They say time flies when you're
getting old, but that's the way it is, isn't it? They say it
flies when you're having fun. I think it flies when you're
getting old. Ten years ago this morning, we
had our first meeting at Petals. And I'm just so thankful for
the Lord's grace in enabling us to continue meeting for these
ten years and kept us faithful to the gospel. What a blessing. We're going to be looking at
a passage of scripture this morning in 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy
chapter 3. The scriptures are written on two
levels. The Word of God is written on
the level of warning, and there are many, many warnings in the
Word of God. The warnings are given in order
to keep us from becoming presumptuous with the grace of God. The other
level on which the Scriptures are written are promises. And the promises are given lest
we fall into despair. Now today is a day of thanksgiving
in a special way in that it marks, as I've mentioned already, ten
years of meeting together. And my initial thoughts as preparing
for this morning was that there ought to be some promises, some
words of great encouragement, some words of rejoicing for this
day. And yet, as I prepared the messages,
it seemed like the Holy Spirit was leading me more to extend
words of warning. Not that these aren't reasons
to rejoice, but I do believe and fear that we could but for
the grace of God. fall from grace, leave our first love, and forget
the things that the Lord has taught us. So, in 2 Timothy 3,
at verse 5, the Apostle Paul, in warning
Timothy of the perilous times that should come, He says that
men will be, verse 2, lovers of their own selves, covetous,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors,
heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God. having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof
from such who turn away. It is possible to have the form
of godliness, but to deny the power of God. And I suppose if
anything causes me to fear, it would be
that we would fall into the trap of having a form of godliness
and denying the power. What is it to deny the power
of godliness while maintaining its form? Formalities. maintaining some outward appearance
of worship, some outward appearance of godliness, and yet denying
the power. I suppose that if we wanted to
phrase this in a more positive note, we could say, what is the
power of godliness? What is the power of godliness?
Well, I'm going to try to answer that with three answers. The power of godliness is to
believe in the source of true godliness. To believe in the
source of true godliness. The original cause, if you will,
of our salvation. And that is the sovereign grace
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the source of all true
godliness. When salvation is ultimately
conditioned upon the will of man rather than the will of God,
then the source of godliness is denied. The form of godliness
is there, but the denying of its power. The Scripture says,
he upholdeth all things by the word of his power. When he had by himself purged
our sin, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high to affirm, to believe that the
Lord Jesus Christ in his sovereign will and sovereign purpose is
in fact the power of all godliness. He is the original cause of our
salvation. It is not by him that will it.
nor of him that runneth, but it is of God that showeth mercy."
The Scripture puts it like this in Ephesians chapter 1. John
and Lorraine, I remember when you first came here, unbeknownst
to yourselves, the Lord ordained for you to hear a message from
Ephesians chapter 1. Never heard anything like that
before. Well, here's what the Lord says in Ephesians 1. He
predestined us unto himself or unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. To maintain a form of godliness
while denying the power of godliness is to deny that God in His sovereign
grace, in His sovereign purpose, in His sovereign will is the
original cause and the source of all salvation. If we ever
consider any contribution that man makes to the sovereign will
and purpose of God, then we have denied the power of godliness. Yes, man has a will. But it's
not free. Man's will is bound to his nature. Man does what he wants to do.
But he never, he never, but for the grace of God, will ever want
Christ. He cannot choose. He will not
choose. God must first choose him. Our
Lord said, you did not choose me. I chose you. Oh, that the
Lord would keep us from ever denying the power of godliness
and settling for a form of godliness. That's our prayer. Can it happen? Yeah. It happens
all the time. It happens to individuals all
the time. It happens to local assemblies
all the time. And the Lord takes His hand off
of those people and writes, Ichabod, the glory of the Lord has departed
across that congregation when his sovereign grace in salvation
is denied, when man is given any credit for their salvation. The sovereign grace of God is
responsible for our faith. For our faith. You say, well,
aren't we saved by faith? It's not what the Scripture says.
The Scripture says we're saved by grace through faith. And that faith is not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. Not of our works. Lest any man
should boast. There is no boasting in salvation
because the very cause of our salvation is the sovereign grace
of God. The very hope of our salvation
through faith is given by the grace of God. Paul puts it like
this in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, for our gospel came not to
you in word only, but also in power. Here's the power of godliness,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. Where does assurance
come? Assurance comes through faith.
Paul said, our gospel did not come to you through word only.
You didn't just hear it here, from here. No, it came to you
in the power of godliness and in the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the one who regenerates the heart. The Holy
Spirit is the one that takes out the heart of stone and puts
in a heart of flesh. He's the one that opens the eyes
and unstops the ears. This is the power of godliness.
That we would have a form of godliness while denying its power
would be to deny the work of the Holy Spirit in giving to
us faith. Our Lord said, I will make them
willing in the day of my power. They shall be willing. The only
hope we have is that there would be the power of God on the preaching
of the gospel to the saving of our souls. Turn with me to 2
Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Verse 11, Wherefore also we pray
always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this
calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness. And Paul's praying 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1 verse 11. He's praying for the church at
Thessalonica. He's saying, I pray always for
you that God would count you worthy of your calling, fulfill
all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith
with power. If we are to remain faithful,
He'll have to work in us, causing us to will and to do His good
pleasure. He'll have to give to us that
gift of grace. That's the power of godliness.
To deny our Lord's power in giving faith, I don't care what the outward
appearance of our religiosity might be, we can have a form
of godliness and deny the power if we deny Christ His glory in
that. And then, of course, the sovereign
grace of God in salvation is credited for our perseverance. Our ability to maintain our trust
in Christ is the work of grace, isn't it? That's the power of
God. If God didn't keep us, we will fall. Someone said, well,
you've changed so many times in your life. What's to keep
you from changing again? The grace of God. And if He doesn't keep you and
doesn't keep me, we will change. We will change. You say, well,
I've found the truth now. I'm not going to change yet.
You will change. You will forsake everything but
for the grace of God. We are kept. by the power of
God. You're there in 2 Thessalonians.
Turn over a few pages to 1 Peter 1. Verse 3, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead." This is His work. What did you
and I have to do with the resurrection of Christ? "...to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you, who are kept," how? "...by the power of God
through faith." unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. Kept. To deny the keeping power of
God. You say, well, is it possible
to lose your salvation? Is that what you're suggesting?
No. Well, it depends on who saved
you, doesn't it? If you saved yourself, or if someone else
talked you into being saved, then yeah, you can lose that.
But if God saved you, it's not going to happen, because He is
committed to keeping us, isn't He? He's committed to it. And
our dependence is upon Him to do just that. And if He doesn't
keep us, well, turn with me to the book of Jude. You're there
in the New Testament, the latter part of the New Testament. right before the book of Revelation. Jude 24, Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise
God our Savior, be all the glory and all the majesty and all the
dominion and all the power both now and forevermore. He's the one that presents us
faultless. He's the one that keeps us. To
have a form of godliness and to deny the power of godliness
thereof is to deny God His glory in salvation. He is the original cause of our
salvation. He is the dispenser of faith.
He is the one that keeps us. And if we fall away, it is because
we were never really His. To deny the power of godliness
is to deny the means or instrumental cause of our salvation. Some deny the necessity of the
gospel for salvation. They say or suggest that one
can hear a lie and still be saved. People will profess salvation
under a false gospel. Well, my response to that is,
what does the truth have to do with anything if that be the
case? What does the truth have to do with anything? Why be concerned
about the truth? Why distinguish the difference?
Why not cast our lot into those who are having much more success
in gathering converts? If God's going to just save people
through a lie, then what's the point? You know, the Apostle
Paul said in Romans chapter 1, I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it, this gospel, is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. To deny the instrumental cause
of salvation, to suggest that the gospel is not necessary for
salvation, is to have a form of godliness, but to deny the
power thereof. You're there in Jude. Turn back
a few pages to 1 Peter 1. We looked at this verse Wednesday
night. Wayne Land, when you preached
for us a year or two ago, I can't remember when it was, you made
reference to this verse. And I listened to that message.
It stood out to me like I'd never seen it before. We looked at
this verse Wednesday night. But I want us to look at it again.
1 Peter 1, verse 25. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And I hear a lot of conservative,
right-wing evangelicals saying, Amen. Preach the word. And this is the word. You see,
preaching the word is not just preaching from the Bible. This
is the word. which by the gospel is preached
unto you. If the Scriptures are not preached
in the context of the gospel, it is Christ that's preached,
then the Word of God's not been preached. I don't care if the
Bible's been used and quoted, it's not the Word of God. The
Word of God only becomes the Word of God. The written Word
of God only becomes the Word of God. when it's inseparably
linked to the living word of God, the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ and his work. Otherwise, it's just a book. Just words on a page. This word is preached by the
gospel. You see that? By the gospel. And to deny the necessity of
the gospel is to deny the power of godliness, for the gospel
is the instrumental cause of our salvation, the preaching
of the gospel. God is pleased to use the foolishness
of preaching. If we ever fall into some other method of worship than preaching
the gospel, then we've taken on a form of godliness and denied
the power thereof. Now, my third answer to this
question, what is it to have a form of godliness but to deny
the power thereof? What is this that we must at
all costs avoid? We've answered that with two
responses so far, denying the original cause of salvation,
denying the instrumental cause of salvation. The third point
is equally important, and that is to deny the results of salvation. The results of salvation. To come to some erroneous conclusion
that, well, we're all sinners and so let's just not worry about
it. It's not what the Scriptures
teach. When salvation is worked out
by the Spirit of God, it changes. It changes a person, doesn't
it? And to deny the results of salvation is to deny the power
of God. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. But I will come to you shortly,
if the Lord will, and I will know not the speech of them that
are puffed up, but the power." Talks easy, isn't it? Talks easy. Paul says, when I come, I'm going
to know not what you say. I'm going to know what you do. And this power is the expression
of love for Christ and love for His people. For the kingdom of God is not
in word only, but in power. Life-changing power. What will
ye? What do you prefer? Shall I come
unto you with a rod or in love? What is the power, what is the
result of the gospel? It is love. It is love. Love is of God. He that loveth
knoweth God. And he that loveth not knoweth
not God. It is the crowning glory of saving faith. It is the fulfillment
of the law. The law of Christ. The law of
faith is the law of love. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall
he also reap. If he sows to the flesh, he'll
reap corruption. If he sows to the Spirit, He'll
reap life everlasting. There is a result of this gospel. So, I thought we were just all
sinners. Isn't that what Paul said in Romans chapter 7? He
said, that which I don't want to do, that I do. And that which
I would do, that I do not. Now, you think about that for
just a minute. Don't use Romans chapter 7 to
justify behavior that you know is evil in the sight of God. You think the Apostle Paul was
saying, well, you know, I didn't want to do those things. I didn't
want to. Well, you just fill in the blank. That's not what he was talking
about at all. Paul is a single man traveling,
preaching the gospel. You think he's a fornicator? Is that what he was talking about?
Obviously not. I didn't want to do those things. This is the fear, isn't it? That
we'll have a form of godliness and deny the power thereof. What
was Paul talking about in Romans chapter 7? Here's what he was
saying. I want to be absolutely, perfectly holy. I want to be
without sin in thought, in attitude, in action. I want to be just
like Christ. And every time I turn around,
I've got this old flesh with me. And I cannot be what I want
to be. And the flesh wars against the
Spirit, and the Spirit wars against the flesh, so that they cannot
be what they would. Without the presence of the Spirit
of God, we'd be absolute, utter devils. And without the presence
of our flesh, we would be And that's our hope one day, isn't
it? To shed this flesh and see him as he is and be made like
him. But we don't use our liberty or the presence of our flesh
to justify sin. That is denying the power of
God. No. He works in us. He works
in us, causing us to will and to do His good pleasure. Turn to me there in 1 Corinthians.
Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. You say, well, I thought we were just
earthen vessels. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse
6. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Here's the power of God. To shine
forth His glory. To enable us to look upon His
face. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. Lord, if you didn't keep me,
if you didn't cause me to believe and to follow after you, I wouldn't
do it. Wednesday night we looked at
the parable of the four soils in Luke chapter 8. You remember
that parable. Some of the seed fell on the
roadside soil, that beaten, trodden path, and the birds came and
picked away the seed and it was forgotten. And the seed is the
gospel that's being preached. There are those that are on the
path of life along with everybody else. The beaten, trodden pathway. The path that is wide. And many
there are that go. And on occasion, happen upon
a gospel church, and they hear the word of God preached according
to the gospel, and they soon forget it. There are those who are on stony
soil, aren't they? The word falls, it springs up
quickly, but when the heat of the sun rises and persecution
comes, it soon withers because there's no root to it, and it
dies. There are some who are caught
up in the things of this world, the cares and the pleasures of
this world, the Scripture says, and they are the ones in the
thorny soil and they're choked out and they bear no fruit. And there are those who are good
soil and the seed falls there and it bears forth much fruit.
Fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of righteousness, the
fruit of peace and joy and love for Christ. To deny the fruit-bearing is
to deny the power of godliness. To maintain a form of godliness
and deny its power? Well, I can tell you, after ten
years, that is my greatest fear. My greatest fear. is that we
will forsake the power of godliness. That you will forsake it. That
I will forsake it. And so the Lord's warned us,
hasn't he? Don't maintain a form of godliness
while denying its power. One hundred and twenty-eight
times, the word dudus, that's the Greek word for power, is
used in the New Testament. All our hope is resting upon
the power of God. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank
You for Your Word. brought to cry with the apostles,
the Lord is it I? Oh Lord, it could be. We pray
that you'd keep us. We thank you that you have kept
us. We would have fallen away. We need you more now than we've
ever needed you before. We ask for your glory that you
would do it. We pray it in Christ's name.
Amen.