Tough & Tender - Week 6 - The CORE - Pastor Michael Ewart
Tough & Tender
Week 6 - The CORE
Pastor Michael Ewart
But again, in fact, probably multiple things. So I'm challenging you to go back and read through 2nd Peter and let it sink deep into your heart and mind. So I don't think this comes as a surprise to most of you but the cord has a lot of guests that visit here and maybe you're one of them. Maybe this is your first time or maybe you're a repeat guest. You've been here a few times and a lot of the guests that come here they're not. So sure about the about the Christian faith yet and and that you're maybe you're here because your boyfriend or your girlfriend invited you and you decided you'd come
But you're not so sure about this whole Jesus thing quite yet and you're kind of checking it out or maybe a friend of yours invited you and invited you and invited you and invited you. And finally you gave in and this is your first Sunday, you finally came and they promise to give you lunch brunch afterwards. So you decide you go ahead and do it and maybe that's your story or maybe you're going through something difficult right now. Life throws you a curveball and you're not quite sure how to handle it and you're wondering if maybe a church could give you a little bit of insight on how you're going to cope with that struggle. That difficult thing that just came at you. For whatever reason, if you are new and you are not sure about the Christian faith, I want you to know that we are so happy that you are here. And if right now you're sitting with your arms crossed and you're skeptical, that's perfectly fine. And if I were you, I would be skeptical to in my arms would be crossed. I mean, we could be a call for all, you know, so you should evaluate carefully, you better listen, and listen to what we're saying. Then don't just swallow it whole, think about it, take some notes, Let It process in your mind and then reach your conclusion. So, please do that. And we are so glad that you're here. Now, what I would like to say, though, is there is something that is very similar between Christians. Those who follow Jesus and those who don't yet, follow him. There are something that is extraordinarily similar. I don't know if you've ever noticed this but you know imagine you're at a T-Rat game and an unexpected downpour starts. Have you ever noticed that the rain falls on some but others? Miraculously stay dry. Oh wait! No, that's not how it works. The rain falls on them all falls on everybody, right? If there is a Jesus follower in the crowd and the rain starts, they're getting wet so this isn't really news to you. Is it?
But have you noticed that in life, the things of this world? The struggles, the hardships that happen in this world. They seem to happen pretty evenly to both Believers and unbelievers. In fact, I bet we could do a scientific study on that. We could interview 100 people and a thousand people what struggles have you gone through in the last 10 years, list them out, do some ratios, do some comparisons and I bet we could not figure out based on the results who were the Christians and who were not based on the things they had to deal. Based on the struggles that they had. Suffering. Hardships, struggles tend to come pretty equally upon Christians and those that are not. That's a challenge for some, by the way. That might be news to you, maybe, maybe you came here because of that struggle, you're dealing with new thinking. Well, if I go to church, God will take it away. And that is a struggle for some Christians. While I thought that is a believer in Jesus. God would have more favor on me and take away, whatever problem I had.
But the evidence indicates, otherwise doesn't it? In fact, just in this last week, I talked with a man who is a very devout Christian man was on hospice care, and he's not even 50 yet.
And talked with another young Christian couple who found out the awesome news that they're pregnant with another child. And then they found out a week or two later that there's a rare genetic defect and their child is not going to survive. Maybe she'll go full term. It's possible. The baby could live up to a year. But it's not going to survive longer than that, for sure. Of course, they're devastated.
And in, if you are a Christian and you're here today, I bet you've got your story. Talk to. There’s a woman a few days ago, who's got some unexplained chronic pain that the doctors are trying to figure out, trying to help her with. They haven't found anything. It's been quite a while, she still suffers with it. And yet the suffering continues.
So that seems to be the same if there's no benefit to being a Christian because the suffering doesn't go away. Why become a Christian?
Because there is one enormous difference that is incredibly important. It is what Peter's been teaching us and it's in his first letter and it's all throughout his second letter. And that is that the Christian that Jesus follows has a sure and certain hope. When you have hope that changes everything.
Let me give us a silly example. Suppose I said, I want to hire you on. I'm going to, I want you to do a job. It's going to take out an enormous amount of mental effort. You have to do a ton of thinking every day. It's gonna be a lot of hard work, more than 40 hours a week. You're going to have to pull an all-nighter once in a while. This is a four-year contract, by the way. How much does it pay? No, actually, you're going to pay me 30,000 dollars a year. Who wants to get work for me? But I actually just described it as college and yet, thousands and thousands of people. Every year they start that program where they pay enormous amounts of money to work super hard and go into debt for it often times.
Why? Because they have hope if I go through this for years and I pay out this enormous amount of money and if I work super hard at the end of it, I'm going to have a great career but I have a good job for the rest of my life because of that hope they go through those four years sometimes longer Alright, hope changes everything. So the Christian might be going through the very same suffering that the non-Christian goes through, but the difference is Hope, and Peter has been explaining that to us throughout this whole letter so far. And, and the last two Sundays, especially when I go back to listen to Pastor Bill's sermon, and Pastor Tim's sermon, and you hear this, sure. And certain hope that the Christian has that this world and it's Brokenness and as crappy as it is, it has an expiration date, it will not go on like this forever and you, Chris
Are going to be rescued from it because of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are going to be delivered from this broken world of suffering and pain. And you are going to live forever in Paradise With God, forever and ever and ever. This is awesome. And this is what gets us through this. These are the resources that the Christian has That the person that isn't a believer in Jesus just doesn't have for the person that thinks that this world is all there is, how do you get through the suffering? I don't know. I don't have any help for you. But I do know that in Jesus. We have the assurance that our sins are forgiven, that we have a connection to God, that our heavenly father calls us his children that he smiles upon us and that he promises that we will live with him forever and ever and ever and ever. And that will get you through whatever you have to deal with in this world. And that's what we've been hearing from Peter, right, up to this point.
So now I envisioned Peter reading off everything he's written so far and I see a hand go up in the crowd. Peter. Yes, question I'm not done writing yet but yeah, what's your question? Yeah, I'm just wondering, I mean that's all great. What you just said and I'm all on board with that. I follow Jesus. I love Jesus. I know he's gonna save me from this world. He's gonna deliver me? I have that sure and certain hope. But my question is, What am I supposed to do until then?
What do I do now? What is my day to day? It looks like because I'm not there yet. So now what and this is the question that we're going to answer today as we read the last few verses of second Peter and here's the question, just to put in a simple form you might fill in this blank real quick. So life is a struggle, right? I don't think anybody disagrees with me on that. God promises to deliver you from it.
That's what we've heard so far from second, from Peter. Second letter. But what do you do? Meanwhile. what do you do? Meanwhile, I bought my sister, my oldest sister asked me once she sent the letter to her three pastor brothers and said, okay I'm a Believer in Jesus. I'm going to, I'm going to heaven, but why am I still here? Why has God left me here for a while and this broken world? Why would he not? Just take me, straight up into Heaven. There is something that God left you here for and Peter tells us what, as we wrap up this letter. So let's take a look.
At what Peter says here. And we're gonna start in chapter 3 verse 14, where he says this. So then dear friends, let me just pause there. This isn't a great translation about where it says friends. If you look at the original Greek it says beloved I love that Peter is writing Two Brothers and Sisters in Christ who he loves dearly and has deep affection for. And he is passionate about Jesus and he's passionate about them, he loves them dearly and he has something very important that he wants them to hear and he wants him to remember. So he says, beloved Since you are looking forward to this, the, this being, what I just shared with you, you're looking forward to that Eternal paradise, and God's presence, forever, and ever, and ever, because you're looking forward to that, make every effort to be found spotless blameless. And at peace with him, Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation. Just as our dear brother, Paul wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him
Hey, so you're still here. You're hanging around here on Earth for a while. I'm just supposed to sit here, twiddling my thumbs. Look up to this guy waiting for Jesus. Peter says, what do you do? Live life. You would say first, Live life. There's something for you to be doing live. Live your life. Don't sit around passively. Don't sit on your hands. Don't just sit around waiting. For Jesus to come back. Don't Cloister yourself from the rest of the world. Don't be passive, but be active. He said, in fact, he said member make every effort
Where to live? Go about our daily routines. And what does he say about how to live life? He says live life to things he says spotless and blameless.
Live life spotless, and blameless, and spotless refers more to your, your character, that your character would not be marred blameless, refers more to your reputation, how people look at you from the outside. Make every effort as you live, your out, your life here on Earth, until you get to heaven, to live your life spotless, without any kind of blemish, and with a blameless reputation among Outsiders. That's how Peter says we should live. Spotless is a word that was also used in the Old Testament about the sacrifices that the people were supposed to bring, you know, they have to bring a lamb for and for sacrifice, sometimes an oxen and God was very specific. When you bring that sacrifice, it should be spotless. Don't bring me your disease to animals. Don't bring me a crippled animal that you were about to put down. Anyway, bring a spotless animal. For sacrifice. Now who's supposed to be spotless, not an animal that we bring for sacrifice, but we, he says, should be spotless and blameless as we await for the Lord's as we wait for the Lord's return in Romans chapter 12. Remember how we said that? Paul. Also, he wrote about these things with wisdom, one of those places was as in Romans 12 or Paul said this, therefore I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy, because of who God is and what he's done for you in view of his Mercy to offer.
For your bodies as a Living Sacrifice. Holy and pleasing to God sounds a lot like spotless and blameless, right? Holy and pleasing to God offer your whole bodies and sacrifice to God. This is your true and proper worship. And you might want to pause. It's at this point, say it with a little objection, say spotless and blameless. Can't do that. Haven't ever done that? Don't think I'll ever be able to do that. How can I live spotless and blameless? What do you mean by that? Well, first of all, I want you to remember what God has already declared you to be what God has already done for you. He has made you in his sight spotless and blameless.
And he did it through the Lord Jesus Christ. Sir, Jesus’ death on the cross through his perfect life. God, credits it to you by faith, through his death on the cross. He pays your guilt. He takes away your shame and God declares you from Heaven. He declares you because you are in his son, Jesus. He declares you spotless and blameless in his sight. And so when Peter says, now, what should you do? While you wait, live spotless and blameless life in that way? Only saying live as you have been declared. Be who you already are, live out what you've already become. You see, Christian life is not for you. Trying to work and earn and become something, you're not, if you strive to be what God has already declared you to be well, pressures off, right? You're not doing this out of guilt. You're not doing this so that God doesn't Crush you, you're not doing this. Try to earn something that you don't yet. Have, you are doing this in celebration and worship. In Praise of what he's already given you, God, you are so good. I'm going to strive to live every day of my life spotless and blameless in the eyes of others to give glory and praise to your holy name. This gives you your Christian a reason to get up every morning. You should be excited when you wake up everyday because you have a life to live that gives honor and glory and praise to your God. Who loves you more than you can possibly imagine.
There is nothing that you. I can do that. Would make him love you more. And there is nothing you could do. That would make him love you last. His love is already yours. And already belongs to you. So we live in perfect, freedom, to serve him to be spotless and blameless. And that's how Peter encourages us to live life spotless and blameless. The second thing he says is this, if your life is at peace They've got our life at peace. What does he mean by that at peace and him at peace? Does that mean the live at peace with God, to live at peace with our fellow Christians, to live at peace with the world around us, to live at peace. Where I'm just calm in my inner self.
D, all of the above. I think that's what it means to live at peace, knowing what God has done for us. We have peace with God with others within ourselves. This piece is a gift from God in Philippians 4 verse 7. It says, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. That piece is yours. It goes beyond any circumstance you can face. It goes beyond any struggle, any pain, any sorrow, any grief, you still have peace with God? No matter what, because of what Jesus did for you. Are you struggling with guilt? That can rob you of Peace, you're forgiven. You're at peace with God. Yeah, but what will happen when I die. You're going to heaven. Pastor. You don't know me. I don't need to know God's promise. You trust Jesus as your savior. Well, yeah, but stop. You're going to heaven. Don't be afraid to die. You're going to be in heaven because God said so, Peace, right. Even in the face of death, you have peace? Yeah, yeah. But what about my 401k balance? What about the rising? Inflation rates. What's going to happen with the economy? It's still God. Yeah. Does he love you? Jesus proves it.
Yeah, peace. God's got this, don't worry. Yeah, but what about Russia? Look at the direction. Our country is talking about climate change? Is God in heaven? Is he still God? Does he know you? As you over, is he in control over all things? Yes. Yeah, peace.
Enjoy the peace that surpasses all understanding. That's what God will see when Jesus does come again. He will see, a people that are at peace, so, live life at peace and then the third thing live life mindfully. Mindfully. You remember what? We read that said, bear in mind that sounds mindful, right? Bear in mind, what our Lord's patience means salvation. Bear that in mind, have that in the front of your mind every single day of your life that Jesus hasn't returned yet. Hmm. I wonder why because of the Lord's salvation. You see, there are still some more people that haven't been saved yet. That's why Jesus hasn't come back yet. And if everyday, you wake up thinking Still no, Jesus. It's because of Salvation. There are still more people to be saved. I've got something important to do today. There are people in my life that I can love with the love of God. There are people in my life that I can share the truth of God with because Salvation Jesus isn't here yet. I've got work to do today. Me mindful as you wait for Jesus' return. Okay, so we're waiting for Jesus to come back day by day. He continues on, he tells us what else to do as we wait. He says this verse 17, therefore dear friends. Guess what word is there?
He loved it. Same word therefore beloved he loves them dearly since you have been forewarned to be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the love of the Lawless and fall from your secure position. So, I'll fill in the next blank today. They're pretty easy. I bet you can guess what goes in this blank guard, your secure position. God. Your secure position, what does he mean by that you're secure position is that you have complete and total confidence of where you're spending eternity, it is completely secure again because it doesn't depend on us, it doesn't depend on your decision. It doesn't depend on your lifestyle, on your, on your track record, it depends on Jesus' track record, which is confirmed and finished and done. And for you, Therefore, your position is secure. You know, how you stand with God, you know, where you'll spend security. Leti, but now he says, while you're waiting watch out guard, your secure position because what is valuable is often stolen, what is valuable needs to be protected, what is valuable can be destroyed or damaged? And that's where Peter warned us. Remember, back in Chapter 2, all about the false teachers, remember and remember in John chapter 17, he talks about that truth. That Jesus proclaimed that makes us holy sets us apart for God.
So he says watch out, watch out because you don't want to lose what God has given. What is valuable can be stolen or destroyed.
The Mona Lisa obviously, one of the most famous paintings in the world painted by Leonardo DaVinci back in the early 1500s. You can still see it today. It's on display at the Louvre museum in Paris and periodically. Its people try to steal it or damage it or destroy it or change it. Most recent time was in early June. Just a little over a month ago. A young man dressed up like an old woman and a wheelchair wheel.
Up to the barrier. Then all of a sudden got up, jumped over the barrier. Tried to break the glass. That was protecting the Mona Lisa and the smeared cake all over it or something. I'm all for trying to draw attention to climate change or something. But the glass held zero damage to Mona Lisa and was well protected. God would say the same thing, a warning to you. You've got something precious, something valuable. Satan wants to steal and destroy something. Satan would love to alter. It would be hard to alter the Mona Lisa, you couldn't just forge it, swap it and take it because people have studied it in enormous detail. Every little ancient crack, that's on it. The shade of every stroke of the brush. It's all well known. It would be almost impossible to forge the Mona Lisa. How can we go?
Know God's word. Study God's word, his word of Truth. No, it's so good that Satan would try to alter it in the slightest bit. If you try to introduce a little false teaching here, something you haven't heard before there that you would immediately. Recognize that's a forgery. That's a distortion, that's not what God says in his word. You guard your secure position as you stay in the word and study it and know it better and better and better. Then there's a third thing, he says that we do as we wait for Jesus' return in verse 18 he says but Rome Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
Hey, so guess what goes in the next blank grow. Grow in Grace and knowledge. Perhaps, you remember back, a few weeks ago, I had a picture up on screen of a couple of Jade plants. Both Jade plants. Both in fact, there they were related to each other. Even though one was four inches tall the other head turned into a small tree. It had grown and this is what Peter is encouraging you to do to continue to grow in Grace. Does that sound familiar to you? It's because that's how we started the letter. This kind of like brackets to Second Peter. When you read it later, you're going to discover this again for yourself. But it back in First Peter
Chewie said something very similar. He said Grace and peace, be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ, Grace and peace are yours in abundance through the knowledge of God. And the reason he says here grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, he ends it where he started it, grow in Grace and knowledge. What is Grace? My favorite definition for Grace is God's undeserved loving-kindness. Undeserved, we shouldn't get it. We've sinned, we rebelled. We've done wrong. And yes, he gives it. Loving kindness, I like that part of it because it's not just undeserved love, because the way we use love in our culture today is largely an emotion or a feeling. But loving-kindness relates. What Grace? Really is. It's God, God's love in action for you. His undeserved loving kindness for you is what Grace is all about? Even though we didn't earn it, even though we didn't deserve it, he took our guilt away. A never ending Endless. Love of God, it's doing some lyrics from a song We Sing. That's what Grace is.
And we need to be growing in that Grace all the time growing in our knowledge of it growing in our appreciation of it, reviewing it because we have bad memories. I don't know what this is. It's almost a supernatural thing that we have this tendency to forget God's undeserved loving-kindness. We have this tendency to start shifting trust and Reliance on him and what Jesus did for us and we start to shift it toward us and what I can do and who I am and what a good person I am and how hard I try. Oh and then we can
Put our trust in things, like going to church and reading my Bible. Surely God is impressed with me because of what I do. And we've shifted our emphasis completely, from Grace, come to church, be in the word, but not to feel self-confident, but to be Christ confident. So that you rely upon him more and more and more so that you appreciate and love him. Even more for the grace, the undeserved loving-kindness that is yours in the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to constantly. Remember our Brokenness and God's goodness. We need to constantly go back to the Cross unload, our guilt and shame. Remember, it's healthy to do this, remember who you really are?
Remember what you've done? Remember, apart from God and his work in you, what would happen who you, who you would be Acknowledge that every day. Bring that to God. But don't stop there. Then go back to the grace and remember who God Made You In Jesus, the Forgiveness that is yours the price that he paid. That proves his unending love for you. That's amazing. Grace. How do you keep growing in this grace? We say this a lot, but I'll say it one more time. We've got it. We've got A discipleship system here, that we call the five routes. We want you to grow in each of those five routes. Each one starts with the letter G, you can. Look at it on your communication card. On the back side, on the bottom, we've got those five G's listed out its intramural out there in the lobby. If you want to go look at it again. But they have an intentional plan for each one of those five areas. And I am confident that you will grow in Grace and knowledge gathered worshiped as God's people together.
Regularly group hang out together, do life together with fellow Christians. It's vitally important to grow in your home in the word of prayer, every single day. Give now we're getting into the exercising, your faith will be generous, an attitude of generosity in every aspect of your life, with your time, with your resources, be generous, give and you're going to see her faith, exercised and worked out growing. And go is the fifth one, where you go and invite your friends and family. The people That, you know, that don't go that, don't know. Jesus, you invite them to come into this relationship with God, that you already know and that strengthens exercises, your faith as well. With each one of these five routes, I am confident that you will continue to grow in Grace and knowledge. And so, we wrap up this letter, Peter's second letter that he wrote to this group of Christians, in a sense. This is his last will and testament. Again remember he knows his life is coming to an end. This is how he concludes his last will and testament. With these words that we just heard, this is what Peter wants to be his legacy. His legacy was not that we would remember him as the disciple of Jesus, but that, as we remember, Peter, we remember Jesus. And that he would direct our thoughts in our minds and our hearts, to Jesus to the grace of God. That is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, as we conclude this letter, Maybe I could encourage you to do the same thing. Would you give some thought this week to your legacy?
That's hard to do, right? What do you want people to remember about you? What do you want people to be thinking or saying when they're gathering at your casket? At your funeral? What Legacy will you leave?
Will they be talking about your career? The business you started. Will they be talking about your bank account and all the money you left?
I pray that that's not my legacy. I pray that someday when I leave this earth, That people will remember. What I taught them about, Jesus. But that will be the focus. And that's my prayer for you as well. What will the have studied second, Peter? Are there any changes that you want to start making? We make this practical. What would it look like for you to change your legacy? So it looked like Peter's Legacy.
What would it take? So that people would say of you that was a person that reminded me of Jesus in their actions and in their words that is a person. But I think of them, I remember the grace of God and how that was the focus and priority of their life. I'm convinced that in eternity. There are biographies. We're going to read. But they're all going to be biographies about the Saints. Oh, by the way, that's you. And be biographies about the lives that we live to the glory of God. And the words that we shared to the truth. About the truth of God, to lead people to God, to give more glory to his name. And it's not like the snowball, this is the way God wants it to work as an ever-increasing appreciation of God and His grace. And what he did for us. The Lord Jesus Christ. Will that be your legacy? I'm open. My prayer is that Is that your life? Will lead people to praise God. And so that the very last words, Of Peter's letter. We'll be in the hearts and lips and minds of those who know you. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
Let's pray.
Dear heavenly father. There is a lot of struggle, a lot of suffering in this world. And yet we are so thankful to you that you have given us. Hope this world is not the final word. There is something after this, and you have promised that we will be there in Paradise with you. Seeing you face-to-face with face-to-face and that you will be beaming. You will be smiling upon us with, with loving arms. All Because of Jesus. This is the future that awaits us. This is our secure position and we thank you for it. But Lord, you've left us here for a while longer. I don't know how long days, years , or decades. It's time-limited, we're not going to be here forever. So what should we do? Lord, help us to watch how we live to give glory to you, with a spotless and blameless life. Lord, help us to focus on, you know, you even better know your grace and truth. Lord, give us confidence and boldness to speak and invite and share your word of Truth with others. Lord through everything that we think and say and do help us to make the most of every day, every opportunity. So we can give glory and honor and praise to you both now and forever.
In the name of Jesus, Amen
