Perseverance

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

2 Peter 2:14–15

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.