ACQUIRED Thru FAITH-VIII—2Peter 1:3c(:1-4)
Attention:
The potential beauty of the parsonage’s/pastorium’s yard is becoming lost to various weeds.
I recently purchased some ‘Weed Killer for Southern Lawns’ for use on centipede grass(& other kinds). It’s supposed to kill broadleaf weeds in Centipede grass, without killing the grass that we want to thrive there.
I’ve tried it in a small part of the back yard as a test plot. I was afraid that if I were to spray the whole yard, it might ruin the yard altogether.
It hasn’t killed the grass(Hallelujah!) but the dandelions don’t look real healthy! I think it’s just very slow to work!
This past week I tried a higher ratio of chemical to water, & sprayed an area along the south-side of the house, from the back of the house to Salem Road.
The truth is, that I don’t have much faith in the chemical’s ability.
But I DO know that ‘Centipede grass’ has POTENTIAL to provide a lush thick stand of lawn grass....
Likewise, there are many spiritual ‘weeds’ that need to be removed in order for God’s people to thrive.
But sometimes we are slow to employ the correct methods, God’s methods, to affect their removal!
....So, The great POTENTIAL of God’s people can only be attained thru complete surrender to God’s active presence in their lives. We cannot allow the lusts of this world to hinder & distract us!
The FAITH of God’s people taps into the vast resources that are only available to them by God’s hand.
Personal SAVING faith, that is centered in Jesus Christ as Savior & Lord, acquires everything that is essential for living empowered as God has always intended!
Need:
We live in a secularized world that actively seeks to indoctrinate everything it touches, with priorities that are born of the flesh. Christianity is continually surrounded by & bombarded by those flesh-driven priorities.
Christianity supernaturally opposes the worldview of the world at large. And lets others know that there is a settled eternal hope, that is in Jesus Christ alone!
The apostle Peter informs those who are faithful to Jesus Christ, that they are completely supplied for godly living.
God’s people are completely supplied for godly living thru their faith in Jesus Christ.
•You are truly complete in Christ Jesus!
BUT, ?What are the things that saving faith in Christ acquires for God’s people?
ACQUIRED Thru FAITH-VIII—2Peter 1:3c(:1-4)
So far in this series, we have found that,
Some provisions acquired thru faith in Jesus Christ, are...
1. TRUSTWORTHY APOSTLES(:1a)[parts-1 & 2]
2. CHRISTIAN FAMILY(:1b)
3. The SINGULAR, PERFECT SAVIOR(:1c)
4. MULTIPLIED GRACE & PEACE(:2a)
5. KNOWLEDGE Of GOD(:2b, :3b)
6. EVERYTHING NEEDFUL For FULFILLING LIFE(:3a)
Today we’ll find that...
7—Another provision acquired thru faith is...
The CALL Of GOD’s GLORY & VIRTUE(:3c)
Explanation:(:3c)
:3—“through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory & virtue,”
The Christian’s willful & intentional knowledge of God thru Jesus, has obtained for them, by God’s Divine power, everything needed for them to fully experience “life & godliness”(:3a-b).
True Christians have an intimate “knowledge” of the One who “called” them. God’s people have been “called” to God thru the constraints or means of HIS “glory & virtue”(moral excellence).
WORDS:
“Glory”—doxa—Noun Genitive Sing. Fem.—1)Opinion, judgment, view; 2) Opinion, estimate, whether good or bad concerning someone—2a) in the NT--Always a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honor, & glory; 3) Splendor, brightness—3a) Of the moon, sun, stars, 3b) Magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace, 3c) Majesty—The kingly majesty which belongs to God as supreme ruler, majesty in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity; 4) A most glorious condition, most exalted state—4a) Of that condition with God the Father in heaven to which Christ was raised after he had achieved his work on earth, 4b) The glorious condition of blessedness into which is appointed & promised that true Christians shall enter after their Savior's return from heaven. Strong—Glory(as very apparent), in a wide application(literal or figurative, objective or subjective).?English = ‘Dox-ology’?From the base of—dokew—To think[highly of]; by implication--To seem(truthfully or uncertainly); a prolonged form of a primary verb, dokw(used only in an alternate in certain tenses; compare the base of deiknuw[To show]) of the same meaning.
“Virtue/Excellence/Goodness”—areth—Noun Genitive Sing. Fem.—1)A virtuous course of thought, feeling & action--1a) Virtue, moral goodness; 2) Any particular moral excellence, as modesty, purity. Strong—properly--Manliness(valor), i.e. Excellence(intrinsic or attributed). Used 5X--Php. 4:8; 1Pet. 2:9; 2Pet. 1:3, 5.?**From the same as—arrhn, OR--arshn—Male(as stronger for lifting).
Given the background of the Greek word translated as “virtue”, “excellence”, or “goodness”....
•God’s intention for all Men, is Men in particular, are to exhibit ‘strength’ for lifting God’s excellence for all to see & experience! And thus as a Christian man, a huge part of your identity is to be a ‘cream of the crop’ representative & example of Christ!
•God has ordained for MEN to be HEADS of their families & churches!
•That means MEN particularly, are to live lives committed to God’s “glory & virtue”! And so much so, as to be effectively influential HEADS!
Those who are now God's people were “called” to God by means of & thru the perfect constraints that He has made AVAILABLE to all people in Christ Jesus!
So “glory & virtue” are only properly understood within the context of ‘the perfections’ of God’s ‘majesty’ & ‘moral excellence’ that is seen & experienced in the presence of Christ Jesus!
God’s “glory & virtue” is what initially got your attention, & drew you to Jesus. Before you knew Jesus, you were ‘of the world.’ And in that condition, you were a stranger to your need for God’s “glory & virtue.” You were without hope in the world(Eph. 2:12).
In that ‘lost’ condition, you realized that your concepts of “glory & virtue” were very different from what Christians were declaring & from what God had revealed. You recognized that there were inconsistencies in your concepts of “glory & virtue.”
And so, the constancy & flawlessness(“glory”) of God’s ‘moral excellence’(“virtue”) made you think twice about renouncing Him. And so His “glory & virtue” was what eventually drew you into a saving relationship with Him.
Argumentation:
Rom. 8:28-30—“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; & whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
1Thess. 2:10-16—“You are witnesses, & God also, how devoutly & justly & blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, & comforted, & charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom & glory. For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus & their own prophets, & have persecuted us; & they do not please God & are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.”
1Thess. 4:7-8—“For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”
•So God’s indwelling Spirit convicts us of holiness & the lack thereof!
2Tim. 1:8-12—“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us & called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose & grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death & brought life & immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, & a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed & am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”
1Pet. 2:9-12—“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners & pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
1Pet. 5:10-11—“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, & settle you. To Him be the glory & the dominion forever & ever. Amen.”
Php. 4:8—“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue & if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.”
Illustration:
*A product that makes you say, “I want that!”
I recently watched a video that I just happened to catch a glimpse of on ?Facebook or my news feed?
An Electronic Mosquito Killer that attracts & kills mosquitos only! It is touted as emitting a wavelength of light that mosquitoes are drawn to.
The video had me convinced. And I even wrote down the name so I could look for it to purchase. BUT in the video there was a statement made about a ‘limit to product’s availability.’ It made me hesitate.—If the product is really so revolutionary, then why are it’s numbers so limited?! The company’s claims for the product—it’s GLORY & VIRTUE—are NOT reliable!
In contrast...
*The CALL Of GOD’s GLORY & VIRTUE is ALWAYS reliable & trustworthy!!
Application:
?Has YOUR faith acquired YOUR attention to The CALL Of GOD’s GLORY & VIRTUE?
?What, of God’s provisions, are acquired thru YOUR Faith in Jesus?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Removing the weeds at the pastorium/parsonage. Limited Faith in the chemical’s ability.
The FAITH of God’s people taps into the vast resources that are only available to them by God’s hand.
Action:
Some provisions acquired thru Christian faith are...
7. The CALL Of God’s GLORY & VIRTUE(:3c)
1. TRUSTWORTHY APOSTLES(:1a)[parts-1 & 2]
2. CHRISTIAN FAMILY(:1b)
3. The SINGULAR, PERFECT SAVIOR(:1c)
4. MULTIPLIED GRACE & PEACE(:2a)
5. KNOWLEDGE Of GOD(:2b, :3b)
6. EVERYTHING NEEDFUL For FULFILLING LIFE(:3a)
Pt#7 only! presented 05/05/2024am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Road
Bennettsville, SC 29512
