2 Peter: Kingdom People

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Most Christians want to have a confident and compelling walk with the Lord, but simply knowing God's Word is not enough to create such a walk. We must remember daily the truth He has spoken through His Word, abiding in Christ and keeping in step with the Spirit and the day-to-day attitudes and decisions of our lives. How encouraging that as we make every effort to follow after Him, God is completing the work in us. He's teaching us to be kingdom people. Let's listen to this message from 2 Peter 1, 10-11 titled, Kingdom People.

Good morning, church. If you would, please turn to 2 Peter 1, starting at verse 10 and ending at verse 15. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 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 is right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me, and I will make every effort so that after my departure you may able at any time to recall these things.

Let's pray. God, You are the sovereign King of the universe, and it is but a privilege that we can come before You today in worship and in prayer, Lord. I thank You for the privilege of that. I thank You for our pastors, Pastor Rich, Pastor Dwight, Pastor Bobby, who love the church so much and care for it. I pray a blessing over them as they have and continue to lead us in worship today and in scripture and in the sermon, Lord. Lord, I know that today there are some requests that are unspoken. Lord, I pray that You would bring the people who have these requests near to You and give them Your peace which surpasses all understanding. I pray that as we go out today, we would be the salt and light. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, Daniel.

Good morning, everyone. You have your copy of the scriptures open to 2 Peter. We're going to look at the text that was just read.

Actually, only two verses of it. Say, Rich, you're taking your good old time? Yes. Unpack it for all it's worth.

And I don't think we're even close. So the title of this series through 2 Peter is Live as People What? Who Remember. Live as People Who Remember. And the first sub-series in this is Get Stirred Up.

And this is Chapter 1, verses 3 through 15. Get Stirred Up. It means to come awake, no slumbering through the Christian walk. We don't drift. We don't simply coast on cruise control.

Get Stirred Up. This is a race. It's a marathon. We have a mission. There's struggle involved.

There's no doubt about that, is there? And as we are stirred up, it's the idea of being aware and active. Aware and active. This is what Peter is calling the Christians of the first century to be aware and active. And it's because we are kingdom people. We belong to a kingdom.

A kingdom that is greater than, greater than, more powerful than, and much longer lasting than whatever we belong to here on this earth. I heard it said, I'm trying to remember who it was that said it, but one of the primary jobs of the pastor of the church is to continually remind God's people who they are. Because when we remember who God is and what He has done and who we are in Christ, when we remember that, then that's what changes our lives. And that's why we're called to live as people who remember. Now, last time we were together, we talked about, and it was at Vienna, last time we were together on this text, we look at verses eight and nine, and we talked about a spiritual growth workout.

Let's just review that very briefly here. A spiritual growth workout. Number one, exercise your memory of the grace that has been lavished on you. Exercise your memory of the grace that has been lavished on you. This is who God is.

This is what He has done. This is who I am in Christ. Exercise your memory of those truths. It's your identity. It's your belonging.

It's who you are. Number two, train your vision on the grace that is laid up for you. As Peter said in 1 Peter 1 13, set your hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Live, persevere, with the end in view. Keep your eye fixed on the finish line.

And who stands at the finish line? Jesus, with His arms wide open. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Train your vision on the grace that is laid up for you. Number three, walk with Jesus.

Walk with Jesus. Jesus is not just a concept. He's not a force.

God is not a concept or a force. He is person. And Jesus is very God who came to us so that, among other things, we can walk with Him. We can follow in His steps. How is your relationship with Jesus Christ?

And again, I'm not talking about the things we can do for Him. I'm asking you, how is your communion with Jesus? Are you walking with Him? Do you delight in Him?

Are you enjoying Him? Number four, climb the steps of verses five to seven. This is all that part of, you know, get stirred up. Okay, look at verses five to seven with me. Look at the text. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith. With virtue and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. Climbing the steps of spiritual maturity.

Let me make something very clear here. Spiritual maturity is not measured by time. Just because you've been a Christian for 30 years doesn't necessarily mean you are spiritually mature.

Spiritual maturity is measured by character. Are you reflecting the character of Christ? Do you think like Christ?

Do you love the things He loves? Still a struggle for you. Think about that. So that's a spiritual growth workout. Exercise your memory, train your vision, walk with Jesus, and climb the steps to spiritual maturity. Through these disciplines, the disciplines of verses five to seven, through these disciplines, kingdom people manifest two things.

Okay, that's the stairs right there. And faith is the foundation. As you are climbing these stairs and pursuing these spiritual disciplines, and it has everything to do with your character. Through these spiritual disciplines, kingdom people manifest two things. Number one, a confident walk. A confident walk. Look with me at verse 10, therefore brothers.

Now he's speaking to family, okay, family. Therefore brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. Be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.

That is a confident walk, all the more diligent. When he says in verse five, be all the more diligent, it's a reference again back to verse, he says in verse 10, it's a reference back to verse five. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith. It's heaping onto, faith is the foundation.

It means you are a part of the family, you're in, you belong to God, okay, you are in Christ. And once I am in Christ, nothing changes that, if indeed I am in Christ. But he says with that reality, start building on that, building your life on that, walking the steps to spiritual maturity. So he says, be all the more diligent, make every effort.

In other words, you have a part, you have a part in this. You are not passively coasting through the Christian life. That's not what grace is about either.

Grace is not about simply trying harder to be better, but neither is it about simply coasting passively through the Christian life. That's like any relationship, it requires investment, doesn't it? If there are two of you here that are married and one of you is just simply coasting, it's a dysfunctional relationship, it's a one-sided relationship, right? That's not how marriage is designed, and it's not 50-50 either. My wife doesn't give 50% to our marriage, I don't give 50% to our marriage, I give all of myself to our marriage.

It's 100%, 100%. Different sermon for a different time, but you get it, right? Be all the more diligent. Invest yourself in this walk with God. In other words, he's calling us to a passionate pursuit of the one who made us, redeemed us, and reconciled us. 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. We hope you'll join us again on Weekdays at 10 a.m.