Waypoint - 1

Waypoint - 1

Wherever You Are, God Doesn’t Want You There

2 Peter 1:3-11

Introduction

This is Bob Fisher [pic], he is the best free throw shooter on Earth. He is a 62 year-old soil-conservation technician in Kansas. He played basketball as a kid, and played it recreationally with friends into his early 40’s. But in his early 50’s he started intentionally practicing free throws. He can now make hundreds in a row without missing. He holds 25 Guinness records, including most free throws in a minute (50). How is it that some average blue-collar worker in Kansas is better than elite professional athletes (NBA average is 73%)? Apparently, good free throw shooters are not born, they are made. His success shows that it is not some inborn talent or natural athleticism that makes the difference. It is hard work. It is all about preparation and practice.

That same truth can be applied to our faith. Godly people are not born, they are made. Around here we use a phrase that sums up God’s desire for us to grow spiritually…wherever you are, God doesn’t want you there. Wherever you are in your faith, in your marriage, in your knowledge of the Bible, in your prayer life, in the closeness with which you are walking with the Lord…he doesn’t want you there.

We are beginning a new series today called Waypoint that will emphasize spiritual growth and the Bible. When you input a desired destination into your GPS, there is that little arrow that drops down to where you are and where you want to go. That arrow is called the Waypoint. And today we start with where you are…wherever you are, God’s doesn’t want you there. He wants you to grow. So let’s talk about how to do just that. Let’s go to the premiere text in the NT that speaks about growing spiritually.

2 Peter 1:3-11 - 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Wherever you are, God doesn’t want you there. He wants us walking closer with him. He wants us growing spiritually. For decades, Billy Graham ended his sermons at his crusades by singing the hymn Just As I Am for the invitation. It sent a powerful message to the crowd…you come to Jesus just as you are. But here is the truth that the song leaves out…you may come to Jesus just as you are, but he never leaves you that way. He always changes you. Wherever you are, God doesn’t want you there. How do we do that, how do we grow? Three steps to take:

ENCOUNTER THE REASONS FOR GROWTH (V. 3-4)

Notice how he began, as this is the critical foundation to build upon:

v. 3-4 - 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Here, Peter gives us two reasons for spiritual growth:

God’s Powerful Provision

v. 3 - His divine power has granted to us all the things that pertain to life and godliness…meaning this: God has already done the foundational work of your spiritual growth. We are without excuse. He has provided for us everything we need. Everything for life…to honor him, to follow him, to grow closer to him. Everything for godliness…everything to look like him, to live like him…he has provided it all.

My kids can tell you that one of my favorite days of the year is school-supply shopping day. I’m a nerd, I like school, and I love school supplies. Buying them engages that part of the brain…it’s time to begin another year of learning. So you get a new backpack and fill it with everything you need for successful school year. All the pens, pencils, notebooks, textbooks, etc. And when you go to school on that first day, you have everything you need. All the tools have been provided. That is what Peter is telling us…God has given you all the tools you need.

God’s Precious Promises

v. 4 - by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Not only has God’s power provided us all we need, God’s promises have empowered us to grow. Notice that God’s promises are precious, infinitely valuable. God’s promises are also very great, Peter says. That phrase ‘very great’ is the Greek word ‘mega.’ God’s precious promises are mega promises. Huge. Life-changing. Overwhelming. And these mega promises are quite potent. They enable us to become ‘partakers of the divine nature.’ What does that mean? Not like some Eastern mysticism that says humans have the spark of the divine in them and can become divine…but that God’s promises enable us to become more like him. That we can indeed grow in our faith and begin to look more like Jesus. It is actually possible. You are not stuck, hopelessly bound up in your sin. His promises free you.

Promises like what? That God loves us. That Jesus gave his life for us. That he has given us the Holy Spirit. That the work of salvation that he began when we became Christians will come to completion…God has not left us alone to figure this thing out. He helps us. He empowers us.

What has Peter just done? He has built the theological and practical foundation for spiritual growth. God has done everything we could ever need him to do. He has saved us. He has granted us the power of the Holy Spirit. He has given us all the tools to grow. He has rescued us from the corruption of the world and made it possible for us to join him in his holiness. He has provided everything we need. You have been given the full backpack. Now what?

ENGAGE THE REQUIREMENT OF GROWTH (V. 5-7)

v. 5-7 - 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

You have the full backpack on the first day of school. Does that mean you are going to get a 4.0? Of course not! You actually need to do something with what you have been given. You have to combine the pens and paper and write some stuff. You have to actually read that textbook and apply the knowledge. Carrying that backpack doesn’t equal straight A’s. Doing the hard work does.

God does the saving. God does the empowering. God does the providing. But you actually have to do the work. God doesn’t read your bible for you. He doesn’t say your prayers. He doesn’t give your money. He doesn’t serve your church. You do those things. Yet he is there the whole time, working behind the scenes.

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

Work out your salvation…not work for, but work out. Exercise it. Put it into practice. Why? Because God is working in you to will and to work…not just to do the work, but to want to do the work. You work because God is already working. This is why we don’t get to take credit, not just for our salvation, but for our sanctification (growing in holiness). God is the one who is taking us from where we are and getting us where he wants us to be. That is what Peter is telling us. He has provided all this…now…get to work. Notice what he said…for this very reason…because all that we talked about in v. 3 and v. 4 are true…make every effort. So we…

Strive

This phrase ‘make every effort’ is a powerful one in the NT, used only here in the NT. It means to bring to bear every eagerness, diligence, fervor. So because God has done all this saving work, we bring every diligence, every fervor, all eagerness to bear on our spiritual growth. This is a whole-life endeavor. All of us comes to bear on this goal of spiritual growth. Without this wholesale effort, we are in trouble.

D.A. Carson - People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drive toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.

Supplement

Make every effort to supplement…that word supplement is a great Greek word. It comes into English as our word choreography. The image is of the director of a play who puts together the music, the dancing, the lights, the speaking parts, the stage design…all of those moving pieces become a brilliantly choreographed show. This is what we do with our faith. God has given us the pieces, we put it together.

Supplement your faith with…

Virtue - he has already used this word up in v. 3, speaking of God he said that God called us to his own glory and excellence. The word for ‘excellence’ there is the same word he uses for ‘virtue’ here. It refers to a moral goodness. One author called it ‘energetic moral excellence.’ It is the pursuit of that which is good and right, not just the avoidance of that which is evil and bad.

Knowledge - pretty simple one to get…you need to know more than you do.

Self-control - a word that literally translates as ‘power over self’

Steadfastness - literally translates as ‘remain under’ - to keep going, to bear whatever burden in the name of never giving up

Godliness - same word as in v. 3 that God has provided for us everything to make this happen…to be like God

Brotherly affection - a friendly demeanor, ability to get along

Love - the crown jewel of the list…it all culminates in agape, sacrificial love for others

Virtue lists like this are pretty common in the Bible. Paul utilizes them in several of his letters. They are there to give us a snapshot of the characteristics of the Christian life. You’ve been given the gift of faith, now supplement it, add to it, these characteristics. And where do you find these qualities? They’re in the backpack! He’s already given us ALL we need for life and godliness, including these. We have to put them in place. So the image is of buying a model car kit, or a jigsaw puzzle. Everything you need is in the box. You just have to assemble it all.

ENJOY THE RESULTS OF GROWTH (V. 8-11)

v. 8-11 - 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If you put these pieces together and your life is defined by them…and if they are increasing (wherever you are, God doesn’t want you there!), there are multiple benefits.

Competence

v. 8 - they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I don’t know a single Christian who says that their goal for their faith is to be ineffective and unfruitful. Christians don’t say “I want to do nothing for Jesus and have my life count for diddly squat for the kingdom.” Taking what the Lord has given us and putting the pieces together allows us to be effective and fruitful.

Clarity

v. 9 - for whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

If you don’t do this, if you neglect the wholesale commitment to spiritual growth, you end up so focused on what is right in front of you…money, success, career, politics…and you are blinded to the things that matter. So much so that you forget (word means ignored) that you were forgiven. The fact and reality of your salvation makes no practical difference in your life whatsoever. How sad it is that so many Christians cross the line into faith and never take another step. This is their ultimate destination.

Confirmation

v. 10 - Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election,

for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

Living this way, putting all the pieces together, confirms your calling and election. It breeds assurance of your own salvation. No more doubting if you are saved or not. No more doubting if God is at work in your life. He obviously is because you are watching him transform you.

When Peter says you will never fall, he doesn’t mean that if you pursue spiritual growth you will never sin again. The picture he is giving us is of a line of soldiers marching in unified formation. You are moving forward to your destination of Christlikeness. If you live like this, you won’t fall out of line and miss the journey.

Confidence

v. 11 - For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Isn’t this what it is ultimately about? We are striving, yearning for Heaven. It isn’t that our hard work in spiritual growth is what gets us into Heaven, that is nonsense. It is that we are confidently walking forward, toward Jesus. We’ve been doing that all our lives, showing that is what we want to do for all eternity. We want to be with him. So we start living more closely to him now.

Conclusion

What an incredible passage of Scripture! No wonder it is the premiere text on spiritual growth. Wherever you are, God doesn’t want you there. So you Encounter the Reasons for Growth…his powerful provision and his precious promises. You Engage the Requirement of Growth, you strive and you supplement. Then you Enjoy the Results of Growth…you experience competence, clarity, confirmation, confident. Isn’t this what we are after? Isn’t this the joy we want in our lives? Isn’t this the goal of our faith? There is only one way to get all this…start taking steps toward spiritual growth. Make this year your year. Don’t lose another year and be at the same place of regret in a year.

In 2003, the British Olympic cycling team was in a hopeless place. They had only won a single gold medal since 1908. Pitiful. But in 2003 they made a monumental change…they hired Dave Brailsford [pic]. He set out to systematically transform the team. He did it by making what he called 1% changes. He helped redesign the seats on the bikes. They bought more aerodynamic suits for the riders. They rubbed alcohol on the tires for better grip with the pavement. 1% here, 1% there. But over time, those add up.

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the British team won 60% of the available gold medals. By the 2012 Olympics in London, the British team set 9 new Olympic records and set 7 new world records. Monumental transformation…all by making 1% changes over time. When it comes to your faith, to your spiritual growth, what 1% changes can you make? No one is asking you to become the 4th member of the Trinity by tomorrow. Just one step after another. 1% here, 1% there. Wherever you are, God’s doesn’t want you there. And he has given you all that you need to get you where you need to go.