Thank you for the testimonies. And let’s read two verses, 2 Peter 3, verse 17 and 18, and then I’ll pray. 2 Peter 3, verses 17 and 18. You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability, 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.
17 you therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 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. (2 Peter 3:17-18, ESV)
OK, let’s pray. Father, we have one prayer request. And it is that we would meet Jesus today and every day of our lives. Please, Lord, we want to meet you today. Today is a day of salvation. Please meet us, Lord. Please meet us, Lord. That is the only thing that we ask for. We don’t need anything else. We want to meet you, Lord Jesus. Help us. We all need you, Lord. Help us. Our families need you. We need you in every aspect of our lives. Everything falls apart without you, Lord Jesus. Please meet us, Lord. Please meet us, Lord. Please meet us, Lord. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
As it says in God’s word, I just want to turn it into a question. Are you growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Are you growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Are you growing spiritually? Regardless of how many years or decades we’ve been attending church, are you growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?
It says in Ephesians 2, verse 8, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing or not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9, ESV)
And we read verses like this, and we may misinterpret the Christian life and say, it’s all grace, and so doesn’t God just do everything? And just automatically I will be growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ, year by year. Because it says it there, it’s all a gift. I just receive. It’s by faith. And while that’s true, there’s nothing we did to be saved. It is purely a gift of God’s grace. There’s also the expectation after we’ve been saved that we do our part.
It says in James 2, verse 14, what good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to him, go in peace. Be warmed and filled. Without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “you have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:14-18, ESV)
And while it’s true, zero works led up to our salvation. After you and I have been saved, our works should be evident to all. There should be plenty of works. And so can you show your faith by your works? And here, the one example he gives in this section is clothing the poor and giving food to the poor. And this is not starting a soup kitchen. This is just in the body of Christ. If there is someone amongst us who is poor, who doesn’t have clothing, and we just ignore them and say, good luck, brother. I’ll see you next week, that is not a faith that saves.
And so in the body of Christ, we don’t rely on social security. We are each other’s social security. We should have that kind of a faith that demonstrates itself in works, that if somebody is in need, we don’t enable them, but we meet the needs as the Lord directs us.
And then he goes on in the book of James, verse 19, James chapter 2. You believe that God is one? You do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works? When he offered up his son Isaac on the altar, you see that faith was active along with his works. Or another way to say it, working together with his works. And faith was completed by his works, or by works faith was made perfect. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. And he was called a friend of God.
19 you believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 you see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. (James 2:19-23, ESV)
You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them by another way? For as the body apart from the Spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
24 you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the Spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:24–26, ESV)
So just because you believe in Jesus intellectually, that alone will not save you. Just because you got baptized at some point in history, that alone doesn’t save you. A faith that save you is accompanied by works. And so for Abraham, it was not an easy work that he did. For God to promise a child and to be a blessing to the nation and for him to wait 25 years for the fulfillment of that promise.
And then God asked him on a particular day, now sacrifice your son. And he had full faith that God told me that I’m going to be a blessing. And as I plunge the knife into him and as the blood comes out of my son and life ebbs out, God is going to raise him from the dead because that much he believed in the promise of God. This is a faith that saves. It’s not easy believism. It’s a faith that saves you and me. It is accompanied by works.
Same with Rahab. For Abraham, it was a God relating to a person, promising something over years and patiently waiting and doing it very relationally, very historically. I don’t know exactly what happened in Rahab’s story. She just heard a report that the God of Israel, they’re powerful and they just wipe out people. And I better get on his side. And so the spies come in.
And Rahab, she knows. She’s a harlot. She knows. She hears things. And so she receives these spies, hides them, and is promised that you’re going to be spared when we come into Jericho and wipe out the city. And this woman, the son of this woman is Boaz, the husband of Ruth. And this is a direct line to Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.
And this Gentile woman, the first convert in all of scripture is included because she heard a report and she banked her entire survival on this report that I want to be counted among God’s people. So it is not easy believism that saves you and me. It is a faith that is accompanied by works. And so last week we said God does his part. It is his divine power, it says in 2 Peter 1. And if you have the Holy Spirit, we have this divine power.
All things pertaining to life and godliness have now been available to us through faith. So we access this divine power through our faith. And now it says in verse 5, and we covered this last week, 2 Peter 1, there are seven things we add in addition to our faith. Faith is central and then it’s like the spokes on a wheel. There are seven other things we need to add to this in order for this faith to keep growing.
And it says in verse 5, for this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness or perseverance and steadfastness or perseverance with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-11, ESV)
So God does his power. He saves us. And it is purely a gift of God. And we receive it through faith. And then from that point forward, until we go home, until we meet Jesus face to face, now we do all that we can. And this is our effort. This is our works, that we make every effort to supplement our faith with virtue. And the list goes on.
And so if we’ve been unfruitful in our knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, like if we don’t know him better today than we did when we first met him, then could it be that we are not making every effort according to what Apostle Peter is saying here? And so another way to ask the question, is your faith working for you? Is it effective? Is it producing fruit of the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Do you know him better? Or do we just say we know him, but we don’t actually know him? Is your faith alive, meaning it’s growing, living things grow?
Is it dead, meaning it is either dead or it’s in the path of dying? Because either it’s growing because it’s alive, or because there’s no works, there’s zero effort, there’s no relating with Jesus, no valuing the relationship, it is slowly ebbing away. And eventually, it will die. And as we just read, at some point we become blind, it says, to the fact that we were cleansed by Jesus. And I think the reason why the Lord is having us stay here, because it is so important what Apostle Peter is saying. It is so important what Apostle Peter is saying here.
Apostle Peter, I would say, is among those closest to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I am so encouraged by verse 12, chapter 1. It says, Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, the seven that we need to supplement on top of faith. Though you know them and are established in the truth that you have, I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure, you may be able at any time to recall these things.
12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. (2 Peter 1:12-15, ESV)
And so, of course, while Jesus was alive, Peter heard many things. And we may say, well, that’s, well, you’re lucky. You got to eat and live with Jesus in the flesh. But after Jesus ascended, did his relationship stop? No, clearly he is still relating with Jesus. And at the end of Peter’s life, he’s saying, The Lord Jesus told me that my time is coming to an end. My ministry is about to close. And so I am writing this letter as my final exhortation. And so if we want to be like Peter, and if we want to relate with Jesus with the kind of intimacy that Peter had, then we best heed what Peter is saying here. These are his final exhortation.
And Peter is saying, I’m running out of time. I want to remind you as often as I can so that even when I depart, you’re going to remember what I’m saying in this letter. You’re either going to keep growing in your grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You’re going to keep growing spiritually. You’re going to keep hearing the shepherd’s voice. He will tell you things so personal to you that you cannot find in Scripture, i. e., oh, you’re about to die. So wrap things up.
This is possible for us as long as we keep growing in our grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But if we’re not growing in this way, then what awaits us is blindness, deafness, and a faith that was once alive, once accompanied by a certain amount of works. Finally, there are no more works, and it is a faith that is dead. It will not save you.
2 Peter 2. Peter outlines the consequences of not having a faith that is growing. This is in the context of false teachers and false prophets who started off right. It says in 2 Peter 2, verse 19, they promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if after they escape the defilements of the world, through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. (2 Peter 2:19-20, ESV)
And these are sobering words that you know how you were before you met Christ. You know the things that took hold of you. You know the idolatry. You know the addictions. But at one point, Jesus met you, and he started to set you free. Maybe he set you free in an instant. Maybe he set you free over a period of time. And these so-called false prophets, false teachers, they started off right. I want you to underscore that and see it in Scripture. They started off right, but somewhere along the way, they fell back into their old ways. They fell back into idolatry. They fell back into sins.
And so if you’re going to a church, you want to get to know the pastor. Are they free? Because they’re preaching a message of freedom, but if they themselves are not free, then why submit under that teaching? You need to get to know your pastor. You need to know them so that you’re not falling under potentially a false teaching. Because false teachers say the right things, but inwardly, they’re enslaved. And you don’t want to be under that kind of a teaching. And this is not just for the teacher. This goes for all of us in the body of Christ. If you are one time met Jesus, but you stop growing in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you find yourself years, decades later, I’m still enslaved.
Why is this? Why am I still enslaved? Could it be that the verse here is coming true to life? That if you stop growing in the grace and the knowledge of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, your last state will be worse than the first. It’s almost better that you never met Jesus according to God’s word.
And so the worst and most tragic, most pitiful people are those in the body of Christ who met Jesus once. And because of the teaching that was maybe off, or maybe they themselves are off, or they fell into worldliness, idolatry, whatever the reason, they met Jesus once, but then years later, you look at them, and they’re the worst spiritually because this verse has come true. Because the last state is worse than the first. It’s worse than pre-Christ, B. C. It would have been better off if that person never stepped foot in church because somebody in the church who has stopped growing in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ is the worst person on earth according to the Lord.
Faith has several aspects to it. There is a relational aspect, there is the internal aspect, and there is the external aspect. The relational aspect. I have some good news. My brother-in-law, David, we all know David. He just proposed to a gal in Georgia, Jane, so hopefully you’ll all get to meet her soon. And Jane texted us right afterward. And she said, I am about to marry my best friend. And that is a theologically profound statement that she made, that I am in full agreement with. Because marriage is that kind of a, it’s supposed to be what she just said. You just marry or you’re about to marry your best friend. It’s not someone you pursue and then after you get her you abandon her and you pursue something else.
No that’s not what marriage is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be you marry your best friend and so you keep pursuing each other. And there’s no better picture for the Christian life than a godly marriage of a husband pursuing the wife, the wife pursuing the husband. When you have Adam who is, before he fell into sin he was perfect in every way and yet he was still lonely. That speaks of God’s nature. God is three in one. God is community and so he is not okay by himself. And so a Christian just well I’m happy by myself. No that’s not complete. You’re supposed to, that love that pours in is supposed to pour out and so it starts with your spouse if you’re married. And it starts with, even if you’re single, it just spreads. You’re just a channel of God’s love. It’s not just you yourself. The love that comes in is supposed to pour out.
And so when Jane says I’m about to marry my best friend, I have to ask the Lord, okay Jesus you are my best friend right? We are best friends right? And so you have best friends, you have spouses, you have people in your life. Can you honestly say Jesus is better and closer to me than anybody else? That is what we’re supposed to confess. That as we’re growing in our faith, in the grace, and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we can say confidently Jesus is my best friend. I turn to him for everything. Even though I’m close to my spouse, Jesus knows me better. Jesus, I pursue him even harder than I do my spouse. That is the confession of a Christian.
And so there’s a relational aspect. It all starts with faith. This is what it means that we say we have faith in Jesus. We’re saying Jesus you’re my best friend. I go to you first. I go to you last. You’re beginning and end of my day. You’re it. I’m pursuing you. This is faith that is growing. Is he actually your best friend? That is how you can tell am I growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Is he closer to you than your earthly best friends, spouses, whomever? There’s a relational aspect.
Then there’s an internal aspect of faith, which is all the inner qualities that 2nd Peter chapter 1 outlines. Are you growing in these qualities? Are you making every effort to grow in these qualities? And then the external things are the works, the things that you do, the things that you put into practice, things that other people can see. So faith has relational, internal, external aspects to it.
2nd Peter 1, Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:1-4, ESV)
And I so appreciate Apostle Peter. He could have said, I am the great apostle, reverend, senior pastor Peter. He could have had all these titles and he says, no, I am just a brother. It is of equal standing. I so appreciate that Peter brought himself down to all of our levels. He is not special. We don’t look to him as special. Elijah has a nature just like us. He is not special. We have all equal access to this divine power. And this divine power grants us everything that pertains to life and godliness. So everything in life, everything in godliness, which means everything.
There’s nothing that God’s divine power cannot help us to excel in. His power is there. It is our choice. Do we tap into this power by faith? Do we relate with Jesus as a best friend? That’s how we connect to this power. And the promise is that we now become partakers of the divine nature. Not just divine power external, but now we are partaker of the divine nature. We are becoming more and more like Christ.
2 Peter 3 verse 3. Knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, where is the promise of his coming? Of course the scoffers will scoff. Of course they will say, 2,000 years? I don’t see him.
3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4, ESV)
Of course the scoffers will say that and they will indulge in their sins. But even us as a body of Christ, do we think we have all the time in the world to seek Jesus? Do we live as if we assume that tomorrow is guaranteed? I think secretly, can’t we also be included among the scoffers? That we think, well, we’re young. I’m approaching 50. I still think I have 50 years ahead of me at the rate that I’m going. I think that way. And so we just think, okay, there’s time on our side. And that is somebody who will not make every effort to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Because in the back of my mind, I’m going to wake up tomorrow and I’ll be fine. If I don’t pursue him, I can put it off to the next day, to next week, to next month, next year. I’ll keep putting it off because I always have time to make every effort to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Jesus Christ. Aren’t we among the scoffers when we think this way? And that’s what Peter warns in verse 8. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3:8, ESV)
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Rather than delaying making every effort and joining the chorus of the scoffers, let’s just understand that the reason why God is delayed is because he wants to save every last man, woman, and child on earth. We even have people in our own family, extended family, who still don’t know the Lord Jesus. And so if Jesus came today, for eternity we’d be separated from our loved ones. It is the kindness and the patience of the Lord that he’s given us 2,000 plus years. And so let’s see this as God’s patience toward those who don’t know Christ, and even toward us who are not growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
But he continues from there, verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, a thief in the night. And then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved. And the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promises, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:10-13, ESV)
Verse 14, therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace, and count the patience, long-suffering of our Lord as salvation.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. (2 Peter 3:14, ESV)
So of course, a day is like a thousand years. So 2,000 years, two days have passed. The Lord is not slow. He’s patient. He wants everyone to be saved. But we might think, well, I can continue in sin. It’s not a big deal. Tomorrow is guaranteed. Another thousand years is guaranteed. I can live as if I’m immortal. Judgment will come like a thief in the night. So why are we delaying seeking the Lord Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? Why are we not making every effort today because tomorrow is not guaranteed? The Lord Jesus wants to meet all of us. Don’t live as if tomorrow is guaranteed. Seek the Lord Jesus today. Seek him today.
Peter, in his final letter, he says, I want to remind you, until my breath in my lungs is no more, I want to keep reminding you how to keep growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Be diligent. Be diligent. He outlines it in three exhortations. Second Peter 1, verse 5, 6, and 7, for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. (2 Peter 1:5-7, ESV)
Make every effort. God does his part. We do our part. Make every effort. That’s one exhortation.
The second one, he says in 2 Peter 1, verse 10, therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.
10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. (2 Peter 1:10, ESV)
For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He says with fear, trembling, as Paul says, confirm your calling. Your calling is not to be a pastor. Your calling is not to be a professor. Your calling is not to do something in this world. Your calling is to be saved. Your calling is to be saved. You’re predestined to be saved. You’re being elected to be saved. Make every effort. Be diligent to confirm it. Show the fruits of it. Make every effort. God does his part. You do your part.
Final exhortation, 2 Peter 3, verse 14, therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, and these refers to the return of Christ, the day of judgment, new heavens, new earth, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace, and count the patience of our Lord as salvation.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. (2 Peter 3:14, ESV)
So marriage, the bride on the wedding day, and in a radiant white wedding garment, it will be improper of her to go through McDonald’s fast food, and to bite into a Big Mac, and then it just spills over the wedding dress, and then she shows up to the wedding with a stain. That’s just not proper. The same for the body of Christ. We are the bride of Christ. It is not proper for us to have all these stains in our lives, in our heart, and on our soul. It is not proper. And so we make every effort. We’re diligent. Oh, I still see the stain. Oh, Jesus, can you cleanse it? Can you change me so that I don’t keep on spilling all over myself? So we check in with the Lord every day. Can you cleanse this blemish of my speech, my emotions, my soul, the way I think, these addictions? Can you cleanse it so that if you came today, I would be spotless? That not a day goes by that you allow sins to pile up. You take out the garbage at the end of the day.
And so I pray that we can be cleansed by the blood of Jesus, be forgiven. We take out the garbage each day. We’re diligent, diligent about this. This is not something we put on the Lord and say, well, you do everything. No, we are diligent to inspect our lives, to examine every spot, every blemish we bring before the Lord Jesus.
We ask for cleansing by his blood and to be at peace. Meaning we’re not out there to pick fights on social media. We’re not broadcasting our opinions about everything because we want likes. As many likes as you get, a lot of people are silently hating you because you took a stand that you should not have taken a stand. You should have just been silent about it. You should have been praying about it. Many people just like drama. They like provoking. They like triggering people. It says be at peace. So we should be slow to speak, quick to hear, slow to anger. We should be at peace. We should be peacemakers. We shouldn’t be picking fights that I’m pro this, I’m against that.
No, we’re on Jesus’ side as much as possible with us. We’re at peace with all men. They don’t need to know what we believe. We don’t have to broadcast everything. We have to discern, okay, this person is asking me with bad motives. They just want me to get triggered and angry and then they’re going to say, oh, these Christians, they’re all the same. They’re so self-righteous and they’re just going to use it as ammunition against the body of Christ. You got to discern. You’re just walking into a trap. It says be at peace. We are peacemakers. We’re peacemakers. We pray for peace in the Middle East. We pray for peace in Ukraine. We pray for peace because we don’t want anybody to die through a senseless war before they meet Jesus. It is God’s heart for every man, woman, and child on earth to be saved. So we pray for peace. We are peacemakers.
So let’s know that God will do his part. The divine power is available to us. But as Peter exhorts us multiple times in multiple ways, we have to do our part. OK, let’s pray. Before I pray, if anybody wants to meet Jesus and surrender their lives to Jesus, make that kind of a commitment that you’re going to do everything in your power to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. I just want you to come forward and receive prayer. And this is really between you and the Lord. I want to give you that chance to put into practice your first step of doing your part.
Father, thank you for speaking to your people. Forgive us for being hardened of hearts. Forgive us for being lazy. We make every effort in so many ways, except the thing that matters the most. Forgive us, Lord. We say you’re our best friend, but we don’t live that way. Forgive us, Lord. We think you should do 100%, and we do nothing. We expect to grow, and we don’t. Father, forgive us. Forgive us, Lord.
We are the way we are. It’s our fault. The divine power is available to us, and we don’t access it by faith. Forgive us, Lord. Forgive us, Lord. We don’t care about the things of God. Forgive us, Lord. We care about this world more than we care about you. Forgive us, Lord. We care about entertainment more than we care about you. Forgive us, Lord. Forgive us, Lord. Have mercy on us, Lord.
Tomorrow’s not guaranteed, so today we want to kneel before you and pray that you would forgive us. Pray that you cleanse us by the blood of Jesus in our body, soul, spirit, mind, will, emotion. Pray that you cleanse us of every spot and blemish, everything in our soul, our speech, our emotions, our will. We bring every aspect of ourselves to you. Pray that you cleanse us, Lord. Cleanse us, Lord. We want to start anew today to make every effort to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If we don’t grow, whose fault is it, Lord? It’s our fault. It’s our fault, Lord. Forgive us, Lord, for a faith that is dead or on the way to death.
Lord, I pray that you revive our faith today, Lord. I pray that we would have works to demonstrate we have a faith that is alive, that we put into practice certain works that show how much you mean to us, how much we want the things of God. Father, we pray that faith would be accompanied by many works, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for your body that was broken and your blood shed. We don’t take the Lord’s Supper lightly. We don’t drink and take in judgment upon ourselves, but we examine ourselves. I pray that you forgive us of every sin before we come to the table.
Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
After you’ve examined your heart and the Lord allows you, the Lord’s Supper will be here.
