Don't be Ineffective & Unfruitful (2 Peter 1:1-15)

Begin with a word on how we approach the Word:

Been reminded recently that when I read the Word, I need to remember these are the very words of God.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

When we read the Word we are literally reading Jesus

This book isn’t like other books

nothing wrong with reading other spiritual books

should do so at the direction of the Father

find ourselves reading more of those than the Word

It has the power to:

transform our lives every time we read it

convict of sin

give wisdom

fill in the blank

let’s read expecting to hear from the Father & then we’ll pray

vs. 1-15

pray

Stir you up:

vs. 13 - this is the desire of preaching

not to create a false emotion, because they are fickle

Stir - to rouse, to wake up fully as from sleep, to excite, kindle afresh, to urge on

Like on the road to Emmaeus

and the truth is, you will probably remember very little of what I say today - so instead I desire to stir up the spirit of God within you

I desire for your hearts to burn after God, only that will accomplish the work

Faith Obtained:

vs. 1

Simon knows who he is - servant + apostle

he uses the name Jesus gave him, Peter

how would you title yourself?

those who have obtained a faith equal to ours

that’s us!

think about it - a faith equal to that of Peters’

vs. 2

grace + peace ONLY come from the knowledge of God

not just a little, but multiplied to us

to abound > to be increasing

Divine Nature:

vs. 3-4

have been granted ALL things that pertain to life + godliness

there is no unlocking Christian 2.0 that comes with superpowers

by God’s divine power, we already have it all through Jesus + the Helper

but do we walk in the light for it to be unveiled in us?

do we concern ourselves with purity + holiness?

He’s given us his precious + very great promises to become partakers of the divine nature

very great - remarkable or out of the ordinary in degree, magnitude, or effect

to partake of His divine nature is indeed remarkable, out of the ordinary, of great magnitude, and of great effect on our lives

we have been granted the ability to enter into and receive a share of God’s attributes - think about that!

this is out escape from sin + corruption

What are these promises that allow this?

Romans 8:28–30 “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

He has given us EVERYTHING

Ephesians 1:3–6 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”

Ephesians 2:8–10 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

1 John 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

all these and SO many more show that the Lord has made a way for us to escape the corruption that is in the world because of sin and to partake in His way of living

Supplement your Faith:

vs. 5-7

not going to labor on these qualities, but I do want to make a couple observations

make every effort - bring to bear the full extent of your excited eagerness to speedily accomplish the goal

KJV: And beside this, giving all diligence

NLT: In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises

What do I hear in this? DO SOMETHING!

with faith as the foundation, we supplement or add these qualities to that foundation

these are part of the very qualities of the divine nature that God’s promises allow us to partake in

Increasing Qualities:

vs. 8

getting into the meat of what I want to stir you up in

keyword here is “increasing” or “growing”

if we’re NOT supplementing our faith with these divine qualities and growing in them, we are at risk of being ineffective or unfruitful

being ineffective - idle, not employed, lazy, without works that express faith, having no beneficial use or incapable or functioning usefully

the exact use of the word “ineffective” is used in James 2:20 “20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?”

this is tough to say + hear, but we need to know what the Scriptures say about ineffective Christians

Revelation 3:14–16 “14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. 15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

no use for lukewarm water, doesn’t accomplish the desired outcome

James 2:14–17 “14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

an ineffective faith

James 1:22–24 “22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”

unfruitful - not bearing fruit, not producing the desired or intended results

John 15:1–6 “1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

our father desires us to bear much fruit

Luke 13:6–9 “6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ””

The question then is:

can we have knowledge of God and be ineffective + unfruitful?

can we have a saving faith but NOT supplement that faith with the qualities mentioned?

can we know God, but not be actively partaking of his divine nature?

sadly, the verses we just read say ”yes”

Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 3:11–15 “11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

Peter’s not done

Nearsighted Christian:

vs. 9

this Christian is

so nearsighted they are legally blind

blind - unable or unwilling to perceive or understand, surrounded by smoke

so nearsighted they are unwilling to understand how they’ve been cleansed of their sins and from the corruption of the world

so nearsighted they are unwilling to perceive a vision of the spiritual

so nearsighted they are unwilling to actively understand what promises God has granted to them

they grope around like one surrounded by smoke, hoping to work out their own path

vs. 10

“brothers”

Peter is addressing believers

this letter was written around AD 60-64

about 27 years since Jesus went to be with his Father

possible Peter is writing to some very established believers, and I find that comforting

Peter’s encouragement here is to make an effort to examine where we are in our faith so that we aren’t ineffective, unfruitful, or spiritually blind

“practice” indicates “work”

there’s a real sense of training here

1 Timothy 4:6–8 “6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

Titus 2:11–14 “11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

seeing a pattern about the life to come?

practicing these qualities is an active decision to supplement our faith by training ourselves to turn from the sin of the world and walk in the good works God has given us to do in Christ

A Rich Entrance:

vs. 11

now we get into why Peter is saying all of this

as we read above in Titus 2:13 “13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”

it’s coming, and sooner than we think - this life is just a vapor

Peter is looking ahead, and maybe because he knows his time is coming soon as mentioned below - eternity is on his mind

even more, our Father wants to provide a rich entrance

must grasp that God’s kingdom is eternal + that it’s a kingdom

a place that is ruled by God

can reverse engineer this scripture as well and ask ourselves is it possible to have an entrance in God’s kingdom that is NOT rich?

there is much at stake here

by no means am I implying that the entrance into God’s kingdom can be anything but beyond compare to what we can imagine

but, we do have to take what Peter is saying to heart

what of this world and myself am I willing to suffer loss to gain a rich, abundant, copious entrance into God’s kingdom where I enjoy those rewards for all eternity?

am I willing to actually suffer in my flesh for it?

am i willing to do the hard work of supplementing my faith, of practicing the divine qualities?

OR am I content to be blind and unwilling to understand the enteral consequences of not confirming my calling and election?

vs. 12-15

you “know” these things & are established in the truth

again, these are established believers

how much of the scripture do we “know”, but don’t believe enough for it to effect us? To cause a change in us?

Hebrews 11:6 “6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

“must believe that he exists”

our belief in his existence must grow past our knowledge of his existence and cause us to want to draw near to Him because we believe that he rewards those who seek Him

Peter’s shepherd heart comes out here - feeding Jesus’s sheep just as he was commanded to do

NOT a desire to be cruel or whip the sheep

Peter’s desire is to “stir” them up by always reminding of these truths because he wants them to have a rich entrance into God’s eternal Kingdom

He wants their hearts to burn with a zeal for seeking God

Peter thinks it so important, that he wrote it down so they would have it for after he’s gone

he received his reward 2-4 years after the writing of this letter

tradition says he was martyred

What Keeps up From Growth?

3 things that keep us from walking in what Peter is saying - there are more

NOT abiding in Christ

already read John 15 about the vine and branches

EXAMPLE: clinching hands together at night

you’re not relaxed in the Lord, just hanging in Christ and letting him flow through you

EXAMPLE: Dixie wandering off during our walks

not walking with Christ, continually distracted by your own thing

because of these things, we don’t produce fruit

NOT renewing our minds

A little test:

where does your mind go when it’s idle?

what do you wake up thinking about?

might be an indicator that your mind is being conformed to the world and not transformed by Christ

We get out of our mind what we put in it - that simple

A mind that is NOT taken captive by thinking on things that are holy leads to the third thing

BEING overcome by things OTHER than Godly qualities

Romans 6:6–7 “6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.”

whatever we are overcome by, we are enslaved to that thing

might be sin, might be other things

EXAMPLE: sugar stories

thinking about planning my day around sugar

driving to Casey’s for the Monster deal

we can’t seek God if we are enslaved to anything other than Him

The Wrap:

NOT abiding in Christ leads to NOT being transformed leads to being OVERCOME by our flesh and therefore, blinded to the truth that we are being ineffective + unfruitful in our knowledge of God. And this all leads to a poorer entrance into God’s eternal kingdom.

it would be such a waste to have saving faith, but not fully partake of the divine nature that Christ died to provide for us

ask the Lord to show you, “What is there that’s keeping me nearsighted. What is there that’s keeping me from being all that you have for me.”

pray