Add To Your Faith

Add to your faith!

2 Peter 1:1-11 NIV

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Making Ones Calling and Election Sure

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 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.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For 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. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

"Im gonna tell you the same thing Elizabeth Taylor told all her husbands. And that is - Im not gonna keep you long!"

What does it mean when the preacher takes off his watch and lays it on top of the pulpit before his sermon? Usually nothing.

Sermon:

In the coming weeks I will be inviting you and your neighbours and friends to get to know Jesus and to consider visiting us as we meet with God each Sunday.

There are two things we have to do to create a genuine interest in our church and in our church family.

The first thing I want us to do is Learn how to Add.

If we learn how to add God will do the multiplying.

We need to add what Peter suggests in today text:

make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For 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.

A father who was reading to his son put it this way;

Add to your faith virtue and courage like David, and to the courage of David add the knowledge of Solomon, and to the knowledge of Solomon add the patience of Job; and to the patience of Job add the godliness of Daniel; and to the godliness of Daniel add the brotherly kindness of Jonathan; and to the brotherly kindness of Jonathan add the love of John.

There is a famous Christian book called Pilgrims Progress written by John Bunyan.

John Bunyan (November 28, 1628 August 31, 1688), a Christian writer and preacher, was born at Harrowden (one mile south-east of Bedford), in the Parish of Elstow, England.

In 1660 Puritan John Bunyan was imprisoned for 12 years for preaching (sharing the gospel) without a license. Bunyan was a tinker with very little formal education but with a great love for the Bible. The Pilgrims Progress (said to be the first Christian novel) was written in his prison cell. Biblical truth emanates from his simple and straightforward writing, and blends with his imagination to create unforgettable, genuine characters.

These allegorical characters are similar to those we are likely to encounter today. Who, in real life, has not known a Mr. Pliable, a Mr. Worldly-wise, a Mr. Vain-Confidence, or a Mr. Money-love? And just as in real life, there are characters who make it to the Celestial City and others who sadly do not. Only those who lay their burden of sin at the cross and follow the narrow path the way of the Lord are victorious.

Clearly John Bunyan knew todays passage and how it related to the people of his time. Just as we live in a godless society in 2007 the same kind of society existed in John Bunyans day. But now we have so much more to contend with or do we? You see sin is sin whether it is the year 1660 or 2007. People are people and the lost are the lost regardless of the time or age you live in.