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I. Signposts on the Road to Godliness
I want to leave you with two separate mental
pictures today. First…let talk about some of these photos I showed you
last week. The first is one snap of the shutter out on Gatlin Blvd.
just after you get off 95.
My point was…when you start out driving you get a
little book with every one of these signs listed. You have to memorize
each of them and be able to identify what they mean and what your
response to them is supposed to be. When you, first, get behind the
wheel you see every one of them and have to mentally process how you
are going to react.
I compared this to the hundreds of signposts that
fill the pages of the Bible. Here's the paragraph I applied to both:
Thousands and thousands of signposts… signs of
instruction…signs of warning… signs of encouragement… Big bold flashing
signs when something is very important….sharply painted signs set
regularly to get key pieces of information buried into our
subconscious minds. Do this!! Don't do that!!! Don't forget to do
this!!! Slow down….move over….stop !!!
The process of learning to follow the road signs,
until it becomes second nature, is called "driving maturity"… your
insurance rates reflect that… or at least they are supposed to. The
process of learning to follow spiritual road signs is called "spiritual
maturity" or godliness…
Godliness…. Living ones life as a reflection of
the behavior and attitudes set forth by God.
What happens if I come to this sign and decide that
it doesn't apply to me. If I'm going 70 on 95 and I come to this sign
on the ramp….. I'll go 70mph on the ramp too… nobody's going to tell me
how fast I can drive!!….
Last year I was traveling late at night. We had
just come down out of the Virginia mountains on I-77…. on to the
straighter, flatter roads of northern North Carolina. The pace of
traffic sped up, two full lanes traveling at 75 mph or so… The guy
immediately ahead of me decided, at the last second, that he was
going to take the exit ramp who's entrance we had already well
passed….so he just turned the wheel …hard. He got on the ramp…. I
watched him spin wildly out of control with his car up on it’s side,
finally settling back on to all four tires.
That's not so very different than how we sometimes
live our spiritual lives. Some of us find ourselves repeatedly
hitting spiritual exit ramps at twice the legal speed and spinning
out of control….
I was forced to keep moving with more traffic
jambing me from behind, but I, sure, wondered what was going through
the person's head. Another couple of inches of tilt and he would have
been rolling repeatedly with severe injuries or even death.
Presumably, once he got back behind the wheel…he
would never repeat that action again. If he left on his next trip and
took the next off ramp at 70mph…again.. we would think his screen
door was swinging in the wind…
Have you ever done that spiritually?... ignored
the signposts in God's Word…. found yourself spinning out of control.
You landed, by the grace of God, back on all four spiritual tires….
But over time you find yourself taking the ramps faster and
faster…all over again? That's not the way God intended it to be…
Titus 2:11-13 For the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to
ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright
and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed
hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…
(NIV)
Titus 2:
11-13 For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing
salvation to all people. 12 And we are instructed to turn from godless
living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with
wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, 13 while we look forward
with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and
Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. (NLT)
Last year, yet again, another nationally known
pastor got busted for having a illicit sexually relationship. It, of
course was all over the news…. This one didn't have a girlfriend… he
was visiting a male homosexual prostitute. It was bad enough for us who
were watching the news with a sick feeling…. but I tried to imagine
what his parishioners were feeling. How did they console each other
after the Pastor openly admitted it on national TV. " It's not really
as bad as it sounds… he said he didn't have sexual relations with the
male prostitute he was just there for a massage???!!!!"
Roadsigns!!!! Signposts!!!
I'm pretty sure if you dig deep enough into the
Bible you could find some warning signs against visiting your local
male prostitutes!! We looked at some on Wednesday Evening but if you
struggle with sexual temptation here's a banner you should put on your
bathroom mirror:
1 Thessalonians 4:1 Finally, dear brothers and
sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way
that pleases God…3 God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from
all sexual sin. 4 Then each of you will control his own body and live
in holiness and honor—5 not in lustful passion like the pagans who do
not know God and his ways…. 7 God has called us to live holy lives, not
impure lives. 8 Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by
these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who
gives his Holy Spirit to you. (NLT)
As I recall, this particular Pastor, said that he
had seen an ad in the paper and responded to it…. and thus slipped into
sin. He also admitted to buying illegal drugs but comforted us all with
the knowledge that he didn't actually use them.
Let me explain something… You don't Pastor for 30
years…live straight as an arrow..get up one morning…read an add from a
male escort…and think: "maybe I should go visit him." No! Those kind of
extreme actions require you to ignore road-sign after road-sign until
you are driving just at the edge of "out of control."
None of us here can afford to condemn this poor man
without looking deep inside.
Everybody who successfully climbs Mt. Everest has
to climb past the bodies of those who were better climbers than
themselves!
Every single person in this room has some area of
weakness…some area where you are most tested. The evil one quickly
determines where your greatest weaknesses are and can be counted on to
machine-gun you with temptations in that area.
Romans 12:1 … so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead
with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.
Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find
acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the
behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a
new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know
God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT)
Let's pause with that thought and … I want to
insert another mental picture in our minds:
II. Training in Godliness
The way we, as Christians, get caught up in
ungodly behavior patterns is because we repeat wrong actions, over
and over, until they have more power over our daily lives than the
warning signposts of Scripture.
So how do you leave sinful behavior patterns
behind?
Well, I repent, and God takes my sin away and
removes the desire to sin from me.
Sometimes he graciously does just that…. But if
God always did that… there would be no such thing as temptation. Why
would satan constantly tempt you to sin if God had completely removed
the inclination to sin from you.
You move deeper into sin by repeating the same
sinful patterns over and over. You move away from sin… toward
Godliness by repeating righteous behavior patterns over and over.
I'm not, in any way, understating the importance
of God within us, giving us power over sin… the presence of the Holy
Spirit "guiding us into all truth"… but the reality is that somewhere
along the line you still have to say no to sin… and yes to
righteousness.
You are the one, the Bible warns to turn away from
sin and wrong actions and purposely pursue righteousness and right
actions…. and God promises to put all the resources of heaven at your
disposal to get the job done.
But God doesn't force us to make the right choice,
or do the right thing. We still have to choose to say no to
sin and yes to Godliness.
Titus 2: 11-12 For the grace of God has
been revealed, bringing salvation to all people… 12 It teaches us
to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to (say yes
to) living self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present
age…
The apostle Paul gives us this visual
illustration:
1 Timothy 4:7 …. train yourself to be godly.
8 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much
better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”
9 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it.
10 This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our
hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and
particularly of all believers. 11 Teach these things and insist that
everyone learn them. (NLT)
There is some powerful wording in there. It is a
command, Train yourself to be godly. Learn to say no to wrong
actions and yes to right actions. This is not optional…everyone
should accept it. Because of this we work hard and struggle…. If
God did it all for us and we didn't have to make right choices along
the way… it wouldn't be described as hard work…a struggle. And my
command as a teacher of the Bible is that I am supposed to teach
you these things and insist that everyone learn them.
Training in Godliness requires a purposeful
response from each of us!
2 Timothy 2:22 Run from anything that
stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living,
faithfulness, love, and peace…. (NLT)
Let me illustrate this:
________________________________________________________________________
Use the visual illustration here of __________
pressing a 25lb. barbell. We will follow his progress all summer as he
works out with the barbell…watching as his training leads him to
greater and greater ease with the 25lb. barbell.
Here’s my challenge: If we were to allow God to
pinpoint our most glaring areas of sinfulness and we all together set
out on a "summer training program" where we consciously and
consistently said no to the wrong things and yes to the right things…
At first it would be a heavy weight that we could barely lift. As the
summer wears on…I am convinced that one after another, of us, would get
stronger and stronger until by summers end we would be "pressing
spiritual weight" that we never imagined possible…ever.
We've said a lot about outward passion, inward
sexual temptation…let me throw the attitude card into the pile as well.
Colossians 3:12 Since God chose you to be the
holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with
tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends
you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in
perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule
in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in
peace. And always be thankful. (NLT)
Conclusion:
I don't know whether your big issues are temptations
that show up in outward passions or inner attitude issues or any of a
whole range in between. What I do know is that every single one of us
are struggling with some Achilles Heel of sinfulness that we could
"train in godliness" this summer. Would you be willing to join me in
this exercise?
1 Timothy 4:12 …. be an example to the believers in
word (what I say), in conduct (what I do), in love (what
I give), in spirit (what I feel), in faith (what I
believe), in purity (what I resist). (NIV)
(NLT) v: 12 Be an example to all believers in
what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your
purity…. 15 Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw
yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress.
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