2 Peter: Remembering Your Awesome Grant

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Benjamin Franklin set his mind to ethical perfection when he wrote out 13 virtues and created a plan for mastering them. He quickly realized that as he became stronger in certain virtues, he then struggled with the sin of pride over his progress. Morality without a heart change is really just behavior management, isn't it? Today's message reminds us that virtue is the outer flow of inward righteousness. Instead of self-governance, God calls us to surrender to his transforming work. As we abide in our Lord Jesus, he gives us the power to be transformed for his glory. Let's listen in. This is part four of a message first preached on May 21st, 2023 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem.

The fear of the Lord looks like this, in my day to day, my resolve is this. I live for the opinion of one. I don't live for your opinion.

You should be able to stand up and look around the room and do exactly the same thing. I don't live for your opinion. You know why? Because at the end of the day, it's not before you I will stand.

I live for the opinion of one. That is the fear of the Lord. As you grow in Christ, your life is on a trajectory of reflecting Christ in all circumstances, even the difficult ones. Peter said this in 1 Peter chapter 2. He said, keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable. By Gentiles, he's meaning unbelieving masses. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evil doers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Godliness can also be understood in the same way as it says in Proverbs 3. In all your ways, do what?

Acknowledge Him. In how many of your ways? All your ways. Do you know why there's, do you know what brings frustration in the Christian life? Compartmentalization. Let's say your life is demonstrated by a house. There's all these different rooms in a house, all the different areas of your life.

There's the family area, there's the work area, there's the spiritual, there's the intellect, there's the emotion, all these different areas of your life. And if there's any one of those rooms where the door is closed and on the door there's tacked this note, the Holy Spirit's not welcome to enter here. Or it could be written on the door, God does not apply to this room.

That's compartmentalization. Let me tell you where that will lead. That will lead to a frustrated Christian. That's where it will lead.

And I've seen it way, way too often. Godliness is also a reverent awareness of God so that my whole self, I am wide open to Him in every area of my life, a reverent awareness of God, recognizing that life is a stewardship. What do you have that you have not received? Paul says to the Corinthians. What do you have that you have not received?

Nothing. You've received every bit of it by the hand of God. And so with life as a stewardship, and again, as it says in the New Testament, you are not your own.

You were bought at a price. And if life is a stewardship, therefore I employ it for His purpose and to reflect His goodness. That's godliness. What is a practical manifestation of godliness?

Let's look at it this way. Let me quote Warren Wiersbe here. You're probably familiar with who Warren Wiersbe is, most of us. He says, it describes the one in right relationship with God and fellow man. He lives, this is so key, he lives above the petty passions and pressures that control the lives of others. He seeks to do the will of God and seeks the welfare of others.

That's godliness. I love the example of Daniel. Daniel's my middle name. Where Daniel means God is my judge. Daniel lived, he's a very great biblical example of one who lived for the opinion of one. You remember the story of Daniel? You were learning about Daniel when you were yay high to a grass hopper in Sunday school. What did he do? He prayed in public, even when there was an edict, a command from the king that said, you can't pray in public to anyone else except the king. Daniel said, I live for the opinion of one.

I will pray to Jehovah, the God of Israel. He paid for it. At least he thought he was going to.

He did some degree. But what does it say about Daniel? I love this. It says, I love it when I first read this verse and it really stuck with me. Daniel distinguished himself because an excellent spirit was in him. Daniel distinguished himself because an excellent spirit was in him.

That's godliness. In other words, Daniel set himself apart. He set himself apart.

Why? Because he was marching to a different drumbeat. That's what you and I are called to, to march to a different drumbeat. And what that looks like in the world is you've got people who don't know god, therefore they're trying to figure out this life thing. They're trying to figure out their identity, their purpose.

They're trying to figure out the meaning of all that is, and they don't know god. But you and I do. We know god. We're in Christ. We belong to god.

We will be with him forever. So we understand us. We understand him.

We understand reality. But what that looks like is the unregenerate people who are trying to figure out life, they're trying to dance, but they don't have any music to dance to. You and I have the music.

Let's dance pretty. That's godliness. That's why we need to remember, because remembering is the music. It's the kind of spiritual growth that leads to the crowning hallmark, which comes in verse 7, which is love. And that'll be the first verse of the verse. And that'll be the second verse of the crowning hallmark, which comes in verse 7, which is love. And that'll be the sermon next week, brotherly affection and love. You can finish this verse for me too. By this all will know that you are my disciples, because why? You love one another. That is the crowning hallmark of the Christian.

Why? Because it is the most beautiful manifestation of God. To love someone and has nothing to do with what they deserve. You are willing to invest yourself in them, because you love them. Bar none, the most powerful and effective apologetic is the gospel lived. This is what Peter is calling us to here in this verse, verse 6. Self-control, steadfastness, godliness. Nurture and bring to outward expression the reality of the wealth that you have in Christ. In conclusion, let me say this.

Let me tell you what I am not asking you to do this morning, because it's a pretty common way to understand it. Rich is up there preaching. Rich says, the Bible says this. Now I just need to go out and apply it. How do we apply scripture? We apply scripture by letting scripture inform and transform our affections and our attitudes, because otherwise you're just trying harder to be better, and that doesn't work.

Let me just give you an up front there, okay? It doesn't work. You'll get frustrated with that. That's not how grace works. So what I'm asking you not to do is to just leave here and go out of these doors and say, you know, I just need to get better at self-control and patience and godliness.

If you do that, you've missed the point. What are we called to do? Live as people who remember.

I'm asking you to upgrade your self-talk. I'm asking you to remember the promises that are yours in Christ. I'm asking you to remember, discover, know, understand, and remember your identity in Christ and your wealth in Christ.

Because when you do that, then the self-disclosure of Christ and the truth of Christ will transform the things you love and the way you think. That's how this works. That's how this works. That's how grace works.

This is God's doing. Live as people who remember, drawing life from the vine, so that you will be able to say, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. There it is.

Nurture and bring to expression that reality. Christ lives in me. And when we do that, church, when we do that, let's watch and see what the watching community sees. They will be intrigued.

They will want to know what's going on. Would you stand with me, please? Father, we are humbly grateful and in awe of the grace that you have lavished upon us in Jesus. Rescue us, I pray this morning, Father, from leaving out of here and just simply trying harder to be better. But Father, bring to our remembrance the truth and the promises, your great, very great and precious promises by which we are partakers of the divine nature. Help us to know and understand and remember the wealth that is ours in Christ. And as we remember, Father, we will reflect Christ. Teach us this morning, I pray, Father. And if there's anyone here this morning that does not know Christ, you've been listening to this and you're saying, I really can't identify with any of this. Have you surrendered yourself in faith to Jesus? I invite you to.

Please come see me. Father, thank you for what we have in Christ. Thank you for reminding us this morning. May we indeed leave here with the resolve to live as people who remember because we are intentional about remembering what we have and who we are in Christ. Pray in Jesus name. Amen. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in Him, the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.