Is Your Faith Growing? | 2 Peter 1:5-11 | Pastor John Miller

you have a Bible this morning I'd like you to open it with me to the New Testament book of second Peter 2nd Peter chapter 1 and we're going to look at verses 5 to 11 the title of my message this morning is quite simple is your faith growing last Sunday the question was asked is your faith real this Sunday the question is asked is your faith growing 1st Peter chapter 1 and we're gonna look at verses 5 down to verse 11 let's read or I'll read you follow with me Peter says in verse 5 beside this giving all diligence add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge verse 6 temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love and if these things be in you verse 8 and abound they will make you that you should neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ but he that lacks these things verse 9 he is blind and cannot see far off yea forgotten that he was purged from his old sins wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and your election sure for if you do these things you will never fall for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ the Christian life is a life of faith the Bible says it like this the just shall live by what by faith the Christian life begins with faith the Christian life continues in faith and by faith one day we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and the Bible says we will forever be with the Lord last Sunday we saw in verses 1 to 4 of chapter 1 that we have a like precious faith verse 1 we have a faith that's centered in the person and work of Jesus Christ verses and to our God and Savior Jesus Christ and then thirdly in verse 3 we saw that we have a faith that relies on divine power that he's given to us his Dunamis his dynamic power and then we see fourthly in verse 4 that we have a faith that rest on the promises of God Peter says that our faith is given to us with the exceeding great and precious promises and then fifthly and lastly we have a faith that makes us partakers of the divine nature and through that verse 5 we have escaped verse 4 we've escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust so we all have faith as believers or we wouldn't be saved but now we want to have a faith that is growing so verses 1 to 4 is a real faith verses 5 to 11 is a growing faith Peter wants us not only to have a genuine authentic faith he wants us to have a growing faith and I believe that real faith should lead to growing faith that a growing faith that demands diligence and effort on our part now to summarize this entire text Philippians chapter 2 Paul said these words he said work out your salvation with fear and trembling now that verse has caused a lot of people concern what does he mean by that I thought we're saved by grace through faith by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone Plus nothing and that's true well what does he mean when he says work out your own salvation a little observation there notice it's not work for your salvation it's work out your salvation you can't work out what hasn't been worked in amen until you've received salvation you cannot live out salvation so let Paul is saying and what Peter's saying in this passage is that once you have been saved live it out that word work out your salvation was used for a mathematical equation that was brought to its conclusion now when I was in school path was my most dreaded subject as a matter of fact everything was my most dreaded subject I still have nightmares that I'm back in high school horrible horrible nightmares and anyway I had an I had a math teacher that used to love math and he would do this equation on the board and chalk would be flying and his face would start to glow as he's working on this problem and I thought he's a sad sick man and he come to this conclusion and I thought I could never do that but that's the idea that you start with the problem and you work it out to its completion the same phrase is used now to work out your salvation so what God has worked in we have an obligation to be eager now to live out in our daily life which is the idea of a growing fruitful and vital faith I think a growing faith will demand as I said diligence and effort on our part we need to work out what God has worked in and then Paul went on to say for it's God that works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure so when our passage this morning Peter tells us how we are to have a growing faith and how are we to have a growing faith well he gives us a recipe for faith in verses 5 to 7 that's my first point now this is a real note-taking sermon and I say that because it really is we're going to have 5 7 things that we need to put into our faith if it's going to grow I'm calling them recipes for a growing faith that's my first point a recipe for a growing faith and there's going to be 7 but I want you to notice in verse 5 and besides this besides what beside verses 1 to 4 a like precious faith a faith in the person of Jesus Christ a faith that makes us partakers of the divine nature of faith that is based on the promises of God besides all this real genuine authentic faith notice in verse five giving all diligence what does he mean by giving all diligence it means to bring every effort to a task it implies haste and earnestness and a determination not just hearing those words makes me a little tired to be honest with you determination earnestness haste it's like the guy that said every time I hear the word exercise I sit down till the thought goes away I mean I just want to sit down and rest for a minute you know but the idea is that we have to put effort in we're not saved by works but a genuine salvation will produce as its fruit works faith alone saves but the faith that saves is not alone it produces works but we have to put some elbow grease into it we have to put some work in some investment we're all about investing for our retirement and we put money away and a lot of times it pays off in very little dividends sometimes we even lose money but how about investing in your spiritual life how about investing some energy and some effort it will pay off not only in this world but in all of eternity so he says besides this faith this is the foundation bring every effort to a task bring along a speedy earnestness and then he makes this statement the exhortation verse 5 add to your faith so beside this giving all diligence add to your faith now the word add there was used of an individual who under wrote the expenses of the courses in the Greek plays so the word came to mean a generous and costly cooperation if you were going to pay for our sponsor a symphony orchestra you would have to give some money and some effort into making it happen in the Greek culture they have these dramas and these plays and they have music and actors well someone had to pay for so a citizen who was wealthy would take their money and they would underwrite or support the Greek theater so the phrase became to known as to put effort into it's very costly to make a commitment I wonder how many of you today are making a costly commitment to diligently add to your faith in order that it might grow or you just contend I've got fire insurance I'm not gonna go to hell when I die I just kind of endure a sermon once a week on Sunday morning and then leave me alone I want to live however I want and you're not daily seeking the Lord and investing in your growth and walking with the Lord I believe that our faith must be a growing faith now this is how I would paraphrase verse 5 and that would be now that you have a real faith make every effort to lavishly add to your faith but here's the question what do I add to my faith what is the supply or what do I need to add to my faith so here's the recipe of 7 ingredients you want to write them down they're taken from the text the first one is virtue so ingredient number 1 in a growing faith is add verse 5 to your faith virtue now the word virtue means moral excellence and some translations render it that way it means the courage to do what is right the courage and commitment to live a holy life and then unholy and hostile world let me tell you something Christian whether you're young middle-aged or old married or single the time to be committed to purity is before the temptations come if I'm speaking to young people today and you're not married and you're dating and you're being tempted sexually to get involved with other people you make a commitment before you go on the day you make a commitment before you go anywhere with another gal or girl I'm going to be committed to God and so everyone go this way God's Way is the I'm gonna go the opposite way so it's a moral courage to take a stand for what is right even when everyone else is opposing you there's a kind of moral courage that Daniel and the three Hebrews had when they were taken away captive to Babylon and they were asked to eat this food that was considered by them against their Jewish law so they asked the messenger of the king they said can we just eat some vegetables and abstain from these foods because we have to obey God and they gave them that permission and Daniel and his three friends flourished and prospered because they purposed in their heart the Bible says like this that they would not be defiled with the King's means purpose in your heart that you won't be defiled with the philosophies of the world or the ideas of the world or the pattern of the world or the the things of this world but you have to do that before the temptation comes when the temptation comes it's too late to think you know what should I do here I don't know let me think about it no you've already decided you've already committed so what you do is you add to your faith moral courage though none go with me still I will follow even though my husband or my wife or my kids or my family or my parents or my friends even though they all may oppose me I'm gonna take a stand for what is right and I'm gonna follow Jesus Christ that's virtue or moral excellence you need to add that to your faith here's the second ingredient verse 5 and that is knowledge and says add to virtue knowledge now you see it starts with faith and then on top of faith you add virtue and on top of virtue you add knowledge now the word knowledge is the Greek word gain OSIS and it's a practical knowledge would be we learn by observation and experience and we also learn by reading God's Word number one it's a personal relationship with God it's a personal relationship with God so you experience God in your life and that gives you that knowledge I know God Christians actually know God not know about God you actually know God now I know that freaks people out yeah I know God yeah I'd spent some time talking to God this morning it's like really yeah he and I are just great friends he actually calls me his friend and we walked together and talked together and hang out together and he ride shotgun with me in the car and you know I mean he just I hang out with God I know God you have an experience we've got this brings you a wisdom to life and then also it's known by a fear or a reverence for God the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of what wisdom far more important than having a knowledge of the world as having a knowledge of God experientially and having a reverential fear for God and then last but not least it's by understanding God's Word God's will is made in God's Word and you know you get to know God better in the Bible the bibl II yes that's the book for me I stand alone on the Word of God the bibl II we're gonna have to get gave in the worship team to lead us in that song that's not just for the kids that's for us right and our marriage our occupation and all our relationships what we do with our time and our talent our treasure we learn about God in His Word so this knowledge that we're adding to our virtue on top of our faith is a knowledge of God found in his word the wisdom and discernment we need for life is found in the Bible God's Word and I believe with all my heart you cannot grow apart from the Bible if you're a Christian and you're not growing in the Grace and the knowledge of God found in his word you're not growing you don't grow by coming to church you grow by feeding every day on God's Word one of the reasons I preach the word is because I believe it's the only way for God's people to grow but it's more than just hearing a sermon and reading the word on Sunday it's a daily feeding on the Word of God how do we grow by feeding on God's Word so we add to our virtue we have knowledge and then the third ingredient in a growing faith is temperance in my King James translation verse 6 and to knowledge temperance now temperance is sometimes rendered rightfully self-control or self-restraint but it doesn't convey by that idea does not convey that we look to our own strength when it says self-control it doesn't mean I'm controlling myself but rather we're depending on God's Spirit to take control of our mind of our emotions of our bodies and of our wills is to be demonstrated in every aspect of our lives charles ii and all said it means saying no to the second helping or to the second glance that's the gamut that it covers when i'm driving by a donut store just saying the word donuts i have to start some every buek you devil i bind you Satan I command you to leave me in the name of Jesus I'm doing pretty good the Lord's given me victory over Donuts but every once in a while I yield to the flesh I need a doughnut but but it's saying no to Donuts saying no to the second look a lustful look some guys say I don't take a second look I just take one long first look is that okay no Jesus said if you commit adultery in your heart you've already committed adultery if you lustfully long for someone you've already committed adultery in your heart so self-control comes Ephesians 5:18 by the filling of the Holy Spirit you want to gain self-control then yield your mind your emotion and your will and your body to the Holy Spirit amen be not drunk with wine wherein is debauchery but be being filled by the Holy Spirit let the Holy Spirit fill you or take control of you temperance self-control and then the third virtue that we need to add or character in the ingredient of a growing faith is patience verse six and to temperance add patience now temperance has to do with pleasures of life while patience relates to the pressures and the problems of life some render this perseverance or stead fast endurance it's looking to God to keep going in hard times how do you keep putting one foot in front of the other you have patience you have endurance our English translation of that Greek word patience isn't the best it would be much better if it were translated steadfast endurance steadfast endure so you have to add that to your faith and one of the problems is is that we worry about tomorrow when tomorrow hasn't come yet how many of you worry about tomorrow and tomorrow is not here let me give you a little tip tomorrow is not here yet so wait till it gets here before you worry okay and then take it one day at a time and the Bible has promised you as your day is so shall your strength be you got that today Sunday it's the Lord's Day so just enjoy the day don't be all all bummed out about Monday I forgot I'm sorry had to mention that back to work you go no no I gotta go back to work tomorrow arms oh my god it taught my boss wants to see me I don't know he's gonna say and you're freaking out and wait till you get there do you ever notice that sometimes we worry about something that's coming up and when it comes up it actually evaporates it never even happens you go I lost my whole week worrying and it never happened at least it could have still been a problem I invested all that worry all that concern all of that you know stress and here it just it just evaporated and we need to remember that as your day is so so your strengths be God told the children of Isreal an affordance old us to praise that give us today our daily bread we want to find lord give me this year my mom thought yearly supply lord I just pray that you'll back up the truck and it will fill the fill in the barns I want ten year supply give me my ten year supply bread and then in the end of ten years I'll come back and ask for some more now God wants you every day to depend upon him to keep you going some of you want to give up on your marriage right now as your day is so show your strength be so if you want to give up on your Christian life right now as your day is so show your strength be some of you are being overwhelmed with temptation right now the Lord will give you strength if you'll trust him and you'll look to him and you'll depend upon him God will give you strength it's called self-control or temperance God will strengthen you and then patience and to temperance patience perseverance steadfast endurance looking to God to keep going number five is in verse 6 God Lee Ness godliness and to patience ad godliness that's the next ingredient what is godliness it is true piety well what we mean by true piety we means a devotion to God now I love this listen carefully a godly person is a person that lives their life in a practical awareness of God in every aspect of their life it brings the sanctifying presence of God and to every area of life what do I mean by that I mean when you're at work you're thinking about God you're talking to God you're glorifying God when you're at home cleaning around the house you're talking to God thinking about God glorified when you're working in the yard you're talking about God you're thinking oh my god when you're having lunch or dinner or breakfast with your friends and what are you talking talking about God you're focused on God God is a part of every aspect of your life that's what true piety or godliness the phrase godly literally means God like so you're a person that is like God because you're a person that every area of your life even what we call the insignificant or the mundane it's focusing on God you know one of the most godly persons in the New Testament apart from Jesus Christ is Joseph in the Old Testament Joseph prefigures Christ in so many ways he's one of the few characters in the Bible for which there's nothing bad said about and no record of him doing anything wrong unless it was telling his brothers and his dad and mom about his dreams but let me tell you something about Joseph when I studied his life I made this observation every time Joseph speaks on the pages of Scripture guess what there's a reference to God every time Joseph opens his mouth read the life of Joseph and every time he talks in the Bible there's a reference to God God this and God that God this and God that and that's why from the pit to the prison Joseph focused on God and God blessed his life he was a godly individual when mrs. Hatta far tried to seduce him into sexual sin what did Joseph say he said how can I do this great wickedness and sin against to God you know what gave Joseph the ability to say no to that sexual temptation godliness moral virtue or courage he had already purposed in his heart that he wouldn't sin against God when his brothers were kneeling before him and he had the power to take revenge on them Joseph said I forgive you and he said these words is just for you minute for evil but God intended it for good do you bring God into everything of your life is God a part of everything you do and think and see is God brought into your life that's what it means to be truly godly now there's a sixth element to growing faith and that is brotherly kindness notice that in verse seven and to godliness brotherly kindness so we add to our knowledge we add to our faith virtue we add to our virtue knowledge we add to our knowledge temperance we add to our temperance patience we add to our patience godliness and verse seven to godliness brotherly kindness now this is the Greek word Philadelphia and the word Philadelphia means brotherly love it's treating others as your brothers and sister godliness does not exist in a vacuum in Romans 12 verse 10 it says be kindly affectioned one to another and brotherly love if you love God you should love his family and you should love your brothers and sisters in Christ and forgive them you know the Christian life can be lived in a void or a vacuum you ever read all but one anothers in the Bible says that we're to love one another forgive one another pray for one another that we're to wash one another's feet were to bear one another's burdens you know if you're not a part of a church there's no one anothers there's just you have you ever thought that if you could live on an island all by yourself there weren't other people that you'd be happy I have no one to honk at you one of my major pet peeves is honk I want to remove horns from cars it's like why are you honking I see you I want to put it in park and get out and ask them if something's wrong with their horn I don't do that because I'm afraid they'd go Pastor Miller but this week I got honked out about three times maybe they saw me wanting to say hi I don't know but it's like you you almost caused me a heart attack whoever that was it's like how are you honking at me and as it's learning to be patient and treat one another in the body of Christ as as brothers be kind be affectioned one to another with brotherly love we are brothers and sisters in Christ and we should forgive each other we should love each other with a brotherly love but last but not least here's the seventh ingredient number seven is in verse seven love mr. Greek word agape or agape and to brotherly kindness or to Philadelphia ad agape it would be like this and to Philadelphia add a go pay or add agape love agape is God's love shed abroad in our hearts for others if the Bible says God so agape the world that He gave His only begotten Son so we as Christians are to love the world so Philadelphia is love for the brothers and sisters in the family of God agape is God's love for the unlovely when did God love us when we were enemies when we were at war with him when we were unlovely so we are to love even our enemies our love is to extend beyond the bounds of Christian Fellowship to even our enemies and those who persecute us were to demonstrate agape love and the Bible says in Romans 13:8 we get at this Wednesday night oh no man anything but to love one another for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law you know all you need to do is love God with all your heart your soul your strength in your mind and then love your neighbor as yourself and everything will be fine with you if you love God with all your heart all your soul and all your strength in all your mind and then you love your neighbor as you love yourself you're not gonna commit adultery you're not gonna steal you're not gonna lie you're not gonna murder you're not gonna covet because you're loving your neighbor as you love yourself so love is the fulfilling of the law and love by the way is the birth mark of a true Christian so it starts with genuine faith and it ends with love and isn't that what Paul said in first Corinthians 13 the greatest of these is a love is agape love and Jesus said by this shall all men know that you're my disciples not only that you have love one for another but that you love even the unlovely now you say well John that's that's quite a list seven ingredients for a growing faith and I got a lot of work to do I want you to take this recipe home with you today in your Bible I want you to highlight or write down these words and then make some notes by them and ask yourself what do I need to pray about what do I need to get on working what do I need to roll up my sleeves and bring a speedy earnestness - a diligent effort - what do I need to work on in my life is it moral courage you've been falling prey to temptation right now you're yielding to sin and you know you should be courageous and strong and say no is it a knowledge you're neglecting your Bible you're not reading your word you're not studying the Word of God you're not growing because you're not hiding God's Word in your heart what did the psalmist say thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not what sinned against him where can a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to God's Word it's a lamp to my feet and a light to my path maybe it's patient endurance maybe you're throwing in the towel maybe you've given up maybe you're just about to leave your marriage or leave your children so common even in Christian marriages I've seen husbands and wives walk away from their marriage I don't want to try anymore I give up and they turn their back and they don't persevere they don't endure they don't trust God and look to God how about loving your brother and here in this fellowship do you really love others do you serve others you forgive others do you bear others burdens what about others that outside the church enter your enemies do you love those who persecute you and pray for those which despitefully use you so I'm so glad in verse three Peter reminds us that we have God's power and in verse 4 he told us we have God's promises so we have God's power verse 3 and we have God's promises verse 4 to be able to activate the seven virtues in our lives now let me give you my second main point from this text it's in verses 8 and 9 and that as we see the recipe for a growing faith but secondly I want to point out the reasons for a growing faith there are three of them in this text look at verses 8 and 9 he says therefore if these things be in you and if they abound they make you that you should neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of God or of of our Lord Jesus Christ but if you lack these things verse 9 you cannot see far off and you forgotten that you were purged from your old sins so here's three reasons why we should grow our faith first of all we won't be barren or unfruitful verse eight we will not be barren or unfruitful now Peter is using what's what's called a figure of speech in which you say the negative in order to communicate the positive when he says there in verse Net at verse a that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful you know what he's wanting to say he's saying if you have a growing faith you will not be barren you will not be unfruitful in other words you will bear fruit your life will flourish this is the ingredient for a fruitful and victorious Christian life he's telling us that if we do this our life will bear fruit Psalm 1 says blessed is the man or the woman that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly moral courage doesn't stand in the way of sinners doesn't sit in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord he adds to that courage knowledge and when he does that he'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water and everything he does shall prosper and his leaf will never wither you want to be a fruitful Christian you want to bear fruit for the glory of God then you need to add these virtues to your faith James tells us space where that works is dead we're not saved by works but we're saved unto good works faith alone saves but the faith that saves is not alone but let me give you the second reason why you should have a growing faith it's in verse 9 first part of verse 9 and that is you won't be blind or short-sighted notice it in verse 9 for he that lacks these things what things the things we read about in verses 5 to 7 he that lacks these things first of all is Bly and secondly cannot see far off stop right there you know that he's talking about blind believers and short sighted Saints this blew my mind when I discovered that Peters talking to Christians and you know what he says about some Christians he said they're blind and they're short-sighted I guess if you're blind you're pretty short-sighted right but the idea is that you don't see spiritual things you don't see the Lord's coming you don't see the eternal you're short-sighted all you see is the mundane and the temporal and the material there are too many blind believers you go well how can a believer be blind easy they forget God they forget his word they forget that they're sinful and proud and selfish and egotistical they don't see their own sin they're blind to their own faults and their own shortcomings and their own weaknesses they become critical and fault-finding they're judging others with a critical sin source fault finding attitude they're blind and there are a lot of Christians they're like blind people they don't see their own faults and their own sins and they're short-sighted Saints they don't believe the Lord's coming and one day we're going to go to heaven that we need to live for the eternal they're blind to their sin and they can't see heaven now some feel that this is an allusion to chapter 2 the first second Peter when he talks about the false teachers you know what the false teachers were saying they're saying the Lord delays his coming so he's not coming back the false teachers were saying we don't need to look for the Lord's return we don't need to live and like the Lord's return Jesus not is not coming again that's a popular movement in the church today enough of this rapture stuff enough of this coming again of Jesus Christ stuff the world's just going to go on and on and on and on as it always has been so get to living life not so the Bible says we're looking for that glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ so let me tell you something that you need to have for a growing growing vibrant fruitful faith and that's an eye focused on the coming again of Jesus Christ amen and that's an I set on the eternal if you want to bring God into your life and everything then you need to think in eternal sense what am i doing with my time my treasures and my talents am i investing then and the things of eternity so number one will be fruitful and growing number two we won't be blind or short-sighted and number three we won't forget God's forgiveness now they love this at the end of verse nine he says not only are they blind believers and short-sighted Saints but they forgotten something verse nine they forgotten that they were purged from their old sins we used to sing an old hymn I'm always popping with the old hymns but we used to sing a told him Jesus keep me near the cross there's a precious fountain free to all the healing stream flows from Calvary's Mountain in the cross in the cross be my glory ever till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river let me tell you what Peter is saying here these people are so blind and they're so short-sighted that they forgot the sinful pit that God had saved them from they've drifted away from the cross they came to the cross to be forgiven but they haven't stayed at the cross to learn to be forgiving and they haven't lived in the shadow of the cross I love the idea that the Christian life is to be constantly lived in the shadow of the Cross what does that mean it means what Paul said when he said I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not i but Christ lives in me and the life which I live I live by the faith of the son of who loved me and gave His life for me I I never want to get away from the cross of Jesus Christ I want to live in the shadow of the cross I want to remember my sins placed him there I want to remember that his precious blood is what's cleanse me and forgiving me and then it was my sins that placed him on the cross so why would I willingly deliberately go back to a sinful lifestyle when it was my sins that crucified Jesus on the cross the next time you're contemplating a sinful thought are a sinful act stop and remember that it was your sin our sin it was sin that placed Jesus Christ the pure holy sinless son of God on the cross and these people are so blind and so short-sighted that they forgot the pit that they were taken out I think it's good sometimes I remember the darkness that we used to live in before we found crying's the loneliness and the emptiness and the frustration and the pain and the grief and the weight of guilt that we bear it they remember when Jesus came to us when he forgave us and he washed his in his precious blood and he took our burdens and he lifted us he took me from a pit of miry clay he set my feet upon a rock this almost says and he's put a new song in my heart that even praise to my god so stay near to the cross of Jesus Christ don't become blind and short-sighted don't forget that you've been purged from your old sinful life but thirdly and lastly I want you to notice in closing the results of a growing faith recipe the reasons and the results for a growing faith verse 9 or 10 and 11 wherefore here's the wrap-up here's a conclusion the rather brother give diligence same phrase he used in verse 5 giving all diligence to make your calling and election sure why for if you do these things you're never going to fall and then verse 11 so in exchange an entrance shall be minute and you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ now there are three results of a growing faith and they're awesome the first is assurance verse 10 the second is stability verse 10 and the third verse 11 a triumphant jubilation and an entrance into heaven God wants you to have assurance notice he says make your calling and election sure what is he talking about make sure you're saved nothing more important than for you this morning to make sure you're saved make sure that you're a child of God do you know beyond any shadow of a doubt right now that you are a child of God you know your sins are forgiven do you know that you've been born again do you know that when you die you're going to go to heaven that you belong to Jesus if so that's assurance blessed assurance that songs are coming to me again Jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine air salvation purchase of God washed born of his spirit washed in his blood blessed assurance you see when you have a growing faith here's the context when you have a growing faith guess what it brings to you assurance when your faith is growing it brings to you uninsurance I am his child and then it brings to you stability verse 10 for if you do these things you will never fall that that doesn't mean you're never going to sin but it means that you'll never completely be wiped out you'll never fully backslide you might fall for a time you might falter and stumble did you notice that the prodigal son underlined the word son that he finally came to his senses and returned back to the father right he left the pigs behind and he came back to the Father I believe God's children always come home and when they do God reaches out his arms and he receives them violent if you have a prodigal son or daughter don't stop praying because God is searching and striving with them they will come back you just keep praying you keep believing God and God answers prayer but one thing it does you can clap after that if you want I'm a living example of that I was a prodigal there was a time my mom and dad prayed and cried and agonized over their son and what God has done is more than they could ever imagine my mom is in heaven but she lived to see me preach the word and she sat under my preaching for many years I have her Bible full of notes full of all or notes that are from my sermon so she spent hours praying for her prodigal son that God saved and called to the ministry and then taught her the Word of God God answers prayer God answers but I believe that a growing faith brings assurance brings stability and then brings a triumphant entrance into heaven amazing verse 11 says for so and entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ it's not a question of if you go to heaven the question in this verse is how you go to heaven you go well John I don't understand what you mean I believe that if you're a born again child of God you are going to heaven amen you're going to heaven but here's the question will you go triumphantly will you go victoriously will you go enthusiastically it's a little radical but I used it first service no one complain too much but you've ever noticed that a lot of times Christians who are going to heaven while they're on earth they look like hell what's with that it's like they look like they've been baptized in lemon juice did you forget you're going even though I don't know for sure because I'm a I don't know I don't read my Bible I'm not that good of a Christian and I just I just have these horrible thoughts and I'm just such a bad person and you know and they lack of surance they're going to heaven but they look miserable I love what deal moody said he said a little faith will take your soul to heaven you know why cuz a little faith in a big God that's all that matters it's the object of your faith but he said a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul a little faith will take you to heaven but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul and that's the problem a lot of Christians are growing their faith they're not building their faith they're not walking in faith they're not resting on God's promises they don't read they don't pray they don't live their Christian life they're just stagnant they're not putting all into it they're not bringing alongside an earnestness a diligence you've got to pray you've got to read you've got to be in fellowship you've got to say no to temptation God saves you by His grace but you need to work out your salvation with fear and trembling even though it's God that works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure there's a joint participation there I don't fully understand but God's not going to save you apart from your will surrendering to him and God's not going to sanctify you apart from your working at it so it's not a question of going to heaven it's a question of how you're going to go to heaven you know the Bible says when we get to heaven we're all going to stand before the Bema be e-ma the Bema the reward seat of Christ and all of our service and all of our works are going to be tried by fire and there's two categories of works for every Christian some work and their work is wood and hay and stubble now when wood hay and stubble is put to the fire at the Bema what's going to happen to it it's going to be gone you still get to go to heaven but you have no rewards you have a saved soul but a wasted life but then there are other category is gold silver and precious stone those are people that had a growing faith and they serve the Lord and they weren't blind and they could see eternal values and they were living for Jesus Christ and they loved others and they forgave others and they were godlike in the way they lived and when they get to have in gold silver precious stone and when they get to heaven they're going to hear these words well done thou good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of the Lord I propose to you in closing this morning those are the only words that matter it doesn't matter how big your house is how much money you make how wonderful your family is it doesn't really matter about your hobbies or your health or your bank account all that matters is one day when you look at the face of Jesus Christ that you hear him say to you well done good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of the Lord you're gonna go to heaven but how are you gonna get there is it going to be triumphant is it going to be victorious you know the Bible indicates that some people are going to be ashamed when they see the Lord they'll be saved but by the skin of their teeth I don't want to just go to heaven I want to go to heaven triumphantly how about you I want to go to heaven victoriously Amen let's pray

Channel: Revival Christian Fellowship

Views: 4,936

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Id: vYKVCw8oyQA

Length: 50min 49sec (3049 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 28 2016