Dare To Venture
Align | Why Align?
What’s your reason, that is, what’s motivating the actions of your life?
References
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you're listening to audio from Venture Church. If you'd like to check out more resources or donate to this ministry, please visit daretoventureorg amen, man, that I love that song.
Speaker 2:It's just does such an incredible job at capturing the gospel of Jesus Christ, doesn't it? Listen? If you're a first-time visitor, my name is Austin, the lead here, and it is just a joy to get to worship with you today. I'd love to learn a little bit more about who you are, and so, if you have a minute to hang out afterwards, I'd love to hear your story and just how we can connect. Also, if you're joining us for the first time, we're studying through the book of 2 Peter, which I will call 1 Peter, probably 20 times in my sermon. All right, so just deal with it. And so most of the time I refer to 1 Peter I actually mean 2, but every now and then I'm actually going to read something from 1 Peter just to keep you on your toes to see what I'm actually talking about. But it's all about aligning ourselves with God. And so the letter begins, written by Peter, whom I know you've probably heard about. And so the letter begins, written by Peter, whom I know you've probably heard about. He begins the letter talking about how God has aligned us with him through Christ, and then he transitions into how we therefore need to align ourselves with what he has given us. Last week, shorty, our youth pastor all six, eleven and a half of them, you know he walked us through that passage. He did such a great job of taking us through that, and so what I want to do is just kind of recapture that real quickly of where we've been the last two weeks, starting in verse 3, listen to how God has aligned us with him through Christ. Verse 3, his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. It's given it to us through the knowledge of him, who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises so that through them, you might become partakers of the divine nature. So he's given us this nature so that we can actually live in it, having escaped from the corruption that is in this world because of sinful desires. So we were in verses 1 through 4 at the beginning, then last week, verse 5, for this very reason, make every effort. Everybody say effort, all right, that's work, that's putting oomph in it, all right. So make every effort, put all your oomph into supplementing your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. So you have entered into this relationship with Jesus by grace, through faith, and so that's what's brought you into this. And now that you're in this relationship Jesus, by grace, through faith, and so that's what's brought you into this, and now that you're in this relationship, you need to add virtue, which means moral character. You need to add knowledge, the knowledge of God. Don't walk around ignorant. You need to add self-control. Everybody knows what this is. You need to add steadfastness.
Speaker 2:That refers to emotional stability. It's when we base our life on truth and not our emotions. That's how you have emotional stability. Let me say that again If you want to have emotional stability, make your decisions and your perceptions of life on the truth of Jesus Christ and not on your emotions. Then you'll have emotional stability, steadfastness, endurance, godliness, which means good worship. What is godliness? It's the good worship of God, which means genuinely submitted to God's authority and command, to have brotherly affection.
Speaker 2:Jason did a great job talking about that last week, where the ancient term was a term that was so endearing that people were actually expected to prioritize their brother over their spouse. Now, obviously, that's not biblical right. That's what the secular world did. If you're prioritizing your brother or your mama over your spouse, that's also called you need a lawyer and you're going to get divorced, all right. So that doesn't work. But in understanding that term, as Peter was putting forth that term, we understand the weightiness of what this looks like, of how we are to live our lives, where we have this affection and this intentionality and how we love one another, this connection, and then, finally, love. Agape, if you grew up in church, it's a Greek word for unconditional love of choice. I choose to do this. It's not on you, it's on me and I'm making this. And so he says these seven characteristics virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love these seven you need to make every effort everybody say effort to do. Now why? Why, you know why, is an important question.
Speaker 2:When you're little, your parents are supposed to teach you why you're supposed to obey them. Mom and Daddy, if you're a parent of a new child, your first job supposed to teach you why you're supposed to obey them. Mom and daddy, if you're a parent of a new child, your first job, other than the obvious you know feeding, clothing, loving on them, your first parental job in the development of your child's character is to teach them to obey you because you are their parent, for no other reason. All right, that is fundamental. And so when do we start teaching them that? Well, you start teaching them that before they learn to say no, and they learn to say no before they actually can articulate the word no. For Ari it was eh. He couldn't say no yet, but he could say eh. What was he saying? He was saying no, which means you're my authority and I'm telling you no.
Speaker 2:So at a very young age, typically measured in months, you have to start teaching your children that you're the parent and that they're supposed to obey you because you're their parent. And if they don't learn at that age to obey you because a parent, then you have a entirely different world of mess to deal with when they get older. Every parental effort is a mess. All parenting is a mess. There is no. If you do this child equals that parenting. Amen.
Speaker 2:Some of y'all grew up in that church. If you'll just pray with them seven times a week and teach them to memorize Bible verses and obey these rules, and they'll grow up and be Billy Graham and change the world and be missionaries around the world. That's a lie from the pit of hell that has entrapped parents and they lived their whole lives feeling like they failed Because they didn't meet a lie standard that some preacher gave so he could sell his book. Alright, I'm not going to go on another, but there's nothing that says if you do this, it equals this kid. But there's a lot of things that say if you don't do this, you're probably going to get that. And if you don't teach your child that to obey you because you're the parent you can almost guarantee what's going to come out of that. That's almost a guarantee.
Speaker 2:Now God tells us to obey him because he is God. Simple as that. We obey God because he's God. Period, by definition. That's what the definition of God means. I'm God, you're not. And because he's God, that means he's in control. He's the authority by definition. That's what the term means. So why do we obey God? Because he's God.
Speaker 2:But here's what's interesting God doesn't stop there. Do you know? The Bible gives us reasons why we should obey God. So, as parents, our first job at the fundamental level is to teach our children to obey us because we're their parent. But eventually you have to start teaching them why they have to start understanding why you have the rules you have, which is an interesting parental accountability, because when you have stupid rules and you find yourself explaining stupid rules, you start realizing these are stupid rules and you change your rules, you know. So it's a good accountability measure when you have to start explaining why.
Speaker 2:But one of the virtues that we're supposed to grow in, one of the characteristics of divine nature we're supposed to grow in, is knowledge, and knowledge understands why. Everybody say why. All right, so Paul began his letter. Peter Paul did the same thing in some things, but Peter began his letter by going God has aligned us with himself through Christ. All right, this is what he has done. We should align ourselves with the nature that he has given us in aligning us with God. And so here's the effort we need to make. All right, and here's why he's going to tell us why, in today's passage Particularly, there are three reasons why, in 2 Peter, chapter 1, verses 8 through 15, he gives us three reasons why we should make every effort to align ourselves with those seven characteristics that we just reviewed, that Shorty preached last week.
Speaker 2:All right now, I love calling Shorty, it just makes me feel better about myself, okay. So what's the first reason? The first reason that we should make every effort Everybody say effort, all right In those seven characteristics driving ourselves to learn these things, to grow in virtue and knowledge, self-control, steadfast, godliness, brotherly affection, love. The first reason is aligning our lives with the divine nature keeps us from wasting the knowledge of the gospel. It literally keeps us from wasting that knowledge Verse 8, for if these qualities are yours, all right.
Speaker 2:2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 8, for if here's the condition, these qualities are yours, meaning you possess them. You indeed have been born again, saved by God, redeemed, and he's given you the divine nature. And if these qualities, those seven characteristics, are increasing, all right. Now, what does that word not mean? It doesn't mean perfection, amen. So let's make sure we understand the right condition here. He's not saying if these are perfected within you, because that's not going to happen, this side of Jesus Also that these are not simply in your possession, that was, if they are yours and are increasing, they're growing.
Speaker 2:The momentum of your life is that godliness, steadfastness, self-control, brotherly affection, love. If these things are on the rise, if there is effort going in and there is momentum in your life towards that meaning. If your momentum is towards these, logically, then they're away from what is opposite of those Lack of self-control, lack of moral excellence. If your life is drifting into these, the momentum is drifting into these. The momentum is drifting into these, then they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful. In the knowledge of our lord jesus christ, those characteristics of the divine nature that we are to add to our faith. We are saved by grace. Through faith, we're to bring these things into this life because god has brought them to us. If, if they were growing, then we keep ourselves from being ineffective, which means useless, and there's nothing more aggravating than being useless.
Speaker 2:And then he uses another word that's similar but it has a subtle difference Keeps you from ineffective and unfruitful. Or what does the word unfruitful imply? Well, if you read the Gospels, john chapter 15, jesus said abide in me, and if you abide in me you'll produce much fruit. The purpose of fruit? Some fruit is to eat, not all fruit, right, there's certain things you can't eat. If you do, you're sick. Some things you eat, you die. So some fruit is for eating, but all fruit is for the reproduction of the vine or the tree. All fruit contains a seed, it falls off and it reproduces that vine. It reproduces that weed in your yard, it reproduces whatever it is. That's what the seed does. That's the purpose of the seed. And the seed is in the fruit. The fruit fertilizes the seed and bam, you got another plant that makes more fruit.
Speaker 2:So he says, if you're going to be effective, if you're going to be fruitful, then you need to make every effort in those characteristics, so much so that if you're not growing in those characteristics, it's useless that you got the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It's literally doing you no good and you're sure enough not going to be giving it to anybody else. You're sure enough not going to be bringing the life of God nor integrity to the deliverance of the knowledge of God to anyone. If you're not growing in self-control, if you are a person who hates instead of loves, then you are not moving the kingdom of God forward. As a matter of fact, you're living your life in opposition to the kingdom. You are opposing the life of God instead of walking in the life of God. When you live your life without self-control, you are opposing the life of God instead of living in the life of God and therefore you are not bearing the fruit of God, you're destroying it. So if you want to be effective, if you want to not be unfruitful in the knowledge of this, then you need to strive and make every effort, in those things that he said, to add to our faith. Furthermore, he says in verse 9, for whoever lacks these qualities is nearsighted, is so nearsighted that he's blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
Speaker 2:So all those 40 and under, if you're like me, I had perfect vision until I was like 45. And I noticed at the restaurant I kept moving the menu further and further away. You know, I'm like what's wrong with these dumb menus? You know these new menus. When I was a kid, they printed menus you could read, and now, 40 years later, they don't print menus you can read, or the accumulation of birthdays has an effect on you.
Speaker 2:Eventually in your mid-40s if you're like me, some later, some earlier you get what's called farsightedness. Farsighted means you can see things far away, but you can't see them up close. Now what Peter's talking about is the opposite of farsighted. Farsighted lets you see things that are out, but things that are up close are blurry. Nearsighted means things that are far away you cannot see, and so you've got to get them up close. It's the opposite of the mid-40s eye thing. I'm 50 and it's really speeding up. Carrie's like you need to go to the eye doc. I'm like I just go to Walmart and get some glasses. You know, eye doc, eye doc. I don't need no stinking doctor, you know.
Speaker 2:So anyway, and that's why my arms aren't long enough anymore. You know, I need to go to the eye doctor. So like, so nearsighted is when you have to get it up close, he said. For whoever lacks these qualities, whoever lacks self-control, steadfastness, godliness, whoever lacks these things is so nearsighted. They're functionally blind. You know, if you can only see something that's right up to your nose tip, yes, technically, technically can you see? Yes, but functionally you're blind.
Speaker 2:And the five senses touch, taste, feel, you know, hear all these things. Of all of those senses, we could probably easily argue seeing is the most productive thing. I mean, when you can't see, I mean it makes life really difficult. I know that in our politically correct woke world you have to be careful about your terminologies and you don't want to offend anybody, but blindness is the most difficult thing a person would have to overcome In all of the five senses. All of them have an impact if you don't have it, but blindness, that's the most difficult. Everything in our world is based on seeing Everything. You cannot hear lots of things and still be fine. You could drive a car and not hear. I mean, you can do all kinds of things. You can read books, you can see information, all the things you can do with your eyes. Even if you don't have your ears, you still have your eyes. But if you don't have your eyes, seeing is the most fundamentally productive thing we have in the process of engaging the world and living with efficiency.
Speaker 2:And so Peter says here if you lack those seven qualities, if they are not on the rise, you are so nearsighted that you are blind. You have forgotten that he cleansed you from your former sins. You don't realize what you came from and therefore you don't know what you've been brought to. You have forgotten what God took you. You are so nearsighted you can't see what he brought you out of and therefore you keep going back to it. Paul wrote to a church in Corinth who had become incredibly nearsighted. They had become so nearsighted that they were going through the very thing that Peter was talking about here. Paul said to the church in Corinth he said or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Now, what he's talking about here is those who live justifying this behavior in their life, who practice it. Everybody say practice it. To practice something means this is who I am, this is what I do. And so he says to the church at Corinth you need to remember this Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers this is what they practice nor men who practice homosexuality.
Speaker 2:By the way, just quick tangent on that, when you hear someone say that if you have homosexual desires you can't be a Christian, that is totally unbiblical, because if sinful desires means we're not a Christian, then all of us are not Christians. All the church said, all right. So you don't just get to say the ones that make me uncomfortable means you're not a Christian, all right, it's whether or not we are, whether or not we are submitting to those or not. Now, I know that's incredibly politically incorrect, because, because what the world says is submit to whatever you want, and then God says submit to me, all right, so, but? But we also need to preach the truth. And the truth of the matter is you can absolutely live your entire life with homosexual desires and follow Jesus, just like I have desires that are not of God. Amen, it's what I do with them that matters.
Speaker 2:Again, I know that's not politically correct. You'll still probably have protests because I said it. But hey, we're not going to. We're not going to justify one unbiblical teaching because of another unbiblical teaching, we're just going to preach Bible Amen, all right. So, all right.
Speaker 2:That was a rabbit. We killed it. It's dead. So do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revelers, nor swindlers were inherit the kingdom of God. And here's where we're going, verse 11, and such were some of you. But everybody say but I love buts in the Bible. These are the big buts that are good, all right, but you were all of you next know what I'm talking about, right, all right. So anyway. But you were all of you next to know what I'm talking about, right, all right. So anyway, I'm not doing the song but you were washed.
Speaker 2:Look at the key words here. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified Let me put a different emphasis but you were washed. That was in your past, it's done. You were sanctified. You already been set apart. You were justified, declared worthy in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God. You were justified to be a child of God. This is who you are, and it has already happened.
Speaker 2:So why are you so nearsighted that you're going back to who you were. Why are you living like who you were instead of who you are? This is what Paul was saying to the church at Corinth. What happened? You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, you were brought into a relationship with God. You have his life, you have his divine nature. Why are you going back to the nature of death? And oh, by the way, if you're practicing this, if you're living in this, justifying this, it's because you have never been washed, you have never been sanctified, you have never been set apart.
Speaker 2:This is exactly what Peter's saying here, when he said you are so nearsighted, you have forgotten that you were cleansed from your former sins. You don't know who you are anymore. So how do we fix that? Well, we need to work at those virtues, right? No, because here's the thing If you are living without those characteristics of the divine nature, it's because you're blind, and you don't change blindness by practicing those characteristics. You see, the Bible says that we were dead in sin and trespasses. We were blind, and you cannot fix blind. Only God can. But here's the good news so you've grown blind and you're a believer in Jesus who is not seeing these characteristics on the rise in his life. What do we do about it?
Speaker 2:Isaiah prophesied Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. It is the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. It is the work of God that opens our eyes to the glory of who he is. That motivates us to drive into that divine nature, that gives us the motivation to make the effort. That's why the Apostle Paul prayed this over the church in Ephesus. Listen to how Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus and the emphasis for Ephesus That'll preach right there, brother, all right.
Speaker 2:The emphasis for Ephesus on seeing Everybody say seeing, all right. Listen to the emphasis on seeing. He said I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Here's how I pray for you that the God of our Lord, jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom. It requires seeing and of revelation Seeing In the knowledge of Him so that He'll give you wisdom, and revelation in the knowledge of Him so that you can see it, because when you see it you'll put the effort into His divine nature. Having the eyes of your heart enlightened that you may know, what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. So Paul, in writing to the church at Ephesus, says I'm praying for your eyes to be open, and it's a prayer that we know God will answer.
Speaker 2:The psalmist said in 146, verse 8, the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. When we cry out to God and we say, god, I have grown blind, I have gone deaf, my heart is cold and numb and doesn't care about the life you've given me. But I want to. I just don't. Lord, god responds to that prayer.
Speaker 2:Listen, every time I have found myself cold-hearted towards God, every time I have found myself blind to the revelation of the glory of God, listen, we can know the information and lose sight of the glory. If the information doesn't have the glory, then we've gone blind. We're so nearsighted we can't see. When our hearts are not driven by the glory of what God has done, when our hearts are not driven by who we are not who we were, but who we are, we've gone blind. And the spiritual effort in our life at that point needs to cry out to God. Lord, open my eyes, soften my heart, open my ears, let me see and behold you again. I want to see your glory, god. That in so many times in my spiritual journey with God I've had to get to that point, the lack of the rise of those seven characteristics screamed at me. You don't see them anymore, you don't care anymore, you don't hear him anymore, and so I'll find myself on my knees. God, open my eyes, open my ears, soften my heart. And that's a prayer we can pray with confidence, because he promises to do it. Amen, he promises All right.
Speaker 2:Second reason why the second reason why we need to make every effort to align our lives with the divine nature of God. One is so we don't waste the knowledge of Him. Two is so we can experience the victorious life. Aligning our lives with the divine nature is essential for experiencing the victorious life. Now, if you are 45, 40 and older, when I use this victorious life thing, it probably just brought back bad memories of evangelists trying to sell you their books. All right.
Speaker 2:So back in the 80s and the 90s, this was like the thing Everybody was talking about the victorious Christian life and everybody always had a book you needed to buy. I mean, back when they had so Gen Z, there was these buildings they called bookstores and you would go there and buy books and it was this crazy thing. They were on paper and print and you read them with your hands, and I don't even do that anymore. So e-books, my thing. You know what I mean. So anyway, like you would go to the Christian bookstore and half the bookstore would be some title on how to have the victorious Christian life, and I'll be honest, I just got cynical. You know I'm like man, this phrase is wore out, but when I was preparing this sermon I just kept coming back to it.
Speaker 2:What do we mean by a victorious life? Well, you know what we mean by a losing life. Think about a team that always loses or a team that always loses, and you know they generally lose because when they win you go man, what happened? Like you're surprised, you know. Like how did that happen? You know what I mean. Kind of like, unfortunately, how the Panthers have been. We won, what you know? And cool, you know, we get excited, like that was awesome, you know we won, it's amazing.
Speaker 2:And so so losing teams when they win, everybody's kind of shocked because, well, they're losers, you know, and nobody wants to play on a losing team, nobody wants to hang around, it's not, you're not. When the season's over on a losing team, you're like thank God, it's over, you know what I'm saying. So like there's really just kind of no motivation. Now, when you're a part of a winning team, it's the exact opposite. When you're on a winning team and you lose because even winning teams lose at times, when you're a winning team that lose, people go. What happened? Like there's concern. You know, like we all get freaked out when you know when Alabama sorry, auburn fans when Alabama loses, it freaks us out, you know, because then we realize if Alabama could lose, so could I, you know. So when we see these teams, you know, remember when New England used to win all the time, and now they don't. It just it really disturbs me. You know Like you could go from winning to losing, like what happened. You know? So winning teams, people that win all the time when they lose it's odd, you know, it turns our heads. That's how you know the difference between a winning team and a losing team. When a winning team loses what? I can't believe that.
Speaker 2:So the Bible calls us into a winning team. Our life is to be described by winning. Everybody say winning. Will we fail? Some Absolutely Even winners lose every now and then. But as believers we've been called to win. So aligning our lives with the divine nature moves us from a losing proposition of being cast into outer darkness, into the winning proposition of having his life, the losing proposition of being incapable of living in the divine nature to the winning proposition of now having it and being fully equipped to walk in it. So watch what he says in verses 10 and 11. Therefore, brothers, be all more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. It literally means stumble. Everybody say stumble, for in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:Now a couple quick points of clarity. Ks Woos wrote this and this is really important, so you don't misinterpret verse 10 and 11. Ks Woos said there is no idea here of making sure we retain our salvation, but that we possess salvation. He's not saying do this so that you can have it. He's saying do this so that you know you have it. Dh Wheaton commented on it. He said Peter is not here teaching that our salvation is to be earned by good works, nor that we can forfeit our relationship to Christ once we have genuinely responded to his call. Rather, he is reminding us that the development of a genuinely Christ-like character is the only proof to ourselves and others of our Christian status, even though at times we sadly fail. When victory is our normality, assurance is our normality Everybody struggles with. Am I actually saved? Am I actually a child of God? When these qualities are your normality, you won't struggle with that anymore.
Speaker 2:The confidence of our salvation is not that you read a prayer. One day at a church. I got so sick and tired of hearing that when I was growing up I'd hear evangelists say you need to write down when you prayed that prayer, as if the prayer saved me. Listen, if you think you're going to heaven because you say the prayer, that is utter foolishness. No one goes to heaven because they say the prayer. No one goes to heaven because they got baptized. No one goes to heaven because they ate bread and drank wine. You are saved by grace, through faith. There is no prayer that saves. There is his grace through our faith that we repent and surrender our lives to him. All I had was an understanding of a child, of who he was and what it meant to surrender my life, and he took it. It's not the measure of my faith, but there is faith, amen. So my assurance, then, is not that when I was eight years old, like a WWF thing, I walked out of the aisle brother, went down there, shook the hand of the preacher, said the prayer and got baptized. That's not why I know I'm going to heaven. I know I'm going to heaven because the qualities of the divine nature are present within my life, and if they're not present within my life, then I have no assurance that he is present within my life. That's what he's saying here. He's not telling us. This is how we get to heaven. This is how we know that we're on our way, amen.
Speaker 2:When Carrie and I were meeting Friday morning, going through this, a meeting, that sounds like a scheduling, so let me start over again. So I'm for those who are new here, I'm a little OCD, all right, so I actually this year have already planned out most of next year's sermons, right? So, like, as in the whole year, I've still got a little ways left to go, but I'll go away again at the end of the year. I take a couple, couple days each year, beginning of the year towards the end of the year, plan the next year, and if I don't, I literally can't sleep at night. Apparently, me and Rain man were split at birth and so so, like, so I plan out next year's sermon. So think about that, like, if you're listening to this sermon right now and this is where you are and this is what you need to just think about how cool God is that last year, some point on a retreat, the Lord put it on my heart to do this. That has nothing to do with me, that's just proof that God is doing his thing, amen, and so, anyway.
Speaker 2:So a year out of playing the sermon, and then generally four to eight weeks out, I produce what's called an exegetical deal. It's an academic outline of the text with a whole lot of stuff other people said about it, and I send it to all our pastors so they can start doing it. That's like generally six to eight weeks out and then generally four weeks out, I take that and I make a second edit of it and start massaging it into a sermon and then I send that out to our guys. And then on Tuesday week of that's why if you call me on Tuesday I will not answer the phone All right. So on Tuesday week of, I'm writing this sermon so that it can go on the internet and it not look like I'm completely unintelligible and it makes sense. And so I get that done.
Speaker 2:And then on Friday morning me and my wife sit down to study it together. So we take my sermon and we read through it. It's to do a couple things. I'm so bad at grammar, grammarly even gives up eventually and just says I'm done, all right, so. So Carrie tries to fix it, given it's going to be posted forever on the internet and written form, you know and so she's looking. I'm the guy in the 10th grade who took college prep English and turned in a paper with the word was spelled W-H-A-S 25 times. All right. So my high school teacher just gave it back to me and said I think you would like to rewrite it, and I didn't know why. All right, so that's how bad it is right, so, anyway. So she does that, but we also. It's just a really cool time in our marriage that we get to study God's Word together. I'd encourage you to find some time for you and your spouse to just study God's Word together, and so on Friday mornings we take time to just study God's Word by looking into the reading, literally reading the sermon. She reads a page, I read a page, she reads a page, I read a page. And then we kind of talk about you know where that took us. And so in that conversation sorry, I chased another rabbit there, but we're going to kill all the rabbits in Dallas today In that conversation, carrie said something that kind of made me think, to illustrate this a different way, because I want to make sure you understand what we're saying here.
Speaker 2:And so imagine life in Christ is like being on a boat, and life without Christ is being on the shore. The way you live on the boat has to be different than how you live on the shore and if you don't live differently on the boat. So what are you talking about? When you go on a boat and you're out in the water, the boat's moving around. You know, you got to do things differently in life on a boat than you do in life on the shore. Now you can act like you're on a boat, living on the shore all you want, but that don't get you on the boat. Or you can pretend to be on a boat. You can build a little boat on the shoreline. I know we live in a world now that whatever you feel and think is true. That's actually not Just. So you'll know that what goes up must come down, whether you like it or not. All right, so if you're on the shore and you build a boat on the shore with sand, it's not a boat and you're not on the water and it won't float. Matter of fact, the moment the water hits it, it's going to destroy it. All right, so like that's the truth of the matter, and so you can act like a boat. Imagine, if you're like.
Speaker 2:Imagine how stupid it is to see somebody on the seashore walking as if they're on a boat. You know where they're walking like this. You know as it moves, but it ain't moving anymore because you're on the shore. So there's nothing more ridiculous than acting like you're on a boat when you're not. Likewise, if you're living on a boat, acting like you're on a shore, life gets really difficult. You have to learn how to walk on the boat. There's things you've got to be able to do to enjoy and be a part of life on a boat, and as long as you're not doing those things, you're going to keep stumbling and falling on that boat.
Speaker 2:I remember the first time I went to Newport News Shipyard my dad was third generation there and there was an open house for shipyard employees to bring their kids to go on a submarine. And luckily I was a kid, because I have a habit of hitting my head on things. All right. So I peaked out at 6'2". I'm already shrinking and so I'm 50, so now I'm in decline, you know. But I have a habit of whacking my head on stuff and when you're bald it shows, you know. So you end up with all these whacks on your head. But man, I got to thinking the first time I went on one of those submarines. You better learn how to duck and you've got to learn how to pick up your feet. You're going to whack your shins or whack your head.
Speaker 2:So there is a life that has to be lived on those things and if you don't live your life that way, it's not very fun. So there's so many people who have repented and believed. They gave their life to Christ. They're on the boat, but because they refuse to put the effort into living life in the boat his life, they're miserable. And you start wondering do I belong on the boat? There's a reason why you're wondering that. Likewise, if you're living on the shore and you're trying to act like you're on the boat, there is no perfection of those qualities on the shore that gets you on the boat. I am on the boat because of Jesus Christ and him alone. Righteousness is my ticket and it's his righteousness that got me on the boat, because it's only his righteousness that allows us to be there. And, as we learned in 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 1, everybody on the boat's got the same status. Isn't that awesome? So the fact that I'm better at these characteristics than you are, or you're better at those characteristics than I am, that'll give us a different status on the boat. There's one chief on the boat, his name is Jesus, and everybody else is of equal status. Amen.
Speaker 2:But how we experience life on the boat comes down to whether or not we're going to put the effort to learn to live boat life. If you're not going to learn to live boat life, you're always going to wonder do I belong? And you're never going to have the joy of being on it. And that's the description of so many Christians. Whether you're on the boat or not, I can't be the judge, but your life experience is of someone who, if they are on the boat, refuses to learn how to live on the boat, and so you're constantly banging your head, smashing your shins. You're a miserable human being. You want to be assured, you want to have the knowledge of this. Then learn to live on the boat.
Speaker 2:Paul said it this way Galatians 5, 16,. But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 2 Peter 2, 11,. For in this way there will be he goes on, he adds this for in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:Again, not by doing these things. It doesn't get us on the boat, but he's saying the experience of being on this boat is going to be rich if we will put these qualities to work and there's going to be a looking forward to what's coming next. Do y'all have 2 Peter 2, 11 back there? No, then, that's not your fault. They got to put it on there for you to put it up there, all right.
Speaker 2:Do you got 1 John 2? Let's look at that one. It says and now, little children, abide in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him and shame at his coming. This was an interesting thing that John wrote. He says learn to abide in him, galatians 2, galatians Walk in the spirit, abide, practice these are all the same concepts. Practice these qualities, abide in me, walk in the Spirit same stuff, all right. So if you will do this, abide in him when he appears, you will not shrink from him in shame of his coming. In other words, if you're not practicing these qualities, you're probably not looking forward to the coming of christ. It's not only that your experience stinks on the boat, but this coming of jesus is not a rich reward for you. It's a scary thing. Listen, if you're here today and you're worried about the second coming of christ, you've either been on youtube too much Everybody know what I'm talking about or you don't know them.
Speaker 2:My mom and dad are coming to town later this week because Ari graduates on Friday. I'm looking forward to seeing my mom and dad. I can't wait. Every time they come to town, I look forward to it with the knowledge that they don't come to town to see me anymore. They come to see the grandkids and I just happen to go along with it. You know, like I understand. That's what grandparenting means. Amen, like your kids matter because they have kids.
Speaker 2:So, but if my life is not being lived with integrity, if my household is not a reflection, my leadership in my home is not a reflection of how my dad has raised me, well then, his coming has a different feeling, a different experience, doesn't it? For so many Christians, that's their life. You're not putting the effort in to the divine nature, and that's why you're scared to face him. You're not putting the effort in to the divine nature, and that's why you're scared to face him. That's why the idea of Jesus coming back horrifies you. So he says you want your way, richly provided to you your entrance into the kingdom to be filled with richness and anticipation. If you want to hear this, well done thou, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter to the joy of your master, then practice those things.
Speaker 2:Finally, the third reason, number three. The third reason we need to make every effort to align our lives with the divine nature of God is that aligning our lives with the divine nature enables us to leave a legacy worth leaving. All right, it enables us to leave a legacy worth leaving. You're going to leave a legacy. The question is, what legacy?
Speaker 2:The other week on the graduation video I don't know if you picked up on it there was a young woman who's just graduating from her student ministry. She said something powerful. She was thanking God for what this church and VSM has done in her life. She said she was a product of generational curses and God had broke that in her life. Isn't that awesome? All right, what's a generational curse? It's a legacy. When we hear the word legacy, we think positive Legacy don't mean positive Legacy just means what you're doing is now what they're doing.
Speaker 2:So if you want to leave a legacy that's worth leaving, then you need to practice these qualities. You need to make every effort in your life to live godliness, self-control, to live the character of God that he described in those seven things he says in verse 12, verse 12 through 15, closing our text. Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities that you know, though you know them and are established in the truth. Y'all remember growing up, your parents told you something you already knew, like I know that already. So you, peter, could almost imagine going we know this. And he says I know, you know it and I know you're established in it. How cool is that? So, like I know, you know these things. I know you're even doing good at it, but I need to remind you of them. Why he says, though, you know them and are establishing the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that putting off my body will be soon. He knows he's probably not got long to live, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me, and I will make every effort so that, after my departure, you may be able to at any time recall these things. Why will you be able to recall them? Because you do them.
Speaker 2:It's interesting that life in Christ, even though we have Christ in the divine nature, we always default towards sin. Have you ever noticed you don't have to make effort to sin, default towards sin. Have you ever noticed you don't have to make effort to sin? Like you don't go. I'm trying to make myself look at pornography. You know what I mean. Like no one gets up in the morning and says I will look at porn today. I don't care if I want to or not, I'm going to do it. Like no, you're already drawn. I love it when men try to act like I'm not tempted to look at porn. Then are you alive. Like you know what I'm saying. Like as a man and a woman. It used to be in men. Now we're finding out women are just as addicted to it as men are.
Speaker 2:In the day and age of modern technology, you don't have to work hard at being bitter. Just don't do what God tells you to do and you'll end up bitter. Isn't it weird? We don't have to work at living in sin, it just bam happens. So if it's just going to happen, then the work needs to be in living in the characteristics of God. And this is what he's saying.
Speaker 2:And so Peter goes. I'm going to make sure that I remind you. I know you know it, I know you're doing it. Listen, most of you, I know you know it, I know it, I know most of you are established in it, I'm established in it. I'm not great at it. I'm saying I'm established in it, you're established in it, but we gather together every week to remind ourselves of it. Why? Because our default is to go away. So the moment we stop intentionally trying to live life on the boat the way we're supposed to live life on the boat, we'll start living like we were when we were on the shore, banging our heads against the block I don't know what you call the things, but smacking your head against the thing that you got to duck under, hitting your shins on the thing you got to step over, like everything's going to fall apart by default. And so Peter says I'm going to remind you of this because you're in a battle. Ephesians 6, 11,.
Speaker 2:The apostle Paul wrote again to the church at Ephesus. He said put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. You're in a fight. You're in a battle. You've won nothing permanently. You're in the fight. First, peter, 5, 8,. Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
Speaker 2:Dude, imagine if we walked up in here and said now, as you're dismissed today, I just want you to know. There's someone outside handing out a million dollars. You're going to go outside with a pretty pumped up mindset, right, like immediately. I'd be like but let's sing one more song. You're like, nope, you're gone. You're like we'll sing a song next week. You know like everybody's gonna be running out the door to get their million dollars. Imagine if I said this there is someone outside who's going to try and kill you the second you walk into that parking lot, you're gonna walk out that door very differently, ain't you? If you're like me, you're walking out with gun up A million dollars. I'm walking out with hand out Somebody trying to kill me. I'm walking out with gun out, like we're going to go two different ways out the door depending on what's going to be outside that door.
Speaker 2:Peter just said the enemy is trying to devour you. Do y'all understand how graphic that is? That's an animal who's killed something and he's literally ripping it apart, pulling its intestines out. That's the literal imagery here of devouring. That's what Satan is seeking to do with your life. How does he do that? Your life? How does he do that? He leads us away from godliness, self-control character. It'll destroy you.
Speaker 2:Finally, philippians 3, 13, 14, one of my favorite passages in the Bible, paul knowing this, he said brothers, I do not consider, I've made it my own. I haven't acquired, I haven't reached the shoreline of these things. But one thing I do forgetting what lies behind, straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. You hear the intentionality in that Like. My effort is in what God has called me to. My effort is in the divine nature. I'm going to work at living on this boat, the way that you got to live on this boat, so I can experience the joy of being on the boat, because I ain't on this shore anymore and I'm not going to be an idiot who acts like I used to be. I'm going to be blessed by who I am and therefore I'm going to make my effort to be who I am, not who I was.
Speaker 2:Now, how do we pull all that together? Well, what's your reason then? You know your reason in life is where you're going to end up. What's your reason, then? You know your reason in life is where you're going to end up. What's your reason? So those are the reasons why we need to give the effort into the divine nature. What's your reason? That is, what's motivating the actions of your life and what's driving you. Is it the knowledge, as he talked about, of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Or have your eyes become blind to that knowledge, into something else? Something's driving you I've butchered the French term. It's called raison d'etre or something like that. All right, we in Gaston County, that's close enough, all right. So it describes your reason for living. It's a French word here the ultimate reason you exist. It's a French word here the ultimate reason you exist. The reason you exist is where you're going to go, and the reason you exist is going to govern how you get there. Paul said I pray that the eyes of their heart are opened and enlightened to this glorious knowledge. What's your reason? Your reason is testified by your actions and your experience.
Speaker 2:So we sang a song a few minutes ago, actually 43 and 6 seconds ago and I'm going to have to sing it again. And I pulled this one on at 9.30. Going to have us sing it again and I pulled this one on them at 930. We're going to do it again. You say, oh man, I mean, are you allowed to sing the same song twice at church? Listen, you put it on repeat in your car and listen to these songs 1,500 times on the way to work and way back. Don't give me this, alright. Some of y'all grew up in church and sang the same hymn every single week, so this.
Speaker 2:But this time, when we sing it, I want you to think about the passage of scripture you just studied. You have been called and elected, brought to Jesus and given his life. You once were that, but now you have been washed and set free and sanctified. You have him. But is that your reason? Do you really believe you were made for more than this life? I'm telling you like this is what's happened to me in mine.
Speaker 2:I have to get really honest, as I shared before, when I start finding myself battling jealousy. I have to get really honest, as I shared before, when I start finding myself battling jealousy, envy, bitterness, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life. When these are the things that are on the rise in my life, there's a reason, because the reason of my life isn't Jesus anymore. The reason of my life is something else. You've been made more than bitterness. Listen, some of your marriages stink. You've been made more for bitterness and envy and jealousy and strife and frustration in your marriage.
Speaker 2:But it takes two people who know the knowledge of God and that's their reason for living to have more. You've been made more for your life than this life of just simply getting out of bed and existing and checking boxes. But you've got to know the knowledge of god and the impact of his glory in that, so that it becomes your reason, so that you will. The life that you're settling for, that's filled with all these anxieties and frustrations and jealousy and envy and strife and all that stuff that's going on in you, that's not the life of God, is there because your reason is not Him. You don't believe you're made for more, yet you don't know the more that you're made for.
Speaker 2:So I want you to think about the passage we just read and, as we sing this song one more time, I want you to process it through and I think you might find yourself singing it a little differently than you did before we looked at the text. You might find yourself going Lord, this song is cool and I sang it the last time because it's cool, but I really don't believe I'm made for more. My reason for living, my reason for living, my reason for driving in this life, the reason for my efforts, is not because of who you've made me to be and what you've given me. It's very different.
Speaker 2:So, as the band leads us through this one more time, let that be your prayer, god, do I really believe I have been made for more? Is this this my reason for living? Is this what's driving me? Are the efforts of your divine nature my efforts because I believe who you are, I believe you've put me on this boat, I believe I belong here and therefore I'm pouring myself into these efforts because this is good. Or is it something else? Lord, as we sing this song one more time, I pray we can sing it very differently than we sung it prior to the study of your word. May we praise you more sincerely for what you have done. May we confess and be real and honest about where we don't believe what you have done. May we confess and be real and honest about where we don't believe what you have done, where the actions and attitude and habits of our life are not a reflection of a life that truly believes. I've been brought on your boat, set sail for glory and will arrive safely because of you. In Christ's name, we pray.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening. If you have questions or need prayer, please connect with us on social media or daretoventureorg.