Psalms 63:1
“God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You;
my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.”
The world we live in today is very dry, it is desolate, and
without water. Now, I am sure you realize I am not talking about the water we
drink. The problem this nation faces is that people are not standing up for
Biblical values because they do not know what the Bible actually says. That is
why we spent so much time in the book of James, why we are spending 12 weeks
going through Hebrews, and why we are reading book by book together for Sunday
School. Our land is without the living water and the best thing we can do is
became fluent in every aspect of it and be prepared to share every chance we
get.
We are continuing our series
through the book of Hebrews this morning. If you have not picked up a reading guide,
please do so. Today would be day 29, remember the more you read along the more
you will get out of this series. It is only a couple of verses a day.
Hebrews 6:1-3
“6 Therefore, leaving the elementary message about the Messiah, let us
go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead
works, faith in God, 2 teaching about ritual washings, laying
on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.3 And
we will do this if God permits.”
The author of Hebrews wanted his
readers to move beyond the basic teachings. Even though mature believers need a
reminder of the truths that they know so they might not forget.
I have heard people complain that
pastors always preach about the same things. I am sure there are some cases
where this is true, the fluff or feel good preachers might do this. Most
Biblical teachers do not but if we do, it is probably because the message is so
important, or it might be we are all forgetful.
Here are some questions for you:
What was the name of the message
last week?
Can you name a scripture from last
week?
What was our Sunday School lesson
on back on July 19th?
What about who won the World Series
or the Super Bowl in 2010?
Our memories are not the best, we
cannot remember everything. Teachers may be forgetful of what they have taught
and the people they are talking to may have forgotten what has been said in the
past. Regardless, repetition is necessary for us to truly learn something and
apply it to our lives.
The New Testament writers were
often repetitive. You see it in their different letters. All of John’s letters
addressed false teachers in one way or another. Paul regular wrote on spiritual
growth and even Peter admits to preaching reminders.
2 Peter 1:1-4
“1 Simeon Peter, a slave and an apostle of
Jesus Christ: To those who have obtained a faith of equal privilege with ours
through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 May
grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus
our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything required
for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own
glory and goodness. 4 By these He has given us very great and
precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature,
escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.”
In his opening Peter does not set himself as above his
readers. Using both of his names, the one given to him by his parents and the
one given to him by Jesus, demonstrates the change and grace in his life. He
also says that even though he is an apostle who walked with Jesus, heard Him
teach first hand, prayed with Him, did ministry with our Lord, and witnessed
the miracles Jesus performed; that he, Peter, is no more than anyone else. He
has the same privilege as a child of God that we do.
I want to make sure that sinks in. It is sometimes hard for
me to wrap my head around the fact that each of us sitting here today
regardless of how long we have been saved, regardless of what gifts we have, we
are on equal footing with the Apostles. These guys walked and talked with Jesus,
we have to read about it. How can I have the same rights? They were right there;
we are here in another country 2,000 years later.
‘Through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus
Christ’ all of us are equal. We have the same rights and privileges as the
Apostles. We get to talk to Jesus every day. We get to read His teachings. We
get to spend eternity with Jesus and He loves us just as much as the guys who
wondered around with Him for several years.
It does not matter if you accept Christ as your savior
today or if you accepted Him many moons ago, He loves you just as much as the
next person and is bestowing all that is His to you. It is not something that
we can earn or have any right to, but Jesus freely gives it.
Peter goes on to point out that we are given everything we
need to live a godly life and that we get to share in the divine nature of
Jesus Christ. Because Jesus is God and our relationship with Him, our sins are
wiped away. As we continue down the path before us, letting Him increase and us
decreasing, we can live a life that is focused on Jesus and not on the sin we
struggle with. Through the amazing gift from Jesus and the promises of God we
can escape the corruption of this world.
2 Peter 1:5-7
“5 For this very
reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with
knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with
endurance, endurance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly
affection, and brotherly affection with love.”
God is eager for us to grow, but Peter says we are to make
every effort with earnest or zeal. Not a halfhearted attempt, not something to
do on the weekends, or Sunday morning, but an all-out, all in, effort. No half
way here.
Faith must lead to action, which shows goodness and the
experience of caring for others deepens our knowledge of God. Knowing God will
help us to understand our short comings and in turn we will learn self-control
as we try to be more like Christ. As we learn to live more like Jesus we will
learn endurance as we stay focused on God and the ultimate prize we have been
given. The more we are focused on God the closer we become to living with a
godly character. Living godly leads us to be open to all of our fellow
believers which in turn develops into an unreserved and unrestricted love for
others.
Colossians 3:14
“Above all, put on love – the perfect bond of unity.”
Having faith and acting on it leads us to Love others. That
is why we are to make every effort to pursue faith.
Are you living a nice comfortable life or are you putting
yourself out there to figure out what God wants you to do? Do your days fit
nicely inside your box or are you stretching your limits and trying to figure
out what you can do next to live out your faith?
Take Peter for example. He was a humble fisherman but
stepped out of his comfort zone and followed Jesus. He stumbled, put his foot
in his mouth on more than one occasion, and even denied Jesus. He then tried to
go back to fishing as a career. At this point I would question if he was a good
example of stepping out in faith, it appears he tried it and failed.
In Luke chapter 21 Peter gets a pep talk from Jesus where
Peter is told to feed and shepherd Jesus sheep. A short time later Peter
preaches and 3,000 are baptized. Peter stepped out in faith and his faith grew
into goodness as he looked out for others, his knowledge of God grew, it
appears his self-control improves as we do not see him getting into as much
trouble, he stayed focused on the plan God had, and continued to pursue God
every day which lead to a brotherly love for other believers and a love for the
lost that caused him to risk his own life to share with them.
Peter may have not looked like a great example, but as time
went on it is obvious that he truly lived out his faith and it changed him.
We may look at our lives and wonder if we can do much, but
only God can answer that question. If you step out in faith today and perform a
single kind act to help someone, the ripple effects could be amazing. You may
not know the outcome but a life could be changed and as you continue to step
out in faith, your life will be changed.
2 Peter 1:8-11
“8 For if these
qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless
or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 The
person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the
cleansing from his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, make
every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these
things you will never stumble. 11 For in this way, entry into
the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied
to you.”
If these qualities or fruit are active and growing in our
lives people will see them. They will be the evidence that could be used to
convict us of being a Christian. On the flip side if these qualities or fruit
are not in our lives we would essentially be blind, shortsighted, and have
forgot about what Jesus has done to cleanse us of our sins.
Matthew 12:33-37
“33 “Either make the tree
good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is
known by its fruit. 34 Brood
of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth
speaks from the overflow of the heart. 35 A good man produces good things from his storeroom
of good, and an evil man produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. 36 I tell you that on the
day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak. 37 For by your words you
will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Our fruit is
either good or bad. What kind of fruit are you seeing in your life? Is it
stepping out in faith that will lead to love or is it something you need to get
out of your life?
Accepting
Jesus as your Savior is just the first step in a life of seeking Him. Don’t
stop there, pursue Him every day so that it changes who you are and what you
value. Step outside of your comfort zone, look for people in your path that God
wants you to bless, let the fruit in your life grow into good fruit. If you are
seeking God you will not be blind or short sighted, your eyes will see exactly
what is needed.
2 Peter
1:12-15
“12 Therefore I will always remind you about these
things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you have. 13 I
consider it right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a
reminder, 14 knowing that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our
Lord Jesus Christ has also shown me. 15 And I will also make
every effort that you may be able to recall these things at any time after my
departure.”
Peter
concludes this passage by stating that his intention was to remind his readers
of these qualities. He does not want them to be forgotten after his death. Some
of his audience may have been tired of hearing the same things over and over,
but the message is important.
Qualities
such as self-control, endurance, and love can only be observed. Without a
doubt, Peter would have told of his own journey through this list of qualities.
But, for the people to heed Peter’s words they would have to see it in his
life. Deeds and words are needed. They were needed by Peter’s audience and they
are needed to the people watching us. Like those who came before us, we must be
reminded of our need to continue to grow in the fruit that lead to love.
A Useful and
Needed Reminder. It feels like a dessert out in the world and we need to share
the Living Water, first in actions then in words.
Thanks for reading!
God Bless,
Robert
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