WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.839 reflect on the meaning of the resurrection. And this text that I just read, we looked at that 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:11.859 last week, the story of doubting Thomas and what it meant for Thomas to come to faith 00:00:11.859 --> 00:00:18.420 in the resurrection. And so now, appropriately, this week we're going to be looking at not only 00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:22.379 the reality of the resurrection, but the implications of the resurrection. What does 00:00:22.379 --> 00:00:27.400 it mean? What difference does it make? And so we're going to begin looking at a theme that 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:32.539 is tied very closely to Easter. We actually prayed about this a moment ago in the prayer that we 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:39.759 prayed, that we would show forth in our lives the faith that we profess. In other words, we're going 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:46.659 to be talking about Christian growth. Because one of the promises of the resurrection is not just that 00:00:46.659 --> 00:00:54.039 we are reconciled to God, but that there is the possibility of new life, that we can be restored 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:59.700 and renewed, that relationships can be restored and renewed, that there is a transformation, a 00:00:59.700 --> 00:01:05.239 spiritual renewing that can happen as a result of the resurrection. So that's what we're going to be 00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:09.819 talking about. And this is something that we have to talk about in the life of the church from time 00:01:09.819 --> 00:01:16.739 to time for a lot of reasons. There are some people in the church, many people I think, and maybe some 00:01:16.739 --> 00:01:21.879 of us here fit this description. You came to faith at some point in your life, maybe you were a little 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:27.259 kid, maybe you don't even remember. Maybe it was as we pray for our kids every week, that you never 00:01:27.259 --> 00:01:32.219 knew a day apart from the Lord. Or maybe you came to faith at a summer camp, or maybe you came to faith 00:01:32.219 --> 00:01:37.539 through a youth ministry, or maybe it was in college through a campus ministry, or a friend, that's what 00:01:37.539 --> 00:01:43.120 happened to me. Or maybe since then, maybe you're just recently now, within the last year, you've come 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:47.840 to faith. But there are people who came to faith, and then since then they haven't really known what to 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:54.719 do. You know, and some of us have maybe been believers for years, decades, and you sort of 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:58.520 look at your life and you think, I haven't really experienced much in the way of growth or change. 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:05.040 So this is aimed at you. There are also people in the church who have been coming for years and 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:11.819 fully believe that they are Christians, and the truth is, maybe you're not. Maybe you never really 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:16.560 understood what it means to belong to God, or how that happens. So this is aimed at you. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:22.039 And maybe there are people who, at some point earlier in your life, you were growing, you were 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:25.719 thriving, you were passionate about the Lord, you experienced tremendous change, but it's been a long 00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:30.000 time. And when you look at the calendar, you realize it's been years. This is aimed at you. 00:02:30.620 --> 00:02:35.360 So the hope is, is that by exploring this theme, we can catalyze the growth of Christians, and we can 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:39.819 also create an opportunity for people who don't understand really what it means to belong to the 00:02:39.819 --> 00:02:45.860 Lord, or believe that change and transformation is possible, to invite you in and to extend to you an 00:02:45.860 --> 00:02:51.320 opportunity to begin to experience that for yourself. So in order to understand this more, 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:55.260 we're going to be looking at this fantastic little letter for the next six weeks, which 00:02:55.260 --> 00:03:01.980 we call 2 Peter, 2 Peter. It's written by the Apostle Peter. It is written to young believers, 00:03:02.200 --> 00:03:07.740 a variety of believers, Jew and Gentile. And the theme of this letter is all about Christian 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:14.020 growth. So we're going to be looking at chapter 1, the first 11 verses. And there's so much 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:18.080 going on just in this introduction. One of the great things about Peter is he does not 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:23.300 mess around, no flowery introductions, he just gets right into it. And so we're going to see 00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:29.700 four things about growth. First of all, I say four things, you know, my wife Laura, anytime 00:03:29.700 --> 00:03:33.980 I say I'm going to do four points, she always says, oh, can't you just do three? Four is just 00:03:33.980 --> 00:03:42.719 too much. And so the first point is not really a point. It's like a prelude. It's a prerequisite 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:48.599 to the other three real points. So if Laura asks, I just did three points with a long introduction. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:53.919 So there's going to be a prerequisite to growth. There's a prerequisite to all Christian growth. 00:03:54.079 --> 00:03:57.719 You have to have it before growth is possible. Prerequisite. And then we're going to talk 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:02.060 about the power that we have for growth. We're going to talk about the practices, our role 00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:05.539 in spiritual growth. And then ultimately, we're going to bring that together and talk about 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:10.840 the purpose of it all. Why should this matter to us? Why is it worth our time? So let's pray 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:16.120 as we get started. Our Father, we thank you for your word, but we know that it's not meant 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:22.759 to be inert, that your word is living and active, that because you are risen from the dead, because 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:27.519 you are here in our midst, we know that we can open your word and that through your Holy 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:34.840 Spirit, we can encounter you face to face in the flesh that you are ministering to us, 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:40.420 doing spiritual surgery in us every time we open your word, Lord. And we pray that we would 00:04:40.420 --> 00:04:46.460 be open to that, and that we would be still and let you do your work. We pray this in your 00:04:46.460 --> 00:04:47.939 Son's holy name. Amen. 00:04:49.780 --> 00:04:54.939 So the prerequisite to growth is actually really important. That's why we have to start here. 00:04:55.060 --> 00:05:00.840 If we can put this up on the screen, Simon starts with a pretty standard introduction. 00:05:01.100 --> 00:05:06.139 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, I've been commissioned to be a missionary 00:05:06.139 --> 00:05:11.000 and to spread the message of the gospel. That's what we saw happening in John 20, by the way. 00:05:11.259 --> 00:05:16.219 Jesus breathes on them and commissions them. So he's been commissioned to be an apostle. 00:05:16.779 --> 00:05:20.439 And he's writing the letter to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:25.000 by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. By the way, this is one of the times in the 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:31.800 New Testament where they refer to Jesus specifically as God, our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:36.980 But here's what I want you to notice. He's talking to people who have come to faith, Jew, Gentile, 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:43.120 apostle, regular, everyday believer. And he says, regardless of who you were, we all have 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:49.340 a faith of equal standing that we've obtained by the righteousness of Jesus. So our faith has 00:05:49.340 --> 00:05:55.319 been obtained by the righteousness of Jesus. Jesus is the one who earned it. It was his excellence 00:05:55.319 --> 00:06:01.600 that made it possible. Now, why is that important? Especially when we talk about spiritual growth. 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:08.520 Well, because if you're anything like me, and whether or not you want to admit it, I think 00:06:08.520 --> 00:06:17.580 you are. I think in this way we're very similar, that we tend to tie spiritual growth to our worth. 00:06:18.220 --> 00:06:23.080 In other words, we tend to think of it as a kind of performance. And I think human beings 00:06:23.080 --> 00:06:31.240 are hardwired to think of performance and worth as being inextricably linked, right? I strive 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:36.160 to grow spiritually so that I can become a better person, a more worthy person. That's 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:40.120 a very dangerous way to think about spiritual growth. And I think this is why Peter opens 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:46.960 his letter in this way. I had a professor back in university who passed away recently, 00:06:47.300 --> 00:06:52.040 last couple of weeks. And I've just been thinking about him a lot. And he's a very interesting 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:57.500 man. He's very old. He was the oldest member of the faculty for decades. You know, I feel like 00:06:57.500 --> 00:07:03.839 he's one of these people who's always been old. And so, but I was a psychology major and 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:09.860 he was one of the major figures in the psychology department. And he was notoriously difficult 00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:17.540 as a professor. It's extremely challenging. And he had this thing, this kind of practice 00:07:17.540 --> 00:07:23.860 that the psych majors knew about called, and it was this practice of at graduation, the graduating 00:07:23.860 --> 00:07:30.500 psych majors as they would walk across the stage, if he found you worthy, he would give you a little 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:37.400 thumbs up. And the criteria for worthiness was very muddy. Nobody really knew exactly what 00:07:37.400 --> 00:07:43.400 constituted a worthy psych grad. But you knew, and you would sit at graduation every year, and he would 00:07:43.400 --> 00:07:47.060 be sitting in his place of honor as the oldest member of the faculty. And he would sit there, and 00:07:47.060 --> 00:07:50.800 certain people would come up, and he would give them a little wink and a little smile, and he'd give 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:55.319 him the little thumbs up. So of course, come graduation day, being the psych major that I was, 00:07:55.379 --> 00:07:59.560 I wanted the thumbs up. I was more focused on getting the thumbs up than the fact that I'd 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:03.560 finished university and was done. And so I'm sitting there, and I'm waiting, and I'm waiting, and I'm 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:07.699 looking at him, and every now and then I see a thumbs up, and they finally call my name, Thomas Henson, 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:12.860 and I come up on stage, and I shake the president's hand, and I get my diploma, and I'm walking across 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:20.000 the stage, and I look at my professor, and he's not even looking at me. He's sitting with his legs 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:25.360 crossed, and his arms crossed, looking the other direction. And you don't have to be a body language 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:32.179 expert to understand what that means. You know, it was a total rejection. And I was crushed. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:39.460 I was devastated. I was more upset about that. It robbed the joy of the week. And I didn't even 00:08:39.460 --> 00:08:44.340 think about the fact that I graduated. I just wondered, why didn't I get the thumbs up? You know, 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:49.700 what was it? And I never really went to him and asked, because what do you say? You know, 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:55.399 I really wanted a thumbs up. I mean, there's no way to not be completely pathetic. So I just didn't do 00:08:55.399 --> 00:09:02.000 it, you know? And so time passed, and, you know, so why am I telling you this? Well, it feels good 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:10.100 to get it off my chest. But I had also become a believer that same year. And in the years that 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:15.720 followed that experience, I began to, as Peter talks about, grow in the grace and the knowledge 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:19.700 of Jesus Christ. And one of the things that happens when you grow in the grace and knowledge 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:24.860 of Jesus is your perspective on your life begins to shift, and you begin to see it in different ways 00:09:24.860 --> 00:09:30.519 and ask different questions. And as I began to grow and learn about grace, I began to think back on that, 00:09:30.540 --> 00:09:37.620 and I began to ask myself, what if I had gotten the thumbs up? Would that have cemented my self-worth 00:09:37.620 --> 00:09:43.779 for all of time? Did he have the authority to pronounce my life worthy so that I could then 00:09:43.779 --> 00:09:49.039 not have to worry about that anymore and go on and worry about other things? And what I began to 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:56.100 realize is, no, in fact, that would just be one of a potentially endless array of people whose thumbs 00:09:56.100 --> 00:10:02.980 up I craved. I began to realize there's always going to be a parent or a professor or a boss or a 00:10:02.980 --> 00:10:09.259 mentor or a peer, somebody you admire, a hero, somebody in your life whose opinion matters to 00:10:09.259 --> 00:10:17.159 you, whose thumbs up you crave. It reminds me, the film that won Best Picture this year was a film 00:10:17.159 --> 00:10:21.159 called The Shape of Water. I don't know if anybody's seen it. And the bad guy is a pretty bad guy, 00:10:21.259 --> 00:10:25.620 Colonel Strickland. There's really not much to like about him. But I think the most powerful moment 00:10:25.620 --> 00:10:31.120 of the movie comes in this rare moment of vulnerability for Colonel Strickland. He's been 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:37.460 trying and trying and trying and ultimately fails his superiors. And his boss is reaming him out, 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:42.779 and he just kind of gets this pathetic look on his face and just says in this kind of a pathetic 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:52.600 voice, he says, when is a man done, sir, proving himself? He says, I've been loyal for years, 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:57.200 for 10 years. I've done everything that you've asked me to do. And I make this one mistake. When 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:04.960 is a man done, sir, proving himself? And here's the point. If you live your life always looking for 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:13.259 the next thumbs up, the answer to that question is never. Never. And that's why Peter begins here, 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:18.000 because the point Peter wants us to understand, I believe, is that spiritual growth is not about 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:23.580 earning a thumbs up from God. It's not about proving ourselves to God. It's not as though God 00:11:23.580 --> 00:11:27.659 has done all that he's done just to sit back with his arms crossed and his legs crossed, looking the 00:11:27.659 --> 00:11:32.240 other way until we attain some minimum standard of excellence. And then God says, now I'm paying 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:35.559 attention to you. You seem to be kind of getting your act together. That's not what it's about. 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:41.460 He's making it very clear right off the bat that our entire relationship, our faith has been obtained. 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:46.899 It's been given to us because of the excellence of Jesus. And what that means is that there's nothing 00:11:46.899 --> 00:11:53.079 that we can do that will add or subtract anything from the joy and the pleasure and the delight that 00:11:53.079 --> 00:11:58.620 God takes in us at this very moment. So you can leave here today and grow in all the ways that we're 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:02.659 going to talk about for the rest of your life. And you'll be a flourishing, virtuous, you know, 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:07.539 sort of standard bearer of Christian character. God's not going to love you one ounce more 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:13.259 than he does right now. So this is the prerequisite to spiritual growth. 00:12:13.259 --> 00:12:21.679 And the prerequisite is this. We have to abandon all of our efforts and all of our striving after 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:27.419 self-worth apart from Jesus Christ. Because if you don't, and you think that somehow your growth is 00:12:27.419 --> 00:12:32.000 tied to your worth, you're not going to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. You're going to grow 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:40.240 in legalism and moralism, self-righteousness, and despair. Okay? So we'll be clear on that. 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:47.080 Now that we're clear on that, now let's talk about spiritual growth. Point one. Okay. 00:12:48.220 --> 00:12:55.840 They're going to be quick points. Point one. God has given us tremendous power for growth. We're 00:12:55.840 --> 00:13:01.580 going to move on. He says, may grace and peace be multiplied to you. By the way, he says that again 00:13:01.580 --> 00:13:05.840 at the very end of the book. This is his whole desire, that you would grow in the knowledge of God 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:11.440 and of Jesus our Lord. And then he says this in verse 3, his divine power has granted to us all 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:16.399 things that pertain to life and godliness. Now that's an amazing statement. And then he goes on 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:21.639 to say this, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:28.019 granted to us his precious and very great promises, which are so that through them you may become 00:13:28.019 --> 00:13:35.039 partakers of the divine nature. That's an amazing array of things that he says. You've been granted 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:43.879 power. You've been granted the opportunity to be a partaker of the divine nature. These are amazingly 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:50.199 huge ideas that we could spend our whole time on. But Peter's making it clear that we have everything 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:57.740 that we need in order to grow. We have everything that we need. We have, many of you know, we have 00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:02.259 three kids. They were worshiping this morning in the Brooklyn parish, so they're not here tonight. 00:14:02.600 --> 00:14:08.200 But we have a seven-year-old, a five-year-old, and an eight-month-old, Emmeline. And they all, 00:14:08.420 --> 00:14:13.400 as they grow, it's amazing to see how in different ways they resemble us. You know, they're unique, 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:17.879 they're different, they're their own kids, but they also resemble their parents. And the reason is 00:14:17.879 --> 00:14:24.480 because of many things, but mainly DNA, right? The moment they were born, they had our DNA in them. 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:30.460 And it was like a power at work in them, shaping their growth. And so regardless of what happens 00:14:30.460 --> 00:14:36.919 environmentally, there is a power at work in them, shaping them and molding them to reflect our image. 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:41.340 And they do it in different ways, and they do it in unique ways. And they're not carbon copies or clones, 00:14:41.460 --> 00:14:46.039 but they all, in various ways, reflect the image of their mom and dad. And it's because of this 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:50.939 power at work in them. And that's a way of thinking about what Peter's talking about, 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:56.179 that Christians have in them a kind of spiritual DNA. I think this is part of what Jesus means when 00:14:56.179 --> 00:15:00.679 he says to Nicodemus, you can't just adopt the teachings. You can't just adopt the lifestyle. 00:15:01.019 --> 00:15:06.620 You have to be born again. You have to start over with a new lineage and a new family with a new 00:15:06.620 --> 00:15:13.019 identity and spiritual DNA in you. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and this needs to begin 00:15:13.019 --> 00:15:18.360 to work in you, to shape you more and more, to reflect the image of your Father in heaven. 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:25.659 And this is what he's talking about, this power that is at work in us. Now, why do we need to make 00:15:25.659 --> 00:15:32.220 this point? Why does that matter? Well, because I think that, I think for at least 2,000 years, 00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:38.019 it's been a huge temptation for Christians to think, you know, this is true in Peter's day, 00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:44.620 it's true in our day. My Christian faith is good. I'm glad I'm a Christian, but I really need this 00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:54.559 other thing. You know, I'm, yeah, I'm a believer. I'm a Christian, but, you know, what I really need 00:15:54.559 --> 00:16:00.519 is a really rich emotional experience. I've just felt kind of dry lately in my faith. I felt 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:05.000 uninspired. I just want to go away. I want to go to a retreat center. I want to go somewhere where I 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:11.399 just really feel an emotional high. That's what I'm lacking, you know. And there are some movements 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:14.720 that focus on that. There are some people that say, you know, Christian faith is good, but what 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:18.899 you really need are signs and wonders. There's a whole movement afoot right now that focuses on 00:16:18.899 --> 00:16:22.960 the need for signs and wonders. We need miraculous healings, and every illness, every disease, that 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:26.799 should all be healed right now, right here and now. And if you don't have that, you're not really 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:31.080 with it. You're missing out as a Christian. You know, and there are other people who say, 00:16:31.080 --> 00:16:35.560 well, you know, being Christian is good and praying is good, but if you pray in this particular 00:16:35.560 --> 00:16:41.600 way, it will unlock the blessings that God is waiting to give you. And if you read this 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.180 book, it'll tell you how to pray in the way that will access those blessings that are just 00:16:45.180 --> 00:16:49.300 there waiting for you, if you just pray in the white way. And there are some people who 00:16:49.300 --> 00:16:52.220 say, you know, I'm really struggling and my Christian faith is great, but what I really 00:16:52.220 --> 00:17:00.480 need is good therapy. Now, am I knocking any of these things? Absolutely not. I love emotional 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:06.039 experiences of any kind, right? I love, I used to be a therapist, right, and still do some 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:11.039 counseling, right? So I'm not knocking these things. If we could miraculously heal things 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:15.360 through prayer every time we prayed, that would be incredible. But what I am knocking is this. 00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:22.660 Here's the caution. That we are vastly underestimating the resources that we have at our disposal right 00:17:22.660 --> 00:17:29.599 now as followers of Jesus. That we're vastly underestimating what we've been given, namely the power of the 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:34.879 Holy Spirit and the truth of the scriptures. So I'm not saying don't ever go to counseling. 00:17:35.079 --> 00:17:39.480 There are definitely times and places where we need to go to therapy, where we need medication, 00:17:39.619 --> 00:17:43.559 where those things are very important, a part of discipleship. But here's what I'm saying. 00:17:44.199 --> 00:17:48.500 When we are struggling, when we're struggling with anxiety and depression and wrestling through 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:53.899 hard things in our lives, the knee-jerk reaction should not necessarily always be, I need to go see a 00:17:53.900 --> 00:17:58.519 counselor. I need to solve this problem. Because here's a hard thing that we may need to accept. 00:17:59.340 --> 00:18:03.460 That if God is always at work in our lives, if his power is always at work, 00:18:04.019 --> 00:18:12.019 he's also at work in our suffering. And quite honestly, at least in my life, it's mostly been 00:18:12.019 --> 00:18:18.100 through the suffering that God has really grown me. It's mostly been through the hard times. 00:18:18.099 --> 00:18:22.779 And so the mentality needs to shift, not just how do I solve this problem and end this as soon as 00:18:22.779 --> 00:18:29.240 possible, but to be willing to sit in the challenge and sit in the pain and ask, how is God at work in 00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:38.480 me right now? Right? Emotional highs are great. Retreat center experiences are great. But we need to 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:44.619 also realize that faith isn't meant to be lived on mountaintops at retreat centers. That faith is meant 00:18:44.619 --> 00:18:50.779 to be lived out in the very mundane rhythms of daily life and faithfulness. A kind of quiet, 00:18:51.179 --> 00:18:57.879 quotidian rhythm of faith. Sometimes it's emotionally rich and deep and rewarding. Sometimes it's dry and 00:18:57.879 --> 00:19:04.000 uninspiring. But there's a deep value when we recognize it's not about how I feel in the moment. 00:19:04.139 --> 00:19:07.379 It's about trusting that God is always at work because his power is in me. 00:19:08.479 --> 00:19:12.939 Right? So God has given us this tremendous power for growth. We have everything we need right now. 00:19:12.940 --> 00:19:19.420 So now somebody says, okay, well then why do anything? And this is where the Bible is 00:19:19.500 --> 00:19:23.820 interesting in its balance. On the one hand, Peter says, you have everything that you need right now 00:19:23.820 --> 00:19:28.440 as you're sitting here, God is at work in you to shape you into his image. But then the very next 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:33.299 thing he says, he says, for this very reason, for this very reason, because you have everything you 00:19:33.299 --> 00:19:39.460 need, you have a role to play. And then he begins to lay out what that is. So that brings us to the 00:19:39.460 --> 00:19:45.840 second point. Like I said, if she asks, 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:53.799 the practice of spiritual growth. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:58.440 Now that word supplement is interesting. It literally translates furnish. So imagine having 00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:02.039 your faith is the house, there's no furniture in it. He's saying you've got the house, you've got the 00:20:02.039 --> 00:20:06.440 shelter, now put some furniture in it. Your house is going to be much more livable, it's going to be much 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:12.120 more useful, it's going to be much more life-giving if you furnish it. So furnish your faith with virtue, 00:20:12.120 --> 00:20:15.740 which this means kind of moral excellence, with moral excellence, and moral excellence with 00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:20.559 knowledge. That's doctrinal knowledge, biblical knowledge. And knowledge with self-control. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:25.620 Self-control is the ability to enjoy the good things of life without being mastered by them. 00:20:26.380 --> 00:20:31.960 Right? Self-control. And self-control with steadfastness. That's trusting God in the good times and the bad 00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:36.200 times, trusting and holding firm in your faith. And steadfastness with godliness. 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:42.539 Godliness is decompartmentalization. It's living your life, all of your life, in every realm of your 00:20:42.539 --> 00:20:49.059 life, in reference to God. A totally integrated faith. And godliness with brotherly affection. 00:20:49.220 --> 00:20:54.640 That's love for other people in the church, your brothers and sisters in the believing community. 00:20:55.080 --> 00:21:00.140 And then lastly, brotherly affection with love. And this is a different word for love. And this doesn't 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:06.120 just mean love for Christians, it means love for everybody. Regardless of creed, regardless of 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:13.619 background, regardless of belief, friend, enemy, everybody. Now this is an amazing list of virtues 00:21:13.619 --> 00:21:19.079 that we have. And, you know, some people have tried to make a lot out of the order. 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:26.179 Rhetorically, the form that we see here is very common in Greek writing, Quinte Greek writing. And 00:21:26.179 --> 00:21:30.899 honestly, rhetorically, I don't think we're meant to take anything from the order. I don't think the 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:35.620 order really matters, nor do I think it's an exhaustive list. Peter's giving us some examples 00:21:35.620 --> 00:21:41.380 of the kinds of virtues we should be seeking to cultivate to supplement our faith. And so really, 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:47.980 you can look at this and say, well, we should, you know, you can just pick and ask the Spirit to 00:21:47.980 --> 00:21:52.519 guide you. Look at a list like this and say, where am I really lacking? Where am I really deficient? 00:21:52.600 --> 00:21:58.180 Some of us may need to gain more biblical and doctrinal knowledge. Some of us may just realize, 00:21:58.180 --> 00:22:02.860 I'm out of control. I have no discipline in my life. I need more self-control. But here's the 00:22:02.860 --> 00:22:08.720 couple of things that we do need to keep in mind. Number one, all of these need each other. 00:22:09.640 --> 00:22:16.200 So it's not good to have knowledge, a lot of knowledge with no love. That's lifeless. That's cold. 00:22:17.600 --> 00:22:24.539 Right? It's impossible to have godliness without self-control. So ultimately, these are all qualities 00:22:24.539 --> 00:22:29.599 that every Christian should seek to have. All qualities that we see reflected in Jesus Christ. 00:22:30.639 --> 00:22:35.799 Now, I said the order doesn't matter at all. I am actually going to contradict myself a bit. 00:22:36.200 --> 00:22:40.539 The order does matter in this one way. That if you look at the overall progression, 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:43.539 if we go back to verse 4... 00:22:43.539 --> 00:22:48.500 Actually, let's go to the next one. Yes, there we go. 00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:55.359 Peter says that we have escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. We've 00:22:55.359 --> 00:23:01.339 escaped sinful desire. And if you go all the way to verse 7, the ultimate end of all of this is love 00:23:01.339 --> 00:23:07.480 for all people. And that aspect of the order does matter. That the journey for all Christians begins 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:14.519 when we are liberated from sinful desires. And that our desires are so radically transformed that we 00:23:14.519 --> 00:23:18.960 become people who love not only God and not only other people in the church, but we actually become 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:25.839 people who love everybody. Everybody, regardless of their friend, enemy, family, stranger. That we 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:29.680 love everybody. This is the root of Christian hospitality. It's the root of reconciliation 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:33.480 ministries. It's the root of everything that Christians are called to be and to do in the world. 00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:40.299 It's this capacity to love selflessly all people. Right? So that's the ultimate end of all of the 00:23:40.299 --> 00:23:46.319 striving, our role in cultivating Christian character and virtue is that we become better able to love 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:55.180 people. That's the end. So furnish your faith with these virtues. Become a better lover of all the 00:23:55.180 --> 00:24:00.519 people in the world. So this is, you know, as we kind of stop here, okay, this is the prerequisite to 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:06.779 growth. We have to understand that God loves us and accepts us only through Jesus Christ. And because of that, 00:24:06.779 --> 00:24:11.099 we can't earn his love or prove our worth to him. And then we have to realize that we have a tremendous 00:24:11.099 --> 00:24:17.019 power at work in us right now, but that we're not off the hook, that that doesn't mean we just let go 00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:22.559 and let God, that we actually have a role to play. And that's about the cultivation of Christian 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:29.720 character. So now lastly, why does this matter? Why are we talking about this on a Sunday evening 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:36.079 together? The purpose we see in verses eight through 11, for if these qualities are yours and 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:40.539 are increasing, we never arrive, but if they're increasing, they should always be increasing. 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:45.880 They will keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:54.519 That's the first reason this matters is that, is that Christian character enables us to be effective 00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:58.559 and fruitful in our calling. He says, you don't want to be ineffective. You don't want to be 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:03.299 unfruitful. If you're seeking to grow, you will be effective. You will bear fruit in your calling. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:08.559 Now, what is our calling? Well, we could sum it up this way. The calling of the church, 00:25:08.659 --> 00:25:14.359 the calling of Christians in the world is to be a radically countercultural community. You know, 00:25:14.399 --> 00:25:19.859 people who use things like sex and money and power in, in radically countercultural ways, 00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:26.659 in ways that don't point to the glory of human beings in the world, ways that point to the glory of God, 00:25:26.660 --> 00:25:32.980 to the way of the kingdom, which is radically different. It's completely upside down, right? 00:25:33.040 --> 00:25:38.900 And in order to fulfill that calling, that hinges on our ability to create, our willingness to cultivate 00:25:38.900 --> 00:25:43.600 Christian character. And by the way, even talking about character is countercultural. 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:49.759 Back in the 1970s, when they took people in their 20s and 30s, and they said, as you think about your life, 00:25:50.180 --> 00:25:54.840 rank all of these items in order of priority. What are the most important things in life to you, 00:25:54.839 --> 00:26:01.879 and what are the least important? And one of those items was being famous. And in the 1970s, 00:26:01.939 --> 00:26:06.599 being famous was at the very bottom of the list. It was like 15th out of 16 possible choices. 00:26:08.019 --> 00:26:14.500 Well, of course, they've done that study today. And guess what happened? Spoiler alert, 00:26:14.599 --> 00:26:18.379 it's at the top of the list now. You know, being famous is at the very top of the list, 00:26:18.459 --> 00:26:23.439 being wealthy and being famous right up there at the very top, which shows us, among other things, 00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:30.120 that we do now live in a culture of celebrity. And in a culture of celebrity, external appearance 00:26:30.120 --> 00:26:36.920 matters way more than internal quality. And in a culture of celebrity, what matters is your ability 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:42.440 to grab and hold attention, your ability to say and do things that are most shocking, your ability to 00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:47.920 garner likes and followers, your ability to have an impact through the sheer volume of your voice, 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:54.200 so to speak. It's a culture of celebrity. It doesn't, we don't, we, not much talk about the 00:26:54.200 --> 00:27:01.759 inside, not much talk about virtue, a lot of talk about appearance and profile and image, you know. 00:27:02.140 --> 00:27:07.140 And unfortunately, this hasn't just affected our, the world of politics and the world of media, 00:27:07.320 --> 00:27:12.380 but it's deeply affected the church. The church has its own subculture of Christian celebrities, 00:27:12.380 --> 00:27:18.740 which, if there's anything more antithetical to the gospel, I don't know what that is. But the world 00:27:18.740 --> 00:27:23.740 of Christian celebrities is, I think, a kind of cancer in the church. And yet, it's a reflection 00:27:23.740 --> 00:27:28.660 of the world that we live in. And so what I think this is making clear is what the world needs is not 00:27:28.660 --> 00:27:35.400 more celebrities. We need people of character. You know, like what C.S. Lewis calls men with chests. 00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:43.540 You know, we need men and women with chests, who are fortified, who have a depth to them, who have a 00:27:43.540 --> 00:27:51.480 quality to them internally, right? So that's the first thing, that we need to recognize the 00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:56.280 connection between Christian character and being effective in our calling as Christians in the world. 00:27:56.700 --> 00:28:02.380 Number two, if we keep going, for whoever lacks these qualities, can we go back to verse 9, 00:28:02.380 --> 00:28:08.920 whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was 00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:13.640 cleansed from his former sins. So this is the next reason that we should care about this, 00:28:13.860 --> 00:28:20.800 is because Christian character enables us to see things as they are, to see things as they are. 00:28:21.700 --> 00:28:24.780 And here, you know, he's talking about being nearsighted, being blind. It's important to 00:28:24.780 --> 00:28:29.960 understand that in the Greek, the nuance of this is willful blindness. It's not somebody who 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:34.920 actually has an inability to see. It's somebody who willfully is looking away. They're squinting 00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:40.640 their eyes. They don't want to look. And so he says, character enables us to overcome that, 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:45.620 to be able to see clearly. Well, how does that actually look in life? Well, it's people who are 00:28:45.620 --> 00:28:50.120 willfully blind to the truth of God's Word. You know, if you've ever had somebody in your life, 00:28:50.220 --> 00:28:53.779 or maybe this is you, maybe you've done this, and we've all probably done this to a certain extent 00:28:53.779 --> 00:28:58.299 in our lives. You ever had somebody who said, you know, they're knowingly, they're a believer, 00:28:58.299 --> 00:29:01.339 and they're knowingly doing something that contradicts God's Word. They're knowingly 00:29:01.339 --> 00:29:05.859 sinning. They're knowingly rebelling against God. And finally, one of their friends gets up the 00:29:05.859 --> 00:29:10.220 courage and says, what's going on here? Why are you doing this? Why are you, you're a Christian. 00:29:10.339 --> 00:29:16.519 Don't you believe? And the response that you get, that I get all the time, is, well, I'm just not 00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:22.440 really sure what I think about that issue. You know, I haven't really done the research yet. 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:30.360 I'm not really sure what I think. And that's sometimes, I think, the truth, but I think many 00:29:30.360 --> 00:29:36.340 times it's a form of perpetual agnosticism. You know, as long as I don't actually read what 00:29:36.340 --> 00:29:40.340 Scripture says about this, that, or the other issue, as long as I don't really know, then I 00:29:40.340 --> 00:29:44.539 don't have to be held accountable to it. It's a kind of willful blindness, a perpetual agnosticism. 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:48.960 And Peter says something pretty severe about this. He says, when you do that, it is as though 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:51.960 you're forgetting that you've been cleansed from your sins. In other words, he's saying, 00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:56.840 you're denying your baptism. You're denying that you belong to the Lord. You're living 00:29:56.840 --> 00:30:02.779 essentially as a functional atheist. And so he says, maturity means overcoming that willful 00:30:02.779 --> 00:30:06.840 blindness and being more and more and more able to see things as they are, to see God's 00:30:06.840 --> 00:30:12.019 word for what it really says. And then the third and the final reason that this matters, 00:30:12.120 --> 00:30:17.200 so it enables us to be fruitful in our calling. It enables us to see things as they are. 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:22.620 And then finally, Christian character is evidence of our citizenship in the kingdom of God. If you 00:30:22.620 --> 00:30:27.120 look at verses 10 and 11, therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling 00:30:27.120 --> 00:30:31.580 and election. Now, does this mean that we have to earn, we have to convince God to let us in? 00:30:31.960 --> 00:30:39.240 Absolutely not. What this means is simply this, is that the clearest evidence that we truly understand 00:30:39.240 --> 00:30:47.940 and believe the gospel is reflected in our desire to cultivate a Christian character, a life and a heart 00:30:47.940 --> 00:30:56.819 that reflects the kingdom of God and the values of God. So imagine if you're terminally ill and a doctor 00:30:56.819 --> 00:31:02.660 gives you, gifts you with an amazing medicine and that medicine is able to save your life. Would you not 00:31:02.660 --> 00:31:06.819 take that medicine? You know, and if you weren't taking that medicine, people would say, do you really 00:31:06.819 --> 00:31:10.799 understand how sick you are? Do you really understand that this is your role? Why are you not taking the 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:17.419 medicine? You know, or if you're fleeing an unjust and terrible dictator and you're a refugee 00:31:17.419 --> 00:31:22.559 and a government gives you the gift of citizenship, it says, come and be a citizen of our country. We 00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:28.319 welcome you. Would you not then begin to try to learn the language and the customs of that place? 00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:32.240 Right? And if you didn't, and if you totally rejected that, people say, do you really understand 00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:36.440 where you're coming from? And do you really understand the opportunity that's on offer here? 00:31:36.980 --> 00:31:40.799 Why are you not taking it? You know, if you're sitting on death row and you're dazed from your 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:46.720 own execution and a court comes through and gives you the gift of a pardon and you just continued to 00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:50.660 sit in the cell and you never got up and left, people would say, what's wrong? Don't you understand 00:31:50.660 --> 00:31:56.440 what's going to happen? Why aren't you leaving? Right? And the gospel is like all of these things, 00:31:56.440 --> 00:32:00.559 but it's more than all of these things. It's like life-saving medicine. It's like a new citizenship. 00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:04.960 It's like being pardoned on death row. It's all of those things and more. And Peter's essentially 00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:10.700 saying, don't you understand the life that you were living when you were enslaved to sinful desires? 00:32:10.859 --> 00:32:15.480 And don't you understand the freedom that is on offer? Why are you not trying to learn to live as a 00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:22.339 free person? Walk out of the cell. What are you doing? And that's the nuance that we need to understand 00:32:22.339 --> 00:32:28.700 here. He says he's not talking about confirming our calling to God. God knows that we're called. 00:32:28.700 --> 00:32:34.600 He's the one who called us. We need to confirm our calling to ourselves. Are you really sure? Have 00:32:34.600 --> 00:32:40.819 you really confirmed in yourself that this is the trajectory that you're on purely because of what 00:32:40.819 --> 00:32:45.559 God's doing in your life? And if you practice these qualities, you will never fall, he says. This 00:32:45.559 --> 00:32:50.559 always has to be on our minds. For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:57.620 the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So do you want to grow? Do you want to begin 00:32:57.619 --> 00:33:02.819 to experience the kind of freedom, the kind of life that is on offer through the Christian faith, 00:33:02.879 --> 00:33:10.359 through Jesus Christ? The prerequisite, abandon all of your striving for worth apart from Jesus. It 00:33:10.359 --> 00:33:17.739 is only because of his mercy that we have faith. Point one, recognize, recognize the power that is 00:33:17.739 --> 00:33:22.019 already at work in your life, the tremendous spiritual resources that you have right now. 00:33:22.019 --> 00:33:30.319 You can access those through prayer and through the scriptures. Practice the cultivation of a 00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:34.039 Christian character. Be radically countercultural. Care about the inside more than the outside. 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:39.799 And then lastly, do these things so that you will be fruitful in your calling, so that you will be 00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:44.720 able more and more to see things as they are without looking away. And then ultimately, so that you can 00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:51.579 confirm to yourself that you understand the tremendous gift and the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. 00:33:52.019 --> 00:33:55.079 and citizenship that we have in his kingdom. Let's pray.