The Power of the Gospel III

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Power_of_the_GospelSunday 4/19/15

 

Series: The Power of the Gospel III

 

Message – The Power of Godliness.mp3

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Since Easter we have been looking at the power of the Cross and the Gospel. A simple overview of terms we are directly dealing with are…

  • Eternal Life
  • Righteousness
  • Salvation
  • Godliness
    • Bearing Fruit

Last week we finished up Eternal Life and worked through Righteousness and Salvation.

This week we are beginning our look at the power of godliness, which as we introduce it this week has a direct connection with bearing spiritual fruit.

We took our key text again this week from Rom 1:16-17,

(16)  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God UNTO salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

(17)  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

and also,

“Simeon Peter, a slave and an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those who have obtained a faith of equal privilege with ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. For His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted, and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.” ~ 2Peter 1:1-9

 

We began with a brief review and wrapping up a little more about righteousness…

There is a DIRECT connection between salvation and righteousness.

 

Righteousness is actually a very difficult word to clearly define. You almost have to use the word to define itself together with the word justification. Justification on the other hand is largely defined by the word righteousness. So the whole topic becomes a little cloudy.

 

In the end righteousness has to do with the “claim” God has on humanity in that in our sins we are NOT right in regards to His person and character. Though it seems to me that the deeper I go into the words, the traditional definition is insufficient, yet it will have to do for now….so we will define righteousness and the state of being right with God.

 

Being right with God requires peace (agreement), obedience (conformity) and trust.

 

Once we ARE righteous we begin to produce fruits of righteousness as we abide in Him and continue in our union with Him and worship of Him.

 

This requires POWER, REAL…..REDEMPTIVE…..RESURRECTION POWER!

 

From the moment of salvation we are to live in union with Him, by the impressions, impulses and inner leading of His Spirit. This leads to a fruitful life – which glorifies God. (John 15)

 

Godliness and Fruit-bearing 

There is a link between salvation and godliness and last week when we were talking about  the power of the resurrection we touched on it…. 2 Tim. 3:5.

 

This talks about people who have,  “a form of godliness, but who deny the power (of godliness).”

 

Some of the greatest powers of godliness are holiness, purity, sinlessness…in short to be like God!

 

So before we look at our “fruit-bearing” in Him, I want to look at 3 passages which mention godliness…

 

1st we know that it is not by self-effort – isolated from God

Titus 1:1-3  “Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness,  (2)  in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,  (3)  but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;”

1Tim. 6:1-16  “Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed.  (2)  And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.  (3)  If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness,  (4)  he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions,  (5)  useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.  (6)  Now godliness with contentment is great gain.  (7)  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  (8)  And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.  (9)  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.  (10)  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  (11)  But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.  (12)  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.  (13)  I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,  (14)  that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,  (15)  which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,  (16)  who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”

2Peter 1:2-3  “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,  (3)  as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,” –  WE will revisit this passage in a few minutes.

 

Godliness is simple being like God in character and action. When we as God’s children, emulate His character from the heart it brings glory back on God as our Father.

 

“My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.” ~ John 15:8

 

To glorify means to recognize, honor, praise, invest with dignity, give anyone esteem or honor by putting him into an honorable position.

 

So, to glorify God, meaning to render glory to Him, recognize Him for Who and What He is, to celebrate with praises, worship, adoration.

 

So it is centered around WHO HE IS – His character. He is truth, right, honorable, noble, beautiful, kind, just, loving, equitable, gentle, strong…etc.

 

So when we as His children – united with Him as a branch is to it’s vine WE begin to exude the same character traits as He – resulting in god-likeness or godliness. This brings honor, and praise back to God for He is our Father and it is his character we are revealing.

 

Some passages about Fruit-bearing 

Matt. 7:17-19

Matt. 12:33

Gal. 5:22,23

Eph. 5:8-10

 

This is where we ended this week. We will begin with bearing fruit next week.

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to discover genuine and place your trust in the God of the Gospel of Power..

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give to its ministry, you may do so here.

 

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!