Something's Missing... in the Church

8/14/2019 Something's Missing... in the Church

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SomethingsMissing

in the Church

A final word from the Apostle Peter

By Remy DiederichCedarbrook Church

Menomonie, WI


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Somethings Missinga final Word from PeterBy Remy Diederich

Cedarbrook ChurchFall 2009

This document contains: Part One:Introduction Part Two: False Teachers, page 8 Part Three: The Starting PointFaith, page 14 Part Four: Power, Knowledge & Effort, page 22 Part Five: Moral Excellence, page 28 Part Six: Self Control & Perseverance, page 36 Part Seven: Godliness, page 43

Somethings Missinga final Word from Peter

Part One10.4.09

A year ago last Easter I did a sermon series called One Month to Live and I challenged us tolive our lives like we only had 30 days left on earth. One of the things I asked you to do waswrite letters to your loved ones. I dont know how many of you did that but I did. I wrote aletter to Lisa and my three kids.

I mostly shared how much I loved everybody. But I also shared my desire for themwhat I sawin them and what I hoped theyd pursue in life. I told Lisa that I thought she should remarry butI hoped shed find someone who was lower maintenance that me!

I could have just told them these things but the reason I wrote it down was because I wantedthem to remember what I said. I didnt want my words to be forgotten. So I put it in writing.Now, if there is ever any doubt, they have my words preserved in those letters.

Well, I mention this because for the next several weeks we are going to look at a final letter fromone of the most famous of all Bible charactersPeter. Peter had one month to live you mightsay and so he sent one last letter to the church so wed never forget what he wanted us to know.The cool thing is that we have that letter in our hands right now. Peter speaks to us today throughthis same letter.

Now, just in case you dont know much about Peter, Peter was on the inner circle of Jesusnot

only was he alive during the time of Jesusnot only was he invited to be one of Jesusdisciplesbut he was one of the three people that Jesus shared the most intimate details of hislife. The Bible often mentions that Jesus would leave nine of his disciples behind and just takePeter, James and John.

Peter was the guy who Jesus invited to walk on water with him. He was the first one to identifyJesus as messiah. Peter was the one who defended Jesus with a sword in the Garden of


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Gethsemene. And Peter was the person to whom Jesus said, upon this rock I will build mychurch. So its no surprise in the book of Acts where it tells the story of the early church -that Peter is the initial spokesman and leader.

Now, as important as Peter was we only have two short letters written by him tucked in the backof the Bible. Although the Gospel of Mark is thought to be a collection of Peters teachings.Peters first letter was written to encourage Christians to endure persecution and hardship. Buthis second letter came just before he died in about the year 67 A.D. Listen to how he refers tohis impending death

I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because

I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I

will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember

these things. 2 Peter 1:13,14

We dont know how Jesus made it clear but Peter was convinced that he was about to die so hewanted to leave the church with a final word. So he wrote out this letter detailing his concerns as

well as a challenge.

What do you think he had to say that was so important? Well, as my sermon title says, he feltsomething was missing in the church and it was missing because false teachers had come into thechurch telling a very different story from the apostlesan easier story about what it means tofollow Jesus. Let me read some excerpts from his letter.

there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive

heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction

on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into

disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up . 2Peter 2:1-3

Hes a little vague at first, speaking only of greed and shameful ways. But then he gets a littlemore specific

Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes,

reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never

stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed--an accursed brood! 2Peter 2:13,14

He seems to be saying that these teachers used their position to take advantage of peoplesexually. But it seems they also encouraged people to engage in sin.

These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is

reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful

desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who

live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--

for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 2 Peter 2:17-19


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Can you sense what is making Peter so mad here? He has preached the message of Jesus hiswhole life. And its changed people. Theyd come alive. But then, just as he nears the end of hislife these jokers try to undermine everything hes worked for. They pull people aside andsayWhy are you changing your lifestyle? Jesus loves you just the way you are. You dont needto change. Dont let those religious conservatives like Peter cramp your style. He doesnt know

what hes talking about. Come on, lets party. Gods forgiveness covers your sin. Jesus deathpaid for your sin. Now you are free to live however you want.

Now, there is some truth in that. Actually, a lot of truth. Almost everything I said was true.Jesus really does love us just the way we are. Gods forgiveness does cover all our sin. Jesussdeath didpay for our sin. And you are free to live however you want. But thats the nature offalse teaching. It takes truth and twists it just enough to take you off course. Thats what makes itso deadly. If you arent careful it sounds so true.

So Peter writes to correct the error. He opens his letter by saying

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ 2 Peter 1:1

Thats not just a formal greeting. Hes making a point. By calling himself both servant andapostle hes telling his readers that he speaks on behalf of Jesus. Hes not writing with his ownagenda in mind like the false teachers do. Hes writing in service to Jesus. You see, hes no flyby night, self-serving false teacher. He speaks with authoritythe authority of anapostlewhich means someone who walked with Jesus unlike the false teachers. And in casethey miss that he states it plainly a few sentences into the letter

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming

of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Peters teaching wasnt some watered down version of Jesus teaching passed on to him byothers and laced with his own opinions. Peters teaching was 100% pure Jesus. But not onlywas Peter an eyewitness to Jesus teaching, he was an eyewitness to his glory.

For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from

the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 2Peter 1:15-17

Now, this is significant. Peters referring to the story where Peter, James and John go up themountain with Jesus. We call it the Mount of Tranfiguration. This is how Luke tells it

Jesus took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain topray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as

bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor,

talking with Jesus. Peter and his companions saw his glory ... Luke 9:28-32

This is no small event. There are only a few occurrences of someone seeing the glory of God inthe Bible. It happened with Moses and Elijah and the prophet Isaiah. So Peter was one of a


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privileged few to see God pull back the curtain and reveal just a glimpse of his splendor. Listento how Isaiah describes his experience

I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the

temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their

faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they werecalling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of

his glory."

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled

with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I

live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."

Isaiah 6:1-5

Two things happen when you encounter God like this. First, you see how holy God is. Andsecond, you see how unholy you are. Thats what happened to Isaiah. He said, I am a man of

unclean lips. And I bet the same thing happened to Peter. Peter realized that he wasnt followingjust another rabbi with some insightful teaching. He was following the God made flesh.

Now, why do you think Peter mentioned this experience? Peter wants to show how laughable itis to think that Jesus - whom he saw revealed in glory - is okay with immorality in his people.Anyone who truly knew Jesus like Peter did knew that Jesus called his followers to a life of,what Peter called, moral excellence. Anyone who would challenge that was clearly a falseteacher out for his own gain.

So before he dies, Peter wants to make this known. In fact, in contrast to an immoral life, Jesuswants just the opposite. He wants his followers to reflect the nature of God. Peter puts it like

this

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our

knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given

us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the

divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:3,4

And then Peter tells us whats missing in their faith

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness,

knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to

perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness,love. 1 Peter 1:5,6

Peter mentions seven things to add to our faith. Faith alone will make you Gods child. Youdont need these seven things. But Peter would say that we arent meant to stay in the nursery allour life. We are called to grow up and mature and reflect the nature of our Father. Imagine aparent with a child. They love that child. But if the child gets older but doesnt mature, thats a


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problem. They love their child. But a 25 year old in diapers isnt what they were hoping for, isit? They had hope that the child would grow up into adulthood.

So, in contrast to the false teachers who lowered the moral standard for believers, Peter raises thestandard. But now, this is what you need to see. How do we obtain this standard? Peter tells us

that Gods divine power has GIVEN us everything we need to be godly. Its very important thatyou see that because if you dont see that these verses will stand to accuse and condemn you.Right? In fact, I bet thats what some of you heard when I read this. You felt condemned bythese seven things, like you could never measure up. But look at thisPeter uses the word theword given twice.


knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given

us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the

divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:3,4

Godliness isnt something that you have to come up with on your own. Its something that Godgives us. And we dont have to come up with it to be accepted by God. God wants to bless uswith his nature so we can enjoy freedom in a way that weve never known before. Godliness is agift that God want so share with us. He knows we struggle under the weight of sin. He wants usto enter into his freedom. Plus he wants us to reflect his glory to others.

You see I think a lot of us understand and enjoy the forgiveness of God. And we are grateful forthat. But Peter would say, dont stop at forgiveness. God has a lot more for you than that! Hewants to share his divine nature with you so you can escape the temptations that have beenbringing you down for so long.

I was listening to a pastor the other day on a podcast. He was talking about new things his churchhas been trying. And he made this statement; in order to reach people that have never beenreached we need to do things that have never been done.

Now, I immediately liked that. That statement appeals to me. It kind of sums up the spirit inwhich this church was startedwe did something that had never been done in this area to reachpeople that had never been reached.

This pastor went on to talk about some innovative things his church was doing. For example hesaid their band members offered to play in local bars for free so church members could invitetheir friends to see the band at a local hangout. Or, they decided to offer a video service forHispanics where they showed the sermon with Spanish overdubbed into the audio.

I think those are both interesting ideas. They have some potential. But the more I thought aboutit I thought, why is it that when we think of doing things that have never been done we are soquick to jump to creating an event or using a new technologyas if doing something bigger andbetter is whats going to really win people to Jesus?


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I mean, what did the church do before technology to impress people? How did anyone evercome to Christ? You see, I think its a lot easier than we tend to make it. I think that if we wantto do things that have never been done then we should just start living what the Bible says.Imagine encountering a church our size and everyone was radically committed to obeying theteaching of Jesus. Imagine a group of people that was radically committed to loving like Jesus.

Do you think that would speak to anyone? I think it would. I think thats what Peter waslooking for. Thats what was missing in the church.

I dont think people are looking for a church that has more bells and whistles. As excited as I amto be building our own building, that building isnt going to win anyone to Jesus all by itself. Infact, we have to be careful not to let the building become a substitute for what God wants to doin us. Instead of pointing to the building and sayingLook what God has done! God wants usto be able to point to our own lives and say, Look what God has done! Do you see that?

Well, we are going to look at this in detail in the coming weeks. I just cracked the surface todaybut I hope youll join me in considering how you might add to your faith.

Going Deeper

Use these questions for personal reflection or to discuss with your friends, family or small group.1. Read 2 Peter 1:13,14. Peter knew he was going to die. If you knew you were going to die

what would you want to make sure people knew? How would you make it memorable?2. Peter contrasts his eyewitness experience with Jesus to that of false teachers. Have you ever

been exposed to false teaching? What was the impact on you and the church or people youknew?

3. Read 2 Peter chapter 2. What appeared to be the false teaching that Peter was referring to?4. Again, from chapter 2, what is the fate of false teachers? Why is this so harsh?5. Read 2 Peter 1:16-18. Now read Luke 9:28-36. How do you think experiencing Gods glory

would impact you? How did it impact Peter's view of the Christian lifestyle?6. Read 2 Peter 1:3,4. What does it mean to participate in the divine nature? What has God

done to make this possible?7. How realistic do you think it is to share in Gods nature?8. Do Peters words give you hope or a sense of dreadlike, hes expecting something that is

possible or unattainable?


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Somethings Missinga final word from Peter

Part Two

By Remy Diederich

Cedarbrook Church 10.11.09

I started a new series last Sunday called Somethings Missing a final word from Peter. Its a look at

the final message that the apostle Peter sent to the church just before he died. You see, after living day in

and day out with Jesus for three years, listening to Jesus teaching, Peter faithfully preached those same

teachings for 30 years. But toward the end of his life something happened to the church. False teachers

had come into the church preaching a very different message. At first, Peter probably thought that no one

would be foolish enough to believe these false teachersafter allPeter and the other apostles lived with

Jesus. Clearly, they had the true message. Why would anyone follow the teaching of someone who

blatantly rejected Jesus teaching? But, surprisingly, the false teachers took on a following and it was

impacting the church.

So, before he dies, Peter writes a letter telling the church that there is something missing in the church

something very importantgodly character. You see, the false teachers were telling the people that it

was okay to sinespecially sexual sin. So Peter tells them that they need to add seven key virtues to their

faith

make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to

knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to

godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 2 Peter 1:5-7

Can you imagine a church that lacked these qualities? These were the virtues that Jesus taught but Peter

said they were missing in action. Can you imagine how disheartening it would have been for Peter to see

the church in such a state after having invested his entire life? I dont know but I wonder if he felt like helet Jesus down like he allowed the church to lose its luster under his watch. Who could have guessed

that false teachers would have had such an impact on the church?

So Peter writes, cautioning the church about the false teachers and challenging them about the kind of

lives they should be living. I should warn you that this is a pretty serious letter. Peter is not happy and he

shoots straight about what he sees wrong in the church.

Now, next week Im going to start to unpack the seven virtues I just read but today I want to focus on the

false teachers. Peter contrasts his apostolic teaching with the false teaching that has crept into the church.

If you dont understand the false teachers, you wont understand what Peter has to say about adding virtue

to your faith. So I want to spend today helping us understand the context of the letter.

If you take out your sermon notes youll see that I have seven things to tell you about false teachers.

1. Reinterpret Scripture.


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First, false teachers reinterpret scripture or put their own personal spin on it. If Peter were to visit the

church today I think hed be shocked at how many versions of his original message exist. To him Im

sure it was so simple. Jesus taught him and he taught others. It wasnt complicated and it wasnt

negotiable. But today you can find any flavor of Christianity that you want. You want a church that is

harsh and judgmental? Weve got that. You want a church that winks at sin? Weve got that too. You

want a church that incorporates other religions? Sure thing. No problem. But Peter tells us that it wasnever meant to be that way. He starts off with two emphatic statements

Above all

That means make sure you get this and then he says

you must understand

meaning that its crucial to the point of his entire letter

that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy

never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the

Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:20,21

You see there are all these teachers out there giving meaning to the Bible that it was never meant to have.

So Peter says, Look, not even the writers of the Bible felt free to offer their interpretation of the words

they spoke. So who do these teachers think they are to alter the meaning of the Bible that has been

accepted for years?

For Peter, the Bible wasnt up for debate. Its interpretation wasnt up for popular vote. The Bible was

meant to pass along GODS word to his people, not MANS opinion. And Peter knew what that was all

about. For 30 years he had passed along the teaching of Jesus. He never added to it or subtracted from it.

He was careful to pass on exactly what he heard Jesus say, nothing more, nothing less. So you can

imagine why these false teachers got on Peters nerves. Who did they think they were?

Later on in his letter Peter says

I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by

our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 2 Peter 3:2

In other words, Peter is saying, there are only two places to look for truth; the prophets in the Old

Testament and the teachings of Jesus that the apostles delivered. So, if you are listening to someone who

has a different message from the prophets or apostles you have the wrong message.

2. Change or Ignore Key Doctrines.The second thing we learn from Peter about False Teachers is that they change or ignore key doctrines.

there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even

denying the sovereign Lord who bought them 2 Peter 2:1

Let me define a few words for you here. The word heresies simply means choices. So a false teacher

offers choices or options. That sounds pretty harmless, doesnt it?


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I mean, in our consumer driven culture we expectto be offered choices dont we? If you walked into an

ice cream parlor and they offered one flavor, youd be insulted. If you walked into a clothing store and

they only had one kind of shirt youd be mad. And so when someone suggests that there is only one way

to believe it gets under our skin.

But Peter would say that its a different story inside of the church. Look at the word that Peter uses todescribe the heresies or choiceshe calls them destructive. The alternative views that false teachers

offer actually destroy your faith and render your faith useless. So, maybe some choices arent so

harmless after all.

Peter says that the people who offer these alternate views are doing much more than merely offering a

different way of thinking. They are denying the teaching of Jesus in favor of their own version of truth.

To offer an alternative view was to deny Jesus.

One of the teachings of Jesus that was being denied was the coming judgment.

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following

their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers

died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 2 Peter 3:3-4

The false teachers were saying,Look, Jesus said he was coming back but I dont see him. Hes not going

to judge us. We can live however we want without any consequence.

I think this attitude of eliminating or ignoring key doctrines is something that we have to be careful with.

What I mean is that theres a tendency in churches today to not talk about anything that that might be

perceived as narrow minded or intolerant. As the person who stands up every week and speaks I feel this

pressure. I know that there are new people to Cedarbrook every week and I dont want their first visit to

church to be offensive to them. But in some churches certain themes have been blacklisted, like; sin,judgment and hell either because we dont believe in them anymore or because we are embarrassed

about them for being politically incorrect.

So we stick to topics like love and forgiveness and how to be a better parent or five steps to a stress free

life (all good, biblical topics). But, do you know what? If you dont believe in sin, judgment and hell, you

dont need a Savioryou just need a life coach!

You see, I think we lack integrity if we dont fully divulge the message of Jesus and only talk about the

part thats socially acceptable. We need to have some truth in advertizing. People join us every week

who are questioning the faith and I dont think its fair to just show them the soft side of Jesus teaching. I

think they deserve to hear the side that might offend them and even cause them to walk away.

People need to know the full story, not just the politically correct version. The full story is that Jesus did

label certain behavior as sin and he didteach that a day of judgment is coming. Jesus even said that there

is a place called hell for people that reject him. Its a highly offensive message. For someone like me that

works at being inclusive and welcoming and non-judgmental, this is hard. But Peter would say that if we


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change the message or ignore certain components of the message to make it more palatable that we are

false teachers. I dont want that.

3. Immoral.Third, false teachers are immoral. When Peter talks about immorality hes primarily talking about sexual

immorality meaning, any sex outside of marriage. He saysTheir idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in

their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they

seduce the unstableappealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature 2 Peter 2:13,14,19

Peter was amazed at what was happening because, in the past, most people reserve their carousing for the

night. But these teachers were so bold that they partied in broad daylight and even at the believers

communion meal. Thats probably what Peter is referring to when he mentions their feast. In those

days, communion wasnt a five minute ritual but a full meal celebrating what Jesus did for us.

Shockingly, these teachers used that meal as a chance to get drunk and chase women.

Can you imagine being Peter, one of the people who sat with Jesus at the Last Supper, hearing reports

back of what was happening at communion meals? I remember years ago when I was a waiterI invited

a waitress friend to church and she came. I was thrilled. And then she went to a Bible study and I was so

excited for her. But then I heard that one of the members of our church hit on her and seduced her after

the Bible study. I was so disappointednot in her so muchthat was the lifestyle she was used to. But I

was disappointed in this guy who had been a part of the church for years. He knew better. But he was just

like these false teachers, using his faith as an excuse to sin.

4. Greedy.Fourth, false teachers are greedy. Greed is an insatiable desire to have more of something usually

money or possessions.In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made upthey are experts in

greed--an accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of

Balaam 2 Peter 2:3, 14,15

Balaam was a prophet in the Old Testament that offered prophecies for a fee. If you wanted to get God to

bless you or to curse your enemy, Balaam was your guyfor the right price. So for Peter to make this

reference to Balaam these false teachers must have been working the people for money in some way.

Again, this must have been hard to stomach for Peter. Jesus told people that foxes have holes to sleep in

and birds have their nest, but Jesus didnt even have a pillow for his head. So to see these teachers not

only distort the message of Jesus but then make money off of it must have been too much to handle.

5. Despise Authority.Next, False Teachers despise authority.

[they] follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. 2 Peter 2:10


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That means they arent interested in submitting their thinking to anyone else. They wont answer to

anyone because they see themselves as the source of truth. They worship at the altar of their own reason

and intellect. They have no interest in submitting to the apostles message. They want to create their own

truth.

You know, this idea of creating your own truth is so much the spirit of this age. But when I was ordainedI experienced something that really challenged this idea. Ordination required a two year process of

reading books and writing papers and then I came before a board of other pastors who quizzed me on my

faith and doctrine. At first I thought it was a waste a timejust some religious hoops to jump through to

get a title that I didnt even care to havebut I remember on the eve of my ordination examine finally

getting what ordination was all about.

Ordination is about proving to your peers that you not only understand the apostolic messagethat

isthe message that has been passed down through the ages starting with Abraham, going through Moses

and David and then Jesus and his apostles. But ordination also proves that you are committed to teaching

the same message that has been taught through the ages. In other words, this wasnt MY message for ME

to teach how I wanted. This was Gods message that I was being entrusted with. I could embrace the

message and teach it faithfully or I could reject it but I couldnt alter it for my own benefit. So I realized

that ordination is about submitting myself to the authority of the apostolic message. Its a holy thinga

sacred trust. And I felt it that night. And I feel it every week as I prepare and preach my sermons.

I hope you see what Im saying here. I think we live in an age that despises authority. We dont want to

submit to the message that has been passed down. We want to create our own truth. We dont like people

telling us what to do and we really dont like people telling us what to think. Most people want to

customize their faithpicking and choosing what beliefs work best for them.

But be careful with that. Im not saying we should just empty our minds and accept the Bible withoutany thought or question. God wants you to question things so that when you finally believe, you believe

deeply. But there is a point where you lose the right to call yourself a Christian if you modify the

message. Do you see that? I think its much more intellectually honest to say that you cant swallow the

Christian faith than to call yourself a Christian and either modify the message or ignore the parts you

dont like about the faith.

My point here is that its not just false teachers who despise authority. I think more of us despise

authority than we care to admit when it comes to the Christian faith. Thats just human nature. And Im

sure Im just as guilty as anyone. So lets be careful how we handle the message.

6. Will be judged.Sixth, Peter tells us that false teachers will be judged. Peter makes it clear that false teachers arent just

off base. They are dead wrongliterally. I counted 14 times in this brief letter where Peter refers to the

judgment that is coming to false teachers. Heres just a sample


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They willbring swift destruction on themselves Their condemnation has long been hanging

over them, and their destruction has not been sleepingBlackest darkness is reserved for them. 2

Peter 2:1, 3, 17

Peter is sounding the alarm here. These guys are headed for the cliff so if you dont want to go with

them, stop listening to them! Paul sounds a similar alarm in his letter to the Galatians.I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ

and are turning to a different gospel-- which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are

throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an

angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be

eternally condemned! Galatians 1:6-8

Paul was just as narrow-minded and judgmental as Peter. There was one apostolic message and either you

believed it or you didnt. But you didnt change it without the threat of destruction.

7. Produce bad fruit.Finally, false teachers produce bad fruit. After listing the seven attributes that we should add to our faith

Peter helps us to see the difference between following his teaching and following the false teaching.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure,

As just a reminderthe qualities hes referring to are goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance,

godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus

Christ.

To be ineffective in your knowledge of Jesus means that what you believe isnt helping you to walk with

God. You might work hard at gaining knowledge about God but if your knowledge is wrong it wont doanything for you.

But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been

cleansed from his past sins.

By following the false teaching you might get to enjoy your desire to sin. It gives you immediate

gratification thats what he means by being nearsighted. But you are blind to what Jesus has done for

you. He came to free you from sin.

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you

do these things, you will never fall,

On the positive side, Peter says if do these things you wont fall and shipwreck your faith. Instead, youll

receive a heros welcome in heaven.

and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ. 2 Peter 1:8-11


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False Teaching Peters Teaching

Ineffective and unproductive Effective and productive

Nearsighted, blind, forgetful Farsighted, mindful, grateful

Cause you to fall away Cause you to stand strong

Doubt your entrance into heaven Be confident about your entrance into heaven

Hopefully, Peter has you convinced that you need to add to your faith. So, next week Ill start unpacking

the seven virtues that Peter says are lacking in the church.

Prayer: Father, you warned us about false teachers. Give us eyes to not only discern false teachers but the

sinfulness of our heart that is willing to listen to alternative messages.

Going Deeper

Use the following questions for personal reflection or to discuss with family, friends or your small group.

1. Talk about a time when you or someone you know stood up for what you/they believed in that was

politically incorrect. What was the reaction?

2. Read 2 Peter, chapter 2. Peter was about to die so he wasn't concerned about being politically

incorrect. From what you've read or heard from Peter, how do you think he was politically incorrect?

How would his message be received by the church at large today?

3. How do Peter's words strike you? What makes you uncomfortable? What gives you hope?

4. Why was Peter so quick to condemn false teachers?5. The Day of Judgment is one of the doctrines eliminated or ignored in the church today. Why is that?

Should we talk about it more or less? Why?

6. False teachers "repackage" scripture to gain followers. What kind of repackaging have you seen in our

culture today?

7. False teachers are immoral and use immoral teaching to gain followers. Read Romans 6;1-7. What

was Paul's take on the teaching that said..."since Jesus conquered sin we are free to sin".

8. Read 2 Timothy 3:13-17. What does Paul say we can do to guard ourselves from false teachers?

9. Our church culture is often quick to reject biblical teaching that doesn't fit with their view of life. We

"cherry pick" what works for us and leave the rest. What do you think Peter would say to the church

today about our view of scripture? Confer with 2 Peter 1:20,21 and note the phrase in vs. 20, "above all".

10. In contrast to the "low road" offered by the false teachers, Peter calls us to take the high road. Read 2

Peter 1:5-11. Which of the four threats to your faith do you struggle with? What can you do to address

them?


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Somethings Missing

Part Three: The Starting PointFaithBy Remy DiederichCedarbrook Church10.18.09

When the weather turns cold my breakfasts often turn from toast to oatmeal. Theres justsomething about a hot bowl of oatmeal on a cold day that I really like. Im not an instantbreakfast kind of guy so I chop up nuts and apples and throw in raisins and cranberries andmaple syrup and sometimes even wild rice. Does anyone else eat oatmeal like that?

Well, I dont know if this has ever happened to you but when I sit down to eat my oatmeal Imoften surprised that it doesnt taste that good. Do you know why? Somethings missing. Doyou know what its missing? Usually salt. Sometimes I forget the sweetner. I throw in all this

good stuff but without the salt or sweetner it tastes like baby food. But when I add those twothingsvoila! Suddenly its got the taste that Im looking for.

Well, I tell you about my oatmeal because Im on the third week of a series Im callingSomethings Missinga final word from Peter. Im looking at the second of two letters writtenby the apostle Peter. And Im calling this series Somethings Missing because thats what Petertold the church. He said churchsomethings missing. You are missing something that shouldbe central to your existence and its making the church like oatmeal without the salt. What wasthe church missing? Godly character. This is what he says.


knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance,

godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 2 Peter1:5-7

Peter says that faith is goodthats the starting point thats the baselinebut God wants totake us beyond faithbeyond merely connecting with God that basic entry-level relationship -to living a life that reveals Gods glory to those around us. God is looking for us to grow up sowe can join the family business so to speak. And the family business involves revealing hisglory that is, Gods greatness to people in our sphere of influence. But in order to grow upwe need to add a few things to our faith. Im looking forward to talking about this more butbefore I do that I want to take today to focus onfaith.

You see, its easy to jump right over faith and just focus on these seven virtues. Faith is thebaseline. Faith is the starting point. And without a good understanding of faith Im afraid wemight mishandle the virtues that Peter told us to add to our faith. We might think that thesevirtues are what make us acceptable to God. But thats not right. What makes us acceptable isour faith. This list is for people that already have faith. People that have already been acceptedby Godalready adopted into his family. So as we walk through these virtues remember thesearent steps to salvation. They are add-ons to our salvation. Peter isnt giving them this list of


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virtues to make them more acceptable. Hes giving them this list to make them more effective.Ill talk more about that in the weeks to come but for today, lets look at faith.

We can learn a couple of things about faith right in verse one.To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have

received a faith as precious as ours 2 Peter 1:1

The first thing here is that faith is something that we receive. The word here for receive meansto obtain something that is granted to you. That means its a gift. Faith isnt something that youearn. Its given to you. Faith isnt something you have to find inside yourself. It comes fromGod.

The second thing this verse tells me is that we are granted faith, not because we did somethingbut because Jesus did something. It mentions that it is through the righteousness of Jesus thatwe receive out faith. The righteousness of Jesus refers to all the good things he did for us incoming to earth, teaching us, dying for us and rising from the dead. Jesus made it possible for us

to even have faith in God.

But just like any gift, we have to receive the gift of faith. We cant be passive. If I give you agift, that transaction isnt really complete until you open it and make use of it.

I know some of us struggle with faith. You dont quite understand it and as a result you struggleconnecting with God. I thought of four kinds of people that struggle to open the gift of faith.

Some people wont open the gift of faith because they dont think they are worthy of it. Theydont think they deserve it. The idea that God wants a relationship with them is too hard tobelieve. And so they dont even try. They leave the gift of faith unopened.

Other people think they arent worthy but hope that if they try really hard that they can convinceGod to accept them so they work overtime at being religious and helpful and moral. They areusually busy at church but they never open the gift of faith because they are too busy striving andtrying to please God.

Then there is another type of person that doesnt open the gift of faith because they thinkChristianity has made it too easy to connect with God. They dont like the thought that anyonecan turn to God. It doesnt seem fair. They want it to be more exclusivethey want people towork for their acceptance with God so it has more value. And so they dont open the gift offaith almost out of protest.

And then theres a fourth group of people that think they have faith because of the good lifetheyve led and all theyve done for God. But the truth is they never did open the gift of faithbecause their faith isnt in Godit is only in themselves. And so they too havent opened the giftof faith. They are too busy looking in the mirror and patting themselves on the back.

There are all kinds of people that havent opened the gift of faith. Maybe you are one of them.


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Jesus told a story once about two of these groups of people and I think it will help give us someinsight into what faith is all about. The story is in the book of Luke, chapter 18. Thats on page718 in the church Bible. He tells the story to make a point about what it takes to find favor withGod. Jesus was talking to some very religious men one day who were also very judgmental.Luke describes it like this

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybodyelse, Jesus told this parable Luke 18:9

Jesus saysTwo men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.Luke 18:10

Now, to the men that were listening to this storythey would have immediately understood thescenario because it happened every day. Twice a day at both dawn and then at 3pm - a lambwas sacrificed and its blood was sprinkled on the altar to atone or to pay for the sins of Godspeople. Then the priest would enter the sanctuary and burn incense. Jews gathered during this

ceremony and offered prayers. So the Pharisee and the tax collector arent randomly going up tothe temple to pray by themselves. They are going for a worship service that revolves around thesacrifice of a lamb.

Now, it was obvious to these men hearing the story which of these two men was more pleasingto God. After all, Pharisees were at the top of the spiritual ladder and tax collectors were at thebottom. Pharisees had everything going for them. They were educated. They read their Bibleand they worked hard at obeying what the Bible taught. So, everyone knew that Pharisees wereGods chosen people.

And of course, the other man was a tax-collectora clear loser. Tax collectors were Jews whoworked for the Romans. They were considered turncoats; sell outs. Everyone hated them. Notonly did they work for the Romans but they earned their living by extorting money from theirfriends and family.

So the men listening to this story must have felt pretty smug assuming they knew where thisstory was headed. They were preparing themselves to be congratulated by Jesus. Lets take alook at these two men.

The first thing we see here is that the Pharisee stands apart.The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself Luke 18:11

The word about can also be translated by himself and thats what many people think thatJesus meant; that the Pharisee stood up and prayed by himself. In other words, he separatedhimself from the crowd of worshippers to make sure he didnt touch any of the sinners and defilehimself.


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Then the Pharisee prays. Now, before we look at his prayer its important to know that goodprayer was considered to have at least one of these componentsconfession of sin thanks forgood things received requests for oneself and others. But look at what he the Pharisee prays

God, I thank you thatI am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even

like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. Luke 18:11,12

Do you notice any problems here? Theres no confession, thanks or requests. His prayer is allabout himself. He refers to himself three times and never once refers to God, basically saying

God, I thank you that I am so wonderful!

Second, his reference point is other people and not God. Rather than talk about how he falls shortof Gods perfection he talks about how much better he is than the sinners. And since he waspraying out loud he made his thoughts known to not only God but everyone else gatheredthere even pointing out the tax collector

Thank you that Im not like THIS tax collector.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of that kind of prayer? Maybe when you were a kidyour parents said grace before the meal and added a few words on your behalf.Oh God, we thank you for this meal. And we thank you for this family. Thank you that

youve given our Jimmy a good mind so that he wont do anything stupid tonight with his

friends and that hell be home by ten oclock, not ten fifteen because you are such a good

God and you would never let him disobey his parents like that!

This prayer starts out being directed to God but you eventually catch the drift that it was more amessage to you.

So, thats what was happening here. The prayer sounded like it was directed at God but wequickly learn that is was really directed at the sinners in his midst. So, after the Pharisee noteshow hes not like the sinners he talks about what he does do. He not only obeys God by givingten percent of his money but he made up his own rule and fasts twice a week. Now giving hismoney and fasting are great habits but notice what he doesnt say. He doesnt talk aboutanything internal, like qualities of character. Everything that he has mentioned has to do withexternal habits.

You see, hes convinced that he has favor with God because of his outward behavior. But youcan be evil to the core and still fast and give away your money. In fact, Jesus criticized Phariseesfor that very thing

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed

tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones

and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as

righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness . Matthew 23:27,28

So, this Pharisee looks religious on the outside but he is totally self reliant. His faith isnt inGod, its in himself. And so, he is not a worshipper of God. He is a worshipper of himself.


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But now look at the tax collector.But the tax collector stood at a distance. Luke 18:13

The tax collector stood at a distance just like the Pharisee but for a different reason. The Phariseestood by himself because he wasproudbut the tax collector stood apart because he was humble.

The Pharisee stood apart because he was afraid of being defiled. The tax collector stood apartbecause he was afraid ofdefiling others.

You see, unlike the Pharisee, the tax collector knew he was a sinner. No one had to point out hissin because he was fully aware of it. It says

He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast. Luke 18:13

He beats his chest. In the Middle East, women occasionally beat their chests at particularlytragic funerals. In the Bible Luke tells us that people beat their chests when Jesus was crucified.1But here, during a simple prayer, this man beats his chest which tells us that he is that moved atthe tragedy of his sin and how it has separated him from God.

Have you ever had a moment when you realized the enormity of your sinhow un-like Godyou wereand how God had every right to distance himself from you? You knew he didnt oweyou anything. And had every right to turn his back on you? Not that God would do that butwhat Im saying is that you felt the weight of your sin as if that were to happen. Thats what thisman was feeling. So he prays

God, have mercy on me, a [the] sinner. Luke 18:13

The text doesnt really say a sinner it says the sinner. The NIV just decided a sinnersounded better but it loses a little meaning. To say a sinner means that he sees himself as justone of many. But to say that he is the sinner means that he isnt comparing himself to anyoneelse. Hes the sinner. He owns who he is. Maybe he even acknowledges the prayer of thePharisee. Im the sinner the Pharisee is talking about.

Now, its interesting to note here that Jesus didnt say that the man was repentingthat he waschanging his ways. His was just sick about his sin. Maybe he felt like he couldnt change.Maybe he felt terrible that he was a tax collectorhe knew it was the wrong thing to dobut hedidnt know any other way to support his family. He felt trapped.

Have you ever been in a situation like that where you hated your life? You wanted to changeyour way but you didnt know how. So you told God how sorry you were but you kept doingwhat you were doing because you didnt know what else to do. I think of poor people that rob tofeed their family. They know its wrong but they also dont want to let their family go hungry.Or I think of a job that I used to have. I was working for a company that I felt was unethical. Iwanted to quit but I didnt have any other source of income so I stayed on, trusting that Godwould show me a way out. I felt this huge tension between pleasing God and survival.

1Luke 23:48


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So, because of this tension, the tax collector prays for mercy. He cant even boast about hischanging his ways. His only hope is Gods mercy.

Now, the word for mercy here isnt the common word thats typically used. The typical word justmeans compassion. But the word for mercy that he uses here has much more meaning. He uses

the word for atonement. And that makes sense in this context because as the tax collector standswatching the lamb being sacrificed he cries out, Oh Lord, make an atonement for me, THEsinner! He realizes that in that moment the only hope he has to be cleansed of his sin and berestored to God is if God does something for him because the tax collector is incapable of doinganything for himself. He needs more than mere compassion. He needs atonement. He needssomeone else to offer a sacrifice for his sin because he cant.

And thats what atonement is God doing for us what we cant do for ourselves. God paying theprice of our sinstaking responsibility for our sin. Its a gift. Its not earned. You dont have tojump through any hoops for it. All you have to do is receive it.

Now imagine being one of the religious men listening to this story. They are probably smirkingat the thought of the tax collector asking God for mercy. What a joke. Everyone knew whatgained favor with Godit was their performance. The lambs were sacrificed for people thatdeserved it, not for good-for-nothings like the tax collector. So imagine their shock when Jesuscloses out the story with this comment

I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. Luke18:14

After these men recovered from their shock they must have been seething mad because no onehad ever discounted them like this beforeat least to their face. To imply that they were notjustified before God went against everything that they had been taught. Who was he to flip thescales and embarrass them by saying that a tax collector was more pleasing to God than theywere?

To be justifiedmeans to be made right with God. Or another word for justified is to be maderighteous. The tax collector was rewarded with righteousness that is, right standing with God-because his faith was in God and not himself.

So faith, not performance, is rewarded with righteousness. But the Pharisee, the guy with stellar,four star performance, was rejected. Why? Because his confidence was in himself, not God.Jesus said

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be

exalted. Luke 18:14

You see, God didnt require the tax collector to live a perfect life in order to be justified. For allwe know, that man went back to the same defeating life of sin that he came with. But what madehim find favor with God was his attitude. He hated his sin. He didnt justify it. He didnt excuseit or minimize it or ask others to do the same. He wanted to be right with God. He just didntknow what to do about it.


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If you are here today and want a relationship with God the good news is that you dont have todo anything to earn Gods acceptance. You dont need to have your act together. He accepts youthe way you are. Some of you need to hear that because you feel like this tax collector. You feellike youve got nothing to offer God.

Didnt Jesus say Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed arethe poor in spiritthe broken down, messed up, up-to-my-eyeballs in sin and failure, cant do itright people of this world. Theirs is the kingdom of God. No ones going to be kept from arelationship with God because of their failure. What keeps you from God is failing to open thegift of faith that hes offered to you.

Now, I should point out something about this gift. I like to think of it as in invitation torelationshiplike an engagement ring. Imagine a woman receiving an engagement ring andthen walking away from the man to enjoy her ring all alone. That betrays the intention of thegift, doesnt it? In the same way, God doesnt offer this gift just so you can pocket the gift andthink you have a ticket to heaven. The gift of faith is an invitation to a life-long relationship with

God. So if you dont want that then dont open the gift. But if thats what youve been lookingfor then tear it open! Theres nothing stopping you. Do it today before you leave this place.

This is good news, isnt it? But this is where Peters letter comes into play becausethe goodnews doesnt stop here. Theres more. The good news doesnt stop with being accepted by God.Jesus accepts you just the way you are but he doesnt leave you that way. He starts to change youinto his likeness. You see, righteousness isnt gained by right behavior but right behavior startsto flow from people that are made righteous.

When you turn your life over to God, God plants a seed in your heart that starts to change youfrom the inside out. And that seed grows into a plant that eventually produces fruit in you godly character character that you never thought you were capable of growing. Thats whatPeter wants us to know. And thats what Im going to talk about next week back in Peters letter.

PrayerJesus, thank you for all that you did to make the gift of faith possible. There are peoplehere today that havent opened your gift for various reasons. I ask that they would now have the

insight they need to open that gift. Help them to accept your invitation to a life-long relationship

and invite your Spirit to come into their life and fill them up to live the life that you created them

for. Amen

Going DeeperUse the following questions for personal reflection or to discuss with your family, friends andsmall group.

1. What are some gifts that you can remember opening and really enjoying? What did you do toearn those gifts?2. How do we try to "pay" for our gifts.3. How do some people try to pay God for their salvation?


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4. Read 2 Peter 1:5-7. What is the danger in lists like this in the hands of religious people?unreligious people? Share any examples you have.5. Now read Luke 18:9-14. Jesus told a shocking story to make a point. What's the point?(Confer Ephesians 1:8,9 and Romans 3:20-24)6. Read Matthew 23:25-28 . Contrast what Jesus sees in the Pharisees with what they see in

themselves.7. Read Luke 18:15-18. How does this story support the story about the Pharisee and the TaxCollector?8. As we prepare to talk about godly character in 2 Peter 1:5-7 we need to have the rightperspective. What is a healthy balanced perspective on the role of godly character and oursalvation?

Somethings Missing

Part 4: Power, Knowledge & EffortBy Remy DiederichCedarbrook Church10.25.09

Lisa and I have three children. We dedicated them all a long time ago! I got to spend a few dayswith my son recently. I flew down to Phoenix where he lives and then we drove up to hike theGrand Canyon for a day. We had a great time. But when I came home I had this nagging feelingthat something was missing. You know, theres something in me that expects to see all three ofmy kids at the same time. Ill probably always feel that. So seeing Nathaniel was good but itmade me really miss my two daughters. They were what was missing in my life.

I mention that just to remind us of what it feels like to be missing something. When somethingsmissing the world isnt quite right and you do what you can to make it right. Thats why I calledmy current sermon series Somethings Missing because we are looking at a letter that theapostle Peter sent to the church. He had this nagging feeling that something was missing fromthe church and so before he died he made sure to tell them to add what that was.


knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance,

godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 2 Peter1:5-7

Whenever you see a list like this you can bet that the opposite was happening. So, instead ofgoodness and godliness there was immorality. Instead of knowledge there was ignorance of thetruth (remember that false teachers were leading people astray). Instead of self-control there wasa church gone wild atmosphere. Instead of perseverance in the face of suffering people weregiving up on their faith and instead of love there was selfishness.


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So Peter tells themCome on guysdont you see? somethings missing. Jesus called you to turn from

sinnot run toward it. You can do better than this.

And so he calls them to add seven virtues to their faith. Like I said last week, these virtues wontmake them more acceptable to Jesus. Hes not telling them to jump through seven hoops in

order to be accepted by God. Its theirfaithin Jesus that makes them acceptable. But if they addthese seven virtues to their faith it will make them more effective for God theyll be a betterwitness.

Now these virtues can be a bit daunting, cant they? I mean, sometimes we read lists like thisand they seem so impossible that we dont even take it seriously. We just keep reading until wefind something more doable. But I want to show you three things this morning that Peter sayswill help you to add these seven virtues to your life and develop godly character. Lets start inverse three

1. We need Gods power to develop godly character. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our

knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3

The first thing we need is Gods power. Gods power has given us everything we need for lifeand godliness. Godliness simply means a life devoted to God. Gods power has given youeverything you need to live a life devoted to God. I wonder if you believe that this morning. Sooften people say, Oh, I cant do that. Im not like that. But Peter says you can. God has givenyou what everything you need.

The Greek word for power is dunamis. Thats where we get the word for dynamite. Godsdunamis is a power that is able to affect change in us. Dynamite does a pretty good job ofaffecting change, wouldnt you say? Gods dunamis does the same thing. Every person who hasasked Jesus to come and live in their heart has the dunamis of God. Its been given to you. Youdont have to work to get it. You dont have to read the Bible to get it. You dont have to go tochurch to get it. You have it if you are Gods child. It came when the Holy Spirit came into yourlife.

Peter wants you to know this. Hes trying to help us put two and two together spiritually. If wehave Gods power living inside of us then it only makes sense that we have the ability to live alife that reflects the nature of the God.

Now, you might be sayingI dont get it. I havent seen this power in my life. I struggle to livethe Christian life. Its a good week for me spiritually if I just make it on Sunday. But after that I

dont do so well. Maybe you can relate to that. Well, there might be a lot of reasons why youare experiencing that kind of power disconnect. But this morning Im just going to give youPeters answer why that might be. Peters word might raise a lot of questions for you. But letsjust see what we can learn.


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So, the first thing we need to develop godly character is powerGods power.

2. We need true knowledge to develop godly character.The second thing we need is true knowledge. Peter says

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through ourknowledge of him who called us

We gain this power through or because of our knowledge of Jesus. The word for knowledgehere isnt a generic, basic knowledge. Its a special word that means true or precise knowledge.Its a word that means accurate or intimate knowledge of Jesus.

How would you rate your knowledge of Jesus? Would you say its a basic knowledge or anintimate knowledge?

Peter tells us that an intimate knowledge of Jesus gives us what we need for godliness. Or, to put

it in the negative, if you have a deficient understanding of Jesus and what he can do for you thenyou wont get the same benefit as someone who as a full understanding.

Now, Peter is giving us a principle that is obvious. We all understand this principle; In order tobenefit from something you have to first know about it. Right? I was telling a friend of mine theother day about one of my favorite restaurants in Hudson, its called The Nova, and he said, Ithought I had been to every good restaurant in Hudson. I didnt know about that one. You see,he never enjoyed that restaurant simply because he didnt know about it. He had generalknowledge of Hudson restaurants. But he didnt have precise knowledge about all therestaurants. But now that he knows about it he can enjoy it.

Simple principle, right? But so easily ignored. You see, we assume that little knowledge gets thesame benefit as full knowledge. We think that our limited knowledge of Jesus is good enough tolive the Christian life. We assume that theres not that much to know. But thats wrong. Theresa lot to know about Jesus and the more you know the more you benefit. And the flip side of thatis you cant benefit from something if you dont know its out there. And so you cantexperience godliness if you dont know that Gods power has given you everything you need toobtain it. So true knowledge is very important. Thats why we need to add it to our faith.

Now, there are two things in this sentence that give us deeper knowledge of Jesus. The firstthing is that his power gives us everything we need for godliness. Thats important to know.And maybe you thats new information for you today. But the second thing we need to know isthat Jesus is full of glory and goodness. You might sayglory and goodness.whats importantabout that? Well, you have to remember that the false teachers were teaching a lower view ofJesus. They may not have even considered Jesus to be God. So lets look at the latter part of thisverse.


knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3


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It says that Jesus calls us by HIS OWN glory and goodness. That means he possesses both gloryand goodness. Glory means the manifestation of greatness. Down in verse 17 Peter reminds usthat he saw the glory of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. I mentioned that story a fewweeks back but Jesus was praying and all of a sudden he was surrounded by a blinding lightrevealing the glory of God. Peter was there and I think it made a lasting impression on him. He

realized that he wasnt dealing with just some insightful teacher. He was dealing with God in theflesh and Peter wants us to know that about Jesus, that he was the God ofglory.

He also wants us to know that Jesus is full of goodness. The word goodness literally meansmoral excellence or moral purity. Peter is making sure that we fully grasp who Jesus is. Heis not just the best person humanly possible. Jesus is God and therefore he is the essence ofeverything that is good and right and just and true.

Now, if Jesus is full of glory and goodness it only makes sense that we are called to be like him.I mean, if you follow Tiger Woods, youre golf game is going to improve. If you follow BillGates your business wisdom will improve. If you were still able to spend time with Mother

Teresa your compassion would improve. We are influenced to become like whomever wefollow.

So Peter is sayinglook, Jesus is full of glory and goodness so it should come as no surprisethat youve been given everything you need for godliness. So, theres an expectation that youll

gradually become more and more like Jesus. Does that make sense?

Peter is purposely contradicting the false teachers of that day. A couple weeks ago we looked atthe false teaching that Peter was trying to correct. The false teachers were saying that you canfollow Jesus and live any kind of life you want. Go ahead and sin. Jesus doesnt care. So Peter isspeaking to that and saying Wait a minute. Jesus is full of glory and goodness and so weshould add that to our faith too.

How does it feel to know that youve been called to glory and goodness? A little intimidating?Maybe up to now you just thought you were called to sit in a meeting once a week on Sunday.Or does it sound like good news? I hope it sounds like good news. If it doesnt sound like goodnews then either Im teaching it wrong or you are hearing it wrong.

You see, Peter is telling us that we dont have to let sin jerk us around. We dont have to feelhelpless in the face of temptation. Weve got power over things like pornography. Weve gotpower over run away anger. We dont have to let food or alcohol control us. We have the powerto control them. If you have received the gift of faith that I talked about last weekif you havethe Spirit of God living inside of youthen Gods power has given you everything you need forgodliness.

I think we often shrink back from talking about glory and goodness because we are afraid thatsomeone might feel judged or shamed so we focus on Gods love and acceptance. But I thinkweve got the wrong idea about Godslove for us. We have interpreted his love as accepting usunconditionally. Now, thats truebut thats only half of it.


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What kind of love accepts someone unconditionally but allows them to stay the same? I mean, ifyou come to me poor and I say that I love you just the way you are thats nice, but dont youhope that Ill help you out of your poverty? I dont think youd feel judged about your beingpoor if I talked about you helping you step out of poverty. I think youd feel encouraged thatsomeone is finally willing to help you out. Or, how about this? If you come to me sick and I tell

you that I accept you unconditionallythats great, but dont you hope that Ill help yourecover? I dont think youll feel judged if I talk to you about your sickness and how you can behealed. I think youd be thrilled that someone believes that your life can be better.

But then why is it, when we change to the topic of morality, that we are often afraid to talk abouthelping people? We accept them unconditionally but we never tell them about how God wantsto help them move from an immoral life to a moral one. But true love does more than accept.True love transforms. Jesus accepts us just the way we are but he doesnt leave us that way.Listen to what Paul tells a church

God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying [lifechanging, cleansing] work of the

Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you

might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:13,14

Im just afraid that we have a very human understanding of Gods love. Imagine sending yourchild to a prestigious school that accepted students no matter what their grade point average was.That would be great. But then imagine that they never expected anything from your child. Theydidnt expect them to attend class. They didnt expect them to study or to graduate and theynever offered any help in improving academically.

So you ask them why that is and they say, Well, we dont want your child to feel condemned.They are a D student and we dont want to shame them but putting any expectations on them. We

just want to love them the way they are.

How would you feel about that? I think youd be outraged. Youd be in an uproar. Youd callthe Better Business Bureau and contact 60 Minutes to investigate. Yet thats exactly how somepeople think Jesus feels about his followers. He loves us so muchaccepting us just the way wearethat he never does anything to change us. He just lets us stay in our sin. What kind of Godis that? Who wants to follow a God that has no interest in making us better people?

Peter wants us to know that thats NOT who Jesus is. True Knowledge tells us that Jesus is fullof glory and goodness and he calls us to the same.

3. We need every effort to develop godly character.The third thing that will help us develop godly character is found in verse fivejust before itlists out the seven virtues. It says

make every effort to add to your faith 2 Peter 1:5

This phrase make every effort means to come along side of someone to work together. And itmeans to work with a sense of urgency, not half-heartedly. I really like how this phrase strikes a


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balance between what God does and what we do. Some people like to say that God does it all.We dont have to do anything. But that just makes for very passive people who usually neverchange. Others act as if God is merely watching us jump through hoops trying to please him.But that just makes for religious people. But Peter says that God comes with the dynamite andwe strike the match that lights the fuse. God gives us everything we need for godliness but we

have to take whats been given and live it out. Its not all God. Its not all you. Its you and Godworking together. I like that. Thats sounds like a relationship to me. And thats what Godwants from all of usa working relationship.

As we take a look at these seven virtues over the next few weeks and what it takes to developgodly character we need to keep these three things in mind. We need Gods power, we need trueknowledge of Jesus and we need to make every effort to see these virtues become a reality in ourlives.

Prayer: Thank you Father for giving us everything we need for godliness. Youve called us toglory and goodness. Help us to claim that calling and live it out.

Going DeeperUse the following questions for personal reflection or to discuss with family, friends and yoursmall group.

1. Remy used the analogy of a school accepting people unconditionally but with the expectationof change. Can you think of other organizations that do the same? Can you think oforganizations that accept people with no expectation of change?2. What has happened that has caused some people to believe that connecting to Jesus and/or thechurch has nothing to do with change?3. Have you seen a change in your life since making a connection with Jesus or the church? Or,maybe you've experienced some frustration in not being able to change. If comfortable, shareyour thoughts with your group.4. Remy talked about how "true knowledge" of Jesus helps us change. What is it about his gloryand goodness that helps us change? Are there others things you know about Jesus that help youto change?5. Read 2 Thessalonians 2:13,14 . Note the use of the word "through". How does this word helpus understand God's goal of sharing his glory with us?6. Read 2 Peter 1:3-5. Peter mentions the word "given" twice yet he also tells us to "make everyeffort". Is this a contradiction? Why or why not?7. Read 1 Corinthians 10:31. How does our study broaden your understanding of this verse?8. Consider these verses; 2 Corinthians 3:18, Colossians 1:27, Romans 9:23, 1 Peter 2:9 if there'stime.


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Somethings Missing

Part 5Moral ExcellenceBy Remy DiederichCedarbrook Church11.1.09

Theres been a lot of scandal in the news over the last yearespecially financial scandal. Lastweek on the TV show 60 Minutes (10.25.09 broadcast) they featured an attorney by the name ofMark Dreier2 who was recently indicted for stealing $400 million dollars in a securities fraud. Ithought wed take a look at him today for some teaching points.

It was interested to learn how smart this guy was. He didnt need to steal to get ahead. Dreierwas educated at both Harvard and Yale law schools and some judges said that he was the bestattorney that they had ever had in their court room. But in his interview Dreier admitted that he

had an ambition that he needed to feed. He wanted to become as successful as he believed hedeserved to be. Did you hear the pride in that statement? as successful as he believed hedeserved to be. So he aggressively grew his law practice and lived the good life with numeroushomes, beach houses and toys, including an 18 million dollar yacht. But he couldnt afford thelifestyle that he thought he deserved so to fund all this he created an investment fund. The onlyproblem was, it was fake. It didnt really exist, except on paper. He just collected money fromeveryone without ever investing it until he was caught.

Reflecting on his crime he said that when you start doing something that you know is wrong you just go ahead and hope you can dig your way out of it. But he said he couldnt. He just keptgetting in deeper and deeper, like quicksand. Every time he stole money he thought it would be

the last time. But it never was. And to make things worse, the fame and the good life wereintoxicating. When asked how he could deceive and betray so many people he saidI discovered once you cross a gray line its much easier to cross a black line. Vanity Fair,November 2009

In other words, once he started down the slippery slope of compromising his morals it got easierand easier to do the wrong thing. He said he wished he could say that he winced every time helied but he didnt. When asked why he concocted his investment fraud he said,

I wanted to just, well, appease myself. Well, not appease myself. Gratify myself I was

very, very caught up in seeing the criteria of success in terms of professional and

financial achievement, which I think was a big part of the problem. But I thought it would

make me happy. And I wanted to be happy again. Vanity Fair, November 2009

He just wanted to be happy. Well, you cant blame him for that. We all want to be happy dontwe? But his ambition didnt lead him to happiness, did it? It was just the opposite. His ambitionled him to shame and now hes lost everything. Hell be in prison the twenty years.

22Vanity Fair also had an extensive interview and article with Dreier in their November 2009 issue.


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Id imagine that there are more than a few of us here who can relate to what hes saying. Yousee, Dreier isnt some alien dropped from Mars. Hes not talking about something that we cantrelate to. His desires for happiness and success are a part of what it means to be human. ButDreiers problem was he couldnt stop himself. There were no checks and balances in his life.

He was like a runaway train and the only way run away trains stop is when they leave the tracks.Some of you know what thats all about.

You see, something was missing in Dreiers life. He was missing what the Bible calls moralexcellence. Moral excellence is the compass that guides our decision making. Its theconscience that is able to apply self-control to your ambition. Without moral excellence its onlya matter of time before you crash and burn.

But Dreier was missing something besides moral excellence. He was missing self-awareness andan understanding of his own dark side. Do you have a good understanding of your dark side?You see, we may not like to admit it, but we all have a dark side and we are all capable of being

a Mark Dreier. Its hard wired into our DNA. And if we are ignorant of that fact and take noprecautions against it we are an accident waiting to happen. My guess is that God brought someof you here today because you are an accident waiting to happen and he wants to use me to warnyou.

I mention this story because we are in the middle of a series called, Somethings Missing. Itsa look at a letter in the Bible that was written by the apostle Peter to the church. In fact, youmight want to turn there right now. Peter was concerned about where the church was headedbecause he noticed that something was missing in their character. The church had been listeningto false teachers teachers that said you can follow Jesus and live however you want to live.And to Peters horror the church started to follow the lifestyle of these false teachers whichconsisted of sexual immorality and greed as well as other things Im sure.And so Peter writes the church and challenges them to add whats missing to their faithstarting with the most basic or obvious quality, moral excellence, plus six more virtues endingwith love, the quality that most reflects the nature of God.

As I read Peters letter I hear echoes of Jesus Sermon on the Mount. Peter was on the mountainthe day that Jesus laid out his vision for a new people of God and he heard Jesus say thesewords

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your

Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

You see, Jesus passion and Peters passion was for Gods people to live lives that drew attentionto how great God is. I meanif you really want to boil things downthats what Jesus andPeter and the Bible are all trying to get us to doto put God at the center of everything we doand make his name great. Life isnt about making OUR name great. That was Marc Dreiers bigmistake. Life is about making Gods name great. God gave Dreier an incredible amount of talentand intelligence to make HIS name great and Dreier shot the whole wad on making himself


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great. And when we finally understand that life is about making Gods name great we are wayahead of the game. Thats when life finally starts to make sense.

Peter says we can help to make Gods name great by adding moral excellence to our faith. Andthe good news is that God helps us to do that. Lets look at verse 4

[God] has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil

desires. 2 Peter 1:4

This is an incredible promise. God offers to share with us his divine nature. I hope youappreciate what hes saying. If you were here last week I had you imagine what it would be liketo follow Tiger Woods or Bill Gates or Mother Teresa. I said that anyone who followed one ofthese people would be bound to improve at least a little. My point was that if you are trulyfollowing Jesus that you will start to take on some of his qualities.

As I thought about that analogy I realized that it probably didnt work for some of you. Some of

you were probably pushing back in your mind, thinking No Remyyou dont understandit doesnt matter how much time I spent with TigerWoods - I would never become a better golferI have zero talent.

Or you may have thoughtNo RemyI am so bad at handling my finances that even if I spent every day with Bill

Gates Id still be in debt.And, yeah, if you thought that, youre probably right. Just because you spend time with someonedoesnt mean theyll rub off on you.

So heres the NEW and IMPROVED version of this analogy. What if Tiger Woods, Bill Gatesand Mother Teresa were able to share with you their nature? What if Tiger could give you histalent? What if Bill could give you his wisdom? What if Mother Teresa could give you hercompassion? Would that change things for you? I bet it would. Why? Because yourconfidence wouldnt be in yourability to learn from these people. Suddenly your confidencewould be in theirability to work in you. Right?

Just imagine the excitement youd have approaching each shot knowing that Tiger Woods hadshared his nature with you. Imagine approaching business decisions knowing that you sharedBill Gates nature. Or imagine walking into situations filled with hurt and pain knowing thatMother Teresa had shared her compassion with you? It changes everything doesnt it?

Well thats what Peter is telling us here only its in regard to God. As followers of Jesus we areable to face moral situations with confidence because we know that God shared his nature withus the minute that Jesus came into our lives.

So, this is great news. God has given us the power to live a godly life. But now look at the endof this verse. Peter gives us an insight into our dark side that I think should help us understandthe battle that is challenging Gods divine nature in us.


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[God] has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may

participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil

desires. 2 Peter 1:4

Understanding these words is critical to our being able to add moral excellence to our faith. So,

lets start by looking at the words evil desire here. Other translations use the word lust orsinful desires. The word (epithumos) literally means a hot passion (thumos, the word wherewe get thermometer or thurmos) that turns on (epi) something of desire. Its that desire insideof you thats gotta have something and wont take no for an answer. Its the ambition thatMark Dreier said needed to be fed. Peter calls it evil desire.

Peters ministry buddy was the apostle James and James also talked about the power of evildesires in the letter that we have from him

each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives

birth to death. James 1:14,15

Let me map this out for us. Evil Desires + Temptation = Sin >matures> Death. The interestingthing about this verse is that our evil desires are not only whats tempted but also the tempter.James says that we are tempted by our own desire when it drags us (compels us to come out of aplace of protection) to an opportunity to sin. Its like our desires go out and look for ways to betempted. It works against us coming and going.

And heres the bad news; weve all got evil desires. I dont care who you are or what church youattend or how much you read the Bible. If you have a pulse you have evil desires. And thosedesires will always have an opportunity to become a reality. You can count on that. It may notbe today or tomorrow but for every evil desire there is an opportunity waiting in the wings.

James says that when you choose to engage your desire you become pregnant with sin. Thats aninteresting analogy. Pregnancy is full of excitement and anticipation isnt it? When sin isconceived we are often full of excitement and anticipation, arent we? We probably wouldntwant to admit it. But its true. Even after sin is birthed things still might seem good. We continueto justify it and tell others that its not really sin. So we continue in it. But as sin matures we seeits true nature, like a fruit tree that finally bears fruit and revels what kind of tree it really is, andits fruit is death.

I think Mark Dreier would agree with that. He was excited at the thought of all the happinessthat wealth and fame would bring him. People around him knew that he was up to know goodbut he was convinced that he was merely doing what successful people do

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