Untitled Sermon (46)

A teacher once asked her class what each wanted to become, when they grew up. The students answered one by one. One wanted to be the president, another wanted to be a fireman, and a third wanted to be a teacher., Lebron James , Patrick mcholmes

But there was one little boy, When it came his turn to tell the class what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said that he wanted to be “possible.”

The teacher responded, “Possible? What do you mean you want to be possible?”

The little boy replied, “My mom is always telling me I’m impossible. And so, he says that When I grow up, I want to become possible.”

It is possible, to want to be more like Jesus

Can I tell ya church

There is something very wrong with a person who claims to be a Christian and has no desire to be like Jesus.

Every Christian of every race, tribe, country, language, social standing or family position. should all want to be like Jesus.

God not only wants us to be like Jesus, but God has provided everything we need, to become more like Jesus.

One theologian puts it like this

“God gives His children all that they need, to live godly lives, but His children must apply themselves and be diligent to use the ‘means of grace’ He has provided

And Understand church, this is something that we must understand , Spiritual growth is not automatic. It requires cooperation with God and the application of spiritual diligence and discipline.”

And so, With that in mind, Peter revealed here , the call to grow and the characteristics for growing in the Christian life.

Growing in Christ-likeness, is expected from us

And As believers in Christ, we need to have a urge to grow and have a hunger for God’s will and take heed to God’s word

And so here In this passage

This passage of scripture, shares with us some declarations for knowing more about Jesus.

And so, the first thing that I want to share with you is

I. The reason for knowing more about Jesus. (vs. 5a)

Look what it says here

It says

“But also for this very reason”

To understand the context

we must go back to verses 3 and 4.

And Because we have received the divine nature and divine promises of God, we need to want to know more about Jesus and be more like Jesus.

Are yall with me

See, When a person is saved, they receive God’s nature. But then, They also receive the Holy Spirit.

Beloved, we have power and purpose from God to live godly. And Those of us who have experienced salvation through faith in Jesus, we should always want to grow to be more like Jesus.

Do I have a witness,

And so, When we go back to Verse 4

watch what verse 4

It says in Verse 4 tells us, “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these, you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

This says , Those who have truly escaped the corruption of this world, have no desire to go back to the corruption of the world.

In 1 Peter 2:2–3 it teaches us, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

And my brothers and sisters, Because we have been saved and indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we need to be growing more like Jesus.

It was one theologian who wrote, “That God has provided the believer with the necessary power to live the Christian life, but the believer should not sit back and relax.”

And see, I must tell ya that , Many of us know what we need to be doing, but we are just not doing it.

But Remembering what God has done for us and given to us, will help us.

Because we are saved, we should want to be more like Jesus. Our lives should be lived all out for Jesus and His glory because of who He is and what He has done.

That’s enough I want to talk for the next fleeting moments with the help of the holy spirit and the time that we will share together

Johnny Hunt has well said, “We are living in a culture where there is a temptation for the preachers to try to preach in such a way that the people could be satisfied with who they are instead of coming to the place that they live their lives to satisfy Him.”

And you know as ministers of the gospel, we are to never cut back or cut out what God has called me to preach. People might not like what we say, but we have a responsibility to challenge God’s people, to be more like Jesus

I want to talk about To be More like Jesus

Do I have a witness

And so, In verse 5, we see here where Peter declares the reason for knowing more about Jesus.

Next, we see Peter declares:

II. The requirements for knowing more about Jesus. (vs. 5b–7)

(A.) And here, Peter teaches us that

We are to be aggressive in our pursuit. (vs. 5b)

Look what it says

“Giving all diligence”

I believe that we Have all heard it

“No pain, no gain?”

And you know I’ve learned that, That’s not only true in physical sports, but also in spiritual growth.

Because If we are going to know more about Jesus, and show more of Jesus, we must know the requirements.

Do I have a witness

And Peter here teaches the church that we are to aggressively pursue the things of God.

One scholar wrote, “God’s precious gifts and promises should stimulate us to earnest effort.”

And you know church

When we look at the christian life

The Christian life is one of striving, working, and laboring, on our part.

Philippians 2:12–13 states, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

Brothers and sisters ,

We are to be aggressive in our pursuit of Jesus.

And beloved, The church today, needs to know more about Jesus—not only in our heads, but also in our hearts.

The church today needs to show more of Jesus—not only in His house, but in our work place—

not just on Sundays in worship, but during the week

And see, A Christian who loves Jesus and desiring to be more like Jesus, is easy to spot.

Every child of God who loves the lord, should aggressively pursue the things of God.

“making maximum effort.”

What God works in us, we are to work out by our obedience, persistence, and daily, active pursuit of Jesus.

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And so, what we see here is that

We can learn a great lesson about pursuing Jesus from Titus’ desire for his bottle.

Peter teaches us that we are to be aggressive in our pursuit.

but then , this text also teaches us that

(B.) We are to be adding to our practice. (vs. 5c–7)

Because look what it says here

“Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”

And so here, Peter declared the requirements for knowing more about Jesus.

He teaches the church that it is our responsibility to respond to God by actively working out what He has put in us.

I like the way Johnny Hunt said it,

He says that “Salvation is a work of grace, but sanctification is a will to grow.”

And it talks about adding to our practice

Add is an interesting word. It makes reference to a choirmaster.

It means to give lavishly and generously, to fit out the choir with additional supplies, or to provide beyond the need.

This refers to, a choirmaster that was responsible for providing everything needed for his choir.

I read a story about a gardener who had in mind what his soil and seed should produce. He knew the kinds of flowers and fruit that he wanted to grow, but he realized one day that the flowers and fruit are only produced by labor and obedience to the laws of nature. When the garden has been made beautiful and fruitful, it has been made so only by intelligent cooperation with nature.

Similarly, As Christians, we have the mind of Christ. We know full well what a Christian life should be.

But The fruits of the Spirit are only made evident in our lives as we wholeheartedly cooperate with the Lord in full submission and obedience to Him by letting His Spirit have full control of us—body, soul, and spirit.

And Peter teaches us that we are to add to our faith. Every Christian has faith in God, but faith is not the end. Faith is only the beginning.

We are to be adding to our practice.

And here Peter lists seven characteristics of the Lord Jesus that will make us more like Him when they are added to our daily living.

And he says , The first thing we must add, is virtue

Virtue means moral energy or moral excellence. This refers to concrete deeds of excellence.

And you know church , this world is in desperate need of people with moral excellence.

Virtue is never hidden, but always displayed in the person’s life. When you add virtue to your faith, you can say no to immorality and ungodliness.

This is why we must add virtue

but then , we must add Knowledge

Knowledge means practical knowledge or discernment. It refers to the ability to handle life successfully.

see , and Peter dealt with the false wisdom of the first century gnostics. But Peter understood that, True knowledge comes from God.

One theologian wrote that , “Faith is never achieved through the mental process only, but is founded upon knowledge.

Faith apprehends that which knowledge cannot comprehend.”

See, We cannot have true knowledge of Jesus without faith in Jesus. When we have faith in Jesus, we begin to have knowledge of Jesus. And Peter teaches us to add knowledge to our faith.

A Good Word: And can I tell ya church , Christians can actually know the word of God, the will of God, and the ways of God.

But then, we must add Self-control

Self-control translates as “holding oneself in.” And this word means to have one’s passions under control.

Have you ever heard it said, “Let it all hang out?”

When we are like Jesus, we will know and practice self-control. Proverbs 16:32 declares, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” Proverbs 25:28 also teaches, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.”

And so church, if we want to be more like Jesus

we must add to our faith Self-control

But then, we are to add Perseverance

And when we look at the word Perseverance

Perseverance, that word means “staying under.”

It refers to constancy or steadfast endurance under adversity, without giving in or giving up.

This word means to remain under trials and testing in a way that honors God.

And you know, Jesus himself had patience in the face of trials.

And as children of God , We need perseverance in our daily lives and in the church of God. When we are adding perseverance to our faith, we will not fall out or fall away from the Lord, His church, His work, or His word.

But then, we are to add to our faith godliness

Godliness means , is God-likeness. This word described a man or woman who was right in their relationship with God and with their fellowman.

Can I tell ya

It is impossible to worship well if our relationships are strained on any level.

We are to add to our faith, godliness.

And I must tell ya church that

Christians should have a deep and strong desire to worship God and please Him above all. Being godly, means that we are aware of God in every area of life, i.e., when buying a car or a home, when getting married, when taking a new job, when spending money or when responding to life’s circumstances.

We are to add to our faith, godliness.

But then, we are to add to our faith Brotherly-kindness

Brotherly-kindness means brotherly love.

And church , When we love Jesus and are full of Him, we will have a love for the brethren. Brotherly-kindness refers to love by deliberate choice.

And you know, Some people say, “I love God, but I don’t like those people at the church.” This is the wrong attitude to have.

But it was Peter in 1 Peter 1:22 admonishes, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.”

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “The fact that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ , is one evidence that we have been born of God.”

1 John 4:20–5:2 teaches, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.”

we are to add to our faith Brotherly-kindness

But then Finally, we are to add to our faith love.

Are ya’ll with me

And This word here, refers to an agape love. This is the kind of love God shows toward lost sinners.

In Romans 5:8 it declares, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

We are to be adding these seven characteristics to our lives. When we are focused on adding one to our lives, God will be adding some others as well.

Peter declares the reason for knowing more about Jesus, the requirements for knowing more about Jesus, and finally he declares:

III. The result of knowing more about Jesus. (vs. 8)

“For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And Here, is a promise from God’s word. If these characteristics are abounding in us, we will be fruitful for Jesus.

Listen church, When we add to our faith these characteristics, and they are increasing in our lives, this world will know, that Jesus is in us.

This world will see Jesus in us.

And when the world see Jesus in us

The world will change

But If these characteristics are not abounding in us, we will be barren and unfruitful.

I know that we have all been in Huntsville, and there is plenty of construction

We’ve all seen these signs while driving, that says

“Begin construction” and “End construction.”

These big orange signs are there to warn us that road work is ongoing.

And One thing about these signs is that they tend to remain around long after the construction work is over.

If one of us was to announce that—for the time being—God’s construction in our lives was going to be halted, what would our family, friends, and co-workers say, “I didn’t know any construction was going on?”

For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

see when we look at the word Barren

Barren means “inactive, unemployed, lazy or useless.” Something that is not producing is barren.

Unfruitful literally means without fruit.

And When God’s qualities and characteristics are not increasing in our life, this says that, we will be barren and unfruitful.

See, Farmers add seed to the land. They cultivate the land and the plants, but only God can provide water to make the crop grow.

Only God can produce the crop. In contrast, the Christian life is different. God adds His seed, the Holy Spirit, when we believe, but we are the ones who are to water and allow the fruits to come forth.

And this is what Peter does,

Peter warns us, that if we are not increasing, we are decreasing, and when we decrease, we become barren and unfruitful.

And see this is why we should add knowledge to our faith

See, because , Many people are saved, but they have only a partial and very limited knowledge of Jesus because they have not grown in their walk.

But brothers ans sisters

We are to grow in His likeness by submissively allowing Him to live through us.

Peter’s last words to the church are given to encourage them. 2 Peter 3:18 states, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”

And so my question to us as believers

Are we growing in our Christian life? Do we know more about Jesus? Are we showing more about Jesus?

Can I tell ya

God wants our total obedience and faithful commitment.