Sermon Tone Analysis

We continue in this passage this week and for the next two that I take.

You have a breather next week with Lisa Isaac coming to speak.

But again I want to stress the importance of this passage upon us.

We are to put all our effort into adding to our faith all that it says here.

We’ve already looked at virtue, which is to do with Christ-likeness and indeed we have a similar one later on in this sermon of godliness; to virtue we are to add knowledge…this is about knowing God not just about knowing about Him, and to knowledge we are to be self-controlled and the only way we can be this is if we are yielded to God.

These are the choices that we make.

Today, we are looking at the next two which are perseverance and godliness.

Perseverance

We want to make a distinction between self-control and perseverance.

Self-control has to do with dealing with the pleasures of life whilst perseverance has to do with dealing with the pressure of life.

So, to repeat: Self-control has to do with dealing with the pleasures of life whilst perseverance has to do with dealing with the pressure of life.

Let’s get a dictionary type definition of perseverance to get a rounded idea of what is expected of us: it is endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, constancy, a patient enduring, and sustaining.

Perseverance has to do with remaining faithful in difficult times such as when suffering comes or against evil or in withstanding temptation, and continuing on with the Lord.

To keep on going on and not giving up on one’s faith.

Later in this letter Peter says:

So, we have the promise of God that He will get us through it and in

Now these words of God give us hope in our battles but nevertheless we are still to go through battles.

I’ve said it before we are either coming out of a problem or going into one.

Rarely do we have peace on all sides.

However, we are to trust God and rely upon Him whatever it is that we are going through.

God is at work in our circumstances and so we must turn to what James says to us about this:

So, let me be clear.

It is one thing to passively go through such times of troubles but his is not what we are called to.

We are to persevere with effort to fulfil God’s will.

There is to be action.

We must see the hand of God in every thing; and receive every thing as from him; and do every thing as for him; making his will the rule, and his glory the end, of all our actions.

There is one person in the bible that exemplifies this kind of patient enduring and that is Job.

This man truly suffered having lost nearly everything including his family, property and health yet held onto God throughout.

This was not a fair situation as it was a battle in the heavenlies that started off his troubles.

It was not his fault.

Then there were his wonderful friends, not.

But he is spoken of in the New Testament by the one who said we should rejoice in our trials:

We are to be those who hold on and remain steadfast and faithful when everything else is going to pot.

It is strength in the face of adversity.

William Barclay told of a bright young woman who contracted a crippling disease that left her partially paralyzed.

She had been an outdoor person, loving sunshine and sports, but now her world had turned into shadows.

One day a friend brought her a book on the theme of Christian joy, written in a vivid, radiant style.

As the girl took the book in her gnarled fingers, she spoke quietly, “Certainly, I know this book.”

Her friend replied, “Have you read it before?”

“Yes,” replied the cripple.

“You see, I wrote it.”

We have to hang in there and finish the race and not give up.

We hear of those who run marathons of ‘hitting a wall’ – meaning it is near-impossible to carry on – some stop right there when if they would continue for a few more steps would push right though it – this is what is meant here by perseverance – when it looks like things are impossible, when it would seem we should just give up, keep going and get to the end of the race.

There is something else about patience and that is in continuing our work for the Lord.

We need patience knowing that in God's timing we will bear fruit if we do not give up.

And this is true of our work here in Manselton and beyond.

We will be very blessed if we continue and not give up.

And our patience will also be rewarded when we see God at the end of our days.

Indeed let us remember that we are called to patience and endurance and we are to add these in increasing measure:

There is one final thing I want to say about endurance.

Three times in Matthew’s gospel Jesus says: those who will endure to the end will be saved.

We are of the sheep-pen.

Jesus started with 100 sheep and ended with, how many? 100 sheep.

Though one went astray that sheep was still part of the sheep-pen.

Those who are truly believers will never be lost and will indeed endure to the end even if there is wandering in between.

Godliness

Now we turn to our second addition.

We are to add to patience godliness.

For us to add this to our faith we need to understand what is needed and what the word ‘godliness’ means.

I’m sure that you have thought about what this word means: godliness.

So, let us try to define it: It is reverence, respect and awe towards God; it is holiness, and it is God-likeness; it is that old-fashioned word; piety.

Godliness is living like God and being a godly person.

It is living life like it should be lived.

It is doing what is right because it is the will of God.

God gave man life; therefore, God knows what life should be, and above all things life should be godly just like God.

The word godliness (eusebeian) actually means to live in the reverence and awe of God; it is to be so conscious of God’s presence that one lives just as God would live if He were walking upon earth.

It means to live seeking to be like God; to seek to possess the very character, nature, and behaviour of God.

This, of course, is another reason for us to add knowledge for if we do not really know what God is like then how can we seek to be like God? Before I continue, let me be clear; at no point do we ever become God.

There are those I hear on the God channel that says that I am God or I am a little God but our nature will always be human.

We can be like God because we are made in His image and this is what we are seeking to do, to restore His image in us that, as God said at the beginning when He created us: it is very good.

The more we look into God, learn about Him, know Him which is done mainly through prayer and Scripture, then the more we will become like Him.

We start to like as God would live if He were walking here on earth.

In an interesting way it is kind of a loop.

Godliness is to be like God, Jesus is God, therefore we are to be Christlike, to live here as Christ lived here.

Indeed we are taught by Scripture to not be like the world

We are motivated towards this in two ways, one by fear and the other by love:

Later in Peter’s letter he says

Since the universe is going to be destroyed one day then this life is temporary and why live for something that will not last?

The other side is that we are motivated by love when we consider that Jesus paid for us with His life therefore we cannot truly think that we belong to ourselves anymore but to Him who bought us with His blood.

He saved us to be better than we are for He values us at least equal to His own life which is an incredible thought.

Godliness does not come to us passively but again we are to be active.

Paul speaks to Timothy

Exercise (word which we get gymnasium) toward godliness: we need to train

The first thing to exercise is our minds to find out how Jesus would have us think and act and live

We are called to work out our salvation - for it is God who works in us to will and do His good pleasure if we allow Him

Jonathan Edwards, the great American revivalist studied and wrote for 18 hours a day - watching very carefully what he ate as to whether food made him drowsy or alert.

He was watching every minute redeeming the time.

But this is nothing to do with godliness!

But the example is that we have to watch very carefully our very lives.

Godliness is love for God and His ways.

This is someone who is dedicated, devout, some may even say fanatic.

This is when all the fruit of the Spirit comes into play.

This is not simply something we are but something we can become only with the help of God.

The more we are possessed by God the more we become like Him and more and more of Him will shine through our lives.

We are called this day to add to our faith, virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, and in this sermon we are to add perseverance and to add godliness.

We are never to stop growing and being fruitful for Jesus.

We are not our own to do as we like.

We were once slaves to sin, the very opposite of godliness but now we have been given His power and Divine nature living in us by the Holy Spirit to live lives of endurance and godliness.

Let us then look to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith - let us hear these words in context and take to heart and put them into action as we come shortly to communion:

Communion