Turn in your Bibles to 2 Peter, 2 Peter in the first chapter. We're traveling on now where we have been and where we are not stuck. We are digging down, drilling down and really getting the most of what we can hopefully out of this passage. And we've come really to the end of verse 5 and verse 6 where we're discussing these qualities of Jesus Christ. These qualities that will provide effectiveness and fruitfulness and hopefulness and a rewarding life in the sense that God means it and protect you from the false teachers because if you're growing in these things in your character, you won't want what they're selling. And so we've been looking at this, and we're going to go ahead and stand for the reading of the word, if you will. Last week we talked about the first of these qualities, because this faith is given to you. When it says obtained, it doesn't mean you get it, like I went out and got myself faith. It means given. Like cast by lot, the word means in the Greek there. In other words, you've been given this. You've been given this faith, now what do you do with that faith? And the first one was virtue. And virtue means action. Virtuous action, like the hero, the virtuous hero, right? But, it's not by itself. All these work together. Remember I talked to you last week when you see these seven characteristics that we add to our faith? Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love, they're all meant to work together, sort of like a dancing chorus. Okay? But they serve as a diagnostic, and if we are doing these things, wonderful. If not, we start sliding back. But there's something going on with this virtue, and that's what we'll look at today. We'll look at how knowledge, self-control, and steadfastness relate to the zeal. If you don't understand what I've said so far, you will. I'll put it all in just one little sentence, right at the beginning, right at the end. And this will help you. Understand how to overcome some of the sin in your life and how to stick with it and how to stop Tilting at windmills as it were So we'll call this message virtue with knowledge virtue with knowledge Does no good to box the air You know Shadow boxing be the greatest shadow boxer in the history of the world, but you got to get in the ring with somebody You know what I'm saying? I can dunk Nerf basketball still at 50 years old, but put me on a court and you'll find out the truth. Zeal must be directed by true knowledge. Otherwise, you're just going through motions and wasting your time. 2 Peter 1. I'll read verses 1 through 9. 11 remember verses 1 through verse 1 is him saying I'm just like a Jew. I'm like a Gentile I'm an apostle I'm a slave all these things everybody's included you have the same faith if it's been given to you And he says this is what you need grace and peace to be multiplied in your life This is how to do it. This is what Jesus has done. This is what you do and you can do it Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power is granted to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him who has called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us precious and very great promises, so that through them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and increasing, they keep you from being effective and unfruitful in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." I'm going to stop right there. I'm sorry, but you see that and you think, well, it's just adding stuff. This is just me trying hard again. No, this is based on what he has done. And then you begin to walk this out and find that he has put this in you. He doesn't make it happen automatically so that you have a relationship with him as you walk these things out. You see that, guess what? Jesus is in you, and you start living Him out. And that proves to you that you are saved, and proves to you that the Bible is true, and that Jesus is true, and that you can and are changing. And that's what makes you effective. These great and precious promises, this partakers of the divine nature, guess what it is? It's the very thing He points out in verse five through seven. That's what it looks like. Well, the promises of God, and I heard Him say to me one day, no, no, no. He said to Peter one day, and Peter wrote it down one day, and said, I'm going to tell you till I die. And even, you need to get a little more excited than that. Get that frown off your face. You can change. And he says, you can make every effort. Why? Because it's already in you. It's already in you. And you live it out. And that's what virtue is, living out what he has put in. So let me finish. If these qualities are yours and are increasing, how much you have. Are they in you? Are you walking in them? They keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted he's blind, having forgotten he was cleansed from his former sins. Let's go ahead and be seated. Father, I guess I could go all day, but Lord let me use this time. Use me in this time. to speak what you would have me speak. For your glory and in your name, Lord Jesus, amen. All right, I mentioned before about Don Quixote, Emanuel Cervantes, and if you've never read it, it's incredible, and most people know the story. Here's this man, and he's just a little touched in the head, and he thinks that these windmills are giant demons and things like that, so he goes tilting at them, you know, with his lance and going at them, and he has all the zeal in the world, and he's telling his sidekick Sancho, no, we must go, and of course Sancho's like, you are a nut. But he's the boss and all that, so he tilts at these windmills and what happens? He gets hurt. You're not going to kill a windmill. It's an inanimate object. He has all the zeal in the world. I mean, imagine, you know, I mean, you know, I'm five foot tall. You've got about five foot two or whatever, five, you know, I'm not, I'm not touching you. You're too big, you know, everybody's six foot tall to me. But here's a guy going at these, however tall a windmill is, 50, 60 feet more. Yeah, exactly. Napoleon was 5'6", by the way, so he wasn't short, he was tall. Anyway, the point is, is he's tilting at windmills. He has all the zeal in the world, but it is not directed with knowledge. Have you ever done that? You get a kid that comes home from school and he's got all the knowledge in the world and he learns that the sun is 93 million miles from the earth and so now he's smarter than the fifth grader or whatever and you know he's going to build a rocket ship and that's good but he's still going to have to learn differential equations and calculus and all the statistics and all these other things if he's going to put that knowledge. We can have a zeal but it must go somewhere. Does that make sense? Many times we can have a zeal, we're all excited about something and yet it's not It's going to actually help us. Or sometimes we have zeal. And we're all excited about it. We're preaching this thing. And yet we don't apply it to ourselves. There's a famous man out there. Global warming, global warming, global warming, carbon emissions. And then he goes out flying in these planes that cause more emissions than the rest of us put together in a year. You know what I'm saying? Like I can say, you know, do this, do this, do this, and I'm not doing it. And I'm not just beating myself up, practice what you preach, but that doesn't do you any good. Do you really believe it? One of the things I really liked about one of the broadcasters many years ago on the radio, and I'll just give a hint to who he is, the rest of the story. He didn't advertise products unless he used them. That was my understanding, right? And so, you know, if he advertised it, that was like gold, right? And see, the thing is, is people have this zeal, but they don't really know what they're talking about. Or they have this zeal, and they're trying to get everybody else into it, but they don't really, it's like when somebody gets in one, oh boy, here I go. One of these multi-level marketing things, here we go. The multi-levels are the market, you get that, right? Just think about the title of it. It's not gonna sell on the regular market, because you are the market, you are the target. Duh. Anyway, sorry. But people, they want you to get to that thing with all the big sales and everything like that because they don't believe in it enough themselves. They're trying to get you to help them feel better about themselves. Don't I look good? Don't I look good? Whatever. People do it all the time. They have zeal. They don't know what they're talking about. Or they have zeal and they don't apply it to themselves, you know. Oh, you got to use this shampoo. You got to use this shampoo. And you go to their house and they're using something else. Right? They're going to make this huge commission because they're selling this stuff and they don't use it themselves. I'm not trying to pick on any multi-level marketing. Boy, I'm gonna get letters on that one, bud. Maybe I'll get letters. Anybody listening anymore? I don't know. That'll go to our next thing. That goes to our next thing. People have zeal, but they don't have steadfastness. They don't stick with it. Oh, I'm on this new fad diet. And oh yeah, this and all this and all this and all that. And then next month, oh, this new book, this new book. Oh, this book is so great, Janie, we gotta teach this. Why? We've got a book. What in that has been exciting you? I'm giving you cheat sheet answers. Well, how's the Bible been? Well, 2 Peter 1, you know. But you know what I'm saying? People say, what is your favorite chapter and verse and all that? The one I'm in now. I'm not trying to be super spiritual, all that. I'm saying, really, are you getting in there? Are you digging something out? I heard Steve talking about it at Sunday school today, you know? And he was saying, you know, you stay down in there. Get some gold out of there. There's more in there than you think that there is. Don't beat yourself up over it. Just find something that's really appealing to you. And over time, more and more and more and more and more will. But we have people that aren't steadfast. It's just like, you get somebody. Well, I mess around with our grandchildren. I say, OK, who's the boy band now? And it's five seconds to saucy summer or something like that. And I don't know. I'm getting more letters. Now I'm going to get them from my own family. Or 17 Direction or whatever they are, you know. I'm playing with you now. I know who that is. But you get my point. Then two years from now it's what? Then three years from now it's what? I'm not mad at kids, but that's what kids do! They're being developed and learning how to process things. They're going from one thing to the next, to the next, to the next. And are adults supposed to do that? The answer is no. So people have a zeal. They've got all this zeal, and then they drop out. They don't stick with it. Why is that? What's going on? This passage today is going to talk to you about how that works. Not going to be everything about that, but remember where we are. In verses 1 through 4, Peter is talking. He has one last chance to fire off. First Peter, he talked about, look, these are the threats from the outside. Then in 2 Peter, he goes, I got a few more minutes. I'm going to write something down. This is what's going to happen on the inside. People are going to make merchandise of you. People are going to try to sell you on a bill of goods and get you focused on the wrong things and not who Christ is and what he's done. And when you do that, then you can be effective. Then you can be fruitful. And I'll show you exactly what it looks like. I'm not saying don't read the rest of the Bible. I'm saying get this down in your soul and you'll see the big picture of the Christian life. Because the Christian life is not the teachings of Christ. The Christian life is Christ. And it says, your grace and peace are multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? I know that he was 33 years old. He was born, you know, in Bethlehem of Galilee, Nazareth, all these other things. And he did this. OK, those are good things. That's part of knowledge. But it's talking about a life experience. And the great thing is Peter doesn't leave you alone to tell you what the life experience is. It's right there. That's the beautiful thing. And so here we are, looking at these qualities, and we talk about this virtue, which means this moral excellence, but it's this moral power, this zeal to do what you know. But if you don't know what to do, you can have all the zeal in the world, and you're doing the wrong thing. Don Quixote. Or you can have all the zeal in the world, but you don't apply it to yourself, and it's not doing you any good. Other people might be doing great. Judas healed people. Judas raised people from the dead. Judas preached Jesus Christ, and people were converted. Judas went to hell, right? And you could be someone that starts, but doesn't finish like Demas. Demas has forsaken me, having loved this world. Wow. So let's look at these and continue on. Let me give you a little, I said something I was going to do, here it is. This is what verses five through six look like where we go on and where we'll finish up today. When you have a faith that zealously pursues moral excellence, that's your virtue, guided by a spiritual discernment that seeks self-control, that's where we're going, it produces a patient endurance under temptation that won't succumb to sin, but rather it clings to joyful hope in God. Now you're saying, what is all that? That's our little intro. That's our thesis statement. That's what we're going to show how to get to. Anybody interested in that? Okay, so let's look at this. Anybody with me? It says, and virtue with knowledge. Now this is speaking of spiritual, biblical knowledge. You need to have your mind enlightened about spiritual truth. You transform how? By the renewing of your mind. Romans 12, 2. You are supposed to be doing what? Ephesians 4, 23. Being renewed in the spirit of your mind. We can go on and on. The point is, before you can fully engage in what's morally excellent, you have to know what that is. You have to know what that is, and how to do it. This involves a diligent study and pursuit of biblical truth. So, yes, knowledge does mean biblical knowledge. But it's not just head knowledge, it's how you live this thing out. So I'm not worried about how many verses you know, I'm worried about what are you living. And specifically, how about this right here? So you don't have to confuse yourself. Peter tells you right here what this looks like. If virtue implies a moral excellence that zealously acts out what it knows, then knowledge implies getting to know more excellent things so you can act them out more excellently. Okay? Now when it comes to the character of Christ being conformed in you, this blueprint of the Christian life, this blueprint of Jesus Christ, this faith, this virtue, and this knowledge are all related. You see, where there's faith, there ought to be zeal. You know the truth about Jesus Christ, you do want to tell people. Right? You know the faith about Jesus Christ, you know that I've got something that money can't buy, poverty can't lose, no one can steal, death can't stop, the devil can't touch, and I'm not ultimately going to mess up, and no matter what kind of bad news I'm having to deal with, it cannot drown out the good news I have to enjoy. So you have faith, and there should be zeal. But it's got to be a zeal that's rightly informed and rightly inspired. Let me give you the classic example of what that isn't. Romans 10, and we'll look at verse 1 through 4. Just a couple places today. One in Romans and the other in Titus chapter 1, so you can put your finger in those. Let me just read this, and most of you know this passage. Brothers, this is Romans 10 verse 1. My heart's desire, this is Paul, and prayer to God is for them, he means the Jews, is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God. but not according to knowledge. Remember what Jesus said in the Gospels? He says, you go over mountain and valley and hill and dale and, you know, He described it, you know, the seas and all that. You make them twice a child of hell as they were before. is for being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. They had a zeal but not according to righteousness. There are many cults out there that will knock on your door on Saturday and have much more zeal and we have much to learn from them in that respect. And yet they do so denying cardinal truths of the faith that God has revealed Himself to be. Because with zeal without knowledge, zeal without a growing knowledge, it's... Well, what was it doing to the Jews? What did Paul say? Right? So spiritual laziness is not a good character quality. Well, I'm just, you know, I couldn't make it to church. I just, you know, my Bible, I don't know. If you don't move forward, you slide back. This thing does not stand still. He goes, if these qualities are yours, and they are in Christ, and are increasing, not how far, how fast, how great are you, I'm not doing it as good as you, you're not doing it as good as me. It's not about that. It's are you on the road? That's all. Then see how much they're increasing. It says, if they're using increasing, that's what gives you effectiveness. That's what gives you fruitfulness. And what's the fruitfulness? It's the stuff itself. Verses 5 through 7 itself. If these things are happening, and they are, and you're moving in them, that's what makes you hopeful. That's what will make you steadfast and all these other things. It all relates to each other. It's all one thing. You have been given faith. Now live faithfully. What does that mean? Oh, I've got the power to withdraw storms. You know, no. I've got the power to withstand storms. Spiritual laziness is not a good character quality. No. But so is a red-hot passion for things that aren't true. Or things that are foolish and are futile. Boy, I'm doing so good. I got so much money. Woo! I'm making so much cash. Yeah! Woo! I got all this. And yeah, yeah! And it's monopoly money. You understand what I'm saying? Well, wow, I've got this, I've got this, and yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and woo, I've got all this, and it's Confederate money. Well, the Confederate states have been gone for a hundred and whatever years. It doesn't spend. It's futile, right? Wow, I'm fixing up this car, and I got this car revved up, and it's somebody else's car. And you're going to get arrested for being on their property or whatever. Well, they'll probably be happy, but it doesn't do anything for you. I mean, it makes you feel good, but you get my point. People spend their time with zeal, and they do red hot for stuff that doesn't matter. Don't you tell your children that all the time. Don't you tell your children's children that and tell them children don't be like your mom and dad. Sorry. I'm just blowing it today, man. Wow. Man, we're having a backwards revival. Red hot passion for things that aren't true are foolish or futile. It's heartbreaking to see fired up believers and they're fired up and they have good motives. They have good motives, but they waste their time or deceive themselves and others with such thoughts and pursuits. Oh, you got to see this movie. You got to see this book. And I'm not saying don't read the movie, don't see the book, but I'm like, they don't really get excited about scripture. It's supposed to be pointing them to the truth about God and it presents something that isn't the truth about God. And so they think, oh, but it makes you feel good about God. So? But, but, but, but, but the ends and the means matter, folks. I'm going to get there. I'm going to get there. You see, having strong feelings about God can be good. But what God are we talking about? Even if it's the real God. A relationship with God must not come at the expense of Christianity as an established body of truth. The faith once delivered for all to the saints. That is Jude. These people that say, I've got this new revelation from God, dismiss them entirely immediately. immediately. That's what he goes on to say in verses 16 through 21. Again, for example, fictional stories or devotional books that aim to bring people closer to God, those are fine. They're fine. But they must not be at odds with biblical truth. Well, God told me this now and this, and it goes against what the Bible says. And look, if you're saying something, if it's already been said, then Okay, wait a minute. If it agrees with the Bible, you already have it. If it doesn't agree with the Bible, you don't need it. Verses 16 through 21 talk about the fact. He says, look, now, I didn't just make this up. I was on the Mount of Transfiguration. Verses 16 through 21, I was on the Mount of Transfiguration. I heard God speak, right? He's the one that gave the sermon at Pentecost. Peter had more experience than anybody. And he goes, we have something better than that. He's saying, you know what's better than all these experiences and you had a mountaintop experience with God? This Word. That's what he says flat out. He has, we have the word made more sure. So before you go out chasing all these experience, I'm going to go to this conference and that conference, and oh, that preacher was anointed, and oh, JD did this, and oh, let's follow everything this, and let's do it. Look, look, look, look, look, look, look, it's about the scriptures. Oh, the Holy Spirit. You know what the Holy Spirit's masterpiece is? Let's see, the scriptures. Where are you saved? You're putting God in a box. Thank God he put himself in a box. And there's much more life there than you admit, and you want to see. It's verses 5 through 7 right there. If you're in a spiritual interview with the boss, and he says, okay, what's going on in your life? Well, you know, I find myself growing in this, my faith is zeal, you know, and with knowledge, and wow, you know, and self-control, and steadfastness, and godliness, and brotherly affection, and love. Who in their right mind is going to fault you on that? Only a false prophet that says, you're missing something. You don't have enough. You could do this. You could get this. You could use God to get this. They're not going to say it that way. Oh, if you really had faith, then you would have this. If you really had faith in your business, this. If you really had faith in your children, this. If you really had faith, let me tell you, if you really had faith, this. This. Because he's dying. Remember the context. And he says, I've got this last shot to give it to you. Here it is. You want to focus on something? Focus on this. And he doesn't focus on Bible study, prayer, evangelism, and all that. But I'm going to get to that. Anybody with me? There's a lot of books and a lot of songs, a lot of movies, a lot of preachers, a lot of teachers, and such things that have wise insights. They deal with root issues. But just because someone can identify your problem doesn't mean they give you the right solution. If the intention of a book, a movie, or a story, you know, again, a good diagnostic's not the same thing as a remedy, folks. If something is meant to foster a trust in God's love and His goodness, that's commendable. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. That's a good thing. But it's not good when the theology through which it is steeped seeks to establish that trust is unsound. True biblical virtue must be grounded in true biblical knowledge. Otherwise, you know, you want to beat the demons and you're going to go at it with all this zeal and you're tilting at windmills. You're going at the wrong thing. Okay? We're just on the first. We're looking at three today. I'll try to move on here. You can be involved in good activities, but if they don't lead you to the right actions, they're not worth it. They're not worth it. Again, when you look at verses 5-7, notice Peter doesn't focus you on some particular activity like Bible study, prayer, giving, evangelism, taking the sacraments, or church attendance. Although I might wish he did. Okay, we're not still with me? Okay. Now those activities are important means to an end. But if you don't experience what they're intended to lead you, they're just empty exercise for you. You can be giving and going to church and talking to people about Jesus, this, that, and the other thing, and if you're not growing in this character here, you're missing it. You're missing it. But you can't turn that around. Watch me now. You can't turn that around and say, well, since it's good for people to get closer to God, then whatever it takes to get them there is good also. That's perverse. That's like saying, because we know, and I got something called, yes, your baby's in heaven. Because we know that children that die in infancy and all that are going to heaven, right, that means we should abort all babies. Right? That's perverse, right? That's twisted logic. Same thing here. People say, well, it gets them closer to God. What God are you talking about? One that looks like Aunt Jemima? Right? One where the Holy Spirit, I'm just going off now. Everybody knows what I'm talking about. I'm just going to get more letters. Today's letter day. You get my point? I know people get excited about that, but you should be getting excited about the Word of God as a revelation. Yes, getting you closer to God is a good thing, but don't stop there. Actually get closer to Him and realize that, wait a minute, shouldn't I want that done in the right way? I mean, I've gone to battle with lots of people, and they've gone to battle with me, and people say, you know, but at least, you know, they're attending church now, but yeah, well, is that the goal? I mean, I want them here, too, and give me your money, please. But, you know, is that really what's going on? Or is it that they want to have this zeal with knowledge, with self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love? And as we go through these, you'll see how he defines them. Because love is not just this, oh, well, you know, they're loving people. They're loving people. Love is love. No, love is not love. God is love. Love isn't God. You know what love is? Self-sacrifice. Jesus said, this is love. The Son loved you and gave himself for you. Galatians 2.20. Ephesians 5.2. We're supposed to be like Christ who loved us and gave himself to God, right? No greater love is a man than this. A man lays down his life for his friends. What's 1 Corinthians 13? All those 15 verbs there? None of them are feelings. They're all actions. Actions. Should you have feelings, you know, Philadelphia, you know, brotherly love, feeling of love, phileo, you know, agape is action. Action. Action. That's what love is. And so what does love look like? You're looking like Jesus. What does Jesus look like? You know what he looks like? He looks like a man of faith that has, what, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. It's faith stretching into love. That's how it works. If you got that going on, don't let me beat you up about nothing. You got that going on, you're probably in the right church. You got that going on, even if you're in the wrong church, you can help make that a right church. You got that going on, then things are working out the way they need to. You got that going on, then even when bad stuff is going on in your life, because sometimes it will, it's not harming what you got going on. It just proves that you've got it. Hear me? When you're shaking the tree, what fruit comes down? Because things will always shake your tree. You get my point? This passage is so vital to your Christian life. But virtue, this zeal, you think, I've, you know, I went to a meeting and they said, you know, stop listening to records, so I burn all my records. Yay, and you wind up burning the Billy Graham record too with it. What are you doing, you know? I'm just making this up, but you get my point. You've got to have zeal with knowledge. Again, both the ends and the means to it matter. Now, talking about adding knowledge to your virtue, you know, truth to your zeal, You've got to realize that Jesus isn't just trying to make you busy. A lot of people are busy. A lot of people need to slow down. As an individual believer, as a church, you can have a tremendous amount of zeal, involved in many activities, and be as busy as you can be. Let me just tell you something. You're going to get your kids involved in everything that they want to do, and everything you think you're doing a great, great job, and blah, blah, blah. It's not about keeping your kids busy, it's about giving them direction. How many more letters can I invite today? Let's see. Yeah, fan mail. You can be as busy as you can be, but that's not what Jesus is looking for. That's not what he's looking for. The kind of virtuous zeal he wants is the kind that's zealous to know the truth and live out that truth. Not knowing all truth, you're not going to know everything, but what do you know? Are you living up to that? Oh, I already know all that already. Stop telling me that and start doing it. Getting to understand the truth means you're developing discernment. Remember, that's what he's talking about in this book of 2 Peter. That people on the inside are going to try to take advantage of you. They don't even know what they're talking about, but if you do, you won't fall for them because they're selling you stuff you don't want. You learn not to fall for the false, the faithless, the foolish, and the feudal. And so many times I try to logically tell you and biblically tell you, look, these people stink, these people are good, or these people, we gotta figure it out, or they're on their way, we haven't got it all figured out, but this is the grade you look at, and all these things, and you get confused, but if you are living it, you won't even have to have me tell you, you'll know! You'll know! Because wherever God is moving, Satan is right there to try to stop it. First parable Jesus talked about. Because it's in there, people get excited, but the cares of the world choke out the word. Again, Peter's saying that you're to furnish your faith with an active zeal that's guided and guarded by an increasing understanding of the truth. That's what adding knowledge to virtue means. Can I say that again? All right. An active zeal that's guided and guarded by an increasing understanding of the truth. Doesn't say calculus. One plus one is two. Two plus two is four. Don't beat yourself up by how far you haven't gotten. Just get on the right road and start going. If these qualities are yours, they are, and they're increasing, that's what keeps you effective and fruitful. Just start growing. That's all. Knowledge with self-control. You see how these feed into each other? It's not add one then add the other. It's this virtue is guided by knowledge. This knowledge is guided and guarded by self-control. Are you with me? This is related to your knowledge. Just as zeal must be controlled by knowledge, so too that knowledge must be applied to yourself. You can have a zeal that's rightly informed and inspired, yet not rightly focused. You can be keen to point others to the truth and point out where they're wrong and not do right yourself. Yikes. You can have your doctrine right, but your practice wrong. This desire, this virtue, this zeal must be guided and guarded by knowledge, and that knowledge must be directed to your own personal walk with the Spirit. Paul says, how dare I teach you these things and then myself become a castaway? You're supposed to be able to teach truth and refute error. Especially if you're a leader in the church, otherwise you're letting falsehood flourish. So you do point out the wrong. I'm just going to turn to Titus real quick, and you don't have to turn there, but chapter 1, verse 9-11. Talking about elders here, but it applies to anybody. He must hold the firm, the truth of the trustworthy word as he's taught, so that he may be able to give instruction and sound doctrine, and also able to rebuke those who contradict it. It is part of my job to tell you what isn't right. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they're upsetting whole families, by teaching for shameful gain, for shameful gain, for shameful gain, what they ought not to teach. I'm going to describe to you how this works in just a minute. You're supposed to live what you believe, to practice what you preach. This very epistle is an example of knowing and living the truth first, then being ready to confront error. That's the point. Know who you are in Christ, this is how it confronts error. Alright? And when we're looking at this word, self-control here, Greek scholar Kenneth Weiss says that the word was used to describe someone who was not ruled by their desire for sex. Yikes, huh? Oh, we all just failed that one. No. Just because a fire has started doesn't mean you have to let it spread, and certainly doesn't mean you have to throw gas on it. You can direct it the right way. And self-control applies to any desire that might be sinful, or become sinful, in its focus or practice. Because you can have this zeal focused the wrong way, and it becomes a liability. It becomes a blessing, not a blessing, but a curse. Again, you can be so focused on something that is in itself good, that you do it to the exclusion of everything else. Right? Fit body, fat mind. Right? And that's bad. Indeed, that's what could happen with this list in verse 5-7. Let me describe it to you. If you focused on one virtue but ignored the rest. Right? You say, oh, I've got this self-control, I've got this self-control, I've got this self-control, but you're not steadfast. I've got this knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. I know all these things, but I've got no zeal. I've got all this zeal, but I've got no knowledge. I've got this, you know, godliness, but, you know, really, it's not going anywhere. Well, we'll get to that. The point is your faith needs to be active, and that action needs to be grounded in truth. And that must lead you to self-discipline. When your zeal is guided by the proper knowledge, it matures, it tempers you. Ever heard of that? Patience, temperance. You know what they do with a sword, you know, steel? It's temperate. Right? It matures and disciplines your desires. And then your desires become the servant instead of the master of your life. Again, active faith. Guided, grounded, guarded by knowledge. That leads you to applying it to yourself. Self-discipline. And then when that's happening, your desires are disciplined and they become the servant, not the master. You want to start riding the roller coaster? Listen to this. This is self-control. Now let's go to the final one. Self-control with steadfastness. Anybody with me? That's speaking of patience or endurance. An act of zeal to serve God is good, but it must be controlled by knowledge, and that knowledge must lead to self-discipline, and that self-discipline must patiently endure. Let me explain this to you. You know what's hard? What's hard is when you're doing it right, or trying to do it right, and no one else is, and they're getting on your case. And it's, you know, when you're going through stuff, and it's a lot easier to listen to that guy that has some new way to do it. Just do this. Send in 1995, because Psalm 1995 says this, or whatever. Right? The hundred-fold blessing, these ridiculous things. How come people fall for that? Because this is not working in their life. Steadfastness. Steadfastness. Steadfastness. Sticking to it. Patient endurance. Coming to church when everybody else doesn't want to come. Coming to church when you don't want people to talk to you because you just want to be on your own. Really? Come on. That's why I got this job, because I have to. That way I had to be here. Even when I got to look at Dave every time. Oh, Dave. Sitting right there in the front row. But it can be hard when you're raring to go, right? You understood the truth, you applied it to yourself, and you wait for others to get it. Or you're waiting for it to root and really blossom in your life and it's taking a while. Or you've got to be tested on it so often and intensely. God, I've got the lesson. How many more times do I need to learn it? Sometimes it's not that you need to learn it, you need to show it so others can learn it. Sometimes you've got to be put in proverbial prison to set someone else free. Yeah, yeah. It's not to show that you don't have it, it's to show that you do. People say, oh, you're a rock, you're this, you're that, and the other thing. And then I get tested, and I'm in the middle of it, and I'm thinking, I'm not such a rock or whatever, but you know what? God proves Himself to you what He's done in your life. And then as an example for others, remember what we said last week? Discipleship is a train. What you do does affect other people. It's just hurting me? Wrong. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him, one with God, you know, one with Jesus, and one with each other. So you doing this does affect other people. Steadfastness. I'm looking in the eyes of two people that are steadfast. And we don't agree on everything, but we agree on that. He that endures to the end will be saved. I'm not going to try to dance around that at all. I believe what I believe. I'm a flaming Calvinist and all that kind of stuff, but let me tell you something. There's going to be some war letters because I used that word. But when it comes right down, and I'm a Puritan too, how about that? When it comes right down to it, when it comes right down to it, You have to stick it out to the end. But if you understand what God has done in you, you realize that He's done it in you. How do you realize that He's done that in you? You walk it out! Steadfastness! Patience! Someone told me today, I need more patience. And I go, you're in the patience right now. Because if you don't pray for patience, you're gonna, yeah, well that's the thing. We all have to deal with it. I get in the wrong bank line too. I wonder why people in Ocala make the slow lane the left lane. I don't understand. I'm glad I'm not a girl because I couldn't wait that long for the bathroom line. I guess today's doesn't matter. Now there's the final set of letters. It's not like Jesus doesn't want you to have a good time, folks. It's not like you can't laugh and sing and play and have sports and enjoy plays and watch movies. It's just Is it leading to this? Don't beat yourself up saying, I've just got to do these things. It's, look, what is the tenor of your life? What is, which way are you trending? That's what he says. If these things are yours and they're increasing, and I'm seeing you at church more, guess what? I think they're increasing. Right? You start to get a little hopeful. Right? The preacher starts to make a little more sense. Excuse me, did I say less sense? More sense. You start wanting to see things. There's something to this. Yeah. That's part of him drawing you. Drawing is like out of a well. It takes a while for the bucket to get to the top. And as it gets close to the top, it sees more light, gets more excited about it. But on the way, it needs to learn zeal with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness. How bad would it be for the bucket to get all the way up the top and then turn over and fall all the way back down? Do you hear me? You're called to stay the course, no matter what situations you find yourself in, no matter who else won't come on board, or who else jumps ship. I love you, but if you jump ship, I'll stick my hand out and try to help pull you up, but I ain't getting off that ship, baby. When the fire is hot, the temptation is to disbelieve, distrust, or disobey God. You know what spiritual warfare is? It's Satan trying to get you to disbelieve, distrust, or disobey God. That is spiritual warfare. You don't have to get confused about it. That's it. You feel discouraged rather than encouraged. Maybe you came here today and you felt discouraged rather than encouraged. Let me encourage you. But let me tell you, false teachers and false teachings have greater appeal when you're suffering. Yes, of course they do. They promise new or greater or easier benefits. But don't give up and sin by seeking satisfaction, security, and significance outside of God's revealed will. Instead, you've got to remain steadfast by knowing, believing, standing on, and obeying the truth. You do not have to succumb to temptation in the midst of your troubles. You can run and finish your race well. Let me finish up here. What's more? This steadfast, patient endurance isn't just grin and bear it. See, this is where we miss it. We think steadfastness is always just... That's not the way he's picturing it in this passage. Because he talks about hopefulness and a rewarding life in verse 10 and 11 and verse 8. You see, this is an endurance that's set afire in hope. People can say whatever they want about me, whatever they want about my ministry, I have hope because I know in whom I have believed. And I love you and I want more people here, not less people here, but if it's less and less and less and less, now you can't pay me, now I'm not in a building, now you kick me out like they did Charles Spurgeon, now you kick me out like they did Jonathan Edwards, now you kick me out like they did Jesus Christ. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. That's where my hope is. That's where my hope is. Again, that's what Peter is talking about. The fire of God in your soul is stronger than the fires of temptation, and it burns brighter than the false, the faithless, the foolish, and the futile things that try to pull you away. The fact is, is when you're feeling down and things like that happen, other things get bigger, and that's the nearsightedness he's talking about. If you get these things going in your life, then Jesus becomes bigger, and then you see those bad things through his good thing, and they don't have the same appeal. But when they aren't growing in your life, then they are bigger, and you can't see Jesus because he's far away. You become nearsighted, And that's why you go after them. It is academic. That's good preaching, man. That's what Peter's doing. He doesn't say, just grin and bear it. Oh, the Christian life's no fun. Woo, I have a good time. I have a good time. My stepson is always going, woo, praising Jesus. Maybe he's doing something that's an inside joke or whatever, but I just thought, you know what? It even knows to say that and saying it and everything, and it was just great. God bless you, Danny. Thank you, Jesus, amen. The fire in your soul. That's what He's saying. He says, how do you get that fire going? Know what He's done in you. He's delivered you from that penalty of sin. He's delivering you from the power of sin. One day He will deliver you from the presence of sin. You've escaped the corruption that's in the world through sinful desires. How do I beat down those sinful desires? Know what my faith is. Have some knowledge about it. Get it applied to myself and stick with it. with it, and you will see it work, and that fire in your soul will be bigger. You don't think it is right now, because you see just that, I need to pick that up, I need to look at that, I need to listen, I need to, whatever. You see, that is bigger. How do you get Jesus bigger in your life? Follow the blueprint. That's what gives you effectiveness. That's what gives you fruitfulness. What's the fruitfulness? It's right there. It's the character qualities themselves. There is no greater fruit than becoming more like Jesus. Hello! So you think, well, this guy went out and saved 55 people. He didn't save nobody. Jesus saves people. This guy went out and raised the dead and he has a million dollar ministry and all that. I don't care about any of that. I want to be like Jesus. If I'm the only one on earth, let it be me. Again, these things try to pull you away, but the Holy Spirit works in you to endure hard things because it produces hopeful character. You can read that in Romans 5, James 1. We've covered those things that produce hope, and hope does not make you ashamed because the Holy Spirit is shed abroad once again in your heart. You aren't grimly waiting for the end. You're radiantly hoping in the glory because you know the war is won and the battles are not in vain. In 1 Corinthians 15, that great chapter on the resurrection of Jesus, and we've used that many times for Easter sermons, he says at the end in verse 58, he goes, basically he's saying, because of the resurrection, be therefore steadfast, woo, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your work is not in vain. No one shows up to the banquet. It's not in vain. Everybody leaves you. It's not in vain. My family. I don't know if they're going to be saved. It's not in vain. Pastor has me scrubbing toilets again. It's not in vain. It's not in vain. It's not in vain. And Hebrews 6 says the same thing. And he's talking about steadfast, and he goes, God is not this vile monster, if I could paraphrase, who doesn't know your work of faith and love. Of course he does, and he's going to reward you. And let's see, the reward is in heaven, but some of the reward is, let's see, what might it be? Verses five through seven. It should excite you to become more like Jesus, especially when you were way far away. Again, let me finish by painting the picture of where we've been so far. Because this isn't even the whole thing. We still got godliness, brotherly affection, and love to go. But let's paint the picture where we are so far. When you have a faith, You can look right at verse 5 and trace where I'm at. When you have a faith that zealously pursues moral excellence, that's your knowledge, guided by a spiritual discernment that seeks self-control, that's self-control, it produces a patient endurance, that steadfastness, under temptation that won't succumb to sin, but instead clings to joyful hope in God. That picture becomes even more beautiful as you discover the rest of verses 6 and 7. Father? I pray that right now, that everyone in this place and everyone that ever hears this sermon on Sermon Audio or wherever it may be, however many times I might deliver it, what you do with it, take it, and all that, that they get hungry for more, because there's more there. Lord, just help us live in the knowledge that we have up to this point and grow, that we might give you glory, that it might be effective and fruitful and hopeful and rewarding. And we won't fall for the falseness, Lord. We don't want to just consign those people to hell, Lord. We want them to be changed as well, like we are hopefully being changed, hopefully in hope, Lord. Help us to cling to you, Lord. There are always times that are tough. But instead of disbelieving, distrusting, disobeying God, let us find our safety, our satisfaction, and our rest in the one place, the one person who can truly give it, our Lord Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.