so our our text today is 1 Timothy 3:<\/p>\n
14-<\/p>\n
16 and this is God's<\/p>\n
word I hope to come to you soon but I am<\/p>\n
writing these things to you so that if I<\/p>\n
delay you may know how one ought to<\/p>\n
behave in the household of God which is<\/p>\n
the Church of the Living God a pillar<\/p>\n
and buttress of the truth great indeed<\/p>\n
we confess is the mystery of godliness<\/p>\n
he was manifested in the flesh<\/p>\n
Vindicated by the spirit seen by Angels<\/p>\n
proclaimed among the<\/p>\n
Nations believed in believed on in the<\/p>\n
world and taken up in<\/p>\n
glory a racetrack Playa is a dry lake<\/p>\n
bed L located in Death Valley National<\/p>\n
Park in the state of California in the<\/p>\n
US and the lake bed is dry for most of<\/p>\n
the year and has a a desert-like<\/p>\n
Terrain and there are several rocks that<\/p>\n
just litter this dry lake bed and they<\/p>\n
are called sailing<\/p>\n
stones and the reason they are called<\/p>\n
sailing Stones is because they move and<\/p>\n
leave a visible trail behind them and so<\/p>\n
they look like a boat may be sailing in<\/p>\n
the water and some of these rocks can<\/p>\n
weigh up to<\/p>\n
320 kg so these are some of these rocks<\/p>\n
are are very large<\/p>\n
and investigators studied the phenomenon<\/p>\n
of how they move for hundreds of years<\/p>\n
and they were not able to explain the<\/p>\n
cause no one ever saw the rocks move<\/p>\n
they just saw the the trail that they<\/p>\n
left<\/p>\n
behind and sometimes the Rocks would sit<\/p>\n
for a decade without moving and so<\/p>\n
scientists were were baffled at what<\/p>\n
type of force could be moving these<\/p>\n
large<\/p>\n
stones and in 2014<\/p>\n
scientists were able to set up a large<\/p>\n
uh time-lapse camera that was able to<\/p>\n
solve the<\/p>\n
mystery they discovered that for the<\/p>\n
rocks to move the conditions of the pla<\/p>\n
must be just<\/p>\n
right the pl must have enough rain for<\/p>\n
it to fill with water then the night<\/p>\n
temperatures they must be cold enough<\/p>\n
for the water to freeze into sheets of<\/p>\n
thin ice and on sunny days when when the<\/p>\n
ice melts it can Prov provide a<\/p>\n
condition for these large rocks to move<\/p>\n
across this dry lake<\/p>\n
bed and when strong winds blow across<\/p>\n
the pla the Rocks then begin to move and<\/p>\n
leave a trail behind<\/p>\n
them this discovery solved the mystery<\/p>\n
that had been in an unexplainable<\/p>\n
phenomenon for so long and as we look at<\/p>\n
our text today we will see the mystery<\/p>\n
of our godliness<\/p>\n
revealed and and so let's look at our<\/p>\n
text for this<\/p>\n
afternoon the first thing I want to look<\/p>\n
at in our text this afternoon is that we<\/p>\n
are members of God's<\/p>\n
household in verses 14 through 15 we<\/p>\n
read I hope to come to you soon but I am<\/p>\n
behave in the household of<\/p>\n
God Paul communicates several things to<\/p>\n
us by using the phrase household of God<\/p>\n
it may be difficult for some of us here<\/p>\n
especially those with a western<\/p>\n
background to understand this this<\/p>\n
concept of household a household in<\/p>\n
Paul's day uh consisted of everyone in<\/p>\n
the household and so it consisted of<\/p>\n
family members it consisted of those who<\/p>\n
weren't in the household uh servants and<\/p>\n
slaves and a household would have a head<\/p>\n
of the household who would have author<\/p>\n
over everyone in the household and this<\/p>\n
person would manage<\/p>\n
it and all of the household centered<\/p>\n
their lives around the head of the<\/p>\n
household and would look for direction<\/p>\n
and Leadership from this<\/p>\n
person and it is the way households<\/p>\n
function<\/p>\n
then and what does being a part of God's<\/p>\n
household mean for our relationship with<\/p>\n
God God describes our relationship<\/p>\n
relationship to him in script scripture<\/p>\n
in several<\/p>\n
ways he describes us as God's as his<\/p>\n
children who he<\/p>\n
loves we are also described as the<\/p>\n
Beloved bride of<\/p>\n
Christ and in a couple of places in<\/p>\n
scripture Paul describes God's people as<\/p>\n
servants or slaves of<\/p>\n
Christ and all of these illustrations<\/p>\n
they communicate to us that God is so<\/p>\n
when Paul says household of God he is<\/p>\n
communicating to us us that God is the<\/p>\n
head of his household and as the head of<\/p>\n
his household he has authority over how<\/p>\n
it's supposed to<\/p>\n
run when we look at the the places in<\/p>\n
Scripture that I just mentioned each of<\/p>\n
these illustrations of our relationship<\/p>\n
with God we know from these texts that<\/p>\n
that God doesn't rule as an evil or mean<\/p>\n
or selfish<\/p>\n
dictator that is not his<\/p>\n
character he rules as as a loving kind<\/p>\n
gracious and good father King and<\/p>\n
husband but what we must understand like<\/p>\n
any good head of a household he has<\/p>\n
certain expectations and certain rules<\/p>\n
for how we are to live especially in his<\/p>\n
church and so he expects us to obey<\/p>\n
these rules for our good and for his<\/p>\n
glory there is a a phrase that a lot of<\/p>\n
parents in the States use<\/p>\n
with their children when they are<\/p>\n
communicating with them about their<\/p>\n
expectations for how they are to live in<\/p>\n
their<\/p>\n
household and I suspect there is<\/p>\n
probably a similar phrase in Thailand<\/p>\n
that most of you have heard from your<\/p>\n
parents it goes if you live under my<\/p>\n
roofle then what you will live by my<\/p>\n
rules this is what Paul is telling us<\/p>\n
here if you are going to live as a<\/p>\n
member of God's house household you must<\/p>\n
know his rules and live by them and so<\/p>\n
if we want to be good members of God's<\/p>\n
household then one of the principles<\/p>\n
that our hearts need to learn is that we<\/p>\n
need to learn to submit to God's<\/p>\n
Authority and his<\/p>\n
rules and being part of God's household<\/p>\n
it not only has implications for our<\/p>\n
relationship with God but it also has<\/p>\n
implications for our relationship with<\/p>\n
each other<\/p>\n
other being part of God's household<\/p>\n
means that as members of the household<\/p>\n
We are<\/p>\n
family we are Brothers and Sisters in<\/p>\n
Christ and we should look at each other<\/p>\n
and treat each other as<\/p>\n
family Paul gives us specific<\/p>\n
instructions on how to do that<\/p>\n
throughout 1 Timothy but especially in<\/p>\n
chapters 4 or especially in chapters 5<\/p>\n
and<\/p>\n
6 and in 1 Timothy 5: 1-2 we read of how<\/p>\n
we are to speak to one<\/p>\n
another do not rebuke an older man but<\/p>\n
encourage him as you would a father<\/p>\n
younger men as brothers older women as<\/p>\n
mothers younger women as sisters in all<\/p>\n
Purity and there is no doubt that we<\/p>\n
will have controversy and we will have<\/p>\n
confrontation at Grace City we still sin<\/p>\n
so we will need to rebuke each other<\/p>\n
other we will need to encourage each<\/p>\n
other in The Faith from time to time and<\/p>\n
we need to be willing and ready to be<\/p>\n
corrected by each other if we were not<\/p>\n
living the way that God has<\/p>\n
commanded and we need to be willing and<\/p>\n
ready to work through things whenever we<\/p>\n
disagree with each<\/p>\n
other but we need to take great care in<\/p>\n
how we go about doing this our<\/p>\n
interactions with with one another they<\/p>\n
should not look like a late night bar<\/p>\n
fight at a bar on so soy Cowboy we need<\/p>\n
to speak to one another out of love and<\/p>\n
with gentleness like family living in<\/p>\n
the house of God speak to one<\/p>\n
another the next time we feel convicted<\/p>\n
to talk to someone about a particular<\/p>\n
sin we are concerned about in his or her<\/p>\n
life or have a disagreement with someone<\/p>\n
we first need to think of this person as<\/p>\n
a family<\/p>\n
member if they are older than us then we<\/p>\n
should talk to this person with a<\/p>\n
certain amount of<\/p>\n
respect that is given to older people if<\/p>\n
we were the same age we should talk to<\/p>\n
him or her as we would a close brother<\/p>\n
or sister that we<\/p>\n
love and most of the time parents will<\/p>\n
put older siblings in charge of younger<\/p>\n
siblings with the hopes and expectations<\/p>\n
that the older sibling will take care of<\/p>\n
the younger and set a good an example<\/p>\n
for the<\/p>\n
younger and why is this because most of<\/p>\n
the time the older sibling is more<\/p>\n
mature and will take on responsibility<\/p>\n
to like look after the younger<\/p>\n
child in most cases the older sibling<\/p>\n
turns out to be that type A personality<\/p>\n
that goes throughout life as a a high<\/p>\n
achiever because they just keep taking<\/p>\n
on that role as they go throughout life<\/p>\n
and I say most of the time because this<\/p>\n
is not always the case and it wasn't the<\/p>\n
case in my family whenever I was was a<\/p>\n
child around 2 or three my older brother<\/p>\n
convinced me to crawl into my parents<\/p>\n
clothes<\/p>\n
dryer and I foolishly trusted him and<\/p>\n
did so and to my wh he closed the door<\/p>\n
and turned the dryer<\/p>\n
on and thankfully my mother was close by<\/p>\n
and heard the thud of the dryer in my<\/p>\n
screams and came running in and turned<\/p>\n
the dryer off before I got too<\/p>\n
crispy and when I asked asked my brother<\/p>\n
if I could tell you all this story he<\/p>\n
said I quote yes please do and tell them<\/p>\n
that I would do it again if I got the<\/p>\n
chance and my family usually had a dog<\/p>\n
when I was was growing up and I can't<\/p>\n
remember when this happened but but<\/p>\n
sometime after the dryer event my<\/p>\n
brother again uh this doesn't speak to<\/p>\n
my intelligence but again he convinced<\/p>\n
me to try to eat a bag of dog food for<\/p>\n
$5 and I ate about five pieces before<\/p>\n
becoming<\/p>\n
sick and when we we were teenagers my my<\/p>\n
brother and I we we would go and and<\/p>\n
help take care of my uh grandfather's<\/p>\n
yard with him and one of our cousins<\/p>\n
would always join us and we would pick<\/p>\n
up Limbs and they' Fallen to the ground<\/p>\n
and we would put them in the back of his<\/p>\n
pickup truck and we would haul them to<\/p>\n
the Gully behind his house and my<\/p>\n
grandfather was older at the time and so<\/p>\n
he would work with us until noon and<\/p>\n
then uh he would cut off and then the<\/p>\n
rest of the work it was our<\/p>\n
responsibility and I always dreaded the<\/p>\n
afternoons because my cousin and brother<\/p>\n
would go play while I did most of the<\/p>\n
work my grandfather lived on a farm that<\/p>\n
had a lot of pasture<\/p>\n
land people would would pay him to to<\/p>\n
come and cut his grass and then uh these<\/p>\n
people would bail the grass into to<\/p>\n
large round h hay bells and they would<\/p>\n
then put these hay bells on on a truck<\/p>\n
and they would take them to a market<\/p>\n
where they would sell them to Farmers uh<\/p>\n
who would buy them to feed their cows<\/p>\n
and the Gully where we would drop off<\/p>\n
these limbs was at the bottom of a steep<\/p>\n
incline of my grandfather's<\/p>\n
pastor and one day I'm driving the truck<\/p>\n
back uh by myself uh from having uh<\/p>\n
hauled all these Limbs and dropped them<\/p>\n
off and I look out the passenger side<\/p>\n
window<\/p>\n
and I see my brother on one of these hay<\/p>\n
bells and I see my cousin behind it and<\/p>\n
he is pushing the hay Bell down the<\/p>\n
hill and the hay Bell is on a decline<\/p>\n
and so it starts gaining speed as he is<\/p>\n
on top of it and it begins to roll<\/p>\n
quickly and as my brother is riding this<\/p>\n
hay Bell down the hill he quickly jumps<\/p>\n
off before it starts going super fast<\/p>\n
and he gets sucked under it and it rolls<\/p>\n
over him and it's uh my cousin and<\/p>\n
brother thought that eventually that it<\/p>\n
would stop but it doesn't it just keeps<\/p>\n
gaining speed as it goes down the hill<\/p>\n
and it goes flying down the hill into<\/p>\n
the Gully where we throw all these Limbs<\/p>\n
and it burst uh into pieces and my<\/p>\n
brother and cousin they never told my<\/p>\n
grandfather what happened that day but<\/p>\n
he did find out later when the man who<\/p>\n
had bailed the hay came and saw his hay<\/p>\n
Bell destroyed my grandfather ended up<\/p>\n
losing money and and face that day<\/p>\n
because he couldn't explain how a 1,000<\/p>\n
lb hay Bell ended up destroyed in his<\/p>\n
golly and if you are wondering my<\/p>\n
parents wisely never looked to my<\/p>\n
brother to take on that older sibling<\/p>\n
role for me<\/p>\n
thankfully and we didn't look at verses<\/p>\n
1-13 in 1 Timothy chapter 3 because we<\/p>\n
don't have that much time but but Paul<\/p>\n
is talking about qualifications for<\/p>\n
officers in the<\/p>\n
church and I think all but one of the<\/p>\n
qualifications that overseers be able to<\/p>\n
teach are qualifications of<\/p>\n
character why does Paul spend so much<\/p>\n
time on this list of character<\/p>\n
qualifications because God wants to make<\/p>\n
sure that the older brother is not going<\/p>\n
to put the younger siblings in a dryer<\/p>\n
and turn it on or try to get them to eat<\/p>\n
dog food for $5 or set a bad example for<\/p>\n
those in his<\/p>\n
household as we will look at in a few<\/p>\n
minutes it is important for those in<\/p>\n
leadership to set an example for the<\/p>\n
household of<\/p>\n
God God wants to make sure that his<\/p>\n
household is well taken care of and so<\/p>\n
you see God's care for us whenever you<\/p>\n
look at this long list of qualities an<\/p>\n
officer in the church must have the qual<\/p>\n
qualified to be an<\/p>\n
officer and the Elders of Grace City are<\/p>\n
aan Nati and aan Tim and they were the<\/p>\n
overseers of the church and they worked<\/p>\n
with the the church staff and they<\/p>\n
worked with the small group leaders to<\/p>\n
provide spiritual care and direction for<\/p>\n
the<\/p>\n
church and the church staff and Elders<\/p>\n
of the church uh we met together a few<\/p>\n
weeks ago for our yearly planning<\/p>\n
meeting and one of the topics we<\/p>\n
discussed was how do we do a better job<\/p>\n
of<\/p>\n
shepherding and we prayed and we planned<\/p>\n
how to do better this coming<\/p>\n
year and I want you to I want to<\/p>\n
encourage you to to pray for the Elders<\/p>\n
of the church pray for the staff pray<\/p>\n
for the small group leaders who serve<\/p>\n
the church in these different<\/p>\n
roles ask the Lord to give them the<\/p>\n
grace to fulfill these roles and<\/p>\n
responsibilities that the Lord has<\/p>\n
called them to so that the household of<\/p>\n
God fun ings well and is well taken care<\/p>\n
of which is what the Lord<\/p>\n
desires and we are all members of God's<\/p>\n
household with equal worth and equal<\/p>\n
status but we each have a different role<\/p>\n
in the<\/p>\n
house and we've looked at what it means<\/p>\n
to be a member of God's<\/p>\n
household God is our Authority We are<\/p>\n
family and he has put older brothers in<\/p>\n
charge to take care of us and let let's<\/p>\n
look now at what it means to live as<\/p>\n
members of the household of<\/p>\n
God Paul mentions that the term<\/p>\n
godliness are Godly several times in<\/p>\n
first<\/p>\n
Timothy in our text he<\/p>\n
says<\/p>\n
oh great indeed we confess is the<\/p>\n
mystery of<\/p>\n
godliness so what does Paul mean when he<\/p>\n
uses godliness in our text<\/p>\n
we can get a better understanding of how<\/p>\n
Paul uses this term if we look at 1<\/p>\n
Timothy 4:<\/p>\n
6-16 so let's take a look at that and<\/p>\n
see what it has to teach us about<\/p>\n
godliness if you put these things before<\/p>\n
the brothers you will be a good servant<\/p>\n
of Christ Jesus being trained in the<\/p>\n
words of the faith and of the good<\/p>\n
doctrine that you have followed have<\/p>\n
nothing to do with ir reverent silly M<\/p>\n
rather train yourself for godliness for<\/p>\n
while bodily training is of some value<\/p>\n
godliness is of value in every way as it<\/p>\n
holds promise for the present life and<\/p>\n
also for the life to come the saying is<\/p>\n
trustworthy and deserving of full<\/p>\n
acceptance for to this end we toil and<\/p>\n
strive because we have our hope set on<\/p>\n
the Living<\/p>\n
God who is a savior of all people<\/p>\n
especially of those who<\/p>\n
believe command and teach these things<\/p>\n
let no one despise you for your youth<\/p>\n
but set believers an example in speech<\/p>\n
in conduct in love in faith in Purity<\/p>\n
until I come devote yourself to the<\/p>\n
public reading of scripture to<\/p>\n
exhortation to teaching do not neglect<\/p>\n
the gift you have which was given you by<\/p>\n
prophecy when the Council of Elders laid<\/p>\n
their hands on<\/p>\n
you PR practice these things immerse<\/p>\n
yourself in them so that all may see<\/p>\n
your progress keep a close watch on<\/p>\n
yourself and on the teaching persist in<\/p>\n
this for by so doing you will save both<\/p>\n
yourself and your<\/p>\n
hears and so Paul commands for The Godly<\/p>\n
life that that he has called us uh to<\/p>\n
live<\/p>\n
oh<\/p>\n
sorry um and in verse six he says being<\/p>\n
trained in the words of the faith and of<\/p>\n
the good doctrine that you have followed<\/p>\n
and so Timothy knows the gospel and the<\/p>\n
truth of God's<\/p>\n
word and he has put it into practice by<\/p>\n
following it and living it out and<\/p>\n
Timothy knows the truth and the truth of<\/p>\n
God's word and in verse S Paul<\/p>\n
encourages Timothy to continue on in<\/p>\n
godliness he says have nothing to do<\/p>\n
with irreverent silly Miz rather train<\/p>\n
yourself for<\/p>\n
godliness so how does Paul tell Timothy<\/p>\n
to train himself for<\/p>\n
godliness the word train here it carries<\/p>\n
the the idea of an athlete training for<\/p>\n
some<\/p>\n
event Paul is speaking to to Timothy as<\/p>\n
a coach would speak to a young athlete<\/p>\n
for an event<\/p>\n
Paul tells Timothy to avoid the junk<\/p>\n
food of donuts and 7-Eleven cheese<\/p>\n
sandwiches in Fanta and instead go for<\/p>\n
the vegetables and the milk and the<\/p>\n
pasta and the<\/p>\n
fish he is saying avoid the silly myth<\/p>\n
of these false<\/p>\n
teachers and continue to consume the<\/p>\n
word of God that you have been fed and<\/p>\n
benefited from and if you do this then<\/p>\n
you will train yourself for godliness<\/p>\n
and so the basis of godliness is God's<\/p>\n
word and this is why Paul says in 1<\/p>\n
Timothy 3:15 that the church is a pillar<\/p>\n
and butress of the<\/p>\n
truth he uses architectural imagery of a<\/p>\n
pillar and butus to help us understand<\/p>\n
the important function of the church to<\/p>\n
support and protect God's<\/p>\n
word and a butus is a support that gives<\/p>\n
a a structure added strength and a<\/p>\n
pillar would hold up the roof of a<\/p>\n
structure and so both a buttress and a<\/p>\n
pillar would provide for a sturdy<\/p>\n
structure and if the pillars collapse or<\/p>\n
the the buttress is weak then the whole<\/p>\n
building will<\/p>\n
collapse they are crucial part of the<\/p>\n
structure of the<\/p>\n
building and the church will cease to be<\/p>\n
the church without God's<\/p>\n
word God has given us his word and we<\/p>\n
are to be good stewards of it by<\/p>\n
supporting it and keeping it<\/p>\n
intact so God's word is foundational to<\/p>\n
Godliness it is the basis for<\/p>\n
godliness it is the source of the stream<\/p>\n
from which our godliness<\/p>\n
flows so we see that godliness is<\/p>\n
connected to God's word but what exactly<\/p>\n
is it and what does it look like Paul<\/p>\n
makes this clear in first Timothy<\/p>\n
4:12 let no one despise you for your<\/p>\n
youth but set the Believers an example<\/p>\n
in speech in conduct in love in faith<\/p>\n
impurity the example that Timothy is to<\/p>\n
set before the church is a life of<\/p>\n
godliness Paul is describing what<\/p>\n
godliness looks<\/p>\n
like godliness is living a life that is<\/p>\n
shaped by God's<\/p>\n
word it is living a genuine Christian<\/p>\n
Life where every area of Our Lives is<\/p>\n
truth when my family and I go to the<\/p>\n
beach we will usually pick up one of<\/p>\n
those cheap plastic sandbucket sets that<\/p>\n
you can find at any of the stores uh at<\/p>\n
the beach and it comes with with a<\/p>\n
shovel and and a bucket and some type of<\/p>\n
mold for a sea<\/p>\n
creature you can fill the mold with sand<\/p>\n
and then you can put it on the top of<\/p>\n
the beach and when you remove it<\/p>\n
whenever you remove the mold it will<\/p>\n
look like whatever uh sea creature it is<\/p>\n
and so if it is a crab you fill it up<\/p>\n
with sand and then you plop it down on<\/p>\n
the beach and you remove the mold and<\/p>\n
you have a mold or an image of a crab if<\/p>\n
it's a fish and you put sand in it and<\/p>\n
then you put it on the top of the beach<\/p>\n
and you remove it the image is a<\/p>\n
fish and for the Christian God's word is<\/p>\n
the mold that should shape all of our<\/p>\n
life<\/p>\n
the question we need to constantly be<\/p>\n
asking ourselves is does my life look<\/p>\n
like the Christian Life<\/p>\n
should we want to pursue<\/p>\n
godliness and as we saw in chapter 4 we<\/p>\n
are to to train ourselves for godliness<\/p>\n
this means putting forth effort of<\/p>\n
learning God's word so that we can then<\/p>\n
live by<\/p>\n
it Paul saw the need of the church um in<\/p>\n
Ephesus to know the importance of Godly<\/p>\n
living and it is the focus of his letter<\/p>\n
he says in 1<\/p>\n
Timothy 3:<\/p>\n
14-15 I hope to come to you soon but I<\/p>\n
am writing these things to you so that<\/p>\n
if I delay you may know how one ought to<\/p>\n
God and so for Paul there was no time to<\/p>\n
delay it's usually best to to talk to<\/p>\n
someone important um to talk to someone<\/p>\n
in person about something of importance<\/p>\n
but what H Paul had to tell the church<\/p>\n
at Ephesus about godliness and how to<\/p>\n
conduct oneself as a member of God's<\/p>\n
household it was too important to wait<\/p>\n
uh for Paul to go to them in<\/p>\n
person and I want to look at why<\/p>\n
godliness is so important and what<\/p>\n
should motivate us to pursue godliness<\/p>\n
in just a minute but before I do I want<\/p>\n
to mention something about what<\/p>\n
godliness is not<\/p>\n
we've already looked at and defined how<\/p>\n
Paul uses the term of godliness but I<\/p>\n
want to make a<\/p>\n
clarification godliness is not<\/p>\n
sinlessness in first John we are told<\/p>\n
that it is impossible for us to be<\/p>\n
sinless during our lifetime in this<\/p>\n
world and it is true that Paul has set<\/p>\n
out a lot of moral standards in first<\/p>\n
Timothy for the way that we should live<\/p>\n
and conduct ourselves in the house of<\/p>\n
God and our lives should conform to<\/p>\n
these to some<\/p>\n
degree when our lives do it is evidence<\/p>\n
of the New Life of Christ that God has<\/p>\n
given us and so we want to see that new<\/p>\n
life and godliness in the sense that we<\/p>\n
live our lives to conform to these moral<\/p>\n
standards and this is actually part of<\/p>\n
the Gospel is part of the good news that<\/p>\n
Christ has broken the stronghold that<\/p>\n
Sin Sin once had on us and he has given<\/p>\n
us the ability to live a new life of<\/p>\n
obedience and so part of what godliness<\/p>\n
looks like is living in love toward God<\/p>\n
and living in love towards<\/p>\n
others what does godliness look like<\/p>\n
when our lives are nowhere near God's<\/p>\n
moral<\/p>\n
standards what does godliness look like<\/p>\n
when we don't speak to one another in<\/p>\n
kindness in<\/p>\n
love what does it look like when our<\/p>\n
conversation uh with someone looks like<\/p>\n
a bar fight at uh at a bar on soy<\/p>\n
Cowboy God's word tells us that<\/p>\n
godliness in the face of sin includes<\/p>\n
confession we come before the Lord like<\/p>\n
we do every Sunday during the worship<\/p>\n
service and we confess to the Lord that<\/p>\n
what we have done is sin and we<\/p>\n
recognize that this is rebellion against<\/p>\n
him and godliness doesn't stop<\/p>\n
there when we confess we go on to repent<\/p>\n
of our sin we see it for the evil it is<\/p>\n
and we turn away from it and so instead<\/p>\n
of running down the path towards sin we<\/p>\n
turn around and we run in the opposite<\/p>\n
direction we set our hearts and our<\/p>\n
minds in a New<\/p>\n
Direction and it also means having a<\/p>\n
faith in Christ and making much of him<\/p>\n
for conquering our<\/p>\n
sin we rely on what he has done for for<\/p>\n
us at the cross that has made it<\/p>\n
possible for God to forgive us of our<\/p>\n
sin and we rest in God's grace and love<\/p>\n
for us and what he has done for us in<\/p>\n
Jesus after God created the world and<\/p>\n
and all other things scripture tells us<\/p>\n
that he<\/p>\n
rested the task that he had set out to<\/p>\n
do for the the purpose of the initial<\/p>\n
creation of everything everything that<\/p>\n
he wanted to do and make was<\/p>\n
complete he had finished his work and he<\/p>\n
ceased from<\/p>\n
working God didn't say I need to change<\/p>\n
this or I need to to add that things<\/p>\n
were created the way that God had<\/p>\n
planned and nothing else was needed so<\/p>\n
God sat back and he admired his great<\/p>\n
work the work that Christ did at the<\/p>\n
cross for God to be able to forgive us<\/p>\n
of our sin it is complete<\/p>\n
we can't do anything to add to it we<\/p>\n
just need to rest in it and sit back and<\/p>\n
admire<\/p>\n
it so Godly is godliness is not<\/p>\n
sinlessness godliness is a life that is<\/p>\n
conformed to God's word and God's word<\/p>\n
instructs us how to be Godly when we<\/p>\n
sin we want to know God's word and the<\/p>\n
gospel well in order to train ourselves<\/p>\n
for<\/p>\n
godliness so what Paul is telling us in<\/p>\n
first Timothy is that God has given us a<\/p>\n
mold and that we need to take the sand<\/p>\n
of our life and pack it into that mold<\/p>\n
and we want our life to take the shape<\/p>\n
and be molded by God's<\/p>\n
word now that we've looked at godliness<\/p>\n
in the face of our sin let's look next<\/p>\n
at the importance of godliness and what<\/p>\n
our motivation for pursuing godliness<\/p>\n
should<\/p>\n
be so what should be our motivation for<\/p>\n
godliness<\/p>\n
our motivation for godliness should be<\/p>\n
to honor the Lord and the salvation of<\/p>\n
ourselves and<\/p>\n
others our motivation should first and<\/p>\n
foremost be to honor the Lord as we saw<\/p>\n
earlier we are members of God's<\/p>\n
household and as God's children his<\/p>\n
bride and his servants we want to honor<\/p>\n
the Lord by living in a way that is<\/p>\n
pleasing to him that he has instructed<\/p>\n
us to live in he is our loving father or<\/p>\n
husband and master who provides for us<\/p>\n
in so many ways and our response is to<\/p>\n
his love should be to honor him by<\/p>\n
submitting to his<\/p>\n
word another Mo motivation for p<\/p>\n
pursuing godliness is to be a light to<\/p>\n
nations in 1 Timothy 2 1-4 we read first<\/p>\n
of all then I urge that supplications<\/p>\n
prayers intercessions and thanksgivings<\/p>\n
be made for all people for kings and all<\/p>\n
who are in high positions that we may<\/p>\n
lead a peaceful and quiet life Godly and<\/p>\n
dignified in every way this is good and<\/p>\n
it is pleasing in the sight of our of<\/p>\n
God our savior who desires all people to<\/p>\n
be saved and to come to the knowledge of<\/p>\n
the truth and so when our lives to<\/p>\n
conform to God's word it is a light to<\/p>\n
world it is like turning the the sand<\/p>\n
mold over and putting it on the top of<\/p>\n
beach and when you remove it it looks<\/p>\n
like a cross for all those who walk<\/p>\n
along the beach to<\/p>\n
see when people see us live by God's<\/p>\n
moral standards that God has set out for<\/p>\n
us to live by from new desires and they<\/p>\n
see our new lifestyle they see the cross<\/p>\n
they see<\/p>\n
Jesus when people see our sin and they<\/p>\n
see the hope that we have in the face of<\/p>\n
our sin they see the power of Christ to<\/p>\n
forgive<\/p>\n
sin this is why scripture tells us to be<\/p>\n
ready to share the reason for the hope<\/p>\n
that is within us we want our lives to<\/p>\n
be alike to those around us and for them<\/p>\n
to see the greatness of Christ in<\/p>\n
us and our motivation for living a Godly<\/p>\n
life is not only to be a light to the<\/p>\n
Nations but also a light to one another<\/p>\n
in 1 uh Timothy 4:1 12-16 we read let no<\/p>\n
one despise you for your youth but set<\/p>\n
the Believers an example in speech in<\/p>\n
conduct in love in faith in Purity until<\/p>\n
I come devote yourself to the public<\/p>\n
reading of scripture to exhortation to<\/p>\n
teaching do not neglect the gift you<\/p>\n
have which is given you by prophecy when<\/p>\n
the Council of Elders laid their hands<\/p>\n
on you<\/p>\n
practice these things immerse yourself<\/p>\n
in them so that all may see your<\/p>\n
progress keep a close watch on yourself<\/p>\n
and on the teaching persist in this for<\/p>\n
by doing so you will sa both yourself<\/p>\n
and your<\/p>\n
hears and so Paul is telling Timothy to<\/p>\n
keep a close watch on his conduct and<\/p>\n
the way he is handling God's word he's<\/p>\n
basically saying focus on godliness<\/p>\n
the reason Paul tells him this is for<\/p>\n
the Salvation of those brothers and<\/p>\n
sisters that he is ministering to and<\/p>\n
for his own<\/p>\n
salvation I once heard someone talk<\/p>\n
about another person as having a strong<\/p>\n
Ministry of<\/p>\n
presence and I I didn't understand what<\/p>\n
this person was talking about at the<\/p>\n
time and I thought this was just a term<\/p>\n
that this had person had come up with to<\/p>\n
give quiet people uh who talk don't talk<\/p>\n
very<\/p>\n
much um after studying first Timothy I<\/p>\n
understand what this person meant and<\/p>\n
the significance of a Ministry of<\/p>\n
presence God uses the way we live our<\/p>\n
lives and our faith in the gospel to<\/p>\n
bless others in the<\/p>\n
faith when people God when people know<\/p>\n
God's truth and they live out the gospel<\/p>\n
they set an example for other people<\/p>\n
around them to<\/p>\n
see when Believers see other believers<\/p>\n
living a Godly life it strengthens their<\/p>\n
faith and this is the reason we need to<\/p>\n
be around each other this is why Grace<\/p>\n
City offers so many small<\/p>\n
groups it is important for us to have<\/p>\n
fellowship with other<\/p>\n
believers and this is why attending<\/p>\n
church in per person on Sundays is so<\/p>\n
important we can listen to a sermon on<\/p>\n
Sundays uh from home which is<\/p>\n
great and sometimes necessary but but we<\/p>\n
should be cautious to make this the norm<\/p>\n
or habit for our<\/p>\n
lives in the reason is that we will miss<\/p>\n
out on the presence of other<\/p>\n
believers we spiritually need to be in<\/p>\n
the presence of one another for our own<\/p>\n
spiritual health and to provide a<\/p>\n
Ministry of presence for the other<\/p>\n
members of the<\/p>\n
household God strengthens us through one<\/p>\n
another and he keeps us in the faith as<\/p>\n
we see Christ in the gospel in each<\/p>\n
other let's look lastly at the key to<\/p>\n
our<\/p>\n
godliness we find the key to our<\/p>\n
godliness in 1 Timothy<\/p>\n
3:16 great indeed we confess is the<\/p>\n
godliness he was manifested in the flesh<\/p>\n
proclaimed among the Nations believed on<\/p>\n
in the world and taken up in<\/p>\n
glory Paul uses the the term mystery to<\/p>\n
refer to something that was uh something<\/p>\n
that was not very clear that now has<\/p>\n
become clear and in the Old Testament<\/p>\n
God promised to give his people the<\/p>\n
ability to know and to live according to<\/p>\n
his word in a way that they had never<\/p>\n
experienced<\/p>\n
before god mentioned things in in his<\/p>\n
word and uh that pointed to Jesus that<\/p>\n
would bring about the change but it<\/p>\n
wasn't as clear as when Jesus came to<\/p>\n
the Earth and shared about who he was<\/p>\n
and what he came to do for God's<\/p>\n
people then the apostles like Paul uh<\/p>\n
that wrote first Timothy explain this<\/p>\n
even further so that what was once a<\/p>\n
mystery is now clear to<\/p>\n
us and so the mystery that Paul is<\/p>\n
referring to here is<\/p>\n
Christ he uses a hymn or a Creed that<\/p>\n
was known at the time of writing to give<\/p>\n
us an accurate description of<\/p>\n
Jesus Paul is making a connection<\/p>\n
between godliness and<\/p>\n
Christ and so it is because of Jesus<\/p>\n
that we are able to live a Godly<\/p>\n
life in Galatians 2:20 we read I have<\/p>\n
been crucified with Christ and the life<\/p>\n
I now live in the flesh I live by the<\/p>\n
faith in the Son of God who loved me and<\/p>\n
gave himself for me<\/p>\n
and so Christ is the one who is<\/p>\n
empowering us to live a life of<\/p>\n
godliness that God calls us to he is the<\/p>\n
one who is transforming in our hearts<\/p>\n
and our minds so that we can do his will<\/p>\n
and therefore as we pursue godliness it<\/p>\n
must be done by God dependent<\/p>\n
effort so let us look to him for the<\/p>\n
strength and the ability to live The<\/p>\n
Godly life that he calls us to let's<\/p>\n
pray and ask him to to do that for<\/p>\n
us dear Lord we thank you so much for<\/p>\n
calling us to<\/p>\n
yourself we thank you for making us part<\/p>\n
of your<\/p>\n
household we thank you that we are your<\/p>\n
children we are your bride we are your<\/p>\n
servants you are our loving<\/p>\n
father our gracious husband and master<\/p>\n
and so I pray that you will help us to<\/p>\n
see you as being our Authority I pray<\/p>\n
that you will help us to see you as<\/p>\n
wanting the best for us for taking care<\/p>\n
of us in the way that you have by<\/p>\n
placing people in Authority in the<\/p>\n
church above us to Shepherd us to care<\/p>\n
us we thank you for your love for<\/p>\n
us you have called us to be Godly in<\/p>\n
your church you have called us uh<\/p>\n
to look at your word to know your<\/p>\n
word to cherish your word that is how<\/p>\n
you feed us to Lord and that is how you<\/p>\n
grow us and so I pray that you will<\/p>\n
continue to to teach us teach us your<\/p>\n
word out what godliness looks like I<\/p>\n
pray that you will continue to teach us<\/p>\n
your<\/p>\n
word we know that we can't live a Godly<\/p>\n
life on our own and we know that the<\/p>\n
power comes<\/p>\n
from Christ Living in us and so I pray<\/p>\n
that as we pursue a Godly life in the<\/p>\n
church I pray that you will help us to<\/p>\n
be dependent upon you to give us the<\/p>\n
ability to do<\/p>\n
that we thank you that we that you do<\/p>\n
not call us to live a perfect life we<\/p>\n
cannot do that uh dear Lord Christ has<\/p>\n
done that for<\/p>\n
us I pray that you will help us to<\/p>\n
understand godliness rightly and I ask<\/p>\n
all this in Jesus name amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20241007","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=b4IruiV79KA","video_id":"b4IruiV79KA","video_duration":"39:30","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions\/356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}