Knowing is Half the Battle
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· 2 viewsFirst message of 2024 to encourage growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for 2024.
Notes
Transcript
Announcements:
Bible study will resume this Wednesday, January 10, 2024 at 6:30PM at Abide Coffee shop. We will be continuing to lay the foundation of The Gap in our study on discipleship.
We have a plastic container for tithes (envelopes) and we also have giving available online on socials and website.
We also have invites to give out as well
Charity to talk about women’s Bible study?
Worship:
Praise
Same God
Rest on Us
Tremble
Introduction:
Happy New Year!
We have just closed out 2023 and I am so thankful for what God did for us last year:
We were able to start The Gap on September 17, 2023 and begin to love on the communities in Towns County, GA and Clay County, NC.
He has brought (and is continuing to bring) people who are hungry for the Lord, discipleship and opportunities to reach others for the Kingdom of God.
We have had the opportunity to participate in various community activities while also ministering at nearby nursing homes.
We have had God answer many prayer requests as well (financial, personal, etc.)
BUT…
I am even more excited for 2024 as I am believing for:
God to continue to send more people to join our church family with the same spiritual hunger and passion for Him - especially those who may feel like they don’t belong anywhere or fit in anywhere!
Each of us to continue to grow in our faith, our relationship with God and with each other
More opportunities to show the love of Jesus to our communities (even ideas we haven’t even thought of yet!)
And even some dreams that Pastor Charity and I have been talking about as well which may be shared later on as the year unfolds
SO…
While all of that is good and exciting, we also need to be prepared and aware of what we may be facing as we move forward in what God has for The Gap.
As we continue to move forward in what God has for us, we need to be reminded of what Peter tells us in:
8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
There are many ways our adversary can look to destroy/devour us. One of those ways we will be talking about this morning. I believe this is a great way to start the new year with our focus on being on guard and prepared for what is coming and how we can prepare for it.
Please turn in your Bibles to 2 Peter 3 as we will be looking at verses 17-18 this morning.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard, so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stable position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
One of the ways our adversary can devour us is by leading us away with false teaching/teachers. It is so easy nowadays to be able to turn a preacher on TV, listen to a sermon on a podcast/radio, or even watch a message on social media platform. We need to be prepared and guarded against false teachers and false doctrine.
Transition: There are two things Peter warns us about. One comes from the outside of us and the other from inside of us. The first one is from the outside of us and he introduces it to us by telling us:
Body:
2 Peter 3:17 (CSB)
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard, so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stable position.
I. Know this in advance/”know beforehand”
A. The phrase in the Greek is the word that means “to know in advance [or to anticipate]”. In other words, being prepared for what is to come
B. Just as when driving you begin to slow down (or I hope you do lol) when you see a red light ahead in order to prepare to stop
C. Be on your guard/Beware is a military term here the Greeks used to make sure the person was on alert
D. What was Peter referring to here (from what he spoke about throughout his letter about false teachers and the coming of the Lord)?
(Being led away by) The false teachers
lawless/immoral people
Same word found to describe the inhabitants of Sodom used in:
7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral
Same word for those who don’t want God’s word to tell them how to live so they construct a form of Christianity that let’s them live as they wish and teach a false gospel to lead others away as well:
18 For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error.
Their lawlessness becomes a lifestyle as they are convinced God has no problem with the way they are living which is why they claim to be Christians.
Their mentality is:
As long as no one gets hurt,
as long as everyone is fine with what they do,
as long as it is “loving behavior”,
then their god has no problem with it.
Sound familiar? Our society still preaches that today!
That is the error of lawlessness and it can easily cause you to fall from the stable position of knowing who Jesus is from His Word if you get swept up in their false teaching and error.
ii. The second coming of Jesus
it may be delayed
but it is still imminent
don’t get caught up in believing He is not coming again!
Transition: The concern Peter had for the church back then is still a concern for us today. We need to be careful to guard ourselves against false teachers and false teachings. Peter’s first warning is from the outside (false teachers and teaching); the second warning is from within which can also help us with the first warning:
II. Grow
2 Peter 3:18 (CSB)
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
A. Grow means to increase; to extend
B. Spiritual growth is not an event but a process.
C. Growth is a command; not an option and the Greek grammar here indicates we are to keep on growing
D. Spiritual life is like a bicycle, unless we keep moving, we will fall off.
E. We don’t become a Christian and then sit back and become a spiritual chubby bunny that sits back and thinks we’ve arrived.
29 For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Our mentality sometimes is: “But I can’t!” or “I don’t know how!” or “It’s too hard!”
But God has given us what we need to grow!
2 Peter 1:4–7 (CSB)
4 By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.
5 For this very reason [because God has given us all we need for both life and godliness], make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge,
6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness,
7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
Here we have 7 areas we can focus on! Pick one!
Transition: Seven things may seem overwhelming or hard to pick from. So, Peter gives us two of the most important ones for him:
III. Grow in the Grace (of Jesus Christ)
2 Peter 3:18 (CSB)
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
A. What is grace?
unmerited favor
kindness we don’t deserve and can’t earn
you get pulled over by a cop and instead of getting a ticket, he gives you a warning or nothing at all
we don’t get want we deserve as a result of our behavior; we get something better that we didn’t deserve
B. What is the grace of Jesus Christ?
The unmerited favor of God
being able to have relationship with God because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross
we are only able to have a relationship with God because of Jesus!
we aren’t growing to become good enough to earn God’s favor but we are growing as a result of what Jesus has done for us
we need to recognize that all we are able to do is only by the grace we have found through Jesus Christ!
Transition: Growing in the grace of Jesus Christ should also help us see others in grace and mercy as well! The other thing Peter points out is:
IV. Grow in the Knowledge (of Jesus Christ)
2 Peter 3:18 (CSB)
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
A. What is knowledge?
learning facts
is looking for knowledge bad? No way! We need to learn but we need to make sure we are learning the truth!
knowledge is only part of what we should be doing though because it should require action from us as well
I asked Jordan to get packages from outside last night. He knew he needed to get it and forgot and was tired after a long day. The packages didn’t get brought in and was left outside in the rain that came overnight so they are now drenched. Just because Jordan knew to bring in the packages didn’t mean the packages were automatically brought inside. It required action on his part because of the knowledge he had: to bring in the packages.
B. What is the knowledge of Jesus Christ?
getting to know more about Jesus and who He is so we can follow His example
the knowledge of Jesus Christ is the truth
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
iii. we need to rightly divide the word of truth!
iv. take notes from sermons, podcasts, radio, etc. to make sure you are hearing nothing that goes against the Word
v. in order to know what goes against Scripture, you need to KNOW the Word! So spend time in the Word (Bible) and with the Word (Jesus)!
vi. Just like Jordan and the packages, though, we cannot just rely on our knowledge of Jesus Christ and just studying His Word. If so, we would only be doing half of what God requires of us. We need to not only learn but put our knowledge to action!
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
The demons have knowledge as well!
19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.
Our actions is an outward expression of the knowledge we have of Jesus Christ and His Word on the inside.
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
This is why it is so important to realize that growing as a Christian can’t be helped if we are truly dong what God has told us to do here.
If we are studying and reading the Word (growing in our grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ), that knowledge is what will call us to action and therefore change our lifestyle, speech, mindset, etc.
We are to be always growing and changing until the day of Jesus Christ!
6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Transition: When we are prepared in advanced to stand against false teachers/teaching by growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it should always result in:
Conclusion:
2 Peter 3:18 (CSB)
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
And all of this is to give God the glory for now and forever. Not for us to look better than someone else or gain anything, but to bring Him glory!
Let this year be a year where we grow together in:
the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
I pray as we grow together in 2024, God will give us opportunities to continue to love on our communities and put into action what we already know and continue to learn!
Let us continue to not only be hearers of the Word but doers also!