Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. 2 Peter 1 5-7 says to make every effort to add to your faith goodness and to goodness knowledge and to knowledge self-control and to self-control perseverance and add to perseverance godliness and to godliness mutual affection and to mutual affection love. In today's message, Pastor Rich reminds us that all of these qualities are directly tied to our attitudes and our affections. We cannot develop these qualities through personal willpower.
It's not about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. No, only Christ can work such change in us. As we know and remember the riches of his grace, he transforms our attitudes and our affections so that we can live fully for him, not out of duty, but from a free and grateful heart. Let's listen in. This is part four of a message titled Effective and Fruitful Faith. It was first preached on June 11, 2023 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. To hear the whole message, you can visit www.delightingrace.com. How big is that dot?
You can't even see it. And what the Corinthians were doing and what we do when we forget the goodness of God and we lose sight of who he is and what he's done and who we are in Christ. What we do is we live for the dot and we're not living for the line. We're called to live for the line. That's what Peter is calling us, to live for the line and not just the dot. Not to be preoccupied with the here and now. Yes, we're stewards of it, but we're not preoccupied. We don't define ourselves by it. Some of you here might be saying, Rich, you're talking about spiritual growth and some might be thinking, you know, I don't really need to grow spiritually. I'm good.
I've got news for you. You're drifting. You don't drift in a positive direction.
You are either growing or you're drifting. This is why Peter calls us to live as people who remember. Alright, it's time for your homework. You ready for this? I hope you're taking notes. This is a workout for spiritual growth. We're going to talk about spiritual disciplines.
Four points here, okay? I'm going to, this is based, I'm appealing to 1 Timothy 4.7 where Paul says to Timothy, train yourself for godliness. That word train is the word gumnadzo, the word from which you get the word gymnasium, gym, okay? It can be translated discipline, discipline yourself, train yourself for godliness. Peter's last words, turn the page over, look at Peter's last words, verse 18, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There it is.
And remember, like I said, the biblical assumption is that the follower of Christ is growing spiritually. So, here we are, a workout, a workout. Four points to this workout. Number one, exercise your memory. Exercise your memory. Exercise your memory of the grace that has been lavished on you. I'm not just talking about in your lifetime. I'm not talking about, remember those times when God was good?
Listen to me. There is never a time when God is not good. God is good, period. Everything He does is good. So, I'm not asking you to remember, remember those times that God was good to me.
That's not what I'm asking. Remember the grace that has been lavished on you, the things that we celebrated here this morning, the things that the CCA group is proclaiming. Remember the grace that has been, exercise your memory. Read, read and reread and then read again Ephesians 1 to 3.
As much as you can, memorize it. That's your identity in Christ. It's who you are. It's the grace that has been lavished upon you. Look again at 2 Peter 1 verses 2 to 4. May the grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
Wow, that's a mouthful, isn't it? But that's all the grace that has been lavished on you as one who is in Christ. You need to know it, you need to remember it. Exercise your memory that you have been cleansed from, that you've been cleansed from your former sins means much more than you're just forgiven. It means you're a new creation. It means you're born of God.
What does that mean? Live in that, grow in that, exercise that. Because you are in Christ, a newness and a life exists in you that did not exist before.
Know that, grow in that, and you cannot do that apart from the Scriptures. Paul says to the Corinthians, such were some of you. You used to be these people who lived in very sinful lifestyles that were contrary to God's character and purpose. But now you're not that, you are in Christ.
You see the difference there? It's beautiful. Paul's the one who said, I used to be a blasphemous, insolent man, but by the grace of God, what did he say? I am what I am. By the grace of God. So, exercise your memory for the grace that has been lavished on you. Workout number two, train your vision.
Train your vision. Train your vision for the grace that is laid up for you. Turn with me back to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter 1, look there with me. Therefore, prepare your minds for action, and being sober minded, here it is, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
You are headed for a particular goal, and that particular goal is when you are face to face with Jesus Christ, and you are from then on exactly like him. That's God's purpose for you. Keep that goal in view, because if you lose sight of the goal, you start to wander. So, train your vision. Exercise your memory for the grace that has been lavished on you. Train your vision for the grace that is laid up for you. Keep the big picture in view. Keep the finish line in view.
Live for the line, not the dot. Know the promises of God, and purpose to actively remember them. Here it is, engage today. Here's how you train your vision.
You engage today in light of what God has prepared for you and promised you. Let me give you an example of that, and I'm borrowing this from Tim Keller. Two women working in a factory. It's just the kind of factory I used to work in.
In fact, it's a food production plant. It's just repetitive, repetitive, repetitive. You know, pulling out bad product, whatever. Two women. It's very just monotonous.
Long time. The owner of the company comes to both women separately and says to the first woman, he said, you do this for a year and I'll pay you $10,000. He comes to the second woman and he says, you do this for a year and I'll pay you $10 million. So, the two ladies are working, right?
And the first lady is only going to get $10,000 after a year. She says, this is such a drudgery. I am not enjoying this. This is so not worth it.
What do you think the second lady is saying? I think this is absolutely worth it. I am really enjoying this.
You see the difference? What you believe about the future impacts how you experience today. Exercise. Exercise your memory. Train your vision. God has revealed to you what is stored up for you. Train your vision. This is a spiritual discipline. Exercise your memory. Train your vision. Number three, walk with Jesus. Now, some of you, especially some of you guys here are like, ah, yeah, okay, I get it. Listen.
No, don't do that. Are you walking with Jesus? You might very well say, you know, I know everything I need to know about Jesus. Fine, but are you walking with Him? Are you walking with Him? He's not a concept. He's not a force. He's a person who died for you so that you can be reconciled to Him.
Walk with Him. That's your highest function, people, is to walk with Jesus. Jesus said it Himself. I am the vine. You are the branches. Abide in Me, for without Me, you can do what?
Nothing. And it's far too easy to be a Christian and act like a vine, a branch completely separated from the vine. Walking with Jesus is that vital connection of that branch grafted back into the vine, drawing life from it.
This is not a glib thing. I'm not just filling this point in here because I need another point. You don't want to be ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ means I am walking with Him in His steps. I am studying Him. Are you studying Jesus?
Here's what you can do. Practice Psalm 23 with Jesus. The Lord is my, I shall, it means I lack nothing. Are you satisfied in Jesus Christ? You cannot be if you're not walking with Him. Walk with Jesus.
This is a spiritual discipline. I don't care, I don't care how much you know about Him. I don't care how deep your theology is. I don't care how well you can argue His deity and His resurrection. I'm asking, are you walking with Him? It's not about knowledge. It's about knowing Him. 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.
