The Construction of a Godly Life (2 Peter 1:10)

Introduction

How long is this sermon going to last? It’s a thought on every person’s mind, especially Sunday morning. But I’m not talking about the amount of time. I’m talking about the impact. How long will the thoughts of this lesson last in your life? It’s a frustration for preachers. You preach messages that may be forgotten within the next hour or the next day. That’s just part of it. Thankfully, we can put them on the world wide web and listen to them over and over again if we are so inclined if my voice isn’t too grating on your nerves. But I wonder if certain messages can have a greater impact than others. A longer lasting effect.

This was a sermon idea that I’d actually forgotten about and found my notes during the meeting last week with Jared Bowman or two weeks ago. I want to talk to you this morning about the construction of a godly life. Wouldn’t you like to have one of those? Many of you already do. I want to enhance such a life. You need such a life. I want to help cultivate a godly life in us all. And the reason why I say this is because I think a lot of people look at themselves, their struggles, their circumstances, and say to themselves, I don’t think I can do this. I don’t think I can live the life the preacher talks about, or more importantly, the life the scriptures call me to live in service to Jesus.

So perhaps something could be said. Some way we could look at the New Testament material, the material of Scripture, and come to some conclusions about how can I do this successfully? The answer is not to do what so many have done. And that’s change the recipe. Make it more palatable, more smooth as it goes down. Alter the message. Perhaps people could live it if you change the requirements. Lessened the requirements. Call evil good and good evil. Substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, and light for darkness and darkness for light. Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 20. Remember when that statement was made in Isaiah, there was a woe that preceded it. Woe to those who attempt this very thing. I’m not going to do that.

I can’t do that and go to heaven. So I’m not going to change the recipe. But I want to take you to 2 Peter chapter 1 briefly. And suggest something to you about this verse that God is obviously not asking the impossible. This is not something we’re talking about this morning that you, and I’m talking about all of you, that you are incapable of doing.

Therefore, brothers, therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent. Now that’s part of the recipe, and I can’t sugarcoat that or make that go away. And you’ve got to supply that. Be all the more diligent to make certain. That sounds good. To make certain about his calling and choosing you. You can do this. For as long as you practice these things, you shall never stumble. For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom. Man, we need to be a part of that. You don’t want to miss that. Trust me, you don’t want to miss that. The entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. And I don’t know if that’s good enough. But it deserves something.

Entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is doable for you. You can construct such a life that says, I am indeed a child of God. My calling is real, and it is being proved in my life. Achieving these glorious results, and they are glorious. Will not happen by accident. We read that in the prophets in Isaiah chapter 35, one of my favorite texts in Isaiah, about walking the highway of holiness. Fools will not err therein, the older translations say. Fools will not wander on it. It’s that, you know, you’re not walking the highway of holiness, and you look around and say, boy, how did I get here? Well, look what I found. Looky here. I’m on the highway of holiness. That’s not how it works.

It’ll be for those who walk that way. You will be born into it. That is, that your physical family will provide access to the highway of holiness. That was the old system. A new system came in Jesus Christ. It will be for those who choose it. Who are taught and then born. Who say, I’m going to walk that way, that path to glory, and you can do it. And sorrow and sighing will flee away. And the ransomed will return. Isaiah says in Isaiah 35. What a text. So how do I do it? How do I successfully live the godly life? Taking a page this morning out of Ezekiel’s book. We’re studying Ezekiel on Wednesday night. Fascinating study. Ezekiel built stuff. Ezekiel used props like luggage. Tony’s sermons today are a little bit different.

They involve props. Prop for this morning’s lesson. This is a glow in the dark panda puzzle. Now I wanted something that had a biblical vein to it. Let’s y’all see it over here, because I know the kids are more interested in the puzzle. I wanted sort of a biblical theme, but you know, if there’s a picture of Jesus, that’s not really what he looked like. And Noah’s Ark, I mean, that gets worn out. And so I just decided to go with a creature of God’s creation. And this particular one, a panda, is my older sister Mandy’s favorite. She loves pandas, as my niece and nephew can attest. And plus, aren’t they cute? Aren’t they adorable? What a marvel of God’s creation. How unique among the creatures that God made, like giraffes with the really long neck that my nephew, not my grandson really loves, Lawson loves giraffes.

But I chose pandas. And I’ll tell you another reason why I chose pandas.

When you work a puzzle, you know, if it’s all a puzzle of the same color, have you ever noticed how frustrating that is? Trying to think, well, does it go up here or down here? I thought with all the color contrasts that John could even work in. And so I thought that was a good choice for that reason. But why do I have a puzzle?

Even one that has a lot of good contrast that John can work. And he’s going to be running up here right away, I’m sure, to steal this from me if I leave it under the pulpit. What’s the point of the puzzle? Have you ever tried to put a puzzle together without the box lid? Well, the edge pieces, that might work for you. Because you know they have that straight line. So you can get the edge of the puzzle. But if you started working the interior and didn’t have the box lid, the picture that goes with it, going to be hard to put the puzzle together. And building the godly life is a lot like that. If you don’t start with the box lid, if you don’t start with the imprint, the picture, the proper picture, putting the puzzle together is going to seem next to impossible.

1. Christ: The First and Most Important Piece

God’s word, particularly the New Testament, contains God’s universal covenant, the blueprint of a godly life. And so I started thinking about this. How does the New Testament explain to us what the godly life looks like and how to build it? Peter says we can. Now we’re going to start this morning with the first and most important piece of the puzzle. You have to start here. You have to digest this from the biggest image that really relates to everything the puzzle is about. And that first puzzle piece is Jesus Christ. If I be lifted up, Ed Red, I will draw all men to myself. That is the essence of real religion. This is the starting point of the godly life. Write this down, mark it down. It is about Jesus Christ and Him being the focus and center of your life.

Because He is the focus and center of creation. He is the focus and center of redemption. He is the focus and center of the throne seen in Revelation chapter 4 and verse 4 and 5. And he is the focus and the center of the day of judgment.

And boy, I could spend an hour and a half right here. Because really, the whole new covenant is about the role Christ plays in the lives of his people. And those are his disciples. And I’m going to focus on just a couple of thoughts. Christ in you is the hope of glory. Colossians 1, verse 27. And Galatians chapter 4 and verse 19, such a compelling verse that I hate to preach it without talking about its context. And so I made a note on my phone just a little bit ago that I’m going to preach on this whole context very soon. But in Galatians 4 and verse 19, my children, as he writes to the churches of Galatia, with whom I am again in labor. Okay, I’m working with you in these things, in spiritual things, until Christ is formed in you.

That says it. That’s the essence of the gospel. That’s why he’s the most important puzzle piece and must be the essential part of the puzzle. Christ formed in you. And so we talk all the time. One of the reasons why our study on the gospels on Sunday morning is so important. Because we need to know how Christ thought. We need to model his thinking. We need to model his behavior. He left us an example that we should follow in his steps. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 21. As we’ve seen recently in lessons, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians chapter 2, that whole context. But verse 5 mentions that verse. And so we have to start thinking as he thought.

We have to start modeling our behavior after his, not in the performance of miracles. Wish I could do that. Would love to go raise someone from the dead at a local funeral home. That’d be awesome. But that’s not what Christ calls me to do and emulate. But I can love what he loved. Serve how he served, and think how he thought, and value what he valued. And that’s going to involve the rest of my life getting to know that better.

And maybe that’s part of Paul’s statement about not having yet attained to the resurrection of the dead. I think he might be talking about the end of things there. But just the concept of living the resurrected life that mirrors the Lord’s completely. That is a lifelong journey and pursuit. We have to completely stay focused on the Christ. Now, again, I could go on for a long time, but there’s more parts of this puzzle that emanate from this important piece. And here’s what I’m going to do with you right now. This is why I want to make it last. I wanted to make this simple. One of the things I wanted to do is every point begins with the same letter. So that you could take these six pieces and work with them from day to day.

2. We Absolutely Must Have Conviction

Another important piece to the Christ puzzle is that we absolutely must have conviction. Well, this Jesus thing, it’s okay, it does some things for me, but just how invested are we. Verse of the day, John 6, verse 63. Hard for me to say that. They’re all such important statements. But John 6, 63, the verse of the day, I’m going to come back to it tonight, I believe. In the midst of this context of feeding the 5,000 people coming to him because he’s providing food. And he says, work for the food that does not perish. He says, it is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. Now, that’s an exaggeration. He’s not saying, okay, you just need to stop eating right now. Just give it up.

No more food. Scrap your lunch plans today. The flesh has no value whatsoever in any circumstance. But he’s talking about as far as producing what we need the most. A meal doesn’t do it. It’s a temporary thing. Drinking the water from the well in John chapter 4, you’re going to thirst again. He says, but the water I shall give you shall swell up inside a person unto eternal life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Do you believe that? Do you have that strength of conviction? I’m not really sure if this is the word of God. I’m not really sure if living by these principles is really what’s best for me. You need more conviction than that.

And you will not live a godly life without that conviction. But I believe God is real, that Jesus is indeed the Savior who sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and this is his living message that will guide me to better living and eternal living. And I just got to tell you, in the last few years at Decan Prairie, the studies we’ve engaged in together, I have marveled like never before in my life at how extraordinary and incredible and God given this message is.

3. Consecration: Set Apart for a Special Purpose

Without conviction, the recipe will not work. Point number three. I know that’s a big, that sounds like a big religious word. But I had to have a seat. And so I chose the word consecration. What does that mean? That means you set apart something for a separate and special purpose. It’s consecrated. And the thing that has to be consecrated to produce the godly life is yourself. You know what’s been jumping out at me lately in all of our old testament studies? Is that the new covenant under the reign of the Messiah would involve a new way of the Lord’s people of seeing themselves? A new name. Isaiah 62 and verse 2. Married to the Lord, Beulah. Not forsaken. Have Zebah. A city sought out. The new Jerusalem.

The planting of the Lord. Isaiah 61 and verse 3. Oaks of righteousness. Remember that New Year’s sermon? That was a long time ago. That was eight months ago, but I’ve been preaching in meetings. I love that sermon. The oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that God may be glorified. You know what’s missing in the recipe that caused so many people to give up? I can’t do this. They’re not seeing themselves the right way. We are a special people. We are a people for God’s own possession. We are a holy priesthood. 1 Peter chapter 2. Who have been brought forth in Christ. We’ve been drawn to Christ that we might declare his excellencies. According to 1 Peter chapter 2. And part of the problem is we’re holding out.

As we saw in John 12 this morning, the message to the Greeks. You must surrender your life to Satan. You die in order to live. And when you walk with Christ, when you rise to walk in newness of life, and you say, I have now been set apart as a vessel for honor. That sounds like a New Testament verse, and it is a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. We must see ourselves as having a special purpose in this life. I’ve been called to special things. What we’re doing today is not just what we did last week and the week before that and what we’ll do perpetually until we die, as if we’re in some kind of rut. We’re doing this because I am God’s special child.

4. Communion With God Through Prayer

I’ve been consecrated. I’ve been sanctified. I’m holy. I’m a saint. Catholics have totally destroyed that concept. Those who are in Christ who are still alive, are the saints of God. I read that in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 2. Despite the struggles that they were having living the godly life. They had some struggles that needed to be ironed out that they needed to fix. But Paul still called the Corinthians the saints of God. They had been consecrated to him for his special purposes. Don’t undervalue the way we view ourselves as an important piece of the puzzle. Now, quickly. The last three points. There will be no vitality in your relationship with God without communion. I know that’s the term we use in regard to the Lord’s Supper, but I’m using it in a much larger way to describe relationship with God through prayer.

If we rarely, if ever talk to God, the godly life will escape us. It will be well-nigh impossible. We must be often prayer. Acknowledge that we need him. We need his guidance. We need his help. We need his sustenance. We need his mercy. God, I need you to show me the way. And it’s not going to be a bright light from heaven like Saul experienced on the road to Damascus. But he’s going to be working in my life. I may not see it until 10 years later or way down the road, but I need you showing me the way. As I make choices and decisions about my life and the steps that I will take. I need you, God, to be with me to help me along the way.

5. Compassion: Delivered From Self

And not only must I have communion, I must be delivered from self. And to not be so constantly focused on my own concerns. But I need to find redemption and true purpose in actually caring about other people, their burdens, their sorrows, their troubles, and helping how I can. In small ways. Cup of cold water, as Jesus said. An important part of our redemptive puzzle is to take the focus off of ourselves and to truly look at others and how I can help. That’s what our Savior did. But his focus was upon all others, not himself. May we learn to mirror him in that compassion. And one other piece of the puzzle that is significant in all of this is confession.

6. Confession: Declaring to Whom I Belong

At least being involved in part in my life. And you might think that I’m talking about confession of sin, and there’s going to be the necessity of some of that. Perhaps I need to do that with a brother, James chapter 5 and verse 16. Perhaps I simply just need to be honest with myself about how I’m falling short of God’s will for me. But I want to go beyond confession as it relates to the problem of sin and simply say, I need to be declaring to the world to whom I belong. He who confesses me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven, Matthew chapter 10 and verse 32. And so, as I make this as simple as I can this morning and wrap this up.

Conclusion

I know you’re doing some of these. Those of you who are in Christ, I know you’ve pursued all of these things in your walk with the Lord, but you need to stay focused on them all. And where there have been failures, let me just say this. You know how a puzzle is put together? One piece at a time. And you never get a puzzle built if you get impatient and you give up. Don’t get impatient with the puzzle. Because unlike the panda puzzle, God is helping us to put this puzzle together. The construction of a godly life. It is very doable.

And I want to tell you this morning, it is worth every effort. It is worth every change that must be made, every sin that must be forsook, every challenge that you will have to overcome, every mountain that may seem to stand in your way. Have you consecrated yourself to the Christ? Are you building the godly life? Let Him have His way with you. Choose His will while there’s time and opportunity. Let’s say the same.