Godliness

God Revealed In the Scriptures

2 Peter 1:3 NASB95

seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

To be godly is to be like God. How do we know who God is since we cannot see Him? The answer is found in the Word of God. Everything we need to know about God has been revealed in the scriptures. I want to share three noncommunicable characteristics that we can know about God that we cannot be like but depend on.

Omnipresence

Psalm 139:7–10 (NASB95)

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

God is all places at the same time. This means that there is never a place that God is not. He was before the heavens and the earth and will be after the heavens and the earth are destroyed. He is eternally omnipresent.

This is good for us because we will never be in a place that his eyes are not on us. This is good news! It is kind of like when you were scared as a child your parents would tell you that there was no need to be scared because God was with you and would protect you. This is true and is applicable as an adult. You have heard the old saying, “there is no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole.” This is because God is the only one who protects in war.

Omniscience

Psalm 147:5 NASB95

Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.

God knows everything. His wisdom is everlasting. There is never a problem that we will have that God does not already know the answer. God even knows everything about us. Psalms 139:1-4

Psalm 139:1–4 (NASB95)

O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

God is intimately acquainted with ALL our ways. He knows our thoughts, words, action and everything about us. Because of His omniscience, we can trust him for the answers in life. James 1:5

James 1:5 NASB95

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

If you ever need an answer to a life question you can ask a God who is omniscience. He will always give you the right answer.

Omnipotence

This means that he is all powerful. There is nothing that God cannot do that is in line with His character. Matthew 19:26

Matthew 19:26 NASB95

And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

God has the power to do anything. There is never a situation that you will find yourself in that God does not have the power to remedy.

Things God cannot do are things that are sinful. God cannot and will not ever sin. He is perfectly holy.

Though these attributes of God are not what we can ever be there are attributes of God that we do posses and can strive for in our life

Love

1 John 4:8 NASB95

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Because God loves wee too can love. As a matter of fact love is the greatest commandment. Mark 12:30-31

Mark 12:30–31 (NASB95)

and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

We should ever strive to love God and one another. In order to love God we must build relationship with God. It begins with salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. John 14:6

John 14:6 NASB95

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Once we enter into a relationship with God we can experience Him through Bible study, prayer, serving, and obedience. We will begin to see and experience God in ways we have never seen and experienced Him. The more you experience God the deeper your love for him will grow.

We must always love one another. We never have the right to hate any person. Every person is made in the image of God. For that reason we are not to hate them. We can hate their sin but we must not hate them as a person. Eph. 6:12

Ephesians 6:12 NASB95

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Our hatred should not be guided towards flesh and blood, but instead the sin that is influencing them.

Morality

God is perfectly Holy. He is the one who dictates what is right and wrong. He is the moral law giver. He has given us the ability to discern right from wrong. We have the ability to not only understand right from wrong but also the why behind it.

Our morality will be rooted in our love. John 14:15

John 14:15 NASB95

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Naturally our desires are for the flesh and sin. A relationship with God affords us opportunity to live for God and not the flesh. Romans 8:5-8

Romans 8:5–8 (NASB95)

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

God has put His Spirit within us to live a Godly life. We must choose daily who we will follow. Will we follow the flesh or will we follow the Spirit. The flesh leads to death and the Spirit leads to life and peace. The choice is ours.

This leads me to the second point of Godliness in the sermon which is that not only has God revealed himself in scripture, but has indwelt us with His Spirit so we can know Him!

God Revealed In the Holy Spirit

John 14:16–17 (NASB95)

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

John 14:26–27 (NASB95)

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

John 16:12–15 (NASB95)

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

Helper

The Holy Spirit is our Helper. This means that when we find ourselves in the throws of difficulty, we can call upon the Holy Spirit for help. When I find myself wanting to exercise the temptations of the flesh and begin to give in, I will call on the Holy Spirit for power to overcome the temptation.

The Holy Spirit has the power to help us overcome our temptation. 1 Cor. 10:13

1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB95

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

The Holy Spirit is always our way of escape!

Teacher

The Holy Spirit teaches us the deep truths of God’s Word. With that deep truth He also reveals how to apply it in our everyday life. When you are witnessing and sharing the gospel He will bring a passage of scripture to your mind that you perhaps didn’t think you knew. Tell story about man who said he didn’t need church to worship and I shared Corinthians with him to show the church needed him.

You may find yourself in a place where you don’t understand something. You can call on the Holy Spirit to give you understanding.

Guider

The Holy Spirit will guide us in everyday living. We may not know what decision to make and the Holy Spirit will give you a passage of scripture that makes it very clear. When I was contemplating vocational ministry the passage that the Holy Spirit gave me was Matt. 6:24

Matthew 6:24 NASB95

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Explain how I was living for the American dream rather than for God.