Sermon Tone Analysis

The story is told of a big lumberjack who went to a store and looked at a new chainsaw.

The manager said, "You can cut down at least 100 trees a day with this baby."

So the lumberjack bought the chainsaw and set out to cut some trees.

On the first day, to his disappointment, he only cut down 25 trees.

The second day he worked harder and longer but only cut down 36 trees.

The third day he worked from sunup to sundown but could still only cut down 48 trees.

Angry that the chainsaw performed so poorly, he took it back to the store and said to the manager, "You told me this here chainsaw would cut down 100 trees a day and at best I’ve only been able to cut down 48!"

The manager, puzzled, replied, "Well let me see what the problem is."

With that, he pulled the starter cord and fired up the chainsaw.

Startled, the lumberjack jumped back and exclaimed, “Hey, what’s dat big noise?”

We have seen from this first chapter of Peter’s 2nd letter to the church, his swan song

No matter how hard we try, we cannot get God's results if we refuse do things God's way.

But when we do what God tells us to do, we will get results that count.We have seen from this first chapter of Peter’s 2nd letter to the church, his swan song

A swan song is a person’s final performance, work, or effort before retirement or death

And here Peter is on death row, awaiting execution, and he pens this letter to the saints

Now if you had one last time to tell someone something before you died, what would it be?

But Peter, forever the preacher, gives what some would call a mini sermon.

(this is the third for me in just the first 11 verses!)

And the purpose of this sermon is to exhort believers on the importance of living a life of godliness

And like any good preacher, Peter gives us this mini sermon on life and godliness in 3 points

The first is the Power for Godliness (vs.3-4)

The power to live a life of godliness comes from God Himself and we receive that power through our knowledge of Him and because He promised it to us

The second is the Pattern for Godliness (5-7)

Virtue, knowledge, self control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love

These qualities are a process, all dependent on one another - none independently

Finally, he shows us the Premise for Godliness (the proof of godliness)

The power, pattern and premise(proof)

It may be easier to think of it in three questions - How, what and why

How do we live a life of godliness - through God’s power

What does a life of godliness look like - through virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love

Why live a life of godliness - we’re going to find out this morning

Picking up in

Again Peter is using a conditional clause - just as we saw in vs. 5 (for this reason) - here he says “for if”

If - noun - a condition or supposition

Referring us back to those 7 qualities - if (supposing) you have these qualities there is going to be an effect on your life.

Peter is revealing the purpose of cultivating these virtues.

Peter then reveals the purpose of cultivating these virtues.

We don’t engage in these things to earn salvation—that’s already ours by grace through faith plus nothing!

In fact, we wouldn’t even have the necessary power available to us if we weren’t already saved.

Rather, Peter says that if these things are present in our lives and increasing through diligence, we will be useful and fruitful in our Christian lives

We don’t engage in these things to earn salvation—that’s already ours by grace through faith plus nothing!

In fact, we wouldn’t even have the necessary power available to us if we weren’t already saved.

But

So listen to what he's saying.

When in your life all of these things previous elements are true, faith and virtue and knowledge and self-control and patience and godliness and brotherly love and love, when all of these things are manifest, what happens?

You are neither ineffective (barren - KJV) nor unfruitful.

Do you know that God wants to produce in you fruitfulness.

You see the Gnostics were teaching falsely that God doesn’t care what you do with your physical life, He only wants your soul.

Ironically, that’s the same message being pumped out today by our culture but it’s still a lie!

The whole point of us being connected to Christ is so that we can bear fruit

Look at what Jesus says in

Now understand that it is possible to be connected to Christ and to not bear fruit

But if you’re not bearing fruit Peter says you’re ineffective, Jesus says you wither

The whole point of living our life in godliness is so that we may be effective and useful

God wants to produce fruit in your life but He can't do it unless you’re following the pattern for godliness in the previous verses.

(vs.

5-7)(making every effort)

But He can't do it unless you follow the pattern in the previous verses.

The reason some people have so hard a time figuring out what Christianity's all about is because there are so many Christians who aren’t bearing any fruit.

Peter then reveals the purpose of cultivating these virtues.

We don’t engage in these things to earn salvation—that’s already ours by grace through faith plus nothing!

In fact, we wouldn’t even have the necessary power available to us if we weren’t already saved.

Rather, Peter says that if these things are present in our lives and increasing through diligence, we will be useful and fruitful in our Christian lives

They make the claim- call themselves Christians - but there's nothing in their life to support it and that's very confusing.

Because so many “Christians” look like those who aren’t Christians

But Peter says “if these qualities are yours and increasing”...

There's an interesting translation in the use of this verb “increasing”

It literally means "to have more than is necessary."

In other words, there ought to be enough fruit in your life to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt to whom you belong.

God is not interested in marginal manifestation.

In other words, there ought to be enough fruit in your life to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt to whom you belong.

God is not interested in minimal fruit bearing

In fact if you are ineffective and unfruitful, look at what he says in

And look at what he says in

Peter acknowledges that not everybody will make every effort that leads to maturity.

Peter acknowledges that not everybody will maintain the diligence that leads to maturity.

Some blind believers fail to look back on their conversion, when God purified them from their sins.

Shortsighted believers cannot look far enough ahead to see the coming of Christ and His reward to the faithful.

So, those focusing on the present life and living for themselves will lack these qualities and squander the provision of power God has given them

Some blind believers fail to look back on their conversion, when God purified them from their sins.

A professing Christian who is missing the qualities mentioned in vs. 5-7 are unable to discern their true spiritual condition,

And if you don’t know where you stand with Christ how can you have any assurance of your salvation?

You may be saved and possess all the blessings of vv. 3, 4, but without the qualities of vv.

5–7, you only live in doubt and fear, hoping you’ll make it to heaven because you don’t see the fruit of your faith

And this happens to believers who can’t look far enough ahead to see the coming of Christ and His reward to the faithful.

If you forget that there will be a day when Christ comes back for you and you forget that he rewards the righteous and judges the unrighteous then what happens is that you live your life focusing on the here and now and living for yourself

So, those focusing on the present life and living for themselves will lack these qualities and squander the provision of power God has given them

And you may ask yourself, how does that happen?

How do you forget this truth?

forgotten.

The failure to diligently pursue spiritual virtues produces spiritual amnesia.

Such a person, unable to discern his spiritual condition, will have no confidence about his profession of faith.

He may be saved and possess all the blessings of vv. 3, 4, but without the excellencies of vv.

5–7, he will live in doubt and fear.

The failure to make every effort, like Peter exhorts us to, produces this kind of spiritual amnesia.

Now let’s look at

Peter caps his exhortation to spiritual maturity with another appeal for diligence.

He tells us to “make certain about His calling and choosing” (1:10).

This doesn’t mean that we must do these things to secure our salvation or to guarantee our places in heaven.

Rather, this is an urgent and passionate appeal to live out our calling, to demonstrate the reality of our salvation.