Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO
Date: June 17, 2007
“GODLINESS”
Don Blackwell
We must possess godliness in our lives if we want to be pleasing to God. We
read in 2 Pet. 1:5-10,
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue
knowledge; (6) And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to
patience godliness; (7) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly
kindness charity. (8) For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you
that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. (9) But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and
hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. (10) Wherefore the rather,
brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall:
Godliness means being like God. Many people today profess to be Christians,
but they do not obey God. We read in 2 Tim. 3:5, “Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” According to I Tim. 6:6, “godliness
with contentment is great gain.” We should be contented (satisfied) with the word
of God. Many people today do not want to listen to Christ and what he has told
us to do, but instead they want to go back to the old law and follow it (cf. Gal. 5:1-
4).
We read in 2 Tim. 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution.” Being a Christian is not an easy life to live! As Peter said, “Yet if
any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this
behalf” (I Pet. 4:16). If we remain faithful, we will be rewarded at the end of time
(Rev. 2:10). We must be “God-like” if we want that home in heaven. We must do
as Paul told Titus, “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:12).
When we became Christians, we started a new beginning — a new life.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). “And that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:24). We need
to examine ourselves daily to see if we are in the faith — to see whether we are
living godly (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).
Christ is our example of godliness. We must look to him for our spiritual
guidance. We must be godly if we want that eternal home in heaven. We must
examine ourselves daily. This is the life of the Christian — one of godliness.
WHERE ARE THE DEAD?
Ben Justice
The account of the rich man and Lazarus given in Luke 16:19:31 allows us to look
on the other side. It answers the question, “What happens at death.” It also
reveals where the dead are. Although we don’t know everything there is to know
about the afterlife, the Word of God is the only source that tells us some things
about it.
As the account reveals, the rich man went to “torments” and Lazarus went to
“Abraham’s bosom” (v. 22, 23). Concerning the rich man, verse 23 states, “And in
hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in
his bosom.” Notice the word “hell.” There are three words translated “hell” in
the NT. There is gehenna, found 12 times in the NT and translated “hell” every
time. It refers to the final place of punishment for the wicked.
There is the word hades, found 11 times in the NT and is translated “hell” every
time except in I Cor. 15:55, where it is translated “grave.” Hades refers not to
gehenna hell but to the realm of the dead or the place of departed spirits.
Then, there is the word tartarus, which is used only one time in the NT and that
is 2 Pet. 2:4, translated “cast down to hell.”
Concerning Jesus, Acts 2:27 & 31 tells us that he went to “hell” (KJV). The
Greek word is hades. Thus, Jesus went to the same realm as the rich man.
However, Luke 23:43 tells us that Jesus went to “paradise.” Of course, Jesus
did not go to gehenna hell; he did, however, go to “hades” — the same place as
the rich man. However, the rich man went to torments, but Jesus went to
paradise. “Hades” is that place of departed spirits, yet it is a realm that has two
compartments. One compartment is “torments” and the other compartment is
“Abraham’s bosom” or “paradise.” The illustration below sets forth the Biblical
teaching concerning the afterlife and what one must to avoid torments. Study it
carefully.