In this sermon, Pastor Babij, preaches from 2 Peter 1:6 regarding perseverance and how the practice of perseverance leads to godliness. Pastor Babij reminds Christians that life is full of trial and trouble; Christians must always be willing to persevere and even be thought of as fools for Christ.
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okay as we continue this morning we’re looking at second Peter pew Bible if you’re using it as page 1215 and I’ll be reading from verse 1 to verse first number 6 Simon Peter a bondservant an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have received the faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence for by these he has granted to us his precious and Magnus magnificent promises so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust now for this very reason also applying all diligence in your faith supply moral excellence and in your moral excellence knowledge and in your knowledge self-control and in if in your self-control perseverance and in your perseverance godliness let’s pray lord thank you this morning again that we were able to come together as your people to listen to to participate in the Word of God and to be able to think through the things that you’ve given us that are great treasures from our soul that make us like you that lead us in the way and were lasting that causes us to examine our own selves to see where we’re at to see if we’re growing to see if we’re adding to our faith and I pray Lord that you would just identify those things in our life if we are that we would continue to grow in them and if we’re not I pray Lord that you would just show us where we need to lay things aside put away sin and put on righteousness so Lord we can live in a manner that’s pleasing to you and we can know we’re pleasing you Lord let us live like that because we know Lord that’s where our peace is maintained and that’s where the joy of the Lord is our strength and so I pray you would again teach us the word this morning in Christ I ask it amen so I’ve been looking at this passage and this book that Christians have been given everything as it says to grow in godliness and we saw already in verse three and for what God has done and now we have been looking at and we’ll continue to look at what Christians are to do and what Christians are to actually take very serious in their life and that is the human side of salvation and we’re to take it so serious that we are to put strenuous effort into our spiritual development because that is the goal of the Holy Spirit that is the goal for God when he saves us not just to leave us there not just to stay the same but to grow any baby that is born into this world if the baby does not grow through the stages in their life we would say something’s wrong something’s not healthy something needs to be done it’s the same thing for us where we come into the kingdom of God believing in Christ as baby’s spiritually but were too mature to be teenagers in a sense and then to be strong and become spiritual fathers we just learn to live by faith and we learn to trust God we learn to give our life over to God and we just live to please him that’s really where maturity is taking all of us as for those who are real believers it’s Christian’s must add to what God has given them they must increase in it they must proceed to grow in it because that is what the Scriptures teach us and we saw we saw in scripture already the five of the seven qualities we we just mentioned moral excellence and knowledge and self-control today we’re going to be looking at perseverance because the this is goes along with self-control and of course the two starting qualities moral excellence in knowledge they had to do more with our relationship with God and now our relationship later on when we grow in brotherly kindness and love that we are our relationship to others so scripture really calls us to bring every effort to bear upon the process of cultivating our spiritual growth and that is and what that means is actually increasing in the image of God that is stamped upon our life as believers and these are in this passage the qualities that help to form that image of Christ so these qualities deserve our utmost effort the two foundational qualities I’ve mentioned already is moral excellence and of course that also can be understood as adding to your faith goodness of the ability to be good because God is good and of we we learned goodness by keeping our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ what he who he is in his person how he did things and what he has done and is going to do so there’s one thing about goodness that I have mentioned that it that is always true that you cannot exhaust goodness goodness is something that there’s never a bottom of the barrel goodness is something we ought to be doing all the time before God in and toward others and so goodness is controlled by a second foundational quality and that’s knowledge right we’re to grow in our knowledge in verse number five and knowledge of course is a reference to the intellectual part of the personality that this knowledge is really not necessarily knowledge that is complete is a growing knowledge scripture is really challenging us to keep stimulating our intellectual appetites that knowledge definitely includes the knowledge of Christ but it also includes that of growing in practicality growing in how to live our life skillfully growing in discerning what is good and what is not good what is God’s Way and what is every other way so the the Christian needs to grow in these virtues the virtue of knowledge as we grow in Scripture then we grow also in a practical action we put the scripture in to practice so so this Lord’s Day we’re going to look at the second of the five directional qualities and so this next quality will set us on the right path and give us clear direction of the way that we should be walking the direction that we should be going that the first directional quality I covered last time was in verse number six to add to your faith self-control self-control and remember that literally meant to hold oneself in and it could specifically mean in Peter because of the false teachers relating to something that has to do with more of a sexual nature and a greedy nature where the whatever the world is offering that’s what you’re going after so self-control comes in because it tells us in the Word of God that God has given us the ability to participate in the divine and that we have the power to control and stabilize our lives controlling our own passions and desires instead of them controlling us we’re controlling them so self control is the ability to put aside one’s desire to take a grip of yourself or lay aside your desire and then take a grip of yourself and all your passions and all your desires and make them your servants make them your slaves so you no longer they are no longer your masters they are no longer the tyrants in your life they are no longer screaming louder than everything else to go the opposite way of what God want the way God wants you to do and they are no longer calling the shots you are because God’s given you the ability to do so so the Word of God enlightened by the Holy Spirit directing and informing our passions and desires instead of the old man the old nature instead of the world’s system and its beliefs and instead of demonic and enticements that come our way on a regular basis they’re not doing it anymore but the Spirit of God is leading us to live a life of that being self controlled part of the fruit of the Spirit and putting it that all together it this means that you the Christian participating in the divine nation nature are able to control your greatest feelings your greatest desires your greatest cravings your greatest passions with a wise and a skillful control without giving in to any of those strongest urges that may be enticing you at any particular point in your life before they led us now we are to say no to them now this is also the opposite of what the false teachers in 2nd Peter have been teaching that false teachers believe that following their own lust and showing no restraint and having what they call freedom in Christ is actually where maturity lies see the false teachers for them freedom in crisis to follow their own sensuality not the truth freedom in crisis to follow their own lusts and not the truth so the false teachers actually are feeding the strongest urges of the Fallen nature in humanity which is to be healthy and to be wealthy and to be prosperous everybody wants that when it comes to spiritual things those are not the things we want God has to give us the desires to want them and because they’re not going to come up and we’re not going to decide to one day not only believe but one day to follow Christ with our whole heart mind soul and strength that does not come from the sinful nature that does not come from the world and its system and is teaching and it surely doesn’t come from the enemy Satan himself so obviously that’s not what the scripture is teaching us it is teaching us to be watchful if we are going to stand against temptation it’s teaching us to be prayerful to keep praying that we may not be led into temptation because the Spirit is willing and the flesh is weak so self-control is the discipline to be able to restrain one’s desires and follow through on doing what is right even when it is difficult and of course from 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse number 4 God already says that in salvation you can escape from the corruption that is in the world by its own lusts and desires you can actually flee from it run from it get away from it as far as you can so believers have the control to live out the nature of God and not live out the corrupt life that this present evil world offers it has always offered and will continue to offer and as we live today it is getting worse and worse and worse debauchery is on the rise and it is approved of and it is supported and it’s voted for that’s the day we live in so you know what Christians we are going to stand alone more and more as we go forward alright but the Lord already told us that he didn’t say listen you when you get become a Christian it’s gonna be a Rose Garden no you didn’t say that matter of fact he told us the opposite of that he says if you are a believer you will suffer persecution in some level at some place in your life you will have to make very difficult decisions not to go with the crowd but to go it alone because you know the truth so the Bible’s best advice for dealing with temptation is to flee from it put as much distance between you and the source of temptation as possible that believers have the control to live out what God has is working in so a Christians participation and the divine nature gives believers this new ability this new desire to resist sin so we are to resist and flee and of course the Lord rescues as it says in 2nd Peter 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and trials and testings so this Lord’s Day let’s let’s take a look now at the second of the five directional qualities and that’s found in verse number six add to your faith endurance add to your faith perseverance in the new American Standard is also translated endurance it’s also translated patience they’re all the same words they’re synonymous with each other in what they mean alright patient endurance and steadfastness is a way to define that that this perseverance is really has a basic attitude to it and it has a frame of mind to it it has a frame of mind to be patient with something it has a frame of mind to be steadfast with something to bear long with something secondly it has a reference to a steadfast adherence to a course of action in spite of difficulties and testings and so that’s why this word is is really defined as perseverance endurance and fortitude now this term perseverance gives the believer a heads up that the Christian life will have its difficulties it will have its problems and troubles it will have its valleys and trials it will have its battles but it will also have its victories it will not be a smooth road into the kingdom of God and that is clear in Scripture just by this very word just by the word to have self-control control what what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter 5 he said this and not only this but we also exult in our tribulations knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance brings about proven character proven character brings about hope hope that’s where it’s leading to and of course hope it says in the scriptures does not disappoint but the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us so this morning I would like to actually go over to Hebrews if you go forward and I want you to look at I want to examine again the life of Abraham and the reason what I would like to do that is because Abraham’s Am’s faith is comparable has comparable parallels to our walk of faith that Abraham actually lived by faith in him obeying God in a patient manner I guess if anybody in Scripture could be considered to be patient it would have to be the first would have to be Noah and of course Abraham would come there too because God kept giving him promises and it didn’t seem like those promises were gonna work out real soon he had away years and years and years but by faith he held to the promises and that becomes key to having perseverance so in Scripture in Hebrews chapter 11 which is that great famous Hall of Fame of those who’ve gone before us that great cloud of witnesses that have gone lived and died before us are our examples we are to look at them and emulate them and say I want to be like that particular person because they were like the God and whom they served they trusted in him so in Hebrews Abraham had a patient trust in God that carefully persevered not sloppily persevered but carefully persevered he was careful with everything he did actually done doesn’t mean that he was perfect man but he was definitely a careful man and he was careful through and persevere through difficult situations for long periods of time and without or with an inner longing for home and that’s exactly what ought to be in our life as Christians these are the this is how we ought to think and live as Christians so according to the book of Hebrews the proof of faith is perseverance it is recorded in Hebrews chapter 10 verse number 36 for you have a need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised so in other words it’s saying there in scripture listen all believers have a need you know what you need to do you need to endure you need to persevere all right and that doesn’t mean that things are gonna come instantly we live in a society where we want things instantly we pray and we want God to instantly answer our prayers just the way we prayed in just the way we envisioned that it should be answered and that’s not going to happen God has to first show you what his will is he has to first show you what you ought to be doing and when you are doing that you learned what he wants and then you learn to pray in a way that honors him and that aligns with his will so for the present we all have this great and essential need and that is we all need to continue in endurance endurance means to persevere absolutely and emphatically under misfortunes and trials and to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ now why is that is because trials forces us to depend on God trials matura spiritually and develop in us a proven character trials cause causes us to long for heaven long for the kingdom of God long for the new heaven and new earth that Peter is going to talk about so all these things are preparing us to run the Christian race to reach the goal to finish and to receive our reward and that’s what endurance is all about so the bottom line is the key to successful endurance is faith faith in the object faith in our God and in this character faith will give us the ability to know how to please him and the key to growing in faith is continued perseverance so all these things are preparing us to run the Christian race so we can finally receive the reward it was Charles Haddon Spurgeon an old English preacher who said there is a kind of faith which does not run well but it soon is soon hindered and does not obey the truth that is not the faith to which the promise is given the faith of God’s elect continues and abides to the end that for God’s real children they will continue through it all up and down mountains and valleys they will continue to the end and they because they know the truth they know the promises that because God tells the truth are laid before us and those promises are true even though people want to discount those things as being true especially this world that we live in so Abraham’s faith is displayed as first of all a patient trust that carefully persevered through first of all difficult situations look at verse number 9 of chapter 11 of Hebrews it says by faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise as in a foreign land dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob fellow heirs of the same promise so by faith he lived this the Bible says as an alien in the land of promise as in a foreign land dwelling in tents meaning this he lived in a time and in a land where he had no citizenship he was an alien of the land of promise and when he arrived at the land of promise he found that it was still in the hands of others all his long life by means of faith he dwelt as an outsider in the land of promise Abraham never owned the land but it was only permitted to remain in the land as an alien so that was a difficult time he also had no permanent settlement if you look at verse number 9 it says dwelling in tents 10 is the most non permanent resident you could have right I mean we think about camping you don’t go camping and stay in the woods for two years most people don’t anyway alright you go there for a couple weeks a week a day you pitch your tent so the elements would stay off off you and then you pack it all out put it in your car and go back home to your permanent residence where it’s saying about Abraham that he actually dwelled in tents his whole life he was a non-permanent he would lived in a non permanent status experiencing this in a foreign land the Bible said Wehling in tense as a sojourner of course a sojourner means to stay in a place from day to day so a tent is something that has no foundation it is not meant to be permanent it is designed to be taken down only to be put up another day somewhere else that’s what a tent is so he lived in on the promises of God with endurance during difficult times and then he also lived for long periods of time so perseverance is something that we endure for a longer period of time it says dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob fellow heirs of the same problem of promise so Abraham did not receive the promise Isaac did not receive it Jacob didn’t receive it it even tells us in Acts chapter 7 verse number 5 but he gave him no inheritance in it not even a foot of ground and yet even when he had no child he promised that he would give it to him as a possession and his descendants after him so Abraham dwelt in the land of Palestine he did not possess the land but he held it only as a promise from God to him and to his descendants God spoke to Abraham outside the land of Palestine God blessed Abraham when he had no land no children no place to worship he only had God and he was fulfilled in that so they all lived a long time Abraham Isaac and Jacob as foreigners and died having nothing but faith in the promise can we do that we do that all right we’re promised the heavenly kingdom of God we’re promised a new heaven and new earth do we have that right now do we actually see no we don’t have it in our possession but we have it because God made a promise to us and because God’s character that promise will come to pass because that promise is only as good as the character of the person making it if the person is completely trustworthy and true I can trust that person’s problem I don’t need a contract for me and that other person to sign to establish that this is going to be taken care of it’s going to happen no God can be trusted because of his character because of who he is and if you notice in Hebrews chapter 11 look at verse number 13 what it says all these died in faith without receiving the promises but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and it exiled on the earth they welcomed the promises from a distance they saw by faith what God was going to do so once we become Christians and followers of Christ we quickly sense that we are non-residents in this world we are tent dwellers sojourners just passing through that’s what it says in said in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 11 beloved I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul so our stay on earth for a short time is as a in a foreign land in which we are without citizenship or without status or without rank or without right in this world that’s what believers really are if we understand our position in Christ so we stay on this earth and we do it for what reason to live in our faith in God who makes promises to us and keeps them it says in 1st Peter 1 if you address as father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work conduct yourself in fear during the time of your stay on earth that God is the object of our faith in the way we live not health not wealth not prosperity not sexual pleasure not meeting our own own fulfilling our own desires and passions those are not Center in a Christians life we are not citizens on the earth we are citizens of heaven and as citizens of heaven we are under a government of heaven with Christ as our king who reigns in our hearts as citizens of heaven our names are written in heaven giving us full access to the City of God when we get there as citizens we have a common right to all property of heaven and there is nothing in heaven that doesn’t belong to us because we’re joint heirs with Christ as citizens we enjoy all the delights of God’s presence and Philippians tells us this already so concisely for our citizens citizenship citizenship is we’re in heaven right from which what we wait we eagerly way that’s perseverance for what for a savior the Lord Jesus Christ so what all this means is that we have much in common with Abraham concerning perseverance we should also share the the longing he had fought for a permanent dwelling it’s not wrong to desire a permanent dwelling but tent life with its non permanent characteristic is now contrasted actually here in Hebrews with the stable settled existence of a city and if you look in verse number 10 notice what it says because he persevered Abraham with a inward longing for home everybody wants to make it home after a long week you know what you just want to do you just want to go home kick your feet up get your favorite beverage right relax everybody wants that but that’s a noble desire that is a noble desire in fact look at verse number 10 of Hebrews 11 it says for he was looking for a city which has foundations whose architect and builder is God to me that’s a fantastic passage of Scripture Abraham looked far beyond earthly things and displayed a longing for a heavenly city that’s what the Spirit of God is doing in our heart he’s he’s showing us in our heart that God is a designer of a city that can never be gotten rid of he is God is the actual framer of that city he’s the builder of that city of that higher city of that eternal city that’s a noble longing for a believer and it is faith alone that can make the prospect of an eternal city built by God real we have it by faith and that’s what our eyes are fixed upon that’s what our heart is yearning for is to finally be moved through this life into the presence of God where we don’t have all this baggage that’s going to be a day we all long for as believers Spirit of God is doing that in our heart our eyes are fixed upon it and this means that the City of God God has built has a foundation to it and those who dwell there have a permanent dwelling they have permanent citizenship they find themselves truly safe and secure and truly fulfilled because god is our God and we are his people and he dwells with us and we dwell with him that’s the ultimate goal finished the book of Revelation and that’s the goal so this one thing that we must notice that the Holy Spirit is doing in us and what is it that we desire something better than this world something that is beyond this world if you have not yet learned it I pray that you will you say learn what that this world and what is what it offers can never can never satisfy you oh yes when when you’re dead in sin a dead world may have satisfied your dead hearts with husks and empty vanities but once you become a believer and that’s not gonna happen anymore I don’t want that anymore you don’t want that anymore so you have received by God’s grace nobler desires stronger sharper more passionate desires that wants a better country in verse 16 of Hebrews 11 it says but as it is they desire a better country that is a heavenly one the word desires is a very telling one it really means to stretch oneself out in order to touch something to grasp something to reach after to desire very strongly something in other words God gives us desires that draw us toward heaven desires that keep us stretching out for heaven and at the same time draws us away from this world and it’s glitter I’m talking about those who have truly come to Christ and have known something of better things and brighter realities have you not discovered that this world in this world we have no home we we have no true place to make it permanent for our eternal Souls our our home is yet beyond and that’s exactly the way it ought to be we are looking for it among the unseen things we are in reality strangers and sojourners as those believers we have gone before us we are dwellers in the wilderness just passing through to reach our perpetual inheritance in the City of God so I hope that these scriptures will stir your heart to be a little bit more homesick while you presently live on this earth as a pilgrim you will never feel quite at home and comfortable here on the earth you will actually grown in your soul for a heavenly dwelling and that is the more you grow in Christ’s likeness their more you will feel like this the more you mature in Christ the more you’ll desire these things the more you add to your faith the virtues in second Peter the more you will feel like this as a believer for the Christian our final home is not this world our citizenship is in as it what does it say in 2nd Peter it is in the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we’re going to enter that kingdom someday and it’s going to be a grand entrance so the main idea in 2nd Peter and using Abraham as a example is that the idea of change and transformation in the Christian life are fueled by a combination of divine power and humans responsibility we have God’s power to add perseverance to our faith and we also humanly speaking are responsible to practice perseverance each and every day literally perseverance means to walk under a load and that’s what we do – we’re walking under a load but God lightens the load for us there’s no load that God allows us to experience that he is not there with us walking with us so we all need to practice adding to our faith perseverance which means to remain under trials and testings and temptations in a way that honors God it is a patience which lets nothing adverse force it to give up so are you ready are you ready to persevere when people consider you foolish for believing there is only one way to be saved and may right with God are you welling willing to stand when that happens like Noah he persevered undeterred by the mockery of others while he built the ark and preached for 120 years he was a preacher of righteousness you can hear the Noah jokes you know laughter on those sunny days with no mist in the air when Noah told them about what was coming I think they would say that Noah might have been the craziest of biblical characters hearing from God building an ark gathering animals and putting it into the ark they would say this whole thing sounds delusional because it was in their eyes or someone would ask do you know someone who can fit all the animals into a ship and the person was bond I know a guy who will or if anyone needs a boat I happen to know a guy you got that right see Noah is surely looked like a madman to his unbelieving on lookers he sounded like a fool to those who came and heard him preach but is it not the same for us what aren’t Paul saying first Corinthians chapter 1 he says but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling-block to the Gentiles foolishness but to those who are the called both Jews and Greeks Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men so are we willing to persevere and are we ready to be found fools for Christ’s sake in this world because you will be looked at as a fool the more we go forward the more that seems likely are you ready to persevere when the mockers say that Christ is coming and that the fact that Christ is coming is just the big farce it’s just a big story it’s just something that was made up to you know for a crutch for you Christians to something to hope hope for knowing all well that death is the end just like a common animal well second Peter chapter 3 verse 3 and 4 says this know this first of all that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lust and saying where is the promise of his coming for ever since the father’s fell asleep all continues just as it was from the beginning of Crete so when you know the second coming is a promised reality as a believer are you willing to stand firm in light of those things being slung at you mocked for believing in a creation by God mocked for believing that they are there was a worldwide flood and then the world is now reserved for fire mocked and judged by an ungodly world because you believe that there’s a new heaven and new earth where a righteousness dwells and that’s what your hope is in but it’s in the person who promised that are you ready to hold to that truth are you ready to persevere through the loss of friends even family just because you’re a Christian are you ready to persevere when you are the butt of people’s jokes and innuendos just because you’re a Christian are you prepared to stand alone when some people close to you just drift away from you don’t really want to have much to do with you anymore and some just outright forsake you are you ready to stay in the race and persevere unto the end if you’re alone because you know the truth well would it would it Paul tell young Timothy he says make every effort to come to me soon for demas having loved this present world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica Paul experienced it the Lord experienced it we’re going to experience it too at some level so are we going to keep going are we going to persevere when those things happen are you ready to persevere in order young people to meet the right Christian person that’s really a Christian and because you’re really a Christian and not be tempted to shack up not be tempted to change your sex and to keep yourself sexually pure until the day of your marriage vows are you willing to persevere to do that because you know it honors God and pleases him and it aligns with the truth of Scripture see these things are not easy to do these are going to take some very conscious effort every day to think about this is what I should do because it honors God this is not just a one-time quick decision you make while you’re driving out of the McDonald’s parking lot this is this is a serious decision because it’s a decision you have to wake up every day and remind yourself of all these are decisions that are going to take adding perseverance to your faith see are you ready to persevere when you have been a Christian for a good amount of time and everything has been kind of status quo and you are tempted to lay aside this time for some sinful excitement are you ready to do what is right when no one is walking with you see are you ready to persevere when the adversary takes up an aggressive posture against you as a believer and he will Satan attacks all who threaten his rule and if you are a believer you are already a threat to his rule because you are now in the kingdom of light he’s still operating in the kingdom of darkness see God’s people are hindrances to Satan’s reign so Satan contrives and methods by which he may remove them neutralized them caused them to work on his behalf Satan has his whole host of inferior spirits working to cause God’s faithful to fail all the servants of God will come under the door or indirect assaults of this formidable enemy that is against those who bear the image of Jesus Christ that Satan’s goal is to curtail the believers usefulness and to ruin the believers testimony and whatever he could do to bring you that to that point he will do it that Satan tempts believers to sin and then aids them in justifying their sinful actions so to be clear Satan does not make people sin but he does temp people by drawing upon their various lusts present within them that Satan wants to ensnare people in their lust then persuade them that those lusts are legitimate even though they are wicked and all the while making himself and his allurements appear right and helpful and desirable and fulfilling all lies after all Paul tells us that Satan even transforms himself into an angel of life an angel of light where he says in Timothy for such men are false apostles deceitful workers disguising themselves as apostles of Christ no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light so in Satan’s world system and in his and in all his temptations nothing is as it seems to be he makes things other than what they really are see we quick we kick around the devil’s deceptions in our minds all the time because these deceptions want to convince us that what we’re planning to do is really all right thoughts like Godin God wouldn’t want to one wouldn’t want me to be unhappy would he why fight the feeling just given everyone else is doing it everyone else is doing it why am i different why should i deprive myself of something that everybody else is doing and seems to have a good time doing it this won’t this won’t lead to anything else I’ve always wondered what it would be like to do this one thing justice once no big deal no one will ever know I can get away with this time and I’ll just go to the Lord and pray and then he’ll forgive me of what I just done that’s presumptuous in now you have another sin sin just makes more babies that’s all it does it just makes life more difficult or this won’t affect anybody else but me I can just confess it it would be like it never happened God will stop me if he doesn’t want me to go any further all these and more are things that are have been thrown at you and me forever right but how loud are those voices today if you’re adding to your faith a lot of those voices or maybe you just don’t hear them anymore I don’t hear the things anymore because I don’t want to hear them anymore because I know they’re all lies so it always comes down to really when it comes to temptation what lie are you believing or what truth are you shunning it’s got to be one of those two things there’s no middle ground and for a believer because you have been in the Word of God and your mind is being transformed by the Word of God you know what God’s will is you know the right thing to do doesn’t matter what age you are doesn’t matter really how long you been in the faith the Word of God clearly tells us what we ought to be doing and the more we roll it over in our mind the more deceived we become until eventually we go for the bait and when is the bait is taken and the hook is set and the line is reeled in then sin like a pregnant woman brings forth death that’s what James says and it always does is always it always does sin always destroys it may take a while for it to happen but it does so why would I want to live like that why would you want to live like that you don’t want to live like that see Satan works on believers to get the better of them the devil wants to destroy the power and testimony of the church by putting stumbling blocks in believers ways keeping them ignorant of God’s Word and stifling their spiritual growth Christians must resist him it says in Peter if the church is to accomplish its mission so in other words will you persevere in keeping your armor on in order to stand up against whatever the enemy throws at you are you ready for that for again the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might put on the full armor of God so you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil that scripture is not for somebody else it’s for you and me these are these are realities for believers Paul also said therefore take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day the day that some demon specifically points you out for temptation you’ll be able to resist him and believe me all all all demons are stronger than you and me unless we have the armor of God because it says to take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything to stand firm stand firm you know that means it means this perseverance you’re bearing up under the load of life under the load of temptation under the load of satanic enticements under the load of your past under the load of oppressive people under the load of false teaching that is turned into truth in our culture which is not truth but a big lie so are you ready to persevere when you have been wronged as a Christian and you feel justified to stay angry and I could put a whole other bunch of sins in there but I chose anger for a very specific reason because we all get angry at one point or another that that sin is not far into anybody no matter how nice you think you are and how patient you are and how long suffering you are you get angry because we get tired and we get weak right and we it’s just that one moment you lose it and you you your anger takes over so are you willing to persevere when you’re wrong by someone else and you feel justified in your anger but this is what happens for those who are persevering in the faith you remember something you know what you remember I remember what the scriptures say about anger and what opportunity it will give to the enemy in fact it tells us right in Ephesians that do not give the devil opportunity specifically in the area of being angry too long where righteous anger quickly turns into unrighteous anger if you don’t confess it don’t give it the devil the opportunity when you’re angry because he’ll take it every time he’ll take it every time and he’s not going to take it for your benefit and for your good see you’re reminded of Scripture when those things happen and you practice being spiritually skillful at that moment when this strong desire of justifying yourself comes into your mind but instead what you do instead of remaining angry you implement displaying God’s goodness you implement the knowledge that you have been learning of your Lord Jesus Christ you implement the exercise of self-control by using the power that God has given you to put off that sin to use your renewed mind and put on the righteousness at that moment that is available to you instead of anger see that’s what adding to your faith means I’m able to in this practical situation to not go the way I used to go in doing so your anger does not lead to nursing grievances your anger does not lead to desired revenge your anger does not slander with the tongue your anger does not treat people with contempt in other words you remain in control you remain forgiving you remain holy abiding in God’s intended goal for you and what is that goal Christ likeness so in that moment you act it like Christ and you had all the divine power to do so but you didn’t have to do so see you have persevered with your own effort while participating in the divine nature and that is that is how perseverance should look like and that’s not just gonna happen once that’s gonna happen a multitude of times with all kinds of other sins and I’m saying to you brethren for those who are believers you’re to add to your faith these things already mentioned so you can act like Christ but you need to practice that again steadfastness is the willing courageous acceptance of everything that life can do to you and then take the worst event and use it as a stepping-stone upward for Christian growth the assumption here is that walking on the path of perseverance develops a strong faith and you know where that strong faith leads to it leads to the next virtue you know what the next virtue is right godliness it leads to godliness to act like God and when you do that that’s where the victory is is experienced that’s where the joy of the Lord is experienced and that’s where God is honored and exalted and that’s where you become stronger every that that’s where you become strong and that’s where God is taking us he’s taking us to a place where we can be strong so we’re not tossed to and fro by every wind of teaching but we are in adding these qualities to our life we are actually becoming useful and fruitful and that’s what God wants to do with us let’s pray lord I thank you this morning for the Word of God because Lord in it is contained the words of life the words that give us light to our life it illuminates darkness it shows us Lord which way to go when we come to that why in the road that we can discern which way to go one that honors you and I pray Lord that these qualities found in 2nd Peter and exemplified in the life of Abraham would be qualities that would be our qualities something that you would do in our life Lord and I just prayed today that that would be true of us that we would have that desire and Lord I pray that as we do that the gold of the world would grow dim in light of your wonderful face and I pray this in Christ’s name Amen