Do you Smell What the Rock is Cooking?

2 Peter 1:1–9 NET

1 From Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as precious as ours. 2 May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord! 3 I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. 4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; 6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; 7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love.8 For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.9 But concerning the one who lacks such things—he is blind. That is to say, he is nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins.

Last Week we talked about Getting on Mission and we discussed a Tactical Exercise for helping us to training for the Mission.

This week I want take on deep dive into the Apostle Peter’s 2 Letter to those followers of Jesus who were under his care.

If you know a little about the story of Jesus, you will remember that Peter was not just one of the Lord’s followers, but a part of Jesus’ Inner Circle.

It was Peter who walked on water with Jesus. I was Peter who saw Jesus Transfigured on Mt Hermon and saw Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah about the days that were coming , namely the crucifixion.

He was also the Man who said he would NEVER abandon Jesus no matter the danger and the one who denies Jesus three times, even cursing and saying “I do not know him”

Jesus plainly tells Peter before the Crucifixion, that Satan had desired to Sift him Like Wheat.... and Jesus gives Satan permission to do just that, but tells Peter that He had prayed for him that his faith not fail and that when he was restored, he was to lead and strengthen his brothers.

And it was Peter, who after the resurrection was restored by Jesus and told by Jesus to “Feed his Lambs” to Shepherd and care for those who would be joined to the family.

It was Peter, who at the day of Pentecost, found boldness in the baptism of the Holy Spirit and preach with such power that 3000 souls were saved and the Church of Jesus was fully launched.

This man, is the man we are going to consult with about how we are to step from death into life. How can we be transformed into bold, fearless followers of Jesus.

Sometimes we read the scriptures and we divorce that person from the passage, but Holy Spirit never did this. All that made Peter who he was, all that forged him into the leader he had become, the very constitution of his person in Christ, floods the words of his letters to those he was to feed and shepherd. What made Peter the man he was, his time with Jesus and his relationship with Holy Spirit makes him the perfect man for us to learn from.

I say the perfect man to learn from, because Peter was anything but perfect and his faults were laid bare for all generations to come to see.

How wise is Our King to chose a man like this, have him exposed so we can see that Jesus knows us, all our weaknesses and places we will struggle and loves us despite our faults and failures.

Like Peter, we can trust Jesus to finish the work in us that he has started.

Today is about stepping into partnership with God.

We will briefly review the steps Peter lays out for us and then in the weeks to follow, we unfold these and add some practical action to each of them.

2 Peter 1: 1-8

From Simeon Peter, a Doulos, a Bondservant and Apostle of Jesus the Chosen One, The One Anointed as King of all Kings.

It’s important as we begin in this journey with Peter to understand the man’s view of himself in relationship to Jesus.

In Mark 9:35 Jesus sits the 12 disciples down and then teaches them that if any one of them wanted to be first or chief among others, he must be the last of all and servant of all.

Peter uses the word Doulos which is much different that a Slave or simple servant of Jesus. A Doulos was a man who had purposely sold himself into the service of another.

In

Exodus 21:5-6 we are shown where a man that wished to become a Doulos, would express his love for his master and his desire to never leave his master’s side. His master would bring this man to the tabernacle, the place where God’s presence dwelled and met with Moses and the Aaron and there before God and other witnesses, the man’s ear was pierce and he as marked as a doulos, a man that loved and swore his life to the honored service of his master.

Peter was a sworn servant of Jesus Christ, his life was not his own. He lived only to serve Jesus and the mission that Jesus had given to him.

The care and instruction that we are about to receive from Peter, the same care and instruction that he offered to these brothers and sisters in Christ who were before us; was not in service of himself or any agenda that he may have had. No, what we will see as we looked through his writing and instructions was given from the heart of a man who was the sold out, wholly commited slave of Jesus who bound himself forever to Jesus because of his deep love for his master.

His service was not a forced or compulsory act, it was his deep honor, his delight to serve his master by obeying the command that he received directly from the lips of Jesus himself in John 21:17

When Jesus plainly tells him to “Feed my Lambs” “Feed my Sheep”

It’s important today for you to leave this podcast today and know, that Peter is a faithful witness of the truth of Jesus.

Peter isn’t some crazy religious nut job with an agenda to get into your pocket book of manipulate you some how some so he might enjoy some power over you.

No, this man can be trusted and the instruction he will give us in this letter can be trusted.

Peter is not only the servant of Jesus, the willing doulos of Christ, he is a servant to us all and it is his love for his master and by extension his love for those who would follow after Jesus that motivates the instruction we are about to dive into AND because LOVING DEVOTION to Jesus who is God, is the bedrock of this instruction we can trust it.

Peter was a MAN transformed before our very eyes in the stories recorded for us in the Gospels and the the Book of Acts.

He was a MAN being re-shaped and re-formed in the image of his Master who he loved more than life itself. Something later he proved as he was put to death for his faith in Jesus.

The reports say that Peter was crucified for his faith and unwilling and feeling unworthy of dying the same way his master was put to death, asked to be hung upside down. And so his was crucified upside down for his love and commitment to Jesus.

What we will see in what Peter shares with us cost him his life

Michael Green, In his commentary on 2 Peter and Jude: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 18, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1987), says this.

“The Christian must work out the salvation which God works in him. In a word, his life must reflect something of the attractive character of Christ. For he was the man par excellence, the proper man. True human excellence, then, is the manliness which is Christlikeness. That likeness cannot be acquired except through personal and continuous encounter with him by faith”

Peter evidenced this manliness that was Christlikeness and it this Manliness that I am inviting you to explore.

Take some time this week to read John Chapter 18, 19, 20 and 21 this week.

See Peter in these passages and see the man who has been transformed into the man who will instruct us on how we can become more like Jesus and become the men we have been called to be.

Next wee will start to dive into Peter’s instructions and wisdom for us so we can learn how to begin to walk in transformation.

Until next week

May the Lord bless you

and protect you.

May the Lord smile on you

and be gracious to you.

May the Lord show you his favor

and give you his peace.’

God Bless Brothers

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

We have received all of this by coming to know him,

the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.

These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.

God..In His, through His Divine Power...it’s not a Human Power or a Physical Force of nature...it is other-worldly, it is supernatural power that belongs only to God and being the extravagantly generous Father that he is, He provides for us, everything we need to live in the state of Re-newed Creation and gives is all the power and ability to co-labor with his Son Jesus our King in the 8th; the beginning of the New Heaven and the New Earth .

Our response-is to Supplement your Faith

with a generous provision of moral excellence

  IV. Gregory’s Interpretation of Psalm 6

1 Bruce K. Waltke, James M. Houston, and Erika Moore, The Psalms as Christian Lament: A Historical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014), 47.

Gregory speaks of moral excellence as the pursuit of excellence, a continual stretching towards good. Much like an athlete builds his strength and body through disciple and hard work to become the best example of a man in his sport, we are called to pursue God in this same manner,

and moral excellence with knowledge,

We compound these efforts with Knowledge. Knowing God.

How do we do this? Primarily we know God by his Word and a faithful engagement with God’s Word, but we also must include an attitude of prayer and relationship with Holy Spirit, who was given to us, He was the Great Promise, to be our teacher.

6 and knowledge with self-control,

A mastery of ones self is in view here.

This mastery takes time, intentional practice and devotion. Like learning to play an instrument or any other skill, self-control then is a skill or is it. Isn’t it also called a fruit of the Spirit. In my my own personal life I’ve seen that when I try in my human condition alone to develop the ability to show patience or self-control, I often fall back into old habits eventually, leaving me feeling like a failure, BUT as I grow in relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit, patience and self-control seem to become much more natural and then my skill grows as I practice it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

and self-control with

patient endurance,

This might get confused with normal, everyday patience, but what Peter is discussing here is something more substantial that just not losing your cool with your kids.

This is tied to Hope and Faith.

The ability to weather the sufferings and heartaches that life is sure to bring to us all, even those who are named in Christ and to do so with an attitude of Joy, internal Peace and a Love that flows out from a grateful heart that is seasoned with humility.

It is Grit, real Grit rooted in a confident hope based on the great promises given to us in Christ.

Abraham is held up to us all as an example of this sort of patient endurance, we believed that promises that God made to him of him becoming a father of many nations, and all the nations of the earth being blessed by his seed, and even though his body and the body of his wife Sarah was well beyond the ability to produce a child, still Abraham believed God and this was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Living each day in the hope that we have in Christ; knowing that we have something waiting for us that is far greater than any reward we could possibly imagine.

Living like the sufferings of this life are not even worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us in that day of Christ.

Allowing the promises of God and the Hope of Glory to anchor our hearts in such a way that we can weather most any storm.

That is real true Grit that is formed out of a Love for our Father and his Son Jesus and a confident trust in all that he has said.

and patient endurance with godliness,

Godliness. When I first read this word I hear, God-likeness.

There is more to this isn’t there Holy Spirit?

It also carries with it the idea of Reverence to God, an honorable fear of our Father in Heaven and our Lord Jesus Christ.

In recognition that our lives are inextricably tied to our God in Christ and therefore we are bound to reflect His nature in all that we do. And, because of this we are to be careful not to Bear his Image, his Name in Vain; by have a daily behavior that is contradictory to Christ.

So, Godliness is a mindful behavior that is taken up and is a manner of loving God by reflecting his nature.

7 and godliness with brotherly affection,

Love for your fellow believer. That seems like a no-brainer but there are more people outside of the faith today because of conflict that was improperly handled between those who claimed to be followers of Christ.

By this shall all men know that you are MY DISCIPLES, that you love one another.

Apparently, this was a huge differentiator because there were tons of other disciples that followed other teachers.

This was a common practice in that day. But those disciples were not loving and supporting each other. More likely than not, they were competing with each other.

Jesus said that the attitude and actions of genuine love for those who were your brothers and sisters in Christ would be SO COUNTER CULTURAL that this would be the defining mark where everyone would know..Ah, look there, they are most certainly followers of Jesus.

This is not only a mark we should bear but also a command that Jesus gives us and then says if we love him we will keep his command, starting with loving each other.

and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

It would seem that if we are approaching life in the attitude of Moral Excellence, are devoted students of the Word, are seeking daily to be taught and instructed by Holy Spirit, are IN THE POWER of Holy Spirit practicing self-control and grit, while being aware of how our daily lives reflect on Christ and ensuring that we honor God in our behavior, by loving first the family of God, then we are most likely capable of showing love to everyone around us.

8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who doesn’t want to live a life that is thought to be productive and useful?

9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

Those who fail to develop?---Not just any development, but IN THIS WAY.

There are a ton of programs seeking to help men develop into the version 2.0 of the man.

That seems to be the catch phrase I have seen lately.

But what if the development plan you have chosen to apply yourself in, does not align with this teaching? What then?

Does that become a failure to develop in THIS MANNER?

Peter is talking about action and intention on the part of the believer.

He starts off his teaching by saying SUPPLEMENT YOUR FAITH.

So, when we fail to engage we are either short-sighted or blind.

If we fail to engage in this manner, we are short-sighted or blind.

Not all engagement produces the life of Christ in us; does it?

When we fail to engage we have forgotten or perhaps NEVER grasped what The Father and the Son have done for us. We don’t understand or we have forgotten what the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus has purchased for us and what we have been rescued from.

We have forgotten that all our sins have been washed from us an we are new creations in Jesus Christ, for the glory and honor of God , who is now our Father.

I’m guilty of this. I spent 25 years of my life not developing like this.

I went to church during that time. I heard sermons but I was never taught how to supplement my faith, or how to engage or even that I was expected to engage in this process.

I thought my spiritual development was up to God and that he would do the work.

I had no idea that what it meant to be a Co-Laborer with Christ or how it has always been His heart for us to tend to His creation.

As it was in the garden, the command to be fruitful and multiple, that command has not changed. I am expected to Be Fruitful and I am expected to Multiply.

The Soil of Human hearts is the ground I am expect to work in, sowing the Good Seed of this Message into hearts around me and cultivating a Life that honors and reflects the Heart of my King; these are the tasks I have been given to Co-Labor with God in, Starting with my heart first.

1:10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin.

1:11 For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you. 1

1 Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), 2 Pe 1:10–11.

What was true 2000 years ago is still true today Holy Spirit.

Let this path be forged into my HEART please.

Help me to faithfully walk this with everything that is in me and help me to faithful teach this to others for the Glory of my Father and My Savior Jesus.

Amen

It's been a very involved last few days men and if I'm being honest I have not been myself this week. Ivy's been gone all week and I've been missing her.

I have been really digging deep into the passage in 1 Peter. Every time I start to move onto another, I get pulled back into this passage.

As you guys are going through this with me, I want you to be sensitive to those passages that are pulling you in and don't just check a box.

By that I mean, don't just say "check" "I did my scripture journal for the day"

When we feel pulled to a particular passage, it is because Holy Spirit has something that he wants to teach us there.

This is about moving the truth of the Gospel from the Head to the Heart.

It is about allowing the Living Word of God to have the major influence in your thinking, your will and your day to day decision making.

It's about developing a trust relationship with a Father that you can't see with human eyes, but you can see and feel in your spirit.

The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1 spoke about the Eyes of our Heart being enlightened.

This is what we are working towards.

Developing clear, spiritual sight so we can see the Father clearly by learning to see the Son clearly.

Jesus is the Express and Full image of the Father.

He said, IF you have seen me, YOU have seen the Father.

We are taught to have our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith.

That's what a daily quite time develops in us.

Journaling helps us slow down and meditate on the Word and on the Person of Christ.

Also, for what it is worth Scriptural Meditation is not Emptying Your Mind - Eastern Spiritualism Meditation - it is Purposeful Thinking on a Passage of Scripture that is focused on learning and seeing the person of Christ.