2nd PETER: SESSION 3 "From the Inside Out" 2 Peter 1:5-11

2^nd PETER: SESSION 3

"From the Inside Out"

2 Peter 1:5-11

INTRO: Waking up and realizing I am a sinner!

2 Peter 1:5–11 (NKJV) But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, ⁶to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. ⁸For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. ¹⁰Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; ¹¹for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

PRAYER

Last week we discovered that faith is the foundation of our new life.  Many people never grow because they have not been saved!

1 Corinthians 3:11–13 (NKJV) For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.

God put the foundation in our life: The Seed of God, His DNA in our spirit...

Now we can begin to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

2 Peter 3:18 (NKJV) but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Growth comes by the seed of the Word growing in us.  We do not produce the growth; we cooperate with the spirit of grace to create good ground for the seed to grow.  This growth affects all the areas of our lives. 

Why is growth necessary?  Because of the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden.

Man is three parts: body, soul, and spirit. In the body we have our five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing; in the soul we have our mind, our will, and our emotions: the mind is the thinker of the soul, the emotions are the 'feeler' of our soul, and the will is the decider of our soul; in our spirit are the faculties of conscience, communion, and intuition.  With our bodies we are world-conscious; with our souls we are self-conscious, and with our spirits we are God-conscious.

The problem is that we are all totally depraved!  Sin has touched every part of our being: body, soul, and spirit.  God told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die.  Satan told them they would not die.  They believed Satan and ate of the tree.  Did they die?  Not physically, immediately; not emotionally, although it was extensively damaged; but they did die spiritually. 

Ephesians 2:1 (NKJV) And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

The intimate communion that man had enjoyed with God was broken.  Because we do not have communion with the Spirit of God, our intuition and conscience are not functioning correctly.  We have to be be born again, re-created in His image to reflect His glory.

Christianity is an inside job!  The growth begins in our spirit, radiates out into our souls, and changes the behavior of our bodies.  This process is called 'sanctification'. 

I Thessalonians 4:3 NKJV For this is the will of God, your sanctification...

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV) Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our spirits are saved instantly, our souls progressively, and our bodies ultimately!

Before we were born again, we lived completely to satisfy our own selfish desires.  Even the good things we might do were often out of selfish motivations to be seen of men.

Ephesians 4:17–24 (NKJV) This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; ¹⁹who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. ²⁰But you have not so learned Christ, ²¹if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²²that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

It is so important that we learn how to live out of our spirit and not out of our souls and bodies. 

Psalm 51:10 (NKJV) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast (right) spirit within me.

Job 32:8 (NKJV) But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.

Proverbs 18:14 (NKJV) The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?

Proverbs 20:27 (NKJV) The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.

Proverbs 25:28 (NKJV) Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.

Romans 8:6 (NKJV) For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

1 Corinthians 2:11 (NKJV) For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?

Jesus lived out of His spirit.

Mark 2:8 (NKJV) But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?

 We must learn to be mighty in spirit just like Jesus and John the Baptist!

Luke 1:80 (NKJV) So the child (John the Baptist) grew and became strong in spirit...

Luke 2:40 (NKJV) And the Child (Jesus Christ) grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

Let's explore how Peter describes the process.  He gives us seven keys that describe our journey.  The first two combine with faith to impact the three faculties of our spirit: faith impacts communion; virtue impacts conscience; knowledge impacts intuition.

KEY # 1: Add to your faith virtue,

Virtue means moral excellence.  Verse 3 tells us that Jesus gives us His virtue...

The first thing we experience after salvation is a new awareness of sin!

Psalm 51:3 (NKJV) For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

Personal testimony with Aunt Rita... My sin thermostat, my conscience, had been reset!

The Bible mentions many different types of consciences: pure conscience, good conscience, weak conscience, evil conscience, seared conscience... Needs to be reset!

When a man gets saved, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit come into his spirit and take up residence.

Romans 8:16 (NKJV) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

The faculty of communion is in operation; the conscience is energized by the very presence of God!  We see things in our life that we had excused before as sin!  Why?  The presence of the living God, the Living Word, and the Living Holy Spirit is in us!

John 16:8 NKJV When He (the Holy Spirit) has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment...

How do we apply this to our lives?  How is this relevant to today?

Let's listen to our re-energized conscience!  We do something and immediately feel convicted.  At that moment we either 'accuse ourselves or excuse ourselves' (Romans 2:15).

1 John 3:20–21 (NKJV) For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

If God is convicting you of something, don't fight and argue with Him, regardless of how justified we may feel.  Agree with Him.  This is called confession.

1 John 1:8–10 (NKJV) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

KEY #2: To virtue knowledge

The Bible speaks about two types of knowledge.  The first is empirical knowledge, a knowledge of the truth of God and His Word.  We must become intimately acquainted with the Bible.

Hosea 4:6 (NKJV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...

Isaiah 5:13 (NKJV) Therefore my people have gone into captivity because they have no knowledge...

As we are involved with Scripture we give the Spirit an arsenal to use in our lives!  All of a sudden we know things we have never known; we understand things about God we could never understand before; we are convicted about things we never were before!

However, this is a function of our spirit.  We know God by our spirit, not by our mind! 

Hebrews 4:12–13 (NKJV) For the word of God (logos, the full expression of truth) is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ¹³And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Knowledge of the Word comes through revelation; it must be led and taught by the Holy Spirit!

Matthew 16:17–18 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

1 Corinthians 2:10 (NKJV) But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

 1 Corinthians 2:13 (NKJV) These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

1 John 2:20 (NKJV)But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

1 John 2:27 (NKJV) But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

The Bible also speaks of intimate knowledge.  The knowledge of God is a matter of intimacy, not mental exercise.

John 17:3 (NKJV) And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Philippians 3:10 (NKJV) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

The word used here means a progressive knowing, a knowledge that grows and grows.  In Hebrew the word is yada, the same word is used to describe the physical union between a man and his wife.  There is nothing more intimate than that.  Paul uses that relationship to describe the relationship between the church and her Lord.

How do we grow in intimacy with the Lord?  By spending time with Him.

Illustration: young couples dating...

Why is this important?  To learn how to hear God's voice.  Think about that couple again.  When he calls or she calls, you know that voice.  They do not have to tell you who it is.  God is the same way.  We get to know God's voice and can hear it in the middle of a storm! 

John 10:27 (NKJV) My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

The best way is to have a daily time alone with God.  It has been a called a quiet time, an hour of power, personal devotions.  Whatever you call it, do it!  

How do you have a quiet time? 

Look for quality, not quantity.  The issue is not how much time you spend, or how many verses of the Bible you read, or checking off the things on your prayer list.  These are important, and should be done at a later time, but in your quiet time the priority is on communing with God and hearing His voice!

1.     Read the Bible devotionally.

2.     Mediate on the Word regularly.

3.     Pray personally.

4.     Listen intently.

How do you know if you have come to know God?

1 John 2:3 (NKJV) Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

Illustration: C.T. Studd writing about Reece Howells...

INVITATION: "From the Inside Out"