2 Pet 1:8-15 – The big idea is fruitfulness.  God wants our lives to be fruitful and for us to enjoy our salvation.

1:8    For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 enemies of fruitfulness: Laziness & Busyness.

• Lazy people don’t do enough, Busy people do too much.  Both destroy fruitfulness.
• When someone is lazy, it’s easy to detect their sin… They’re lazy.  They’re not doing what they are supposed to be doing!
• Busy people are equally guilty of being unfruitful, but are rarely rebuked b/c they look like they are holy and doing much for the Kingdom.  They do too much! Phone calls, emails, driving, games, practice, church, ministry, work, hobbies, etc…  They have exchanged fruitfulness for busyness.
• We need to work on our lives, not just in them.  Pull back and see the big picture.

Four things that will help us avoid the traps of laziness and busyness.

1.Vision
1:9    For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

• Blind to the future and the past.

Two ways to be blind

• Blind to past: Forgetting what Jesus has done for them.  They are busy trying to do something that Jesus already did. Righteousness, forgiveness, reconciliation.
• Blind to the future: Don’t see where they are going.  They are consumed by this world, living for the moment.  Unwilling to see the future.  God has given them the ability to see where they are going and live with the end in mind.
• Søren Kierkegaard (Danish philosopher) “Define your life forward and live it backward” or “Reverse engineer our lives”.  Have a vision for what we want our lives to look like and put our lives together in such a way to get there.
• A vision is a map.  I’m going to Jesus, I will give an account to Him, I will be judged and rewarded by Him.  I need to live in light of that.

2.Enjoy the assurance you have in Jesus.

1:10    Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

• If you’re not a Christian, you shouldn’t have any assurance of salvation, if you are a Christian you should enjoy the assurance of your salvation.  We didn’t choose God, He chose us, therefore our security depends on Him holding on to us, not us holding on to Him.
• Peter is talking about assurance, not security.  Assurance has to do with us, in our minds.  Security is up to Him.  If we are sure in our salvation, we will enjoy it more!
• We enjoy our salvation by supplementing and exercising our faith.  We keep walking with Jesus!
• Have you ever had a season where you doubted your salvation?  I have.  Looking back I can see that it was a time where these qualities were not increasing in my life.  I’ve never met a person who doubts their salvation and is reading, studying, memorizing their Bible, praying, going to church, going to Sunday school (or home groups), repenting, ministering, etc.
• Phil 2:12  “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling”.
• Never fall – Big statement.
• Sometimes we over-emphasize the extraordinary testimonies. “I walked away from God for 20 years and destroyed my life.  Now I’m back and all is great!”
• I would want you, I would want my kids to have a boring testimony.  Having a life that’s not without stumbles, but always walking with and loving Jesus!
• He’s not saying here that you will never sin or slip up at all, because as we know, Peter still stumbled.  Remember, he fell into favortism and Paul had to rebuke him.
• He is saying here that if you strive for these qualities, you won’t have these huge pitfalls into sin, like he had when he denied Christ.

3.Live for your reward.

1:11    For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

• We will not get our rewards here on this Earth.  “Don’t store your treasures on Earth where moth and rust destroy.  Store your treasure in Heaven where moth and rust do not destroy.”
• As believers, we will not be judged for salvation, we will be judged for rewards.
• Live for that day.  C. S. Lewis – I live with two days in mind, today and that day.

*Side Note: Practical applications for fruitfulness.  Work on your life, not just in it.  Either live your life on purpose or life will live you.  You’re always reacting to things rather than being proactive in your planning.

3 quick rules for fruitfulness (Driscoll): Plate, Priorities, Pruning

Plate.

• You have to recognize and understand the size of your plate.  How much capacity do you really have.  Need to honestly assess that.  Some people can handle more than others.
• Multitaskers can get a bigger quantity of tasks done, while those who don’t multitask well can do a few things, but do them with great quality.
• Lazy people never fill their plate.  Lots of spare time.  Too much TV, laying around, don’t get much accomplished.  Unfortunately, unless they are confronted or the Holy Spirit convicts them, they never change.
• Busy people stack their plate way too high.  Things fall off.  Other people have to pick things up for them. They start a lot of projects and have trouble finishing them.  When they finally do realize that they are doing too much and they’re stressed out, they say “something’s got to go.”  What do you think is the first thing to go?  Not hobbies or TV.  More times than not, it’s church and ministry.
• Know the size of your plate and fill it.  Do no more.  Do no less.

Prioritize.

• Before you fill your plate, you must prioritize.
• How it works with me:

1.Christian – Read the Scriptures, pray walk with God and His people.  I read other books to help me know and understand more about God and His church.

2.Husband – Love Pam, live with her, work on our marriage together, love and serve God with her.

3.Daddy – read with them, pray with them, read the Bible to them, worship with them, correct them, instruct them, spend time with them, play with them, take them on daddy dates, be there for them, etc.

4.Job – work hard, do a good job, provide for my family, be a good witness.

5.Ministry – Volunteer my time, run sound, run website, teach.

6.Be alive – None of this stuff happens if you’re dead.  Find a way to get some exercise.

No matter how big your plate is, that is a full plate!  I don’t have time for anything else much.

7.Hobbies – If there is anything left over.  Sometimes my hobbies give me a little exercise and sometimes my hobbies are also ministry opportunities.  I can kill 2 birds with one stone.

• There is a lot of stuff I can’t do.  I have no more time.  I’m not a good golfer anymore, don’t play softball, fish, hunt, etc.  Are those things sinful?  NO.  But they’re not priorities.  Especially when I have little kids at home.  Maybe later in life when I am not needed at home so much ,but not now.
• What happens with some people is they put their hobbies on the plate first and everything else works around it.

Prune.

• The key to life is pruning.  If you have a tree that is fruitful and you don’t prune it, it will eventually become unfruitful.  Dead or dying limbs take up too much energy and resources.
• The key is knowing what to cut &  when to cut them.
• What relationships do you need to let go of?  Can you watch less TV, What obligations do you need to let go of?  What disorganizations do you need to let go of?
• Are you organized?  Do you have a schedule?  Do you have a budget?
• Pruning is a constant thing.  It will change with your season of life.  Life is all about seasons.
• Jesus said I only do what I see the Father doing.
• Life is a checkbook.  You either pay for things with money or you pay for things with time,  Everything costs!  God holds us accountable for all the checks we write.
• Count the cost for everything before you agree to anything. (ministry, friends, work, help)
• Again, the key is fruitfulness.  Work on your life.
• Ecc 10:10  If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen {its} edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.
• Are you swinging a dull axe?
• Pull back, see the big picture, make a plan and go to work.

4.Do what you know to do.

1:12-15    Therefore I intend t always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14  since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

• You already know what to do… Do it.
• Peter is writing his dying letter, his last words on paper.  We should be hanging on his every word asking ‘what is the secret to life?’  His response.”There isn’t one”.  You already know what to do, just remember to do it.
• If someone knows the good he should do and does not do it sins.  James

Date:  Peter probably wrote this letter from Rome not long before his martyrdom, sometime during a.d. 64–67.

Purpose & Background:  Peter writes this brief, final reminder to the churches so that his readers will by God’s grace live a life that is pleasing to God. In doing so, Peter must also combat the false teachers who were apparently exerting pressure on the churches to depart from the true knowledge of Christ (see esp. ch. 2). The false teaching is not only a theological challenge but also a moral one, holding forth some form of sexual permissiveness as a legitimate Christian lifestyle. While the false teaching can be described based on what Peter writes, it is historically impossible to identify who the false teachers were. For example, there is no clear historical evidence that these teachers were Gnostic or proto-Gnostic.

Read 2 Peter 1:1-15 in it’s entirety, then we will go back and hit it verse by verse.

1:1

• “Peter” – One of Christ’s inner 3.  Walked with and talked with and learned from Jesus.  He was with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration.  Appointed head of the Jerusalem church.
• “Servant” – Bondservant/slave “Devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interest.
• “Apostle” – “A delegated messenger, one sent forth with orders”.  There is a difference in the office of apostle and the spiritual gift of apostle.  The office of apostle was limited to those sent out personally by Christ and closed with the death of the last apostle (John).  The gift of apostleship is given to people today as the Holy Spirit sees fit and is marked by boldness and bravery to establish or plant churches where there are none.
• “To those who have obtained a faith” – He’s writing to believers.
• “of equal standing with ours” – In God’s eyes, we have equal standing to the apostles in Christ.  The ground at the cross is level!
• “by the righteousness of our God” – All of this is based on His righteousness not our own!
• “God and Savior Jesus Christ” – Other religions say you worship a god and then work on your life to get rid of your sins or faults in order to save yourself.  That’s why I love Jesus so much!!

1:2

• There is no greater aspiration in life than to know God.  Not just knowing about Him, but truly knowing Him intimately.  In his book “Knowing God” J.I. Packer states that knowing someone is really more dependent on them allowing you to get to know them than it is your attempt to know them.
• Therefore knowing the God that created the universe would be nothing but grace.  He has opened Himself up to us in His Word.  He has given us that grace and granted that we should know Him.

1:3

• He has placed His Holy Spirit within us and the Spirit has given us the grace, power, strength, and desire to live the godly life that he will go on to mention in a minute.  If you were just to read the next section you might get the idea that Peter is telling us we need to work for our salvation.  That’s why it’s so important to read the sections above and below the section in question as well as keeping in mind to whom and why the letter was written.  There was a teaching floating around at that time that stated that you could live however you wanted, the most important thing is that you love one another and that pleases God.  Sounds a lot like where we find ourselves in “American Christianity” doesn’t it?
• We can not work for our salvation… In verse 1 he says that our right standing before God is based on Christ’s righteousness.
• Nor are we working to keep our salvation.  Christ started it, not me.  He will finish it, not me.

1:4

• It is through the Holy Spirit that He has granted us these great promises and it is through these promises that we are partakers of the divine nature.
• Partakers – “Partners/associates/companions”
• “having escaped…” – The Holy Spirit gives us freedom from our sinful desires.  Without Him, we are slaves to the flesh, always doing what it desires.

1:5

• What reason? (v3) – Because He has given us the power and promises to do so…
• There are 2 commands in this verse.  One we will spend the bulk of our time on, the other I think gets overlooked because we just read over it like a newspaper.
• Supplement or “add to” your faith – That’s the command we will look at the most.
• “make EVERY effort” “employ every effort in exercising your faith” (AMP)- He is not saying that we should just give it a try and if we fail… ahh oh well, at least you tried. No!  Make this your life’s goal, make every effort.
• What are supplements? – Physically, they are things you take to help you have a better quality of life and get the most out of it.  They did not give you life nor do they keep you alive.  They help you feel better ie. give you more energy, help you sleep, aid digestion, lower blood pressure, etc.
• Some translations read “add to your faith”  You cannot add to your salvation, Christ paid it ALL.  Anyone who teaches Jesus plus anything for salvation, preaches a false gospel.  So what is Peter talking about?
• Taking the power and promises God has given us and applying them to live moral, godly lives, so that we may experience the abundant life Jesus promised us in John 10:10.  When we apply His power and cultivate these qualities, we are becoming more like Christ and increasing in our knowledge of Him.

Side Note:  Biblical living is often mis-labeled as “legalistic” so that others can continue to live guilt free in their immorality.

1:5-7 – Supplements

Virtue

• “Moral excellence or goodness”.  Greek word for virtue is sometimes used to express the idea of strength or power.
• Bravery or boldness to do what’s right in all situations.

Knowledge

• Greek – “A deeper knowledge of the faith”
• Are you still learning?  are you still trying to know more about God?  We all have so much more to learn, no matter how old we are or how long we’ve been saved.
• Are you reading & studying your Bible?  Are you reading or listening to other books, teachers, preachers?
• If you WANT to know… you can!  There are so many great resources out there today!  Keep learning!

Self-Control

• “Being one who masters his own passions and desires”
• There is an emphasis in this verse on sensuality since that was one of the main heresies Peter was trying to combat.
• Paul says in 1 Cor 6:12 “’All things are lawful for me’ but I will not be enslaved or mastered by anything”.
• Again, Christ has set us free from the enslavement of the flesh.  That’s not to say that those desires won’t be there, but we are to use His strength to master those desires.

Steadfastness

• “Perseverence, constancy, endurance”. “Someone who is not swerved from their intended purpose no matter the circumstance or trial”.
• Don’t be wishy washy.  Stay the course you know God has marked out for you.
• “A holy stuborness” – Mark Driscoll
• Don’t give up, don’t quit.
• We live in a world that says “If you see that you’re going to lose, bail out and save face.”
• Don’t give up on God because He doesn’t “show up” and get you out of every jam that you get yourself into.  He never promised us He would do that.  He did promise us He would get us through them.
• He will never give up on us.  He will never leave us nor forsake us!

Godliness

• “Reverence, respect, piety”.
• In an age where so much emphasis is place on God’s desiring a “personal relationship” with us, it would be easy for us to begin to view God as a person.  He is not!
• He is different from us, high above us, Holy, Awesome, All-knowing, All-powerful, mighty, just, His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts!
• He is personal with us for sure.  He opens Himself up to us in that way.  But He is in no way like us except for the fact that He added to His divinity, humanity and clothed himself in the body of Jesus of Nazareth in order to save us and sympathize with us.

Brotherly affection

• “Love between siblings”
• We are to treat fellow believers as brothers and sisters.  Not just in name only.
• Rom 12:10

Love

• Greek – “Agape” “Affection, good will, benevolence, brotherly love”
• Love is not just a feeling, it is an action we must choose!
• We have been influenced way too much by the Greko-Roman idea of love and romance.  If we do not feel it, then we don’t do it.
• Agape love says “Christ loved me, I can love others whether I feel like it or not.
• 1 Cor 13

1:8

• You will be fruitful in Knowing Jesus.  Doing these things helps us know God.  It’s not about getting or staying saved.  He is writing to believers.
• We will also be effective in ministry.

Let’s be doers of the Word and not just Hearers only!

Let’s not get trapped into this Americanized, ho-hum Christianity that is lazy and self-centered.

Let’s head the words of Peter and do something.

This will be Peter’s final letter to the church.  He knows it and gives us his final advice and encouragement as he prepares to depart and be with Christ.  He has lived a great life and has become a great leader of the church in Jerusalem, but Peter has had some obvious issues throughout his sanctification process.  He is writing, in this passage, to tell us how we might avoid some of the pitfalls hel fell into.

If you were to read this passage without keeping in mind verses 1-4, you may think that Peter is preaching a gospel of salvation by works, but as we will see in the next few weeks, he is keenly aware that salvation is by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone.  As I read and studied this passage I became more and more excited because Peter tells us that if we practice the qualities mentioned here, they help us grow in knowledge of Christ and fruitfulness in ministry!  Man has no greater aspiration than knowing the God that created the universe!

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” 2 Cor. 2:14

Despite the hardships, agony, disappointments, or frustrating circumstances we may find ourselves in, we have the divine promise that in Christ we are being led in a triumphal procession. This covenant promise is ours in Christ for one main reason. Christ is the Victor. Through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, Christ conquered death once for all. At the cross, He purchased the redemption of His people and sealed our victory over sin and death. As Christian men, by virtue of our adoption into God’s family, we are participating in the most amazing triumphal victory parade the universe has ever known. Our Victor is faithful to complete the work He has begun in us as stated in Philippians 1:6. Someone once said that “the eyes of faith can see the unrelenting progress of the kingdom of God.”* Day by day we participate in this victory parade. May God give us grace to be men counted faithful to Him and living in light of His victory.

*note from Reformation Study Bible, 2 Cor. 2:14.

A.W. Pink begins his chapter on God’s Faithfulness by contrasting man’s unfaithfulness to God’s faithfulness.

“Unfaithfulness is one of the most outstanding sins of these evil days. In the business world, a man’s word is, with exceedingly rare exceptions, no longer his bond. In the social world, marital infidelity abounds on every hand, the sacred bonds of wedlock being broken with as little regard as the discarding of an old garment. In the ecclesiastical realm, thousands who have solemnly covenanted to preach the truth make no scruple to attack and deny it. Nor can reader or writer claim complete immunity from this fearful sin: in how many ways have we been unfaithful to Christ, and to the light and privileges which God has entrusted to us! How refreshing, then, how unspeakably blessed, to lift our eyes above this scene of ruin, and behold One who is faithful, faithful in all things, faithful at all times.”

There are many benefits to studying God’s faithfulness. I’d like to point out a few from A.W. Pink’s Attributes of God.

God’s faithfulness is the basis of our confidence in Him. We can trust God because we know Him. There is a difference between just knowing and passively accepting this doctrine and acting upon it. Therefore, we need to ask, “How may we act upon it?” This brings us to the next point.

If we are to act upon the truth of God’s faithfulness then we must understand the necessity of waiting on God. Here’s one example of believers waiting on God:  Abraham and Sarah. (Genesis 17). There is a correlation between our exercising faith and God’s faithfulness. We exercise faith only because God is faithful (Hebrews 11)

I believe it was William Cowper who wrote the following:
“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace,
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread,
Are rich with mercy, and shall break
In blessing o’er your head.”

God’s demonstrates His faithfulness in His promises and judgements. “The saying is trustworthy, for If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful.” (2 Timothy 2:11-13)

God is faithful to preserve those whom He has called to Himself. Romans 5:1-2; Romans 8:1; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 10:22-30; Philippians 1:6

God also displays His faithfulness to us by disciplining us. God disciplines us because He is in the process of making us holy. Romans 2:4; Hosea 5:15; Hebrews 12:5-17.

God is faithful in glorifying His people (2 Tim 1:12)

Here are some applications of the doctrine of the faithfulness of God:

–Understanding God’s Faithfulness preserves us from worry.
–Checks our complaining.
–Increases our confidence in God.

“But I suppose if you were to be asked to say where the Bible teaches the holiness of God most powerfully of all you have to go to Calvary. God is so holy, so utterly holy, that nothing but that awful death could make it possible for Him to forgive us. The cross is the supreme and the sublimest declaration and revelation of the holiness of God.” Martyn Lloyd Jones

My purpose here is to briefly discuss how God’s holiness should impact how we, as Christian men, are to live in light of it. If you like, think of this as the application of the doctrine of God’s holiness. In other words, when we study God’s holiness, sometimes it seems so abstract that it isn’t practical to our lives. However, God’s holiness is not only to be believed (which is the foundation of our understanding who He is) but to understand how we as his people are to be living in light of our knowledge of His holiness.

There are two aspects to God’s holiness. First, His majesty, His otherness, His set- apartness. And second, His righteousness and moral purity. God’s holiness is both communicable and incommunicable. Communicable attributes are those which He shares with man as His image bearer. These attributes are communicated to us so that we may reflect in some small measure his moral purity. We do not reflect these attributes perfectly, but progressively.  Incommunicable attributes are those which are His alone. For example, His self-existence, whereby He does not depend on anyone or anything else to exist.

“When we are called to be holy, it does not mean that we share in God’s divine majesty, but that we are to be different from our normal fallen sinfulness. We are called to mirror and reflect the moral character and activity of God. We are to imitate His goodness.” R.C. Sproul

The doctrine of God’s holiness has a direct impact upon our walk with Christ. We are commanded in 1 Peter 1:15-16 to pursue holiness. “As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ ”

Here are a few points:

1. God’s holiness provides the pattern His people are to imitate. Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:15-16

2. “We need to cultivate in our hearts the same hatred of sin God has.” Jerry Bridges

3. Meditate on God’s Holiness. Remember the Lord and that He is holy.

There is a direct correlation between what we believe about God (our doctrine) and how we act (our life). First Timothy 4:16 puts it this way,  “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

Our doctrine informs and influences the way we live. Coram Deo.

One thing I keep  learning over and over  is that nothing ever stays the same. Nothing and no one is immune to change. How many times have we heard promises/guarantees be made from  political office, a pulpit, a family member only to see them be broken or never completed. Changes  may be anticipated or for most come in unexpected, leaving many feeling blindsided. Instability at times seems to be one of the things we can count on whether we like it or not.

In my own life I have gone from living in one place, working a “9-5″ job, being single to living in two places, traveling on a regular basis, entering into full-time ministry and the covenant of marriage. I have found that even my faith in Jesus Christ, has changed during different season in my  journey, and most likely won’t stop. Inside me there has  always been a desire for something that I can trust in no matter what happens to me or those around me. That something is Jesus Christ. He is not defined or changed one bit by my or anybody else’s belief in Him. His truth, grace, hope, love, righteousness will never change no matter what this world tries to convince us of otherwise.  He lived on this earth for  over 3 decades and anyone that has lived that long or even half of that time, knows how many changes life can bring, good and bad. Yet He never wavered from His purpose or desire to obey the Father even unto death. It has been a source of much comfort and encouragement in my failures and struggles to know that He will never decide to one day just abandon or give up on me. Not just anyone can make that promise and fulfill it. The world we live in will never stop trying to discredit, distort, disregard the one true absolute being Jesus Christ.

As a man who is striving to be like Christ in this life, it helps me to keep trusting in Him thru temptations that come, thru decisions that are made, thru the highs and lows of life. Nothing ever stays the same or can last forever. The minute our ultimate hope/trust lies in anything else but Jesus Christ, we set ourselves up for disappointment and failure. But if it is in Jesus Christ there will always be hope in the darkest moments, temptations, difficult seasons. And help us stay the course during the times when it would be easy to get lazy and complacent.  Grace to all…………….

Psalm 90:2,Psalm 103:17,Isaiah 41:4,James 1:17,Revelation 1:8

The qualities Peter mentions in verses 5-7 are qualities people in the world and most people in the church would call fundamental and legalistic.  They think that way because for years we have had preachers tell us that these are things we must do in order for God to be happy with us.  That is the very root of religion, working to please/apease a god.  But our God was please to crush Christ for us!  That’s why Christianity is different than every other religion on the planet.  Other religions take and demand that we give and do.  Christ gave himself and came as a servant.

So you have some people that view these qualities as fundamental or legalistic, you also have a different group (mostly in churches) that say “If you do these things, God will surely bless you, bring you wealth, health, and prosperity.”  Both are PRIDE, which by the way God is a big fan of.  Both are doing things in the flesh in order to control God.  One keeps us in right standing with God, keeps his wrath away from us, the other makes God into a big old santa-like fairy in the sky bringing gifts to those on the “nice” list!

Peter give us a biblical view of these qualities.  He says we do them in order to be effective and fruitful believers.  Effective in leading others to Christ and fruitful in our own lives faithfuly leading our families and others in the way of Christ after the point of salvation.  So if you do these things with the wrong motives, you get into legalism & religion, or pride, thinking God owes you somehting because of your fleshly deeds (which by the way He considers filthy rags).  Also if you look back at verse 3, it is Him who gives us the power to do these things.

But in closing, you have a group “emerging” in the last few years that tries to avoid anything they see as religion and legalism.  They are right to avoid religion and legalism, but they avoid the actions, not the heart motives.  So now you have a group of people who refuse to do some of these things, and Peter says in verse 9 that they are blind and forgetful of the life Christ has saved them from.

It’s really no wonder that the smallest demographic for church attendance is 18-35 year old males.  They are being confused by culture and not pursued by the church, because they may be a little too rough around the edges for our own comfort.  Younger men, such as myself, live in a world that is constantly inundating them with the wrong ideas on manhood:  ‘The more chicks the better’ ‘More money’ ‘More stuff’ ‘Better stuff’ ‘More fun’ ‘No responsibilities’.  I know, I was one of them and battle it everyday still.  So what you end up with is a bunch of over grown boys who don’t know how to commit or lead and a church that is impotent and lacking in solid biblical leadership.  I’m not slamming every church, I love the church, I’m just playing the statistics.  I’m also not slamming women nor am I a sexist.  God has completely created men and women equal (Gen. 1:27, 31; Acts 2:17–18; 8:12; Gal. 3:28; 1 Pet. 3:7), but given us different roles ( 1 Cor. 11:3; Col. 3:18–19; Titus 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:1–7).  I would not be the man I am if God had not sent my beautiful wife into my life!  However, the Bible specifically states that the home and the church were designed to have male leadership or headship.  Contrasting of men’s and women’s biblical roles is for another blog all together though.

It’s time for our young men to step up into the roles they have been called, lovingly leading their families and the church.  Even as you read this some of you are thinking to yourself “That’s right, they need to do something”.  But consider this, how are they to know what to do or how to do it?  I’m still learning every day, but without a loving, supportive, patient, submissive wife, solid biblical teaching, and other men in my life that are willing to pour into me and call me out when I’m wrong… I’m just another overgrown boy.

Our older and or spiritually more mature men need to be doing more in an effort to reach out to a hurting generation of men who really do desire someone to show them what true manhood really is.  Leadership is not rocket science, but it is work… Constant work!  It’s not something we can fully grasp on our own either.  We need each other!  God help us as we try to become the men you have called us to be!

Okay, so let’s say God’s really mad and ready to unleash His wrath…  How will it come?  What will He do?  When most people think about the wrath of God they think of hurricanes, plagues, disease, earthquakes and the like.  But is that the full definition of God’s wrath?  Or better yet is that the worst thing He could do or allow to happen to some one?  The Bible tells us otherwise.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19] For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20] For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. [21] For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [22] Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. [24] Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [25] because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. [26] For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; [27] and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. [28] And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. [29] They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, [30] slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, [31] foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. [32] Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Rom 1:18-32 ESV)

According to Paul, those who reject God even though He has revealed Himself to them receive the worst thing God could ever do to someone… Give them what they want.  They rejected and wanted nothing to do with God, so He gave them over to minds that were completely depraved to do whatever they wanted to do.  The worst thing God could do to someone is leave them alone.

A loving father knows what’s best for us and sets up limits, and barriers to keep us safe.  After all He created the world and knows how He set it up to operate.  In order to keep us within that safety, He brings correction and discipline.  Those who repeatedly reject those boundaries over and over again, God will eventually (only He knows when) let them have their way.  Their minds become completely darkened and their hearts become completely hardened so they can’t see the mercies of God and His provision for them.  Though they claim to be wise, they became fools.