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THE DISCIPLINES OF GODLY PEOPLE–PART 1
VARIOUS SCRIPTURE
Introduction
Turn to Titus 2:1-5.
Here we see Paul telling the preacher Titus of some disciplines that need to be in the lives of every child of God. That is true whether we are old or young and whether we are male or female.
I truly believe that one of the main things that’s at the heart of most of our societal woes is that too many people lack discipline in their lives today.
Listen to me closely, if you have an undisciplined lifestyle and you live an undisciplined life, you are asking for and will have great heartache in your life.
We had all better get some disciplines in our life! I’m talking about Godly disciplines!
When I say that people, in general today, lack discipline in their lives, I’m not just talking about today’s kids being raised without discipline. Which, by the way, could I tell you that we are paying a high price for that and will continue to pay a high price for it. Oh how very sad it is to see so many young people without discipline in their lives!
But I want you to understand that I’m also talking about adults, most of who were taught proper discipline and self-control in their lives, but they have cast off Godly discipline and traded it for a hedonistic, whatever makes me feel good lifestyle.
These folks, for the most part, know what is good and what is right, but they shun what is good and what is right and instead they do what is convenient and what pleases the flesh. Could I tell you that no matter who has adopted that way of living, it is a recipe for disaster not only for them, but for their loved ones.
When an undisciplined life is sown it usually reaps a family full of undisciplined living.
Galatians 6:7-8--“7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
We would do well to remember the laws of sowing and reaping:
1. We always reap what we sow.
2. We always reap more than we sow.
3. We always reap later than we sow.
Now understand that discipline may seem like a hard word, but discipline is our very lifeline! It is something that we must learn to embrace and thank God for as we grow in Him.
Hebrews 12:5–“5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”
When we fail to discipline ourselves, our loving Heavenly Father brings chastening or discipline into our lives. He loves us too much to leave us in an undisciplined life!
The apostle Paul linked the idea of discipline with the spiritual life:
Look at 1 Timothy 4. In verse 7, he says, “Exercise thyself rather unto godliness”
In the physical realm, what is exercise? It is a workout that tones the muscles of the body! Most, if not all, of us know that exercise is good for us!
But, many of us (including myself!) have a hard time making it a reality in our lives. With our busy lives sometimes it is hard to find time to exercise. And even when we do have time to exercise, we find that we would rather do something else and so our priorities get us off track. And, consequently, we pay a physical price with regard to our physical health.
Well, in the spiritual realm we find things are much the same way. What is this exercising unto godliness that Paul refers to? He is referring to a spiritual workout or spiritual routines that tone our spiritual life and help us develop healthy spiritual lives (i.e. they help us to develop godliness).
In verse 8 there he says, “godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
Well, if godliness is profitable unto all things, don’t you think that we should be doing all we can, to make sure that we are exercising ourselves to godliness?
(i.e. doing the things that develop godliness in our lives.)
Our lives as Christians are all about bringing our wills and every area of our lives under submission to God’s will. That is godly discipline! That, my friend, is exercising ourselves to godliness.
I want to look at this subject of exercising ourselves unto godliness. I want us to look at some disciplines that ought to be in every man and woman’s life to bring about godliness in their lives.
To the extent that these disciplines that we will talk about are in our lives, there will be godliness in our lives. To the extent that these disciplines are missing from our lives, there will be something vital missing from our spiritual lives.
Now, with it being Mother’s Day, I could focus a little more on the women but I’m not going to do that. Because I want the men here today to understand that what I’m saying today applies to both men and women who seek to be godly!
A Christian man or woman’s life is to be about bringing their will and every area of their lives under submission to God’s will.
So, what are some of these disciplines we need?
I. WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF THE GOSPEL!
The Gospel is the very source of godliness in our lives!
1 Corinthians 15:3-4–“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
To be Godly, we must not only know what this Gospel is, but we must accept it personally and believe it with all our heart, embrace it, and make it the very center of our life!
Does that describe you this morning? I hope it does, but if not, you can come today and we can show you from Scripture how to obtain this very first and vital discipline in your life.
Without this discipline in your life you will never have the other disciplines necessary to bring about godliness in your life!
Oh may God help us to never lose the wonder of the Gospel!
John 3:16 is not only a beautiful summary of what God has done, it should be the true center of our living!
John 3:16–“16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The Gospel should define who we are!
It should motivate us! It should satisfy us!
Making the Gospel active in our life is our first and most important discipline! For apart from the Gospel, there can be no godliness in our life!
The Gospel is the source of our godliness!
II. WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF SUBMISSION!
(Philippians 2:8-11)
It is a shame that submission to God seems to have been eliminated from our cultural vocabulary. Bringing our lives into submission to God’s will in everything is the key to being a godly person!
It is also the pathway to joy and the abundant life!
Submission to God applies to every area of our lives!
1. We begin by restoring the Gospel to its rightful place at the center of our thoughts and deeds everyday.
2. Then it is an ongoing, daily choosing of God’s ways over our own ways.
James 4:7-8, 10–“7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
Hebrews 12:9–“9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?”
Let me ask you this question today: Is the will of God more important to you than what you want for your life?
Listen to the words of Jesus in Luke 9:23-25:
Luke 9:23–“23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?”
WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF THE GOSPEL!
WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF SUBMISSION!
III. WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF PRAYER!
Prayer is the lifeline of godliness in our lives!
According to Ephesians 6:18, we are to pray “always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
Colossians 4:2–“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;”
Philippians 4:6–“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Romans 12:12–“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;”
1 Thessalonians 5:17–“Pray without ceasing.”
Think of how essential it is for the soldier on the battlefield to be in contact with His commanders.
Why else do you think that one of the main things an enemy tries to do is jam the communications and to knock out the line of communications in any way that they can?
Prayer is our source of power for growth and perseverance in our spiritual lives. It bends our wills to God’s will, which is what submitting our lives to God is all about.
And although prayer cannot be reduced to a formula, Jesus did teach his disciples to pray. We can learn from what He taught them and we can learn from His prayers and the prayers of godly men and women in Scripture and even godly men and women who are alive today!
We know that some important aspects of prayer include:
1. Confession of sin to God.
2. Meditation on the attributes and person of God.
3. Worship and adoration of God.
4. Submission to the will of God
5. Petition and supplication to God.
Continual prayer is God’s will for us! We must always have an attitude of prayer wherever we are and whatever we are doing!
Having an attitude of prayer will go a long way toward:
1. Keeping us from sin and helping us to guard our testimony.
2. Keeping us from worry or fear. (mainly women.)
3. Keeping us from self-sufficiency. (mainly men.)
4. Keeping us from having an unforgiving spirit.
5. Keeping us focused on the right things.
a. The souls of men.
b. The eternal rather than the temporal.
WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF THE GOSPEL!
WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF SUBMISSION!
WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF PRAYER!
IV. WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF WORSHIP!
Our worship should encompass all of our life.
In Romans 12:1, Paul said that we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.
We know that Christ is the ultimate revelation of God. So that means that He must be the central focus of our worship as understood through Scripture.
True worship has two aspects that are both important:
1. The Aspect Of Personal Worship.
This is worship by oneself at home or wherever one might be!
We sometimes call it personal devotions.
2. The Aspect Of Corporal Worship.
This is worship along with others in the local Church according to the will of God!
Scripture shows that both are important in our lives!
We need to understand that true worship is a matter of consecration.
Consecration means to dedicate; it is the idea of setting ourselves apart to God for His purposes; it means to devote ourselves to God.
Every person who calls themselves a Christian must understand that worship is the ultimate priority of their life each and every day.
V. WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF OUR HEARTS AND MINDS!
Our mind is an amazing gift of God!
No computer will ever be able to think God’s thoughts or know the heart of God or do his works.
But that is what our brain was created for—to have the mind of Christ!
The potential of possessing the mind of Christ shines a light on a sad
reality in our Churches today.
What a shame it is that so many Christians don’t think right!
Which, by the way, leaves their minds undisciplined!
In Philippians 4:8, Paul prescribed his personal mental program.
Philippians 4:8–“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
If our hearts and minds are filled with God’s Word, our life can then be informed and directed by God—whether we are talking about our relationships at home, our parenting, our career, making ethical decisions, or our internal moral life.
However, we can never have a Christian mind without reading, studying, and meditating on the Scriptures regularly. That’s because we cannot be influenced by what we don’t know!
Psalms 119:9–“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”
Psalm 119:11–“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
Psalms 119:105–“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
Oh how we desperately need to discipline our mind and our hearts with the Word of God!
Conclusion
We are not done with this message, but we are done for today.
I have so much more that I want to share with you about the disciplines that need to be in our lives to bring us to godliness in our lives!
But right now as we come to the invitation, I want us to focus on these five disciplines that I’ve shared today.
WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF THE GOSPEL!
Have you submitted yourself to the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Remember, to be godly, we must not only know what this gospel is, but we must accept it personally and believe it with all our heart, embrace it, and make it the very center of our life!
WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF SUBMISSION!
Bringing our lives into submission to God’s will in everything is the key to being a godly person! And it is the key to joy and the abundant life!
WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF PRAYER!
Prayer is the lifeline of godliness. Prayer is our source of power for growth and perseverance in our spiritual lives. It bends our wills to God’s will, which is what submitting our lives to God is all about.
WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF WORSHIP!
True worship is a matter of consecration! Dedicating ourselves; setting ourselves apart to God for His purposes; devoting ourselves to Him!
WE NEED THE DISCIPLINE OF OUR HEARTS AND MINDS!
We need the mind of Christ so we will think like a Christian rather than like the world. That only comes from a constant dwelling in the Holy Scriptures!
How is your thinking? What’s on your mind?
Oh my friend, may we make these disciplines an integral part of our lives!
If God has spoken to your heart, won’t you respond to Him today?
Home Page Contact Us Service Times Sermons Are You Going To Heaven?
NOTICE: THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!