FURTHERING Your FAITH-II—2Peter 1:5-11[Part 2--:5e-6a(:5-7)]
Attention:
*For your ‘basic’ room:
?How will the room be used?--
Let’s try to imagine the ‘sanctuary’ of this our ‘church-house’, where we are now sitting.
Suppose there were no pews at all.
Suppose there was no stained glass. No depictions of Jesus, or the cross, or angels, or doves, or baptisms, or disciples, or the birth, or the resurrection, or ascension.
Suppose there were no chandeliers.
Suppose there was no soundboard or sound system at all. No microphones. No speakers.
Suppose there were no carpet. And no piano.
Suppose there was no platform. No choir-loft, No podium, No ‘speaker’s chairs.’ No baptismal pool. No screen for video.
No offering plates. No table for the Lord’s Supper.
All those things must be ‘added’ to the room, in order to furnish it in such a way, as to make it truly useful as a church-house...So that it would be conducive to worship.
A ‘basic’ room is a platform, to which necessities are added, so that the intended use might be well met.
Consider then, in the same manner as an empty room, Likewise, your Christian saving faith, is a ‘basic’ platform, to which Christ-honoring necessities must be added, so that God’s people might be properly equipped to do the work God desires.
Need:
?Are you satisfied with your walk with Jesus?
?Are you pleased with your working relationship with the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit?
Some Christians float around & flounder about like a fish out of water.
•They struggle with their calling & their giftedness.
•They struggle to ‘fit in’ with the church.
•They struggle with using their calling & giftedness outside a church setting—at home or in the ‘work-a-day-world.’
The apostle Peter encouraged the Churches to bolster/strengthen/further support their initial faith in Christ, in order to provide an ‘abundant’ entrance to God’s kingdom.
God’s people are obligated to further their faith.
In our text, Peter answers the question:
?What does ‘Furthering Your Faith’ involve or entail?...OR...
?What does it mean to ‘Further Your Faith’?
We are continuing to examine:
4 factors for Furthering Your Faith.
Last week we began looking at the fact that,
Furthering Your Faith involves...
1. DUE DILIGENCE DONE(:5-7)[Part 1--:5a-d]
We ran short of time then, so Today, we’ll continue looking at the fact that:
(CONT...)1—Furthering Your Faith involves...
DUE DILIGENCE DONE(:5-7)[Part 2--:5e-6a]
Before we address the remainder of the “additions to your faith” in :5-7, please recall the following
from Part--1:5a-d.:
1)“Faith” that saves your soul from hell, is just the ‘beginning point’ of a much more intentional & complex work of God in your life.
2)So each of these “additions” brings a ‘needed’/necessary element to your Christian “faith.”
3)Each of these “additions”, furnish you the believer, with an intensification of Christ-honoring spiritual strengths, that will bring boldness & fulfillment to your life.
4)Each element is “added” to the other, so that the Christian’s “faith” will become consistent, & overwhelmingly full & whole.
5)All these elements(“additions”) together, are characteristic of STRONG Christian “faith.”
6)Your Christian “faith” can become a source of encouragement for you, as well as for those who encounter that fullness of “faith” in your life!
Another quick reminder...
“Virtue”(:5d) or ‘moral excellence’ is accepting God’s determinations of ‘right’ versus ‘wrong’, so that you live by them.
Everything about your Christian “faith” is tempered & strengthened by it’s being furnished with “virtue.”(:5)
*?Does Christ-honoring “virtue”(morality) accent/characterize the way you live the life that God has granted to you?
NOW, ON TO OUR TEXT:
:5e—“add to your faith”...to virtue knowledge...”
*Just as “virtue”(‘moral excellence’) is to be “added”, furnished, & supplied “to” your “faith”...
...So your Christian “faith” becomes FURTHER normalized, fleshed-out, manifested, bolstered, tempered, & strengthened, in & thru, “knowledge”[gnwsiv](cf.-:2, 3[epignwsiv])
“Knowledge”[gnwsiv] here speaks to the believer having a ‘basic intelligence’ regarding the things of God, so that you are no longer ignorant of God’s plan for man... “Knowledge”[gnwsiv] here speaks to your having a general comprehension of truth...That is, a comprehension of the reality that God has brought about/ordered for His creation.
“Knowledge”[gnwsiv] for the faithful, includes the fact that, you are aware that all people are condemned to hell unless they individually & personally accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.
•And “Knowledge”[gnwsiv] for the faithful, includes an awareness that the life of anyone, can & will be changed dramatically for the good, should they accept Him as Savior & Lord.
A Christian is expected by God to have his/her “faith” bolstered & tempered thru a ‘cognitive’(“knowledge”[gnwsiv]) grasp of the truths of God.
A Christian “faith” without “knowledge” is ‘dead in the water,’ having no viable focus for your “faith” to hang onto. A “faith” WITHOUT “knowledge” does NOT have an actual basis by which to live out that “faith.” ‘Ignorance’ is why some leave the Christian faith, for what is always less.
•‘If you don’t stand for Jesus, then you WILL fall for anything.’
Mat. 13:1-6—“On the same day Jesus went out of the house & sat by the sea. And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat & sat; & the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; & the birds came & devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; & they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, & because they had no root they withered away.”
Many people are attracted to Christianity, who eventually wither away from it.
•Christian “faith” is an informed(“knowledgable”) “faith.”
•An ‘informed’ Christian faith does not succumb to liberalism, or conservatism.
• For children of Christian parents, an ‘informed’ Christian faith, graduates beyond the good, simple Christian ‘mores learned by rote’ that your parents sought & seek to instill in you.
Rom. 12:2—“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good & acceptable & perfect will of God.”
Everything about your Christian “faith” is tempered & strengthened by it’s being furnished with “knowledge.”(:5)
*?Does Christ-honoring “knowledge” accent/characterize the way you live the life that God has granted to you?
“Knowledge”(See :2, 3—epignosis)—gnwsiv—Noun Accusative Sing. Fem.—1) Knowledge signified in general intelligence, understanding—1a) The general knowledge of Christian religion, 1b) The deeper more perfect & enlarged knowledge of this religion, such as belongs to the more advanced, 1c) Especially of things lawful & unlawful for Christians, 1d) Moral wisdom, such as is seen in right living. Gnwsiv denotes knowledge by itself, sofia denotes wisdom as exhibited in action, gnwsiv applies chiefly to the apprehension of truths, sofia adds the power of reasoning about them & tracing their relationships. Strong—Knowing(the act), i.e. by implication--Knowledge.?English=dia-‘gnosis’ or pro-‘gnosis’.
:6a—“to knowledge self-control”
*In order to fulfill God’s intent for your “faith”, there is yet another facet of “faith” that must be adopted...
“To” the “virtue” & “knowledge” sought & possessed by God’s people, a God-ordered “self-control” or “temperance” must also be supplied, furnished, or “added”(:5).
So, your Christian “faith” is additionally normalized, fleshed out, manifested, bolstered, tempered, & strengthened in & thru “self-control.”
*“Self-control” involves mastering, controlling, curbing, & restraining the pull/tug/deflections of your own flesh! All people, including God’s people, are constantly bombarded by & with, as well as being tempted by & with, ‘worldliness’—i.e., an entire world that is derived from submission to the control of the flesh.
*“Self-control” is keeping yourself committed to God alone, so that worldly “virtues”, & worldly “knowledge” does not flood-in, overwhelm, & tempt you—the one who trusts in Christ.
Personal “Self-control” keeps all of the people who are ‘within your sphere of influence’, aware, that you respond to, accept &/or avoid certain things—activities, relationships, substances, places, situations, etc.—in the way you do, BECAUSE you have fully submitted yourself to God thru Christ Jesus....
•And “self-control” that is birthed by your Christian “faith”, is what keeps you proficient at finding & living God’s will in your continual response to the world.
•FYI—Your ‘sphere of influence’ encompasses or includes everyone both near & distant, that are in any way shape or form, effected by, & tied to your influence.
*“Self-control” is the continual ‘restraint’ that a Christian willfully brings into play, in order to maintain his/her course in Christ, despite the many temptations to do otherwise. God is glorified thru such “self-control”, as you allow Him to be the controller of your flesh’s in-reach & out-reach.
1Cor. 9:24-25a—“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate[egkrateuomai] in all things....”
James 3:1-2—“My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.”
2Tim. 2:3-4—“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”
“Self-control” Illustration:
As you’re traveling North toward Laurinburg, NC from Bennettsville on US Hwy. 15/401, there are two particular businesses that I notice every time a pass by. Just after entering North Carolina, one of the businesses is located on the east side of the highway, & the other is on the west, about a quarter-mile north of the first business. They present a mystery to me, because neither of them has a sign advertising what they offer. I am curious about what they do in them & I would love to know what they are all about.
•One of them is a small, vinyl sided, building located under some mature pine trees. It has one door & two windows in the ‘front’ facing the parking area. Both front windows, the door, & the roofline of the building are lined in multi-colored LED rope lights. There is no sign stating what the business is all about. But there are always 3 or 4 vehicles parked there.
•The other business is located about a quarter-mile north, & beyond the other one, at the intersection of ‘Leisure Rd.’ & US Hwy. 15/401. The building has stained, unpainted wooden siding. There is no sign stating what the business is all about. There are no windows. There is one door facing Hwy. 15/401. On the left-hand side of the door, there is a neon-ish ‘OPEN’ sign. The building has a commercial kitchen vent fan mounted on the left corner of the roof in the back. There are usually quite a few residential vehicles in the parking lot, & sometimes it’s ‘packed-out’ with cars & trucks!
*I wonder, ‘What goes on in those places?’ I have to assume that what goes on in those places is probably something that would NOT be spiritually healthy for Christians. My uninformed suspicion is that one is a tobacco/vape place, & the other is a bar. But I really don’t know! Still I’m curious!...
•Some day, my curiosity may get the better of me, & I’ll stop in to see what each of them is! For me to do so would NOT be a lack of “self-control.” However, to NOT get engaged in the supposed ‘risky-business’, once inside the door, would indeed represent an example of “self-control” in action!
*Everything about your Christian “faith” is tempered & strengthened by it’s being furnished with “self-control.”(:6)
*?Does Christ-honoring “Self-control” accent/characterize the way you live the life that God has granted to you?
“Self-control/Temperence”—egkrateia—Noun Fem. - Accusative Sing. Fem.—1)Self-control(the virtue of one who masters his desires & passions, especially his sensual appetites). Strong—Self-control, especially--Continence. Used 4X--Acts 24:25; Gal. 5:23; 2Pet. 1:6.?From—en—1) In, by, with etc.. Strong—“In, “At”, (Up-)On, By, etc.; a primary preposition denoting (fixed)position(in place, time or state), & by implication--Instrumentality(medially or constructively), i.e. A relation of rest(intermediate between eiv[into, unto, to, towards, for, among] & ek/ex[out of, from, by, away from]).—&—kratov—Force, strength; Power, might--mighty with great power, A mighty deed, a work of power; Dominion. Kratov is might, relative & manifested power; Vigor[“great”].
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
A ‘basic’ room is a platform, to which necessities are added, so that the intended use might be well met.
Likewise, your Christian saving faith, is a ‘basic’ platform, to which Christ-honoring necessities must be added, so that God’s people might be properly equipped to do the work God desires.
Action:
Furthering Your Faith involves...
1. DUE DILIGENCE DONE(:5-7)[Part 2--:5e-6a]
1. DUE DILIGENCE DONE(:5-7)[Part 1--:5a-d]
Pt#1-(:5-7)[Part 2--:5e-6a] only! presented 08/11/2024am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Road
Bennettsville, SC 29512
