2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
Try as I might, I could never find fake it until you make it
anywhere in the Bible. If anyone has, please be so kind as to forward the
chapter and verse, and I will humbly repent and beg your forgiveness. When Paul
says that men will have a form of godliness, this is what he is referring to.
Men will pretend to be something they are not. They will
pretend to be followers of Christ, dedicated soldiers of the cross, having
foresworn sin, the world, and all that those things entail, but in reality, it
will be but a pretense. Because their faithfulness, dedication, obedience, and
submission to God are mere words, they do their utmost to dismiss the inherent
power of godliness because were they to focus on it, many would realize that
they do not possess that which they’ve asserted they possess.
A man claiming to be a surgeon, while ignorant of how to use
a scalpel or of human anatomy in general, is proven a liar by his ineptitude
and inability to perform the tasks required of a surgeon. A man claiming to be
godly, likewise, is proven a liar when there is no power to be had therein.
Paul was not referring to the power of the Holy Spirit or the
power of the gifts of the Spirit but rather the power inherent in godliness.
And yes, the power godliness provides to those who live it is incalculable,
whether in resisting sin, walking in righteousness, being able to endure
hardship, or having the boldness to speak the name of Jesus unabashedly.
In simple terms, godliness is submission, obedience, and the
ongoing practice of conforming to the will of God. Anyone who does not conform
has as yet not been transformed, for to have been transformed, to have been
renewed in your mind, to have been born again, one’s attitude toward the ways
of God must likewise invariably change. I cannot claim to be in the light while
my heart continues to be full of darkness. I cannot claim to have been made
clean by the blood of Christ and still remain in the mud pit of sin, avarice,
and fleshly pursuits.
These are those within the church that Paul is warning of,
who have a form of godliness, either through learned behavior or imitating the
virtues of godliness without adhering to or practicing it, and because they’ve
never known it, they deny the existence of the power associated with it.
There is a growing chorus within the modern-day church
insisting you shouldn’t believe your lying eyes. They smugly conclude that all
your supernatural experiences, all the times you’ve seen the hand of God and
providence thereof in your life is nothing more than anecdotal evidence and, as
such, must be readily dismissed because their denomination has concluded that
God doesn’t do that anymore, and so, God must acquiesce. You can’t tell me fire
has no warmth when I feel the heat of its flames upon my face. You can’t tell
me God is an absentee landlord or a father who’s abandoned his children when I
feel His presence daily and know Him to be good, merciful, loving, and kind.
Godliness is a prerequisite to being used by God. Today, men
want to prophesy, dream dreams, have the gift of healing, and be apostles to
the nations while rejecting the reality that none of this can come about unless
one earnestly pursues and walks in godliness. Since, for many, that is one
bridge too far and something they are unwilling to crucify the flesh in order
to obtain, they’ve taken to using worldly means to stir emotions, sleight of
hand to fake healings, and aberrant teachings to shift men’s focus from the
things above to the things of this earth.
As long as you are focused on the material, on the here and
now, on prosperity, and wealth transfers, you may not notice the vapid
spiritual hollowness of those who claim to be the pinnacle of godliness or
their lack of the power that can only come to the fore in an atmosphere of true
godliness. Sure, we pay godliness lip service because we still call ourselves
churches, but as far as pursuing it and being willing to sacrifice the flesh to
obtain it, well, that’s just too time-consuming and uncomfortable for the
flesh.
We’re willing to sing and clap and be jubilant, even show up
to church once in a while, but when you start talking about the privation of
the flesh or denying it in order to obtain what God has for His children,
that’s crossing a line, buddy. You’re not some sort of closet legalist, are
you?
Having a form of godliness is like having a Ferrari body
without the engine. You can sit in it and make engine noises with your mouth,
but it’s never going to go anywhere. It’ll sit where it is for the rest of time
because there is no power to give it life or make it move from the spot.
The modern-day church is grappling with spiritual forces
without possessing spiritual power. How’s that going to play out? What will be
the final outcome of that particular altercation?
The enemy is exceedingly jubilant at the notion of having to
contend with a church with a form of godliness but no power to speak of. Not
only will one of the signs of the last days be that the household of faith will
possess a form of godliness, but they will deny the power thereof. They will
actively insist that the power inherent in godliness is nonexistent, it cannot
be attained, it is illusory, and is whispered of by those unmoored from reality
rather than an attainable, substantive, biblical truth.
If one focuses on the causality of a specific malady, the
pattern soon emerges, and the why of something is quickly revealed. We have not
because we ask not; we ask not because we’ve been told it is unavailable and
unattainable, and we’ve been told it’s no longer available because it’s an easy
way to excuse and justify godlessness in our midst.
Posted on 4 August 2024 | 10:43 am
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