Let's look at the Lord just now in a word of prayer, shall we? Fathers, we bow before you just now. It is in the name of Jesus that we come. We do not come on our own strength, nor on our own power, nor from anything which we have done. We come because of the grace of God as found in our Lord Jesus Christ, and we come in his name. We give you praise today that the resurrected Jesus Christ is alive and at your right hand even now. We thank you for his life, his death, burial, resurrection, his ascension to you, and his soon return. We give you praise today for all that you are and the gracious, awesome God that you are. Holy, pure, true, righteous. We give you praise for all that you are, Father. We know that you're just. We know that you're gracious, long-suffering, and merciful. We come as a people here today so grateful for that. We ask just now in the name of Jesus that your presence will meet with us here. We're a needy people, and we need you more than anything else. We gather here today because Jesus Christ is Lord. We gather here to bring Him glory and honor. We ask, Father, whether that's in the singing, it's the preaching, it's the praying, whatever aspect may be going on, the teaching, Father, whatever else is being done. that all may be done for your glory and honor. So we submit ourselves in all humility to you, asking that you would use us for your glory and honor in every way. We thank you for bringing us together to this place. We thank you that we're a part of the church of Jesus Christ, that which belongs to you, that which you have created yourself, not something we have done. We ask this now in Jesus' name that as you minister to us, you might also minister to our brothers and sisters who could not be with us this day. We ask in Jesus' name that you would take care of those who travel, those, Father, who are in need of healing and could not be here because of sickness this day, those who are recovering, and those, Father, who are struggling spiritually right now. We ask in Jesus' name that you would bring to them your grace, and that bringing to them your grace, Father, grant to them repentance, grant to them faith, grant that in Jesus' name they may be restored. Father, we pray for those who this morning will hear the gospel for the first time or may hear the good news at all. We ask in Jesus' name that you open hearts this morning. We need you desperately. We're going to thank you and praise you for all that you're going to do and for the way that you're going to do it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. I was noticing that not only are Mr. and Mrs. Brad Dempsey here, We also have some people who have just returned from searching for a woolly mammoth. In the far reaches of Alaska, they wanted to find a woolly mammoth to put in our glory room to show what the Ice Age had done. Yes, in fact, Mr. and Mrs. Ron Broadwater have returned from escapades in Alaska. So, Ron and Judy, welcome back. It's good to see you. We were concerned, some of you do not realize, but actually this trip was to go in search of a woolly mammoth frozen in the ice. We kept asking Ron if he understood what he was doing and he said he did. But our understanding was they found one in the ice and put it in the camper. Not realizing that the Midwest was now in the throes of summer, it melted. And as in his campers, it stinketh. Sit down, Ron. Praise the Lord. We're glad you're back. Suffice it to say, we are glad, all right? If you would, take out your Bibles this morning, turn them to 1 Timothy 3. You will find a sermon outline there for today also. That's inside your bulletin. It's got some blanks in it. We'll try to fill in those blanks for you as we can. This series that we're preaching on right now, we preach a series on what God expects of a man. We're speaking on now, what is a godly woman? What's a godly woman? We gave an introduction to this week before last. By the way, thank you for sending us away for last weekend. We had a wonderful time, my wife and I did. We did do parasailing, and we did do jet skiing. So those of you who are wanting us to go out of this world, I guess it was, who wanted us to go on a parachute above the lake's waters, we did do that, and we did do some jet skiing, and both of us recovered. And we're here this Sunday. Thank you for sending us, but we gave out this message. I think the first introduction of this was Sunday before last. So today we're gonna talk on the subject of godliness itself. If we're gonna talk about what being a godly woman is, then we need to talk about godliness itself. So we're gonna introduce godliness to you today. And Lord willing, we have some good things to share with you. in the study of God's word in what godliness is. And when Paul is using this word for godliness, when Peter used this word for godliness, and they're the only two I could find that used that in the New Testament, it is the word Eusebio, or Eusebius. Maybe you've heard of a church father years ago, when I think about the third century, second, third century, I believe it was, whose name was Eusebius. And that's the word for godly. But back with the Greeks, it meant piety. And it was connected to exercise, physical exercise. In other words, this was the picture of a total man. If a total man exercised, became strong and was good, strong in his body, and was also kind, he was called a godly man. What Paul's going to do is make a whole new reference to things here. He's going to take us to a whole new level in understanding godliness in the New Testament. So it's not just going to be a well-rounded individual who's also nice. We're going to find out today what godliness really is all about. And I think it's a delightful study as we have opportunity to look at it. So let's just get started right away with it. Let's go to 1 Timothy chapter 3. We'll pick up our reading on verse 16 and following. Let's start with 14, so we do have a context here, because Paul wants people to know something about the church. Let's back up here just for a moment, verse 14. These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I'm delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. He says, now this is, I'm going to write to you about how you ought to conduct yourself. So chapters 4, 5, and 6 are about conduct in the house of God. They deal with a lot of subjects. But the one thing we want to deal with is what he said in verse 16. He said, this is the way the truth is. This is the way the church is. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. But I want you to understand something. That truth has something to do with godliness. So let's look at godliness. He says in verse 16, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. God was manifested, who must he be speaking of? Stay with me, who must he be speaking with? Jesus. Today, we're gonna study godliness. We'll start all over again. Who was he speaking of? There you go. Stay with me. I need as many of you to respond as we possibly can. He's no doubt speaking of Jesus here. Jesus has something to do with the church. He just talked about the church being the pillar and the ground of truth, and he just talked about how we should conduct ourselves in the house of God, and now he says, and great is the mystery of godliness. Now, that's one of your first blanks here this morning. Would you write that in? There is a mystery about godliness. Godliness is associated or spoken of as a mystery. Now with this mystery, he says that God is made known in the flesh. That's what the word manifest means. God is made known in the flesh. It was verified so by various witnesses. He was seen by the angels. It says he was preached among the Gentiles. He was believed on in the world. And then it says he did the work of God to redeem sinners and he returned to God's glory in complete satisfaction. Before we can do anything else about godliness, let's get this picture. Godliness is associated with this. You must believe that God is come in the flesh. No one can be godly in the biblical sense of the word unless he believes this, unless she believes this, that God has come in the flesh and has come for a purpose to glorify God, He did the work of redeeming people, and he was preached in the world and received glory. You can't be godly if you don't know that. And that's not an intellectual agreement. That's this. Are you committed to this great truth? Jesus is God come in the flesh. We're not just talking about Jesus was a great teacher. Jesus did some really great things. Jesus was a great healer. We're not even talking about that Jesus died. We are talking that Jesus came as God in the flesh, was crucified for a specific purpose, not just dying, but was crucified to pay for sins in full. What sins? The words we use here are mine and yours. Mine and yours, okay? Now, you won't have that as one of your blanks. I saw several heads go, knock down, they're looking for it. Don't try to fill that in. That's just part of a sermon. He died for sins that were mine and yours. Now, the mystery of godliness is this. How did that happen? How is it that God could be made known in the flesh? That's what makes it a mystery. I don't know how to explain that one. I know this, the scriptures explain it this way, that the Holy Spirit overshadowed a young virgin girl and she gave birth to a person that's the most unique person ever on the face of the earth. He is at the same time God and the same time man. He is God come in the flesh, that's Jesus the Christ. And that he by the power of the Spirit of God lived a godly life, that is a life just like God would do it. because he was God in the flesh. Now, having lived as God in the flesh, he redeemed us from our sins as indeed only he could have. For one man cannot die for another to redeem him from sins. We might save somebody's life. You know, Dennis, if you're out on the highway playing again like you were the other day and a car comes by and starts to run over you and I run in front and grab you and the car hits me instead and takes my life, I died for you. But that'll never get you to heaven. Never get you to heaven. Matter of fact, all it'll do is buy you a little more time. You see, that was a great sacrifice, but it didn't do anything as far as his eternal soul is concerned. But what Jesus did, purchased people's lives for eternity. You see, godliness as a behavior, godliness as a conduct can't even be done if you don't start there, okay? Now, all I wanna do is lay a good foundation here. I wanna make sure today every woman in here who's gonna find out what it is to be a godly woman, every man in here who finds out what it is to be a godly man knows this. You can't do this unless Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh for you. and is ascended at the right hand and will be coming back for you. Follow that? So we're not just talking about some ethical teaching. We're not just talking about some morality. We're not just talking about being nice here. We're not just trying to explain to you how you can be a sweeter, more wonderful person. You can't do that at all, what we're about to explain to you today, if you don't get the mystery of godliness. If you don't get this, Jesus is God come in the flesh, that died to pay for your sins, rose again from the dead, has set you free from sin, who believe in that, is at the Father's right hand and is coming again. Without those becoming a very part of your nature, you cannot do what we're about to talk about here. You cannot be a godly woman. All right, let's go on. Wanna make sure of that. Let's go to Titus chapter two, just for a moment. Titus chapter two, as we rush our way through this, make sure we cover as much as we can. I want you to see what this is. Titus chapter two, verse 11, please. It says this, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that. Now, I want you to notice something. This is active. God's grace is active. As we looked at before, God's grace is active. When God's grace comes to work in our lives, and by his grace, he awakens us, and faith is born in us, and we are now children of God, that grace is active in us. It keeps on working in us. One of the things that it does, it teaches us. So here's this process going on. If you've been born again by the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God and God's grace is at work in you right now, teaching you something, teaching you something. It's teaching you that denying ungodliness. Denying ungodliness, a life that doesn't believe Jesus is God come in the flesh, a life that isn't committed to God, denying that and worldly lusts, it tells us that we should live soberly. That is, with our head on, thinking things through in life. We're not just bouncing through on our feelings anymore. We're soberly. It says righteously, that is, living to God's standard. And then it says godly. Godly. I want you to look what the connection is with godly here, the very next verse. He says we should live soberly, righteously, and godly. Now watch this. in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Godliness is connected to looking for the blessed appearing of our Savior. Now listen. It's easy enough living in this world to keep our eyes always on the circumstances that we are in. It's easy enough as we try to keep our homes together, we try to keep schedules all balanced, we try to keep checkbooks all balanced, we try to keep everything all balanced in this life. It's easy enough to look at those circumstances and look at our situations and just look at daily life. He's calling on us here as godly people to look beyond this life to what's the next level. And that next level is Jesus is coming back again. Look, you don't wanna just practice being a godly woman because people like godly women. You practice being a godly woman because Jesus is coming back. He's coming back for you. You are not going to answer to your husband for being a godly woman. You are not going to answer to your children for being a godly woman. You're not going to answer to the other women in the church about being a godly woman. You are going to answer to the Lord Jesus Christ about being a godly woman. That's why he says live soberly, righteously, godly in this present age, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of him. Why? Because when he comes back, his reward is for the godly woman. It isn't just because it's a nicer way to do things. It isn't because it looks better and the other women brag on you. It's because Jesus is coming back and with it is his reward. For as we'll see in just a little while, godliness is costly. Godliness is costly. It could cost you something to be a godly woman in this world. But let's fill in the blank or two. It is an active function of God's grace in us. Active function of God's grace. Godliness is an active function of God's grace in us. In other words, this is not us imitating something. This is God's grace at work in us, teaching us that I'm gonna deny ungodliness or worldly lust, and I'm gonna turn instead, and I'm gonna live soberly, thinking my way through this whole thing, that life is not just about here and now. Life is coming ahead. I'm sober. I'm righteous, living up to what God's standard is for things, not just what the world's standard is. The culture doesn't set a standard for believer. The Bible sets the standard for us, and I'm to live godly in this present age. That is, full understanding that Jesus is the Christ, he's the son of God, he is God come in the flesh, and that he redeemed me from this life, he called me from this life, and that he is coming back for me, and I'm looking forward to him because he is my reward. Not just the stuff here. Not just a sweeter, better home. Not just sweeter, lovelier kids. Not just a husband who really gets it now because I'm a godly woman. But the Jesus. He's coming back. Brothers and sisters, let's face it. Our Christian life is about Him. It's not about a code of conduct. though there's obviously some conduct with it. It's about Him. It's about an intimate relationship with the Son of God. And what flows from that is godliness. Let's go a little further. It's an active function of God's grace in us. He is always accompanied by the power of God to live by its standard. In other words, can't be imitated. You'll see in just a minute. Let's go to 2 Peter, please. 2 Peter. Verse 1. We'll back up to verse, chapter 1, we'll back up to verse 1, because the verse we want to get to is verse 3. But let's back up to verse 1. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ to those who are obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Now watch this, 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. Now notice this, His divine power has given us everything we need to life and godliness. And that that godliness only comes through a knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see that? It's important for you to see this in God's Word gang, because I'm going to tell you this. Strange things are afoot in the church of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ is becoming more and more man-centered, more and more man-powered, more and more man-everything. We have this ability to do, we have this ability to do. I'm telling you, you cannot manpower the Christian walk. It cannot be done. It didn't start with manpower, it isn't gonna continue with manpower, and it will not end with manpower. It is Jesus Christ from start to finish. and you cannot imitate the Christian walk. You can't even come up with codes for living and try to live by each of those codes and it be Christian. Godliness is flowing through a knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and God's power is what's empowering godliness to take place in our lives at all. Let's go on a little further. See if I can show you what we mean even more. It may be imitated, but it is not duplicated. If you would please look at Acts chapter 3 just for a moment. I know you were ahead of the 2nd Timothy 3, you thought you were ahead of me, but I changed the verse too. No, actually I added a verse. So let's go to Acts chapter 3 just for a moment. We should see something that's kind of important here. Peter and John are going up together to the temple at the hour of prayer. The church has just been born. There's about 3,000 or plus members of the church that has just been born on the day of Pentecost. And the church itself is beginning to practice being at the temple every day. They are worshiping God. They are praising God. They've now started sharing their goods with other people. They are loving each other. The fear of God has fallen on that place. There are miraculous things taking place. And now Peter and John are going up to the temple to pray, as it says in verse one. Now, Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man laying from his father's womb was from his mother's womb. How about that? A father's womb. That's exciting. whom they had daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, to ask alms for those who entered the temple. Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him with John, Peter said, Look at us. So he gave him his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold I do not have. But what I do have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the beautiful gate of the temple, and they were filled with wondered amazement at what had happened. Now, as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch, which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people, men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Why look so intently at us as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? Now, I know here. Remember what, if I can say it this way, the Hebrews thought godliness came through adherence to the law. That if you were walking in the precepts of the law, you were a godly person. Consequently, the Pharisees were thought to be godly people. But if you remember, Jesus said they were like the Decepticons. They had stuff on the outside working, but they had nothing on the inside at work. Now that's the way the Hebrews saw things. The Greeks, on the other hand, saw that human effort found in exercise, found in being nice, found in being good, that made a person godly. Both the Hebrews and the Greeks thought that that godliness would do something good for people. Peter, once he clearly understood, I'm not walking the Hebrew way, I'm not walking the Greek way. You guys think that my own godliness in some way or another made that lame man walk. It didn't. I don't have that kind of power. I'm not godly in myself. These things don't belong to me. Look, if you will please, because the next verse he says, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified his servant, Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. But you denied the holy one and the just and asked for a murder to be granted to you and killed the prince of life whom God raised from the dead of which we are his witnesses and his name through faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." You see, it wasn't Peter's own godliness. You cannot duplicate God's godliness. You can't make that one up. It can be imitated. but not duplicated. In other words, Peter knew that he could imitate this whole thing here. He knew that, as the Pharisees had done, they were in an imitation of godliness. They had, if you would, look at 2 Timothy. I'm sorry, what was that verse there? Yeah, 2 Timothy 3 in verse 5, just for a moment. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 5. Here's a passage where the author, Paul, is telling Timothy in the last days strange things are going to be taking place. They're going to be difficult times. And he gives a real grocery list there of things that are going to be happening there. Then he also says this in verse 5. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 5, having a form of godliness, but denying its power. Having a form of godliness, but denying its power. Now watch. It is possible to imitate godliness, but you can't duplicate godliness. You can't have the godliness which comes from God, apart from what we told you in the very beginning. You must be one who knows and is convinced that Jesus is the Christ God come in the flesh that he has died for your sins and you got to know you had sins or his grace doesn't make any sense You follow that? We're not talking about just receiving Jesus into your life. We're not just talking about accepting Jesus We're talking about this Did God's Spirit come to convict you? that you were a sinner in need of a Savior. For if God's Spirit has not convicted you of that, friend, what difference does grace make? If you don't know that you have offended Almighty God, if you can't understand that every lie you told was an affront to the truth, God is truth. If you cannot know that God is offended by your worship of everything but Him, grace doesn't make sense. If you don't know that you adulterous thoughts about some other woman or some other man were not as guilt ridden as the very act itself, you miss grace. Grace doesn't make any sense. What do you need grace from, mercy from, if you've not offended? But we have. And that's the essence of the gospel. I don't want to just tell you that God has a wonderful purpose for your life. I'd like to tell you this. Until you deal with the sin that's in your life through Jesus Christ Almighty, pray that God will have mercy on your soul. Now that may not be very popular, but that's the truth. We're in trouble. Serious trouble with Almighty God. And you can't be godly until you know those truths. Now, godliness can be imitated. It was done in Jesus' day. It's done in our day. There's all kinds of form of godliness. Some do it with dress codes. They have a form of godliness. I don't know their hearts, but I can tell you this. If that dress code comes from anything other than a commitment in absolute love and worship and adoration of Jesus Christ, the son of God, because you have a personal relationship with him, you may just have a form of godliness and denied his power. It may come in a manner of all kinds of conduct that we've come to receive as good, wonderful, righteous conduct. But I tell you this, if that doesn't come because you are born again and because God's Spirit is at work in you, actively doing that in you, you may have a form of godliness, but you haven't given it its power. Peter would not love in God. He would not take credit for healing a man, though it had flowed right through him to do that. He would not take credit for it. You don't think this is my power and godliness, do you? No, no. This came from the name of Jesus Christ, through faith in him. It can be imitated, but it cannot be duplicated. Cannot be duplicated. Form without power look at the Titus chapter 1 please in verse 1 Titus chapter 1 verse 1 Paul a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth, which is according to godliness Hmm This is the standard of truth and teaching How do you tell if a truth, if a teaching is true or not? When John would write about this, he said, beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits. Find out this. Ask that spirit, is Jesus God come in the flesh or not? Now watch. We have to be people smart enough to ask these questions. Is the teaching I'm just hearing flowing, is it true because it's according to godliness? That's the standard. And by Godliness, do I understand that Jesus is the Christ, God come in the flesh. He died for my sins as God's true, righteous, holy, and only holy representative for me, the only one who could have. Do I understand that he was resurrected? Do I put that in my heart and my life? and that he is at the Father's right hand, awaiting the time he is coming back. Do you understand that God was fully satisfied with this Jesus, that he was received up in the glory? You see, it has to start from there. And every teaching has to start from there. Godliness becomes the standard for truth in teaching. Does that teaching emanate from God being the author of salvation and Jesus being the one who came? Or does it emanate from my wonderful new codes of how I'd like for things to be in life? It's easy enough to create some really fanciful teachings today. Do you know that? It's easy enough to be almost an infomercial every Sunday. Try Jesus? You ought to try Jesus. I'll tell you, Jesus can add some things to your life that you've never had before. We've got him on the back table back there. Pick him up on your way out. I can't do that. It's not the way he's offered. He's offered as a son of God to sinners. To people who actually know, I've offended God. What am I supposed to do here? When Peter preached to the people of Pentecost, he let them know, this same Jesus, whom God sent by the power of the Holy Spirit, you did with the Romans in vile hands, crucify! And now he's raised from the dead. I want you to know the people who heard that message that day were terrified. because their Messiah had been sent to them. They had rejected him. Not only rejected him, killed him. That's bad enough. They've done that before. Prophets had died before. That's not news. What was news is that this prophet got back up. Unlike the others who stayed dead and we had their bones, And it's easy enough to dig up the bones and say, Prophet, if we'd have been alive then, we wouldn't have treated him this way. They heard this message. You killed the son of God. And now he's alive. You know what it says in the scriptures? That pricked their heart. Isn't that neat? That pricked their heart. What does that mean? Do you know what the next question is going to be? What will we do? What must we do then? Do you understand the God of heaven and earth, who is the God who spoke things into being, the God who could say to the sea, let there be life. And it teemed with all kinds of creatures. That same God who spoke in just a, and it split the Red Sea, The same God that they had seen do all of the miraculous judgments that he'd done in the past has now listened to them as they have condemned his son, crucified his son, his son's alive. What would he do? How can we escape the judgment of God? And Peter said, repent, be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit will be given to you. And that day, 3000 people gladly received that word. Why? Because they knew they had done something grossly wrong. And God's grace was forgiving them. That, brothers and sisters, is the gospel. That's the essence of godliness. Okay, we go on. It's the standard of truth and teaching. If any teaching that you read, if the books that you read or anything else do not adhere to this godliness about Jesus Christ, who he is, don't read it anymore. It's trash. Okay, we go on further. It's practical, not merely theoretical. 1 Timothy chapter four, please, this morning. 1 Timothy chapter four, verses seven and eight. He said this, but reject profane and old wise fables and exercise yourself rather to godliness, for bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. He said, reject profane and old wise fables, exercise yourself rather to godliness. Now, what's this? This matter of godliness is not just theory, it's practical. In other words, just believing that Jesus is the Christ, believing that he died for you, believing that he is God come in the flesh, that he was raised again, he's at the Father's right hand, those are all theoretical things, are they not? He took it from theoretical, he took it from ideas, if he would, and brought it right square down to your life. Exercise that. on that. What would that mean? What does it mean if he's God come in the flesh? You understand that changed the parameters on everything? Death used to be the thing that scared us all. But to those who know Christ Jesus, death has been halted. For they have been delivered from death unto life. How will that change the way you deal with your body? How will it change the way you deal with your wife? How will it change the way you deal with your husband if you understand that Jesus is alive from the dead? He's not just a sweet teacher. You can have Buddha for that. You can have Muhammad for that. But they'll never check up on you. But I tell you, Jesus will. He's alive. When Buddha gave you a commandment or Muhammad gave you a commandment, you could take it or leave it. Yeah, yeah. I go on with so much of that. Yeah, Buddha was a little whacked on this one. But when Jesus, the son of God, speaks and he's authorized it with his own resurrection, it's time to listen. It's time to listen. It is not optional, husband, to love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. The commands of God are not optional, for they are authorized by the resurrected Savior. Doesn't make a difference, doesn't it? It's not theory. It's not just, quote, doctrine. It's practical doctrine. Go on with me because I want you to notice something else here as well. It's also If you would, look at 1 Timothy 2 and verse 9 and 10. As he's speaking to women here, look at this, in right manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing. Now watch this, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. So if this is what you're professing, if you're professing to believe that Jesus is God come in the flesh, if you're professing to believe that not only is he God come in the flesh, but he died for sinners, not only did he die for sinners, but he was raised from the dead, not only is he raised from the dead, but he's ascended to the Father's right hand, not only is he ascended to the Father's right hand, he's coming again for me, then adorn that life, if that's what you're professing, with good works. God knows this is very practical as well as theoretical. with good works. Let your life show forth with good works. Matter of fact, be motivated. This is the reason to do it. This is the reason to do good works. Now listen, it's a great thing when you do something good and you do it for somebody and that somebody says, thank you so much. Man, I appreciated that. Does that feel good or what? Hello, you still with me? Does that feel good or what? I love it when you get to hear that. Thank you so much, oh no, nothing, it was nothing. When you do it that way, it really was nothing. You see, he told us to do it in Jesus' name. Governess says, my life is in Jesus' name. My activity is in Jesus' name. When I do something good, sis, it's in Jesus' name. And that's how, ladies, you will adorn yourself with a rich, new beauty that time cannot change. It can only get sweeter as time goes along. You follow that? You can only become more beautiful as time goes along, as you are adorning your whole life with good works because you know they come from Jesus. It's different. It's not an ethical code, not a moral code, not something you get for the praise of men, but delayed gratification, delayed satisfaction, delayed praise, if you would, coming from Jesus Christ himself, which is a far greater thing. It's not just theoretical, friends, it's practical. Godliness works its way out in practical ways. Let's go quickly. Are you enjoying this? I am. I'm having a good time. I hope you are, too. It produces in us actions that correspond with God's desire in us. I read here several places where he talked about do this with godly sincerity. Hebrews used the word or at least it was translated the word godly with this word always attached to it. And usually speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ, he lived with godly fear. Jesus lived with godly fear. Now get that. Godly fear? Jesus, God come in the flesh, lived with fear? Yes! Jesus, God in flesh, lived all his life in the fear of God. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. He had full knowledge of the Holy One. He was loaded with understanding, and he lived his whole life in godly fear, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. That's godly fear. And it is God's active grace in us that performs these things in us. You see, as God is at work in us, I begin to understand I'm gonna answer to God for this one day. I'm gonna answer to God for this one day. And that motivates me, in part, not to do some things. But it motivates me in another area to start doing other things, okay? It produces in us actions according in us. Godly sincerity, godly sorrow, godly manner, godly fear. Right out of 2 Corinthians 7, would you? Just right out to the side there, and look that up a little bit later, perhaps today. It is to be the primary pursuit of the Christian woman. 1 Timothy 4 verse 7, you probably should still be there, but reject profane and old wise fables and exercise yourself rather to godliness. Don't listen to a bunch of stories anymore. Don't listen to a bunch of what people say anymore. Exercise yourself rather under God than this. Give yourself to it. This is literally the word gymnasia. We get our word gymnasium from it. Now, if you're not a spectator, what happens in a gymnasium? So all kinds of sweating going on there. Because there's all kinds of activity going on. You are literally at the business. You are working out. Now note this. The same way you would put forth effort for your body's sake. I know there are a number of you who work out in the gyms, you work out. Nothing wrong with that. The scriptures say that bodily exercise profiteth a little. Doesn't say it profits zero, profits a little. But it'll never get you to heaven. It'll never help you. When you get to heaven, it profits a little. He said, instead, if you're going to put that much energy into lifting a few things off the floor and to walking your way through this thing, watching nothing. Got your tapes plugged in, listening to all that, and all you do is go nowhere real fast. If you're willing to put that much energy into it for something that you know will profit, poko poko. What is wrong with putting every energy you've got into doing something that you know is going to profit you now and in the life to come? That's what it's about. If you're going to put that much energy into something, put it into something that's got something going for it. You follow that? Okay, let's go on. Oh, it's good stuff. It's the primary pursuit of the Christian woman. Notice if he would it goes on to say just as we've begun here in verse 8 for bodily exercise profits a little but godliness is profitable for all things having promise of the life that now is and the life which is to come it's profitable in everything it is of eternal value you should be done a letter I with me now profitable in everything it is of eternal value for living now for living in heaven little funny thing When a person is born again That person begins to understand that my life now is not worthless, so I don't undervalue this life, but neither is my life fully worthy, so I don't overvalue my life. I come to realize this, the body is the vehicle that carries me around. I don't want it to be in my way. So there are times I have to say to this body, no, you don't get that. No, you've had enough of that. Push away. And I can't smell it anymore, and I can't see it anymore, and I can't grab it anymore. I can't put it in anymore. I don't want my body to become that which addicts me to everything else. I want to be able to say to my eyes, no, that's enough looking at that. Even another second looking looks like lust to me. Put the catalog down. Be content with what you have. Put it aside. How much more do you need to be happy? Godliness is profitable for life now. It could keep you from some things that could absolutely damage you. If you'll think it through. He goes on, for living in heaven. Do you know when you get to heaven, you're going to be godly? Do you know that everything that's in heaven now is godly? Everything that's in heaven now believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. They believe that he is the Redeemer. They believe, matter of fact, they don't only believe, they bow before him and worship and praise. So will you. So if you are now exercising yourself to doing that here, Hirsch, then when you get to heaven, it won't seem like such a new, wonderful, strange thing. You're already in it. You already understand what it's about. I'm giving Jesus top bill in my life. All right. Quickly, got several things to do. It's a great gain when combined with contentment. Look at 1 Timothy 6.6, it says this. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Godliness, understanding who Jesus Christ is, understand I make an application of that in my life and being content with the things that I have, he says that is great gain. So it's a great gain when combined with contentment. Letter K, if you would, go to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 12. You need to know this before you go any further. You need to know this before you go any further. I hope you see now that godliness is what God wants from us. Godliness is supposed to be the number one pursuit. Godliness. And it might be now that God's Spirit has motivated you to understand this. I want to be a godly woman. I want to be a godly woman. I understand I'm going to face Jesus one day on this. I want to be a godly woman. Maybe you're saying, I want to be a godly man. But I see that godliness is the best of all possible things for me. It profits me now. It'll profit me in the life to come. It's associated with good works. I know I'm going to face Jesus and with it I can receive a reward. But you need to know the whole story. And the whole story is that it's costly. It's costly. If you would consider, it's costly because it carries with it suffering. Second Timothy 3 verse 12 says yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution Let's just face it If you choose this godly walk, you're not just choosing to be a nice person living in this world You are going to go upstream in a world that is dead set against Jesus being God come into flesh. I There's a whole Muslim world that is willing to let you believe all you want to about Jesus as long as you don't believe he's God come in the flesh. And, matter of fact, they're so dead serious about it, they'll take your life for it. There's a whole secular world out here that's dead serious about you not getting too carried away with Jesus being God come in the flesh. Now, if you are going to believe that, then you keep it to yourself. Don't you bring it into the public arena. The minute that you trusted Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior, you gave up your rights. You gave up your life. You gave up your mind. You can't think anymore. You're a mindless dummy who doesn't have an opinion. Are you understanding where I'm coming from? If you choose this godly route. You are going to go against the flow. And you need to know right up front, it could cost you. you will suffer persecution. So on the one hand, I'm telling you that it's the most wonderful thing you can do. It has reward with it. It has God's blessing with it. It has the pleasure and the smile of God upon it. But I want you to know that it is costly. It's going to take sacrifice, and you're going to pay dearly for it. Is that fair enough? You're not getting a pig in a poke. You know what that means. I'll tell you about it. I'm from Arkansas. I'll tell you about it someday. It is contrasted with ungodliness, and ungodliness is characterized by this, no possession of the Spirit of God lies without God or that deny Him, that living only from the senses They are sensual people. They turn the grace of God into lewdness. And by that, they mean simply this, that because God has saved you and you're saved by grace, you can do anything you want to now. That's turning the grace of God into lewdness. He goes on to say, denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ is the suppression of the truth in unrighteousness. You know who he is? But you're just going to continue to walk in that unrighteous path. These are ungodly people. It is associated with worldly lusts. It's an association with profane and idle babblings. If you would consider this. Godliness is a lifestyle. of the interaction of the active work of God's Spirit in a believer who is actively submitted to the Spirit that produces the character, actions, discipline, responses, and personality of our Lord Jesus Christ in that person. It is a work of the Holy Spirit and cannot be reproduced even with the strongest religious feelings, rituals, or sincerity. It can only be practiced by those born again by the Spirit. It doesn't matter what your church background was, what rituals you think you have been engaged in. It doesn't matter how sincere you are about those. If you've not been born again by the Spirit of God, you cannot cannot be godly. You can't even start. There isn't a way. Let's just put it this way. If it were just the Ten Commandments that we're in violation of, if it was just that you hadn't honored your mom and your dad, if it was just that you weren't obedient to your parents, If it was just that you had, in fact, borne false witness against your neighbor, but only two or three times, it would not matter. If you had not loved God with your whole heart, let me tell you where you are today. You're lost. And you're a sinner. But God, who is rich in his mercy and his grace, may have mercy on you today. I'm not going to manipulate you. Dennis, we're not going to have special songs. I don't want special music to do something for you. Here it is. If God has spoken to your heart at all, and you found any place along the way that I've fallen woefully short of God's expectation If I've fallen woefully short of God's commandments, if God has condemned your heart at all, and you know that there is some guilt there at all, in the silence of this moment, can I urge you to cry out in mercy, cry out in all humility for the mercy of God right now. Cry out now. I'm not asking you to do anything. Don't leave your seat, don't raise your hand, don't do anything. Right where you are, if God has convicted you that I've fallen short of his glory, may his name be praised today. For having been convicted of that, hear the rest of the story. God has provided a savior for you. And through faith in that savior, and turning from all of the things you have believed or trusted in for yourself, you can be saved. Turn from everything else if God's convicted your heart. And in prayer right now, cry out, God, I need your mercy. I need your mercy. Have mercy on me. And I say to you that Jesus Christ is that mercy. I understand Jesus died for me. Have mercy on me. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Father, in the name of Jesus, we bow before you today because Jesus Christ is Lord. This church doesn't belong to us. It belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who came to seek and to save that which is lost. Lord, I thank you so much for the love that you have for people in this room, the love that you have for them so much so that you brought them to hear the word of God. I thank you, Father. No one's here by accident, but here by divine appointment to know what you have for them this day. Have mercy on souls just now, Father. Saved by your gracious power, Give new birth, Father, to that humbled individual right now, that one who's come poverty-stricken in spirit, knowing they have no way to save themselves, knowing they have nothing to offer God, but knowing that Jesus Christ has everything to offer them. Let them, by that new faith, Father, trust in Jesus Christ and Him alone. Now, just in a moment of quietness, cry out to God for mercy. He is a merciful, long-suffering, gracious, and loving God, holy and just as well.