Everything I Need For Life and Godliness
2 Peter Series: Make Every Effort
A Sermon By Jim Hammond from 2 Peter 1:1-4
THE SETTING:
The year was 67...not 1967, not
1867, AD 67. The first general persecution
had already taken the lives of many Christians under the cruel leadership
of Nero. Just 3 years earlier, was the great fire in Rome that turned
popular sentiment against Nero. People believed Nero had the fire started
on purpose. The fire burned for 9 days, destroying much of the city. It
was rumored that Nero played his violin while he watched the city burn.
It is true that Nero had wanted to build an expanded palace. It is true
that Nero wanted to build a more beautiful city. It is true that Nero
stopped at nothing to achieve his goals. He had people killed who got in
his way, including his own mother, who killed people to position herself
so that Nero could be put into the position of power that he was in. It
is also true that Nero attempted to deflect the blame for the fire, and
place it on the Christians. After he placed the blame of the fire on the
Christians, vicious rumors were spread about the Christian’s meetings. It
was said that they had cannibalistic practices in their meetings (a
falsity spread based on a misunderstanding of the Lord’s Supper). Nero
began to kill Christians publicly with unimaginable cruelty. He had
Christians sewn up in animal skins and tossed out for packs of hungry dogs
to devour. He hosted parties in his garden where he used Christians as
human torches, waxed and lit for light for the party. The more he tried
to stomp out Christianity the stronger the movement. Many times public
sympathy turned toward these Christians.
Such was the public climate in Rome, during the
timeframe when Peter wrote. He wrote 1 Peter shortly after the fire,
probably around AD 65. It is interesting to note the phrases describing
the suffering, and slander they endured. Notice this phrase,
1 Peter 4:12-13
(NASB) Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you,
[NIV translates this less literally with the phrase “painful ordeal” It
is possible that the use of the word fiery, alludes to the connection with
the slander about the fire in Rome, the lie which caused so much pain and
suffering ] which comes upon you for your testing, as though some
strange thing were happening to you;
13but to the degree that you share
the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the
revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.
Peter’s first letter helped teach the Christians how
to endure. The second letter continues along the same vein, offering
solid hope for these suffering Christians. But this time Peter had some
additional concerns. There was also now some dangerous false teaching
leading Christians astray. Peter writes urging Christians to be diligent,
to stand firm in the pure doctrine of Christ, and to stand firm because
Christ was returning. Peter addressed the tendency toward moral
corruption, answering the question, “How can I escape defilement?”. He
addressed the doctrinal compromises, answering the question, “What should
I expect from prophets?”, and he addressed the prophetic concerns,
answering the question, “Where will all this end?” He urged the
Christians to Be Pure! To Be Aware! And to Be Diligent!
One phrase is found often, “Make Every Effort” (1:5,
10, 15; 3:14, 18)]
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has
given us everything we need for life and godliness …
2 Peter 1:5 For this very
reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to
goodness, knowledge;
2 Peter 1:10-11 Therefore, my
brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election
sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, {11} and
you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:15 And I will make
every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to
remember these things.
2 Peter 3:14 So then, dear
friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort
to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
2 Peter 3:18 But grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be
glory both now and forever! Amen.
Spiritual growth is not automatic. God’s Word tells
us to make every effort to grow, and provides us with the recipe
for life and Godliness. There is a human side to the salvation equation,
that seems to be Peter’s thrust here.
Focus: Spiritual
life is a gift, but spiritual growth is a choice that requires effort.
There is a human side to this salvation equation.
There is a responsibility to receive it. A responsibility to make every
effort to grow the life you receive, and a responsibility to make your
election sure. In the opening of this letter we have an
interesting balance of what God has already done, with the human
responsibility to be diligent. You can see this right away when you
compare 1:3 with 1:5 [His divine power has given us everything we need
for life and godliness”(1:3) compared with “make every
effort”(1:5)]. Are you making every effort to grow?
I. I Have All the Necessary Ingredients (2 Peter 1:1-4)
This passage reads like a recipe to me. In parts
there seems to be a list of ingredients. See if it seems that way to
you. And notice what the recipe is for.
A. When I have received a faith… (v. 1)
2 Peter 1:1-11 Simon Peter, a
servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the
righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a
faith as precious as ours:
2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God
and of Jesus our Lord.
Do you realize how precious this faith is
that we have received? Peter did. Do you see what Peter is doing here,
helping Christians who have gone through a time of general hardship and
persecution redirect their focus to the positive, acknowledging the
preciousness of their faith, viewing it once again as that precious gift
they received. And it is a gift. Think of it.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I’m found,
was blind, but now I see.
Through many dangers, toils and snares …
And so Peter’s words encourage much like this
song encourages in the midst of difficulty. Do you realize that Peter is
saying all this, knowing that his time for death by Martyrdom is just
around the corner?
2 Peter 1:12-15 12So
I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and
are firmly established in the truth you now have.
13I
think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of
this body, 14because
I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made
clear to me. 15And
I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be
able to remember these things.
We transport ourselves back to Peter’s day,
and can imagine how meaningful and powerful his letters would have been to
the Christians, troubled by persecution. Listen, we don’t have to go back
in time to see how powerful and meaningful these words are. It isn’t hard
to imagine how meaningful these words are for persecuted Christians today
in other parts of the world.
(1:1) Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who
through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have
received a faith as precious as ours:
B.
Which means receiving GRACE & PEACE (v. 2)
2Grace and peace be yours in abundance
through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
G. Campbell Morgan was once approached by a
soldier who said he would give anything to believe that God would forgive
sins, "but I cannot believe He will forgive me if I just turn to Him. It
is too cheap." Dr. Morgan said to him: "You were working in the mine
today. How did you get out of the pit?"
He answered, "The way I usually do; I got into the cage and was pulled
to the top." "How much did you pay to come out of the pit?" "I didn't pay
anything." "Weren't you afraid to trust yourself to that cage? Was it not
too cheap?" The man replied, "Oh, no! It was cheap for me, but it cost the
company a lot of money to sink that shaft." The man saw the light, that it
was the infinite price paid by the Son of God for our salvation, which
comes to us by faith and not by anything that we can do.
[1]
Cheap grace is the grace we
bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without
requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without
confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the
cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace ...
is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye
which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the
disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
[2]
GRACE. Unmerited favor. G-R-A-C-E. God’s
Righteousness At Christ’s Expense.
PEACE is God’s Grace gift to us.
I saw a Peanuts cartoon with Lucy
saying to Charlie Brown, "I hate
everything. I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!"
Charlie says, "But I thought you
had inner peace."
Lucy replies, "I do have inner
peace. But I still have outer obnoxiousness"
[3]
The primary definition for Christian Peace is not
tranquility, as in the negative definition, a life where there is no pain,
a life where there is no hardship. The primary definition for Christian
peace is a positive definition. It’s not the absence of turmoil that
gives us peace. This peace is the positive presence of Christ that gives
us peace between ourselves and God. If you really have this kind of inner
peace it is not inner only. It is between you and God, objectively as
well as subjectively. As a result it makes a difference internally as
well as externally.
The enmity between ourselves and God has been
removed. We can now be at peace with God, and ourselves. When this is in
place it does make a settled difference when life’s cup is dumped over.
What’s in your cup? Peace or strife. When life turns your cup upside
down and everything spills out, that’s when you discover what’s really in
your cup. What comes out of your mouth and heart when the difficulties
tip your cup over?
2Grace and peace be yours in abundance
through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
When you really have an abundance of grace and peace
it makes a positive difference everyday.
The story is told of a
certain 9-year-old who is sitting at his desk in school when all of a
sudden there is a puddle between his feet, and the front of his pants are
wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop, because he knows when the boys
find out, he'll never hear the end of it. And when the girls find out,
they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.
The boy puts his head down
and prays this prayer: "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now!
Five minutes from now I'm dead meat." He looks up from his prayer, and
here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he's been
discovered.
As the teacher is coming to
snatch him up, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl filled
with water. She stumbles and dumps the goldfish bowl in his lap. He
pretends to be angry but prays, "Thank you, Jesus! I'm born again!"
Now, rather than being the
object of ridicule, this kid is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes
him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out.
When he comes back to class, all the kids are on their hands and knees
cleaning up around his desk. This sympathy is wonderful!
But as life would have it,
the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to Susie. She
tries to help, but they tell her to get out: "You've done enough, you
klutz!" As the day progresses, the sympathy gets better and better, and
the ridicule gets worse and worse.
Finally, at the end of the
day, they are waiting at the bus stop. The boy walks over to Susie and
whispers, "Susie, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Susie whispers back, "I wet
my pants once, too."
C. THROUGH AN INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE (v. 2)
How does one get this Grace and Peace that puts life
together? Peter tells us right up front.
2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Knowledge is a great thing. It’s so great, I try to
use not only all my brains, but all the brains I can borrow. But what
about the knowledge of God. Can one find that with brains alone? No. We
need revelation for that kind of knowledge. And God has given
revelation. He has revealed himself in history.
One person put it this way, "Reality is that
which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
[4]
There has been enough revelation in history that the reality of
Christ isn’t going away whether you believe in him or not.
Knowledge isn’t just head knowledge. Biblical
knowledge includes the concept of covenant relationship.
Remember the old KJV, Adam knew
his wife. That is the Hebrew way of saying Adam had intimacy with his
wife (in that context it is obviously sexual intimacy, an experience God
designed for marriage which bears the fruit of children). The Hebrew mind
and language referred to this covenant intercourse as intimate knowledge.
Interesting use of this word. Biblical knowledge includes the concept of
covenant relationship. How intimate is your knowledge of God? Is there
enough intimacy to bear fruit? Is life conceived in that intimacy. Does
life flow from God through you to another? When you have a relationship
with God through this kind of intimate knowledge…
2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord.
D. Of MY GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS (v. 1, 2, 3)
1. ONLY “Participants” (v. 4) ALREADY have what it takes to
live a godly life (v. 3)
3His divine power has given us everything we need for
life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his
own glory and goodness.
4Through these [ambiguous here. These what? faith? Divine
Power? Knowledge? His Glory and goodness?, probably this last phrase
which stands closest to the phrase “these” and it makes good sense—Through
Christ’s glory and goodness…] he has given us his very great and
precious promises, so that through them [them what? The precious
promises] you may participate in the divine nature and escape the
corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Everything necessary to live a godly life is not in
every individual innately. It comes from outside of ourselves, from a
savior. So if you are without a savior you don’t have everything you
need. As one invites Jesus into his or her life he or she becomes a
participant in the Divine Nature! Once we have received a faith, marked
by Grace and Peace, through the knowledge of God through Jesus, then His
divine power has given us everything we need for life and Godliness. Wow,
what a mouthful. Here’s another way to put it. Jesus is Everything I
need. If I have Jesus, I have everything I need for Life and Godliness.
When we invite Jesus into our lives, all the ingredients are on the
counter (like after we have everything out and we are looking at the
recipe) ready for us to put it together in our own life. How do we take
it from the counter and into our lives in the recipe for godliness?
That’s the question we will work on more next week.
[1]
James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 257-258.
[2]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship. Christianity Today,
Vol. 38, no. 2.
[3]
From Barbara Brokhoff, New and Improved Jesus? C.S.S., 1991,
p. 53.
[4]
Philip K. Dick, science fiction author, writer of the summer
blockbuster Minority Report
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