2 Peter 1:5-7: Making Every Effort

Sorry, no recording is available.

Thanks to Tim Stanton for preaching this morning; he was back home during his Christmas break from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he is currently earning a Master of Divinity.

Outline

• Because We Have Everything We Need
• For the Sake of Our Witness
• So that We Will Not Stumble
• For Eternal Reward

Introduction

A Childhood Friend and This Book

I was visiting my childhood best friend the week before Christmas. He is now married and lives with his wife in a little house on the hills of Dunedin. One of my favourite things about going to visit his family is that above the fire place in their house they have these words of Peter hanging. Taken from the end of Peter’s second epistle. “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). These few words have often served as a sweet reminder to me that I must continue to grow as a Christian.

And this is really the heartbeat of Peter’s message in his second epistle and arguably the heartbeat of his whole life and ministry. His concern as we have just read in chapter 1 verse 8 is that Christians might not be “ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.” And that is why he is writing this epistle to the churches as he says in verse 12 and 13, “Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, 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.”

James and Amy posted this message of Peter up on their wall as they got married so that they would serve as reminder year by year that their marriage was about growing in Christ. And it my desire this morning to bring this same message to you from Second Peter that we might be reminded of our need to grow as we enter a New Year. Peter knows as I am sure you know sitting here that it is exceptionally easy as the years wear on and fly by for us “to grow weary in doing good.” With that in mind I would like to exhort you verses 5-11 of chapter one this morning, where Peter explains that we must make every effort to grow in our knowledge of God. He gives us four reasons in this text for us to make every effort. We are to make every effort because we have “all things that pertain to life and godliness.” We are to make every effort for the sake of our witness. We are to make every effort so that we will not fall. And we are to make every effort in expectation of eternal reward. So that’s what we are doing this morning we start the journey with a consideration of our equipment. And we end the journey with a panorama overview of our destination, which is the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.