August 15, 2004
Service Theme - "Our God Is Gracious"
2 Peter 1:1-11
Grow Your Grace
I. Introduction
A. Illustration - Many of us have read Ephesians 2:8-10 several times: God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
B. Context - It's this concept of grace - special, unmerited favor - that we get so confused about. On the one hand, we have done nothing to earn our salvation. On the other hand, we are called to do whatever we can to grow our grace, as Peter tells us about in 2 Peter 1:1-11, and I'm reading from the New Living.
II. Scripture Passage
A. 2 Peter 1:1-11 (from the New Living) - (NEW SLIDE) This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to all of you who share the same precious faith we have, faith given to us by Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, who makes us right with God. (NEW SLIDE) 2 May God bless you with his special favor and wonderful peace as you come to know Jesus, our God and Lord, better and better. 3 As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness! (NEW SLIDE) 4 And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature. (NEW SLIDE) 5 So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. (NEW SLIDE) 6 Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. 7 Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. (NEW SLIDE) 8 The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NEW SLIDE) 9 But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin. (NEW SLIDE) 10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Doing this, you will never stumble or fall away. (NEW SLIDE) 11 And God will open wide the gates of heaven for you to enter into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
III. Growing in Grace Is a Process
A. As I was meditating on this passage and praying about it, I asked God to reveal to me what the key to this passage is. And He did, through a couple of verses and through a song. First, verse three and four: As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness! 4 And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature. The critical phrase here is "as we know Jesus better." The problem that we have is a theological one that manifests itself as a practical problem. Let me explain. It goes back to the whole issue of grace. We believe that the Bible teaches us that there is absolutely nothing that we can do to earn our salvation, so we do everything we can to avoid even the possibility of looking like we're trying to earn God's favor. On the other hand, we have no qualms about doing and doing for the Kingdom of God in those areas where we feel most comfortable. That is where our theology is whacked. That's where we are allowing ourselves to be deceived. That is where the devil is having a field day with us.
B. (NEW SLIDE) You see, the correct theology is that, while we can do absolutely nothing to earn our salvation, we are called to do everything in our power to walk in obedience to Christ and to get to know Him better. How do we get to know Him better? By walking in obedience to His call, not to our own comfort zone. We wrongly believe that Jesus will not call us to do anything that will make us too uncomfortable. Our actions prove that belief. So our theology causes us some very practical problems with our faith. What do we do about it? How do we change our theology? "As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need to receive his own glory and goodness!" (NEW SLIDE) As we know Jesus better, we will be empowered by His Spirit to do things that we never thought we could do, and in the end, to receive eternal life forever with Him. That's powerful stuff!
C. So how do we know Him better? By walking in obedience. Jesus has promised, as verse four tells us, that His power is more than able to keep us pure in an evil world, so that we don't have to compromise with sin. But more than that, His power enables us to share in His divine nature, to partake in it, to become like Him in our hearts. (NEW SLIDE) He's promised to give us a life filled to overflowing with His power, and the only way we're going to get it is to walk in obedience and get to know Him better. How do we do that? Peter gives us a growth progress chart to follow as we go along.
D. First, he says to get to know Jesus better so that we can apply the promises He has given us right in this passage to our hearts and lives. (NEW SLIDE) Peter tells us to spend all the time in prayer, in the Bible, in worship, in fellowship, that it takes for us to keep getting to know Jesus better and better. I personally have pledged to spend at least two hours a day in prayer with at least 17.5 hours each week. Does that make me better than anybody else here? No way! But I'll tell you what I've discovered - the more I pray the more I need prayer, and the more I pray the more I see my need for Jesus. I get closer to Him, but I see more and more of what He's like and how far away from that I am. But I also see that He's working in my heart and life to make me more like Him. It's a painful process, but it's worth every minute! Peter says to work at getting to know Jesus, and we all have got to if we're going to change our world.
E. (NEW SLIDE) Second, Peter says that when getting to know Jesus keeps building faith into our hearts and lives, then the result of that will be moral excellence. Virtue is another word for it, as are holiness and purity. Our faith has got to drive us to living a holy and pure life by the power of the Holy Spirit. We won't be absolutely perfect in performance, but if we don't shoot for it we won't have any moral excellence in our hearts and lives.
F. (NEW SLIDE) Third, Peter says that when getting to know Jesus builds growing faith that leads to moral excellence, then that moral excellence will help us to know God even better. God cannot tolerate sin, so when we allow sin to flourish in even the tiniest corner of our hearts and lives, we block God out. He will confront us on sin issues, and if we want to know Him better, we'll do what He tells us to. Then our faith will grow even greater and our lives will be even more transformed!
G. (NEW SLIDE) Fourth, Peter says that when our faith is growing and it is showing in pure hearts, we will have more self-control than we ever thought possible. We all have areas of our lives that we struggle with self-control in. We all try to fight the battle on our own strength, and we all lose. If our faith is growing as we know Jesus better and better, and that drives us to moral excellence by the power of the Holy Spirit, then we will begin to experience greater self-control in all areas of our lives. That doesn't mean any of this will be easy, but it does mean that we'll start to look more and more like Jesus in our hearts and lives.
H. (NEW SLIDE) Fifth, Peter says that patient endurance will follow self-control. If we're not so out of control spiritually that we're constantly trying to get God and other Christians to do things our way, then we will be mature enough to patiently endure suffering and to wait for God to reveal and work His will in us and through us. I learned a long time ago that it isn't always the most fun thing in the world to pray for patience. Why? Because in order for patience to develop, we have to go through tough times. But the more I build self-control into my heart and life by the power of the Holy Spirit, the more that patient endurance grows within me. I still have plenty of times when I am not a very patient man, but God and I are working on it. Patient endurance brought about by self-control and moral excellence through knowing God is well worth any effort.
I. (NEW SLIDE) Sixth, Peter says that godliness or piety will follow patient endurance. What is piety? The New Bible Dictionary (Logos) identifies piety as "a comprehensive term for the practice of Christian personal religion, the worship and service of God and the rendering of reverent obedience to his laws." It goes on to say, "A full analysis of NT piety would include the practical expression of faith in a life of repentance, resisting temptation and mortifying sin; in habits of prayer, thanksgiving and reverent observance of the Lord's Supper; in the cultivation of hope, love, generosity, joy, self-control, patient endurance and contentment; in the quest for honesty, uprightness and the good of others in all human relations; in respect for divinely constituted authority in church, State, family and household. All these attitudes and practices are commanded by God, and glorify him." (NEW SLIDE) I think it'd be safe to say that piety is right being that results in right doing. It's living such a lifestyle of worship before God that nothing stands between us and Him, and our obedient worship shines for all to see. Think about the impact on our world if all of us cultivated godliness in our hearts and lives!
J. But Peter says that godliness, or piety, isn't the stopping point. (NEW SLIDE) If we live a life of worship and obedience, then godliness leads to love for other Christians. This love isn't casual - it's a love like we have for our own flesh and blood. We may not always be happy with what our family members do, but we put up with them and share our love with them no matter what they do. Blood relatives are always part of our family, just as other Christians are always part of our family. When we have growing faith, moral excellence, ever-closer relationship with God, self-control, patient endurance, and godliness, then we will have the kind of love for other Christians that we do for our blood relatives. This is one of the places we stumble the most. We get this idea in our heads that, if anyone fails to meet our expectations in any way, shape or form, we can reject them and choose not to love them. We find ourselves looking down our noses at other Christians, acting like we're better than they are even if we really don't feel like it. (NEW SLIDE) Brotherly love is more than a feeling - it is a love that is lived out in the life of the church, and if we're going to grow we've got to have it. Let's make every effort possible to grow in grace so that we can love each other as God is calling us to!
K. The final step in the progression is love. Love for everyone. Love as God loves. Sacrificial love. C. S. Lewis, in his book The Four Loves, wrote, (NEW SLIDE) Divine Gift-love in the man enables him to love what is not naturally lovable; lepers, criminals, enemies, morons, the sulky, the superior and the sneering. This is a difficult love to achieve, and it's only difficult because we can get it from God alone. He has to fill us with it. He is more than willing to fill us with it. But more often than not we don't want Him to because we're afraid of what will change in our lives if we allow Him to fill us with His love. We fear change, and that's not unhealthy. Fear of change becomes unhealthy when we allow that fear to keep us from taking any risks at all. Lewis goes on, If I am sure of anything I am sure that His teaching was never meant to confirm my congenital preference for safe investments and limited liabilities. I doubt whether there is anything in me that pleases Him less� (NEW SLIDE) We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which they should break, so be it. Those are hard words, but true ones. We do love each other, to a point. We do love our world, to a point. I say this not as a criticism but as a true word from God, as a call to become more like Jesus so that our world will be transformed.
L. Do you remember that I said that God spoke to me through a song? It's on Audio Adrenaline's Worldwide CD, and I don't remember which song it was, but it brought to light something General Superintendent Bill Vermillion said at Annual Conference. He said that we have lost our passion. He's right. We've become so afraid of becoming something different than we are and of getting hurt in the process that we've lost our passion. How many times in our marriage relationships or friendships have we said to ourselves something like "I'm never going to hurt like that again"? What happens when we say something like that? We shut the other person out. We block them off emotionally so we won't get hurt again. The Evangelical Church went through some very painful processes in breaking off from the E.U.B. - Methodist merger, including having to buy back church properties. There is a group memory of that pain that extends even to those of us who weren't a part of that process. That pain has caused our denomination to lose our passion for Christ and for lost souls. And as a result, much of our denomination has blocked God off emotionally so that we won't get hurt again. Our church, Sodaville Evangelical Church, has been through some very painful processes over the past fourteen or fifteen years. There is a group memory of that pain that extends even to those of us who weren't a part of that process. John Alvin has called it a morbid obsession with the past. He's right. That pain has caused our church to lose our passion for Christ and for lost souls. John talked about that at our council meeting in May. We're stuck, folks, and it's going to take a determined and committed effort for us to get unstuck.
M. Where we are in the progression as individuals varies from person to person, but where we are as a church is in the early stages. We've got to know Jesus better and better. We've got to learn what it means to live a life of moral excellence and apply that learning. We've got to learn to know God and experience God in every part of our lives. We've got to build self-control into our hearts and lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. We've got to build patient endurance into our hearts and lives by the power of the Spirit. We've got to become godly, living lives of worship and obedience before God. We've got to love each other as God loves us. We've got to love everyone as God loves by allowing Him to fill us completely with His love by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what it means to be a people who are passionate for Christ and for lost souls.
N. (NEW SLIDE) God is calling all of us, every single last one of us, to make this commitment to growth in grace. He is calling all of us to allow Him to rebuild that passion into our hearts and lives. He is calling all of us, every single last one of us, to quit beating ourselves up for our past mistakes and sins, to give up our morbid obsession with the past, to receive His gift of forgiveness and love in every area of our hearts and lives, and in the life of our church. If we do this, then we will experience what Peter tells us in verse eight. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our hearts, our lives and our church will prosper and grow spiritually and we will see many people come to know and love and follow and serve Jesus. If we don't, verse nine applies to us. But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin. We all need spiritual and emotional eye surgery. God is more than willing to do it, to change how we think and feel and act. So let's work at developing those virtues. Let's work at growing in grace as Peter tells us to. Let's work hard at the right things so that we won't stumble and fall, so that our church will get unstuck and will be powerful for Jesus in our world.
O. I know this is a hard working church, and I'm very proud of us for that. Let's work hard at the right things, at growing in grace by developing these virtues. Then, as Peter tells us in verse eleven, God will open wide the gates of heaven for us! Will we work to know Jesus better and experience His divine power working in us and in our church? Will we leave the past in the past and regain our passion? Will we receive His forgiveness and finally bury those past mistakes and sins? Will we move forward?
IV. Conclusion
A. Usually at this point in the sermon I give time for reflection. But I believe God is calling us this morning to action. We know what we need to do. Will we do it?
B. If you are willing to do anything God calls you to do to make these truths we've been reminded of this morning a reality and the focus of your heart and life as well as of our church, please stand right now. I'm willing. I know I'm weak and that I will fall, but I'm willing to do what God calls me to do and to lead our church where God wants us to go and to pick myself up as many times as I fall and to not block any of you or God out of my heart and life. That's my commitment. If it's yours, please stand. Let's pray together.
