WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:07.200 I always look forward to this Sunday as we kick off really a new ministry year, it seems every every fall. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:20.960 This is that Sunday, and traditionally at APC, this Sunday is where we announce our new theme that the elders have prayed over and sought, that we believe God has given us a new theme this year. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:27.519 Praying in the promises of God, living out the promises of God. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:30.079 That's our theme for the next year. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:36.159 This morning it's my privilege to kick that off by preaching from our first promise, the promises of God. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:44.000 This is a little bit different, kind of a theme than what maybe we're used to in the past, but we think it's a good theme. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:53.359 Our desire is to see 600 people, from the youngest to the oldest, praying in the promises of God. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:01:01.920 Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, if you're a believer who's been a believer for a long time, this would be good for you. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:07.920 If you're a new believer, or if you're not sure if you are a believer, this would be good for you. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:27.200 To dig into the Word of God, to take the promises of God, and there are so many, and not just read them and not just study them as valuable as that is, but to ask the Holy Spirit to make them come alive, to even dare memorize? 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:30.000 That's not a dirty word, is it? 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:33.840 I know you say my kids are really good at that. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:35.519 Well, they are. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:43.200 But we're all capable of learning and taking God's word in by the work of the Holy Spirit. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:49.760 And so, for instance, you'll see in the printed sermon text this morning verses that are bolted. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:53.280 All right, you know where this is going. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:58.879 And you might say, Tom, that's too much. 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:02.079 If it is, that's okay. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:06.560 Bite sizes, what you can. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:10.080 Verses three to five might be a good start. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:23.120 And each Sunday, the first Sunday of each month, we're going to preach on one of the promises of God, and we're going to ask God to help us hide God's truth into our hearts. 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:30.879 That we would hide God's word in, that God's word will continue to speak to us throughout the day, throughout the week. 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:36.319 You know what, a year from now, I think this is going to be good. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:39.680 I think a lot of us are going to have more of God's word. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.439 A lot of us are going to have more of God's promises tucked deeply into our hearts. 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:47.280 And that will be good. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:52.719 What we're going to do in our covenant fellowship groups, we're up to 19 already this year. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:55.120 Many of them kick off this week. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:08.960 We're going to ask them the first time they meet after the first promise of the month to spend time doing the same thing, just diving deeper into these promises and talking about it, studying it together. 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:17.599 And we're asking the youngest from Covenant Fellowship Kids, Protoss, adults. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:23.280 We all want to be grabbing hold of God's precious word in a deeper way. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.719 I hope that you'll join us in this journey. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:33.680 This morning we start with the really what might be called the foundation of the promises of God. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:38.639 The Apostle Peter speaks of this, and you'll see that as I read it. 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:40.719 Hear the word of God. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:04:00.560 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, may grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:26.079 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:46.319 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:56.480 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:04.879 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he's blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:10.560 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:15.199 For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:23.199 For in this way there will be richly provided for you on entrance into the kingdom, eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:31.360 Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:44.160 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:52.399 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. 00:05:53.680 --> 00:06:00.480 This is the reading of God's infallible, inerrant, precious, beautiful word. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:06.000 I'm just struck by these words. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:10.399 That you may be able to recall these things at any time. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:17.839 When you most need these words of truth, that the Spirit will remind you. 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:20.879 Holy Spirit, would you please do that? 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.920 Oh you oh how we need your truth in our lives. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:32.480 In a world that has lost truth, in a world that doesn't understand you. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:44.480 As we're bombarded at work, at school, our culture just constantly throwing error in our face. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:47.759 Lord, we need your truth. 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:51.680 So would you please teach us this morning? 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:53.759 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:02.720 The precious and very great promises, that's what Peter calls these promises. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:08.480 Praying in the promises of God, living out the promises of God. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:10.959 That's what we're looking at this morning. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:18.800 In this text, the Apostle Peter, as he says, near the end of his life, this was sometime in the mid-60 A.D. 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:19.759 range. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:22.480 Nero put him to death. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:29.759 Nero was out by 68 A.D., it was probably 63 to 65, somewhere around the year 8 A.D. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:33.199 And Peter knows it's coming to the end. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:39.120 And he knows that he must say the things that are most important under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:44.639 He's talking to an audience of people that are going through hard times, as you'll see in the first epistle to Peter. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:50.800 He's facing these early Christians who are going through persecution for their faith. 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:56.879 So we ought not to be so terribly surprised if we get persecuted. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.240 Most of us aren't going to die for our faith. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:05.360 But can we can we live? 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:11.199 Can we live with a little awkwardness because of our faith? 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:18.000 Can we say things that might rub people the wrong way just because God wants us to? 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:21.839 Not that we are offensive, but that the gospel becomes an offense. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:26.160 Can we live with a little pushback from the world? 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:29.439 Oh, we we we should. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:31.360 We should. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:38.000 Many of these readers that Peter is addressing were facing two problems. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:42.799 One was the persecution because they were Christians. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:48.080 Just because they were Christians, people were treating them ill. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:52.559 And the second thing that Peter addresses in this letter is false teaching. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:55.200 And we'll get into that a little bit today. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:09:04.399 The precious and very great promises, that word great, all right, mega is the Greek word, mega. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:13.200 Alright, kids, when you go through the fast food line and you want a mega, what do you want? 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:16.480 You want that big cup, right? 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:18.720 You want the extra fries. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:21.200 Mega my size. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:24.399 Peter uses this word. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:32.639 He wants you to know that the promises of God are more precious than you can hardly imagine. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:34.320 Great promises. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:38.639 What promises is he referring to here? 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:40.240 He doesn't state them all. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:48.080 I think he's probably implicit, the promises he's already talked about in his first epistle, the promises of God throughout the scriptures. 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:52.480 Like, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:55.600 Is there a better promise than that? 00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:00.720 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:02.559 And your family. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:05.200 These are precious promises. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:17.120 Peter is writing to these Christians, and he describes himself right out of the gate as a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:19.759 There was a humility to him. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:25.200 To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.080 That's a beautiful phrase right there. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:37.360 Even though he's an apostle of Christ, when you come to faith in Jesus Christ, Peter says your standing with Christ is just as sure as mine. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:39.360 Equal standing. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.279 There are no junior members of the Christian faith. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:48.879 God sees all of his children as his children. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.120 He doesn't have favorites. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:59.120 If you're in Christ, you have a standing before God the same as the Apostle Peter had. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:00.799 Think about that. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:05.759 By the righteousness of Christ. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:10.240 This passage this morning, I'm going to bring out three points. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:15.679 God's great gift to us, secondly, our great responsibility in light of the gift. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:19.039 And thirdly, God's gracious enabling to us. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:23.200 Another way of saying this, I like the way theologian J.I. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:32.320 Packer puts it, what this passage is about is that we learn how to live slowly enough to think deeply about God. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:35.200 Are you doing that? 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:39.440 You see, you can't do that if you're going 100 miles an hour. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:40.240 Okay? 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:42.000 Yeah, I'm talking to you. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:42.960 Me. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:45.679 I don't care how spiritual you are. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:12:02.559 If you're going 100 miles an hour, you can't think slowly enough to meditate, to sit in the truth, to think slowly enough to go deeply with God. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:04.559 That's what he wants from me. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:06.559 That's what he wants from you. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:11.440 God's great gift to us. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:13.120 The first point is simple. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:18.000 We must know what God has given us and to be reminded of it. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:26.960 Verse 3, his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:29.200 We're going to stop for a moment. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:32.799 This Greek word that He has granted. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:36.799 It's stronger than just given. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:39.840 Granted, what does that suggest in your mind? 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:44.320 If somebody grants something to you, it's a gift. 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:46.879 It's a precious gift. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:52.000 It's in the Greek, in the Greek, it's in the perfect tense, which means he gave it to you once. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:58.879 This is a one-time granting, but it continues to have impact in your life on and on and on. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:12:59.679 Okay? 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:03.759 That's what the grammar means. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:05.840 You receive it one time. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.720 You don't receive it two times, three times, five times. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:10.960 You don't get saved five times. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:13.279 You get saved once. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:23.919 But once you really get saved, it goes on and bears fruit in your life for the rest of your life. 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:32.480 Granted, it means to endow, to furnish with an estate. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:38.240 It's a powerful concept. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:46.399 And well, all Peter is doing right now is reminding you, if you're a Christian, reminding you of what God gave you. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:50.960 And if you are a Christian, whenever that was, wherever you were. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:55.039 And if you're not a Christian, oh, isn't this good that you're here? 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:56.639 To hear. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:00.000 You're not going to hear this anywhere else, probably, this week. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:03.919 For you to hear this and take this in. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:08.799 It's not the usual word for to give, it's a much richer word. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:13.200 So let's stop for a moment and just ask ourselves one very important question. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:16.559 If you're a Christian, do you know how wealthy you are? 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:21.600 Peter's going to unpack this. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:39.360 If a benefactor surprised you greatly this afternoon by putting a million dollars into your bank account, or maybe 10 million into your bank account, would you feel wealthy? 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:44.399 Would you feel like you had been granted something precious? 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:47.519 Hear me. 00:14:48.559 --> 00:15:00.000 That's nothing compared to what you have when you receive the forgiveness and the power of God in your life, and you receive a new heart, and you're born into the kingdom of God. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:04.320 I promise you, one day you will realize that if you don't today. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:06.879 You will realize that. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:21.279 When you sing of your love to the Savior with the glittering crowns on your head, you will know that all the money that you could have made in this world is nothing compared to the riches that you have in Jesus Christ. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:29.440 Rob reminded us of this earlier when he read from Ephesians 2. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:41.919 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love that he has, loved us when we were dead in our sins. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:48.320 You do not know anybody who was not at one point in their life dead, spiritually dead. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.639 But God, because he loved you. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:56.320 That's what it says. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:02.000 Even when we were dead, he made us alive together with Christ. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:05.279 By grace you have been saved through faith. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:11.679 So that in the coming ages, okay, he's talking about when you're not here any longer, okay? 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:24.559 In the coming ages, when you're no longer here, but your soul will be somewhere, as we just preached several weeks ago, every soul of every person in this room will either be in heaven or hell. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:27.840 Nobody's anywhere else. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:30.480 Nobody has a foot here and a foot there. 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:47.679 Wherever you're going to be, but if you're in Christ, in the coming ages, when you continue to bask in the love and the forgiveness of God, that he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:48.879 Do you know what he's saying there? 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:50.240 It doesn't stop. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:59.600 In the coming ages that he might continue to show the immeasurable riches of his grace, we're never going to stop being blown away. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:08.000 There's not one person in heaven who's going to yawn. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:18.480 There's not one person in heaven who's going to hear the riches of God's glory and love and say, oh yeah, I know that. 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:20.400 No. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:23.039 Really? 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:27.759 I thought I knew it. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:28.960 And I did. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:37.599 But there's so much depth and breadth to the promises of God and to the love of God. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:41.279 I feel like I'm a kindergartner the first day. 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:45.279 It's going to just keep coming. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:48.160 And you're not going to yawn. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:50.640 And you're not going to fall asleep. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:53.039 I'm not going to fall asleep. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:55.680 I'm going to say, Lord. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:00.799 There's nothing better than what you're giving us. 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:10.640 He revealed to us through the knowledge of Jesus who called us to his own. 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:14.880 This word, this verb called, is a rich theological word. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:27.039 It means an effectual call that when God calls you to himself, he calls with such a distinct, clear, powerful voice that you will hear, that you will respond. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:29.759 You will. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:14.000 Verse 4, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises. 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:18.400 This word precious is one of Peter's favorite words from 1 Peter. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:23.519 Peter loves this word. 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:29.200 He talks about the precious blood of Jesus Christ that saved us. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:35.519 He says, the precious blood of Jesus Christ, you can't even begin to compare with all the gold and silver in this world. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:48.799 And then some of you old timers know that one of my favorite preachers' sermons to preach from 1 Peter, he actually dares to call us his precious. 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:53.680 Don't have time to unpack that this morning. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:57.279 That he would call us his precious. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:00.079 And Peter uses that word here. 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:05.200 The precious and very great promises of God. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:14.000 So we must ask ourselves, why would he ever make such precious and very great promises to us? 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:16.160 Did he have to? 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:20.240 Did God have to promise anyone here anything? 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:21.279 No. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:27.599 He would be no less just, he would be no less righteous, he would be no less God if he didn't. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:31.680 Why did he make these kind of promises to you? 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:34.559 Are you sleeping on them? 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:38.079 That's a fair question. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:41.119 Are you sleeping on the promises of God? 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:44.880 Yeah, yeah, I know he did. 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:45.519 Okay. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:49.839 If that's your response, you don't know anything about this. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:53.359 You just don't. 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:59.680 Well, yeah, he should make these kind of promises to make. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:00.640 What? 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:03.359 He's God. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:04.720 We're not. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:09.599 That he would make such a promise to you or me. 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:12.880 This is what Peter's saying. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:16.400 That we would become partakers of his divine nature. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:19.519 Christ in us, Paul says, the hope of glory. 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:21.039 Christ in us. 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:25.599 Paul says, we are temples of the Holy Spirit if you are a Christian. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:40.720 The new nature that he gives us, the seed of the new nature that he implanted, the moment that you were regenerated, the moment that you came to faith in Christ, the moment that you came to faith in Christ, he put a seed of life in you that grows to bear fruit. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:50.240 We are not only forgiven, friends, but we are partakers of God's nature. 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:53.519 No, he's not telling us that we are deified. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:57.759 We don't become God like so many of the cults teach. 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.440 That's not what he's saying. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:08.160 But what he is saying, when the moment that you became a Christian, the Holy Spirit gave you faith to believe the promises are true. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:14.559 He implanted real life, spiritual life in you at that moment. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:18.640 He says, I want to move in. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:20.960 And I say, really? 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:24.640 Holy Spirit, you want to move in? 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:26.000 Here. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:32.400 Do you know what's really in here sometimes? 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:35.759 He says, no, I'm I'm moving in. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:39.119 I'm moving in and I'm cleaning up. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:42.400 And there's a lot of rubbish I'm going to throw out. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:43.119 Okay. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:46.240 There's a lot of truth I want to implant. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:48.480 Why do we call him the Holy Spirit? 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:52.720 Because it's the Spirit of God, Holy Spirit. 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:54.000 He's holy. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:58.720 And he's here to make us holy and to grow us. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:03.200 We are partakers of this divine nature. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:10.960 Peter says, having escaped from the corruption of this world, Peter has so much to say about that in this epistle. 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:12.880 2 Peter chapter 3. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:19.200 He says in verse 7, he's talking about the end of the world. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:30.160 But by the same word, the heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:32.559 One day this world is going to be burned up. 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:35.680 One day this world is going to be destroyed. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:38.880 God is going to make a new heaven and a new earth. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:43.680 And we're going to walk on that new earth. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:46.640 And we're going to breathe that new air. 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:52.000 And we're going to live forever with our King and our Savior. 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:56.319 Peter says, don't get caught in the destruction. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:59.680 Don't get caught up in the corruption. 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:05.279 We are partakers, which means we now have the family resemblance. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.519 If you don't look anything like Jesus, you don't know Jesus. 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:17.839 Once you become a Christian, he gives you the family genes. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:26.240 If you say I'm a Christian, but there's nothing in your life that resembles him, you're not a Christian. 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:30.079 You may think you're a Christian, but you're not. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:33.759 The Bible has so much to say about this. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:38.079 It's not until we get to heaven that we're going to be like him fully. 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:40.480 We're not like him fully now. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:44.640 But we ought to be looking more like him. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:48.799 And in order to look more like him, we need to know more of him. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:51.839 That's why we need to be people of the Word of God. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:54.559 We need the Holy Spirit to make us like this. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:00.880 The seed of life that he implants at the time of our conversion. 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:08.880 This new life, therefore, we not only share in his promises, but we also share in his power. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:11.759 Is the power working in your life? 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:17.279 Secondly, we must understand our great responsibility in response to this. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:18.319 Verse 5. 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:24.559 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith. 00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:27.440 Add. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:30.559 The NIV says, add to your faith. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:32.160 Supplement your faith. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:41.839 This is a very rich Greek word that came from the first century, from the Greek world of stage and drama. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:53.759 The director of a play, the director of a production, not only coached and directed the cast, many of them who were wealthy also paid the expenses of the cast. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:26:04.880 They paid the expenses of the production cost, contributions out of their own personal financial resources to whatever the city, whatever the state might have already supplied. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:06.559 Got that? 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:09.359 Korygos was the Greek word. 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:10.559 Korygas. 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:13.920 Some choir master. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:21.440 So it's not only the conductor who was proficient in his skills and his gifts of conducting, but he was a wealthy person. 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:22.799 She was a wealthy person. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:26.079 They could say, well, this production's going to happen. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:29.519 I'm going to provide all the resources necessary. 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:31.039 It's going to happen. 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:36.480 And I'm going to come alongside of you and I'm going to coach you and I'm going to help you. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:40.960 But this show's going to open. 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:44.319 That's the word he uses. 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:47.519 Here, isn't that interesting? 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:52.880 God is the one who does it, but you're in the cast. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:55.519 You're in the play. 00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:57.599 You're in the production. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:03.759 He was the Koragos, the choir master. 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:18.480 Make every effort to add, to supplement to your faith, because he's doing this, he's calling you into production with him, and you have a part to play. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:22.079 You're not just an audience member in the seats. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:25.039 You're in the production. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:27.440 If you're a Christian. 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:31.440 Make every effort to do your part. 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:36.319 It reminds me of the words of Paul in Philippians chapter 2. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:40.799 Work out your salvation with what? 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.039 Fear and trembling. 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:55.599 He's not saying you should really be afraid because you don't know if God's really angry with you and or he loves you. 00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:58.960 You don't know, so you better work hard to get him on your side. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:00.960 It doesn't mean that. 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:05.839 Fear is holy fear, it's loving fear. 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:14.160 It's like a child who properly fears, properly fears his parent or his coach or his teacher. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:16.559 You want to do well for them. 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:18.720 You want to do your best. 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:21.119 You work hard. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:23.680 You don't want to disappoint them. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:25.759 That's what it suggests. 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:28.400 Dr. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:38.559 Martin Lloyd Jones, the great theologian a few decades ago, likened this concept to a farm. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:41.680 The farm, he talks about it. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:45.519 The farm is God's gift to you. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:52.480 We are given the farm, meaning what we've already talked about this morning, our salvation. 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:57.200 We are also given the farm equipment with which to farm. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:28:59.440 He gives us the seed. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:02.960 He gives us the sunshine. 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:05.359 He gives us the rain. 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:10.960 And so that means the farmer just sits back and does nothing? 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:13.440 Not on your life. 00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:18.240 You're not going to have a crop if that's how you farm. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:21.200 This is what he's getting at. 00:29:21.519 --> 00:29:25.599 You, Christian, supplement to your faith. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:28.720 You're in the production, you're in the process. 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:31.599 Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:33.039 Get at it. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:35.920 Make every effort to do your part. 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:41.839 And that means that we must learn how to respond to the Holy Spirit's work in our life. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:47.279 There's so many passages we could go to today, and time does not permit. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:55.759 I think probably maybe one of the first ones that came to my mind in my study was from Galatians 5, verse 16. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:02.319 But I say walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:08.319 Then he goes on to give the list of the weeds, what happens when we don't do this, and he gives the fruit of the Spirit when we do. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:10.000 I have a question. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:17.519 When he says, But I say, walk by the Holy Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:29.279 What trouble has come upon you in the last year or few years because you haven't been walking in the Spirit and you've been gratifying the flesh? 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:32.640 What trouble have you brought into your life? 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:37.759 Because you don't believe the promise of God and you're not learning how to walk in the Spirit. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:40.960 What trouble has come into your life? 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:44.480 We all could speak to that, couldn't we? 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:46.640 None of us are perfect. 00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:49.839 But we must learn and we must listen. 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:53.839 And we must understand that there's an effort on our part that's required. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:55.519 You don't just sit back. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:00.240 You have to participate in this. 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:03.599 Faith is like a muscle. 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:05.680 If you use it, it gets stronger. 00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:07.599 If you don't, it atrophies. 00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:08.960 Your faith. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.000 Is your faith growing stronger or weaker? 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:15.920 This matters. 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:25.599 And then Peter goes on to list these eight different qualities that are like the fruit of the Spirit, qualities produced by the Spirit, yet requiring our effort. 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:27.759 It begins with faith. 00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:30.880 Faith to believe the promises of God. 00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:36.400 Do you pray for faith? 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:39.200 You should pray for faith every day of your life. 00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:40.160 I do. 00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:42.160 Every day I pray for faith. 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:45.440 You say, well, Tom, don't you have faith? 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:46.799 Yes, I do. 00:31:47.200 --> 00:31:48.799 Faith is like a muscle. 00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:50.880 Lord, would you grow my faith? 00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:55.920 Would you grow my faith to believe your promises? 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:03.759 Then he talks about virtue, which means moral excellence, integrity, if you will. 00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:06.880 Are you growing in integrity? 00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:11.920 Are you growing as a person of your word that what you say you will, you do? 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:15.680 What you say you won't do, you don't, by the power of God? 00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:18.640 Integrity, moral excellence. 00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:20.400 I have a question. 00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:23.599 Why do you think that comes before the next virtue of knowledge? 00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:26.000 I'm glad you asked that question. 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:30.079 Because you know what happens when virtue doesn't come next? 00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:33.599 You get proud and arrogant and puffed up. 00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:41.759 When you just go right to know when knowledge is your go-to, I know I'm talking to a lot of us here. 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:43.279 This is DC. 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:45.119 We love knowledge. 00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:47.279 We think knowledge is power. 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:54.559 When you just go to knowledge without virtue, you just become proud and arrogant and by the way, hard to live with. 00:32:57.279 --> 00:32:59.599 Virtue must come next. 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:09.680 Added to the faith is a humility, is a moral excellence that sees God as God, not me as God. 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:14.240 But knowledge is important, putting on knowledge. 00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:21.920 We're saying let's grow in our knowledge of God's word, but with humble hearts. 00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:28.640 By the way, do you see that the relationship between the time that we spend in the Word of God and pride? 00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:33.839 The more proud you are, the less time you'll spend in God's Word. 00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:36.720 Why? 00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:38.799 You don't think you need it. 00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:44.240 The more proud you are, the less time you will spend in God's Word. 00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:50.960 You may never say it, but what you're really, your life is saying, I don't need that. 00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:54.319 I've already figured out what I'm gonna do. 00:33:54.559 --> 00:33:56.640