2 Peter 1:3-11 …
I want you to know that God says that, as
believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are Power Equipped to do all that He has
asked us to do.
There are about 10 different lessons in this passage, but we’re going to focus on one idea, found initially in verse 3, and expanded on in subsequent verses: “His 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.”
In His Word, God calls us to be godly, and He equips us to be godly... By His Word He gives us the tools to be godly... Cecil B. DeMille was making one of his great epic movies. He had 6 cameras at various points to pick up the overall action and 5 other cameras set up to film developments involving major characters. The large cast had begun rehearsing the scene at 6am and they went through it 4 times. Now it was late after-noon. The sun was setting & there was just enough light to get the shot done. DeMille looked over the panor-ama, saw that all was right, & gave the command for action. One hundred extras charged up the hill; another hundred came storming down the same to hill to do mock battle. In another location Roman centurions lash-ed and shouted at 200 slaves who labored to move a huge stone monument toward its resting place. Mean-while the principal characters acted out their reactions on the hill. Their words were drowned out by the noise around them, but the dialogue was to be dubbed in later. It took 15 minutes to complete the scene. When it was over, DeMille yelled, "Cut!" and turned to his assistant, all smiles. "That was great!" he said… "It was, C.B.," the assistant yelled back. "It was fantastic! Everything went off perfectly!" Enormously pleased, DeMille turned to face the head of the camera crew to find out if all the cameras had picked up what they had been assigned to film. He waved to the camera crew supervisor…From the top of the hill, the camera supervisor waved back, raised his megaphone, and called out, "Ready when you are C.B!"
It was a great scene…It was a perfect day…The lighting ideal…All of the actors & actresses performed their parts flawlessly…Everything worked just as it should… except there was something missing. Some-thing had been overlooked. And because something had been overlooked, all their efforts were in vain. Can you imagine how discouraging that must have been? Can you imagine how frustrating it would be to invest your life into a project of that magnitude only to find that it had been for nothing.
Listen, Paul said that could happen to us as well: “no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (I Corinthians 3:11-15)
Believe it or not, It is possible for us to end up empty-handed on the day of judgment. To stand before God on that last day and have nothing to show for all the time we’ve been in church. Or Sunday school or Bible study. Paul was telling us that if we build with wrong materials - we can still be saved – but our Christianity will be shown to be – as we read in 2 Peter 1:8 – “ineffective and unproductive”.
I want to talk about three things that are
always important parts of the Christian life, as well as important parts of the
church today… I will use just three words to describe them; Purpose; Plan; and
Reward. There are about 10 different lessons in this passage, but we’re going to focus on one idea, found initially in verse 3, and expanded on in subsequent verses: “His 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.”
In His Word, God calls us to be godly, and He equips us to be godly... By His Word He gives us the tools to be godly... Cecil B. DeMille was making one of his great epic movies. He had 6 cameras at various points to pick up the overall action and 5 other cameras set up to film developments involving major characters. The large cast had begun rehearsing the scene at 6am and they went through it 4 times. Now it was late after-noon. The sun was setting & there was just enough light to get the shot done. DeMille looked over the panor-ama, saw that all was right, & gave the command for action. One hundred extras charged up the hill; another hundred came storming down the same to hill to do mock battle. In another location Roman centurions lash-ed and shouted at 200 slaves who labored to move a huge stone monument toward its resting place. Mean-while the principal characters acted out their reactions on the hill. Their words were drowned out by the noise around them, but the dialogue was to be dubbed in later. It took 15 minutes to complete the scene. When it was over, DeMille yelled, "Cut!" and turned to his assistant, all smiles. "That was great!" he said… "It was, C.B.," the assistant yelled back. "It was fantastic! Everything went off perfectly!" Enormously pleased, DeMille turned to face the head of the camera crew to find out if all the cameras had picked up what they had been assigned to film. He waved to the camera crew supervisor…From the top of the hill, the camera supervisor waved back, raised his megaphone, and called out, "Ready when you are C.B!"
It was a great scene…It was a perfect day…The lighting ideal…All of the actors & actresses performed their parts flawlessly…Everything worked just as it should… except there was something missing. Some-thing had been overlooked. And because something had been overlooked, all their efforts were in vain. Can you imagine how discouraging that must have been? Can you imagine how frustrating it would be to invest your life into a project of that magnitude only to find that it had been for nothing.
Listen, Paul said that could happen to us as well: “no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (I Corinthians 3:11-15)
Believe it or not, It is possible for us to end up empty-handed on the day of judgment. To stand before God on that last day and have nothing to show for all the time we’ve been in church. Or Sunday school or Bible study. Paul was telling us that if we build with wrong materials - we can still be saved – but our Christianity will be shown to be – as we read in 2 Peter 1:8 – “ineffective and unproductive”.
Many times throughout scripture these three things can be found. For instance; “What would you say is the “purpose” in this scripture? ( end of vs 4 “so that”…”you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world” ) Does that mean that nothing bad will ever happen? Or, that we won’t have to ever suffer the consequences of sin? No. It simply means that – because of our knowledge of God and His Word - we will be smart enough and wise enough to keep our fingers out of the fire!
What then is the “reward”? – ( Vs 10 “you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. )
And, What is the plan – so that the purpose will be accomplished and the reward will be received? (“make every effort to add to your faith…” Why these things? …“they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive”… Hello?
Now lets go back and look at the “Plan”… First we have to have “faith”…You can’t add to something you don’t have! The Word says that “those who come to God must first believe that He exists”! That’s faith… Believing faith! “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
Add to your faith “goodness”. What is goodness? Goodness has to do with our character. It is a virtue of our character. If we say a person is a “good” person, we mean - ( honest, loyal, trustworthy, loving, kind, and so on. ) Someone once said; “Your ideal is what you wish you were; your reputation is what people say you are; and your character is what you really are”.
Add - “Knowledge” – There are several levels to the meaning of Knowledge. First, there is “general knowledge” A lot of Christians I would say try to live the Christian lifestyle with “general” knowledge. They know a few Bible stories, a few Bible characters; a few scriptures that have become familiar; and of course they know at least five of the Ten Commandments…and could probably name at least ten books of the Bible.
The second level of knowledge would be “understanding” or comprehension. At this level there is an under-standing of biblical concepts…and of biblical truths. There is an understanding of who God is and what God did and can do…but little faith that He will! Christianity is a faith or a belief and it somehow makes life better. The third level is “wisdom” knowledge. That is, the general knowledge and the understanding goes deeper into the brain and the heart…and we actually apply it to our lives and our daily walk..
Add - “Self-Control” – Having control over…or mastering our desires, passions, appetites, senses, and emotions. Being able to live life according to Godly standards and God’s guidelines. One of the easiest ways for Satan to get in and destroy our lives and our witness is through the door of “self-control” (or should I say the lack of…)
Add - “Perseverance” – Perseverance calls for patience and the ability to wait… It also calls for depend-ence upon God and His power… It sometimes calls for true faith – as in “leaning not on our understanding” but trusting God and His knowledge and timing.
Add - “Godliness” – This is not a holiness or “holier-than-Thou” kind of character, but, a reverence for a God that is! It is not an outward compliance to rules or even an outward compliance to God’s Word… It is an inward purity of heart and mind that makes our relationship real!
Add - “Brotherly Kindness” and “Love” - I have combined the last two because they are so inter-related. We are commanded to love one another…and to love God…and to love our neighbors… and to show kindness above all things to all people. We are asked a rhetorical question in God’s Word that says “If we can’t love our brother who we can see, how can we love God who we can’t see?”
So, the “plan” is to add to our faith…all these things…And, notice that we never have enough. There is never a point where we can say “I have all that in my life”…because it says “in ever-increasing measure”
How do you know if you are following God’s plan? ( There will be Fruit! )
Part 2 tomorrow….
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