1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,560 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. Have you ever looked back in time and considered 2 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:21,000 how certain defining moments have shaped your life in future? Today, John Metter, lead 3 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,200 pastor of Cross City Church, looks at the importance of defining moments and how we 4 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:31,480 can recognize what God is saying through them. 5 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:37,920 Well, we're so glad that you're with us this morning on this wonderful, hot June 6 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,880 day. It's going to be 106 degrees outside, but if you can say amen, we have air conditioners 7 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:49,000 today. Amen. So none of you should be too sweltering today and please take your Bibles 8 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,920 and turn to 2 Peter chapter 1 this morning. 2 Peter chapter 1. We're in our defining 9 00:00:53,920 --> 00:01:00,680 moments series and this series of messages is about defining moments of our lives. Defining 10 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:05,000 moments where they may have been a brief period of time in which we realized something had 11 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:10,260 happened to us or that we experienced something and then later on we realized the magnitude 12 00:01:10,260 --> 00:01:16,080 of those defining moments. Because what happened to us in those brief periods of time ended 13 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:21,120 up changing all through the course of our lives, which is why we call them defining 14 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:27,520 moments. Last week I shared a defining moment of silence, what I call the moment of silence. 15 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:32,840 It was the moment that I lost my hearing actually as a young boy. And how God sustained me, 16 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:37,200 how God encouraged me, how he built me up. I shared my life verse with you. This week 17 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,560 we're talking about moments of faith. Now I'm going to introduce to you the text that's 18 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,920 probably going to be one of the most complex texts you can ever spend time on. In fact, 19 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:51,640 I'm actually going to give you a homework assignment today. Amen? A homework assignment. 20 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:56,280 So I can't possibly scratch to the depths of this text in the next 30 or 40 minutes, 21 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:01,080 but I can introduce it to you and ask you to walk through it over the course of this 22 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:08,080 next week. Let's stand together as I read 2 Peter chapter 1 and beginning in verse 1. 23 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:16,960 11 verses that will impact your life and show you moments of faith. 24 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:22,800 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a 25 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:29,800 faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, grace 26 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:35,400 and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that 27 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:41,960 his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through 28 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:47,040 the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. For by these 29 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:53,120 he has granted to us his presence and magnificent promises. So that by them you may become partakers 30 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:58,520 of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this 31 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:05,120 very reason, also applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence. And in 32 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:10,200 your moral excellence, knowledge. And in your knowledge, self-control. And in your self-control, 33 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:16,040 perseverance. And in your perseverance, godliness. And in your godliness, brotherly kindness. 34 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,360 And in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and increasing, 35 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:26,160 they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 36 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:31,720 For he who likes these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification 37 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:36,280 from his former sense. Verse 10 now, therefore brethren, be all the more diligent to make 38 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,480 certain about his calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, 39 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:45,120 you will never stumble. For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord 40 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:51,160 and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Now I'm taking a deep breath 41 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:55,320 here because I know there's no way we can touch on every one of these incredible words 42 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,960 or even the incredible phrases that are in this passage. But we're going to hit some 43 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,440 high points of this text. And as I said, give you a homework assignment so you come back 44 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:08,880 ready next week for a pop quiz, right? We'll be ready to have a quiz. Father, in Jesus' 45 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:14,280 name, thank you so much for this text, for the vulnerability, the transparency of the 46 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:20,560 apostle Peter in writing out about his faith. And Father, today my prayer is that you will 47 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:26,600 allow this text to be so personal to each one of us, every one of us, without exception, 48 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:33,600 that we will look for our own moments of faith in Peter's description of his moments of faith. 49 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:38,040 Father, today open our eyes by the power of your Holy Spirit in Jesus' name and all God's 50 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:45,040 people said. Amen. Please be seated. So I want you to define these moments with me today 51 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:54,360 and then find these defining moments in your life. There's no way that what I say today 52 00:04:54,360 --> 00:05:00,040 can get all of what this text says and that's okay. But I can't show you the mountain peaks 53 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,560 of this text. I can't show you the ebbs and flows of these moments of faith that become 54 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,600 so important to all of us in the room. Today I'm going to define some things that help 55 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:13,040 us know about our salvation. I'm going to define some things that help us know what 56 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:18,460 happens when we seem to wander or stray from them. I'm going to define some things and 57 00:05:18,460 --> 00:05:22,560 clarify some things that help us know how to have confidence in our faith. All those 58 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:27,720 things are so important to our day-to-day walk of faith in Jesus Christ. So let me give 59 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,600 you three words today and if you're writing these three words down, we're going to come 60 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,160 back and look at each of them individually. But the first word is conversion. We're going 61 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,520 to talk about what the scripture says about your conversion to Jesus Christ as a believer 62 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:45,800 in him. Secondly, we're going to look at the word contribution because when we get to that 63 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:51,480 point of the text, you'll see that our faith is not to be left alone. It's to be contributed 64 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:58,480 to, added to. Thirdly, we're going to look at the word confidence because ultimately 65 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:03,760 the doubt we have in our life is a lack of evidence of the current work of the Holy Spirit 66 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:09,840 in our lives. All doubt is a lack of evidence. So it's important for us to have the evidence 67 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:15,120 of our faith that will later on give us the confidence to weather whatever storms we have 68 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:21,020 to weather in this life. So getting back to the first, conversion. Peter opens his sat 69 00:06:21,020 --> 00:06:26,760 by talking about conversion. People that move from being unbelievers to believers in Jesus 70 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:32,720 Christ. And here's what he says in verse one, to those who have received a faith of the 71 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:39,720 same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and savior, Jesus Christ. Now look 72 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:44,440 at that line on the screen if you would. I've highlighted a few words there. The first word 73 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:50,720 is the word received. It's a key word. We have received faith in Jesus Christ. Peter 74 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:57,200 said, secondly, he says the same kind as ours. We have the same unique faith today as Peter 75 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:02,000 did in that day and time as he writes to other believers later on in the timeline. And then 76 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:06,600 by the righteousness of our God and savior, Jesus Christ. So hold those three words up 77 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,820 for just a moment in your brain, in your mind, and in your heart as you look at this text. 78 00:07:10,820 --> 00:07:14,520 As we look at the idea of conversion. And I'm going to highlight these three words for 79 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:18,920 you for just a moment. First of all, that first word, the word received. Our salvation 80 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:25,920 is received and therefore given by God at a certain point in time. Peter is saying to 81 00:07:26,180 --> 00:07:30,720 all the saints who are reading this letter and to us 2000 years ago, to all of you who 82 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:37,720 have received the same kind of faith as ours. Now I hope you know this today. Your faith 83 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:42,600 is not something you have achieved. Your salvation is not achieved. It's not something you do. 84 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:47,920 It's not something you earn on your own. Salvation can never be earned. You can never be good 85 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:52,520 enough for a perfect God. Can you? You can never be perfect enough for heaven. You can 86 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:58,160 never alienate all the bad things out of your life enough for you not to be spoiled by sin 87 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:02,840 and sin's nature in your life. You cannot achieve your salvation. You can't be religious 88 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:09,840 enough to have salvation by that religion, but you can receive eternal life. That's what 89 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:16,200 Peter's saying. To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours. And I think 90 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:22,240 that next word is pretty important too. Our salvation is identical to the original disciples' 91 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:27,320 faith. Peter is saying all those of you who came after me, who have faith, it's the same 92 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:32,080 kind of faith we had. Have you ever been guilty of saying, you know what, if I could live 93 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:37,280 in the days of the disciples, I would be a far better follower of Christ. Right? If I 94 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:41,840 could have been there with Peter and James and John and all those disciples, if I could 95 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:46,520 have watched Jesus walk on water, if I could have seen him raise Lazarus up from the dead, 96 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,880 if I could have seen all those miracles, then I would have a greater faith. And yet here's 97 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:56,520 the apostle Peter saying, no, you have the same kind of faith as we did. The same kind 98 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:01,280 of faith that transformed our lives, that radically revolutionized our whole way of 99 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:07,440 thinking, that caused us to follow Jesus Christ completely, even laying our lives down and 100 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:14,440 dying for him, for his sake, for his testimony. You have that same kind of faith. The apostle 101 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:20,160 Peter doesn't have anything on you. James and John don't have anything on you. You have 102 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:25,600 the same thing they have, that is faith in Jesus Christ. He's the same yesterday and 103 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:30,440 today and forever. And the third thing this line says to us is our salvation is founded 104 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:36,080 on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Do you notice that line, by the righteousness of 105 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:43,080 Jesus Christ, completely separate from anything we can say or do? And that requires conversion. 106 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:48,280 That requires a moment where we put our faith in Christ and take it off of everything else. 107 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:52,640 I've talked to so many people over the years that have come to faith in Jesus and often 108 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:56,360 they say, well, I felt like I was in good shape with God, with the man upstairs because 109 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:02,600 I was religious. And they had to convert from confidence in religion and put their faith 110 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:07,360 in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the perfection of Jesus Christ. And others say, 111 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:11,560 well, I was just a good kid growing up and I just did everything my parents wanted me 112 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:16,400 to do and I've always believed. And so since I always believe and I came from a Christian 113 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:21,440 family then that I know that my salvation is real. But the reality is there has to be 114 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:26,040 a point in time when you convert from being a good kid to being in the righteousness of 115 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:31,040 Jesus Christ. I mean, my wife was almost a perfect child growing up. She only had to 116 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:36,560 repent of chewing bubble gum in church one day. That's about it. But for her to be saved, 117 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:42,200 she had to put her faith in Jesus Christ instead of being good. And that's true of all of us 118 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:47,720 today. So Peter's talking about that conversion moment where you have a moment of faith and 119 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:52,040 you realize you must put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ. And it really becomes our 120 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:57,160 storyline, our defining moment. And it's amazing how radically our lives are affected by the 121 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:03,040 defining moment where we receive Christ and put our trust and faith in him by the righteousness 122 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:10,040 of Jesus we're made right with God and forgiven. My own testimony, my own story is very memorable 123 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:16,640 to me. I told you last week that I lost my hearing as a young boy about six years of 124 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:23,640 age. And from that moment of that high temperature, that high fever that I had, I'd lost 80% of 125 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:28,680 my hearing. Within a few months and years, I'd lost up at 95% of my hearing. So I am 126 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:35,680 profoundly deaf. And my world is a world of silence. And within a year or two after that, 127 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:41,960 I remember in the middle of the night hearing my voice being called out audibly. I heard 128 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:47,240 it clearly. Now keep in mind, my night is silent. My world is silent. By then I'd been 129 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:51,240 fed with hearing aids and yet we took those off at night. So when I went to sleep at night 130 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:57,400 without hearing aids, I heard nothing. Nothing at all. That's still true by the way. We 131 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:02,400 have six children and I've never been awakened in the middle of the night by a child crying. 132 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:09,400 And yet at that moment in my life, I heard my name being called out. And it frightened 133 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:17,880 me. Nobody was in the room. It was very dark. And I looked around, saw no one. And I was 134 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:23,440 afraid enough to just try to cover up and go back to sleep. So I did. Then I heard my 135 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:28,000 name called a second time. It was clear. It was calm. And yet because it was so unusual 136 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:35,000 to me, I was afraid. So the next morning after barely getting to sleep, the sun came up a 137 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:40,040 little later. We had breakfast around the family table and I told my mom and dad what 138 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:44,160 had happened during the night. And my mom and dad were so wise, so brilliant. They knew 139 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:49,680 the word of God so well. And they told me, look, let's read to you a story in the Old 140 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:55,160 Testament. It turned out to be 1 Samuel chapter 3. Many of us know the story of 1 Samuel. 141 00:12:55,160 --> 00:13:01,400 And little Samuel, he was living in the house of Eli the priest. And if you recall, Eli 142 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:07,040 was asleep and Samuel was asleep in separate places. And Samuel heard his name called out 143 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:11,320 in the night by the Lord. He didn't know who it was, so he ran to Eli. Eli said, son, I 144 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,480 didn't call you. Go back to bed. Go back to sleep. It happened a second time, then a third 145 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:22,480 time. And Samuel was told by Eli these words in 1 Samuel chapter 3 verse 9. Eli said to 146 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:28,800 Samuel, go lie down and it shall be if he calls you that you shall say, speak, Lord, 147 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:33,720 for your servant is listening. Now my mom and dad read that passage to me and they said, 148 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,760 look, it's clear that God is doing something, saying something to you because you don't 149 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:43,440 otherwise hear anything like a voice calling your name at night. So if he calls you again 150 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:48,240 and if you begin to listen to him, then tell him just what Samuel was told to tell the 151 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:52,880 Lord. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. We happened to be in a revival meeting in 152 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,440 our church back in those days. I lived in a small town in Oklahoma and we had revival 153 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,160 meetings that lasted all week long. Anybody ever been in a revival meeting that's one 154 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:08,160 week long? I mean every night all week long. Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night, 155 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,640 Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, then on Sunday morning. It 156 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:18,480 even sounds long when I describe it. It's that long. But every night we heard messages 157 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:23,520 usually related to salvation. All week long I heard messages about salvation. Now frankly 158 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:28,560 I don't remember a great deal about what I heard but I do remember that God had called 159 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:32,920 my name and my parents said, it seems to be that God is calling your name. I came back 160 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:37,000 to them at the end of that week and said, you know I want to give my life to Jesus as 161 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:41,720 Lord and Savior. I didn't know a whole lot but I did have great parents that told me 162 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:46,640 about the Word of God and I did know that I had sin in my life. I did know that I needed 163 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:51,200 to be forgiven. I did know that I needed a Savior and I decided to put my faith and trust 164 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:57,560 in Christ at about the age of seven or eight and at that time I knew beyond doubt that 165 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:03,560 I was a believer in Jesus Christ. I look back and I go, you know it's amazing what a brief 166 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:08,000 moment can do in a young boy's life in terms of a defining moment that affects you for 167 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:14,800 the rest of your life. Our conversations couldn't have lasted an hour. My moment of prayer and 168 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:20,280 trust in Christ could have been 30 minutes long and yet it's defined my life, my faith 169 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:27,000 in Christ has defined my life in various ways all those years later. Defining moments don't 170 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:33,280 last long but they have great impact over the long periods of our lives. A moment in 171 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:38,320 time where you come to the point of realizing that you need a Savior. People ask me, how 172 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:42,560 do you know you're ready to receive Christ? How do you know you're ready to put your faith 173 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:46,680 in the gospel of Jesus Christ? And I usually give these three answers. Number one, when 174 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:50,720 you know the penalty of sin and you know that sin separates you from God, that's number 175 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:55,280 one. Secondly, when you know you can't save yourself and that no religion can save you 176 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:59,000 and then number three, when you know that Jesus can save you and you put your faith 177 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:03,520 and trust in what he did on the cross to forgive you and give you eternal life. When you know 178 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:09,040 those things, when you're aware of those three things very clearly, you're left with a dilemma 179 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:15,920 and that dilemma is, do I trust Christ and receive his salvation or do I go on by myself 180 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:21,240 on my own? But when you know those three things, you're at the place where you can put your 181 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:26,640 faith and trust in Jesus Christ, whether you're six years old or 60 years old, that can be 182 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:31,080 your conversion moment where you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. 183 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:37,120 Now let me just tell you that, the faith that Peter talks about here is not just fire insurance 184 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:42,280 to keep from going to hell. It's not just trying to deal with sin because of guilt. 185 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:47,880 It really is ultimately a call to know Christ and a call to fight Christ. Everything in 186 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:53,360 this passage says that. Everything in the gospels say that. All the statements we have 187 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:58,160 about salvation are not about just a moment that comes and goes and that's it, but a moment 188 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:04,680 that starts your real walk of faith in a very personal life transforming way with Jesus 189 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:10,920 Christ. It's a call to know him and follow him that can take place at a single moment 190 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,600 in time. Now I just want to ask you a few questions. 191 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:18,160 As part of your homework assignment, it can be done in this room, but it can also be done 192 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:23,560 over the course of the next few days. Have you had that defining moment? Has there been 193 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:28,440 a moment that you look back to in your life where you realized all of a sudden you changed 194 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:34,760 from trusting whatever else it was and you began to trust Jesus Christ alone? Where you 195 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:41,040 received the gift of eternal life and forgiveness, just like Peter talked about, a faith of the 196 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:47,520 same kind as ours by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Do you know where you were? 197 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:52,760 What do you remember about that? Now let me be very clear about this. You do not have 198 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:58,800 to have heard Jesus personally audibly to be saved, but I think the significance of 199 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:03,560 that on me was that I was a deaf boy. I was a boy that didn't hear anything and God allowed 200 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:08,320 me to hear his voice audibly. I believe that with all my heart. I remember that with clarity, 201 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:14,600 but he doesn't call all people audibly, but he does call all people to salvation. He calls 202 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:19,280 you to salvation. Somebody said one time, God did not speak to me audibly, but it was 203 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:24,840 louder than that. Has that ever happened to you? He didn't say it out loud, but you knew 204 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:29,400 he was talking to you. You knew he was convicting you. You knew he was drawing you. You knew 205 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:38,400 he wanted you to respond to him. Conversion. When did it happen? Can you describe it? Did 206 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:43,480 you place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ at that moment? So Peter is talking about 207 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:51,180 a defining moment that begins with conversion. Let me look at the second word, contribution. 208 00:18:51,180 --> 00:18:56,640 If you look at verses 5, 6, and 7, you see these words. Now for this very reason also, 209 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:03,320 applying all diligence in your faith supply moral excellence. Then he goes through the 210 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:10,360 list of these incredible qualities. Excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, 211 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:19,360 brotherly kindness, love. Two of those words, applying and supplying, are action words. 212 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:23,560 Look at those action words with me for just a moment. He says, for this very reason, for 213 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:28,760 the very reason that you have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness 214 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:36,640 of Jesus, because of that, I'm asking you to apply and supply to that. The word means 215 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:43,080 to contribute or to furnish. It's basically active faith. It doesn't mean that we secure 216 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:48,200 our salvation. You can't secure our salvation. It's secured in the righteousness of Jesus. 217 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:53,520 It's secured in the finished work of the cross. But we all call to cultivate our faith, to 218 00:19:53,520 --> 00:20:01,320 contribute to our faith. We're called to construct on our faith, on the foundation of our faith. 219 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:06,440 My wife is a phenomenal home interior designer. That's not her profession. That's just what 220 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:10,880 she asked me to help her do at every house we've ever lived in. We move into a home and 221 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:15,320 she'll say, I like this wall a different color. Let's do that. I think we ought to add into 222 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,200 this room. I think we ought to add something to the porch. We always move into a home and 223 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:25,600 she's always got a project planned for me. I do a lot of projects. I remember one house 224 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,640 that we bought, we added three bedrooms and two bathrooms in seven years. I was tired 225 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:35,000 at the end of that seven years. But that's just what she does. She moves into the house 226 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,840 and she says, let's build on this. Let's add to this. Let's make this better. Let's make 227 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:45,280 this fit our family. That's what we do. There's a very similar concept going on here in 2 228 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:50,360 Peter chapter 1 where we're told that we're given the house of faith. We're placed in 229 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:57,360 the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But what we ought to do is build on it. Let me make 230 00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:06,360 it clear. We do not contribute to our salvation. Pause. We do not contribute to our salvation. 231 00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:11,760 You cannot make your salvation happen. Only Jesus is big enough to do that. Trust me. 232 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:16,520 He is perfect enough to die on the cross in your place. Only by His blood can you gain 233 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:23,160 salvation. Can salvation be secured for you? But we do contribute to our growth. We build 234 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:28,520 on the foundation of our faith. We add, we supply, just what these words say right here. 235 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:34,620 We contribute and furnish to the foundation of our faith. Some people move into the house 236 00:21:34,620 --> 00:21:40,080 of faith that Jesus built for them and they keep it responsibly. They live faith out from 237 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:46,280 day one and they do everything they can to be strong and vibrant in faith. But others 238 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:52,560 move into that house and take it for granted. They become lazy or negligent to the house 239 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:59,640 and while still standing it's still neglected. And they don't appreciate the house or the 240 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:06,400 price that was paid for. They don't appreciate and understand the value of their faith. But 241 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:11,480 what you do on the basis of your faith is extremely important. What you do with your 242 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:17,320 faith brings a quality of life and faith that far exceeds any other kind of life possible. 243 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:22,320 Now Peter is going to delve into this. He is going to show you two options that happen 244 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:26,440 with those who have received the same kind of faith as he did. And I want you to see 245 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:31,720 what these words are that he gives us. First of all he says in verse 8, For if these qualities 246 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:37,240 are yours and increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful. Now I love 247 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:42,640 that line. If I want to walk in confidence and boldness and growth then I need to make 248 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:47,560 sure that these qualities that were named in the previous verses, I need to make sure 249 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:52,040 they are in my life, that I am pursuing them, that I am building them in my life because 250 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:57,480 I am building them on the foundation of my faith in Jesus Christ. So where do you learn 251 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:03,200 these qualities? These are great qualities. Where do these come from? We don't find moral 252 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:07,120 excellence and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and brotherly 253 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:12,080 kindness and all these qualities. We don't find them in the world. We don't find them 254 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:17,000 in movies. Culture doesn't teach us these things. They are not found in the media. So 255 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:22,960 where do we find these? Where do we read about them? Where do we see examples of them? Well 256 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:28,040 if you think for just a moment you will see. Now we find these qualities in a word-based 257 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:33,040 community of faith. We find them in the church. We find them in the church that relies upon 258 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:37,320 the word of God, that teaches the word of God. In a church that has other disciples 259 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:42,360 who are following Jesus and building on the faith that he gave them just like Peter had 260 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:47,080 and just like the disciples have. When you see others following Christ and when you walk 261 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:51,720 consistently with them you find the inspiration, you find the encouragement and you begin to 262 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:56,560 want to add them to your own life and add to that the internal force of the Holy Spirit 263 00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:01,080 inside of you drawing you to become more and more like Jesus Christ and you are on your 264 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:07,120 path to building on the house of faith you were given by Jesus. That's what Peter is 265 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:13,720 saying. If these qualities are in your life and increasing you will be neither useless 266 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:22,040 nor unfruitful. Now I want to be neither useless nor unfruitful. You want to be neither useless 267 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:27,600 nor unfruitful. The opposite of that of course is being useful and fruitful. Say those two 268 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:33,560 words with me. Useful, fruitful. Say it one more time. Useful and fruitful. That's really 269 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:40,920 God's desire for us. His goal for us is to be useful and fruitful for him in the kingdom. 270 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:45,480 Now this is an incredible picture of what it ought to be like. The book of Jude has 271 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:52,680 a great message in verses 20 and 21 that speaks so loudly to this. It says that you building 272 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:59,840 yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the 273 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:04,680 love of God. In other words keep building on that faith. Keep adding to it. Keep making 274 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:10,400 it all it can be and you will be neither useless nor unfruitful. Then there is the other approach. 275 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:15,920 Peter gives that first option, door number one. Then the second option, door number two, 276 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:22,120 I fear most of us choose that door rather than the first one. What does he say about 277 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:28,920 that door? Verse nine, for he who lacks these qualities is blind or short sighted having 278 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:35,200 forgotten his purification from his former sins. Look at those words again. Blind or 279 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:40,120 short sighted having forgotten his purification from his former sins. One of my favorite 280 00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:46,120 preachers of all time, a guy named Ron Dunn preached a message on that text and the title 281 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:51,760 of the message was A Nearsighted Blind Man with Amnesia. Now if you look at the verse 282 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:56,880 you'll see why he comes to that conclusion. But there are people today that have placed 283 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:01,680 their faith in Jesus Christ at some point in the past but they live like a nearsighted 284 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:07,680 blind man with amnesia. They don't see what God is doing. They can't remember all he 285 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:13,720 has done and all he desires to do and they're just making it kind of through life but they 286 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,640 don't have any confidence. They don't have any boldness. In fact they have a great deal 287 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:26,080 of doubt because they forget what happened earlier on in their lives. I was like that. 288 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:32,720 I was like that. I remember as a young boy seeing my faith work in a powerful way. I 289 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:38,280 remember growing in the scriptures. I had as I said great parents and I was involved 290 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:43,840 deeply in the church so I learned scripture, memorized scripture. I really began to grow. 291 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:48,760 I remember sharing the gospel with a friend of mine at the age of 10 and helping lead 292 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:53,080 him to Christ with a Gideon Bible in my back pocket after we played football one day. I 293 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:57,040 dreamed about that kind of thing. I prayed for that kind of thing. So I remember a time 294 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:03,800 of vibrant growth, seasons of growth in my life. I know my faith was very, very real 295 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:09,000 but about the age of 13 or so we moved to a different community and all of a sudden 296 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:13,840 I began to take a different direction in life. I began to decide for myself that I was going 297 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:19,160 to live life my way and I wanted to participate in the things I wanted to do and I didn't 298 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:24,960 want to follow Christ in the same way I had before. As time went on I began to move further 299 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:29,680 and further away from what God had called me to. In fact I even got to the place where 300 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:34,880 I couldn't really remember much of that early spiritual life. I didn't remember praying. 301 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,240 I didn't remember having answers to prayer. I didn't remember trying to lead people to 302 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:45,120 Jesus. I didn't remember having joy and confidence in my faith. I was like a near sided blind 303 00:27:45,120 --> 00:27:54,440 man with amnesia far, far from where I needed to be. It was as though I wanted to have an 304 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:59,880 outward respectability of faith. I mean I still came to church. My dad was the pastor. 305 00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:07,000 I had to come and I wanted to have an air of respectability but after church man I did 306 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:13,640 what I wanted to do. There was something in my life that kept me from going too far. I 307 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,600 remember some of my friends were doing crazy things. I mean crazy things and there was 308 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:22,320 this invisible line I would never cross and they used to mock me a little bit and they 309 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:27,000 used to say you're just afraid to go do this or go do that. I didn't know what to say 310 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,840 to them but later on I looked back and I thought that's just the fear of God. I just had a 311 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:35,240 fear of God in my life and I just didn't want to cross those invisible lines because to 312 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:40,080 me that was way too far and I just didn't want to go that far. I just wanted to go this 313 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:49,520 far which was hypocritical, which was very carnal, embarrassingly disobedient to God. 314 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:55,000 There was a period of time where that's just where I was and that's why this passage describes 315 00:28:55,000 --> 00:29:01,800 my life so clearly. I remember one day someone said to me in sarcasm they said hey John when 316 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,280 you grow up are you going to be a pastor like your dad? Now he said that to me during a 317 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:09,600 time when I was at my worst compromise and of course I responded by saying I will never 318 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:16,520 be a preacher as long as I live. I promise you that will never happen. I had deep respect 319 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:22,960 for my father, deep respect for his faith but it wasn't for me. I learned a lot of things 320 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:27,400 during that period of time, one of them being never say never because God will often bring 321 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:34,720 that back around to you. But that's where I was. All kinds of weird things happened 322 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:40,400 to those of us who have given our lives to Jesus but who are drifting and who are moving 323 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:44,880 away. I can say this, I can say beyond doubt if you are a true believer in Jesus Christ 324 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:50,640 you will not be happy living a life of disobedience. You will be miserable. How do I know that? 325 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:54,600 Because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. He never gives up on you. He 326 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:59,280 never stops convicting you and while that voice may be a little bit more silent as time 327 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:05,000 goes on he may shout a little less loud at some point you will recognize that you are 328 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:12,280 out of God's will and that's a big deal to you. So I was like a blind, near sighted man 329 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:19,000 with amnesia during those years of my life. I was like that spiritually. But God was pursuing 330 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:25,240 me. Those of you who just love the fact that God our Father pursues us, I just love that. 331 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:30,200 He was pursuing me. He never would let me forget that he loved me, that he had a plan 332 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:35,920 for my life. And ultimately he brought me to a place of abject misery and fear and concern 333 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:40,120 where I said I don't care about all those other things. I just want to know am I right 334 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:44,840 with you God? Am I right with you? And I remember going out to a wheat field that belonged to 335 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:48,640 a friend of mine all by myself laying in that wheat field as the sun was going down and 336 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:53,200 saying God I cannot imagine being any more miserable and yet I've done everything I 337 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:59,440 want to do. And I said I'm not even sure if I really ever gave my life to you and if I 338 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:06,280 haven't I'm giving it to you today. But from this day forward I belong to you. And I waited. 339 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:10,400 I don't know if I was expecting God to speak to me. I didn't know if God was going to 340 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,920 I don't know send angels in the sky but I just laid in that field looking up saying 341 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:19,360 that to God over and over. And the only thing I remember about those moments were just the 342 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:25,640 clear impression of his love for me. The undeniable fact that he'd send his son Jesus to die on 343 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:33,400 the cross for me and that cross became a very important image to me from that day forward. 344 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:40,760 And I knew that I had gotten back with God that I had become right with God at that moment. 345 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:45,080 Some of us need to be in that place where we say God I don't remember if what I had 346 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:50,480 was real before and if I've never given myself to you I'm going to give it to you today. 347 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:55,080 Please forgive me. Please make me yours. You are my Lord from this day forward. Those were 348 00:31:55,080 --> 00:32:01,640 the exact words I pray. And again God did not speak to me audibly but he helped me know 349 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:10,240 of his love and that the cross was for purposes that would allow me to be right with him. 350 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:15,800 And I never looked back. From that moment forward I never looked back. There was a song 351 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:20,920 going on in the radio back during those times and it was called I Can See Clearly Now The 352 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:25,520 Rain Is Gone. Johnny Nash sang that song. A few others did. And I wasn't really into 353 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:29,280 Christian music too much at that point so I just listened to the radio right. But that 354 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:34,040 song was being sung a lot and I thought man that describes so much what has just happened. 355 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:40,160 I can now see how real my faith was as a young boy and all that God had done in my life when 356 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:45,320 before my sin had obscured it all. The dark clouds of sin and disobedience and rebellion 357 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:52,320 had obscured all the reality of the faith that I had and that he was real to me. I just 358 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:59,200 wasn't building on the house he gave me. Now my experience says the same thing this verse 359 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:03,800 says. If you're building on your salvation you'll grow and have vibrant faith but if 360 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:08,760 you don't build, if these qualities are not yours and increasing you'll be blind to what 361 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:12,720 happened. You won't see what God was doing. You may even forget and doubt the reality 362 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:18,040 of your faith at any point in the path. So I want to ask you this question. Part of your 363 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:24,640 homework assignment. Are you building on your faith? Are you adding to it? Are you contributing? 364 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:31,640 Are you cultivating the house of faith that God may have given you as a child or as a 365 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:37,320 younger person or in previous time? Now here's the third word. The third word is confidence. 366 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:41,840 Say the word confidence with me. Confidence. We want to walk in confidence. We want to 367 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:47,640 be bold and confident in our faith and this is where Peter is taking us. It says in verse 368 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:53,200 10, therefore brethren be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and his 369 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:58,480 choosing of you. That's the word that means confident. Be confident in what you have. 370 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:03,320 Make sure it's valid. Make sure it's guaranteed and unwavering. Make sure your salvation is 371 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:09,840 secure. Now you see the first word of that verse 10? It's the word therefore. The therefore 372 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:15,240 in this verse, therefore brethren be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling 373 00:34:15,240 --> 00:34:19,080 and his choosing you. It's there because it points back to the whole context of where 374 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:24,800 we've been. The faith of the same kind that we've received as the disciples had by the 375 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:31,200 righteousness of Jesus Christ, adding to it so that Jesus qualities are increasing and 376 00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:36,840 present in your life, you're going to have confidence when you do that. Now Peter is 377 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:42,440 basically saying to all who come after him, make sure your conversion is real. Make sure 378 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:48,000 your construction is ongoing and when you do that you build great confidence in his 379 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:54,080 calling in your life. When you see God at work it's undeniable that his presence is 380 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,880 in you. When you listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit convicting you and leading you, 381 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:02,080 you know that's real. That's not just feeling guilty for something. That is the Holy Spirit 382 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:07,680 directing you. When you see your faith work you have all kinds of confidence in your personal 383 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,640 relationship with him. It helps you weather temptations. It helps you get through the 384 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:18,640 trials. It prepares you for heaven. Do you notice what it says in verses 11 and 12? As 385 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:24,040 long as you practice these things you will never stumble for in this way the entrance 386 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:30,600 into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to 387 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:37,600 you. Earlier today in an earlier service we were singing songs that were older songs about 388 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:43,640 the faith. One of them is Amazing Grace and one of the lines of Amazing Grace, the very 389 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:48,840 last dance is when we've been there 10,000 years. I'm on the front row here like preachers 390 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:54,880 do whenever the song service is happening and the choir is up here and there's a lady 391 00:35:54,880 --> 00:36:01,440 in the choir. Now don't get me wrong, our choir is very vibrant, they're very expressive 392 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,760 but there was one lady that I thought was getting raptured when she was singing when 393 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:11,760 we've been there 10,000 years. It was so real. It was so obvious that that's her only 394 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:17,960 hope. It was so obvious that I actually said something about it and I may have embarrassed 395 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:24,080 her by saying that but it was so real it could not go without observation. Here is a woman 396 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:28,320 that has such confidence in her faith that she was already there. I mean she's not there 397 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:31,800 yet but she was already there in her mind, in her heart. Don't get me wrong she did not 398 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:38,800 die, nobody died in the first service okay but she's almost there. It's so real, it's 399 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:45,000 so powerful. That's what's being described right here. The abundant entrance into the 400 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:51,560 eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You want that confidence that's why 401 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:57,280 you make sure your conversion is real. Make sure your construction, your contribution 402 00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:04,280 is ongoing because you want the kind of confidence that just lets you live that way anticipating 403 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:11,680 Jesus Christ's return. Since the age of 18 I can look back and see all the defining moments 404 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:19,040 of my life, all the defining moments of faith where God would direct me, where he would 405 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:24,280 answer prayer, where he would put people in my life. I believe those kinds of things were 406 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:29,720 always there even when I was running from God. I just didn't see them. I didn't acknowledge 407 00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:33,600 them, I didn't recognize them. I wasn't aware of what God was doing. I was a near 408 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:40,600 sighted blind man with amnesia. But since that date where I said Lord if I'm not yours 409 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:44,760 I'm making myself yours right now. If I've never been yours I'm wanting to make sure 410 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:51,760 I surrender completely. I've seen all these different ways that God has worked in my life 411 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:58,760 and I began to grow in confidence. I began to have no doubts. The word of God began to 412 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:04,760 be alive to me. The Holy Spirit began to be a friend to me. I knew he was speaking to 413 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:09,720 me, knew he was leading me. I could even go back and see what God had done during those 414 00:38:09,720 --> 00:38:14,960 years that I was running from him later on. It's not just hindsight, it's 2020, it's 415 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:21,440 not just that. It's that relationship with him lets me see. John I place this person 416 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:25,600 in your life you just didn't, you didn't open up to him. I put this message in front 417 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:31,280 of you but you didn't acknowledge it. I put this line in the sand and you just weren't 418 00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:37,100 aware that it was the fear of God that I was placing in your life. And I look back I see 419 00:38:37,100 --> 00:38:44,100 how much he preserved me, how much he rescued me and still rescues me. Is your conversion 420 00:38:44,100 --> 00:38:51,100 real? Are you contributing to the household of faith? Do you have confidence and lack 421 00:38:51,580 --> 00:38:58,180 doubt in your salvation? You see when your conversion to Christ is real and your contribution 422 00:38:58,180 --> 00:39:05,180 to your faith is ongoing your confidence is unshakable. It's as real as life gets. It's 423 00:39:05,180 --> 00:39:14,460 real faith and it's real hope and it's real life. Has this happened to you? Have you grown 424 00:39:14,460 --> 00:39:21,460 in your confidence in faith? Is your faith real and active and growing and bold? Now 425 00:39:23,580 --> 00:39:30,220 if I could put this in my hands and offer this to you then I'd do that today. Something 426 00:39:30,220 --> 00:39:37,220 better than this has happened. God has offered this to you today. The message is ongoing, 427 00:39:37,460 --> 00:39:44,460 it's clear. The offer is standing. Do you want the conversion? Do you want to be contributing? 428 00:39:45,060 --> 00:39:50,380 Do you want to have confidence? In just a few moments we're going to close our service 429 00:39:50,380 --> 00:39:55,300 and at the end of our service we'll do what we do every week. We have our decision stations 430 00:39:55,300 --> 00:39:59,680 that are available. And as you walk out in just a few moments you'll see those decision 431 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:04,700 stations and I would encourage you to stop. There are people in this room today that needed 432 00:40:04,700 --> 00:40:10,340 to hear what was said. They need to see this passage. They need to see what salvation looks 433 00:40:10,340 --> 00:40:17,340 like even when it's not seemingly going well. That that faith, that real life of Christ 434 00:40:17,340 --> 00:40:21,980 inside of you is still there if you've ever given your life to Him. And you also need 435 00:40:21,980 --> 00:40:26,160 to be aware that if you've never given your life to Him, never had that defining moment 436 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:32,100 of placing your faith and trust in Him and by the righteousness of Jesus Christ received 437 00:40:32,100 --> 00:40:36,820 salvation. This is the day that you can do that. This is the moment you can do that. 438 00:40:36,820 --> 00:40:39,900 And we have people waiting that will talk with you about that. And I can't wait to 439 00:40:39,900 --> 00:40:45,580 find out if you stopped and if you had that conversation and if you had that moment of 440 00:40:45,580 --> 00:40:50,460 prayer. See what happened to me was a very short period of time as a seven or eight year 441 00:40:50,460 --> 00:40:55,860 old boy and that faith is still real in my life and will be until Christ comes back and 442 00:40:55,860 --> 00:41:01,860 consummates that fully. In a brief period of time that salvation could be real to you. 443 00:41:01,860 --> 00:41:05,540 I also invite you if you're a guest to come to our guest reception center. I'd love to 444 00:41:05,540 --> 00:41:09,700 meet with you. It's just outside the center exit doors across the hallway. Would you stand 445 00:41:09,700 --> 00:41:18,700 with me as we close in prayer? Father, there are many people in this room 446 00:41:18,700 --> 00:41:26,180 with a variety of kinds of experiences in life, variety of upbringing, different messages 447 00:41:26,180 --> 00:41:32,140 they've heard throughout their lives. Father, today we all come together to this one text 448 00:41:32,140 --> 00:41:40,060 where Peter writes about faith and the defining moments of faith. Now Lord, do you know what 449 00:41:40,060 --> 00:41:44,700 my prayer is? My prayer is that every person in this room will experience conversion to 450 00:41:44,700 --> 00:41:49,780 Jesus Christ and that if that hasn't happened with them yet that it will happen today. Lord, 451 00:41:49,780 --> 00:41:54,340 I beg you, I plead with you that you would bring them to the place where they would be 452 00:41:54,340 --> 00:41:59,740 courageous enough to stop and have the conversation and not walk around with doubt and not walk 453 00:41:59,740 --> 00:42:07,500 around wondering what if. Father, those that have put their faith and trust in you but 454 00:42:07,500 --> 00:42:14,900 maybe have veered, have wandered, I ask you Lord to show them the value of contributing 455 00:42:14,900 --> 00:42:20,500 to their faith. Not to secure their salvation but to add to it, to build on it. 456 00:42:20,500 --> 00:42:25,420 And Father, my ultimate prayer for all of us in this room is to have confidence in the 457 00:42:25,420 --> 00:42:32,680 faith in Jesus Christ that you've given us. So Lord, today move in our hearts while we 458 00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:38,300 may conclude this service. The ongoing work of your Holy Spirit is expected and asked 459 00:42:38,300 --> 00:42:43,660 for. And Father, I pray that we will realize that and experience it. We ask this in Jesus 460 00:42:43,660 --> 00:43:04,180 name, Amen.