Adding Godliness: full transcript and answers

▶ 0:12 Thank you. We’re going to add godliness to self-control, knowledge, virtue, and faith. Godly means respecting and obeying God. The suffix -ness means the condition of. So it’s the possession, it’s the condition of respecting and obeying God. Joyfulness is the condition of being joyful—you possess joy. Now that is the dictionary definition. The Bible definition of godliness is Jesus Christ. First Timothy 3:16.

▶ 1:12 Great is the mystery, the hidden thing of godliness. Mystery is something hidden. It’s not hidden anymore. Number one, God was manifest—visible—he appeared in the flesh. Here’s another scripture that says Jesus is God. For those who want to debate that Jesus was only the Son of God, here’s another clear scripture that Jesus was God in the flesh. Justified in the Spirit: when Jesus was baptized, a dove came down, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. He was seen by angels. Angels appeared both at his birth and before his birth, after he was tempted in the wilderness, and the angel rolled the stone away. Among—he preached among the Gentiles. God preached among the Gentiles in the body of Jesus Christ. He was believed on in the world, both with Gentiles and Jews, even though he said, I’ve not called but to the Jews and not the Gentiles. He was received up after he died on the cross. So Jesus possessed the condition of respecting and obeying God.

▶ 2:22 All right, now godliness is part of the growing, the changing process which results in good works for Christians. First Timothy 2:10. After saying, telling women not to let it be the adorning of the outward, he says but that which becomes a woman—that’s which is proper for a woman, suitable for a woman professing godliness with good works. Now this word becomes, as I said, means proper or suitable. If you’re going to profess godliness, you should be acting right, behaving right. But it also means to grow into, like the caterpillar. Caterpillar becomes a butterfly. The caterpillar goes into the cocoon and grows and develops and changes into a totally new, different kind of creature—from an ugly creature to a beautiful butterfly. Godliness, the Bible says, is profitable for obtaining two promises.

▶ 3:31 First Timothy 4:7, exercise, train, discipline yourself. You know we do this bodily exercising and all this, but we’ve got to train and exercise ourselves toward godliness, because godliness is profitable for all things, having two promises: the promise of life that now is, and that which is to come. Godly Christians in this life avoid preventable deaths, injuries, and medical costs of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, which take thirty thousand lives a year in America. Alcohol takes 85,000; drugs 17,000; tobacco 450,000; and 460,000 children are sexually abused every year. Godly Christians don’t do these things, and it gives you eternal life. Everybody’s always talking about faith and grace to get eternal life. This plainly says godliness is important for eternal life now.

▶ 4:35 God’s view, God’s description of humanism and its followers. First Timothy 6:3, if anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ—we have no right to teach what Jesus didn’t teach—or to the doctrine which agrees with godliness, that condition of respecting God and obeying him. If someone does that, he is proud. You’re just a proud, cocky, arrogant person, and gee, God says you don’t know anything. You’re obsessed with disputes and arguments over words. People today just arguing and debate about nonsense. Who suppose godliness is a means of gain or a means of wealth—from such withdraw yourself. Get away from these people. They will infect you with their unwholesome words and their own words instead of Christ. And then he goes on to say, now godliness with contentment is great gain. See, having the condition of respecting God and obeying God with being satisfied where you’re at.

▶ 5:51 In 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson called for an ending to poverty, joblessness, and hunger in the USA. He became known as the Great Society bill or law. Okay, they’re going to stamp out—he’s a humanist. He was a liberal. But when you look at the facts, the proper poverty rate back in 1965 was 15%; 2014, 15%. Jobless rate—the adults that can work that wasn’t working—in 1970, 40%; to 2014, 40%. The hunger rate 1965 15%, 2014 15%. They did not eradicate hunger, poverty, or the jobless, but they did spend 17 trillion dollars going in debt, and a lot of that money was trying to eradicate poverty and hunger and joblessness. It didn’t work. Why? Because Jesus said in Matthew 26:11, you will have the poor with you always. You’re not going to change the word of God. The poor is going to be around, and that proves the Bible’s true, by the way, people looking for proof. Deuteronomy 15:11, the poor will never cease out of the land. Matthew 24, there will be wars, famines, earthquakes, troubles. And we have wars, famines, and earthquakes, and these people can’t do a thing about it. Why? Because God said it’s going to be.

▶ 7:24 Mark 7:7, in vain—worthlessness—they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, and laying aside the commandments of God. And that’s what we got. We got men deciding, humans deciding what’s going to be and what’s going to work. Prosperity teaching, possibility teaching, positive teaching, persuaded or faith teaching, or purpose-driven teaching—and the preachers haven’t changed poverty, hunger, or jobless conditions either, but they sure make a lot of money selling tapes and books. They live rich. Neither has religion. The Muslims isn’t changed in the world. Denominations—they’re not changing these things. Philosophy, whether it’s political or science philosophy—they are not eradicating poverty, hunger, wars, joblessness. Why? Because God said they will be. And until we get a hold of godliness and Jesus who is godliness, we’re not going to eradicate anything. Hallelujah. And that’s a good place for an amen. It hasn’t worked. It hasn’t worked. Then religion—they just keep on being religious, including Christian denominations, and it’s not working. When are we going to realize we got to do it God’s way? And add to—add to means you didn’t have it before. You didn’t get it when you got saved. You didn’t get it when you confessed your sins. You didn’t get it when you repented from your sins or got water baptized or got baptized in the Holy Ghost. You get it when you get it, and you didn’t have it then, and you got to add it to your life. Hallelujah.

▶ 9:15 Bible’s prediction of Christian humanism coming in the last days. Christian humanism is Christians who add humanistic teaching and philosophy and beliefs to their life. In Second Timothy 3:1, in the last days difficult times will come. Men shall have a form of godliness, an appearance of godliness, but deny its power. Remember the Bible says our faith is not to be in the intellect of men but in the power of God, and God has power to bring this about. Ever learning and never able to come to the recognition of the truth. These also reject the truth—men of corrupt minds. From such turn away. Christians that add humanistic teachings and doctrines and methods into their life are Christian humanists. You got to stay away from them so you don’t get tainted, and you gotta reach them like the harvest field. Remember, Jesus is godliness. See, they’re rejecting Jesus.

▶ 10:19 How do Christian humanists deny Jesus in godliness? Titus 1:16, they profess that they know him with their mouth, but in works, actions, behavior they deny him. Deny is a strong word—they disown him—being abominable and disobedient unto every good work reprobate. And remember, good works is where we grow to godliness, which produces good works. How many need a little godliness in your life? Yeah. We got to add this stuff. You can’t be satisfied with just your faith and your baptism of the Holy Ghost and your second-coming doctrine. You need these qualities that God has promised us.

▶ 11:11 The seriousness of godliness for all people. Second Peter 3:10, the Lord’s day will come as a thief in the night. The heavens will pass away with a great noise. Elements will melt with fervent heat. The earth and the works in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening—speeding up—the coming of the day of the Lord. That’s a serious thing. He’s going to renovate this earth by fire, and we’re going to be accountable to our conduct and did we measure up to godliness and good works and godliness and conduct. Will speed up the coming of the Lord. So there has to be a visitation, coming of God that’s going to turn the church to godliness. He’s not coming today. He’s not coming tomorrow. He’s coming for a church that is mature, the gates of hell cannot prevail against, that is blameless and righteous and holy, and he has the power to accomplish that. And he will accomplish it.

▶ 12:28 And so we see the seriousness of the situation. Christian humanists must reconsider their beliefs. In Hebrews 10:24, consider one another to provoke one another and to love and do good works, not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together. When we come to church it should be for the purpose of encouraging, stirring up people to godliness and doing good works. Shouldn’t be for entertainment and patting each other on the back and flattering each other, but exhort one another, encourage one another. You see, the early church died—and whereas in prison rather—than deny Christ. See, they obtained this thing. They wouldn’t deny truth. They wouldn’t deny godliness. Christian nor secular humanists will win. They won’t get the last word. Jesus will win by a visitation of godliness before returning for his blameless, prevailing-over-the-gates-of-hell and mature bride. The bride has made herself ready. He is making his church ready. There is a visitation coming.

▶ 13:44 Sexual sin, divorce—why are Christians divorcing? We’re supposed to have power. Sexual sin—we have power. We don’t commit homosexuality. We don’t commit adultery. We don’t have sex with kids and abuse kids. We don’t lie either, like the president, Congress, governors, school teachers, textbooks in school are doing. Godliness does not embrace lying. There’s power in godliness, because there’s power in the God that we serve. Thank you.