Grow!

Opening statement:

It’s not easy or fun to confront false teaching, to try to correct error. It doesn’t “feel” good, as in “look how smart I am...” It doesn’t feel good, but it’s right to do so. Doesn’t feel good to confront it.

Here is an example of the effect of false teaching. People grow up either not knowing truth or being taught error, both are wrong. Matt. 18, for example: sometimes you confront error and the person or people you confront have no idea what you are talking about, because sin, error, “false” is what they know as “truth.”

We don’t do people favors by leaving them believing error, just because they are nice people. Just like us, they need the truth. Our area is plagued by people professing to be Christians, but knowing very little, if anything, about the truth of Scripture. And we interact with those people regularly.

READ: 2 Peter 3: 11-18

SUMMARY of TODAY’s MESSAGE

The end is coming, world will be destroyed, new heavens and earth

Since this world is temporary, followers of Christ should live lives that show we are indeed followers, surrendered

On the day of judgment, we, those who are holy/set apart are to be found spotless, blameless, at peace with God

GROWING IN GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE

The books ends the way it began

The focus is on the future, affecting us in the present

1) Grace is what people see when they see believers living Godly lives

God’s grace is the provision for everything we need, including His Word (1:3)

Grace is what spares us from God’s wrath and judgment to Hell

Grace hastens the return of Christ - you mean, we can affect WHEN Christ returns? YES, we can.

Eph 2:8-9 tells us we are saved by grace through faith - as is everyone

God is patient, wanting everyone to repent, get saved, become believers

At some point, the last person who will be saved before the “gathering together” will get saved, and OFF WE GO!

Maybe that will be the person you witness to, and they bow the knee in repentance!

We don’t know, but God does - reminder for us to keep busy

REMEMBER - the salvation we speak of is not just spiritual, we will bodily be with Christ for eternity, literally in a new heaven and earth - share that!

God’s grace is what shows up in the gracious work of our lives lived for Him

Rom. 12:1-2 - Believers whose lives have been transformed do what is right - ALWAYS

Recurring themes from beginning and throughout the letter

Diligence, making every effort, in light of the coming end of the world

Make certain about His calling of you, affirm your relationship with Christ

CONTRAST:

Those who belong to God - God’s people - will live godly lives and be perfected on the last day

False teachers and their followers: their very lives condemn them, showing them not to be followers of God

(not about works - but fruit is the result of being attached to Christ - He is the vine, we are the branches)

Grace is there for us to grow in, be nurtured by, and be strengthened by

God’s amazing grace is shown in His patience, His “slowness,” while more and more people come to repentance and saving knowledge of Him

2) Knowledge

Growing in knowledge is NOT OPTIONAL for a believer

1 Corinthians 8:1 NASB95

Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.

Our churches today struggle with basics of Bible knowledge

Thus they know little of Jesus, of God

Having little knowledge makes you easy prey for false teachers, beliefs in alternatives to the truth

Disciplesship - Jesus told us in Matt. 28:19-20 to make disciples

To do this, I need to know some basics

Plan of salvation - why we even NEED salvation

What God’s Word says about converting the lost - and what it doesn’t

If you say you follow God’s Word, then you should be able to show people from God’s Word

Yes, we are constantly learning, never “arrived” - and continued growth is a mark of the surrendered believer

ILLUST: You can tell when a plant is growing; you can tell when you are growing, learning, getting closer to God, and when you are not

The surrendered believer WANTS to grow, learn more, know more, defend the faith more

God does not expect us to do this of our own effort, of our own will

HIS GRACE IS GRANTED TO US SO THAT WE CAN GROW IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM

1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB95

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

ASIDE: Peter and Paul agreed on these concepts: be diligent to live Godly lives; remember the Lord’s patience, so that others can repent

Some distorted Paul’s teaching on liberty, Christian “freedom” from the law, as in Rom. 3:20, Gal 5:2 and others (“all things are lawful…)

Paul is brought up by Peter because of distortion by false teachers

And just because something is difficult to interpret does not give the excuse to misinterpret

In 1:12, Peter speaks of believers as being “firmly established in the truth”

POINT: the issue is distortion of God’s truth, believers do not, and false teachers do

CLOSING CHALLENGE: THEREFORE...

Because of God’s grace, because you are growing closer to Him, and because you know that this world is passing soon…THEREFORE - what kind of lives should you live?

Do you feel you have strayed, are straying from the LORD

Too busy with other things to make Him a priority?

When you truly surrender to Christ, you will feel those “other” things get pushed aside, left behind

2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB95

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

The American church is a distracted church

This leads to apostasy, falling away, false teaching, a weak and non-impactful church

THAT CANNOT BE CORNERSTONE

QUESTION: Do we even notice when we fall away, or when we start to stray? Frog in the water....

Ocean current on the beach will take you 100 yards away from your site, and you don’t even notice, because you relax on your raft...

When you grow in grace and knowledge, you will find assurance - that’s an important aspect of peace with God

See, God wants peace with sinners, He wants to reconcile

SO:

Be on your guard, be prepared, when you are growing, Satan looks to stunt that growth

Those who are on their guard will not fall away

The careless, the lazy, the complacent - will slip and fall, and then wonder why they feel so distant from God

You will only remain vigilant, aware, prepared, if you GROW - in Grace and Knowledge

The key mark of the believer is the work of the Holy Spirit, shown by the fruit of that Spirit (Gal. 5), continually growing, Biblically-directed

DOXOLOGY - Christ gets the glory (His effort, not ours)

By you getting saved

By you surrendering your life to Him

By you living the life that shows Christ to others

By you growing ever closer to Him