Intentional Godliness

Introduction

Well, now we’ve come to the interactive quiz portion of our service. Raise your hand if you ever played any type of organized sports. Maybe you played college ball or just high school or middle school ball, or maybe just little league. If you played any kind of organized sport, odds are if you ever played any kind of organized sports, you have that one moment etched in your memory. Where in your mind at least, you were the star. Maybe it’s the day you received the trophy, back when you had to win a trophy. Maybe you were the MVP of the season or of just a game. Maybe you had the game-winning shot or blocked what would have been the game-winning goal. You remember those glory days, don’t you?

And you probably bore your family and friends with exaggerated stories of those glory days. May I share with you my moment. The day, the game, I was the star. The coach gave me the game ball. And if any of you laugh, I will walk out, but they carried me out on their shoulders. I was the star of the game. It was a high school football game. We were playing an in-county rival that everybody thought was better than us. It was assumed that they would win and win big.

In the waning minutes of the game, we were ahead by two points. The opposing team was driving the football. Across the 50-yard line, we’re about on the twenty-yard line, headed in to win what would have been the winning touchdown. There was a bobbled exchange between the quarterback and the running back. And guess who recovered the fumble that secured the victory? Because everybody in the stands, including our team and our coaches, feared and maybe assumed that they were just going to drive and score. But they forgot Ken Chapman. His great defensive skills and his acumen and almost innate instinct of where the ball was.

Biggest game of the season.

Let me tell you the truth of what happened. I was playing defensive tackle. And I had pushed the opposing offensive tackle back in my attempt to get to the running back to make a tackle. I pushed him back and did my patented spin move in which I got a little dizzy and tripped over that tackle’s right foot and just fell to the ground. And I felt a lump between me and the ground. And realized I was laying on the football. It was just sheer accident. Now I didn’t tell the coach. I didn’t tell my teammates, and I sure didn’t tell the cheerleaders, that it was just all an accident. That the greatest moment of my athletic career was just a dumb accident. I tripped and fell.

No one is going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ and hear those words, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Just because they tripped and fell across the goal line. If Scripture teaches us anything, in our pursuit of not losing heart, do you remember that’s our family focus this year in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and here’s your hint to be turning in your Bibles to that text. That will be our text again this morning, 2 Corinthians chapter 4. When the Apostle Paul says, Therefore we do not lose heart. That’s a poetic way of saying we don’t give up. And the reason we don’t give up and must not give up is because our spiritual pursuit is not going to be accidental if we have success in our spiritual pursuit.

It will not be by accident.

That godliness must be intentional. It must be, and this is going to be a very simple lesson for you this morning, two points. It must be a choice that you make, an intentional decision and choice that you undertake. And then secondly, once that choice, once that decision has been made, then it is something that you’re going to have to strive after. Therefore, Paul says, we cannot, we do not, we must not lose heart. We can’t give up in this thing that we call godliness because it’s to be intentional. Are you there in the text with me in 2 Corinthians chapter 4? Let’s read again, beginning in verse 16. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

Paul proposes what we call an inverse proportion there. He says, the outward man is going down. But at the same time, and maybe even by the same degree, the inward man is going up. The outward man is perishing, and the inward man is being renewed day by day. But you know, sometimes I read that verse. The outward man is perishing, but the inward man is being renewed day by day. And I silently ask the question about my inward man. But what if it isn’t? What if my inward man is not being renewed day by day? We read that almost, don’t we? Like it’s automatic. The outward man is perishing. That’s kind of on autopilot, isn’t it? And the inward man is being renewed day by day.

But we may have misunderstood slightly what Paul is saying here. When the apostle Paul consider who is the author, the speaker here, when he says, even though our outward man is perishing, we read that and we attach our experience to the meaning of that. The outward man is perishing. And if you’ve reached a certain age, you read that with a hearty amen. My outward man is perishing. It takes me much longer to get out of bed than it used to. It takes me much longer to recover from a trip to the mailbox than it used to. I have more aches and pains. I have more doctor’s appointments. You know, one sign that you’re old is you’ve got more than one doctor. You’ve got a doctor for everything.

I got appointments for everything. And so the outward man, it definitely is perishing. That’s just kind of on autopilot. But is that what the apostle Paul meant? The Apostle Paul wasn’t dying of old age. His outward man was not perishing because he had reached an age that made him a senior citizen. His outward man was not perishing because he was no longer a youth, as his friend Timothy was. Paul’s outward man was perishing, but it was intentional. The things that Paul were suffering was because of the beatings. Remember 2 Corinthians, Paul three times in this epistle will chronicle with list of what he had gone through for the gospel the beatings, the stonings, the imprisonments, the shipwrecks. And we know the rest of the story. He will die, not of old age, but an abrupt, violent death that was intentional, and it was because of the gospel.

And so when Paul says our outward man is perishing, he wasn’t saying that we have this kind of natural decline that goes down. Paul was saying, I am dying for the gospel. And just as his outward man perishing was intentional and for the sake of the gospel, I think Paul intends us to see that his inward man’s renewal was equally intentional and due to the gospel. And so let’s dissuade our mind of this concept that, well, they’re both inversely proportional, but they’re both just kind of automatic. The outward man’s going to perish, but the inward man, good news, is going to be climbing, going to be renewed day by day. That’s not what Paul is saying. His physical decline was not automatic, and his spiritual incline wasn’t automatic.

1. Decide: A Definitive Choice Must Be Made

It was intentional. And it was because of the gospel. And so let’s look at those two components that I think it’s apparent that were a part of Paul’s intentional godliness and must be a part of ours. And so if you’ve asked that silent question about the inward man being renewed, but what if it isn’t? What if I’m not being renewed? Then here’s the simple formula. Decide. Not going to be accidental. Decision, a choice, a definitive choice must be made. Let’s look at some of the example of Paul. Turn with me if you will. You might hold a finger or a bookmark there at 2 Corinthians chapter 4. We will be back. But let’s look in Acts chapter 26. The Apostle Paul, for the second time in recorded history, is recounting his conversion.

And we correctly point out that Paul, or Saul, as he was known at the time, was not saved or converted on the road to Damascus. The point of his salvation is when he obeyed the preacher who said, Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sin. That happened later. But we cannot discount the decision that had to be made on the road to Damascus. Look in Acts chapter 26 as he’s retelling these events. Acts chapter 26, start reading with me in verse 9. He says to King Agrippa, indeed I myself, Acts 26 and verse 9, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priest.

And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. Let’s just think briefly and remind ourselves of Paul’s prior life and his antagonism toward Christ and Christianity. We read at least three things in that recounting that he did. One of them, I think, far worse than the others. He says, I put them in prison. And I put them to death. And you might think that second one was the worst thing that he did. I don’t think Paul thought putting Christians to death was the worst thing he ever did. As bad as that is.

Yes. But what we know about the apostle Paul, don’t you imagine it was far worse that he had caused some of them to lose their faith. That was a fate worse than physical death. That he compelled them to blaspheme.

That they hadn’t just lost their physical life, that because of the hatred of Saul, they had lost their soul. But this man is going to make a choice this day. Verse 12 says, While thus occupied, I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priest. And at midday, O king, along the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It’s hard for you to kick against the goals. So I said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It’s an old spiritual that says, I saw the light.

Paul saw the light that day, not just the bright light from heaven. But he saw the truth. When a man he thought to be an imposter and now dead and waiting his punishment, actually spoke from heaven and said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Saul had to make a decision. He is told, verse 16, Rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you’ve seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I send you, to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.

Pause there.

Saul, they’re going to have the road to Damascus experience because of you. Now, the people to whom Saul preached did not see that bright light that would blind them. But they were turned from darkness to light, just as Saul was this day. And they were forced to make a decision. And I’ll make you a minister, finishing verse 16, and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. Now, verse 19. Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. On that day, and on the day Ananias three days later told him what he needed to do to wash away his sins, Saul made a big choice. The decision to change. The decision to once and for all properly pursue godliness.

Paul had to decide. Every day he faced opposition and the threat of death.

Every time he contemplated the thorn in his flesh, he had to decide. Every time he was tempted to give up or tempted to sin in some other way, he had to decide. And that’s intentional godliness. If you’re a Christian, or if you’re yet to become a Christian, you’re going to have to follow that same formula. You’re going to have to see the light and make the big choice that I will follow Jesus. And then every day, you’re going to make smaller choices that align with that bigger choice. Every day that the burdens of life press upon your shoulders.

Every day that somebody close to you disappoints you and lets you down.

Decide.

The apostle Paul said, I beat my body. That’s in 2 Corinthians as well. I beat my body to bring it into subjection to align it to those greater choices. Go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. This time, let’s look at verse 17. Paul’s outward man was perishing, not automatically. It was intentional. It was because of the gospel. But he says in verse 17, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us. A more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Paul says, What I’m suffering in the flesh is actually working to make that spiritual renewal happen. And I think that’s relatively easy to see how that worked in Paul’s case. He was preaching the gospel, and as a result of that, he was suffering in the flesh.

But that preaching in the gospel was helping other people’s spiritual renewal as well as his own.

What about me? My fleshly perishing is different than Paul’s. Mine is on the long trajectory. Mine is automatic. And so, how can my light affliction, which is but for a moment work for me in my spiritual renewal? I believe it can that every time I awake with aches and pains. Every time I read that five-year-old magazine in the doctor’s waiting room, awaiting the next surgery, that can work for me. That can be a daily reminder that this world is not my home. It can be that painful prodding that I want something better. I want that new body that this same apostle by the Holy Spirit promised me. And every time I get angry at my television set and shed a tear at the headlines of what’s happening to my world, my country, my society.

That anger and sorrow can work for me to remind me this world is not my home. I want something better. And increasingly I want it bad. And every time I’m tempted to sin, sometimes with tough, hard to resist temptations. And I just get weary and tired of them of always having to fight. And I wish I could just be free of those struggles. That can work for me. And make me remember this world is not my home. Always remember you are not a body that possesses a soul. But you are a soul made in the image of God that temporarily resides in this physical body. With all of its troubles and anguishes and heartaches that hopefully work in us to remind us there’s a better way.

2. Once We Make That Choice, We Must Strive

And there’s a better day. Now, once we make that choice, we must now strive. The spiritual renewal indeed is not automatic. It must be, as in Paul’s case, intentional, and it must be due to the gospel. And so I must strive to achieve that. I’m not going to just lazily go through life and accidentally fall on the prize. The Hebrew letter in Hebrews chapters four and five warned those Christians about falling into that law of complacency. Look in Hebrews chapter 4. And in verse 11. Or excuse me, Hebrews chapter 5, verse 11. And speaking about Melchizedek, you remember this text, Hebrews 5, verse 11, of whom we have much to say and hard to explain, since you’ve become dull of hearing, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God.

Paul or the Hebrew writer says it ain’t automatic. By reason of time, you ought to be here, but you’re here. And so now he encourages them in so many words to strive for that. First one of chapter six, therefore, leaving the discussion of elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection. Isn’t that another way of saying strive? Let’s work for it. And let’s wake up to the reality that we’re engaged in a battle that’s going to require struggle and striving. This same apostle, in talking about putting on the whole armor of God, shielding and powering ourselves with the power that is God’s, he says, do that, having done all to stand. Have I done all to stand? We see a correlation between the physical and the spiritual.

COVID has had its effect on so many physically. We know of some here who have sadly passed away. We know of some who are having lingering effects physically.

They’re having lingering effects spiritually.

To break free of the shackles of some bad habits that we have formed spiritually. And I mean this metaphorically and only metaphorically. But it’s time to take off our mask, our spiritual mask, and to be who God wants us to be. And to do all to stand. Our last passage in this Philippians chapter one. We’ve got to strive. We’ve got to do all that we can to stand. But that’s not all. In Philippians chapter 1, verse 27, the Apostle Paul says, only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Isn’t that about choosing? Isn’t that about striving? Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in the faith with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.

Conclusion

We not only strive, but we must strive together. And so I want to issue another challenge. Are you looking out for others? Are you reaching out to others who may have weakened in the faith? That may be struggling, whose spirit may not be being renewed day by day. Are you striving together? Find someone who’s struggling. And strive together with them. And help to lift them up and remind them that this world is not our home. If we achieve to the prize, it’s not going to be because we just stumbled and fell and found ourselves in heaven. It might work in sports sometimes that way. But it doesn’t happen in real life that way. It doesn’t happen in spiritual things. Must be intentional. Will you intend? Will you make the decision this morning to obey the gospel?

To do what the Apostle Paul did. Make that big choice and then every day support that by other choices in your life. Or maybe you need to start again. And you need to renew your commitment to intentional godliness. Would you do that right now as together we stand and as we sing?