1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,440 Sometimes we have the opinion, or the understanding I should say, that as soon as the books of 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:13,040 the New Testament were written, they were immediately accepted by everyone as being 3 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:19,420 a part of the Bible, part of the canon of Scripture, as we say. 4 00:00:19,420 --> 00:00:22,820 But that is not the case in church history. 5 00:00:22,820 --> 00:00:28,640 Some of the books in the New Testament were actually not fully accepted as being inspired 6 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:35,640 by God until as late as the fourth century after Christ. 7 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,160 And the book of 2 Peter is an example of that. 8 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:44,960 In fact, it was the last of the 66 books to be acknowledged by the church that it was 9 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:46,720 in fact inspired by God. 10 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:53,000 And there were certain rules or measurements by which they determined which of the writings 11 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,200 of the apostles were in fact inspired. 12 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,000 That's where we get the word canon of Scripture. 13 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,880 It means measurement or the rule. 14 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:10,160 And by examining the books in the light of these standards, they determined in fact which 15 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:18,620 ones had been written by men inspired by God's Holy Spirit. 16 00:01:18,620 --> 00:01:23,880 Even until this very day, there are some seminary professors who argue about the author of 2 17 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:25,480 Peter. 18 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:30,160 Most of them of the more liberal persuasion who try to tell us that in fact Peter didn't 19 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:31,160 write this book. 20 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,200 It had to be written much later than Peter's life. 21 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:41,640 But we do accept it as having been written by the apostle Peter. 22 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:46,520 There are some interesting similarities between this book of 2 Peter and the last book that 23 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:47,520 the apostle Paul wrote. 24 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,960 Does anybody know which book that is? 25 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:54,240 Thank you, 2 Timothy. 26 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:55,240 That's right. 27 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,800 The book of 2 Timothy was his last letter. 28 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:02,080 2 Peter is the last letter that Peter wrote. 29 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:08,520 You remember as each of them penned these words by God's Spirit enabling them, they 30 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,280 were facing martyrdom. 31 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:20,000 Paul was, as much as we know, beheaded in Rome after writing the book of 2 Timothy. 32 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:25,320 And he writes in the last chapter of that book about his anticipated departure that 33 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:29,640 he is expecting very soon to go to be with the Lord. 34 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:37,280 And Peter, after finishing this book, at some point tradition says was crucified upside 35 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,880 down outside of Rome. 36 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:47,760 Both of these men wrote the books somewhere around 67 or 68 AD during the last part of 37 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:54,480 the reign of one of the most infamous of all the Caesars, a man by the name of Nero who 38 00:02:54,480 --> 00:03:00,400 most likely burned Rome and then blamed it on the Christians. 39 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:08,620 It is interesting that as both of these men come to the end of their lives, they foresee 40 00:03:08,620 --> 00:03:11,400 a troubled future. 41 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:19,880 They foresee what is called the last days, a time when there would be a falling away 42 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:27,640 from the truth or an apostasy among those who are professing Christians. 43 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:37,960 That apostasy actually began right there in their day, but it has certainly accelerated. 44 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,600 The day in which we are living, we see apostasy on every hand. 45 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:46,960 It is so interesting, isn't it, to read the accounts in the press of some of the denominational 46 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,200 meetings that take place about this time of year. 47 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:55,020 In fact, some of the major ones are meeting during this month of June and they are making 48 00:03:55,020 --> 00:04:03,040 major revisions and decisions regarding their beliefs and their creeds and their statements. 49 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:12,720 And almost inevitably, you find that these revisions are steps away from the truth revealed 50 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,640 in the Word of God. 51 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:22,200 Both of the books, 2 Peter and 2 Timothy, contain a current, however, of exuberant joy 52 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:27,440 despite what they were anticipating in the difficult days of the future. 53 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:35,480 Both Paul and Peter knew that there was something worth looking forward to beyond the troubled 54 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:37,200 days that they saw in the future. 55 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:42,460 Now, as we come to the book of 2 Peter, I think it kind of helps to get a verse that 56 00:04:42,460 --> 00:04:45,760 can serve as a theme verse for the book. 57 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:51,200 And for this Bible study, we are going to use as the theme verse the very last verse 58 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,920 of the book, chapter 3 and verse 18. 59 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:03,120 It is here that Peter says, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus 60 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:04,120 Christ. 61 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,120 Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. 62 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:12,000 That seems to be what he is writing about in these three chapters as we have divided 63 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:13,520 the book. 64 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:20,820 In addition to using the word grow here, throughout the book, Peter uses words like multiplied 65 00:05:20,820 --> 00:05:31,680 or increase or add to or supply in addition to or abundantly or increasing. 66 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:36,440 Those are the ideas that are flowing through Peter's heart as he writes to believers in 67 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:42,520 that day and to us that we are to be multiplying and growing and increasing and adding to our 68 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:47,760 faith and being abundant. 69 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:54,160 He tells us that God has given us life and that inevitable with life comes growth. 70 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,120 Those two things go together. 71 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:04,200 Right now we have, well I will make it more general, somewhere in our church property 72 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,000 a duck. 73 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,520 A duck which is sitting on nine eggs. 74 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,840 I counted them when she was off the nest. 75 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:20,200 And she has been sitting on those eggs now a long time. 76 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:27,400 Does anybody know how long it is supposed to take for those eggs to hatch? 77 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:31,600 I was raised on the farm and I never learned that. 78 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:38,400 28 days, that's what I was afraid of. 79 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:43,020 I do believe this dear mother duck has a problem. 80 00:06:43,020 --> 00:06:46,840 Because it seems like more than 28 days that she has been sitting on that nest. 81 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:50,160 Now it probably seems 158 to her. 82 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,880 But as I have just kind of watched her, she has been there a long time and I am wondering 83 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:59,160 if there is really life in those eggs. 84 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,000 Where there is life, there is going to be proof of life. 85 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:06,720 In the case of eggs, there is going to be a hatching and some ducklings, maybe up to 86 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:08,880 nine of them running around here one of these days. 87 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:15,160 But if there is no life there, then there is not going to be anything happening. 88 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,480 How do we know that we are saved? 89 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:21,360 How do we know that we have eternal life? 90 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:25,320 The answer to that is that there is evidence. 91 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:30,200 And in Peter's terms, as we are studying this book, we will see that Peter says that 92 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:35,880 the evidence of genuine spiritual life is growth. 93 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:43,240 Now in almost every growing thing, there can be periods of dormancy. 94 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,680 There can be latent periods. 95 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:51,080 Growth can occur at different speeds. 96 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:52,880 That's true throughout nature. 97 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,680 But there is some evidence of growth and continuance. 98 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:04,240 Someone in the church a year ago gave us some beautiful sprouts of rhubarb to plant in our 99 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:05,960 backyard. 100 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:10,240 We did and they managed to make it through the summer and through the winter. 101 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:12,280 And it was fun to go out there this spring. 102 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,360 All the green dies off and you don't see anything there. 103 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,640 But if you dig down, you can see these sprouts coming up. 104 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:24,160 And sure enough, they have leafed out, two of them have leafed out just beautifully. 105 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,880 And we've enjoyed some of the rhubarb from them already. 106 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:29,760 The middle one, however, there are three of them. 107 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,160 And the middle one isn't doing quite so well. 108 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:38,320 Had the same time, had the same basic soil, which is pretty lousy. 109 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:42,440 It had the same winter to go through, the same amount of moisture. 110 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:47,360 All the exteriors the same, the externals are the same. 111 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:51,680 But something inside that plant is different and though it's growing, it's not growing 112 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:52,680 as fast. 113 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:55,560 My point is that growth is there. 114 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:57,640 It may come at different speed. 115 00:08:57,640 --> 00:08:59,960 You see, that's the way it is with some Christians too. 116 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:05,000 There are some Christians that just, they spurt and they grow quickly. 117 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,760 And there are others that are more slow in their growth. 118 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:12,800 But the fact is, where there's life, there's change and there's growth. 119 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:17,000 Growth and maturity are expected in a Christian walk. 120 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,600 I think it might be helpful for us to think for just a moment about growth. 121 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:21,600 What is growth? 122 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:23,040 What do we mean by that? 123 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:27,960 We talk about growing in Christ, growing in our Christian life, our Christian walk. 124 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,200 What does it mean to grow? 125 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:34,760 Well, it's not merely increased knowledge of the Bible. 126 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:40,200 There are people who don't even believe in Jesus Christ, who have a greater knowledge 127 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,560 of the Bible's facts than some Christians. 128 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:51,100 So Christian growth is not merely knowledge about the Bible, nor is it increased knowledge 129 00:09:51,100 --> 00:09:55,360 of a doctrinal statement where we learn about God. 130 00:09:55,360 --> 00:10:00,200 But growth is a maturing of one's experience with God. 131 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:07,880 A maturing of one's experience with God, which is evidenced by the manner in which 132 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:12,440 one responds to the trials of life. 133 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,300 That's growth. 134 00:10:14,300 --> 00:10:20,300 It is a maturing of one's experience with God, which is then made evidenced by the way 135 00:10:20,300 --> 00:10:28,920 that one responds to the various trials that come in life. 136 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:37,360 Warren Wiersbie says, spiritual growth is not by addition, but by nutrition. 137 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:38,360 Interesting statement. 138 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:45,240 What he's saying there, I think, is that growing as a Christian is not like playing with Legos. 139 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:50,040 It's not like snapping on new Legos so that the object grows. 140 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:54,440 It's not like putting more bricks into the wall so the wall grows. 141 00:10:54,440 --> 00:11:00,760 It's not by adding things, but rather spiritual growth is by nutrition. 142 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:07,460 Like a flower, like that rhubarb I was talking about, like a human body that grows because 143 00:11:07,460 --> 00:11:08,460 of nutrition. 144 00:11:08,460 --> 00:11:12,040 It grows from the inside. 145 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:19,280 Now it seems to me in our text tonight, which is the first three verses of 2 Peter, we see 146 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:27,120 that growth as a Christian is supported by a root system. 147 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:30,800 He's going to give us the very foundation of it all here. 148 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:36,600 He says there's a root system that has to be in place before there can be growth. 149 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:37,640 Well let's read his words. 150 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:46,460 He says, Simon Peter, a bond servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received 151 00:11:46,460 --> 00:11:56,000 a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, grace 152 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:02,520 and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that 153 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:11,680 his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the 154 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:18,720 true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. 155 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:27,000 I believe that the root of it all that Peter is pointing out in this brief paragraph is 156 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:28,920 genuine salvation. 157 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:30,880 He doesn't use the word salvation. 158 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,120 I grant you that here. 159 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:39,440 Salvation is used however one time, and only one time in this book, the word salvation, 160 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:41,480 chapter 3 verse 15. 161 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:47,560 He talks about the patience of our Lord as being salvation. 162 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:51,440 However the word savior is used several times in the book. 163 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:53,920 We've already read it in verse 1. 164 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:59,820 We see it in verse 11 where he talks about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 165 00:12:59,820 --> 00:13:08,360 We see it in chapter 2 verse 20 where again he mentions our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 166 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:17,860 We see it in chapter 3 verse 2 where he mentions our Lord and Savior and once more we see it 167 00:13:17,860 --> 00:13:22,200 in verse 18, the key verse that we read earlier. 168 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:28,440 So the whole idea of saving, of salvation, of the saviorhood of Christ is certainly in 169 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,240 Peter's mind as he writes this book. 170 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:41,560 I believe he's telling us here that this root of salvation that produces the growth, this 171 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:50,680 root of salvation in the first place involves what he calls here a faith in verse 1. 172 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:59,960 To those who have received, he says, a faith of the same kind as ours. 173 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:06,480 When he says received of faith, he's talking about the action of believing. 174 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:13,720 What he's saying here is that the enablement to believe, to trust in Christ is something 175 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:19,000 that we, you notice, receive. 176 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:20,320 It's something we receive. 177 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:26,920 This ties together with what Paul says in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 that salvation, all of 178 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:33,560 it, the whole package is the gift of God including the faith to receive it. 179 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,360 Our faith is not something that we conjure up. 180 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:42,920 It's not something that we devise or that we develop within ourselves, but faith itself 181 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,920 is a very gift that we receive. 182 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,960 And he calls this faith, notice, the same kind as ours. 183 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:55,120 So we ask the question, who's ours? 184 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:59,320 Peter is undoubtedly talking here about his fellow apostles. 185 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:05,760 For he's introduced himself, not only as a bond servant, but an apostle. 186 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:12,120 And he is writing to people who have received the enablement to believe in the same way 187 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:19,400 that he and the other apostles had. 188 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:28,920 Isn't it wonderful to know that you and I today, almost 2,000 years later, have experienced 189 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:37,000 the same thing with God that Peter experienced, that John knew. 190 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:44,160 We have experienced the same act of believing on Jesus Christ that Paul did on the road 191 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:46,160 to Damascus. 192 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:53,600 The very same thing has brought us into God's family, has brought them into God's family. 193 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:59,760 It's not that they have some kind of a special place, although they have a special office 194 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:05,360 to be sure in the church, but it's not as though God has this inner crowd and then there's 195 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:07,600 the rest of us. 196 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:14,360 But we all have that same relationship with God that comes by faith in Christ. 197 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:24,240 And he says that this faith is by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 198 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,600 By the way, this is one of those verses that you can show to people like the Jehovah's 199 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,920 Witnesses who have a hard time believing in the deity of Jesus Christ. 200 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:38,520 The construction here at the end of the verse in the language makes it, it seems to me, 201 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:39,520 very clear. 202 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:43,640 He is calling Jesus Christ, not only Savior, but God. 203 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:45,200 You notice that? 204 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:52,120 Our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, an affirmation of the deity of Christ. 205 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:56,240 Now he says our faith comes to us through the righteousness of God. 206 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:01,560 Isn't that what justification is all about? 207 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:07,560 God declaring us righteous before him in his sight? 208 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:16,000 Salvation, this root of salvation that produces growth involves faith. 209 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:21,440 He also tells us in this paragraph that this salvation that produces growth and this root 210 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:22,840 involves a knowledge. 211 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:26,160 Not only faith, but a knowledge. 212 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,720 We have to know something in order to believe. 213 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:30,880 Knowledge. 214 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:37,640 He calls it in verse 2, the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 215 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:44,680 Notice there that he is making a distinction between our God, the knowledge of God and 216 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:46,320 of Jesus our Lord. 217 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:49,280 So in verse 1, he is calling Jesus God. 218 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:56,000 In verse 2, he is pointing to the Father and then mentioning Jesus our Lord. 219 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,740 This involves of course the mystery of the Trinity. 220 00:17:59,740 --> 00:18:10,960 He says in verse 3 that God has given us everything we need through the true knowledge of him 221 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:15,000 who called us by his own glory and excellence. 222 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:20,480 Salvation not only involves a faith experience, it involves a knowledge. 223 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:22,760 A true knowledge. 224 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,400 The word in both places here in verse 2 and verse 3 is the very same. 225 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:32,000 It's not just a typical word for knowledge in the Greek language, it means a full knowledge. 226 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:35,760 The kind of knowledge that is specific. 227 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:40,600 The kind of knowledge that is directed toward a particular object. 228 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:48,360 The kind of knowledge that brings a relationship, that brings a union between the knower and 229 00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:50,920 the object which is known. 230 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:57,800 It's not merely an academic subject like you go to school and you learn math or you 231 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,080 learn science or you learn whatever. 232 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:05,400 He's talking here about a rich personal experience. 233 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:09,360 That kind of a knowledge. 234 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:18,860 It is one thing to read in the newspaper facts about a certain thing, a certain place. 235 00:19:18,860 --> 00:19:23,760 It is another thing to actually experience that place. 236 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:31,880 For many years I have read about Mount Rushmore and I have seen pictures of Mount Rushmore. 237 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:33,680 And in that sense I knew about it. 238 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:39,160 I knew the faces on Mount Rushmore. 239 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:45,260 But I had never experienced it until a couple of years ago when we stopped in the Black 240 00:19:45,260 --> 00:19:48,500 Hills and saw it. 241 00:19:48,500 --> 00:19:53,640 And we stood below this mountain ledge. 242 00:19:53,640 --> 00:20:01,080 Which a man climbed up there with some ropes and some tools and he began to hammer away 243 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:06,800 and to fashion the faces of four of the presidents of the United States. 244 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:12,000 I want to tell you there's all of the difference in the world between reading about Mount Rushmore 245 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:19,360 and seeing pictures of it and standing there looking up at that monumental work. 246 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:23,800 When you've been there you've experienced Mount Rushmore. 247 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:26,040 That's the kind of knowledge that Peter's pointing to. 248 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:34,600 He says if there is growth it's because there is a root that has knowledge with it. 249 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:36,920 Personal knowledge of God. 250 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:38,560 True knowledge. 251 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:44,200 Not just theological understanding, not the ability to quote verses for someone who has 252 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,000 experienced God. 253 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,160 That's what he says. 254 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:58,600 He tells us that this root that supports Christian growth is also a salvation that involves a 255 00:20:58,600 --> 00:20:59,600 call. 256 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:10,800 In verse 3 he speaks of him who called us by his own glory and virtue or excellence. 257 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:17,160 The idea in this word is to summons someone. 258 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:23,040 It's the idea behind that little piece of paper that you can get when you are summons 259 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:28,120 to a court hearing. 260 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:33,180 How many of you have ever received a piece of paper like that in your life for one reason 261 00:21:33,180 --> 00:21:34,180 or another? 262 00:21:34,180 --> 00:21:38,960 We understand you weren't being tried for murder or anything, but you just got a summons 263 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:44,160 at some point. 264 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:48,760 That's not exactly an invitation. 265 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:54,880 It's not exactly a piece of paper that says come pretty please. 266 00:21:54,880 --> 00:22:04,440 The piece of paper says here's the date, here's the time, be there. 267 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:08,620 That's exactly what the call of God is. 268 00:22:08,620 --> 00:22:12,600 The call of God is more than an invitation. 269 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:18,920 We speak of the general call of God by which he invites whosoever will to come. 270 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,240 That is a very sincere offer of God. 271 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:29,040 God invites any who will to come to him, but the fact is those who will be saved will be 272 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:35,160 saved because they have received a summons from God, a call from God. 273 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:40,640 Theologians call it an effectual calling. 274 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:44,520 What that means is that it's more than an invitation. 275 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:54,520 It's a call that has with it the power to enable the person who hears it to respond. 276 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:56,800 That's the calling of God. 277 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:02,320 The kind of root we're talking about that produces growth is the kind of a root where 278 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:07,360 there's been a call from God to the sinner. 279 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:08,840 Peter talks a lot about this. 280 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,280 Just look back at 1 Peter for a moment. 281 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,760 Look in 1 Peter 1.15. 282 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:22,560 He says, like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves. 283 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:27,360 Chapter 2 in verse 9, we'll just look at the end of the verse. 284 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:34,240 He says that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness 285 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,120 into his marvelous light. 286 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:44,440 In verse 21 he says, for you have been called for this purpose. 287 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:51,640 Chapter 3 in verse 9, not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing 288 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:59,640 instead for you were called for this very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. 289 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:06,600 In chapter 5 in verse 10, after you have suffered for a little while the God of all grace who 290 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:12,280 called you to his eternal glory in Christ. 291 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,520 See this is a big deal with Peter. 292 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:20,760 Peter wants us to understand that if there is going to be growth, Christian growth in 293 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:29,560 our lives, it's because we've been called by God as part of the foundation. 294 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:33,720 It's possible to have religious growth. 295 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:41,360 It's possible to have the kind of growth that comes with wanting to meet social needs and 296 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:49,040 just being a caring, good person, wanting to do one's part in society and all of that. 297 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:54,600 But friend, there will be no growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ unless 298 00:24:54,600 --> 00:25:00,880 there's been genuine faith, a true knowledge and experience with God. 299 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:06,040 But one has heard the call of God to salvation. 300 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:10,840 That's all a part of this root that produces the growth. 301 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:20,920 And finally he says that this root of real growth which is salvation also involves a 302 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:23,440 grant. 303 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:31,200 In verse 3 he says, seeing that his divine power, whose power? 304 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:32,200 Christ's. 305 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:46,120 That Christ's divine power, his dynamo, his dynamic has granted to us everything pertaining 306 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:50,360 to life and godliness. 307 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:57,120 Peter has prayed for us and his readers, he says in verse 2, grace and peace be multiplied 308 00:25:57,120 --> 00:26:00,500 to you. 309 00:26:00,500 --> 00:26:08,400 Grace and peace be increased in your lives in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord 310 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:16,080 seeing that his divine power has granted to you. 311 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:21,680 The reason that you and I can have an increase in the experience of the grace of God and 312 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:28,280 the peace of God in our lives is because God has done something inside. 313 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:33,640 He has granted something to us by his power. 314 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:40,360 And what he's granted to us is a possession or an inheritance. 315 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:43,720 He says it's, well he just uses one word. 316 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,440 He says it's everything. 317 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,640 That's pretty neat isn't it? 318 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:56,800 Because God's given you everything pertaining to life and to godliness. 319 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,000 We sometimes sing that chorus that all of us like, I like it. 320 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:06,040 It says, more of you, more of you, I've had it all but what I need is more of you. 321 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,640 And there's a certain twist of truth to that. 322 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:16,240 But the fact is we don't really need more of him, he's already given us everything. 323 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:21,840 I need to experience it more, I need to open the package more and to see what's there 324 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:23,780 but I've already got it. 325 00:27:23,780 --> 00:27:30,960 You see this salvation that produces the growth is a salvation that involves a grant from 326 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,040 God to you and me. 327 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:37,400 It is a complete package. 328 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:43,840 God gives us everything we will ever need pertaining to life. 329 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:52,560 Life with all of its circumstances and all of its trials and its successes and its disappointments. 330 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:57,220 How are you going to handle life? 331 00:27:57,220 --> 00:28:03,340 The answer is God's given us everything we need to handle life. 332 00:28:03,340 --> 00:28:06,960 Did God know what was going to happen in my life when he gave me this grant? 333 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,640 Of course. 334 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:16,160 He knew what I was going to experience before I was even born. 335 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:21,440 When he saved me he gave me everything that I would need to handle what life will bring 336 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,240 to me. 337 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:29,120 But also he's given me everything I need pertaining to godliness. 338 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:34,100 Piety, in the best sense of the term. 339 00:28:34,100 --> 00:28:40,720 He's given me everything that I need to learn how to respond like God wants me to so that 340 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:42,840 I'll be like God. 341 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,640 God like. 342 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:51,320 So that I will reflect Jesus Christ to those around me. 343 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:52,320 He's given me everything. 344 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:53,880 Now what does everything include? 345 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:58,120 Well let me just suggest quickly three or four things and we'll go. 346 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:02,680 First of all it means my spiritual blessings. 347 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,040 I love that passage in Ephesians 1. 348 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:10,840 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has given us every spiritual 349 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:16,480 blessing in Christ Jesus. 350 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:25,200 Our standing before God with all of the rights that that includes protection in this world 351 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:34,400 by God, the Bible, God's word, all of our spiritual blessings. 352 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:39,040 Everything also includes our spiritual privileges. 353 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,560 The right to pray. 354 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,360 Access to God's throne. 355 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:51,200 It includes our spiritual gifts that God's given us which are to be exercised. 356 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:58,400 It includes spiritual enablement on the inside, the power of the Holy Spirit. 357 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:05,080 Let's never take for granted what God has given us. 358 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:09,160 Let's back off for just a minute and understand what we're doing here. 359 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:12,600 Peter wants to talk to us about growing in our faith. 360 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:13,600 Growing in Christ. 361 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:19,000 Now he says if there's going to be growth it's got to start right at the very foundation. 362 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:26,680 He says there's a root and if that root is there it will produce growth. 363 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,280 It may come at different speeds. 364 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:35,960 There may be periods of dormancy along the way but there will be growth over the long 365 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:36,960 stretch. 366 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:46,800 And he says that root involves a faith that God gives to us so that we can respond and 367 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,240 trust in Jesus Christ. 368 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:57,000 It involves a true and personal experiential knowledge with God. 369 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:09,880 He tells us that it involves a calling by which God has said, you come and we go. 370 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:16,880 We are awakened from our death, quickened by God's Spirit so that we follow. 371 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:22,000 It involves finally a grant. 372 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,720 This genuine faith brings a grant. 373 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:32,360 It's just like a seed that is planted and inside that seed is everything that is needed 374 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:34,920 to get that plant going. 375 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:42,840 The seed is planted, the outer shell of it decays, an amazing thing takes place as it 376 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:44,560 begins to sprout. 377 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:48,800 It's all included inside that seed when you plant it. 378 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:53,240 The farmer doesn't have to go down to the store and buy the seed and then later go back 379 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,080 and get something else and then something else. 380 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:57,520 It all comes with the seed. 381 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:01,680 You just put it in the ground and it happens. 382 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:05,320 Well God says, I'm granting you everything you're going to need. 383 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,080 It's all right there. 384 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:13,160 Now he's going to tell us as we go on with the chapter, you've got to be diligent about 385 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,160 it. 386 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:18,880 He says, here's what you need to do to grow. 387 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:23,000 He says, it's all there, I've given it to you. 388 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:27,960 There's the root, there's the grant, there's the genuine faith of the knowledge of God, 389 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:34,360 and now here is your responsibility so you will grow as a Christian. 390 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:39,120 That's what we're going to be looking at on some of the Sunday nights through the summer. 391 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:45,080 I hope that you will be joining us as we do that and talk about growing in Christ. 392 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:57,120 I'd like for us to sing in closing a verse of number 380 that talks about higher ground. 393 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:03,800 I had a hard time coming up with a closing hymn that dealt with the picture of the roots, 394 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:11,600 so we'll talk about this picture of pressing on the upward way, emphasizing our responsibility, 395 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:14,200 our diligence in growing in Christ. 396 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,480 Let's stand together as we sing. 397 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:27,520 Lord, lift me up and let me stand. 398 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:28,520 Verse 1, 380. 399 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:35,520 I'm pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day. 400 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:46,760 Still praying as I'm onward bound, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. 401 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:58,480 Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith on heaven's table and 402 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:03,480 a higher plain than I have found. 403 00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:11,520 Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. 404 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:13,240 I'd like for us to bow together. 405 00:34:13,240 --> 00:34:17,120 Would you bow with me as we close in prayer? 406 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:23,000 We've talked tonight about what is the very foundation for Christian growth, and that 407 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,320 is a genuine root. 408 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:34,080 I hope you have that root in your life of faith in Jesus Christ and experiential knowledge 409 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:41,880 of God, that you've heard the call of God and you've responded, that you have the grant 410 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:46,400 of everything that you will need in this world. 411 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:51,800 I hope you have that root, because that root is necessary for Christian growth. 412 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:57,480 And if you don't have it, if there's not that root of God in your life, would you tonight 413 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:03,200 hear his voice and trust the Savior? 414 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:08,600 And if you've heard it, would you just whisper a prayer to God as we close and ask him to 415 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:14,880 work in your life through the messages of 2 Peter to help you to grow, to press on the 416 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:18,240 upward way? 417 00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:22,280 Maybe you've been in a period of dormancy in your life and what you need right now is 418 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:24,240 a spurt of growth. 419 00:35:24,240 --> 00:35:27,360 Ask God to give that to you. 420 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:31,480 Lord, work in our lives to that end. 421 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,460 May we truly grow. 422 00:35:34,460 --> 00:35:39,520 Make us discontent to go on in the status quo. 423 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:47,320 Get us through the periods of dormancy and get us on the move growing, Father, so that 424 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:53,400 when we arrive one day in heaven we will not be an unfruitful people. 425 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,480 Bless I pray our study of this wonderful book this summer. 426 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:59,760 May it enrich our lives and help us in our growth. 427 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:18,160 In Jesus' name, amen.