Sermon Tone Analysis

2 Peter 1:5-11

/The Same… But Different #2/

 

You know….The word “amen” is a most remarkable word.

It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and  then into English and many other languages.

So it is practically a universal word.

It has been called the best-known word in human speech.

The word is directly related—in fact, and almost identical—to the Hebrew word for “believe” (aman),

So, it has came to mean “sure” or truly,” an expression of absolute trust and confidence.

When someone believes God, he indicates his faith by an “amen.”

Amen!?

When God makes a promise, the believer’s response is “amen”—“so be it!”

In the New Testament, it is often translated “verily” or “truly.”

When we pray according to His Word and His will, we know God will answer, so we close with an “amen,”

Which is also why when we used to sing the great old anthems and songs of the faith we would close the song by signing the word AMEN.

The word is even a title of Christ Himself.

The last of His letters to the seven churches begins with a remarkable salutation by the glorified Lord:

 (Revelation 3:14).

14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the ruler of God’s creation.

[1]

We can be absolutely certain that His Word is always faithful and true because He is none other than the Creator of all things, and therefore He is our eternal “Amen.”

As one Bible text reminds us, every promise of God in Christ is “yes and amen,” as strong an affirmation of truth as can be expressed in the Greek language.

It is profoundly meaningful that the entire Bible closes with an “amen.”

(2 Cor 1:20)

20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.

And so through Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.[2]

And

(Revelation 22:21) “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Amen”, Which is assuring everyone who reads these words that the whole Book is absolutely true and trustworthy.

Amen! [3] { Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002; 2002).

}

Today we are going to talk about promises, Amen?!

Peter used a phrase that many of us have heard before.

4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.[4]

Exceeding- great and precious promises.

[KJV]

What an awesome sound that has!

The promises of God are exceedingly great and especially precious, not too mention overwhelming in number.

God's word promises the believer an amazing array of: spiritual, material, physical, emotional, financial, and relational blessings—ranging from: eternal life with Jesus in heaven --- to an abundant life with his people here on earth.

The Bible contains, by one count, 7,487 of these "exceeding great and precious promises."

[According to Dr. Everek R. Storms, in Contact Magazine, March 1978]

These promises are a lifeline for the Christian's daily walk with God.

The Puritan preacher Thomas Watson wrote:

"Trade much in the promises…The promises are “great supports” to faith.

Faith lives in a promise as a fish lives in water."

[quoted from /Knowing God/, J.I. Packer]

The Bible is filled with promises; one of my favorites is found in 2 Peter 1, in the text we are looking at today.

In fact, it's more than just a promise.

It's a guarantee!

Peter tells believers to add certain characteristics to their faith, and then he asserts boldly.../(v.

8/) ...if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[5]

In other words, Peter says, "do this, and your life will be both productive and effective for the glory of God."

I don’t know about you… But I want my life to be both productive and effective for the Kingdom of God!  (Do you agree with me?  AMEN?

What does Peter tell us to do?

He says.../(v.

5/) For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.[6]

/WOW!/

Notice how Peter writes these…

He doesn’t write this in just a simple list, like so many other things are written down in the Bible.

Peter writes it as if he is drawing in your mind a staircase with 7 stairs on it… (The Number of completion.)

As you read it you can see a staircase : (Can’t you?)

You start at the bottom of the stairs and you take on the first step: Goodness.

You begin to pray for Goodness to be lived out in your life.

You begin to pray that God will make Goodness a characteristic in your life that others can see, that will overflow into every part of your life… This isn’t some syrupy sweet, make you sick, kind of stuff…

This is the kind of Goodness that someone will look at your life and say… “That is a good man”  “That is a good woman”.

Let me ask you…

Do people say that about you?

Then before too long you take another step up the ladder and you begin praying for knowledge.

Is this just “book-smarts”.

Stuff you get by going to school.

Well, it might be.

But I think it also would include the knowledge you gain about the faith itself.

As the old TV show used to say… “Just the facts Mamm, Just the facts!

”You can have a lot of Goodness running around in your life, but if you don’t know anything your effectiveness is going to be limited.

I love that Peter immediately puts “Self Control right after Knowledge.

Just having knowledge in your life can puff you up and make you utterly worthless to the kingdom.

I have known so many who have studied the scriptures day and night.

They have read and studied the early church fathers until they could talk to each other on a first name basis.

But when it came to living life in the neighborhood they were wreck.

Had no control over their own desires, over their own tongue, over their own addictions, And…their pride would control their life because they just “Knew It All” and no one could tell them differently.

Yes, knowledge is important, but it is only the second step up on the ladder.

I was reminded Friday, as I did a graveside and was sharing the scripture from 1 Corinthians 13… the part that Paul writes….

Verses 7-9 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends.

As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; (here it is)     as for knowledge, it will pass away.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

[7]

Knowledge…

Its not real high on the staircase.

Its important… but you aren’t there yet.

You have not arrived!*

*

 

If you are climbing out of the swimming pool and you are only up to the second step you are still wet.

You aren’t very far.

But after knowledge comes Self-Control We push education pretty hard in our society, don’t we?  Knowledge is definitely a key to many, many doors.

But sometimes education is over-rated!

Now, that probably comes as a surprise from someone who spent 12 years in education after high school to earn 3 more academic degrees.

I have rubbed shoulders with more arrogance and pride than you would ever want to stomach.

Overly- educated people who have not made it past the second step on this staircase can be a total waist of a pile of tuition dollars.

Yes, the education is important!

The knowledge is good.

The understanding is wonderful… But if you don’t get  self-control over all of that education you will alienate everyone around you.

You will become a legalist… pounding out the knowledge you know Or Bible Thumping everyone’s head (if your knowledge is in the Bible)

Knowledge Alone has never saved anyone!

How many pastors have you heard of who have lived a double life and cheated on their family with another woman?