Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem.
Today, we're continuing our series in 2 Peter titled Live as People Who Remember. When asking Pastor Rich questions about this theme, one child in the church commented, If you forget your house has plumbing, you'll end up going to the woods. On a weightier note, if the people of God forget who He is, what He has done, and what He promises us, the repercussions will be great. As we preach truth to ourselves, reminding ourselves of who God is, He transforms our affections and attitudes, stirring us up to good works. The inner transformation flows out into our actions. Let's listen to this message titled Remembering Your Awesome Grant by Faith stirs up virtue and knowledge. This is part three of a message first preached on May 14th, 2023 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The truth of the matter is the way that virtue was understood in the ancient world.
I love this. How virtue was understood in the ancient world was anything in nature that fulfills its purpose. When anything in nature fulfills its purpose, that is virtue.
And when I first saw that, I thought, Oh man, that's so good. Because my definition of success is functioning according to design. What were you designed to do? You were designed to know God and enjoy Him. And when you function according to design, not only is that success, but it is virtue. It is the ancient understanding of virtue. This is why Peter says supplement your faith with virtue. Live according to your design.
God has designed you. And yes, you were a self-preeminent rebel, alienated from God. And Christ did all the work necessary to redeem you and reconcile you back to God. Now that that is true, I function according to design. I recreated in Christ Jesus. That's why Peter says supplement your faith with virtue.
Nurture your faith with virtue. I'm going to pull over here. You know when you go on the parkway and you got a scenic view, you pull over? Today's a bright sunny day.
I'm going to pull over here for something. Because on this idea of functioning according to design, it made me think about Mother's Day. Today is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day.
What does a mom do? Everything, yes. Correct.
And what is her value? We discovered that. We talked about it in care group Friday night.
Really good discussion. What does a mom do? I'm going to put some thought into this. She is the chief operating officer, manager, supervisor, and worker in a nursery daycare school and restaurant simultaneously. She is the director and coordinator of events, recreation, and transportation. No wonder the creator wired her brain to master the art of multitasking. She is a teacher, counselor, troubleshooter, peacemaker, consultant, consoler, and scholar, who answers a constant barrage of questions like how and how come. She works serious overtime, and she's on call 24-7. Yet she cares for her subjects with unrivaled attention and affection. In so doing, she shapes the next generation and does so with tenacity, joy, fierce defense, and graceful oversight. Few words in human language are packed with meaning as much as mom. And by the way, if a stay-at-home mom were compensated for her job, factoring in skilled labor and time on the job, her annual salary would be approximately $184,000.
I don't know what their pay scale is. Yet she does it not as a job, but as her joy. I think our moms deserve a round of applause. And ladies, next time your husband comes, because all he has to do is just go to work and then come home, and then he hops in his nothing box, right? No, I'm just kidding. But if he ever comes home and asks you, what did you do today?
You have my permission to give him 30 lashes with a wet noodle. Functioning according to design. I was checking out a food line yesterday morning, and the clerk, I wished her a happy Mother's Day. I says, did you know if a mom was compensated for all that she does? And she says, okay, tell me, because I want to know what I need to go home and ask for. She really liked the numbers. And I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Liked the number. Let's get back to functioning according to design. In 1 Corinthians, for example, as Paul was writing to the Corinthian church that was riddled with comparisons and divisions. That's where divisions come from, you know, comparisons.
It is foolish to compare ourselves to each other. It is not of the Spirit of God. But the Corinthian church was riddled with comparisons and divisions. And Paul said, your behavior is incongruous with your union with Christ. In other words, you're not functioning according to design.
You have forgotten. And what Paul says is striking. He says, I have had to write to you as, get this, mere men.
What does he mean by that? I'm writing to you as if you have the understanding of an unregenerate person. You have forgotten who you are in Christ. That's why there were so many problems in the Corinthian church. You see, that's not virtue. But virtue is to function according to design, to fulfill your purpose, your God-given purpose.
As I read in verse 9 there, whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted, he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. In other words, you're so busy pushing the truck around that you don't recognize the value of the truck. You don't recognize the power that there is in that truck. You're so busy pushing it around.
And it gets to the point where all you can do is just talk about it. And that doesn't do you a bit of good, does it? The glory of the truck is when you're driving it, not pushing it.
Don't want to go too far with that metaphor. This virtue, let me add just one more point here. The virtue in this, fulfilling your purpose, nourish your faith with virtue. You know God's design. You know his promises.
And so you remember them. You live, you walk according to those promises. So one way that that translates is that in you, in me, there is the determination to follow scripture. Because this is authoritative in my life.
It doesn't matter what culture says. It doesn't matter what scholars, what does scripture say. And it's a determination to follow scripture even, even if it's costly. To follow scripture even if it's costly.
A.W. Tozer wrote this, what must our Lord think of us if his work and his witness depends upon the security and the safety and the convenience of his people? No element of sacrifice, no bother, no disturbance.
We have stopped and pitched our tent halfway between the swamp and the peak. Tozer was, he wrote quite prophetically. Here's the reality. Those who follow Christ are called to a life of sacrifice. Those who follow Christ are called to a life of dying to self and willing to do what is costly and sometimes difficult for the sake of the gospel just like Jesus did. We're followers of Jesus.
We're called to a life of sacrifice, of doing what is difficult sometimes, costly sometimes. But it's also a determination to follow scripture even when it's costly, and secondly, even if I don't fully understand why. Because I'm still growing in my understanding.
I'm still growing in my knowledge. I trust the living God who is the benevolent sovereign. I trust him and I follow him. And sometimes when there is a command given, I'm not sure why it's the right thing to do, but I do it because I trust him. He is my object of trust.
It's not up to my understanding. It's up to my obedience and my trust. I need to trust the benevolent sovereign, which means to live by faith in the Son of God. Then lastly in verse five, for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge. Knowledge. Again, faith is foundational. You must know and remember what is yours in Christ.
I'll give you an example of this. This will make young ears perk up. And I'm borrowing this from Tim Keller. Years ago, as a pastor, he says he met with a teenage girl.
She was about 16 years old at the time, and she was discouraged and becoming depressed. I tried to encourage her, but there was a revelatory moment when she said, yes, I know Jesus loves me. He saved me.
He's going to take me to heaven. But what good is it when no boy at school will even look at me? Now adults, listen, don't sit there and look at me.
Adults, listen, don't sit there and look at a 16-year-old teenager. We do the same thing. What is it that you need in your day-to-day life to feel loved? 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.
