Knowing God... and Continuing in His Word

ReCAST Church of Mattawan iconReCAST Church of Mattawan

1 view

Jesse Hill; 2 Peter 1:1-15 Knowing God... and Continuing in His Word

0 comments

00:17
You're listening to the podcast of Recast Church in Matawan, Michigan. This week, Pastor Don Filsak is preaching from his series,
00:24
The Warrior Poet King, Study of 2 Samuel. Let's listen in. Please open your
00:33
Bibles to 2 Peter chapter 1. It is crucial that you see what
00:39
I'm saying today is coming from God's Word. The very text that we're looking at today is centered on calling us back to the knowledge of God's Gospel and God's promises.
00:52
So please follow along in your Bibles. It's crucial. We live in an ever -changing world.
01:01
Has anyone felt that? There's always a new voice rising to power. Always a new truth standard that this world is demanding us to embrace.
01:13
What is spiritually and mortally acceptable a couple of years ago may now very well be proclaimed as bigoted, oppressive, even evil today.
01:25
Have you guys felt this weight? What was once seen as wisdom and truths may now be seen as hated, archaic, or even childish thinking.
01:35
It feels like agendas are continually rising. And if you don't comply with the latest narrative, you may be silenced as a hater or even a fool.
01:48
In light of the sandy foundation that the world is building its ever -changing truth claims upon, we as God's people, we need a sure truth.
01:58
A truth that never changes. We need a truth and a standard that does not arise from within man.
02:07
We need a truth that remains the same. That is just as true yesterday as it is today and will be forever.
02:18
We need God's word. And as we consider our verses this morning,
02:24
I think we'll see that this is the exact message that Peter gave all of his listeners to as well.
02:31
So as I read these verses here in just a few moments, listen to the plea from Peter to know these truths and to remember
02:40
God's promises. Listen, as I read these verses, the way that he calls them back to continually go back to the knowledge of God's word.
02:51
Listen, the very word and knowledge that God used to save them.
02:58
See, in his remaining days, it appears Peter's main focus is to remind them of the sure foundation.
03:05
And when he is gone, to make sure that these saints know where to continue to turn for the only source of truth.
03:16
And they will need it. Peter spends the entirety of chapter two sharing that false teachers and false teachings, they're already here.
03:26
Church, we need God's word. So please, as I read 2
03:32
Peter 1, verses one through 15, please, please follow along with me.
03:40
All right, Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing of ours by the righteousness of our
03:51
God and Savior, Jesus Christ, may grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
04:01
Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
04:09
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.
04:21
So that through them, you may be able to become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
04:34
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, your virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self -control, self -control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, brotherly affection with love.
04:55
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our
05:03
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
05:15
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.
05:23
For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. For in this way, there will be provided for you richly an entrance into the kingdom, the eternal kingdom of our
05:33
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Therefore, I always intend to remind you of these qualities.
05:40
Though you know them and are established in the truth that you have, I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as the
05:56
Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure, you may at any time be able to recall these things.
06:10
Well, amen, that is the word of God. And in a few minutes, after our song and our connection time,
06:16
I look forward to diving into these verses and looking at what God's given us today. So please pray with me.
06:27
Lord, we need you. We need your word. We need your Holy Spirit to open our eyes and our minds on these beautiful, amazing truths.
06:39
Even a simple reading through these words shows us just the importance that Peter felt as he was penning these words to these believers.
06:51
Please open our minds. Please open our eyes. Do a work in our hearts and our lives today. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
06:59
Please reopen your Bibles to 2 Peter 1, 1 -15. From time to time,
07:08
I think about what people hear from me. What is my message? What drives me?
07:15
Do you guys ever think of that? I realize that what we communicate varies from time to time, especially with our propensity to walk so frequently in the flesh.
07:25
But I wonder, I wonder, if you knew that you only had a couple of days or weeks left, what would your parting message be?
07:35
What words would you leave your family, your friends, your church?
07:41
Have you ever thought of that? As we come to our text today, we find a man who deeply loved his
07:48
Lord. Jesus personally called and commissioned Peter to both follow him and feed his sheep.
07:56
And this beloved, commissioned servant of Christ has one focus in his remaining days, to remind these believers about the gospel truths and promises of God.
08:08
Look again with me, verse 12 -15. We'll see the urgency of Peter's message.
08:13
I think we'll see this come out. In verses 12, Peter, notice, says he's certain that these believers have the truth.
08:26
You see that? His intentions were to always remind them of these qualities that he laid out in verses 5 -9.
08:33
Now, we'll take a closer look at these qualities when we get to them, but notice here how he wanted to remind them of these things, even though they already had knowledge of them.
08:44
See that in the text? And they were established in them. Verse 13 further exposes
08:53
Peter's mission. He thinks it's right, or read, he feels he must stir up by way of reminder the truths and promises of God's word.
09:06
And this is his mission as long as he's in the body, meaning as long as he's alive.
09:13
Now, why would he say that?
09:20
Do you guys recall any times in Scripture? I think primarily because the Lord told him that his death would be soon.
09:27
Do you guys remember that? His present situation in prison seemed to affirm this reality.
09:34
And he knew the urgency of his message for each believer. In fact, he spends the entirety, as I said earlier, of chapter 2 warning about these false teachers who came in, who didn't teach or live according to these truths.
09:52
Look at verse 14 with me. Peter says, I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as the
10:01
Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. Peter's recalling this promise that the
10:07
Lord made to him. Listen along. You don't have to flip there, but listen as I read what
10:13
Jesus told Peter in John 21. Jesus said, And then the text goes on to say,
10:44
So as Peter's writing this, there's no doubt that these words were echoing through his mind as he was now an old man, likely imprisoned at this point, and penning this final letter.
10:57
Yet notice in verse 15, Peter says with complete confidence,
11:03
I will make every effort to help you know and remember God's truths and promises so that after my departure or death, you may at any time be able to recall or to know these things.
11:21
And the things here that he's speaking of in this verse are
11:26
God's gospel truths and promises that he laid out in the verses preceding it, in verses 1 through 11.
11:34
Friends, can you hear Peter's urgency and focus in his message?
11:40
Is there any doubt from these verses what his parting message was? Do you hear the repeated call back to knowing and resting in God's word?
11:52
It's amazing. In this book, I studied this book before I went through it.
11:58
There's some 14 to 15 times that Peter mentions the word knowledge or knowing of God's truths and promises.
12:07
It's amazing. In fact, the same message is what comprised his parting words as he wrapped up this letter.
12:14
Keep your finger there, but flip over to chapter 3, verse 18. Peter's concluding words to these believers was to grow or to continue in the grace and the knowledge of our
12:28
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And in our remaining time this morning, we'll look at verses 1 through 11.
12:38
I believe that within its contents, I think you'll also hear Peter's call to know, to recall, and to rest in this word.
12:46
I hope this jumps off the page to you. Because see, the church universal, it needs to be reminded of Peter's message.
12:57
Recast, as a whole, we need to be reminded of this message. And individually,
13:02
I think we all need to be reminded of this message. So with that said, look at verse 1.
13:09
Step back. We instantly meet the author, Peter. And just a little side note, verse 1 will take about as much time as 2 through 11, so please stick with me.
13:24
So Peter, I believe he starts this out, and he reminds himself and his listeners who he is.
13:33
He's one who's called to feed and teach God's people with the truths of God's word.
13:39
See, Jesus personally called and commissioned and commanded Peter even to feed his sheep and to be a fisher of men.
13:49
Do you guys remember those texts? And Peter leads off his letter with the authority of Jesus Christ.
13:56
He doesn't start with his own. The only authority he has is in Christ. And he reminds his hearers that he's merely a commissioned slave and servant who is bringing the message of his master that he loves.
14:11
And keep in mind, as he's writing this, this is not his first letter to these elect exiles, as he called them in 1
14:18
Peter. Chapter 3, verse 1 says this. Peter goes, this is now my second letter that I'm writing to you, beloved.
14:28
In both of them, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder.
14:37
These are the same brothers and sisters of who he wrote to in 1 Peter. I want to take a second and read the first couple verses of 1
14:46
Peter. I'll just read them. If you want to turn, you can, but don't lose where we're at in a second. Listen to what he says in the beginning of this letter.
14:54
He wrote, for salvation.
15:29
Church, did you hear those words that Peter was calling those saints to, that he wrote to those saints?
15:37
Salvation is a gift of God. It is according to his mercy. He caused us to be born again.
15:46
And if we are his, we are born again to and through a living hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
15:53
It is his power that we're guarded through faith and certainty and God's promises.
16:02
As I think through these things, I wonder, is there any wonder why God gets all of the credit, all of the praise and all of the glory for salvation?
16:14
As Peter writes to those who have, notice that word have, not may or not will, but have obtained a faith.
16:22
I believe that the same God honoring message for salvation is on his mind.
16:29
These brothers and sisters received a faith through the knowledge of Christ and his word.
16:37
Verses three through four, which we'll get to in a moment, make that abundantly clear. And just to clarify, this isn't some worldly definition of faith.
16:48
When I say faith, what do you think of? This isn't some wish or some blind hope like,
16:55
I hope it's not going to rain today when a radar is clearly showing that it will. This isn't drumming up some sort of enough temporary courage or quote, faith to get on a really scary roller coaster.
17:09
No. When speaking of faith unto salvation, scripture knows nothing, nothing of the sorts.
17:17
Hebrews 11 .1 declares what faith is. It tells us faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction or the certainty of things not seen.
17:34
Think about that for a moment. Faith is sure of the truths and promises of God.
17:42
Faith is certain of the truths and promises of God. And faith is the gift of God that comes by his grace, through his gospel, as found in his word.
17:57
This is the same faith that so many of the saints in the past were so sure of, even though they never saw the fulfillment of the promises given to them.
18:07
This is what all of Hebrews 11 is pointing us to. We have example after example of those who were sure and certain of what
18:18
God had told them. And they were commended for their faith. They trusted in the words
18:24
God shared with them. As we redirect our focus back to verse one, the faith of Peter's audience, and if we have a faith, our faith was obtained the same exact way that all in Christ come to faith, as a gift of God through the hearing of his gospel.
18:53
The apostle Paul would agree, scripture would agree. In Ephesians 2,
18:58
Paul declares, And this faith in salvation is not of your own doing.
19:09
It's a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
19:17
And in Romans 10, he tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing, what?
19:24
Through the word of Christ. God uses the knowledge of his gospel, his words, to give faith.
19:34
Never forget that, church. If you're a born -again believer, it is because our
19:40
God -given faith came from these words. God did a work in us, and it came from these words.
19:47
It came from these truths. It came from these gospel promises. Is there any wonder in light of that?
19:57
Is there any wonder why Jesus commanded his followers, Go, make disciples.
20:04
Is it any wonder that Jesus commanded his followers to be witnesses of the things seen and heard?
20:13
Is there any wonder why Paul proclaimed in Romans 10, How then will they call on him whom they have not believed?
20:22
And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
20:29
And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.
20:41
Church, do you know these truths and promises that Peter is calling his hearers to know and remember?
20:50
Do you know them? Has God given you a sure and a certain faith that the gospel of Christ has cleansed you from all your sins and paid for your redemption?
21:03
Do you know these truths? And if so, are you daily remembering and proclaiming these truths?
21:11
That's what Peter's calling us back to. Back to verse 1. The faith that these elect exiles obtained by God was an equal standing, equal certainty, equal assurance that the apostles had also received.
21:29
Okay, now this was equal in power, equal independence, equal in standing. This is huge.
21:36
Let this sink in for a minute. These displaced, persecuted believers who had never seen
21:42
Christ, who were under who knows what kind of circumstances, they received the same certainties about Christ that the apostles did.
21:53
The apostles who witnessed Jesus' miracles. The apostles who heard his words.
22:00
The apostles who saw him resurrected and then ascended. See, time fails us from going kind of into depth why
22:10
I believe this text in verse 1 has no problem landing the first hour, that's O -U -R, in verse 1.
22:18
Do you see it? It has no problem landing that on the eyewitness apostles. And I believe the second hour,
22:24
O -U -R, in verse 1 is on born again believers. But this is important. In short, the reason why
22:30
I land on the eyewitness apostles here, as maybe opposed to the generic Jew -Gentile distinction, is based on verses 16 through 21.
22:40
Now, I won't read those, but again, these were eyewitness apostles who walked with Christ.
22:50
And to dial it any further, Peter uses in these verses the set example of the transfiguration.
22:56
Do you guys remember that? Remember that text, that story? It was an event where only he and James and John were privy to.
23:06
And even though they saw the transcendent Christ, and they heard the voice from heaven, the audible voice come down,
23:14
Peter says, we have a more sure word.
23:21
And the more sure word is the revealed and wrote word of God. And this is the word that they received by letter.
23:28
This is the word that we hold in our hands. Do you see that in verse 19?
23:36
Peter proclaims, and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention to.
23:48
Church, the certainty of their faith, the certainty of my faith, the certainty of your faith, are both gifted by God through His word.
24:00
If we are in Christ, we have a faith that is obtained by His power,
24:06
His doing, His gospel in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
24:13
Now, we could close our Bibles right here and pray and be done. There's plenty, plenty of truth for a lifetime.
24:22
But notice here, Peter calls his hearers and us to even more grace and more peace.
24:31
Peter continues in verse 2 saying, May the grace of God and the peace of God be multiplied to you.
24:41
How? Look at the text. In the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
24:48
Lord. Are you guys seeing a pattern in Peter's message in this text?
24:54
I keep repeating these words because he keeps bringing them forward. God's grace and peace came through the knowledge of His gospel as found in His word.
25:08
And as we continue to gaze upon the truths and promises in God's word, it will continue to be multiplied and grown into even more blessings, more assurances, more peace in our lives.
25:26
And this is exactly what Peter reminds his hearers of in verses 3 through 4.
25:33
Here in these verses, Peter reminds the gospel -centered truths that salvation is based upon.
25:41
Notice what he says in verse 3. It is God's divine power that has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
25:52
You guys notice that? It's God's power, not ours. It's not our strength, not our performance, not our wit and will, not our works.
26:05
It's God's divine power and truth that pertains to everything in life and godliness.
26:14
So question, you hear those words. How does God's power, God's granting,
26:20
God's ability, how is it realized in our lives? How can we see these? How can we realize these things?
26:27
I believe verse 3 goes on to answer this by saying, through the knowledge or knowing of Him, see that?
26:34
Who called us to His own glory and excellence. This, these ideas, these thoughts, it did not originate with us.
26:49
Verse 4 explains that the knowledge of Him came, notice, by what He has granted to us
26:54
His precious and very great promises. And these promises are found in His word.
27:05
Why did God grant to us His promises? Again, do you see it in the text?
27:12
Verse 4 answers, so that through them, the knowing of His promises is found in the gospel.
27:19
Through them, you may and notice, will become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
27:35
Friends, do you see God's work in these verses? Look with me, let your eyes scan down them.
27:41
We see His divine power, His granting, His word in the knowledge of it, His gift in opening our blind eyes,
27:50
His calling, His glory, His excellence. And through all of these sovereign works of grace, we get to become sons and daughters of God.
28:03
Do you see the amazing realities in these verses? It is His grace and His gospel that we are partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
28:20
Are you ready for a sobering thought? That includes our corruption and our sinful desires.
28:30
Is there any wonder why we will spend an eternity singing His praises?
28:37
Is there any wonder? Is there any wonder why Peter feels it his urgent message to remind them and us to know these gospel truths?
28:49
Praise be to God for His indescribable gifts. Friends, if we are in Christ, we are undeservedly partaking in His divine nature.
29:03
Can anyone agree? If we are in Christ, we have escaped the corruption that is in this world due to sinful desire.
29:12
And because of this, Peter begins verse 5 by saying, for this very reason.
29:22
In verse 5 -7, Peter calls his hearers and us to make every effort to supplement or to bolster your
29:30
God -given and God -kept faith as much as it depends on you.
29:36
So quickly, we need to ask this question. Does this mean that we add to our faith or the completed work of Christ?
29:44
No. By no means. May it never be said. If you guys are hearing that from me, please come see me after and let me clarify that.
29:52
I trust this will continue to clarify. But remember, if we're in Christ, what do we have?
29:58
A God -given faith. Assurance in His truths and promises in Christ. And we're certain of the things not yet seen or realized, right?
30:06
And from these truths, Peter lists seven qualities that we should strive to supplement our
30:14
God -given faith with. Do you guys hear the difference? Does everyone hear that difference?
30:21
Now, we won't spend a lot of time defining or describing these qualities, as Peter calls them in verse 8.
30:28
I think you'll see these qualities are mostly self -explanatory. However, what
30:34
I would like to do is bring three observations to these verses.
30:42
Observation 1. Now remember, verses 12 -15,
30:48
Peter's self -proclaimed message was what? To remind them of God's Word that they already know.
30:57
And here, in these qualities, we see Peter call them to even more knowledge.
31:05
He says in verse 5, supplement your God -given faith, remember, which came through the knowledge of God's Word, supplement that with virtue, and virtue with even more knowledge.
31:20
Our faith and our assurance and our certainty can become more sure. It can become more real.
31:28
It can become more certain. The deeper and more frequently we return to the source of the original life -giving gospel, the more
31:40
God will grow our knowing and assurance of its truth. Think of the way, for those of you who are married, or those of you observing those who are married, think of the way that you show love to your spouse or your child.
31:58
You don't just display a one -time display of affection. You return to your loved ones daily for another hug, another kiss.
32:08
You return daily to verbally declare your love. We continue to show our love by our actions.
32:18
And in the same way, Peter calls all believers to continue to return to the source of knowledge that God used to save us.
32:29
He says, continue in God's Word. Continue in his gospel.
32:35
Continue in his truths. Continue in his promises.
32:41
Return to the source of life often and regularly. Observation number two.
32:49
Look at the order of these qualities. Peter begins verse five with faith.
32:58
Again, we're not the originators of our faith as we've already discussed. Rather, we received a faith that is grounded in the truth of God's Word and gospel.
33:07
And from our faith's foundation of truth, the following qualities are to be progressively supplemented or built upon.
33:18
Now again, before we consider these words, please, please hear me. This is not a step -by -step list to obtain.
33:26
Rather, I think we're given a group of qualities that should supplement our God -given faith and maybe more importantly, should grow out of our
33:35
God -given faith. Look at verses five through seven. Our gospel -informed faith leads to virtue or life that walks with the
33:46
Lord. It has to. If we have a faith, we will follow the
33:51
Lord. You can't be indifferent to the Lord if he saved you. And our walk with Christ should lead to even more knowledge in gospel and desire for God's truth.
34:04
And this should lead to even more self -control as a result of knowing God's Word.
34:11
And this should lead to more steadfastness in that self -control according to those truths.
34:19
And those truths should lead to a life in more frequent direction of godliness.
34:26
If these truths aren't changing us, what are we reading, right? And godliness should lead to true care and compassion for others' needs and brotherly affection.
34:39
And all of these should sum up to a true self -sacrificing love for God and love for others.
34:49
This is the order that Peter is calling us to in this text. But observation three.
34:58
I want you to notice the catastrophic damage when anyone begins with the wrong foundation.
35:05
How often does the world, and maybe even well -meaning, misinformed
35:10
Christians, how often do they begin with something besides the foundation of God's Word?
35:15
You know what I'm talking about? Verse 5, again, begins with faith that originates with God's Word.
35:25
What if we, in this moment, started with verse 7 instead of verse 5?
35:31
What if we started with love? Peter ends on love. What if we start with love instead of the truths of God's Word?
35:39
What the world needs now is love, sweet love, right? Well, I would ask love according to whose definition?
35:50
Is it loving others by allowing them to persist in their sin? Is it loving
35:56
God by supporting and endorsing those in sinful rebellion to Him?
36:02
See, the culture's definitions are always changing. I'm not so interested about the cultural norms, but rather what does
36:11
God say? If we start with a faulty foundation of love, or any topic for that matter, then all of a sudden, love at best looks like love is love.
36:23
Its meaning is suddenly fluid, and this is a dangerous foundation. See, I think we can all see the point.
36:31
Any topic or idea that does not start with finding its definition in God's Word, it's on very shaky ground.
36:41
Our God -given faith that derives from these very words should define and should inform our worldview on every topic.
36:53
God's Word is the infallible, unchanging truth that everything else submits to.
37:00
Do you guys believe that about these words? Do you see the subtle yet catastrophic differences in failing to start with God's Word, to remember
37:11
God's Word, to continue in God's Word? Can you guys feel Peter's push and urgency in verses 12 -15 coming through these texts?
37:23
Can you guys see why Peter may have felt so led to remind them to know these truths, to remember these truths, and remember that firm foundation that is found in Christ alone?
37:37
I believe this is exactly why he reminds us here in verse 8. He says, follow along with me.
37:44
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our
37:54
Lord Jesus Christ. Church, we need
38:00
God in His Gospel truths continually. Does anyone feel that throughout the week?
38:06
Do you feel that? We're never idle. We're continually either walking away from God or walking closer and walking with Him.
38:15
There's no middle ground. We need a continual diet of knowing and remembering
38:21
Christ as we recall His Gospel and His Word. And Peter says here, if neglected, our effectiveness and our fruitfulness will dwindle and fade.
38:37
And this is Peter's warning in verse 9 when he says, for whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he's blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
38:55
Church, verse 9, I want you to notice this. It's a warning written to believers.
39:02
It's a call to remain in the Gospel truths and promises of knowing God's Word. Notice in verse 9,
39:09
Peter says, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
39:17
These were believers, yet sadly, sadly, believers who can become so disconnected from the truths and remembrance of God's Word that they may even forget the
39:33
Gospel that saved them. That's terrifying. May that never be said of any of us.
39:42
So in light of this warning, I would ask myself, all of us, are you in God's Word daily?
39:50
How many times has a brother or sister came up to you and said, what are you reading? Why is that?
39:55
Is it to check a list, or are we remembering? Are you daily preaching the
40:02
Gospel to yourself, to your family, to your loved ones? Are you continually reminded that you can't, but Christ has?
40:15
Are you reminded of that? God calls us to daily walk with Him in trust and obedience.
40:24
Is God's Word causing you to walk closer to your Lord and Savior?
40:30
Or have you tucked these truths somewhere neatly up on a shelf somewhere? Could it be said of you, like Jesus warned the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2, have you abandoned the love that you had at first?
40:47
Brothers, sisters, may this not be said of any of us. If you have grown cold or indifferent to the
40:55
Gospel truths of God, then run back to Him today. Let this plea reignite a passion for God in His Word, in His Gospel in your life.
41:07
And friends, if you do not know the Lord, but you trust
41:13
Him today, would you please come speak with me? Call me this week. I will set my week aside.
41:20
I will wreck my week if you want to know more about the Lord. And I trust any of these brothers and sisters in here would do the same. In light of this warning,
41:30
Peter says in verse 10, Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your
41:41
God -given calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.
41:49
So again, are these qualities increasingly yours? Are they built upon a foundation of God's grace and Gospel?
41:59
Are these qualities flowing out of you? Now, will this mean that if these qualities are realized in our life, that we'll never fall into sin or doubt or false teaching?
42:14
No. But I think if we're walking with Christ, it does mean that when we sin, when we feel the pull of doubt and despair and even questioning our own salvation, that we're but mere inches from the realization of Christ and His Gospel.
42:37
And when we're walking with Christ, we will not forget Him. We won't walk away from Him.
42:45
False teaching, when we're in God's Word, when we're walking with Him, false teaching becomes easy to spot in light of the truth.
42:53
We will run to Jesus based solely upon nothing but His completed work for us on the cross.
43:03
And most importantly, equally importantly, I don't know, we will not live in a state of ineffective forgetfulness of our
43:10
God -given and God -held salvation. As the modern -day hymn proclaims, we sang it a few minutes ago, when
43:19
I feel my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.
43:26
And maybe equally as important, when I feel my faith will stand, we aren't the ones holding it.
43:33
Christ will hold me fast. Amen? When we are walking with Christ, we will continually live in these
43:40
Gospel truths. And in light of this truth, Peter says in verse 11, for in this way, referring to the walking and the knowledge and Gospel grace of God, he says, in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our
44:03
Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ. When we are remembering
44:09
His Gospel, when we're walking with Him, knowing His truths and promises, we will not slink into heaven.
44:18
We can know and be assured of our standing before God. We can joyfully expect.
44:27
Brothers, sisters, this same Gospel that saved us and justified us is the same exact Gospel that is saving us and sanctifying us.
44:38
And it's the same Gospel that will glorify us. This is why
44:46
Peter made such a push and effort to remind his hearers of this truth. And church, this is exactly why we take communion every week as well.
44:57
We're remembering what Christ did upon that cross to redeem us.
45:03
He bore the wrath of God that I deserved. He took the beating that I should have gotten.
45:14
I will close with the verses that I started with, followed by a couple of questions. So please,
45:20
I've said a lot of things. Let Peter's words remind us of his parting message.
45:28
So in light of verses 1 -11, I'll pick up in verse 12. Peter says,
45:36
Therefore, I always intend to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.
45:47
I think it is right, as long as I am in this body, to stir up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as the
45:58
Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure, you may at any time be able to recall these things.
46:13
Friends, do you feel like your faith has grown cold?
46:19
Do you feel that your affection for Christ and His gospel has dwindled? Then please run to Christ and rest in His gospel truths today.
46:29
Are you steeped in self -sin and self -focus in the moment? Please run to Christ and rest in His gospel truths today.
46:40
Is your health, your job, your relationships, your marriage, your finances, any of it, is it a mess?
46:49
Then run to Christ and rest in His gospel truths today. And maybe, maybe the most important, if right now you're currently walking with Christ, then please continue to run to Him and rest in His gospel truths, daily remembering and recalling these truths, these words, as found in His revealed
47:15
Word, the Bible. Friends, pray with me. Father, we thank
47:25
You for these words today that Peter penned thousands of years ago. How relevant they are even in our lives in this moment.
47:37
I pray that we can all feel the urgency of His message to know Your truths and to remember
47:44
Your truths and to go back there continually. Lord, we need
47:50
You, not just every hour, we need You every moment of our lives. We realize there's nothing in us that is in our flesh that is good.
48:00
We need You for all things. We rest in You for all things. We give You praise for all things.
48:06
Thank You for sending Christ to live a life for us and to die the death that we deserved.
48:14
Give us all clear vision of that cross, of Your love, of Your grace.
48:20
And if anyone is in here today that does not know Christ, I would pray that they would seek out someone, that You would do work in their life, that they could see the amazing grace that You shared.