that you have
to read your Bible. You have to say your prayers.
You should probably go to church. But then you
move on with that and you go on your day and
you do what you have to do. You live your life
and you don't really think about the scriptures.
You don't pray as you go. You don't pray in the
spirit. You focus on what's in front of you.
You deal with the issues of your life. We don't
consider it. We move on and we live our life.
And it doesn't really affect us. That much. It's
almost like we just need to make sure we read.
We need to make sure we speak and say a few words.
And we go and be with a couple people on the
weekend. That's not godliness, brothers and sisters.
That is not a well -rounded holiness of life.
We must always remember. and preach to our own
soul that we are talking about a life of godliness.
A whole life of godliness for the duration of
our earthly pilgrimage. Godliness is not simply...
People who read their Bible and pray. You don't
just add those things on. Listen, brothers and
sisters. What the Lord requires with regards
to holiness and godliness and worship of him
is this. Settled, growing, consistent, reverential
life lived before his holy face. That's godliness.
And when you look at it like this, brothers and
sisters, this means that everything has to be
tethered to the word of God in prayer. It's not
just a little time where you read and you pray.
But brothers and sisters, we can't live, we can't
work, we can't continue throughout our day without
help from heaven. It's walking before the face
of the living God day in and day out. It's coming
to our homes and our wives and our children and
recognizing that God is in my midst and I have
obligations and duties and I have the privilege
of walking with Him. That He is with me and that
I must continually set the Lord before me. This
is the source of steadfastness. This is the thing
which will enable us to stand As temptations
are out here and trials are over here and this
deluge of allurement and seduction is in front
of us. It's not Bible reading and prayer. It's
a life lived in reverential awe that's settled,
that's consistent, that's steady, and it's done
before the face of the Holy Sovereign God. Brothers
and sisters, Can we not face circumstances and
trials and difficulties when we are walking with
a God who is sovereign, the maker and sustainer
of all things? Can we not face tomorrow and the
difficulties and trials ahead of us? Can we not
face the future and the temptations that we will
come in contact with? when the sovereign holy
God is with us, and we are walking before Him
and with Him, this is godliness. This is holiness.
Living before the face of God. So we've seen,
brothers and sisters, there's these dangers.
We've seen that they affect us and they influence
us. But Peter addresses them. Peter confronts
them. And he shows us the importance of godly
living with relation to assurance, but also with
relation to perseverance, brothers and sisters.