The Valley Church of Christ

Series: 2nd Peter (Not Carried Away)

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Notice Isaiah 59:9-15. These are not the days of energetic revival, faithfulness, and hope. Society is full of unrighteousness and injustice. It’s dark. No one is honest, no one knows peace, they have left the Lord. And it’s not just out there — they see the sin in themselves. But if they try leave behind evil and speak truth, they put a target on their own backs. This prayer longs for God’s light, justice, and salvation to change their situation.

It’s not hard to relate to this lament as we witness increasing chaos and godlessness in our cities today. Simply trying to turn from sin to righteousness and simply questioning popular lies can bring public shame. From the church to the world, anxiety, depression, and hopelessness are on the rise. We are all likely troubled by something — whether in the world, our city, schools, churches, families, or ourselves.

The Scriptures agree that we do indeed live in an age of darkness, (smile) but they also teach that this is the dark before the unstoppable dawn. Judgment is coming. Salvation is coming. And Peter insists that we must prepare because this promise that Jesus will powerfully come is no myth: he saw with his own eyes a preview of the glory Jesus’ will come with on the last day. And because of that, in today’s text, Peter wants us to know that this (1) confirms everything the prophets said, and (2) we should pay careful attention to the ancient prophets in our present darkness. Let’s read 1:19-21.

Here’s the point of what Peter just said: Jesus’ transfiguration provides confirmation of what the OT prophets saw about Jesus’ second coming; and those prophecies provide illumination  in the darkness from God’s inspiration, not man’s interpretation. So, when it comes to what the prophets said about Jesus’ second coming, we have confirmation, illumination, inspiration, not interpretation.

First, verse 19, Jesus’ transfiguration is confirmation of what the OT prophets saw about Jesus’ coming. We’ve been saying the promise of Jesus’ second coming is no myth, but let’s get real for a second about the mythical proportions of the promises made in the prophets:

• In that day all the sins of the faithful, even the things that grieve us with shame — they will be completely erased, not remembered or counted against us. We will be given right-standing  with God that we don’t deserve.
• And all the scary things the wicked do that threaten to keep us awake at night? Banished!And they who refuse the Lord will be repaid with the punishment they do deserve.
• Death? Everything in this age gets old and dies. But God promises that he’s making all things new. We with our bodies will be raised transformed. The world will be set free from corruption. We’ll live in the New Jerusalem - a bigger, better, and permanent expansion of the garden of Eden.
• And we will see our God face to face. Jesus’ kingdom will prevail everywhere over everything and everyone — filling the earth as the waters cover the sea. He will wipe away all our tears. We will always be with the Lord and with other Christ-followers we love. Everything and everyone we encounter will be transformed by God’s love and presence.

It sounds like a myth — too good to be true. But Peter says in vs. 19 that this prophetic word [is now] more fully confirmed. His point is this: “The prophets were already known to be reliable, confirmed sources of God’s revelation. We already knew Psalm 2 was true. We knew God had appointed his Son to usher in God’s reign and banish all wickedness. But now? After the transfiguration: we have seen it with our own eyes and heard it with our own ears.”

If you’re here wondering how real and tangible that final day will be — take heart. Peter’s not saying that one day he had this private moment in his heart that is better felt than told or  that he had this moment of intellectual clarity and in his mind it was like Jesus was spiritually splendid. “You ask me how I know he’ll come again? He came again in my heart!” No, Jesus transfigured was real, touchable, visible, audible. Peter, James, and John together experienced what it will be like when Psalm 2 and all the other prophets tangibly and materially come to pass. So, brothers and sisters, we can smile and trust God without fear. As surely as we can know we will all die if Jesus does not come first, Jesus has confirmed all God’s magical promises to reverse all that at his transfiguration and even at his resurrection.

Second, verse 19, we need to pay attention to the lamp-like illumination the OT prophets give in this darkness until the prophesied dawn. Though Jesus has come and brought some light into the world, this is still like the time in the night when you can tell the sun is coming, but it hasn’t dawned yet. There’s joy and hope and love, but we’re still also in a dark place. In this age, Solomon says that even in laughter the heart aches — because we know we’re not yet at the day when our smiles and laughter go on forever. Things are not fully clear or right in the world or even in our hearts.

But notice the end of verse 19. We may groan, but the day will dawn and Jesus the morning star will arise in our hearts. Every shadow will flee, all things will be made new, the presence of the Father and the Son will be our light. And not only will everything be illuminated out there, but that illumination will spread all the way into our hearts. No more fears, doubts, or dangers — everything made new, everything made clear.

But how can we last until that day? Peter says: pay attention to the prophets! They are a lamp shining in a dark place. What do we do when we can’t yet be with the people we love? We look at pictures of them or watch a video. It’s not the real thing, but it warms our hearts and we start counting the days till we see them next. The prophets are like that for us. They bring light in a host of ways. They put things in perspective. One way they do that is by providing snapshots and visions of what God’s kingdom will be like when Christ comes. Peter says in Acts 3 that when Jesus comes from heaven — all those things the prophets spoke about will finally be restored. So, let’s read the prophets like our lamp in this darkness!

There’s a lot our tradition does well, but in my personal experience, I just haven’t seen many in our tradition read the prophets like they are our lamp in this darkness, illuminating the way into the future. I have heard people read the prophets and Revelation like predictive time tables for ancient history. I have heard people belittle the prophets as too difficult to understand. I have heard people talk about how dispensational premillinialists get it all wrong. And I have heard people say we just need to focus on the New Testament.

But none of that is Peter’s perspective, is it? I think Peter would say, “Are we above falling into the same stuff that the prophets rebuked Israel and the nations for? Are we past being reminded of the wrath God will pour out on the final day? Do we seriously not want to dream with the prophets about wonderful peace Jesus will bring on the last day?”

Brothers and sisters, the days can are really dark, but Peter has good news: the prophets bring serious illumination in this darkness. They forcefully urge us to remain loyal to Yahweh, they tell of a day when God will punish those who continue in rebellion, and they provide dream-like visions of the restoration God will bring in his kingdom. And again, Peter says this he saw and heard this all confirmed on that mountain. So hold the prophetic word high like a lamp, and imagine the wonder our eyes and our ears will soon behold.

Third, verses 20-21, this comes from no man’s interpretation; those prophecies come from God’s inspiration. In case someone’s thinking that reading the prophets like this is just some man’s imaginative interpretation, Peter insists that’s not at all the case. He’s giving the true apostolic interpretation from God. And actually, it’s the false teachers Peter will warn about who are applying their own interpretations. The prophets, Peter says, didn’t even arise at all from man’s will at all. In fact, God had to drag some of his spokesmen kicking and screaming (Moses, Jonah, Jeremiah). Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Many try to explain exactly how inspiration works — but we simply don’t have a specific explanation. Men spoke from God carried along by the Holy Spirit. Clearly when we read the prophets we can see the men were not lifeless vehicles, it appears we can even see their own unique poetic style and personalities. But at the same time, the words they spoke were very much from God. Men spoke… from God… carried along by the Holy Spirit.

And all in all, that means that though our understanding of God’s word may be limited at times, the word of God is without error. These are God’s words. People frequently say things like, “The Bible contains so many scribal additions and errors and it has been translated so many times — it’s not trustworthy.” I understand, it’s super popular today to discredit old things, and they’re just repeating what they heard on some video. But that’s a factually wrong and super irresponsible opinion to spread. The reality is we have a lot of manuscripts from the original languages, and scholars are very talented at identifying where scribes made mistakes. Our English Bibles are not translations of translations — they are translated from the original languages. And guess what? Jesus used an Old Testament translated into Greek too — the Septuagint. In fact, by our modern standards, our translations are better than the translation Jesus used! Yet Jesus and the apostles still trusted it. Its foolishness to completely discredit the prophets or all the historical evidence for Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection simply because I found a couple words in Samuel or Acts someone might have made a mistake with. Try finding some other guru, politician, critical theorist, or palm reader that has power, sheds light, and satisfies our deep-felt longings better than the Holy Scriptures.

In that vein, I love Isaiah 59:15-21. We wonder how God can stand by silently for so long. But Isaiah says Yahweh sees and he himself is displeased by the depravity. He’s been looking for a man set things right — maybe for the offspring of woman to trample the snakes — but he sees that there’s no man. So God dress himself for battle to repay his enemies and to rescue those who turn from lawbreaking. He sees a day when people fear the Lord from east to west. And though we know from Peter’s letter that people will try to discredit the prophets, God promises Isaiah here: no one’s going to forget the words I put in your mouth, they’ll be in the mouths of your offspring forever. And here we are today. We and our families — let’s be the offspring that make God’s promise to Isaiah true: always reading and rehearsing the prophets. One day they’ll come true: The promised king will come from heaven dressed for battle, ready to save we who are eagerly waiting for him, bringing the peace we are all longing for.

Series: 2nd Peter (Not Carried Away)

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Peter has said he will keep reminding these Christians that Jesus’ eternal kingdom is coming and so they need to diligently grow in Christian qualities. He explains why in 2 Peter 1:16-18.

In Avengers: Infinity War and End Game the powerful titan-god Thanos gathers powerful “infinity stones” so he can “bring order” by killing half the population in the universe. The heroic Avengers go back in time to reverse it all, but their plan falls apart. Thanos’ forces of darkness close in on the Avengers to extinguish the light forever. But just when all hope seems to be lost, suddenly, Captain Marvel bursts from the heavens to save the day. She obliterates the enemies. Iron Man snatches up the infinity stones and — at the cost of his own life — restores what Thanos destroyed.

Movies like these have been extraordinarily popular because they speak to our sense that our lives are part of something big. Don’t we know in our bones that evil threatens to destroy everything we love? That good is more beautiful and powerful than we can put into words? That what we do has cosmic significance beyond measure? Don’t we hope and feel that one day everything will be put right? Whether it’s the Avengers, Avatar, The Lord of the Rings, or the Chronicles of Narnia — there is this strong sense in all these stories that everything matters because everything is moving to a climactic end when Good will triumph over evil.

And we leave these movies and stories ready to take them into our real lives: don’t give up, keep doing the right thing and fighting evil, one day it will matter. The ironic thing is that even unbelievers enjoy these feelings… but then they have to remind themselves it’s not true. In the ancient world, Epicureans scoffed at stories about a final judgment and the afterlife: they were just myths made by men to scare people into obeying someone else’s moral standard, and it ruins people’s happiness (cf. Bauckham, WBC Themes, 81). Sound familiar?

But Peter brought the news that history had finally reached a climactic moment in Jesus’ day. The ancient dragon has corrupted us all, but the God we have all been waiting for became man — Jesus of Nazareth. He came to the world to reverse the curse, and then his own people killed him like a criminal. But God raised him up never to die again. Now Jesus rules the cosmos from heaven and the spiritual power that enabled him to conquer death is available to all who will be allegiant to him. Everything may seem beyond repair, but he will come back one day in kingly glory to rescue those who serve him, to punish those who do not bow the knee, and to make all things new in the eternal kingdom. What we do with our lives has cosmic meaning and eternal significance — and it all hinges on King Jesus.

It’s a story of mythical proportions. And how easy it is to hear this back then and today like any other cleverly devised myth created to inspire and scare people into virtuous living. And yet, unlike most story-tellers, Peter kept telling this one story over and over again till it got him killed. Why? Peter’s explanation here is basically this: I remind you because our testimony that Jesus will powerfully come (parousia) is no clever myth: we are eyewitnesses of the majesty he’ll come with, and we ourselves heard the Father declare that Jesus is the Psalm 2 Son whose kingdom is coming. Let’s walk through this.

Verse 16, he says when we made known to you the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, it was no clever myth. To talk about Jesus’ coming, Peter uses the word parousia. When referring to Jesus in the New Testament, parousia exclusively refers to Jesus’ second coming. Peter is saying that he won't hesitate to remind them to make every effort to grow in Christian qualities because the promise Jesus will powerful come in the clouds is no myth.

In verses 16-18 he cites what he saw and heard at the transfiguration is proof Jesus will come in power. Matthew 17 reports that “Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light… Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’ When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.” (Matt. 17:1–2, 5-6 ESV) This must have been spectacular to see, but what does Jesus’ being transfigured have to do with him coming again on the last day?

Peter alludes to Psalm 2 here when he uses the words “You are my Son” and “holy mountain.” In Psalm 2, David is puzzled: why do nations rebel against God and his appointed king? But God responds to their rebellion with a mixture of laughter and wrath, saying: “I have set my King on Zion, my holy mountain.” Then God declares his plan for this king: “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel,” (Ps. 2:7-9 ESV). In short, the earth is in rebellion, but God has appointed his Son to reign as king from God’s holy mountain — and he will rule until the ends of the earth are his possession, until every knee bows.

And as Peter thinks back to Jesus transfigured on that holy mountain — the visual majesty of Jesus, the Father’s voice declaring Jesus to be his Son, he himself falling on his face before Jesus — he sees Psalm 2 playing out in his mind’s eye: it’s a preview of the majesty Jesus will come with when he rules the new heavens and new earth from Mount Zion.

And Peter is emphatic that they saw and heard this with their own eyes and ears. “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty” and “we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”

One of the troubling trends over the past decade is how difficult it is to know what is actually true. Events are told to us from third, fourth, and fifth party perspectives. One news outlet reports, another broadcasts it with their spin, and every social media user suddenly becomes an expert disseminating their own half-baked reports. Both fake news and fake news labels are a problem. It is difficult to be certain we have the truth about the pandemic, vaccines, the election, incidents with the police, and so on. In many situations different understandings of what the facts are has lead to outrage. Other times, truth is so uncertain to us that we just agree to believe what we all want to believe and to make decisions based our chosen belief about the truth. But I think everyone agrees: if we could all know what was really true, it would likely change a lot for us. But in the age of information we lack Truth and wisdom… so we agree to disagree and hope to move on in peace.

And that’s fine when it comes to the events of the past four years… but not with the promise of Jesus’ coming. This is no clever myth to be accepted or not as we see fit. This is eyewitness news with Peter’s authoritative interpretation: what we saw and heard on that holy mountain was a preview of Jesus’ glory and a guarantee that he will come in majesty.

What would you do if you yourself had seen certain proof that a Jesus would soon bring a day of cosmic punishment and reward upon our world? What would you do if you knew people would treat your story like a fairy tale? Or like a strange religious opinion? All you can do is insist on what you yourself saw and heard until you die for it.

After the Enlightenment, many claimed Jesus was a nice teacher of morality, but that his God-like healing and resurrection powers were too good to be true, and certainly his promise to come again is just a myth. So, for many today the Scriptures appear to be the Church’s boring medieval convictions about the afterlife. And you may feel that way about the Scriptures today — it’s boring. But think about what Peter’s saying here — for some, the promise of Jesus’ coming is too big, exciting, beautiful, heartwarming, and good to be true. It must be a fairy tale. But what if it’s the other way around — what if it’s so good it must be true? If Peter’s testimony that Jesus will bring a heavenly death-ending, paradise-making kingdom here sounds utterly perfect, what if that’s because we were made for his coming? What if, as C.S. Lewis puts it, Jesus is the true myth? The Jesus story is truth with mythical proportions?

What if all the myths people tell are just small shadows of the True Myth about Jesus? (credit: C.S. Lewis) What if we’re all captivated by fantastical stories of heroic victory over evil because we all know deep in our hearts that history is destined to close out with greatness like that? What if myths like these capture our imagination because deep in our bones we know we are more significant than to die like animals? We know if a random asteroid or an unfortunately large sun flare killed us all but left the rest of the universe spinning around without any life left at all, that would be an end so meaningless that it simply will never be true. What if stories like these are powerful because we know deep inside that evil is too malicious to be ignored? That love, beauty, and truth is too good and weighty to be ruined beyond repair — it must win out in the end and go on forever. What if every sad ending breaks our heart because we know this isn’t what we were made for? And what if we keep probing space because it’s too unbelievable that the heavens are lifeless; maybe there’s something big out there that will fix everything for us. Our love for these stories points to a hole in our hearts that God will fill at Jesus’ coming.

The promise that Jesus will come again was so real to me when I was a child that I laid outside in the backyard and tried to peer around every cloud to see if I could be the first to spot him coming. Maybe it feels grown up to stop peering at those clouds in anticipation, but isn’t it the other way around?

The “Myth” about Jesus is true: Peter, James, and John have already seen the majesty he’ll come with. So we need to prepare with all diligence. In our daily labor we are not merely moving around bits of matter in a meaningless universe. A day is coming when hope will be made sight. There is cosmic significance to our daily decision to get up and delight in the Lord, trust him, do our work, make virtuous decisions, and grow in faith, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. It is all in preparation for a the kingdom that is filled with that sort of righteousness, joy, and love. And thank God, Jesus’ divine power has given us everything we need to prepare. The Lord’s coming will blow every single man-made myth out of the water, so let us prepare for his kingdom with all diligence.

Series: 2nd Peter (Not Carried Away)

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Last year I was talking through various challenges with a dear friend from college when he said something he said to me repeatedly last year: “Prayer helps.” We have known each other for over 15 years, we have read together, and cried together. We have enjoyed many deep conversations about the bible, theology, philosophy, and family life. He’s intelligent, thoughtful, and knows me well. And yet with all this, his reply to me is: “prayer helps”?

With some things, we need frequent reminders, always.

Both today and in Peter’s day, people in the churches are promoting cheap grace and sensual living and casting doubt on the Lord’s promise to come in judgment. But Peter urges that God’s gracious gifts are to help us lead godly lives, and that Jesus eternal kingdom is still coming, so we must diligently practice these qualities in preparation for that day.

But is there really anything new here? “Grow in these qualities.” Surely at some point in his first letter he talked about faith, godliness, and love. Do we really need Peter to tell us that again? In fact, why we are here yet again reading the same Scriptures, singing the same songs, praying the same prayers, eating the same body and blood, and listening to another sermon?

Peter explains himself in verses 12-15. It is important to remind them to grow in these qualities…

(a) Always, though they are already know them (vs. 12). They know Jesus and are firmly established in the truth. They know they need these qualities. Despite that, he intends to always remind about them. And he’s made that more permanent by writing it so that even we today can read… what we already know… again.

The bottom line is that we are forgetful. It is amazing to me after such wild years for our family and the world how much I feel I need to be reminded of basic things — like, “Suffering is a sign God loves us as his children and this is intended to help us grow,” or, “We need to be reading and meditating on the Scriptures day and night,” or “Prayer helps.” And, here in 2 Peter, with so many new-different-happy-and-difficult things that come our way and with our place in the kingdom at stake, the risk is simply too great — we must be reminded of our responsibility to practice these qualities, always, though we already know it.

(b) In order to stir them up (vs. 13). We might think that only new knowledge and experiences stir us out of complacency. We might think that being reminded of what we already know is pointless or that it only inflates our ego. But Peter says he intends to rouse them up by means of this reminder.

There is a time for correction in weak areas. But reminding the faithful to keep excelling in faith, the steadfast to continue being steadfast, and the loving to love all the more is not at all a waste — it actually prevents us from becoming discouraged or weak. Otherwise we may start subconsciously thinking, “Maybe this thing I have thought was so important actually isn’t.” But encouragement helps us excel even more in these qualities.

Now, Hebrews 5-6 does warn us to pursue maturity and to not be infants who want nothing more than the milk — the basic foundation — we already have. There is a strong danger of immaturity. But there’s also the danger of veering off the ancient path by forgetting the basic stuff we once knew. We truly can be stirred up by way of reminder. “The love and affection you have been showing will go a long way, keep excelling in that.” “It is hard to be steadfast in these times, but keep going like you have been.” “Fruit is evident in your life — keep it up!”

Reminders of what we already know stir us to excel in what we are already doing.

(c) So they can recall them after he departs (vs. 13-15). In some way the Lord had made it clear to Peter that he would soon put off this tent, this body. Maybe it was the conversation in John 21 when Jesus told Peter that when he was old he’d be carried where he did not want to go — alluding to Peter’s future crucifixion.  Or maybe it was some recent encounter with the Lord. Either way, Peter would soon depart. And that’s a big deal, because as an apostle, he’s a major part of the foundation of the church. So he reminds them so that any time in the future they may recall the importance of growing in these qualities.

On occasion in recent history, some will try to highlight Jesus in the gospels while discounting the words of the apostles in the letters. The ironic thing is that the apostles are the ones who wrote down Jesus’ words.

It is vital that we do not treat Peter or any of the apostles as if they and their words and their lives are dead and irrelevant. “There was so much they didn’t understand about science, the human body, ethics — they were just products of their generation.” No, Peter does not even use the word “death” to describe what will soon happen. He may be putting off his tent — his body — and he may not yet have his resurrection house — temple, body — but, Peter, and the apostle are reigning with Christ and continue to be the foundation of the Church. We must not depart from their witness. It is only through their witness that is we know the Father, Son, and Spirit at all. Everything we are is built on their witness.

And consider Peter. He’s nearing the end of his life after seeing the most significant thing that has ever happened since the foundation of the world — the cross and empty tomb — and after having heard the most important words ever spoken; yet,   after he dies many will say godliness is no big deal and that the promise of Jesus’ return is a clever myth. What do you do when you know people will cast doubt on the most important stuff in the world? You live it, preach it, write about it, remind and remind and remind again about it; then you die for it praying people will still listen.

And here we are nearly two thousand years later still living through exactly what Peter said was coming — and hopefully still listening and reading eagerly.

We live in a technological age of information. There is so much knowledge that appears to be new, urgent, and important coming at us. In addition to so much distracting noise, there are so many influencers who act like they have “rediscovered” a tolerant Jesus; they have finally escaped the harsh and  superstitious ways of the past. “God won’t punish people.” “The church is full of arrogant hypocrisy.” But it is deception. As John says: they don’t recognize God’s children because they don’t know the Son or the Father.

In these disorienting times with so much coming at us, let’s continue to slow down to receive reminders from God’s word — which we may already know — because Satan is working hard to make us forget what we know well — sometimes with just a lot of noise and flashing lights… and urgent news and new shows. It is not inevitable that we always remember and are welcomed into Jesus’ kingdom one day: Israel forgot the wonders God worked in Egypt and died in the wilderness. We are bent towards forgetfulness. God is merciful and he has made precious promises, but we must be reminded continually to lay hold of the resources he has given us to diligently pursue Christian fruit. It is by that path that we’ll be welcomed into his kingdom.

Peter may have put off this tent, but he’ll soon put on his resurrection house because his words are as true today as they were then. Let’s be diligent to continue practicing what we already know — we are closer to salvation than we were at the first.

Series: 2nd Peter (Not Carried Away)

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

For some crazy reason you decided to never eat dessert again. But here you are one week later and we have invited you to our home and Ashley has set before you a slice of her finest chocolate cake. It is rich, dense, there are layers of chocolate moose and chocolate ganache.  But you decline: “Thank you, but I’m watching my diet.” We reply with innocent surprise: “Ashley has made this cake many times before — you’ll be fine! The eggs, and butter are from pasture raised animals. The cocoa is ethically sourced and rich in antioxidants. We insist.” And now you’re elbow-deep in chocolate cake.

There is so much sin, corruption, and death in the world, but the Son of God shared in our humanity forever to grant us everything we need for life, godliness, and partake in his divine nature. So, by means of our faith, we must make every effort to grow in qualities like knowledge, self control, godliness — perfecting it all with love. Let’s be sure that we have all identified one specific way we’re seeking to grow right now. Write down one quality, how and why we want to improve in it — seeing that faith is our foundation and that love is our goal.

But as with the chocolate cake, our resolve will be tested. All out war will erupt in our bodies when we resolve to grow in Christ. For many it will be a quick defeat; for others, a long, hard-won victory with twists and turns will be won. Young people, these tests are very difficult. Satan often hits us where we least want or expect it. So, in verses 8-11, Peter gives us four reasons why we must be diligent to abound in these qualities. When we are weak, distracted, and tempted to be less diligent, we must keep making every effort because…

#1 Verse 8: This keeps us from being unfruitful the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. In Isaiah 5 God sings a depressing love song about how Judah was a disappointing vineyard: he planted them on a fertile hill, but instead of producing sweet fruit of righteousness, they yielded the sour fruit of injustice. Later in Isaiah 27, God sings a new song about what his vineyard will look like in the future when Satan has been slain: “Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.” (Isa. 27:6 ESV)

From the beginning God appointed humans and then Israel to fill the earth with righteous fruit, but we have all filled it with wickedness. When Jesus came, he proved himself to be the righteous, fruitful Israelite God always wanted. And as we come to know Jesus, God intends for us be like him. The kingdom of God has now been taken away from Israel and given to us that we might fill the whole world with righteous fruit (cf. Matt. 21:43).

Sometimes we might think selfishly about Jesus’ coming. “He died to forgive me of my sins so I can live with God forever.” Amen, he did. But he was also raised from the grave to begin a work of new creation: create new humans and a new Israel that will work together with God to reverse the curse and fill the earth with godly fruit.

We can’t stop growing in these qualities, otherwise we will have come to know the Son of God for nothing. We will be fans, not followers of Jesus. No better than Israel. But if we abound in these qualities, we are being granted an honor to be part of God’s project to fill the earth with godly fruit.

#2 Verse 9: Whoever doesn’t is nearsighted, blind, and has forgotten they were cleansed from their former sins. We first came to Christ because there was filth on our hands and in our hearts and we saw that we had made a mess of ourselves and of the world. We were afraid, ashamed, and guilty. But then we were baptized and cleansed of that former life.

If we stop striving to abound in these qualities, the sins Jesus died to remove will grow back into our life and stain us again. Some religious folks today act like sin isn’t a big deal. If that’s the case, why were we baptized? what were we even cleansed of? what required the death of the perfect Son of God to remove?

If we or even friends near us have lost our earlier energy to flee sin and to grow in these qualities, let’s ask one another — why were we so thankful with tears of joy after we were baptized? Have we forgotten that we ourselves cared deeply about killing sin and growing in righteousness? Are we so nearsighted that we cannot remember?

If we abandon pursuit of these qualities, we have forgotten that Jesus came to purge our lives of these sins we are dabbling in. He came to create in us the righteous fruit many are shrugging their shoulders about.

#3 Verse 10: We’ll confirm our calling and never fall away. Before they ever did anything good, God delivered Israel from Egypt, set his presence among them, and God chose them to receive the honor of becoming a kingdom of priests representing Almighty God and his ways to the nations. But Israel eventually rejected their calling and lost the inheritance God promised them.

From time to time we hear about a beloved brother or sister that falls away as Israel did. Maybe they caved to these modern pressures to remake God in our own tolerant image. Maybe they left any form of God altogether. Not to be too harsh, but they have now lost what made them unique to everyone else. I have compassion on those who fall away. I know from experience how we can come to this place where — in a bout of madness — we consider walking away from the Lord and anything that has ever mattered. Brothers and sisters, we need to have a holy fear that this story could be mine or yours — we might  fall away. And, young people, today that often looks like trying to become independent, autonomous, and unique, but it actually leads to us losing our calling and becoming like the boring herd going off a cliff.

But Peter tells us the secret to never falling away in verse 10: Be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. There may be a lot that goes into falling away, but if we fall away, we can know for certain that at some point we stopped being diligent to practice these qualities. God doesn’t want that at all for us. So let’s be diligent to practice these qualities so Israel’s story doesn't become ours.

#4 Verse 11: In this way, entrance will be richly provided for us into Jesus’ eternal kingdom. To wrap our minds around what Peter is saying here, I’m going to break down what he says starting from the end and working back to the beginning.

(a) Peter references “the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” As opposed to filling the earth with God’s rule, fame, and ways, people have filled the earth with their own corrupt kingdoms for their own honor and power. But the prophets saw a day when God’s king would crush the enemies and rule with God’s Spirit, justice, and wisdom. He would banish death and establish a kingdom where God’s law, peace, and fame would fill the earth. Solomon prays in Psalm 72: “may the whole earth be filled with his glory!” Revelation 11 captures this hope when the 7th angel blows his trumpet: loud voices declare that, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” The kingdoms of earth all pass away one by one. But we all and all history look forward to the day when the last enemy is defeated and the world is overtaken and made new by the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus. Okay, so why is Peter referencing Jesus’ eternal kingdom?

(b) Peter speaks of how “there will be richly provided for you an entrance into” this kingdom. So, while in a sense God’s kingdom has already begun to come in less obvious ways, Peter’s talking about the end of history when we will be provided entrance into this kingdom in the future. But notice, Peter does not say that we carve out a place for ourselves in this kingdom, or that we earn a spot in the kingdom. He says that there will be richly provided for us an entrance into the eternal kingdom of Jesus. That’s the language of a gift, of grace. It is provided and given to us. But how will entrance be provided - granted, given — to us?

(c) Peter says that it is “in this way” that entrance will be provided into the eternal kingdom. In what way? By making every effort to grow in these qualities. To be clear: a welcome into Jesus’ eternal kingdom is far more than we could ever deserve. It is a gracious, undeserved gift. Yet, it is a gift we prepare to receive. To put it another way, we cannot earn a place in God’s kingdom by our works, but Peter says a rich welcome is given to those who have and abound in these qualities.

And that’s why we are so thankful to know Jesus. On our own, we are dead, lifeless branches fit to be burned up. We make a mess of everything. But when the lovingkindness of God appeared, he saved us, not because works done by us in righteousness, but by his own mercy — washing us in baptism and regenerating us with his Spirit. This gift of God makes us alive and trains us to renounce ungodliness, and to instead live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ appearing and kingdom (cf. Titus 2-3).

Kris Emerson succinctly puts it like this: we move from grace to faith to life — God’s gift in Jesus fuels loyalty to King Jesus which transforms our whole lives.

If you fear like me that you can’t enter the kingdom by diligently practicing these qualities — stick close to Jesus because there is no other way. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4–5 ESV) He’s not asking that we pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps but that we abide in him and he in us. If we walk close to Jesus — meditating on his word, camping out by his throne day and night, receiving his empowering presence — we’ll be formed into fruit-bearers. And in the end, we’ll receive a long anticipated but not at all deserved entrance into his eternal kingdom. Let us make every effort to practice these qualities. Start by receiving his grace, give him your faithful loyalty, and he will transform our loves and our lives.

Series: 2nd Peter (Not Carried Away)

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

As time passed between Jesus’ first and second comings Peter warned that people within the churches would start questioning whether the testimony about Jesus was authentic and whether he would really come in a future judgment. “Who knows whether this Jesus will come again. Besides, God has greater concerns than what you do in the privacy of your own home.” But Peter assures us: we may be separated from Jesus’ earthly life by decades or millennia, but that doesn’t diminish the authenticity of the testimony nor the standing of our faith. And God is so invested in rescuing us from sinful desires and corruption that he took on our humanity that we might share in his divinity.

What should we do, knowing God has given us everything we need for life, godliness, and to partake in his divine nature? Peter urges us to make every effort to grow in Christian qualities.

He speaks of faith — our foundational trust, loyalty, and allegiance to King Jesus. Virtue is moral excellence and integrity. Knowledge is the ability to take what we know about God, his people, promises, and expectations, and then to put it all that together in a meaningful way. Self-control refers to the ability to exercise restraint and to not be subject to sinful desires. Steadfastness is endurance in the face of suffering or evil — not because we are detached Stoics, but because we hope in God. Godliness is alignment with God’s will, and like God in our character. Brotherly affection refers to the devotion, warmth, and family-like closeness that we should have for one another. And love is the goal of all these — it is patient and kind, it does not envy or boast.

It may not be the New Year yet, but this text offers helpful wisdom for growth at any time. Let’s consider four things here about Christian growth.

1. Christian growth is a holistic, interconnected web. Lists of virtues like these were common in ancient literature. Whatever our translations sound like, the idea here is that each quality springs from the previous one: faith is the means by which we grow in virtue, and virtue is the means by which we grow in knowledge, and so forth. These qualities support one another. Peter is instructing us towards holistic Christian growth. Meaningful Christian growth never isolates favorite qualities to the exclusion of others.

That’s how healthy living works too. We have tried to eat more healthy over the last few years so we feel better, but we have found that healthy eating means little if we aren’t also getting outside, exercising, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, and regularly fellowshipping with God and his people in his word and in prayer.

The same is true with this interconnected web of qualities. We have to pursue them holistically, all together. Self-control helps us be more steadfast; moral excellence helps us grow in brotherly affection. But brotherly affection won’t mean much if we do not grow in steadfastness. Otherwise, we’ll be those fair-weather friends who can’t withstand much difficulty — and that’s not actually what family love looks like, does it? And while love means little without truth underlying it, knowledge also means very little if we don’t grow in brotherly affection. Otherwise we’ll be those know-it-alls who can’t help but nit-pick everything others are doing — every church has them. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8 that if we know without that loving affection, we don’t yet know as we ought to know. Christian growth is holistic.2. Christian growth starts with faith and its goal is love. In ancient literature, these lists began and ended intentionally. Stoics might begin their lists with knowledge or wisdom and end it with self-control — knowing stuff is the start to getting anywhere and the goal is temperance or justice. Knowledge is a vital quality we must grow in, but we don’t start walking with Christ when we know everything, but when we give trust and loyalty to him. And we aim to grow in self-control, but it isn’t the goal of walking with Christ — love is. Christian growth starts with faith and its goal is love.

So, if we are feeling unstable, insecure, or fearful, that can happen when our trust and loyalty are compromised. Faith can reground us. Have we given our primary loyalty to friends or family? Wealth, success, a political party, substance, or device? Trust and loyalty towards Jesus is the only foundation by which a solid life can be built.

This also means other qualities must not be the foundation of our lives. If we’re feeling unstable and struggling to know what is true anymore, we might be tempted to magnify our pursuit of knowledge above all else and to build our lives on whatever knowledge we gather. The problem is, whatever we discover is often biased or at least limited — which makes for an unstable foundation that will constantly shift with our ever changing body of knowledge. Or if we are feeling discouraged because of sin in our lives, we might try to fix that by building our entire lives on a reinvigorated pursuit of moral excellence. But what will happen to our foundation when we miss the mark? The true foundation of a strong Christian life is trust and loyalty to King Jesus.

And our goal is love. So, if we are feel disoriented, wondering what we are living for — the goal of all life is love. Love is why we should want to grow in any of these qualities. Whether we are in school or working — let's make the connection between our vocation — whatever we are doing — and love. Building good homes, caring for and teaching children, healing the sick, growing and making good food, organizing finances, writing reliable code, selling a worthwhile product that blesses people’s lives, counseling the weary, preaching the word of God, or being a good friend and excelling in school so you can develop the skills to do any of these things — let’s do it because we love God and his people. Riches, honor, power, and anxiety wake the world up each day, but love should get Christians out of bed. If not, it’s time to freshen up our motivations or find new things to do. Otherwise, we may have prophetic powers, understand all mysteries, and give away all we have, but if we have not love, we are nothing.

3. Christian growth requires making every effort to increase in these qualities. Elsewhere Paul talks about the Christian life as a race we train for. Watching the Olympics is always so impressive. A couple years ago we watched a show that followed the families of gymnasts preparing for the Olympics. These families spared no expense or effort to help their daughters become the best gymnasts possible. They moved states, ended friendships, changed coaches, rearranged school, woke up early, went to bed late, changed their diet, paid for expensive resources. They make every effort to gain a perishable crown — will we do that for an imperishable one?

Pursue whatever you think it will take to make every effort — plucking out eyes and training with discipline. But, to make every effort, we at least need to…

Identify weaknesses and imbalances. Have we neglected self control? Knowledge? Love? Write down one weakness today that needs to be addressed.

Make a specific plan to address this weakness. Generic commitments don’t go far. What embodied rituals are we going to remove and add to repair … brotherly affection? Maybe we have made a habit of isolation and we need to have people in our home more often. Maybe it's pride that leads to us looking down on and criticizing others, and we need to ask a brother or sister to pray with us regularly about it. It helps to write down a clear, specific plan.

Not quit when we fall short. Fruit is born with diligence and patience. When we miss the mark, remember: the foundation of our walk is faith in Him, not in ourselves, or our godliness.

4. Christian growth works from the strength he supplies (cf. 1 Peter 4:10-11). We cannot look inside ourselves for victory over sinful desires or corruption. Oprah’s chicken soup for the soul isn’t enough. But God’s Son has shared in our humanity, taken our punishment, and conquered death that he might give us everything we need. He gives us his living word to meditate on and retool our thinking. He gives access to his throne so we can draw near for help in our time of need. He’s forming us as a body so can we pursue his mission together. He gives us his body and blood to feed on for our spiritual nourishment and cleansing. And the Father, Son, and Spirit promise to dwell in those who abide in Christ so we might be mystically strengthened to bear fruit that glorifies him. Let us work from the strength he supplies — by taking that path we will escape corruption in the world and receive a warm welcome into his eternal kingdom.

Series: 2nd Peter (Not Carried Away)

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

When I worked at Sonic and Applebee’s in high school and college somehow everyone always found out that I was the kind of Christian that did not sleep around. Some admired that, but many joked about it. “Do you really think God would send you to hell for that?” And I explained that God is merciful towards those who turn, but that, yes, he explicitly says that the sexually immoral will have no inheritance in God’s kingdom. Somehow, this didn’t make sense to them.

Many today believe in a distorted god. He is never angry or jealous, he chuckles when we rebel, and he has far bigger concerns than who we sleep with. He is all love, and will only reserve judge people like Hitler. And mindsets like these have rapidly infiltrated churches over the past decade, making even us start to wonder… “Maybe we do have space to loosen up on these standards for sexuality, divorce, and remarriage. Perfect purity isn’t possible. We’ve been so quick to cast stones, but who among us is without sin?”

These challenges aren’t new. As the time of Peter’s death drew near, this was precisely the environment he warned the churches about. In light of this environment, we’re going to look at 2 Peter over the next few months as Peter reassures us that what the Lord, the prophets, and the apostles first testified is true. Two big picture points today. Read vs. 1-4 with me.

First, Peter knows he’s nearing his death, and notice the encouraging way he refers to those he’s writing to: “those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours.”

You know the game Telephone? Someone whispers a strange message into the ear of the person next to them, who whispers what they thought they heard to the next person until everyone has passed along a pretty distorted message? Whether we are removed from Jesus’ earthly life by thirty years or two thousand, it is natural to wonder if we’re at the end of a long game of telephone and we have missed something big. I have personally spent a lot of time praying over and researching this very question over the past couple years. Let me share two of humble conclusions I have come to so far. (1) There are massive cultural differences between the world Peter lived in compared to ours. And some of those differences touch the church. (2) But when we compare the spirit and faith that animated the early church with this church today, I truly believe we find a faith of equal standing among many.

Let me explain. Eph. 4:4–6 says, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Do you believe in one God the Father of all? Do you believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, who for our salvation died, was buried, and arose again on the third day according to the Scriptures? Do you believe Jesus ascended into heaven? Do you believe he will come in the future from heaven to judge the living and the dead and to bring his eternal kingdom? Do you believe in one Holy Spirit who is worshipped with the Father and the Son? Do you believe and participate in Jesus’ one body, the Church? Do you believe baptism has the power to remove sins? Do you hope in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come as a future, tangible, bodily event? Do you love God and his people, seeking to obey all Jesus commanded? If these things characterize your faith and life, it is a historical fact that the same spirit and faith that animated Peter and the Church over the past 2,000 years animates you as well.

And yes, the history of the church has been messy, but if it seems impossible that the same pure faith can be handed down over the millennia, notice who Peter gives credit to for the sameness of their faith in v. 1: they obtained a faith of equal standing by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. This passing of the faith is not dependent on humans alone, but is possible through our Righteous God and Savior Jesus Christ. Did you note the jarring way Peter refers to Jesus here? He’s our God. Do we take Jesus that seriously? He is our Righteous God who will ensure the Church passes along the original faith.

But this is not cause for complacency — as if we are destined to receive and pass on the same faith as Peter’s. Peter wrote to warn the church about people who water down and distort the faith. And those same headwinds blow strong today. There are strong pressures to thin out our faith into mere sentimentality and positive vibes about God. And that starts by pressures inside and outside for the church to become more sensitive to what we think seekers and young people are looking for in church. Dumb down the faith, make it more palatable. Avoid those Scriptures that don’t immediately appeal to your audience, cast out those songs that make you think about irrelevant deep teachings in favor of some tunes that tug at our heart strings. It is vital that our preaching, teaching, and singing be rich with Scripture and solid, ancient theology so the flood of sentimental spirituality does not dilute what makes the Church unique. And of course, we must live out this faith without hypocrisy.

So, in this age of doubt and mocking, let’s forget our back up plans “in case this doesn’t work out” — we have obtained a faith of equal standing with Peter and the early church, so let’s dig deep roots in this faith, for by this faith — and none other  — we will find eternal life.

Second, consider that in this age of doubt and mocking… We know God and Jesus our Lord (vs. 2, 3). Do you ever wonder whether you even know this historical figure — Jesus? I mean, have you seen him? Have you heard his voice? In verse 2 Peter prays that “grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” And again in verse 3 he celebrates that we have everything we need “through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence…” Peter will refer to our ability to know Jesus two more times later in the letter.

This may not be very big for you this morning, but for me it is, because sometimes I get anxious about whether we can really know much — it’s hard enough to be certain we even know the truth about what is playing out on the world stage now or at any given time. The Christians had not seen Jesus and neither have we, but we can know him. Do you know that in John 17:20 Jesus prayed for people like us? “For those who will believe in me through their word.” One day we’ll see Jesus’ glory, but we don’t yet, and that’s okay because the faith and knowledge God wants of us right now comes not by sight, but by hearing. We’ll just have to trust Christ on that one. And we need to get over this angst of knowing him without yet seeing him, because according to this passage, our knowledge of God means a lot. Notice three things that come from our knowledge of God and Jesus.

(vs. 2) Grace and peace are multiplied to us in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. As we come to know God in Jesus more and more, the gift of his favor, kindness, and peace are multiplied to us.

(vs. 3) Through the knowledge of him, his divine power grants us everything we need for godly living. Maybe the corruption of the world that has you discouraged. Maybe the way Satan has gotten ahold of many in the church has gotten you down. Maybe your own moral failures have discouraged you too. Listen, our knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus means access to his divine power that grants us everything we need to live godly lives. He’s cleansed us. He’s given us his Spirit. The Spirit that was at work in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is at work in us. And his grace and peace are multiplied to those who pursue and know him. Everything we need for godly living is at our fingertips because we know the true God.

(vs. 4) By knowledge of God and Jesus, great promises are granted to us that we might partake in the divine nature and escape the world’s corruption. What is most troubling about this libertine attitude where God has bigger fish to fry than to worry about how we live, is it doesn’t account for the horrors of what sin has done to us and the world, nor the weight of glory God has prepared for us.

Is there decay in the world, in your body, in the lives and bodies of loved ones that troubles you?Peter says this corruption is in the world because of sinful desire, but in our imagination of how everything works, it’s easy to separate sinful desire and the corruption that’s in the world. We might assume, “The world and our bodies are falling apart because they weren’t meant to last forever, it’s just the way the world is, everything gets old and dies.” But that’s not “just the way the world is” or “the way our bodies are” — that’s the way they have become because of sin. Sin has transformed the very physical, biological, and chemical processes by which our world works. And if we need to remember how different the world is supposed to be, remember Jesus. In what sort of world does something clean touch something dirty or diseased and the cleanness, health, and perfection rubs off on those who are diseased and dirty? That’s how things are supposed to work.

But we’ve pushed God out, so that corruption has spread and it will consume us. Sin’s not a big deal? Our bodies are decaying and we will die because of sinful desire. But, what Peter says here is that through knowledge of God, he’s granted us precious and very great promises that through them we may become partakers of the divine nature — escaping the corruption in the world. Let those words sink in. He’s given us promises not only that we might escape the corruption that’s in the world, but that we might share in his divine nature.

Do you see this? Jesus came down by taking on our humanity. God’s plan is to lift us up that we might partake in his divinity. This gives us a clear vision of Jesus’ work and how wonderfully, shockingly generous God is being in him. C.S. Lewis sums it up like this: “The Son of God became man that man might become sons of God.” God has “immutable” characteristics that make Yahweh uniquely God. We will not be everything he is. But God desires to lift us up to share in his divine nature so we can reign with him eternally.

When we are living in the zone of “God has greater concerns than my behavior,” we are stripping the world and ourselves of all weight and choosing to mess around with behaviors that will turn us into irrational animals (2 Pet. 2). Jesus wants so badly for us to escape sinful desire and corruption that it killed him. He shared in our humanity forever that we might share in his divinity forever. All this is possible for those who know him though they have not seen him. Our goals of reading and meditating, praying and singing, living with godliness in the church and in the community — these are tools by which we come to know him — and thus tools to obtaining everything we need to escape corruption and partake in his divine nature.

“Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;

his going out is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us as the showers,

as the spring rains that water the earth.” (Hos. 6:3 ESV)

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Series: N/A

Service: Gospel Meeting

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Ken Marrs

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Heath McCann

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Guest