18 Feb 2021
We come now to the third way that true godliness reveals itself.
One prepares to be what God intends one to be
In practicing true godliness with heart and mind, we must prepare to be all that God wants us to be. We are willing to do this both in temporal and spiritual things. This means letting God’s Spirit lead and work in us as He pleases and according to what He considers best.
A godly person must be content to be whatever God wants him to be, whether rich, poor, sick, healthy, honoured, insulted, rejected or privileged. He must be willing to be tall or short of stature, strong or weak in faith, free from or full of temptation – all according to what the Lord God considers best. This does not mean that he should not distinguish between sickness and health, or between weakness and strength in faith, for if he could choose, he would clearly decide to be strong rather than weak in faith and to be healthy rather than sick (1 Cor. 7:21). However, this means that we must be willing to do the will of the Lord our God, whatever the circumstances. For example, if God’s will is that a godly person be sick rather than healthy and weak rather than strong in faith, then the godliness of that person is also proved by whether he accepts God’s will in this, for true godliness is revealed not only in fulfilling what God commands or forbids but also in willingly putting up with those things God sends our way. We are to be content with whatever God arranges for us, for this shows true godliness (Philippians 4:11-13).
For example,when the Spirit of the Lord strongly admonishes us to slow down in our worldly affairs and gently rebukes our inward hearts for being far too busy with the things of the world, indicating that He grieves over this, we should gladly listen to Him. We should humble ourselves and learn to deny our earthly cares and concerns. We must free ourselves from our own activities and be willing to deny ourselves in order to surrender completely to God, to be ruled by Him, and to be led by His Holy Spirit in the way that seems right to Him. True godliness is clearly shown in this kind of submission. So we see that true godliness consists of not only doing we can to serve God, but also of exerting ourselves, rousing ourselves, encouraging ourselves, and stirring ourselves to strive to put into practice what we have learned. Indeed, we should conduct ourselves before the Lord God as clay in the hand of the potter in order to be completely turned,kneaded, and moulded by the Lord, our good God, who knows what is best for us (Isa. 45:9; Jer. 18:6).
It is a praiseworthy christian quality to commit our ways to the Lord in all our sorrows and to be content to “let patience have her perfect work” (James 1:4). However, we should not think that it is ungodly to do whatever we can to be delivered from difficulties that sorely press us, as long as we do not resort to the wrong means. This does not contradict godliness at all; rather, it is a sign of true godliness to call upon God in the day of trouble and ask to be delivered (Ps. 50:15), provided we do it in humble submission of ourselves to the will of God in all circumstances. Like our Lord Jesus Christ, we may say, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will” (Matt. 26:39). We then should leave the outcome to God. For although we suffer the same afflictions as worldly people, we are not afflicted in the same way, nor do we endure suffering the same way they do.The oppression of worldly people is clear evidence of their eventual damnation and a foretaste of the pangs of hell they will suffer, whereas suffering for us as God’s people is evidence of our salvation, which is from God alone (Phil. 1:28).
The godly lie is not like the morning dew, which soon disappears (Hosea 6:4). Rather, it is like a fountain from which living water flows (John 7:38). It is indeed a life that never dies; it begins in this life and continues in the life to come, where it continues eternally. As Christ the Lord says, “Truly, truly, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death” (Jn. 8:51).
Those who do not persevere in practicing true godliness but abandon it and become entangled in worldliness again are like a dog that returns to its vomit and as a washed sow that goes back to wallowing in the mire. They have the form but not the power of true godliness (2 Peter 2:22). Whoever has truly received the power of godliness perseveres to the end. That person rejoices in the Lord so much that he is able to say what Peter said when asked if he wanted to forsake His God: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:68).