Click here for the audio message of James 1:2-11
This morning we start our study on the epistle of James. Now, everyone knows that James wrote this letter. The question is which James. Is it James the brother of John or James the half-brother of Jesus Christ.
Most scholars believe that it was indeed James the brother of Christ, because James the brother of John was executed for His faith shortly after Christ’s death and resurrection.
James of course would have first hand knowledge of the life of Christ and is writing this letter to the Christians that are scattered around the area due to the persecutions, much like Peter’s letters that we just finished looking at.
The main theme of the letter is the relationship between faith and works. This is a very practical letter for Christian living. James opens his letter by looking at the importance of perseverance when we face trials and temptations.
Right away, James mentioned several different situations that we as believers must get through in our lives. First, as we studied through out Peter’s letter, there will be trials for each of us. What the trial is will no doubt be different for us, but we will all have them throughout our lives.
Second, James mentions the rich and the poor of the world. Some people have more money than they need. Some people don’t have enough money to meet their basic needs. But when we come to Christ, either rich or poor, we are all equal. God is no respecter of people, he treats us equally.
Lastly, James mentions temptations. We all face temptation. The temptation does not come from God. God is Holy and has no capacity for evil. He is perfectly right and just. God allows us to be tempted though by the lusts and desires of this world.
God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our limits and he always provides an escape for us. The question is whether or not we take His escape or we give in to the temptation. That decision is up to each and every one of us in all circumstances.
In verse 2, James tells his readers to consider these things pure joy. A human or worldly response is not joy when we are faced with trials. Think about it. The last time you had a flat tire did you rejoice? Yeah, me either. Although afterward, I thank God that he kept me safe and I was able to get through the situation.
But the idea is to make a conscious commitment to face trials with joy, knowing that God is indeed in control. And that He is there with you, guiding you, and strengthening you. God doesn’t send us these trials just for His fun and amusement. He has a plan and purpose for allowing them to occur in our life. We may not understand it of course, but God knows.
As we face these trials and we persevere through them our faith, our maturity, our closeness to God increases. It gives us a deeper commitment and trusting relationship with our Lord. It brings us closer to God.
Going through trials also shows our weaknesses and things that we need to work on in life. In verse 5, James said we need wisdom from God. How often do you pray for wisdom or thank God for wisdom? This wisdom is the practical skill that is necessary to live life to God’s glory.
When we have that and do that everything else doesn’t really matter because everything just falls in to place as God has prepared it for us. The faithful believer asks for wisdom and other needs through prayer.
The person described in verses 6 through 8 is a weak or wishy washy believer. They are the rocky soil. They readily accept the word of God but when tough times come fall away. They do not have a strong faith. They do not have that solid foundation. Their roots are shallow.
When a trial comes to you, and it will, you can either ask God for the wisdom and strength to get through it, or you can allow the trial to turn into a temptation and turn from God and back to your sin nature.
For example, a recovering alcoholic or drug addict. Things are going pretty well. They have their life turned around. They are working and have been sober for a while. But then something happens. A trial comes. Maybe it is a bad day. Maybe they get fired. Maybe they run into one of their old buddies.
Whatever it is, a trial comes to them. The issue is how do they handle that trial. Do they ask God for the wisdom and strength to get through the trial. Or do they give in to that trial and turn it into a temptation to open the bottle or go party with that friend.
It is tough. We all face these kinds of trials in our lives. And sometimes we do fail. Sometimes we do let that trial turn into a temptation. But we must remember that God is still there for us, even after we fail.
God is the ultimate example of goodness and dependability. God is the same. He does not change and He will not change. We can depend on God for what we need, no matter what your situation is, no matter how bad you have been. God is there to extend His forgiveness and strengthen you for the journey ahead.
Think of the trials and temptations you are currently facing. Think about how this passage of scripture this morning applies to your life right now. How can you be encouraged and increase your dependence on God during those tough times.
Sometimes during a trial or temptation that is tough to do. Think back to times when you were in trouble and see how God’s hand was indeed at work in your life. See how God has always been there doing what He does. Providing comfort. Providing peace. Providing strength.
God is dependable. He is faithful. Remember that the next time trouble comes your way. We are tested to prove our faithfulness. Our testing produces enduring patience in our lives. That is something I think we all need.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. We thank you for giving us this practical guide to living a Christian life through your brother James. Help us to face our trials with joy, knowing that you are there waiting for us to come to you for our strength, for our endurance, for our patience.
We thank you for your unending and unchanging presence in our lives. Give us the wisdom that we need to face each day’s adventures in our journey through this life. Guide us so that we may live to glorify you in all that we say and do.
AMEN
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
God is In Control
Click here for the audio message of 2 Peter 3:1-10
We finish up our study of the book of 2 Peter this morning. Last time we looked at Peter’s warning to the people about false teachers. He said that we need to pay close attention to what the preacher/teacher says and evaluate their statements and lifestyles based upon Scripture.
False teachers may look and sound good on the outside for a while, but they cannot hide their true feelings on the inside. They are really only interested in themselves. They are greedy, they want the power, the prestige, and money.
Sure they may start off with the word of God, but eventually they soften their message to tell the people what they want to hear, and of course the people need to send them money. This type of thing was happening in Peter’s day and it continues today.
Peter tells us that God has judged the wickedness of the world in the past and gave the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also gave the example of the flood in Noah’s day. This leads right into the conclusion of Peter’s letter today. And that conclusion is don’t lose hope. God is in control.
When you think about your own life, maybe there was a time when you were feeling a little down or little let down or disappointed in God. Maybe you felt as though He didn’t come through for you. He didn’t answer your prayer the way you expected.
This can happen to us, especially when we start listening to what the world says. But at some point you had to realize that God’s answer was best for you at that particular time. It may not have been what you wanted to happen, but God knows best and gave you what you needed.
The people of Peter’s day were expecting Christ to return and take them all to Heaven any day. In fact, the people of Thessalonica were actually quitting their jobs and just hanging out waiting for the return of Christ. Paul wrote them a letter and said you can’t do that. You have to continue living your life today, but prepare for Christ’s return tomorrow!
The world was mocking the followers of Christ, saying “Where is this Jesus. He said He was coming back for you, but where is He?” So, Peter encourages his listeners to stay strong in the faith.
He also tells them what to expect in the last days, the days that we are still living in today. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Christ will return when the world does not expect Him.
He is not slow. He did not forget about us. Rather He is patient with us and the world, waiting for all to come to repentance. He is giving the world the chance to change their ways and He uses us and wants us to go out and tell the world about Him so they will indeed change.
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. We as believers need to be out their telling the world about the One true God and how to come to salvation through Jesus Christ. And we tell people about Jesus Christ not jus through our words, but our actions as well.
Peter is telling his readers these things so they do not become disappointed with God. It still applies to us today as well. God has not abandoned us as some people think. We cannot believe these false teachers or the deceptions of Satan. We must continue believing and serving God.
God is in control. It may not seem like it at times, but He is. When we doubt this we must just accept it on faith. As we mature and our eyes are opened we will see God’s hand at work, not only in our life, but in the lives of others around us. We can see God answering our prayers.
God is in control. He will keep His promises. He says He will return for us and He will. Until then, we need to continue to serve Him. We must separate ourselves from sin and let God’s love rule in our hearts. We need to live a Christ-like life and serve Him while waiting for His return.
We must guard our faith. The world, the false teachers, and Satan all want us to turn from God. They want us out of fellowship with Him. So we need to be strong in our faith as we follow Christ. We need to continue to grow and mature as Christians and truly know Christ.
Peter talks a lot about the knowledge of Christ. This isn’t just an intellectual knowledge of Christ. Rather this is an intimate knowledge of who He is, what He’s done, and what He will do. And not just knowing it in a factual way, but believing it and living out your life accordingly.
It is challenging, no doubt about it and the temptations of this world do not make it any easier. The world seems to know when you are down and out, feeling stressed, upset, sad, angry or whatever. And he world is ready to help you out with its solutions, not God’s.
We all experience times like this. I think partly because of our unrealistic expectations that we place on ourselves and others and honestly even on God. This is when you need to be on your guard and truly come to Christ for your strength.
We need to remind ourselves that God is in control and He has a plan for your life and He has a plan for others as well. And all of those plans fit together somehow even though we don’t know it or can’t understand it.
Sometimes though there are lessons we need to learn and God allows certain “bad” things in our lives to happen so we learn those lessons and we can be strengthened through those trials for the future.
God is not slack in His promises. He will return again for us, we must live our lives accordingly.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many blessings in our lives. We thank you for being there and answering our prayers. We ask for your forgiveness when we feel that you have not answered our prayers the way we wanted.
Open our eyes so that we may see the plan and purpose You have for each and every one of us. Help us to be patient and remember that you are in control. Thank you for taking care of us and doing what is best for us.
AMEN
We finish up our study of the book of 2 Peter this morning. Last time we looked at Peter’s warning to the people about false teachers. He said that we need to pay close attention to what the preacher/teacher says and evaluate their statements and lifestyles based upon Scripture.
False teachers may look and sound good on the outside for a while, but they cannot hide their true feelings on the inside. They are really only interested in themselves. They are greedy, they want the power, the prestige, and money.
Sure they may start off with the word of God, but eventually they soften their message to tell the people what they want to hear, and of course the people need to send them money. This type of thing was happening in Peter’s day and it continues today.
Peter tells us that God has judged the wickedness of the world in the past and gave the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also gave the example of the flood in Noah’s day. This leads right into the conclusion of Peter’s letter today. And that conclusion is don’t lose hope. God is in control.
When you think about your own life, maybe there was a time when you were feeling a little down or little let down or disappointed in God. Maybe you felt as though He didn’t come through for you. He didn’t answer your prayer the way you expected.
This can happen to us, especially when we start listening to what the world says. But at some point you had to realize that God’s answer was best for you at that particular time. It may not have been what you wanted to happen, but God knows best and gave you what you needed.
The people of Peter’s day were expecting Christ to return and take them all to Heaven any day. In fact, the people of Thessalonica were actually quitting their jobs and just hanging out waiting for the return of Christ. Paul wrote them a letter and said you can’t do that. You have to continue living your life today, but prepare for Christ’s return tomorrow!
The world was mocking the followers of Christ, saying “Where is this Jesus. He said He was coming back for you, but where is He?” So, Peter encourages his listeners to stay strong in the faith.
He also tells them what to expect in the last days, the days that we are still living in today. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Christ will return when the world does not expect Him.
He is not slow. He did not forget about us. Rather He is patient with us and the world, waiting for all to come to repentance. He is giving the world the chance to change their ways and He uses us and wants us to go out and tell the world about Him so they will indeed change.
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. We as believers need to be out their telling the world about the One true God and how to come to salvation through Jesus Christ. And we tell people about Jesus Christ not jus through our words, but our actions as well.
Peter is telling his readers these things so they do not become disappointed with God. It still applies to us today as well. God has not abandoned us as some people think. We cannot believe these false teachers or the deceptions of Satan. We must continue believing and serving God.
God is in control. It may not seem like it at times, but He is. When we doubt this we must just accept it on faith. As we mature and our eyes are opened we will see God’s hand at work, not only in our life, but in the lives of others around us. We can see God answering our prayers.
God is in control. He will keep His promises. He says He will return for us and He will. Until then, we need to continue to serve Him. We must separate ourselves from sin and let God’s love rule in our hearts. We need to live a Christ-like life and serve Him while waiting for His return.
We must guard our faith. The world, the false teachers, and Satan all want us to turn from God. They want us out of fellowship with Him. So we need to be strong in our faith as we follow Christ. We need to continue to grow and mature as Christians and truly know Christ.
Peter talks a lot about the knowledge of Christ. This isn’t just an intellectual knowledge of Christ. Rather this is an intimate knowledge of who He is, what He’s done, and what He will do. And not just knowing it in a factual way, but believing it and living out your life accordingly.
It is challenging, no doubt about it and the temptations of this world do not make it any easier. The world seems to know when you are down and out, feeling stressed, upset, sad, angry or whatever. And he world is ready to help you out with its solutions, not God’s.
We all experience times like this. I think partly because of our unrealistic expectations that we place on ourselves and others and honestly even on God. This is when you need to be on your guard and truly come to Christ for your strength.
We need to remind ourselves that God is in control and He has a plan for your life and He has a plan for others as well. And all of those plans fit together somehow even though we don’t know it or can’t understand it.
Sometimes though there are lessons we need to learn and God allows certain “bad” things in our lives to happen so we learn those lessons and we can be strengthened through those trials for the future.
God is not slack in His promises. He will return again for us, we must live our lives accordingly.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many blessings in our lives. We thank you for being there and answering our prayers. We ask for your forgiveness when we feel that you have not answered our prayers the way we wanted.
Open our eyes so that we may see the plan and purpose You have for each and every one of us. Help us to be patient and remember that you are in control. Thank you for taking care of us and doing what is best for us.
AMEN
Sunday, September 12, 2010
False Teachers
Click here for the audio message of 2 Peter 2:1-10
Last week in Second Peter chapter 1 we read of Peter telling his people, his fellow Christians around the country to maintain themselves. They are to live out their faith by adding the characteristics of Christ to their life.
Some of those attributes are virtue, self control, knowledge, patience, godliness, kindness, and love. We are supposed to practice these things so we are faithful and fruitful servants of God.
At the end of chapter one Peter mentions that all Scripture comes from God. It was not invented or dreamed up by men. And that leads right into today’s discussion of false teachers in chapter two.
Peter describes false teachers in detail throughout this chapter. He realized the importance of Christians recognizing false teachers by their characteristics and their methods.
Peter knew that nothing was more wicked than for someone to claim to be speaking for God or from God, but really are servants of Satan. Satan’s goal has always been to infiltrate the true believers and to corrupt them with his wickedness.
Satan has been in the business of deception since Eve in the Garden of Eden. But Satan does not win the war. God does prevail and God’s justice is carried out. Peter gives a couple of examples from the Old Testament about this.
He mentions the angels falling from Glory. He mentions Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. He mentions Noah and His family. God is not asleep. He sees and knows what goes on and His wrath and His justice will be poured out upon false teachers and the unbelievers someday according to His plan and purpose.
It can be difficult at times to discern a false preacher or teacher. They look like good bible believers and teachers, but they teach heresies. The basic error of most false teachers is the fact that they will not submit their lives to Jesus Christ.
Their motive is not love of God or love of others, but rather they are motivated by their greed. The love themselves and they love money. They love the power over others or the title of their position. They are controlled by the desires of their flesh.
The question becomes, “Why do people follow false teachers?”
Many of these false teachers have very charismatic personalities. They are able to charm people with their looks and with their words. Mainly, because they say the things people want to hear.
Think about it, nobody wants to hear, “You need to repent or stop doing that sin and you need to dedicate your life to the service of God.” People don’t want to hear that. Instead people want to here, “Send me $100 and your sins will be forgiven.”
I do not think most of the false teachers start out as false teachers. I think they really do start out with the intention of proclaiming the Gospel, but the power and the money gets to them. They are overwhelmed with the deception and lies of Satan.
After a while, they determine they need to do whatever it is they can do to keep people following them, so even though they know the truth they stray from it just to keep the people happy. That is how it all starts.
After a while they even begin to believe their own lies. They are able to fool others and they are even fooling themselves. But they cannot fool God. There will be a more severe punishment for those people, because they knew the truth, yet they taught these lies and deceptions.
I think the false teachers are becoming more popular today because they bring an easy believism gospel and prosperity gospel. A gospel that the people want, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They tickle the ears of people rather than delving into the Word of God and explaining it.
While I do believe technology has helped proclaim the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, I also believe that many false teachers have benefited from it as well. You don’t like what one pastor says, log on to another website or simply change the channel.
So many Christians are looking for a show each week. They are looking to be entertained rather than being taught the Word of God and disciplined by the Word of God as needed. We too, like the people of Peter’s day, need to recognize false teachers.
We need to test the things that the pastor or teacher says against what the Word of God says. Now, none of us is perfect. Once in a while I say something that is incorrect, like saying Peter said this when it was really Paul who wrote that. But the incorrect statements that I make are not meant to be deceptive.
Whenever I do say something that is incorrect I would hope that someone would correct me, especially on doctrinal issues. Or at least give me the opportunity to further explain what I was saying and if I am wrong then you show me based upon Scripture how I am wrong.
False teachers won’t do that. They don’t what to discuss the bible. They simple want to say what they want to say and have no questions about it.
When dealing with false teachers we also need to look at their lifestyles and see how they live. Do they live by biblical standards? Do they practice what they preach? We need to evaluate things and think for ourselves rather than just trusting the so called experts.
God holds true to His Word. These false teachers will be judged according to their actions someday. We cannot fall into their trap, the deception of Satan. We must prevail with the Truth of God’s Word.
In order to do that it must be written on our hearts. We must know the Word, so we can evaluate what others say. We must live like Christ to set an example for others.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly father, we thank you for your word. We know that the things you say, you will hold true. We know that judgment is coming upon all who reject you. We ask for the wisdom and knowledge to withstand the influences of evil in this world today.
Fill our lives with your word so that we may easily recognize those false teachers and expose them as such.
AMEN
Last week in Second Peter chapter 1 we read of Peter telling his people, his fellow Christians around the country to maintain themselves. They are to live out their faith by adding the characteristics of Christ to their life.
Some of those attributes are virtue, self control, knowledge, patience, godliness, kindness, and love. We are supposed to practice these things so we are faithful and fruitful servants of God.
At the end of chapter one Peter mentions that all Scripture comes from God. It was not invented or dreamed up by men. And that leads right into today’s discussion of false teachers in chapter two.
Peter describes false teachers in detail throughout this chapter. He realized the importance of Christians recognizing false teachers by their characteristics and their methods.
Peter knew that nothing was more wicked than for someone to claim to be speaking for God or from God, but really are servants of Satan. Satan’s goal has always been to infiltrate the true believers and to corrupt them with his wickedness.
Satan has been in the business of deception since Eve in the Garden of Eden. But Satan does not win the war. God does prevail and God’s justice is carried out. Peter gives a couple of examples from the Old Testament about this.
He mentions the angels falling from Glory. He mentions Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. He mentions Noah and His family. God is not asleep. He sees and knows what goes on and His wrath and His justice will be poured out upon false teachers and the unbelievers someday according to His plan and purpose.
It can be difficult at times to discern a false preacher or teacher. They look like good bible believers and teachers, but they teach heresies. The basic error of most false teachers is the fact that they will not submit their lives to Jesus Christ.
Their motive is not love of God or love of others, but rather they are motivated by their greed. The love themselves and they love money. They love the power over others or the title of their position. They are controlled by the desires of their flesh.
The question becomes, “Why do people follow false teachers?”
Many of these false teachers have very charismatic personalities. They are able to charm people with their looks and with their words. Mainly, because they say the things people want to hear.
Think about it, nobody wants to hear, “You need to repent or stop doing that sin and you need to dedicate your life to the service of God.” People don’t want to hear that. Instead people want to here, “Send me $100 and your sins will be forgiven.”
I do not think most of the false teachers start out as false teachers. I think they really do start out with the intention of proclaiming the Gospel, but the power and the money gets to them. They are overwhelmed with the deception and lies of Satan.
After a while, they determine they need to do whatever it is they can do to keep people following them, so even though they know the truth they stray from it just to keep the people happy. That is how it all starts.
After a while they even begin to believe their own lies. They are able to fool others and they are even fooling themselves. But they cannot fool God. There will be a more severe punishment for those people, because they knew the truth, yet they taught these lies and deceptions.
I think the false teachers are becoming more popular today because they bring an easy believism gospel and prosperity gospel. A gospel that the people want, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They tickle the ears of people rather than delving into the Word of God and explaining it.
While I do believe technology has helped proclaim the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, I also believe that many false teachers have benefited from it as well. You don’t like what one pastor says, log on to another website or simply change the channel.
So many Christians are looking for a show each week. They are looking to be entertained rather than being taught the Word of God and disciplined by the Word of God as needed. We too, like the people of Peter’s day, need to recognize false teachers.
We need to test the things that the pastor or teacher says against what the Word of God says. Now, none of us is perfect. Once in a while I say something that is incorrect, like saying Peter said this when it was really Paul who wrote that. But the incorrect statements that I make are not meant to be deceptive.
Whenever I do say something that is incorrect I would hope that someone would correct me, especially on doctrinal issues. Or at least give me the opportunity to further explain what I was saying and if I am wrong then you show me based upon Scripture how I am wrong.
False teachers won’t do that. They don’t what to discuss the bible. They simple want to say what they want to say and have no questions about it.
When dealing with false teachers we also need to look at their lifestyles and see how they live. Do they live by biblical standards? Do they practice what they preach? We need to evaluate things and think for ourselves rather than just trusting the so called experts.
God holds true to His Word. These false teachers will be judged according to their actions someday. We cannot fall into their trap, the deception of Satan. We must prevail with the Truth of God’s Word.
In order to do that it must be written on our hearts. We must know the Word, so we can evaluate what others say. We must live like Christ to set an example for others.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly father, we thank you for your word. We know that the things you say, you will hold true. We know that judgment is coming upon all who reject you. We ask for the wisdom and knowledge to withstand the influences of evil in this world today.
Fill our lives with your word so that we may easily recognize those false teachers and expose them as such.
AMEN
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Self Discipline
Click here for the audio message of 2 Peter 1:4-11
We start our look at Peter’s second inspired letter to the believers scattered around the country. If you remember we said that Peter’s first letter was to encourage his readers during times of persecution. He told them to watch out for the trials that come from outside the church.
In his second letter, Peter warns his readers from trials that occur inside the church. Whether it is from laziness on the believer’s part or actually heresy from the leaders, Peter says to watch out. To be on guard.
Peter tells the people to be disciplined. That was a problem they were apparently experiencing way back then. You know what? It is still a problem we face today as well. For the most part we have become an undisciplined society and unfortunately it has rubbed off on us Christians as well.
God has given us so many good things, so many blessings each and every day. He gives us what we need. And He has given us the greatest gift of all, eternal life through Jesus Christ. How much better can it get? But yet, with all the blessing He gives us we often times become a little lazy if you will in our lives, especially our spiritual life.
God has instilled in us certain characteristics or attribute that all Christians have, it is just a matter of how much we let those attitudes show in our lives. God gives us what we need. He gives us faith.
Peter tells us to add to our faith certain things. He is telling us to practice our faith by demonstrating these attitudes in our life and each attitude builds up to the next one.
First, Peter says to add to your faith virtue. Virtue is a tough word to place into our society today. But Peter is talking about moral excellence. This is the God given will power to live a life of excellence, thinking about others and acting upon those thoughts.
This is the stranger who runs into a burning building to save a child. It takes courage and strength to be this type of person. Like all of these attributes it takes practice.
Next, Peter says to add knowledge. Here he is referring to not book smarts about any subject. Rather he is referring to knowledge about Jesus Christ. Not just Bible knowledge, because there are many people who know the Bible well. This knowledge is that intimate knowledge of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Peter says as Christians living an excellent life for Jesus Christ, we must have self control. We must be disciplined. A Christian must control their flesh, their worldly passions, and bodily desires. We must control our desires or else our desires will control us.
Adding to our self control is perseverance or patience. We must endure whatever it takes when we are doing what is right in God’s eyes. We cannot give in to our temptations or turn away from God during our trials.
With our perseverance comes godliness. To be godly is to live reverently, loyally, and obediently toward God. God has given us everything we need. Rather than asking Him for more, we need to ask Him to enable us to use what we have in order to serve Him.
Godly people want to be like God, even though we will never see perfection in this world. They want to live out their life like God lives. It is dependence on Him and a life that is devoted to Him.
When we are living a godly life with others then we will automatically add brotherly kindness to our life. This is the love of other believers. We are to love each other and should make sacrifices for one another.
Finally, Peter says not only do we love other believers, but we have a love for others in general. We are to love our enemies. We are to love the sinners as God loves them. God wants them to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ and that should be our mission as well.
As you read through these attributes they are all descriptive in the English language. We would probably refer to them as adjectives in many cases. That is how a lot of these words translate from the original Greek.
But when you actually study the original Greek, many of these words were not descriptive adjectives at all. Rather they were action words, verbs as we call them. And that is what Peter is getting at.
Peter tells us that when these characteristics are active in our lives, then we are useful to God. It takes practice to include these things in our lives, but it is what we are supposed to be doing as faithful believers and followers of Jesus Christ.
It takes discipline to live the Christian life today. It takes an effort. Faith is not something we say we have, it is something that we show in our life style. We practice and live out our faith. Being disciplined shows your love for God.
As believers pursue these qualities in their life they will see a difference. They will find they will have a meaningful, useful, and fruitful life. When tough times come, and they will, they will not struggle with doubt, fear, or despair. Because they know that God is there with them and that His Word can be trusted.
Think about your life this week. Think about the spiritual areas that you need to be more disciplined in. Think about some of the areas where you have been disciplined and how it has helped you, especially during those tough times.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank you for coming into our lives and enabling us to live fruitful lives for you. Help us to use the gifts that you have given us to serve you better so that we may bring sinners to you so that they may also come to know you and find forgiveness.
AMEN
We start our look at Peter’s second inspired letter to the believers scattered around the country. If you remember we said that Peter’s first letter was to encourage his readers during times of persecution. He told them to watch out for the trials that come from outside the church.
In his second letter, Peter warns his readers from trials that occur inside the church. Whether it is from laziness on the believer’s part or actually heresy from the leaders, Peter says to watch out. To be on guard.
Peter tells the people to be disciplined. That was a problem they were apparently experiencing way back then. You know what? It is still a problem we face today as well. For the most part we have become an undisciplined society and unfortunately it has rubbed off on us Christians as well.
God has given us so many good things, so many blessings each and every day. He gives us what we need. And He has given us the greatest gift of all, eternal life through Jesus Christ. How much better can it get? But yet, with all the blessing He gives us we often times become a little lazy if you will in our lives, especially our spiritual life.
God has instilled in us certain characteristics or attribute that all Christians have, it is just a matter of how much we let those attitudes show in our lives. God gives us what we need. He gives us faith.
Peter tells us to add to our faith certain things. He is telling us to practice our faith by demonstrating these attitudes in our life and each attitude builds up to the next one.
First, Peter says to add to your faith virtue. Virtue is a tough word to place into our society today. But Peter is talking about moral excellence. This is the God given will power to live a life of excellence, thinking about others and acting upon those thoughts.
This is the stranger who runs into a burning building to save a child. It takes courage and strength to be this type of person. Like all of these attributes it takes practice.
Next, Peter says to add knowledge. Here he is referring to not book smarts about any subject. Rather he is referring to knowledge about Jesus Christ. Not just Bible knowledge, because there are many people who know the Bible well. This knowledge is that intimate knowledge of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Peter says as Christians living an excellent life for Jesus Christ, we must have self control. We must be disciplined. A Christian must control their flesh, their worldly passions, and bodily desires. We must control our desires or else our desires will control us.
Adding to our self control is perseverance or patience. We must endure whatever it takes when we are doing what is right in God’s eyes. We cannot give in to our temptations or turn away from God during our trials.
With our perseverance comes godliness. To be godly is to live reverently, loyally, and obediently toward God. God has given us everything we need. Rather than asking Him for more, we need to ask Him to enable us to use what we have in order to serve Him.
Godly people want to be like God, even though we will never see perfection in this world. They want to live out their life like God lives. It is dependence on Him and a life that is devoted to Him.
When we are living a godly life with others then we will automatically add brotherly kindness to our life. This is the love of other believers. We are to love each other and should make sacrifices for one another.
Finally, Peter says not only do we love other believers, but we have a love for others in general. We are to love our enemies. We are to love the sinners as God loves them. God wants them to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ and that should be our mission as well.
As you read through these attributes they are all descriptive in the English language. We would probably refer to them as adjectives in many cases. That is how a lot of these words translate from the original Greek.
But when you actually study the original Greek, many of these words were not descriptive adjectives at all. Rather they were action words, verbs as we call them. And that is what Peter is getting at.
Peter tells us that when these characteristics are active in our lives, then we are useful to God. It takes practice to include these things in our lives, but it is what we are supposed to be doing as faithful believers and followers of Jesus Christ.
It takes discipline to live the Christian life today. It takes an effort. Faith is not something we say we have, it is something that we show in our life style. We practice and live out our faith. Being disciplined shows your love for God.
As believers pursue these qualities in their life they will see a difference. They will find they will have a meaningful, useful, and fruitful life. When tough times come, and they will, they will not struggle with doubt, fear, or despair. Because they know that God is there with them and that His Word can be trusted.
Think about your life this week. Think about the spiritual areas that you need to be more disciplined in. Think about some of the areas where you have been disciplined and how it has helped you, especially during those tough times.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank you for coming into our lives and enabling us to live fruitful lives for you. Help us to use the gifts that you have given us to serve you better so that we may bring sinners to you so that they may also come to know you and find forgiveness.
AMEN
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