Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): Today on Telling the Truth, we're continuing our series from Stuart Briscoe called Cheerful Godliness. A series that's all about how to embrace godly living. Today's message is called The Disciplines of Godliness.

But before we launch into the program, today's culture is a revolving door of ever-shifting views and beliefs. That's why it's so important to test new ideas against the timeless truth of scripture. It's the best defense against the world's confusion. We want to help ground you in the foundations of your faith by sending you Stuart Briscoe's six-message series on the book of Second Peter, Six Things We Must Never Forget.

The Six Things We Must Never Forget series is our thanks for your gift to help keep Telling the Truth going strong, sharing life-giving teaching from Stuart and Jill with more people all over the world. So request your copy when you give today and get help staying grounded in truth in today's shifting culture. Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388. Or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now here's Stuart with his message for today, The Discipline of Godliness.

Stuart Briscoe: Godliness sounds singularly unattractive. It sounds like something that you suffer through in order that you go to heaven if you're good enough at the end. But this idea of cheerful godliness comes from one of Wordsworth's poems in which he laments the death of Milton, John Milton, the great Puritan poet, and says that we really need Milton back again. Among other things, because he walked through a difficult situation with cheerful godliness.

And that's what I want to suggest that we should be looking for in these critical and important days. So we'll look once again into the scripture and learn a little bit more about what we are told concerning the subject of godliness. Just a quick word of definition here. The word godliness comes from one of the words for worship.

And this particular word for worship concentrates on the idea that God is awesome. And when we recognize how awesome He is, we are quite understandably filled with awe. And because we're filled with awe, we have two particular concerns. Number one, that we do not want to displease Him. And number two, we do desperately want to bring Him pleasure.

So what is godliness in a nutshell? Godliness is a lifestyle that, because we recognize the awesome of God, leads us to an intense desire to bring Him pleasure in all that we are and all that we do and carefully avoid that which displeases Him. Now let's read First Timothy chapter four. The Spirit clearly says that in later times, some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Such teachings come through hypocritical liars whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

If you point these things out to the brothers, you'll be a good minister of Christ Jesus brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales. Rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.

Now we will look in the second half of that chapter briefly towards the end, but that's enough of the reading for now. I want you to notice particularly what Paul says in verses seven and eight. Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Now notice the particular emphasis on this word training. This is a fascinating word in the original language. In fact, it's the word from which we get gymnasium or gymnast. And it has the idea of people going into a disciplined lifestyle in order that they might develop themselves to be all that they want to be.

Now having said that, I want you to notice that there are three different ways in which Paul talks about the disciplined life here. In the first part of the chapter, he is talking about what I would call the ascetic discipline. If you're not familiar with that term, I'll explain it in a minute. The ascetic discipline which contradicts scripture.

But then secondly, he talks about athletic discipline which has limited value. And then thirdly, he talks about authentic discipline which contributes to godliness. So we'll look at those three different kinds of discipline that he uses by way of contrast and comparison in this chapter.

Now in the opening verses of the chapter, the apostle Paul is clearly speaking out very forcibly indeed against some people who were engaging in teaching that was in error. Now we've got to be very, very clear about this. In the days in which the apostle Paul was living, they actually believed that there was such a thing as truth and they believed the opposite of it was error.

They believed that truth should be taught, that truth should be embraced, and that people should stand firmly for the truth. By the same token, they believed that that which was contrary to truth was error and it should be exposed, it should be resisted, and it should be rejected. Now we've come a long way from those days.

And as we're all well aware, we live in what many people call a postmodern society. It sounds very erudite calling it a postmodern society, but no one is quite sure what a postmodern society is except it's after the modern society, whatever that was. Don't worry yourself about it because for our purposes, one aspect of postmodernism insists that there's no such thing as objective truth.

It is all purely subjective. That there isn't a thing called truth out there which you either believe or you don't believe. It's just whatever you feel is good for you, whatever you find is amenable to you. And as a result of that, the only thing that really matters in our postmodern society is that we be tolerant of everybody else's understanding of truth and the only thing that we will not accept is intolerance in any way.

And if the apostle Paul was to come back today, he would be in trouble from morning till night because he would not be at all willing to accept either the premise or the conclusion of the postmodernist. The apostle Paul would say there is a thing called truth that has been delivered to it. We need to know what it is, we need to believe it, we need to embrace it, we need to stand firmly in it and live in the good of it. And we need to have the courage to say that that which contradicts it is error.

And that I believe is where the church of Jesus Christ needs to be at this time. This does not mean we go out of our way to be obnoxious. There's no need to be obnoxious for the truth itself is challenging enough. Now you'll notice what the apostle Paul is addressing here. He's addressing some people who are ascetics.

Now let me explain to you what an ascetic was. An ascetic was somebody who fundamentally believed that there were two sources of reality. Rather than one source being God from which everything has come, there were two sources. One was intrinsically good and one was intrinsically evil.

Now everything that came from the source that was good, obviously was good. And everything which came from the source which was evil was obviously evil. That is why they call it dualism. Now as far as the ascetics were concerned, their basic idea was this, that everything which is spiritual comes from the good source and is good.

But everything which is material comes from the evil source and therefore is bad. So now you have a conflict. That which is spiritual is intrinsically good, that which is material or physical is intrinsically evil. Now then, this is the way their thinking went. If therefore you are going to be spiritual and live a spiritual life and ultimately experience the ultimate of spirituality, that is heaven, what do you have to do?

You have to deal with that which is intrinsically bad, that which is material. So you spend all your time subjugating the physical, negating the physical, rejecting the physical. And the more you could negate it, the more you could reject it, the more you could deny it, the more spiritual you'll be. And if you do enough of this, ultimately you will arrive in heaven.

Guest (Male): More teaching from Stuart and Jill Briscoe is coming up, so stay with us. Did you know you can find more life-giving content from the Briscoes at tellingthetruth.org and on the Telling the Truth app? There you can sign up for daily devotionals, watch videos, read blogs, and access a variety of other resources to help you experience life.

And while you're there, you can also request this month's featured resource as thanks for your gift of support to help share the abundant life Jesus offers with more people around the world. Visit us online or download the app today and experience life with Telling the Truth. Now let's get back to Stuart as he continues his message, The Discipline of Godliness.

Stuart Briscoe: If these people said you have to negate the physical, one thing you have to negate is a lot of the food that you eat. And therefore you have to be very, very strict in your diet. Not concerned about your weight. You were concerned now that through a proper exercise of diet, you will achieve spirituality.

Moreover, if the body has to be negated, all sexuality has to be negated too. And therefore they forbade people to marry. They insisted that they be vegetarian and they live very, very strict disciplined lives. Now says the apostle Paul, those people are wrong.

They are actually saying that what God proclaimed as good is evil. In the creation, God looked at all that He had made, He gave His assent to it and He said that's good, that's good, that's good, that's good. And these dualists are saying no it isn't, no it isn't, no it isn't. They were rejecting the fundamental of Christian theology.

The second thing that they were doing was that they were saying basically the only way that you're going to be spiritual is by negating the physical. And if you work hard enough on negating the physical, you will eventually achieve the spiritual. In other words, by your own works and by your efforts are you saved. And God says no, that is not what I've told you. It is by grace that you are saved through faith.

So here are these people. They are totally committed to an incredibly disciplined life. It is the disciplined life of the ascetic, but the fundamental error of the disciplined life of the ascetic is first of all it negates what God has said about creation and it denies what God has said about salvation.

There's something that's important for all of us at this point and it is this, that it is relatively easy to look at somebody who has a certain philosophy and say hey that's a bit weird, you know? And then of course we come up with the greatest postmodern word and say whatever. You're not free to do that. If you take the time to think it through, you'll discover that there's a fundamental denial of truth at that point and you need to help people to see where they are negating what God has said.

Now that's why the apostle Paul doesn't exactly mince words. He is not exactly into PC by any stretch of the imagination. He calls these people hypocritical liars. He says they're following deceiving spirits. The stuff they're teaching is taught by demons and their basic problems is their consciences have been seared with a hot iron.

Well there's a challenge for us, but you'll notice that this is the one kind of discipline that he is using as a contrast to the kind of discipline he's going to talk about. The ascetic discipline which contradicts the gospel. Now here's the second kind, the athletic discipline which has limited value.

Now let me read to you again from verse eight. Physical training is of some value, or literally physical training profits for a little. Now this is a very important statement here. It's a different kind of training. It is not the kind of training that is into asceticism. It is the kind of training that you would find if you went to the arena in Paul's day or you went to the games and there you would see the athletes training.

Paul was certainly open to all that was going on in the athletic field. He had no problem as far as I can see denying the value of certain athletic prowess. He had no problem at all denying the validity of developing your physical body. He was a Christian. He did not think that the body, that material was fundamentally evil. That was a gnostic idea, not a Christian idea.

Number three, be willing to labor and strive. Verse 10. He says and for this we labor and strive. And the word strive here is another very interesting word. It's the word from which we get agony. But the thing that's important to us is this, that the Greek word from which we get agony is agon. And agon was the place in which these people went into training for athletic events.

And so he's using the same kind of picture here. If you are going in a physical athletic way to train for a certain activity, there is a certain amount of effort, there is a certain amount of discipline, there is a certain amount of commitment that is necessary. And that is what he is now transferring to the Christian and he is saying look at the areas of weakness.

In the same way that the athlete listening to his coach will recognize that he is doing very well in certain areas but he is weak in this particular area, the coach is going to concentrate on his area of weakness. Be disciplined enough to look into the areas of weakness in your own spiritual life and be willing to concentrate and discipline yourself in the building up of yourself in those areas. But always remember Paul says I strive according to His working which works in me mightily.

And the thing we always bear in mind is that every time we are called to exercise discipline or effort in the spiritual life, it is on the understanding that He Himself provides the energy and the spiritual dynamic through His risen life resident within us. Be ready to commit to following the truths of the faith. Be intolerant of godless myths and old wives' tales. Be willing to labor and strive.

Number four, be careful to set an example of winsome consistency. Look at verse 12. Speaking to this young minister, the old man Paul says don't let anyone look down on you because you're young, but set an example for the believers in speech, life, love, faith, and purity. I've summarized that as be careful to set an example of winsome consistency.

Verse 14, do not neglect your gift. The fifth discipline is be diligent in the development and exercise of your gifts. Well there's a few things there to do, aren't there? And if we did those things seriously in the power of the Spirit, depending upon God to enable us to be obedient to all that He's telling us to do, the apostle Paul says this. I promise you something. I promise you something.

Your life would be more godly. But he goes even further than that. He says and the wonderful thing about godliness is this. It has enormous profit for the present life and pays great dividends in the life to come. But then he says more than that. He said if you begin to exercise yourself and train yourself to godliness, I'll tell you something. You will begin to discover more and more of the dimensions of salvation in your own life and other people will be saved as a result of your godly walk among them.

And so his final word to Timothy is this. Timothy, be diligent in these matters. Give yourself wholly to them so everyone may see your progress. And here's the point to ponder. Are people able to see my progress in godliness? It's a searching question.

Stuart Briscoe: There are various ways that we can live our lives. We can live our lives on the basis of hit or miss. We can live our lives on the basis of life is a series of problems to be solved. We can live our lives simply operating on the basis of let's just do what we want to do and not do what we don't want to do.

When we think in terms of living a life of truth, what we're saying in effect is this. I believe that there are certain things that God has revealed are true and things that are not true. There are things that are correct and things that are incorrect. There are things that are right and things that are wrong.

I have come through God's goodness and grace, through studying His word, through looking at the example of Jesus, I've come to a conclusion as to what is right and good and true. And I have decided that that is the way I want to go. I want my life to reflect something of the life of truth that Jesus lived. That is my intent and I recognize it can be done through the empowering of His Spirit.

The word godliness and the word discipline probably don't sound as if they belong in the same sentence, but I assure you that they do. We are created by God to reflect something of His likeness. And so if you're not familiar with the word godliness, how about god-likeness?

You say well the possibilities of me demonstrating god-likeness are somewhat remote. Well I would certainly say the same of myself. However, if I believe that when I come to acknowledge my need of a Savior and I thank God for sending Jesus to die for me and recognize that He raised Him again so that by the Spirit He would live within me, I recognize now I have the empowering for newness of life.

This will mean that I can go my old way, I can live according to my old inclinations, or I can yield to the Spirit. This requires discipline. And I choose over and over again. Will I do what the Spirit of God is prompting me to do or will I go with my old inclinations? This is why discipline is a part of godliness.

Guest (Male): Thanks for listening to Telling the Truth today. We're so glad you've joined us and we pray this message has helped you experience more of the abundant life Jesus promises. Today's culture is a revolving door of ever-shifting views and beliefs. That's why it's so important to test new ideas against the timeless truth of scripture. It's the best defense against the world's confusion.

We want to help ground you in the foundations of your faith by sending you Stuart Briscoe's six-message series on the book of Second Peter, Six Things We Must Never Forget. This series will anchor you in six time-tested truths from God's word so you can stand strong in your beliefs as you remember the deep spiritual truths that are foundational to your faith.

The Six Things We Must Never Forget series is our thanks for your gift to help keep Telling the Truth going strong, sharing life-giving teaching from Stuart and Jill with more people all over the world. So request your copy when you give today and get help staying grounded in truth in today's shifting culture. Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388. Or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org.

Thanks for listening today. Be sure to come back next time for more encouraging biblical truth with the Briscoes. Experience life right here on Telling the Truth.