Addition Or Subtraction

An expository sermon from 2 Peter 1:8-9 on the importance of growing spiritually.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Amen. Thank you, Sarah. If you have your Bible, would you open it to 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 8 and 9? As you think about what we've done this morning, we have prayed, we have praised, and we have prepared our hearts for the hearing of God's word. We know that there's a spiritual battle that takes place anytime the word is proclaimed. Jesus described it in the parable of the seed and the sower, that when the word goes out, that when it falls on the hard ground, it is snatched away by the devil. And then sometimes it gets choked out by the cares of this world. Sometimes it is smothered by the difficulties that come from trying to pursue it. But when the soil is right, it produces fruit. And so I believe we've done our best to prepare our heart's soil for the receiving of God's word today. Second Peter chapter 1, verse 8 says, For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacks these things is blind and cannot see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, our sincere desire is to hear your word today with open minds, open ears, open hearts, and open will. Lord, we we want you to change us through your word. But we know that we must be complicit in this process. We must be willing and we must be open. And so, Father, I pray that we've prepared ourselves for that today. Lord, I pray that you would help me in the communication of your word. Help me to get the point across. Help me, Lord, to emphasize what you have said. Lord, help me not to exaggerate or to eliminate any parts of it. Father, I just pray your Holy Spirit would fill me and guide me and use me today. In Jesus' name. Amen. Before Peter wrote his list of additions in verses five through seven that we spent the last several weeks on, he laid the foundation. The foundation for life, the foundation for eternal life is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3.11 says, For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And so we understand that everything has to be built on the foundation of Christ. The stark reality is that without Christ as your foundation, any addition that you attempt to make will add up to nothing. Can I say that again? Without Christ as your foundation, any addition that you try or attempt to make in your life is actually going to add up to zero. Zilch, nada, nothing. And if you think that I am being too strong in that assessment, let me just read to you what the Apostle Paul said from his perspective in Philippians 3, verse 7. He says, But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. I'd like for you to note some of the words that Paul used. He used the word count, he's talking about adding up, he's talking about doing the numbers, he used the word gain, he used the word loss. And he says that in this context where he says, you know, there were things that I used to put value on in my life. It was my self-righteousness, it was my Judaism, it was the works that I was doing, and I thought that they were adding something to my life, but when I came to faith in Christ, I realized that all of that was a total loss without Christ. But then there's another word that he uses that's not like the other ones. Dung. Well, that's not a mathematical term. As a matter of fact, that is very strong language. And I'm not talking like Captain America strong language. I'm talking biblical strong language. How do I know it's strong language? Because it is the only time this word is used in the entire New Testament. You don't find this word in the entire New Testament. And the Holy Spirit inspires Paul to pull this out of his arsenal when describing what life without a foundation of Christ adds up to. Now, listen, it's not an expletive, it's not like one of our cuss words, but it's just a very strong word that emphasizes the value that all this stuff added up to. I mean, let me ask you, what do you have if all you have is a pile of dung? And if you try to put a spin on this and say, well, you got a fertilizer, I'm gonna say bulldung, right? I know you're not that positive when you step in a pile of it. And so I really want you to feel the weight of this word when Paul says that he wants you and I to envision this is what everything I try to do in life adds up to if I don't build it on the foundation of Jesus Christ. But for a more sanitized illustration, let me take you to the parable of the wise man and the foolish man that Jesus gave. Because he's making the same point here that Paul is making. He said in Matthew 7, 24, Therefore, whosoever hears these things of mine and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man which buildeth house on a rock, on the foundation. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock. But every one that hears these things of mine and does not do them shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. That last phrase, great was the fall of it, means total catastrophe, complete annihilation. And so without Christ as your foundation, everything that you build will be nothing but a pile of rubble at the end of your life. Can you imagine how devastating that would be? To have spent your entire life laboring, building, trying to do good, trying to do what is right, trying to live these things, to get to the end of life and find that it collapses under the judgment of God. There's nothing but a pile of rubble that is left. Nothing salvageable. And so this is why Peter laid the foundation before he told us to make the additions of virtue and knowledge and temperance and patience and godliness and brotherly kindness and charity. But then, after Peter gives us this list, he reinforces it by laying out the principle of addition and subtraction. Before we get the list, you got to have the foundation. If you're here today and you don't know Christ as your Savior, I'm telling you, there's nothing more important in this life and eternity than getting that right. Repenting of your sin and believing in Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation, that is the most important decision in all of life. And for those who have made that decision, that becomes the foundation upon which we are to build as we grow in our Christ-likeness. But Peter wants to emphasize how important it is that you and I as Christians grow, that we do build on this foundation. And so not only does he lay that foundation first, but then after he gives the list, he reinforces it by teaching us a principle of addition and subtraction in verses eight and nine. And so, really, only two points today. Number one is addition. And we find that in verse eight. It begins by saying, if these things be in you and abound. We know that a principle of interpretation is context. And so we don't get to assign any meaning we want to to these things. It is a nebulous term if it is not in reference to its precedent or the preceding list. And so, if that beginning statement means there's a variable to this equation, these things refer to that list of seven. And then abound really means grow to increase. And so let's just break it down. If it's a variable, what is the variable in the equation? The variable is you. You are the only person who decides or determines whether or not you add these things to your faith. You are the only one. It is not something that can be done by your pastor. It's not something that can be done by your church. It can't be done by your family. You can't blame the lack of it on your job. You and only you determine whether or not you add these things to your faith. And that's good news and bad news, isn't it? The good news is nobody can keep me from adding things to my faith. If I want to do that, it's bad news because if I don't add these things to my faith, I can't blame anybody else. And that is part of the judgment review that we're going to come under at the judgment seat of Christ. God is going to say, I told you to add these things to your faith. Did you add these to your faith? Well, Lord, I only had about 60 years of life after I got saved. I mean, I just didn't get around to it. It's going to be a sad and shameful day if that's where we stand. These things remind us that we have everything that we need to grow. We have everything that we need to do. If these things be in you, they are available to us. It is somewhat of a plug and play. You don't have to discover what these things are. You don't have to invent these things. God doesn't say, hey, build on this faith, but you've got to go source it, like the Egyptians gathering mud and straw and everything else to build their bricks, to do the labor. No, God has provided all of it for us. We don't have to invent it. We don't have to source it. We don't have to discover it. All we have to do, listen, all we have to do is start working through the list. Add to your virtue. Add to virtue knowledge. Add to knowledge temperance. Add to temperance patience and godliness and brotherly kindness and charity. It's all laid out there for us. These things are available for us, and all we have to do is just start working through the list. Abound, that next word indicates that growth is possible for everyone. Isn't that good news? I'm afraid that one of the biggest lies we have told in our past generations, most recent generations, is that you, we tell little children this. You can be anything you want to be. Well, I understand the sentiment of that. It is a lie. It's a lie. Oh my goodness, Pastor, I can't believe that you would say that to children. I mean, what are you doing? Well, let me tell you something. If you're a five foot three hillbilly, you're not gonna make it into the NBA. You can aspire, you can hope, you can dream, but check the roster. Check all of history of the NBA. You're gonna find it doesn't happen. And so I'm all for encouraging our children to dream big, but we also have to understand that that that is not true. You can't be anything you want to be. But the good news is that any Christian can grow. It is not simply an inspiring statement to say that you can grow in your faith, that you can add these things. It is true that there is not one person, not one believer, who is incapable of this because no matter what your background is, no matter what your education is, no matter what your history is, you have the capacity to grow because your conditions are right in Christ. What do I mean by the conditions are right? Well, uh just think about this uh ramps, ginseng, and morel mushrooms grow in appalachia. But pineapples, bananas, and avocadas do not. Why? Conditions. The conditions are not right to grow those, while they are right to grow these things. If you're a believer, God has created the conditions in your life that make it possible for you to grow in your faith. Every believer has the right conditions to grow. Peter goes on to say that if we add these things to our faith, then we will be spiritually fruitful and productive. Spiritually fruitful and productive. If these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And so, if I add these to my life, it's going to actually make me fruitful spiritually. It's going to make me productive. Did you know that the word fruit is used over 80 times in the New Testament? And many of those times it is referring to what we produce in our spiritual life. For example, in the parable of the seed and the sower, Jesus said this: these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the word and receive it and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. And so Jesus says, listen, the word in the right soil can't help but be fruitful. And so, if you and I have received the word of God, if we've been born again, then we have the ability to be fruitful. What about this? Jesus used a metaphor in the vine and the branches passage in John 15, and he concluded by saying, Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit. By the way, did you know that that is the highest purpose in a Christian's life? It is to glorify God, and it is the purpose for which Jesus saved us. You say, What am I here on this earth to do? You are here to glorify God. That's what you're here to do. And if you understand that and make that your goal, it is really not a big factor as to what you do in life when that is your goal, because you can glorify God whether or not you are an evangelist or you are working a trade. It is not dependent upon your vocation, it is dependent upon how you reflect the Lord where he has placed you. And that is the highest goal. And the way that we glorify God is by producing this spiritual fruit in our life. You say, how do you know that's the purpose for which we were saved? Because that's what Jesus said in John 15, verse 16. After he gave the metaphor of the vine and the branches, he said this to his disciples, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain ordained to this purpose. Now I understand that Jesus was speaking to his twelve disciples in that moment, but you have to understand that he's speaking to all disciples. That applies to you and me today. Jesus said, You didn't choose me, I chose you. And when I chose you, I ordained you that you would go forth and bring forth fruit. That's our purpose, that's our calling. And the surest way to produce fruit in your Christian life is to add these things to your faith. How do I produce fruit? Pastor, work this list. Virtue, knowledge, patience, temperance, because that produces fruit according to 1 Peter or 2 Peter 1.8. But if we don't add these things to our faith, unfruitfulness will be just one of the consequences. It brings us to our second point, subtraction, which is what's described in 2 Peter 1.9. Verse 9 goes on to say, but he that lacks these things is blind, cannot see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Again, these things refer to the list of 5 through 7. You'll find that that little phrase is used multiple times in the first chapter. These things is referring back to that list. So if you have these things in you and they abound, they make you that you'll be neither barren nor unfruitful. They'll make you fruitful and productive. But if you lack these things, this list of seven, if you lack these things, then it has the opposite effect. Makes you blind. You can't see afar off. You forget that you were purged from your old sins. Blind means that your view is distorted, that you are vision impaired, that you are not seeing things the way that they need to be seen. One of the differences between a lost person and a saved person is how they view the world. One of the differences between a lost person and a saved person is how they view the world. Just for example, if you are saved, you understand that God is sovereign. And everything in the world is under the control of God. If you're not saved, you don't have God in that primary position. Now, an unsaved person might have a belief in God and think that God does something somewhere in the mix, but they don't have the same view that a saved person has. We view the world differently. And one of those distinguishing marks is whether or not you're saved. Just think about how lostness in the Bible is described as blindness. And that getting saved is described as having your eyes opened. Right? What Peter is talking about here is not that if you don't add these things to your faith, you'll lose your salvation. We understand that salvation is not losable. What he is saying is you'll lose your vision. You will stop seeing things accurately. If we don't add to our faith, then we'll start to see things accurately. Like a lost person. We stop seeing God's involvement in the things of this life. Let me give you a real life illustration of this, if I can. My youngest son turned 16. So we want to put him to work. His brothers both worked at Hungry Mother State Park. It's a good job. Hours are good. Summertime employment. I mean, way better than the summer jobs I had as a kid. And so we encouraged Cooper to go put your application in down there. And we thought, for sure, he'll get it. I mean, he's got the hall name. We've got a legacy there. I mean, Wyatt was the chief beach ranger, and if that sounds made up, it pretty much is. It means he was the head lifeguard. And so he put his application in, so did some of his other buddies from school, and his other buddies got called back, and some of them got a job, and he got nothing. Not even a call, not even a text, not even an email. Now, mama got upset. She's not in the room. Hopefully, there's a baby crying in there right about now. She got upset. I'm going to talk to somebody down there at that lake. Do you think I should go down there and talk to them? Why haven't they called him back? Why didn't he get the job? Why did so-and-so get the job? Why did they get the? And I understand, like I was disappointed for him. And I don't know why he didn't get the job. But I said, at some point, we have to say, God's in control of these things. And if he didn't get the job, God didn't want him to have the job. And if we as Christians don't start seeing things that way, then we're going to become victims or get a victim mentality or an entitlement mentality. And we're going to say, well, I should have done this. Well, why did they get that and I didn't get this? Because there's a God in heaven and he is in control of your life. And sometimes the thing that you think is the very best thing that you could have, God says, it's not the best thing that you could have. And you and I, as Christians, when we have proper vision, see that. But if we don't add these things to our faith, we're going to start seeing the world like a lost person. And we're going to stop seeing God's involvement in the things of life. But then Peter goes on to say that we will not be able to see afar off. Sounds a little redundant, but it is not. This doesn't mean that all nearsighted people who wear glasses are not adding to their faith. You know, kind of like the mark of Cain. Well, there's one, and there's one, and there's one. You're not adding to your faith. No, that's not what it means. What it means is that you and I, if we don't add to our faith, will only focus on the things of this world, this present world, and that we will not see eternity in the background. Christians are supposed to live with eternity in view. Every time I look at this world, every time I look at this life, I'm supposed to see beyond this life eternity that lies ahead. And all the things involved in eternity. There is the judgment and there is heaven after that. This life is temporary, but that one is eternal. And when you don't see eternity beyond this life, it has an impact on you. If you don't see eternity beyond this life, you'll make some bad decisions. Well, you'll make a decision based only on what it profits you now in this world and not what it will profit you then in that world. I can tell you, cheating on your taxes might profit you more in this world, but it is going to cost you in the next world. And so when we don't see eternity, we're going to make some bad assessments, but bad decisions. It's also going to cause us to assess the wrong value to things. We're going to put way too much value on material possessions. How much do I have? How much have I gained? How much is it worth? I mean, we are going to assess value on that, and we're not going to place any value on the spiritual disciplines of life. We don't value how much time we pray. We don't value how much time we read the Bible. We don't value sharing the gospel with somebody else. We've got the wrong assessment. We've put way too much value on the things of this world and not enough value on the things in eternity. Let me ask you, what are you taking to heaven with you? Well, you know the old saying, the old joke, you never saw a hearse with a U-Haul behind it. Because you can't take it with you. Do you know what you can take with you? Eternal souls. That person that you share the gospel with who gets saved, they spend eternity in heaven because you placed a value on that. And so when we don't add to our faith, it makes us nearsighted. Furthermore, when you don't see life in view of eternity, the hurts and heartaches of this life will become more painful and confusing. It hurts more. The Bible often reminds us that the sufferings of this present world do not compare to what? The joy, the glory of life to come. You know, it just hurts less when you can see eternity. I guarantee you this, it hurts less when you lose a loved one when you know you'll see them in eternity. It hurts less when you lose that job when you know that you have a home in heaven. The fact is, when you and I don't add to our faith, we stop seeing eternity, and our hurts are going to be more painful, and they're going to become confusing. Why is this happening to me? Why? Why do other people seem to do better than I do? And when we can see eternity, we understand that God has a master plan. And it doesn't always appear manifest to us now, but we live by faith, not by sight. And you can only see eternity by faith. In fact, I would go as far as say that if we don't add these things to our faith that we cannot see afar off, that we actually will lose hope. You say, well, that's drastic. I know people who don't believe, who are not hopeless. Well, listen to Titus 2, verse 13. It says, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest hope that you and I have as Christians is that Jesus is coming back. And when we look into eternity and we see that we are looking for that blessed hope, oh, what a day it will be when He comes back and He calls the dead out of the grave and he raptures the saved up in the heaven, and we get to be with the Lord forevermore. There is such hope in that. But if you can't see afar off, you've lost that hope. You're not looking forward to that day. You're grinding it out. There is so much to lose when we don't add to our faith and grow. That's what Peter wants us to see. Perhaps the worst is what Peter says last. Forgetting that you were purged from your old sins. If you lack these things, if they're not in you and abounding, then you're blind, you can't see afar off, and you forget that you were purged from your old sins. What does this mean? Well, this is full-fledged backslidden. And for me, it explains how a person who has been saved can go back into sin and live like they are lost. How is that possible? We've all seen it. We've all known someone who repented of their sins, placed their faith in Christ, lived for the Lord for a while, and then went back to their old sinful ways. And we have all wrestled with how is that possible? How is it possible for a saved person to do that? And it can only be one of two answers. Either they weren't really saved, it was a false profession. And that happens sometimes. Whether it's emotional or whether it's guilt or whether it's a hesitation to go all in with Jesus, there are sometimes people who make a profession of faith who aren't genuinely born again. That's one possibility. But the other possibility is that they got saved, but they didn't grow, and that caused them to backslide. That's how important it is for you and I to grow. Because if we don't add to our faith, we become blind, we can't see afar off, we forget that we were purged of our old sins. It all comes down to addition or subtraction. The Bible says that these things are in you and abounding, or that you are lacking these things. There's not a third category. There is not a third category. I think sometimes we want to placate ourselves and say, well, I'm not growing the way I should be growing, but I'm not subtracting, I'm not lacking these things. I mean, I'm just kind of just holding ground, treading water. May I tell you that the Christian life is not static, it is forward-moving. And the reality is when you are sedentary, your muscles will atrophy. That's a reality of physical life, and I believe that it parallels spiritual life. I mean, just to keep what you've got, you've got to do some work to maintain that muscle. But if you do nothing, it will atrophy away. And the same is true for the Christian life. You know, I can't just get saved and sit back on a pew for the rest of our days. Because we are going to live in a state of subtraction, and we are going to suffer the consequences of that. In other words, if you're not using them, you're losing them. And so I would ask you to do a self-assessment today and say, what category are you in? Are you in the addition category or are you in the subtraction category? Would you bow your heads with me? As we bow our heads for just a moment. Maybe it's you. Your back slid and you know it. You know it. You hate to admit it, it's not where you want to be, but you've gotten there. You stopped adding. And you haven't just maintained that there's been subtraction. The spiritual atrophy is showing signs in your life. Well, my friend, if that is you, if that is what the Holy Spirit is emphasizing in your heart and mind today, then there is only one course of action. Repent. Recommit yourself to the Lord today and begin adding these things to your foundation of faith in Christ. And you will see the fruit begin to blossom once again on your branches. But until that day, you're not seeing clearly. Until that day, you're not thinking about eternity. Until you begin adding again. You may even live like a lost person. Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for your word. I thank you for the way that it calls our attention. I thank you for the way that it shakes us awake. Lord, I can't think of anything worse in the Christian life than living in a backslidden state. Lord, not only does it not glorify you, but it can hinder others from coming to you. It has a terrible effect on our fellowship with you. And Lord, it is something that when we get out of it, we are terribly embarrassed that we allowed ourselves to go down that path. As a Father, I pray if there's anybody here today who's living in that state of subtraction, I pray that today, Lord, they would just recommit themselves to you. That they would get back to this list and begin adding to their faith, that they might begin producing fruit that glorifies you and living this life in view of eternity. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. If you would stand with me and let