And as we do so, turn with me to 2 Peter and chapter 1. 2 Peter and chapter 1. Those of you who have been here for a while will know that we have been going through a series of messages entitled, Christian Grow Up. I've said it before, it's in the singular, deliberately, because it's meant that each one of us will in fact examine ourselves to see whether we are growing up spiritually as the Bible itself urges us. We're doing so by a look at 2 Peter and chapter 1. And right now we are in verse six, in fact we are finishing on verse six, but we will just begin our reading from verse three and make our way to verse eight in order for us to appreciate the context. So if you are with me, it is 2 Peter chapter one, we commence reading with verse three. 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, 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 desires. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with selflessness, and then the intersection we're looking at and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pause once again for a brief word of prayer. Eternal God, in heaven, we have just sung, saying, Master, speak, thy servant is this one. And Lord, quieten our hearts now, because we want that reality to be present among us this morning. Master, speak for thy servant. Speak through your written word. Speak through your servant. And speak by your Holy Spirit. For the salvation and sanctification of our souls. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Well brethren, last time when we were looking at this passage of scripture, which would have been last Sunday, we were noticing the Apostle Peter urging us to add steadfastness to that of self-control, to add steadfastness to that of self-control. And basically what we saw from there is that all of us can exhibit self-control in an impulse once in some kind of situation, but it is something else to exhibit that self-control in the normal, often that's where we find ourselves failing. And it is this that the Apostle Peter is urging upon those of us who are believers, that we should not simply exhibit Christian character once in a while. but rather it ought to be in an ongoing way. In fact, it ought to be in a growing way. We spent some time looking at how this steadfastness manifests itself in temptations and also how steadfastness manifests itself in trials. And finally, we looked at how to attain this steadfastness in our Christian lives. And one of the things that I said last week, which I greatly bemoan even as I begin this message, is that having been a Christian now for about 40 years, I look back to those days when we were young disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we were in the YP, the youth groups in those days. Really promising as far as the future goes, but Coming so far, 40 years later, very, very few of those individuals that were with me are still striking any blows for the Lord Jesus Christ. All because of a failure to be steadfast, a failure in stickability, in the midst of all the temptations and trials that come with growing up, going through young adulthood, going through the midlife years with the midlife crisis, going through the whole process of going up the ladder of professionalism, going up the status quo as far as the corporate world is concerned, and so on. Too many have ended up injured in disastrous situations all because of a failure in self-control, a failure ultimately in steadfastness. And therefore, I said, looking into this congregation, seeing so many young lives, I'm asking the same question, do we have this virtue that's going to produce spiritual giants for the church in the next generation. Today, we turn to the next imperative, and the seminal title is add godliness to your steadfastness. Or, as it is simply phrased here, it is simply steadfastness with godliness. Steadfastness with godliness. Supplement steadfastness with godliness. The first godliness, we've already seen it. Because it is ultimately the summary of everything that we have to say that comprises Christianity. That comprises Christianity. Look with me very quickly at verse three. Verse three. The Bible says that His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and then as pertains to godliness. In other words, everything that we need in order for us to be real Christians, to be what God wants us to be, everything that we need to reach those sublime times God has provided to all of us. Nobody sitting in this auditorium at the moment who has since become a Christian can say, yes, I can understand why that brother and that sister is, as it were, gliding at 10,000 feet, feet above sea level, but for me, there's nothing I can do but sit in the valleys of life. There's nothing I can do. God himself has provided that we should be spiritual giants, that we should have everything that we need. But notice the phrase he uses. He uses the phrase godliness. The more I studied this phrase, the more I felt that although we have been using one sermon each for each of those little phrases, it was going to be absolutely unfair on you as a congregation if I did the same on this little phrase, good leaders. Because as I said, it summarizes If you don't process your Christian faith simply under this little phrase, Godly, then you miss the Christian completely. If there's one thing that those who are closest to you should be able to say, it is this. He is a godly man. She is a godly woman. If your spouse cannot say that about you, shame on you. You are playing Christianity, where Jesus shed his blood, the Son of God came and died, he left the rainbow, second throne in heaven, to come and live here with, in order to get you out of the gutter of sin, and bring you into this glorious state of godliness. And you're not there, and it doesn't bother you that way. It is enough that I simply go to church. Let me ask you, what is godliness? One of the difficulties that we have with this phrase is that it describes the whole Bible actually. The whole Bible. Everything that is happening there is about godliness. Hence the difficulty I had, where do I begin? What do I do with you to put this to? First of all, I want us to see where it is placed in this list of virtues. Let's quickly deal with that. Under normal circumstances, if godliness is what I have just said it ought to be, that it summarizes all of the Christian faith, Ought it not have been at the beginning or at the end of the list? In this particular case, it is somewhere in the middle. Surely, godliness must either be at the beginning, because it ought to motivate us in everything that we do. It's the fountain within. that should make us self-controlled or steadfast or whatever else that we had before us here, the issue of virtue and excellence and so on. Godliness ought to motivate us. But at the same time, godliness, as we've already said, it is what everything ought to lead to. Because ultimately, the Christian faith is about godliness. So how come Peter throws it right into the mix, into the middle. Here's my suggestion to you. Where we've reached is actually on the mountain top. When we come to deal with brotherly kindness and love, we are actually descending the mountain. What Peter has basically done is he has brought us to the end of actual individual spiritual development. And when he comes to deal with perception, which is brotherly kindness and so on, he's still dealing now with the outflow of that. How will I relate to the brethren? Well, it is out of love. How will I relate with the world? It is out of love. And so really, Peter has reached the end. The end. That this is what you ought to be, godly. And then this godliness will manifest itself this way, through brotherly kindness and love. I want us to capture that this is the acme. This is the apex. This is the mountain top. This is what ultimately I ought to add to my life. But what is it? Whereas it is the height, there is a journey to take. And ultimately, Godliness is about being God-like. That's the simplest. God-like. So it's God-likeness. That each one of us must be like God. But how do we get there? The journey begins with the first commandment. Let's go to Exodus 20. By the way, while you're finding me, there are only two verses that we'll look at today. One is in the Old Testament, which is Exodus 20. And the other is in the New Testament, which will be in the book of Mark. So the lesson is quite simple. We're going to be looking through the whole Bible, because what it is, it's really the whole Bible. But I have taken two texts, one at the beginning and one at the end. And what I'm about to say ties these two texts together. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 3. Let's begin with verse 1. And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. In other words, I'm the one who saved you. And then here's the very first commandment. You shall have no other gods before me. That's where godliness begins. It begins with this very clear command of God. And notice that it begins with, you shall have no other gods before me. In fact, almost all these area commandments, that's the way they begin, and the latter ones. You shall, you shall, or you shall not, you shall not, and so on. In other words, the commandments of God begin with us exactly where we are. But they are telling us to, as it were, change the lifestyle in order for us to be where God wants us to be. So Godliness begins with realizing, who am I? Who am I? Where am I? And I want to suggest three things very quickly there. First of all, it is that I am a creature made by God. And because I'm a creature made by God, I am accountable to this God. I must live for this God. I don't live for myself. There is nothing that is ever made, even by us human beings, that is made for itself. Zero. You think about it. Anything that you've ever made yourself, even if it was just a toy car, you made it so that you could enjoy it. And when it's begun to fail to do its job, you annihilate it. You broke it down. You probably began to make another one. And that's where we begin. It is the realization that I am a creature created by God. And consequently, I am accountable to him. A second is that I am sinful. that I was born a sinner, I've grown up in sin, and even after my salvation, I struggle with sin. It is the one thing that causes me to shed tears at the end of the day, that I am not what I ought to be in the eyes of the one before whom I am accountable. I am a sinner. Thankfully, having been saved, a saved sinner, but a sinner nonetheless. And here is the second last. I am immortal. I will soon die. I will soon die. A time is going to come when people will gather as they are gathered right now, and there will be a coffin in front there, and it will be me. And that's it. My period on earth will be over. And I want to say another thing. That if you're sitting in here this morning, and those three realities about you are clouded over by some kind of worldly philosophy, I'm saying, wake up! You cannot be Godly. unless these three realities about you are an atmosphere that you breathe daily. A creature made by God and therefore comfortable with it. A sinful creature. A fallen creature. Yes, saved, but still fallen. And a creature that must soon pass. But what about this God? Well, it is the fact that he is the exact opposite. And that's why he is saying, you, my creature, my friend creature, my mortal creature, shall have no other God before me. I must be the sovereign one, the ruler, the ultimate one in your life. Who am I? Well, let me quickly run through this because that's what I want to spend most of my time on. Having gone from myself and began to look at him, he is the infinite one who never comes to an end. He is the eternal one who never comes to die. He is the absolutely independent one who doesn't need me not one bit in order for his own sustenance. He doesn't need the whole of creation. He is absolutely independent. The unchangeable one. He never grows old. He never gets tired. He never needs to change his plans. In fact, as I go on to say here, the all-wise God. In other words, he is full of absolute knowledge concerning all things. He is omniscient. He is omnipotent. He is absolutely powerful. May I add that he is holiness itself. He is apart from the whole of His creation, and indeed apart from all sin. He is just. He is one that must punish sin. And He is the good God, a God of mercy, a God of love, and a God of grace. This is the God who is saying that you will have no other gods besides me. And as I said, we would have made our way right through the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation, showing that this indeed is the character of the one who reigns on high. This is the God who has made the universe. This is the God who owns the universe. This entire universe is his. This is the God who preserves the universe. All he needs to do today is click his finger and the whole of this universe would completely disintegrate into nothing. He is the one who governs the universe. There's not a single event in the whole of human history that can ever happen, not even in the birds above, nor on the ants and fish in the sea, that can ever happen without his pity. This is the one who will come and judge the living and the dead. this God, this God. And he said, you must not have any other God beside me. This is the way I have described myself in that book on your laps. The moment you remove any of these characteristics, any of these virtues, out of your understanding of who I am, you've got an idol on your hands. It's not me. You've got another God with a small G. And sadly, brethren, the way we live, most of us, I'm sad to say, we are practical atheists, practical idolaters. Our very lifestyle, contradicts this reality. Godliness is taking His God that has just been described this way and making Him my God. My God, that I'm going to live every day under the light of this reality. Where does it begin? Remember, I'm a creature accountable to him, sinful and mortal. I must soon die. Well, where does bodiness begin? When I then look up and see this glorious being that is represented in scripture over and over and over again. Where does godliness begin? It's obvious. It is with me crying out to him, save me from my sin. Save me from myself. If I continue living as I am living now, I will perish in the flames of hell forever. Save me! That's where it begins. And thankfully, as you've already seen, this is a God who saves. Because He's a good God. He's a merciful God. He's a loving God. He's a gracious God. And so He saves sinners. He has given His very best, His own Son, who is infinitely higher than all the angels in heaven. He has given Him as a means of my salvation. He has put Him upon the cross. He has paid His very life's blood for my salvation. And therefore, I can go to Him and say, if people praise, see for yourself, Let me put it this way, there is no godliness without salvation first. You can be religious, you can be saying your prayers, but let me repeat, until you've come to the foot of the cross, as a hell deserving sinner, and pleading with almighty God in the name of his son, to have unmerited mercy upon him. You can never be perfect. You can be hypocrite anytime. But you only cheat yourself until you come to God that way. Let me ask you, have you come that way? Have you come with that realization that if he doesn't save me, I'm doomed? Because my eyes have beheld something of his glory, his majesty, his holiness, and I have said to myself, woe is me, I'm undone, I'm a man of unclean lips in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Lord, save me. You see, too many of us believe in religion. We've entered into the Christian Church, we've been baptized here, we've done the needful in order to be accepted among other people here that we know absolutely nothing of what Jesus said. Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply, for dear life's sake, to thy cross I cling. I'm naked. I come to you for dress. I'm helpless. I look to you for grace. I'm foul. I'm dirty. I fly to the fountain. Wash me, save me, or I die. And we still call ourselves Christians. They say to me today, with all the love in my heart, you're not a Christian. You've never become one. You do not become a Christian until you've reached such levels of self-emptiness that you plead that you might serve. And you refuse to be comforted. until he does so. And when he does so, all the joy, the peace, and the love that fills your heart. It's amazing. You see, this country, there's nothing like that in the world. to know that my God has found me, of all my transgressions, the joy of knowing it, the peace that surpasses all understanding, that enables one to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. the joy that causes you to jump into the air as it were, with three lips, and the love that so overwhelms you that you cannot get without it. As we sing hymn number one today, oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus. Not just the deep love of Jesus, it fills in every way. Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus that now fills your breast. Friends, do you know that? Do you? claim to be a Christian when you're a foreigner to this? Why? Who are you trying to please? If you do not even have the root of the matter, why? I honestly cannot understand a person who claims to be a Christian and you ask them, what was yesterday? I think it was boring. How can you be bored with this? Puri! How? Tell me! With this joy, and peace, and love, this atmosphere of the life of God in the soul of man, and you tell me that a day... Puri! That you have to go looking for some way, God have mercy. Friends, that's not Christianity. The Christianity of the Bible is one where you can settle the world. Abandon me if you want. Just leave me with Jesus. Call me all kinds of names if you want. But once I have my Savior, after, I feel so good. Now, it is this joyful, peaceful, loving atmosphere that enables a truly godly person to yield to God's revealed will. In other words, whatever the Bible says When you find the individual sitting opposite God on a negotiating table, and they're saying, no, no, no, this is too much, okay, for those other people, but not for me, you know what I mean? Just know that there's something major amiss there. When a sinner who knows I'm an accountable creature, who knows that my life here on earth is but a few short years and I'll be gone, who has consequently cried out to this infinite, eternal, unchangeable being that God have mercy on me, and that God has reached out through his Son and saved that sinner, assuring that sinner through peace and joy and love. How can such a person not turn around and say, no, I can't obey you, not to this one? But let's agree. How? How? This becomes the foundation that makes individuals say, whatever this book says, that's supreme over my life. And not because other people are working. No, forget it. Even if the whole of creation was taken away. I have entered into a living relationship with the living God who's had mercy upon me. I will live for Him according to His living will in this world. That's what it looks like. That's what it looks like. But in the end, this is also what makes such individuals joyfully, peacefully, and lovingly yield to God's providential administration of their lives. Providential administration of their lives. You see, the most difficult thing for sinners is when God refuses to give you what you're worth. And the sinner who has never been in that position, appreciated who he is, in the light of this infinite being says, if you won't give me, I'm going to another God to get it. That's the way he is. But the one who has arrived in this position says, you are my someone, Gwana, my highest good. Take away my spouse. Take away my children. Take away my property. Take away my health. Take away whatever it is. Take me to an indelible place. May no will be after me. I'm a creature who deserves nothing. hurt your wife. Anything other than that is mercy. It's mercy. It's mercy. And hence, the kind of joy that Doresha's wife was able to say when he went strong, he lost his business as a lawyer. He lost his children. And I was able to say, whatever my Lord, you have taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. That's goodness. That's goodness. But notice, that's the end, that's the fruit. It doesn't just happen overnight. No, no, no. There is this journey of taking this God to be my God that makes the world a better place. It doesn't just enable you to yield to the commands of God or to yield to the providence of God, whatever that might be. but also to live every moment wanting only one thing in life, that God might be glorified as sinner. That's it! That God might be glorified in my life. And that's what this verse is about. You shall have no other gods before me. In other words, your entire life, every waking moment of it, the one passion that you have is the glory of God, the honor of God. And therefore, if the Lord in his glory Providential will decides that what you will be is a mere doormat for everybody to clean their shoes on. You will say, you know what is best, O Lord. May your will be done. May you be glorified. And may I finally conclude this evening. And that's what motivates me to worship you. That's what causes you at home to take time away from everybody else to read this book of God. It's because you're asking the question, Lord, how can I better order? How? How? You want to know Him more. You want to love him more. You want to glorify him more. And consequently, you get back into this book that has his revealed will, and you're asking, Lord, open my arms that I might behold wondrous things out of your love. Teach me. And that's what brings you to church. That's what makes you, at the beginning of the worship service, to pause for a moment in that view and say, Lord, I'm a sinner. I need you. Speak to me today. lest I ruin my life, lest I make myself a disaster. Lord, speak to me. By 12 this morning, I'll be walking out of these doors. Lord, forgive me. that I should go home as I came here, without being able to say, thank you, Lord, thank you. You've spoken to me. This issue in my life is what I need to deal with. It's my homework. I'm heading home to go and deal with it. Spirit. Spirit. Let me ask you. Is that you? Is that you, Constantine? You see, what bothers me, brother, is that we've brought the standards of Christianity so low, so low, that it's a complete disaster compared to what the Bible speaks about and teaches us, and takes so much for granted. And then we should be surprised at the door of heaven when God says, get away from me, I need your help. And we say, how? Well, because the life of God in the soul of man that he teaches right across the whole of the Bible, we were actually foreigners to him. But it's because we're comparing one another with one another. That's all we're doing. And with this meeting, take with me to Mark 12. Mark 12. The statement from our Lord. I begin reading from verse 28. My interest is primarily the statement. And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another. And seeing that he answered them well, asked him, which commandment is the most important of all? Jesus answered, the most important is this. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is what we will look at when we come to the next two aspects of 2 Peter 1, brotherly kindness and love. This is what Jesus says. The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There's no other commandment greater than this. Let's go back to the Jew. You have cried out. He has saved you. You know the joy of your salvation. You are living day by day in it. You are yielding to his clear commands. you are yielding to his providential administrations over your life. Indeed, you have but one desire, that he might be glorified in everything about you, every day. And hence, you are a worshipper of the living God, whether it's in the home, or in the workplace, wherever it might be, you are a worshipper of him. But especially so when you gather among the children of God on that one day that he has said, set this day apart for me, for my worship. You generously guard it in all your abilities because you want to worship him. Well, here is the rest of the children. as you gaze more keenly at his beauty, his indescribable beauty, a beauty that shines brighter than the sun in its noonday strength, a beauty of such magnificence that makes all the beauty of flowers, the beauty of birds, the beauty of the whole of creation look ugly in your sight. As you behold that beauty, you want to be more. You want more and more fellowship. is perfect. You want more and more. You want to be conformed more and more to that image that you are beholding with your spiritual eyes. Oh, to be like Him, says the Apostle Paul to the Philippians. That is, you want to desire to be like God. In the midst of all the trials and temptations of life, brought to me by circumstances, brought to me by friend and foe, brought to me, I just have one desire, Lord, that beauty that I see in you. That's what I want for myself. While I'm in fellowship with you. To love you. To love you back. You've loved a sinner like me. I don't deserve the rest of that love. You deserve my love, but I want to love you even more with every succeeding year. I want to obey you even more. An obedience that takes me to the limit that any sinful child of God will never reach. Lord, take me there. That's what I want. I want to trust you more with my life. Every time moments of doubt come into my life, Lord, take them away. Of all beings we've trusted, it's you! You gave your best for me. Why should I ever doubt you? Why? Lord, take my eyes out. So this text, it needs you to borrow the words of this text. To love God. or your mind, or your heart, or your soul. You never get it. But you are in good taste. And anybody near you, close enough to you, will say, I know what is a change that is in life. I can't miss it. To love is to love. to love this God to the very end of my life. It leaves you with only one hope. Only one. Only one. And it is this. The people of Africa My coffee is here, and they are crying. But me, I'm finally here in this place. One death, good, and fifth, sad. Finally! The words I longed for, through my God himself. Well done, well done, well done. Enter now into the joy of your master. Friends, that's what true godliness is about. I'm asking, where are we headed? I'm asking, where are we having this? We need a mountain in the back, but where are we having this? And that's the reason why this series is so important. Christian, grow up. This is the life God wants you to have. This is the life He wants you to have. Not these cheap chewing gums we are running around with. A thousand times no. God is saying, come to me. You, my creature in sin, this mortal creature, come to me and experience this overwhelming salvation and life that is the God kind of life. Come. Come. That this might be. Thirdly, instead of grooming in godliness, we are grooming in wildness. We are competing with one another on how to be as violently as possible as two good people. Shame on us. Everybody hate it. Shame on us. especially in the light of what has been paid for our salvation, shame on us. May every husband in this country hear his wife say to him, if there's one thing I can say of you for sure, it's this, you are good man. May every wife in this place hear the husband say those words, you are godly. If there's one thing I see in you, it is something of the height to which God wants me to go. And I must admit, I'm ashamed. I'm still longing to get there. But you are a visible representation of that. May all the children that you have brought into this world be able to see that. There's one thing I can at least say about my death or my life. Dear God, I'm going to die. I'm going to die. And I want to end by saying, part of the disaster I deal with this moment, dear God, is simply that we don't take time to be avoided. We are always on the march, in the march. Always. We are always on that TV screen, on it. Always. Seeing people jumping off the top buildings without touching their heads. Somehow just lifting their hands like this and they go beyond the top. Kicking a piece of leather between four pieces of steel. Listening to how one politician is pulling another politician over. We don't take time to be godly. And if there was a fast that I would pray for among us, it's not a fast for food. It's a fast for that remorse. A fast for that scream. Just to say six months, six months to be black. And I will be spending time with this God who has done so much for me. I've taken longer than I can take. My poor brother. For godliness. For godliness. For godliness once again coming.