Morning, brothers and sisters.
Mac did make a mistake. It was those from the West. They might come to the South, but they are from the West.
Let’s read a verse, and then we’ll pray. 2 Peter 3:18:
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
Let’s pray.
Lord, we want to thank You that today we stand on that redemption ground, that ground that cannot be taken away from us. We plant our feet firmly there and stand before You holy and righteous—not in our own holiness and righteousness, but in Him who offered Himself up for us.
We take that for ourselves and present it to You, and thank You that You receive us in Him. Lord, as we come to You this morning, we are amazed that You would even come and redeem people who did not even care about You or think about You. But how we thank You that we were on Your heart, and You came looking for us.
Now, Lord, since You are that One, we pray that You would speak to us today from Your Word. Speak to us in a way like the time when the gospel was first witnessed to us—that the gospel was true, we received it, put our faith in the Lord Jesus, and started a new life.
We want to be spoken to in such a way that we respond again to You in faith—the faith that brings us all that You want for us in Christ Jesus. We pray this and ask for Your Holy Spirit’s help, in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.
Ah, I need windshield wipers for the insides of my glasses.
Last time I was up here, I told you that I had been struck by how much people have been talking about these being the last days. Incidentally, those of you who are my age, a little older, or maybe a little younger, remember when we were saved in the late sixties and early seventies? It was the same thing: “The Lord’s coming. These are the last days.”
But since there has been much more emphasis in this generation on the idea that these are the last days and that the Lord is coming, it struck me to look into Peter, Paul, James, and John’s last epistles. What did they have to say? What was the last thing they had to say to people before they left to be with the Lord, because the coming of the Lord was at hand?
I did Paul’s last letter a few months ago, and last time I was up here, we started with Peter’s. I’m going to pull a Floyd here: I’m not going to give a big review. If you want to hear what was said last time, look it up.
But I will say this—and that is exactly what Floyd would say. We talked about that last verse: the grace in which we are to grow. Peter started out, “Simon Peter.” He used that unconverted name, Simon, because it was Simon whom the Lord went to and lifted up.
We talked about how we had been given faith as the currency of the kingdom to do business with—to receive and find out what the Lord has for us. We also found that we had received a calling. We were called by glory and virtue.
We talked about Peter seeing the Lord Jesus glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was not the glory of deity that he saw, but the glory of the completed Man, the perfect Man who offered Himself up. Peter got a glimpse of that, and the Lord impressed upon him, “That is for you. It is glorious for you. This virtue is for you.”
We are also called to that glory and virtue. We found out that the grace given to us is that we have a means to fulfill God’s plan for us. That means is by divine power—the power of God in our lives. We have also been given exceedingly great and precious promises.
So, since all these things are ours, how do I get my hands on the prize? Or maybe I should put it this way: since all these things are mine, why don’t I get my hands on the prize?
I want to look at it both ways: how do I, and why don’t I? Since I am a negative person, let’s start with the negative so we can get it over with, okay?
Why don’t we lay hold of these things God has for us? Now, I can’t speak for you—though maybe I am speaking for you—but I can speak for myself.
I think part of the reason is that we have learned so much about grace that we have become welfare Christians. Please, do not take that the wrong way. I know there are people on welfare who need welfare; I am not using it in that sense.
Put it this way: we feel entitled. We come from an affluent society, and you can see it in your kids sometimes. When you come from an affluent society, they expect that they do not have to do anything and will just receive things.
That is part of the reason we do not lay hold of the things of God. We expect the Lord just to lay them in our laps. That is it. We are entitled to it.
Another reason is that we look at it as merely positional happiness: “I’m in Christ. I have these things. I don’t have to do any more. I am simply in this position.”
We think that is all there is—that salvation is just having a position before God and there is nothing more to it. That is why many of us are bored with the Lord. We think, “Is that all there is?”
Then we may mistake material blessing for the life the Lord has for us. We think the Lord is going to bless us materially, and we mistake that for what the Lord is saying when He says, “I am going to give all these things.”
We think, “I am going to have a house. I am going to have two cars. I am going to have one of those plasma TVs.” You can tell I do not have one, huh? But I have plenty of TVs, okay? So do not think that.
“I am going to have two kids”—I do—and I am going to have all the things I need and never be in want.
Then, when we have those things, we think, “Oh, well, the Lord has given me everything.” We forget that those things perish. The things the Lord gives are eternal. Some things perish with the using, and some things perish simply because they are not eternal.
Then some think that these things must be attained. Now, this is me. We think, “I have to attain this.”
Let’s read the section in 2 Peter 1. Last time we read the first four verses:
Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
by which have been given to us exceedingly