Grow In Grace

GROW IN GRACE

& 3:18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen

The mission statement at the Seed is pretty simple. It is a strong Trinitarian statement including God, our Father, Jesus, our Savior and the Holy Spirit, our comforter, guide and counsoler. Our Mission Statement is filled with action verbs: KNOW! GROW! GO! SOW! KNOW GOD’S LOVE! GROW IN CHRIST’S GRACE! GO IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT! SOW SEEDS OF FAITH! Father! Son! Holy Spirit! Know! Grow! Go! Sow! Love! Grace! Power! Faith! These are wonderful and life-transforming words!

The Lord has put it upon my heart to do a fall sermon series called “Growing in Christ”. In our Wednesday night “Get A Life Group,” we have been studying Romans. In one of our studies, I printed out several of the “In Christ” statements that the Apostle Paul uses: We are found In Christ, we have faith in Christ, we are Forgiven to be forgiving in Christ. We also have peace in Christ, find our riches in Christ, and we are to finish in Christ. Not only do we finish in Christ, we are God’s workmanship in Christ.

Do you know who you are “In Christ?”

It is my hope and prayer that as we are work our way through these wonderful verses, we will all come to know who we are “In Christ” and what we have “In Christ.”

Before we come to our Scripture reading for today, let us come to the throne of grace in prayer. “God of all grace and truth, help us to come to a deep knowledge of Your great love for us. Help us come to a knowledge of Your great grace and peace. Amen

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 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. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.[i]

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.[ii]

Grace and peace be yours in abundance!

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Peter writes this letter around 67 A.D. to warn the early Christians about false teachers and to encourage them to grow in their faith and knowledge of Jesus. Do you want to grow in your faith and knowledge of Jesus?

It is interesting that Simon Peter uses both of his names when he opens this letter. He uses the name his father gave him and he uses the name that Jesus gave him. Peter was known as “Simon son of John” when Jesus found him casting nets on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. After Peter confesses Christ as the Messiah, Jesus gives Simon, son of John, a new name. Jesus calls him Peter, Cephas, the rock. Jesus states that He will build His church through Peter. We know the story, how Peter denies knowing Jesus--not once but three times--during the time of Jesus’ trail before Pilate. After His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus found Peter on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Each time Peter says, “Jesus, you know I love you.” Jesus then restored Peter, the rock, and used Peter to build His church. Peter now calls himself a slave (doulos) of Jesus Christ. To be a slave in those days meant that the slave was the property of the master and was at the disposal and service of the master.

So What? An early “so what” that we can take home from these first few verses is that no matter how far we have gone, despite what you have done, God’s grace goes farther than our sin and redeems us from our past. A second “so what” is that grace and peace can, and will, abound to us if we come to know Jesus our Lord. Peter is a great example of a person who denied Christ three times and, yet, Jesus knew that despite his words—Peter loved Him.

We are living in dangerous and confusing times. The world has gone haywire. Are you looking for grace and peace in your life? Then this series is for you!

Divine Power Through Knowledge of Jesus!

I read an interesting article the other day about divine power and knowledge.

“The millenium is at hand. Man has invented everything that can be invented. He has done all he can do.”

These words were spoken by a bishop at a church gathering in 1870. They were challenged by the presiding officer, who suggested that a great invention would be made within the next fifty years.

The bishop asked him to name such an invention.

The reply: “I think man will learn to fly.”

The bishop replied that this was blasphemy. “Don’t you know that flight is reserved for angels?”

The bishop’s name was Milton Wright, father of Orville and Wilbur.[iii]

How often have we had doubts and fears? How often have we felt like we could not possibly accomplish anything?

Our good friend Peter tells us --- 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. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Do you notice what Peter is trying to teach the early church? We have been given divine power! We have been given everything we need to live our life with godliness. How do we get this life and godliness? We get it through knowledge of Christ.

The word that Paul uses for knowledge is (epignōsis). This word can be translated “to increase in knowledge or have the full knowledge”. In the New Testament, knowledge is characteristically considered personal knowledge. In Paul does not say, “I know what I have believed,” he says, “I know whom I have believed.” ()

Do you know whom you have believed? Peter teaches us that if we know Jesus, we will have grace and peace. If we know Jesus, we will have everything we need for life and godliness.

Bible scholar and pastor N.T. Wright retells the following story about an archbishop who was hearing a confession of sin from three hardened teenagers in the church. All three boys were trying to make a joke out of it so they met with the archbishop and confessed to a long list of ridiculous and grievous sins that they had not committed. It was all a joke. The archbishop, seeing through their bad practical joke, played along with the first two who ran out of the church laughing. But then he listened carefully to the third prankster, and before he got away told the young man, "Okay, you have confessed these sins. Now I want you to do something to show your repentance. I want you to walk up to the far end of the church and I want you to look at the picture of Jesus hanging on the cross, and I want you to look at his face and say, 'You did all that for me and I don't care that much.' And I want you to do that three times." The boy went up to the front, looked at the picture of Jesus and said, "You did all that for me and I don't care that much." And then he said it again, but then he couldn't say it the third time because he broke down in tears. And the archbishop telling the story said, “The reason I know that story is that I was that young man. There is something about the cross. Something about Jesus dying there for us which leaps over all the theoretical discussions, all the possibilities of how we explain it this way or that way and it grasps us. And when we are grasped by it, somehow, we have a sense that what is grasping us is the love of God.”[iv]

God has grasped us with His love through Jesus and this knowledge is what will give us everything we need to live a life of godliness. We will be filled with grace and peace.

Make Every Effort

So What? So What do we do with this knowledge of Jesus? Peter tells us that we are to make every effort to add to our faith. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many scholars have called this the “golden chain that leads to heaven.” Once we know about what Jesus has done for us on the cross, we are then called to grow in His grace.

Bob Dylan wrote a song called “Forever Young.” In the song is a line that says; “May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung. May you stay forever young”[v]

I think Peter’s teaching echoes these lyrics. It would be a terrible mistake to think that salvation by “faith” alone means that our faith never needs to work. What I believe Peter is teaching the early church, and us, is that once we have faith, our faith needs to go to work. Our faith needs to sweat. Our faith needs to grow. “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith …” (v. 5).

Peter knows firsthand the kind of faith that will bring fallen and frail men and women home to Heaven. We need a faith that will make every effort to grow.

When I was in high school, I wrestled. My wrestling coach was a man who greatly influenced my growth as a man. In the walls of the wrestling room, he wrote down our goals by our names. He also painted on the walls, “Quarter Century Club.” You had to win twenty-five matches in a year to get your name painted onto the wall. I never made the Quarter Century Club because I made some pretty poor choices, and was kicked off the wrestling team for four weeks. One of my fellow wrestlers brought a bottle of wine to the wrestling meet. All the boys rooming together at this meet drank some of the wine. All of us lost our matches the next day of the tournament. The coach found out about what had happened and kicked all five of his top wrestlers off the team. I was one of them. After seeing our team get beat week after week, I went to the coach and asked him to reconsider his decision, I offered to work after practice to pay off my penance for my poor choices. The coach said that he would think about it. I told him that the five of us have realized that our poor choices not only affected us, but the whole team and school. The next day he agreed that we could come back to the team if we worked for an hour after practice running the stairs of the gym. Our coach then painted a quote above the exit door. On the plains of hesitation lie the bones of countless millions who, at the dawn of victory, sat down to rest - and there resting, died.

My coach had offered me grace. To be honest with you, I didn’t know anything about grace but I accepted it. I went on to qualify for state at the AA State of Illinois High School Wrestling Tournament. Coach would also paint the pictures of the State Qualifiers on the wall of the wrestling room. I never made the Quarter Century Club. I did get my face painted on the wall for qualifying for the state tournament. Before I went to seminary, I taught our church’s youth group for 10 years. I had to explain to all the kids that I taught why my name didn’t appear on the wrestling wall but my face did. On the plains of hesitation lie the bones of countless millions who, at the dawn of victory, sat down to rest - and there resting, died.

I realized then and there that I would never sit down again to rest when the dawn of victory was at hand.

Peter denied Christ three times but Jesus forgave him. I can’t help but think of the young boy who was making light of confession and went to face the cross saying, “You did all that for me, and I don’t care that much.” By the third time, the boy broke down in tears. That’s the Christ we serve. We serve a Christ of second chances.

So What?

Almost seven years ago, The Seed Christian Fellowship was formed by a ragtag group of 15. We had all been to church for years. We all knew Christ. We had all experienced how churches get lost “in their rule books.” We wanted a church that followed Jesus and the Word of God alone. As we sat down together, we prayed and talked about the mission statement of The Seed. It was like a wrestling match! (Which made me really happy!) Every Fall as we head BACK TO CHURCH—it’s a good thing for us to revisit our mission statement. KNOW GOD’S LOVE. GROW IN CHRIST’S GRACE. GO IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. SOW SEEDS OF FAITH IN YOUR WORLD.

I needed one chance to prove myself to my coach that I could change. Jesus uses my life.

The Bishop needed only two chances as he faced the cross, and changed his life for good. Jesus used the Bishop’s life. Peter needed three chances to prove his love to Christ. Jesus built His beloved church on Peter.

What a gracious, loving, forgiving God we serve. When we fall, when we fail—we are offered the grace that cost Christ his life. No matter how far we’ve gone, this grace goes farther. Where sin abounds, grace abounds more. God’s grace is greater than all our sin. Thank God.

That’s our prayer. Let’s pray:

God Almighty, ruler of the universe, we pray together. May we know Your love in our hearts and in our lives. Help us to grow daily in Your great grace. Help us go into our homes and work places with the power found in You and help us to sow Your seeds of faith in our homes and in our world.

The Seed Christian Fellowship

Rancho Cucamonga, California 91701

www.theseedchristianfellowship.com

September 17, 2017

Pastor Dave Peters

[i] The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[ii] The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[iii] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 1095). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

[iv] "Grasped By the Love of God," N.T. Wright Online;

[v] Bob Dylan, “Forever Young,” Planet Waves, Asylum Records, 1974.[v]