Spiritual Growth in the Direction of Heaven

Introduction

As well crafted as Ed’s song service was this morning in terms of the theme of my lesson. I also noticed in verse 3 of the final song the phrase the time will not be long. Perhaps that part was for me. And that perhaps my sermon will not be too long this morning. I don’t know. I want you to turn to 2 Peter chapter 3. We referenced these verses last Lord’s day, particularly as Peter concludes and discusses the writings of Paul. How he wrote some things that were difficult to understand, which the untaught and the unstable disport, distort, or rest to their own destruction. And he challenges his readers to not fall from their steadfastness and be carried away by the error of unprincipled men. But he concludes in the final verse with an admonition.

It may be the most popular statement that is most oft remembered by Bible students of all the things that he wrote in 2 Peter. These words. 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. I want to suggest to you this morning that this is not just a concluding admonition to the recipients of this epistle. But that it is a summary of all that he has said in this epistle. And so as I speak to you this morning about growing in the direction of heaven. It is our aim and intention in this place. It is the goal of our elders. It is the goal of all the instruction that I give.

That each of us will be assisted in our growth toward heaven. That we would indeed be growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because what we’re all about is making progress in that direction. Do you believe that you have arrived spiritually, that you sort of leveled out and plateaued in the things of God? Or do you believe there is yet more to be accomplished? That there is yet progress to discover and unlock in your spiritual journey. I’m here to suggest that’s the way you should look at it. And so as I speak to you this morning about growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, there are definitely some achievements that we’ve already experienced as God’s people. And as we sing, I’ll never be the same.

For I’ve seen faithful love face to face. And Jesus is his name. We have experienced the glorious moment of conversion to the Lord. We have accumulated the highest information that exists in this world that brings us to understanding of our Creator’s intentions for us as we continue to invest ourselves in an examination of His will, with the goal or the intent to implement the Spirit’s instruction in our lives, the fruit of the Spirit, as we recently studied in our vacation Bible school. We have been led as a result to a dedication not only to God, but to his people. And this assembly today, and our consistent assembling with his people as each of us supply our part in the body. And as I summarize the things under which we have come as God’s people and the achievements that we’ve already experienced, that we are about the business of being lights to the world.

Our confession of faith as we confess him, he will confess us before the Father. Matthew chapter 10 and verse 32. These are the things to which we have already come in Christ. But the words grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ suggest there is yet further progress to be experienced as God’s people. Our achievements are not yet complete. Grow in the grace. First of all, everything to which we’ve already come is a result of the grace of God. I mentioned the passage of 2 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 18. Because I love it when David is told that he would not build the house for the Lord, but that his son Solomon would build it, his descendant. And he is promised a house forever in 2 Samuel chapter 7, one of the key passages of the Old Testament, that he is overwhelmed with God’s gracious and merciful offer to him.

And he simply asked, What are me and my house that you have brought me thus far? And that ought always to be our understanding of that which we have come to in Christ. Who am I? And what is my house that you have brought me thus far? But yet there is still more to be accomplished. There is yet more to be learned about the will of God, as we were discovering in our class this morning on 1 Corinthians 13. Still some questions that are raised and some things to be learned in regard to what has been revealed to us. We’re still trying to understand the complete picture of all that God has given to us. Our imitation of the Lord is not yet all that it should be.

I’m still not a perfect image of the image of Christ. And from time to time, I still struggle with temptation. I will struggle to implement his love in every circumstance toward every person in every moment of our lives. So, I need to be about the business of growing, realizing all the while it is by the grace of God that I’m on this path to begin with. Thus being immensely thankful for all that God has done to bring me thus far in my journey and hopefully see me through prayerfully, trustingly, see me through to the very end while I will bask in his inheritance that he has promised, an inheritance that Peter spoke of in 1 Peter in chapter 1 and verse 4, that is undefiled and incorruptible and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for us.

So, what is he talking about? If it is, as I have suggested, that this is a summary statement for the epistle. What have we already learned in 2 Peter that would help us to better appreciate this final admonition to grow in grace and in knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? And so the rest of this lesson will deal with the instruction that precedes it. And three things that we learn. Now, I’m not going to be able to read every verse of 2 Peter. Remember, the time will not be long. So this may be a springboard for you to examine in more depth on your own, but I want to give you what’s going on in 2 Peter that has to do with this final admonition of growing in grace and knowledge.

1. The Recipe, the Ingredients of Spiritual Growth

Three things, rather quickly this morning. Number one, first of all, in the first chapter of this epistle, Peter provides the recipe, the ingredients of spiritual growth. He starts at the very beginning by reminding his readers, and oh, how we need to be reminded that we have been partaking in extraordinary, astonishing, and remarkable things. It’s incredible. He says in 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3 that divine power has granted something to us. His divine power has granted to us everything that pertains to living and a God focus in our lives and godliness. Through the true knowledge of him. Hold that thought till we get to the second point. Through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. And for by these he has granted to us precious and magnificent promises.

In order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And oh, how we need to escape. The corruption that is in the world through lust, the corruption of our own sin, the corruption, that transgression and rebellion brings to our souls. We desperately need to escape. We must not wallow in the corruption and feel like everything’s wonderful and fine. The water’s just fine. Come on in. We are escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust and learning to live in the image of our Savior Jesus Christ. We have become partakers of the divine nature. And as a result of what we’ve come into in Christ, applying all diligence. He says in verse 5, how much diligence is that?

That’s all of it. Everything you’ve got. Applying all diligence in your faith, on the basis of your trust and confidence in God, in your faith, supply. And we’ve heard this recipe so many times. In fact, I went through and underlined each one of them. Applying all diligence, you are to supply with your faith such things as virtue or moral excellence, knowledge, additional information and insight, self-control. A thing about which Paul reasoned with Felix, self-control and the judgment to come, the need to rein in our impulses, perseverance, sticking with it, sticking to it perpetually to the end, godliness, thinking about God, focusing upon Him and His will for our lives, and brotherly kindness, the way we then in turn should treat other people, and then the summary word that we have studied in our auditorium class in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the word agape, and in your brotherly kindness love, for if these qualities are yours and are increasing, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If these qualities are yours, you have possessed these things. You have understood from the very beginning that being in Christ revolves around these qualities of this recipe, this being a partaker of the divine image, but we’re not doing it perfectly yet. We’re still learning, we’re still mastering those principles in our lives. And so we need to give all diligence to imitate them more perfectly, more consistently in our lives. And you’ll not be unfruitful or bear. In the true knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Notice he mentions true knowledge again as he has mentioned it in verse 3. Now, if you’re not continuing in your pursuit of these things, if you think the growth that you’ve already experienced is sufficient, if you leave off in the pursuit of these qualities in your life, he says, you’ve lost sight of things.

Your thinking has become stagnant. You have forgotten the purification of your former sins. You’re not as excited about the grace of God as you once were. You have forgotten what coming into Christ, how significant that really was and what it means. You have forgotten the purification of your former sins. Therefore, be all the more diligent, applying all diligence, be all the more diligent. Stay busy and dedicated in the right pursuits. Make your calling and election sure, or make certain of his calling and choosing you. I’ve said so many times. We don’t get that phrase there.

That’s not what he’s talking about. What he’s saying is, my pursuit of these things, my growth in these things is evidence that I am of the called and chosen. My ongoing pursuit of this recipe, these ingredients of Christ’s likeness, is a demonstration that I am of the called. It’s what demonstrates that I am called and chosen of Christ. And so I have to say after these things. And if I say after them, God will abundantly. I love this word in verse 11. We’ll come to this in the final point. For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. I just get the idea of the doors of heaven being thrown open. As we’re welcomed into the riches of glory.

And so Peter is coming to the conclusion of his life, and one of the things that you do is you summarize what things are all about in your life. And pursuing these things are what Peter’s life is all about. So while I’m still in the body, I’m going to remind you of these things. And then he goes into this discussion about not having followed cleverly devised tales. Now that comes on the statement of the true knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And he talks about we are eyewitnesses of his majesty. And that makes us immediately think of the transfiguration where Jesus was glorified in their midst. He was transfigured. His face shines with the glory of God. And Moses and Elijah are there.

And you know what Peter is saying at the end of chapter 1?

I was there. I saw where all of this is going. I saw a glimpse of the glory that is coming. And you know what he’s saying by that? He’s saying, you can trust what I’m telling you. Men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. He says, the things I’m telling you, they’re real. They’re reliable. They’re trustworthy. Don’t ever doubt this. I’m an eyewitness of his majesty. You can trust what I’m saying. You can trust that the pursuit of these ingredients, as you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, will eventuate in all the promises that God has made to you. The magnificent and precious promises. Well, we could stop right here, and that sermon is done.

2. A Warning: The Opposition to Spiritual Growth

But that’s not all of the picture of growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because chapter 2 then provides a warning, which was typical of Testament literature. There was then a warning provided, and the warning that Peter provides is this pursuit will not go on in your life unopposed.

The devil and his forces and his allies are hell bent on opposition to your spiritual success. I thought about the choice of that word hell bent. You know, that’s a word that is often thrown around very casually in our society. I think I just use it in the only way it’s really acceptable.

The devil wants to destroy you in hell. And that’s what Peter is warning about. He and his forces are hell-bent on your destruction. And he says in verses one and two, but false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves, and many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned. There will be people who corrupt the truth, as he’s already talked about in second, as he will talk about in 2 Peter 3 in regard to how people treat the writings of Paul. And the end result of all such manipulation of the truth is ultimately the way of sensuality is championed as good and right.

Almost all false doctrine ultimately goes that direction. Some approval of the things of which God does not approve and the things people want to do. And it’s not open, it’s not blatant. The devil doesn’t say, hey everybody, here I am. Look at me. Oh, it’s often in the guise of spiritual guard. Do you realize how many people today stand in pulpits like this and preach error? Destructive error. And it’s pawned off as righteousness. And because Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Paul warned the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 14. The same kind of warning that Peter is offering here. The devil is not satisfied with your spiritual success, and he will work tooth and toenails to prevent it. He wants you to leave off in this pursuit.

And if he can’t do it by some false message, and there are many that are out there, then he must simply sway you back to the former corruption of your own lusts. And that’s where he ends in 2 Peter chapter 2. When he uses that illustration of the dog returning to its own vomit or the sow that returns to wallowing in the mire. We who have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust have once again become overcome and entangled in those things. You see, the devil is working feverishly. He’s not just going to let you waltz on to glory. Well, just head on up there. I’ll leave you alone. Oh no. We have a very real adversary. He warned about that in 1 Peter chapter 5.

John warns about it in the book of Revelation. We have a very ferocious foe who is bent on our destruction, and he’s going to throw obstacles and difficulties in your path. So often, when that happens, we’re, oh, what’s going on here? You know, God’s not being fair to me, and God doesn’t care about me. The Lord’s people don’t care about me. And we start having a big pity party for ourselves as if something strange has happened to us. Peter talks about that 1 Peter 4 in his first epistle about think it’s strange when you have to suffer. It is with difficulty that the righteous are saved. 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 18. Satan can beguile you through a respected source, a false messenger. Or he can simply seduce you back to the corruption in which you were once engaged and by which you were once enthralled.

Okay, so here are the ingredients of spiritual growth. Here is the opposition to spiritual growth. And we come to the final chapter.

3. The Motivation: The Day of the Lord Will Come

As he talks about the culmination of everything. The fact that the Lord is not returned is not what the scoffers are saying. That God has forgotten his promise to return. Where’s the promise of his coming? A day with the Lord is a thousand years. A thousand years is one day, but the day of the Lord will come. This is all headed somewhere. This is going somewhere. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and the elements, all of this world will be destroyed. It’s hard for us to wrap our minds around that because all of these things must be perceived by faith. This world is all we’ve ever known. It seems permanent, it seems durable. People aren’t. They come and go.

But this world continues. But it’s not going to continue indefinitely. God has reserved it all for fire. He’s going to destroy it all. And he says, the day of the Lord will come. Just as sure as I saw Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, He has made this promise. It will come about. And the fact that He has made this promise says, you better straighten up while there’s time. He’s not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. What manner of persons ought you to be in all of your conversation or godliness. And then he says, hastening the coming of the day of God, we look for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. I love this verse.

It’s become a favorite of mine in 2 Peter. I think about it a lot. All that is wrong with our world. All of the disgusting and despicable immorality that’s thrown in our faces on a continual basis. The lack of respect for God given life, the millions of abortions that have been committed and will be committed. The homosexuality that is thrown in our faces. We will be done with this world. And we have a hope of a new sphere of life. A new heavens, a new earth, whatever that is in the presence of God. Where there will be only what is right. Nothing unclean ever will come before the presence of our God to reside.

But we will be there. Motivatation.

I thought about folks are motivated by something. Everybody’s motivated by something. What motivates? What motivates you? And I would suggest that Christians struggle because they start being motivated by the wrong things more greatly than they are God’s promises. Are you motivated to lose weight? Well, I need to be more motivated in that regard. People get motivated to lose weight, to keep a spelt figure, and an age-defying wrinkleless face.

Not us, of course, but some people do. That’s also temporary. Some are motivated by money. We need more green so we can live the dream. Some are motivated by a lot of things, material, pleasure, fun. But the Lord’s people are motivated by eternal things, ultimate things. And as I said to you a moment ago, those things are motivated when we emphasize the eye of faith. You know, I have never seen Paul with my eyes. Or Peter. Or John or Jesus. But I hold tenaciously to the fact that they lived. That they were real. That Jesus is the Son Most High who sits at the right hand of the Father. And I trust that this book is my recipe for getting there. And you have to look at these things with the eye of faith.

We’ve never laid our eyes on heaven. I think one of the most important verses in the New Testament is 2 Corinthians 4 verse 18 that says, we do not look to the things which are seen. The things that are seen are before our eyes every single day, and they do monopolize us to some extent. But we’ve got to look past that. We do not look at the things which are seen, but to the things which are unseen. Because the things that are seen, they’re so short lived and temporary. They’re temporal. But the things that are unseen are eternal. That’s our motivation. And that’s what Peter is saying in 2 Peter chapter 3. Though we’ve never seen it, never experienced it, we are trusting in God that we’re going to receive it.

Conclusion

And so, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here are the ingredients. Here’s the opposition. And here’s the motivation. That’s all I just want to conclude with a question. Is your life headed in growing in a heavenward direction? And are you sure? You need to be sure. You need to make sure that you’re motivated by the right things and that you’re pursuing the right path and the right course that leads to glory because everything else is less and inferior and vain. Can we help you choose the ultimate today? Do you need to get started on this path? The path of growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, there’s nothing in any of us that is worthy of the offer to come and be cleansed in the blood of Christ.

But you can do that today. There’s not anyone of accountable age who realizes that there’s sin on their account, that we can embrace that in this very hour. Be baptized into Christ, our sins being washed away, rising to walk, a new creature. Having turned from a path of vanity and futility unto a path of holiness and promise. And if we can assist you in doing that, come now. We stand and sing together.