Growing knowledge of Christ
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Things to ponder
Things to ponder
This series has been all about some common passages that are worth considering, worth pondering. As we wrap up this series hopefully you have pondered some of the things we have looked at.
Kingdom beatitudes (Mt5:3-12)
Don’t have a defiled heart (Mk7:21-23)
Possessing the qualities of love (1Cor13:1-13)
Works of the flesh - Watch out! (Gal5:19-21)
Fruit of the Spirit (Gal5:22-23)
Be One! in unity (Eph4:4-6)
The great put on (Col3:12-17)
There are many things that are of value to the kingdom dweller and today we are going to focus on the value of knowledge.
Open your bibles to 2Pt1:3-12 that is where we will be shortly.
(Transition) Like the other messages in this series we need to look at context, then meaning and of course, the application, and Lord willing draw a conclusion.
Now, let me lay out the scripture for us this morning, please follow along for this is a passage well worth pondering
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. 12 Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.
So, now lets get into this and wrap up our series.
The Context
The Context
As simply Christians we know that context matters so we can exegete a passage properly, right? So, looking at the passage contextually is important.
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
Grace and peace multiplied, and how multiplied? Through knowledge (v.2)
What would you like to see multiplied in your life?
Other scriptures used in this section: (Rom5:1; Eph2:7-8 1:3; and Php4:7)
(Insert Knowledge of Jesus Christ PowerPoint here)
Now, grace and peace are often used as a part of a greeting in the culture and we see it several times in the N.T.
It is important that we take note that the blessings are multiplied (what blessings? Grace and peace) in true knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Grace - God’s unmerited favor, brought the peace of God and peace with God to us.
Rom5:1 “1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Now consider Eph2:7-8 “7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”
So, grace, peace needed, they are provided not by works of righteousness, but by the Righteous one. who makes peace and gives peace beyond our comprehension, consider Php4:7 “7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
But it is only in Christ that we can enjoy the fulness of God’s favor and peace. Eph1:3 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”
God’s grace and peace are multiplied through knowledge of Jesus Christ!
(Transition) Knowledge of Christ leads to understanding God’s provision through Christ
Knowledge of all things pertaining to life and godliness (2Pt1:3-4)
(Like others, this is not on the screen, leave the PowerPoint up, please)
3 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! 4 We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
God gives us all things, through knowledge of Him who called us to glory. In context this is about our spiritual life in Christ.
It is through knowledge that we are able to fully enjoy a full life in Christ through the divine power provided and gives us the exceedingly great and precious promises as noted in (v.4).
Knowledge so not to have spiritual myopia or amnesia (2Pt1:9; Rom8:29; Col3:9-11)
Myopia (N) nearsightedness. lack of imagination, foresight, or intellectual insight.
This is spiritual shortsighted, not growing in knowledge of Christ Jesus
9 But those who do not have them are so short-sighted that they cannot see and have forgotten that they have been purified from their past sins.
Are we not to grow in Christ, to be conformed like Christ as noted Rom8:29 “29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;” Or if you want you can look up Col3:9-11.
Spiritual amnesia means we fail to grow because we have forgotten why we were redeemed in the first place, to have our sins forgiven!
Have you had your spiritual eye check up lately?
Knowledge so that we will not stumble (2Pt1:10, 1:5-8,; 1Jn1:8-10)
(Below not on screen, do not change the PowerPoint)
10 Therefore, brothers, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble.
You will never stumble when you are seeking true knowledge and growing in the graces found in (vv.5-8) and we will talk about those in a minute or two.
Growing in Christ does not mean we are perfected, but being perfected. It does not mean we never sin, it means we sin less and our sins are forgiven; consider 1Jn1:8-10 “8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”
Knowledge about our abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom (2Pt1:11; 2Tim4:18, 4:6-8)
God’s grand entrance, abundant entrance provided through true knowledge of Jesus Christ. Think about what Paul told Timothy 2Tim4:18 “18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the lamb! oh how we love to sing it, to know it, to believe in it, to walk in it!
By growing in the graces listed in our passage we are able to live victoriously in this life and anticipate what lies ahead of us
(Transition) Knowledge and the value of the knowledge is what we are looking at in our passage today, now may we go from the context to the meaning.
The Meaning
The Meaning
We have looked contextually leading us up to the passage we want to focus on. Developing Christ like graces in the growing Christian.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
(Insert: Growing in Christ Like Graces PowerPoint here)
In brief these graces, virtues are found in (2Pt1:5-7)
Faith: “Conviction, strong assurance”
Virtue: “Moral excellence, goodness”
Knowledge: “Correct insight”
Self-control: “Self-discipline”
Perseverance: “being up under trials”
Godliness: “godly character out of devotion to God”
Brotherly kindness: “Love toward brethren”
Love: “active goodwill toward others
We have had other sermons focusing on these graces before, and I’m sure we will again in the future but I don’t want to belabor them today but want to focus a little more on a few key words
Look at 2Pt1:8 “8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing (some versions like NKJV say abounding), they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are to abound in these graces for when we do we are growing in knowledge of Jesus Christ.
This is more than intellectual knowledge but applied knowledge
This is a process of developing and deploying these God given graces.
Another word to notice is “add” look at; some use the word add, others the word supply.
(Below is not on screen, please leave the PowerPoint up)
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
Another word to notice is the word “to” in (vv.5-7) we are to add to, or add in to the previous grace listed. These graces work in harmony with one another. All in harmony to produce a an overall effect, a maturing Christian.
(Transition) true knowledge of Christ requires that we develop and deploy each of these graces, these godly characteristics and to do so with:
Develop the graces with all diligence (2Pt1:5, 10)
I ask you to look at our passage again, look at 2Pt1:5 “5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,” and then if you look down to 2Pt1:10 “10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;”
So develop and deploy these graces takes an earnestness, an effort, and a zeal!
To become a Christian is easy, to grow as a Christian, and that is God’s desire, takes effort.
Diligence what a great word; (N): careful and persistent work or effort.
(Transition) So with all diligence applying these graces and pressing on with the message today, we now get to the exhortation, or the application section.
The Application section
The Application section
What good is a sermon without an application? So, here are some “musts” some take away’s from the passage today.
(Insert We Must PowerPoint here)
We must never forget, past, present, and hope for future (2Pt1:2-4, 9-11)
Never forget our past, that our sins have been forgiven, we have been purified of them
We have escaped from the corruption in the world through lust
In the present grace and peace are multiplied through true knowledge of Jesus Christ.
We are given all things needed for life and godliness
In application of the all things we can make our election sure and never stumble.
As for the future, we know we have the exceedingly great and precious promises and an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom!
(Transition) so, are you willing to:
We must make the effort (2Pt1:5, 10; Php2:12-13, 3:8-14)
Are you willing to make the effort with all diligence?
Are you willing to work out your salvation with fear and trembling?
Having been taken hold by Christ Jesus are you willing to press on toward the goal?
(Transition) - if your answer is yes then may we continue to do the following
We must develop Christ like character
Keep building on faith
Striving for excellence
Increasing in true knowledge
Controlling one self
Bearing up under trials
Seeking to please God
Loving the brethren
All with active goodwill toward all men.
(Invitation slide: Your sins are forgiven)
Yep, tall order but if your sins are forgiven you have been equipped to be transformed, transformed to be conformed by the power that works in you!
Ponder on this passage this week, if you need to have your sins forgiven we offer that opportunity now, if you are reminded today and need prayer we offer that opportunity now too.
(Song) (Prayer) (Exit)