Saturated in God's Word
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What does it mean to be Saturated?
What does it mean to be Saturated?
Have your kids ever brought home those little pills with animals inside that, when you put them in water, they grow to be like 5x larger than they started.
The are made of a super absorbent polymer that was originally used in agriculture to help increase the amount of water the soil can absorb.
They can absorb up to 400x there mass in weight. The more saturated they become, the more they grow.
Those cheap little toys are a good analogy for the life of a Christian.
Our growth in the faith really is about saturation.
This process of saturation is what we call discipleship.
To define discipleship we first have to define what a disciple is.
A disciple is a follower, a learner, someone who takes up the ways of someone else.
We could call a disciple an apprentice or a person in training.
So discipleship is the process of following, learning, and becoming like the one you are following.
Christian discipleship then is more than education.
It is a followship, a process of learning about Jesus, following His words and His ways.
Embracing the things that Jesus showed us were the most important things in life.
Being shaped by His life, His values, and His mission.
And the way of discipleship is saturation.
Saturation in His Word
Saturation in His Family
Saturation in His Mission
We are going to spend the next 3 weeks talking about how to be saturated.
Today we are going to look at one of Jesus’s closest disciples, Peter, and look at how and why we must be Saturated in His Word.
Peter Always Reminding
Peter Always Reminding
12 Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, 14 since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. 15 And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.
Peter is likely writing this letter from a prison cell in Rome somewhere between 64-68 AD, not long before he would be executed for his faith in Jesus.
Peter likely knows this is one of the last letters he will write and these are some of the last days he has to live.
Do you ever think about how you would spend your last days? If you were to write a letter, what would you write about?
Peter has opened his letter speaking of the promises of God to His people, as well as calling them to a seriousness and faithfulness in their pursuit of Christ.
And then, in what seems like a response to what he assumes those reading might be thinking, Peter states his purpose for writing what he does.
His audience is likely much like us.
There are some here that are new to the faith, still figuring things out.
Then there are those of us whom Peter says “are established in the truth”, those that know of the things he is speaking.
Peter’s opening monologue is something they would say “Yes Peter we know those truths. We have heard them, we have even taught them ourselves. There really is no need to repeat these basic things.”
To that Peter “But I must remind you, in case you have fallen asleep; in case these truths have become so common that they don’t move your heart anymore.”
“I must keep reminding you, brother and sisters, because my days are numbered, and so are yours. You must not forget these truths, in the storms and trials of life, you will need to remember. In the temptations to stray, these are truths you must remember.”
Even you who know the truth and are established in it need repeated reminders of its greatness, lest we all fall asleep or forget.
The most dangerous attitudes we as followers of Christ can have are apathy and indifference.
The way to battle apathy and indifference is to remember.
That is why we gather every week here to sing songs of worship and to hear the bible preached, less we may forget or fall asleep.
It is the reason we encourage one another to read the Word daily, and to get plugged into a group so we together can read and figure out how to live out these vital truths.
There is an URGENT NEED for us to REMEMBER.
There is an URGENT NEED for us to REMEMBER.
Peter continues in the next section telling us what it is that we need to remember:
16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!” 18 We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
1) Remember that the Bible is REALLY REAL.
1) Remember that the Bible is REALLY REAL.
We must remember that the words we read in this book, the accounts and teachings are not made up stories, myths, or baseless instruction.
The words and accounts in this book are real events, from real people, that happened in real places, with real life happening in and around all that was being written.
One pitfall of studying bible that is so easy to fall into is failing to understand the realness of what we are reading.
Those he is writing to had heard of (maybe from Peter himself) of the Transfiguration, when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain and revealed His divine nature to them. (Matt 17)
Peter says “I heard the voice from heaven. I saw the majesty of Jesus with my own eyes. This isn’t a tall tale brothers and sister.”
It is important to understand why Peter points to this experience and not the plethora of others he could have pointed to.
He has spoken of the second coming of Jesus in the first part of the chapter, reminding these believers that Jesus is coming back and that we must keep our eyes fixed on the hope of that day.
But the confidence Peter has in the second coming is built and bolstered on the reality of His first coming and the wonder of what he had experience when Jesus had revealed His glory on that mountain top.
The realness of the Word disarms the apathy and indifference that so easily grows in our hearts.
2) Remember that the Bible is GOD’S OWN WORDS.
2) Remember that the Bible is GOD’S OWN WORDS.
I want to skip down to verses 20-21 quick.
The second reason to remember is that these words we read in this book are not the words of mere men, they are the very words of God.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,
12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
There is a uniqueness to this book that separates it from any other book ever penned.
It holds power in its pages that can soften the hearts of the most cold and callous there is.
It can encourage those who are deep in despair and discouragement.
In can heal, restore, reproof, and redeem the most broken or bewildered.
It has the power to save, to set free, and to send.
The power is not in the paper, leather, or ink. Nor is it necessarily in the particular words used or the structure of the words
The power is solely in the one who breathed them out through the mind and hands of those whom he chose to write them.
This book is God’s answer to our prayers. It hold the truths our minds search for and the peace our hearts long for, because it was written by the one who created our minds and knows the inclinations of our hearts.
We must remember these words, because they are God’s words to us.
I heard it said, though I do not know who said it:
“Don’t say God is silent when your Bible is closed.”
These ten words rebuke our fear that God might be inactive or uncaring in the brokenness and messiness of our lives, and reminds us that he cares, he sees, and he speaks. But too often, we’re just not listening.
God is always ready to speak into our lives. We simply need to listen, tuning our ears and hearts to what he is saying in the book he inspired. When we open the Bible, we find more than 750,000 words breathed out by God himself for us.
3) Remember that the Bible is our GUIDEBOOK for LIFE.
3) Remember that the Bible is our GUIDEBOOK for LIFE.
Now back to 19:
19 We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Peter organized his words how he felt were best and he did well, but I felt we needed to establish that this is God’s book before we speak about it being the guidebook for life.
It is the guidebook for life BECAUSE it is God’s Book.
But we so often treat the bible like a manual for an appliance.
You might look at if you get confused or need to know how to change the filter, but it mostly just sits on the shelf.
Or we treat it like google.
When we are anxious or sad we flip to the back and find verses on anxiety and sadness.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for this, but we too often approach the bible looking for specific words, rather than trusting that is it “living and active” and will speak to our needs when we give it a chance.
But this Book is a lamp guiding us through the darkness of this world.
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.
130 The revelation of your words brings light and gives understanding to the inexperienced.
Our only hope to survive the night is to have a lamp going before us. And Peter says the prophetic word, the promise of Christ's coming, is that lamp. And he pleads with us: keep your eyes on it; don't fall asleep; don't turn away after some bewitching song in the night
put in front of you the carrot or the hot fudge sundae of God's promises, and let it lure you on in paths of righteousness into eternal life.
“There is a spiritual diet without which no Christian can be strong and healthy and fruitful. And that is a diet of the word of God.” — John Piper
Hold fast to it for the sake of faith. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
Hold fast to it for the sake of your joy. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).
Hold fast to it for the sake of your freedom. “If you abide in my word . . . and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32).
Hold fast to it for the sake of your holiness. “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).
Hold fast to it for the sake of the Holy Spirit. “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith” (Galatians 3:5)?
Hold fast to it for the sake of life. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
Hold fast to it for the sake of strength and stability and fruitfulness. Your delight will be “in the law of the Lord, and on his law you will meditate day and night. You will be like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that you do you will prosper” (Psalms 1:2–3).
Take it home:
Take it home:
1) Get in your Bible regularly
2) Gatherwith others to study the Bible together
3) Read the Bible as a family regularly
4) Pray against the evil one and his schemes to distract you
5) Striveto make the Word of God applicable to everyday life