A Daily View of the Gospel Leads to Faithful Lives

[0:00] You can go ahead and be seated. If you didn't bring a Bible, you're new with us, there is a Bible in the chair in front of you. So you're more than welcome to pick that up and turn with us to 2 Peter is where we are going to be at this morning.

[0:23] And I love, while you're turning there, I love how God works. When Jim asked if I would take a week for him while he was gone, I was like, yeah, this is a passage I've been thinking about and I'd really love to go through this.

[0:41] And so, you know, I had a couple months and I've been mulling it over and got down to this week and, you know, starting to just draw things out. And I'm like, whoa, I didn't see that before and I didn't see that.

[0:54] And now it's layer upon layer and I'm starting to see quite how big it is and I'm wondering if I didn't maybe bite off more than I can chew. And so I'm hoping you guys have about the next six hours.

[1:08] Because that's probably, no, I'm just kidding. Wouldn't that be awesome though? The word for six hours. Not me for six hours, but the word for six hours. That'd be great.

[1:18] So we're gonna do our best to work through this. The second Peter, we're gonna be dealing with the first 11 verses. I will be referring to other parts of the book as we work our way through that just because it's kind of connected and Peter's doing a whole bunch of looping around.

[1:37] But so let's go ahead and jump into it real quick. But verse one, Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

[1:55] Grace and peace be multiplied to you and the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

[2:24] But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance and to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love.

[2:41] For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

[2:59] Therefore brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure for if you do these things, you will never stumble. For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly and to the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

[3:22] I can't hardly read that with just, it oozes with sweetness. So, it's one of those things that when you taste it, it's like honey.

[3:37] You know what I'm saying? As the psalmist refers to, your word is like honey in my mouth. But, if I had to put a title on what Peter is talking about here or what we want to draw out of the scripture, we could put it this way and I know Jim always has the things so you're just going to have to bear with me, jot your own notes.

[3:57] I'm not that fancy nor am I that good. So, but we, let's put it this way, we need the gospel to be saved and we need the gospel to live godly lives.

[4:17] Let me put that a different way, kind of the same way to say a different thing, sounds a little bit different, but a daily view of the gospel leads to lives of faithful godliness.

[4:35] Those are the words that Peter uses to describe the life that we should live. We need a daily view of the gospel because it is that which will lead to lives that are faithful in godliness.

[5:01] So, why is it so important? And again, I want to go back to that statement, we want to be a church that's centered in the gospel. And why is it important that the gospel be at the center of who we are?

[5:16] In Romans, chapter 1 in verse 16, Paul writes this, he says, I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation, not only to the Jew and Gentile, not only to the Jew, but also to the Gentile.

[5:38] And so, we get a glimpse in this, that the gospel is a power unto salvation and most of us are very familiar with this aspect of the gospel. gospel. We know that we need the gospel for salvation.

[5:58] So, let's stretch that out. Jim pulls this apart, so let me pull it apart for you. The mundane words, the things that we hear on a regular basis.

[6:11] What is the gospel? Let's start with God. He is holy. He is other than us. He is separate from us and because of that, high and lifted up, we are fallen man before him, separated because of our sin and his holiness.

[6:32] Enter Jesus Christ and the work that he does on the cross to become the sacrifice for sins, to bear the wrath of God for sins, to become our righteousness if we will repent and trust in him.

[6:48] There's the gospel. So, we know that we need the gospel for salvation, but what does the gospel have to do for today? How does it become applicable to my life or why is it necessary?

[7:03] Because we know that God works in us to save us, why is it necessary for today? Peter is going to illustrate how the knowledge of the gospel leads to godliness and I want you to kind of maybe make a mental note of that word knowledge because Peter uses it over and over in the first couple of verses here that the knowledge of the gospel leads to godliness.

[7:30] Ultimately, godliness is the pursuit of Christ himself. Let me say it one other way. Faith is the pursuit of Christ.

[7:50] So, why does Peter write this second epistle? Who's it written to? We know in 1 Peter that he's writing to those that are scattered because of persecution.

[8:05] New believers in Christ that are scattered throughout. Peter is writing to them to encourage them how to live godly lives in the midst of persecution.

[8:16] Unbelievers, how to live godly lives. And so, we find that in 2 Peter in chapter 3, he hints at writing a second epistle to you because his intro here to those who have obtained like precious faith in verse 1 just don't exactly tell us.

[8:34] It's in general. So, it is general and yet it's also specific to this first group of people that he was writing to. So, the first letter that he wrote was how they should live in light of the external secular pressures that they were facing.

[8:48] This second letter has been written to them to remind them of the truth so that they might stand fast and make sure their call and election. He's also writing because false teachers will creep up and he wants to remind them that as these teachers distort the truth and lead men astray, he wants to remind them to hold fast.

[9:17] The first letter was to instruct them how to live among the world and the unbeliever and the second letter is to remind them of who they are and whose they are and that the enemy that they face is not without but it's from within.

[9:36] There's two ways on the inside that they're facing this. One from inside the church, false teachers, the other from inside the heart, the desires, the lusts of the flesh which war against the spirit and we'll see that vernacular the lusts come out but Peter is easy and Peter, why Peter?

[10:02] Peter's kind of the easy guy to pick on. I don't know if you guys, how many sermons you've heard, everybody's picking on Peter. Peter's kind of that brash, brazen guy who's always rushing headlong into things without much thought, a man of great passion conviction and yet we also see his convictions falter.

[10:24] We see him who at one moment is making this grand declaration that you are the Christ, the son of the living God and yet at the next he is rebuking Jesus or even denying him.

[10:39] But this is precisely why I believe that Peter is a perfect penman to write this letter. Peter knows the struggle of the heart and how easily one can be led astray through his own desires.

[10:54] Which is exactly the caution that is raised in this second letter. Peter is drawing attention or reminding them of what it is like to pursue God as opposed to one that would pursue this world through their own desires.

[11:11] So that separation, pursue Christ or be led by desires that bring corruption in the world. And we'll see that. He contrasts one whose heart would seek to know the Father and the Son Jesus Christ as opposed to one that would be led astray by that same heart with desires that would find corruption in the world.

[11:35] Peter longs to find hearts that are steadfast and true and established in the grace of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[11:49] Do you want to be found in that group of people? I really do. There's a great desire here in second Peter for believers to be faithful to grow in godliness.

[12:03] godliness. He writes to the believers to stir up their affections for Christ and exhort them to godliness by reminding them of what has been given to them in Christ Jesus.

[12:18] So the one thing that the gospel does for us is constantly when we repeat it, when we proclaim it, it constantly reminds us of who god is.

[12:32] And it's a letter that's written by a man who's about to die. Peter mentions it's my time is drawing to an end so there's an urgency that he wants to stir them up in their memories to remind them of the things that are theirs in Jesus Christ so that when he is gone they can remember them and they can remain steadfast and firm in the faith.

[13:00] I think sometimes and I know it's a bit of a long introduction but I think sometimes that we find it easy to rely on the pastor or the bible study teacher or maybe our strong vocal Christian friend to supply for us what can be known about God.

[13:23] And Peter carefully points out to them the individual responsibility one has to pursue knowledge. of the one who has called us and the one whose we are. That's an individual personal responsibility.

[13:35] It's ours. We need to pursue this relationship with the one who works in us with great power both to save and to sanctify.

[13:52] So with that let's jump into the text and the first question kind of that that's raised up that we kind of come to is who who can pursue Christ. First verse here Simon Peter a bond servant and apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of God and Savior Jesus Christ.

[14:14] There is something implied here in the text which if you look at Peter is saying by this word obtained it's only used three times in the New Testament.

[14:26] Three other times I should say and in each case it's in reference to the casting of lots. It's an interesting word that those who obtain faith what Peter is is hinting at or illustrating by way of lots.

[14:42] I know you know we don't play that in a Baptist church right but this interesting concept is that salvation is not of our own choosing. Salvation is of God's choosing and God's election.

[15:01] Those who have obtained not by their own merit those who have obtained through the election of God. What is faith?

[15:21] faith. Because it says those who have obtained he's writing this letter to those who have obtained a like precious or a faith of equal value so that the subject here is faith.

[15:41] So what is faith? We know that without faith it is impossible to please God. we know that in Hebrews it also writes that there are many who obtained a good report through faith but Hebrews 11 1 just to kind of cut down to it Hebrews 11 1 gives us a quick definition of faith.

[16:02] One that we've heard over and over and over that faith is the substance or the evidence of things not seen. The proof of things that are hoped for.

[16:14] Faith is a substance of things not seen and the evidence of things that are hoped for. And so I find it interesting sometimes when we place an emphasis on faith that what precedes faith though is hope.

[16:32] Hope in what? faith. If there is not a longing in our hearts if there is not a trust in and a hope in the promises of God what use is faith?

[16:49] Because faith brings to life the very things in which we hope. So we know that what he's talking about is those who have obtained a like precious faith those are ones who in the promises of God and act on it.

[17:05] That's what he's talking about. So he's talking about something that's in action. Faith is a action word and it's acting upon something and that thing that precedes it is the hope that we have in Jesus Christ and the promises that he brings.

[17:25] The second thing that comes out in this is how do we get this faith? And this goes back to the fact through this obtain this word that it's it's not of our own.

[17:44] It's it is something that God has worked in us. If you were to turn back and I could give you just a couple references here but this Peter's going to write about this in verse 3 when he uses a word called to those that are called.

[18:07] He's hinting at the same thing that he wrote in his first letter in chapter 1 in verse 2 when he says elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.

[18:19] He's hinting at something things that we find through the pages of scripture if we were to turn over to Romans in verse 29 for whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

[18:36] Moreover whom he predestined these he also called and he called these also justified and whom he justified these he also glorified. we know in John 15 16 we've just been going through this and knowing Christ Jesus makes a very bold proclamation you did not choose me but I have chosen you and maybe best illustrated in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 Paul writes just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will and I point that out because we know that apart from Christ salvation is not possible so we know that the continuing of our faith is not apart from the sovereign act of God in our life through his spirit he begins the work through the gospel he sustains the work through that same gospel gospel when we understand just how just

[20:08] God would be to count our sin against us we've seen that right when we understand that if God would count our sin against us none could stand then it is both mystery and as Peter uses the word precious that he has chosen us and elected us to be in his son and I've taken a little bit of time to kind of just soak in this because it's this very thing this knowing God this seeing God as we're going to get into this understanding of what it is that has been afforded to us through Jesus Christ what we justly deserve and yet what we have received that helps us or propels us or compels us to pursue faithful godliness because of

[21:11] Jesus notice here it says this faith who have received this precious faith or like faith of like value same value which is very precious indeed by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ that's how it's purchased that's how it comes to us it's through Jesus Christ through his righteousness imputed to us so it's very important that we understand where this comes from and so those or who can pursue Christ is those whom the father has drawn to himself and I know sometimes that raises the question then can I come who can come am I one of the chosen the invitation is for whosoever will to come come and as we hear so often if you want to know if you're one of the elect then come to Jesus and if you come to

[22:18] Jesus you're one of his you're one of the elect you're one of the chosen you're one of those who has received a very like same precious faith purchased for you through the work and righteousness of Jesus Christ okay we can be done now right actually let's move on to a second point so what are the means that we have to pursue him Peter begins with his ending or maybe he ends with his beginning but he says grace and peace be multiplied to you and the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord he ends with these same words in chapter three when he says grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ that's his benediction so Peter starts with these words that we should that he his desire and that grace and peace would be multiplied to us and the key to this is the knowledge of Jesus

[23:29] Christ grace and peace mercy they are multiplied in us through the knowledge of Christ so what does this mean we must pursue Christ our desire must be to know him to pursue him and I think that's the word that I want to know who can pursue him by what means do we pursue him and one of the issues or the struggles that we have here is knowledge we knowledge is so easily puffs up so how do we gain a knowledge of God that doesn't lead to pride and arrogance but rather to a humility that drives us to worship the son of God this is not the kind of knowledge again if the knowledge that we learn based in the gospel of

[24:39] Jesus Christ does what it elevates a holy God and just like Isaiah who says I saw him high and lifted up I saw the Lord high and lifted up in the train filled this temple and then Isaiah has a response I love this response it's one of the clearest pictures to me but he says okay I see you wow that's holy and I'm undone and that's what the gospel does the gospel so clearly illustrates to us the holiness of God and how undone we are before him and so as we get to know this knowledge of knowing God it's not a knowledge that actually puffs us up but rather drives us to humility because the knowledge that we gain is of what Christ has done of what the father has done and who we are apart from them that's what the gospel proclaims and that's why it's so important that we are reminded that when we center on the gospel what begins to grow in us and again the gospel is a pursuit of the knowledge of

[25:55] God what grows in us begins to grow in us and multiply in us is grace and peace our knowledge draws us into Jesus and places us in awe of him let me put this way if you want to enjoy God's peace and be the aroma of his grace in the world your knowledge of him has to grow let me say that again if you want to enjoy God's peace and be the aroma of his grace in let me back up the church in your family in the world because that word world kind of encompasses then your knowledge of him must grow my knowledge of him must grow we need to know more of

[27:11] Jesus and I think it's very interesting this isn't in my notes so apparently what does Jim say not that I'm trying to be Jim so maybe I should just knock that off is we talk about heaven and going to heaven and sinners that don't know him will go to hell but the biblical vernacular is not necessarily heaven and hell although it does refer to those but it's with Christ and apart from Christ and so the reality and the longing of our hearts to shed this earthly body to do away with the temporary to get rid of the pain in this world is not a longing to leave one place and inhabit another place but it is to leave an absence of Christ to be in his presence so what we are longing for in knowing him is to be in his presence as much as we can in this world which echoes the longing and again the hoping of our lives in this world for the next world so it's not so much heaven it's not so much the place because the only thing that makes heaven heaven is

[28:40] Jesus himself so we need to know him in this life to be the fragrance of his grace and his glory to the world so where am I since that wasn't in the notes the other thing that we find here is not just the knowledge of God but we find so the knowledge of God is one means that we have to pursue him but the other thing that's been given to us is divine power verse three here is as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through notice this is this getting familiar through the knowledge of him so we have been given the knowledge of God not only gives us grace and peace but the knowledge of

[29:43] God getting to know him pursuing Christ acts as divine power that pertains that gives us all things for life and godliness you know we haven't been given all things to be rich we haven't been given all things to own the nicest house we haven't been given all things to have the best career or the best marriage necessarily in that sense but we have been given all things to live godly lives everything that pertains to life and godliness everything that we need to know him has been supplied the very and it's interesting he uses power why power because without it we're stuck guess what i woke up today and if you're like me you recognize didn't take very long that you need help i need help it's like messed up already you know i'm fretting already about the day i'm trusting in my own strength i'm trusting in my own wisdom i i just got out of bed i need power because every time i wake up i find myself going back to the same thing over and over and over and over and over again and apart from christ it will be that way for the rest of my life but in christ there is power to live godly rightly righteous and holy before him so through knowledge we don't just have some through this divine power we don't just have a moralistic christianity do this don't do that we don't have pretty pictures of lives of clean individuals clean churches that's not what this is about but what it is about is that our knowledge draws us into

[31:57] Jesus and places him in awe of him we begin to enjoy god's peace i'm sorry offline there it enables us to partake of the divine power a work that is the result of great power this power does not just give us life but it also works in us godliness that's the whole point becoming like him like Jesus so this is working in us knowing him begins to produce in us a like image he goes on and this everything that we need the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue by which have been given to us through his glory and his virtue have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust so here's another means great and precious promises again not me not you it's not us working this is

[33:21] God working in us maybe just to shake you guys up a little bit I'm going to ask you to exercise how many of you in here can think of one promise from scripture one promise in scripture that you know of that you have taken strength in if you could just raise your hand doesn't matter you don't you don't because we rely on those we trust in those you know we could even just look at a couple of them within the text that we have here verses 10 and 11 therefore brethren be even more diligent to make your call and election sure for if you do these things you will never stumble for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that's a promise how about 1st Peter 5 10 just a page back but may the

[34:25] God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after you have suffered a while perfect establish strengthen and settle you that's a promise how about Philippians 1 6 he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it at the coming of Jesus Christ that's a promise we have been given promises through his glory through his very nature based on who he is we have been given promises that enable us to pursue him and these promises are what have enabled us to pursue him now but also to partake of his nature what does that mean because we're definitely not meaning we can become

[35:30] God that's not what Peter is talking about here so what is he talking about that we can be partakers of the divine nature partakers of the nature of God how many of you in here think you can love like Christ without Christ how how many of us in here can forgive as we have been forgiven apart from Christ the things that we have been shown we cannot share with others apart from a new nature God working in us things that are not natural to us but are very natural to him to him and who he is and so he has promised here's an old testament promise I will take out the heart of stone and I will give you a new heart that's a promise and that's a promise that awakens us that alivens us that makes something new in us that apart from that work will not happen that's a promise and that promise enables me to pursue him to partake of him we in one sense become like him not in deity but in his nature in his image we reflect his character and his glory in this world so those are some means some ways some things that that

[37:31] God is working in us that enables us to pursue him so then the question here real quick and we'll just probably run through these real quick but how is our pursuit of him displayed so now we've kind of talked about what God is doing and not that our faith is of us again we already talked that it comes from him so there's nothing that we can do as it comes to faith but Peter says there is a responsibility in pursuing God there are things that you need to add to this faith so if you're pursuing him here's what you need to display alongside your faith because you hope in him let's look at a couple of these things he says but also for this very reason giving all diligence let's stop there let's look at that word that the word diligence here is this idea or this concept that you need to you're bringing a specific end to pass so you can't deviate from the task you have to stay at it and there's a swiftness to it but not just a quick

[38:53] I just got to get this done there's a swiftness but a specificness certain way to a specific end that you are diligent earnestly add to your faith virtue and this is the same word the same word that says that we are called by his glory and his virtue to our faith we add virtue that's the essence that's this is a male kind of vernacular this idea to pick up it's kind of to is to exert oneself upon a conviction until that holds sway exerting force this is kind of the picture in the Greek here of maleness to lift something up to carry it away to put who you are in a certain direction until it gives way and they used to use this in the older a man who is a knight of virtue someone who is strong in battle one who could exert himself in character integrity and honesty even within battle and hold sway against the enemy we need to add to our faith virtue and again it's what's reflected in

[40:23] God so we know that our virtue has to be a reflection of his virtue which calls us or which we are called to or which we are called by all of those prepositions can be inserted in the Greek there we also need to add knowledge and this is knowing this is knowledge this is not just I mean the one word that we're so leery about but this is specifically that we want to but it's as we add it notice that it's it's not just taking on knowledge but the way in which we take on knowledge is connected to faith and it's connected to virtue so it's knowledge in the right ways and then there's a word that follows it that's very important and add to knowledge self control again I said earlier on that knowledge can puff up self control is that which holds it in check that brings it down that causes you to walk in humility understanding that as you get to know

[41:34] God again it is not it's a knowledge of how to rightly behave to discern the will of God and to self control we need to add perseverance this is a picture of holding up underneath the pressure so picture somebody who's holding maybe a major stone maybe the pilgrim's progress you know the big burden on his back and one who is not quick to step out from underneath the load out from underneath the pain but is willing to bear up underneath that load long endurance we need to add to this self control a perseverance an endurance to this virtue and this knowledge and this faith and to perseverance we add godliness and again if you look at this these are things that we are working but God is working we are working with God that's probably the best way to say work out your salvation here's Peter showing the illustration of us working out salvation not our salvation as in the effects of it in our life but the working out or the living out of it within this world and we add godliness rightness who he is right acting and when we add these things things it begins to overflow into brotherly kindness and this is a word that we would talk about to those that are in the body of

[43:23] Christ and when we add to that brotherly kindness in the way that we behave towards one another we add to that charity we add to that love and this is a word that we use for all men this is the pursuit of God displayed in us when Peter exhorts us to add to our faith he is not stating that we should conjure these things up but rather go to the source look to the word that declares to us who God is and what he has promised and what he has done in the light of his character and promises and let our hope and trust in these produce in us a godliness that is adding to our faith does that make sense because I get out of bed sometimes and I want to do give me the punch list

[44:24] I got to do do do do do this for God do that for God do this the right way do and I fail I don't get it done I think a lot of you probably feel the same way and so we want to know how do we do this and Peter says don't just try to do this look to the source look to the source and he produces this within you what is the source it is his word it is his word so maybe by way of any why do why do we pursue him well verse eight for if these things are yours and abound you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ again we ask ourselves sometimes that over and over it's like yeah I don't feel very fruitful today I feel a little barren I'm in the wilderness

[45:24] I've it's been a long time mate I'm good to show up on Sunday morning and if we are diligent to pursue knowing Christ and his word it will here's a promise it will produce in you fruitfulness because if these are yours and they are abounding you will not be barren or unfruitful that's the promise it says they will know we will know one another by our fruits they will know we are Christians by our love that's a fruit right so if we're going to display Christ there's got to be a diligence and an earnestness to bring to pass the things that God has declared for us to be and I think this is the clearest verse of them all to me verse 9 for he who lacks these things this is for me and I hope it's for you a reminder because sometimes

[46:45] I wonder to myself why do I lack fruitfulness well Peter doesn't dance around the bush for he who lacks these things is short sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins we've lost sight of the gospel if I can't remember I've been cleansed of my sins I've lost sight of the gospel so the first sign of unfruitfulness of my life is I have become out of kilter or unbalanced or something has taken the place of the gospel in my life so why do we as a church want to be centered on the gospel so that we can be constantly reminded that we have been cleansed from our old sins and therefore we will be fruitful and not barren we will not be lacking we will not be blind we need the centrality of the gospel to hold sway in our life today for sanctification because without it we forget what has been done for us we forget who we are and we become barren

[48:05] I know this all too well so his first thing was because of what God has done we should be diligent Peter goes on to double down on this statement he says not only because of what God has done but because now you know what happens the negative side of this you need to in verse 10 therefore brethren be even more diligent to make your call and election sure for if you do these things you will never stumble for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I would put to you this we need the centrality of the gospel and we need the accountability of one another we too easy come and go from church we too easy just casually glance in people's lives how do you know if the person sitting next to you is experiencing fruitfulness or barrenness because you sat next to them in church on

[49:23] Sunday and they were singing the songs pretty loud because you passed them in the hall and they put that smile on their face when's the last time you asked somebody how's your fruitfulness are you grounded in the gospel when's the last time you asked one another that question when's the last time you asked one another are you pursuing Christ yeah me neither let's get together so we can read the word we can point each other we can help each other limp this road along pursuing Jesus Christ we can see him again and we can display him in this world so that we can run the race that is set before us Paul says but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our

[50:27] Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that is his earnest desire to grow in the knowledge and the grace of Jesus Christ displayed so majestically in the gospel the gospel is about pursuing Jesus let me close with the words of the song that we have sung before all I once held dear and built my life upon and all this world reveres and wants to own all that I once thought gain I have counted loss spent and worthless now compared to this now my heart's desire is to know you more to be found in you and known as yours to possess by faith what I could not earn all surpassing gift of righteousness oh to know the power of your risen life and to know you in your sufferings to become like you in your death my Lord so with you to live and never die knowing you

[51:38] Jesus knowing you there is no greater thing you're my all you're my best you're my joy my righteousness and I love you Lord Father may that be the pursuit of our hearts and our lives and may that be the desire of our hearts for each one in this room is that we would be a people that pursue you because we daily remind ourselves of the gospel take just a moment reflect on the word just take a moment to ask maybe ask the Lord in what ways you have or show you how you are pursuing him or how you're not pursuing him maybe show you areas of blindness and fruitfulness areas that you need to go back and proclaim the gospel to yourself just take a minute just a moment then we will respond we always want to respond to the word so it's hard to respond to a message so what we'll do is we'll respond in worship through our giving because the

[53:29] Bible is very clear that we need to be obedient to the word so our giving can be a reflection of not just our finances but our heart today that says Lord I want to pursue you I want to obey you so we can give worship and then worship in song so take just a moment죠 from baş