Sermon Form A - Preacher Notes



Growing In Grace And Knowledge2 Peter 3:18Objective: Inspire Christians to pursue spiritual growth.Reading: 2 Peter 3:14-18.Introduction:Being born into a Christian family is not what makes anyone a Christian. Coming from a family or even a national heritage that follows or professes to follow God, is NOT what makes you personally a follower of God. Carrying the name of Christian is not what makes you into what is really spiritually pleasing to God. That’s why Jesus speaks of being “born again”, even to those who have spent their entire lives following religious tradition.Each of us must make our own commitment to personally belong to God through Christ.We need to personally commit to Christianity.(HOW?)Since fellowship with God, since righteousness before God, since acceptability in God’s sight are not physically inherited, let’s take some time this morning to discuss what is involved in knowing you are pleasing God.Sometimes folks are afraid to start, think they don’t know enough, are not yet clean enough, or need to demonstrate godly life before they make a commitment to God. Understand that you should I.Start where you are.A.Right now, you probably know enough.What did the Ethiopian eunuch understand?Acts 8:34-38, “The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?" 35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" 37[And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."] 38And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.”Simple belief that Christ is the Son of God Who came to save us from out sins. Do you?What could he have known / understood? Very basic essentials; Certainly had a lot to learn!What did they understand on the Day of Pentecost when 3,000 were baptized after Peter spoke to them just a few minutes? I’ve been in class rooms with 300 present - there is not a lot of room for elaborating or asking questions – what of a group 10 times that size.Cornelius’s household; Peter showed up and spent one short time telling them about Christ? These were Gentiles without even a Bible background really!The Philippian Jailor; Acts 16:29-33, “And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.” Here are folks who made the commitment to Christ based on what they heard while washing the wounds on two men who had been beaten with rods.What is needed to begin, is to recognize my soul is in trouble and I need God’s grace and help. I need His Lordship. I need to entrust my life to Him! To make the appeal as related in 1 Peter 3:21, “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Making that appeal in God’s designated way - each should know that this is not the end of anything. This is only the beginning!B.Don’t remain a spiritual infant.Newborns need to grow! Newborns that don’t grown, die. Any infant that does not grow soon becomes sickly. Any plant that does not grow soon begins to be overcome with rot.Child is feeble. Prone to fall, be led astray. Unable to feed itself or to really feed / help others. Everyone needs a birth, but this is NOT where God expects you to stay. You may have heard people say, “I’m not much of a Christian”, “I’m new at this”. Don’ you stay there! The injunction to grow is prolific throughout the NT.Ephesians 4:15, “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,”2 Peter 1:8, “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.”We have an obligation to direct our attention and effort toward spiritual maturity, toward being transformed ever more fully into the people God intends for us to be when He created man in His image. There are a lot of ways to express what needs to happen, but let’s use today’s reading of 2 Peter 3:18, as an outline; “…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” We need to know more about Christ, who and what he is, what he teaches and stands for, we need to …II.Grow in knowledge of Christ.A.Gain knowledge of Christ from the Scriptures.Read. Attend classes. Talk, listen, explore. Meditate on specific verses – not for the sake of being able to quote them so much, or being able to find them again (this will probably happen) but so they become a part of who you are!Feed on the Word of God; Digest Christ, the very Word of God. Incorporate the living Word of God into who / what you are!B.Gain knowledge for the sake of spiritual maturity.Now that you have a few basics, press on in understanding and development. Hebrews 6:1, “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,”Not just “God said so”. Never go against what the Father says, and sometimes that is enough, but pressing on to maturity enables us to grasp deeper concepts and reasons so we can discern what is good or evil, and innately know WWJD.Knowledge of Christ enables us to grow in Christ-likeness. In love. In Truth. In the Spirit.To infants, “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” (1 Peter 2:1-3) Start with the basic and simple knowledge and put it into action. This is kindergarten stuff.Things like “don’t lie, don’t slander, don’t gossip”, “Don’t steal any longer”. “Don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together as is the habit of some.” Get rid of all malice and deceit.Using same illustration, it also says; “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14)Not just a list of things, but a life- knowledge, a living knowledge. but a grasp of “this is a good thing”, “this is a dangerous, bad thing”. Learn to see the schemes of Satan.Learn to genuinely trust Jesus and to entrust yourself to Him. How can I “count it all joy when I encounter diverse tribulations”? By gaining knowledge of how God often works “good” things out of be bad situations!By gaining knowledge in how Christians carry about in themselves, the dying of Jesus so that His life is also manifested in us, to bring life to others!By grasping the ongoing concept of “resurrection” as applicable to evangelism so that by our sacrifices, our dying to self, others can live.C.Apply this knowledge to yourself. (And apply yourself to this knowledge.)In other words, do something with what you learn. Practice what you learn and it will grow.Reach out to someone in love. Teach your children and grandchildren. Your neighbor.Practice the compassion you have learned from Christ, on someone you might not have before.Stretch your generosity. Take a stand on truth. Seek to rescue and persuade.Take time out for prayer like Jesus did – get away from the business of this physical life only.Spend some time maybe, in fasting and prayer – obtain some more knowledge of how it works!There is more to this than simple “head knowledge”. Our knowledge of Christ needs to lead to ever increasing likeness of Christ. Christ embodies the very grace of God. So, the other part of our outline;III.Grow in the grace of Christ.A.Attaining the excellences of Christian character.Things like the fruit of the Spirit. “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” and such things as these!Things like the qualities advocated as pleasing to God by Jesus in the “beatitudes” - Blessed are the meek, Blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers …B.Such grace relates to knowledge.As we realize how very much God loves us, we can become more loving. How very much we have been forgiven, we can become more forgiving.As I realize His power and love, I become more trusting; more morally courageous. I realize I can wait for Him to work, and become more steadfast in patient endurance, more self sacrificing.As I learn how very much He is in charge of all things, I have more peace within no matter what is going on without.As I learn about His kindness to me and to all sinners, I am moved to increasing kindness myself!As I see His faithfulness, and learn to trust Him, my own faithfulness increases. I become more reliable in relation to God as well as in relation to other people.As I try things His way and learn the blessings of doing what He says, I become more disciplined, I grow in self-control to resist sin and also to apply myself to prayer and study and “disciplines” that will help my growth.As I realize the difference between fleshly and spiritual, I WANT to be more like Jesus!C.Our character becoming more like Christ.If we ignore our conscience, if we ignore the urgings of the Holy Spirit (maybe out of fear?) we become more calloused, not more gracious. Make sure you are growing the right way.We can even become calloused to the TRUTH! Grace is a softening to the Truth. An ability to listen, to see, to understand.Talking about getting rid of such UN-gracious things as selfishness, covetousness, irritability. Getting rid of hopelessness and despair. Maybe your attitude used to be a discouragement to others, but that is NOT the grace of Christ!I should demonstrate an increase in my compassion towards others, an increase in the mercy and forgiveness I extend. An increasing respect for all persons, no matter who or what they are like! Knowing Christ, I can be gracious to them! And more so every day if I am growing in Grace!You CAN change and grow in this way – as you lean on Christ! Such growth in generosity, in kindness, in moral courage, in patient endurance, derives from Christ and from trusting Him.We are talking about increasingly obtaining the very heart and nature of Jesus within ourselves! This will make us a whole LOT different today than we used to be. And even more so tomorrow! If I am growing in such grace, folks should be able to notice a difference. Even wonder what happened!So What?Such growth ensures that we are fulfilling God’s intention for us, and that we have been useful and are pleasing to God when the day of the Lord arrives.Closing Prayer:Growing In Grace And Knowledge1 Peter 3:18Reading: 2 Peter 3:14-18.We need to personally commit to Christianity.What is involved in knowing you are pleasing God.I.Start where you are.A.You probably know enough to start.Acts 8:34-38 Acts 16:29-33 1 Peter 3:21B.Don’t remain a spiritual infant.Ephesians 4:15 2 Peter 1:8 2 Peter 3:18II.Grow in knowledge of Christ.A.Gain knowledge of Christ from the Scriptures.B.Gain knowledge for the sake of spiritual maturity.Hebrews 6:1 1 Peter 2:1-3 Hebrews 5:14C.Apply this knowledge.III.Grow in the grace of Christ.A.The excellences of Christian character.B.Grace relates to knowledge.C.Becoming like Christ.So What?Such growth ensures that we are pleasing to God when the day arrives. ................
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