- 2 days ago
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00:00Y'all, I can't imagine anything we need more right now than peace and grace.
00:07And we don't need it in measures that we can provide for ourselves.
00:12We need it in divine proportions that only God himself can pour out upon us.
00:20When I was going off for college, I'll tell you this and then we're going to pray.
00:22When I was going off to college, I remember for a graduation gift,
00:26my parents threw a graduation party for me and a friend,
00:28and people came over, you know, and they had gifts for us.
00:31And I remember that, you know, most of the people who were at the party were not our friends.
00:35They weren't the other 17 and 18-year-olds.
00:37They were my mama and them friends because those are the people that had the stuff
00:41to help us to go ahead and get to college with, you know, something in our pocket.
00:45So my parents' friends were there.
00:47One of the ladies that we have known for so many years now,
00:51she, I remember, gave me a book, Promises of God was the name of the book.
00:55And I remember opening up the bag and thanking her for the gift,
00:58but feeling a little bit deflated, like, for real?
01:06So I did take it to college with me, and I remember having it there.
01:10I remember putting it on my desk.
01:11And then over time throughout those years in college,
01:14it would get packed away as I came back home for the summer,
01:16and then it would come back out into the room,
01:18but it would be further and further down in the drawer, you know,
01:21of stuff that was layered on top, the busyness of college life.
01:25And I remember during all of those college years, you know,
01:28doing what college students do.
01:29By the time all the gifts that you may have gotten to go there run out,
01:33then you're scrounging around with all your friends
01:35for every nickel and dime and dollar you can find
01:37to go and buy a little meal with your friends here or there,
01:40hang out over there.
01:42And so you're just searching for whatever you can find.
01:44I remember so many days like that.
01:47Until one day in my last year of college,
01:50I remember that I was looking through one of the big drawers in my room,
01:53and I looked down and realized that that book was in the back,
01:57sort of pressed up in the corner of this drawer.
02:01So I reached back there under all of this stuff,
02:03and I reached back there, and I pulled this little book out
02:06and kind of smiled, thinking about Mrs. Holt,
02:08who had given me that book.
02:11And I cracked it open for the first time
02:14and out fluttered a check.
02:19The whole time
02:22that I had been scrounging and looking and searching
02:24and feeling like I had insufficient funds
02:27and just having to struggle so much,
02:29the whole time there was something accessible and available to me.
02:33But I had to open up the book.
02:40And every time we open up the book, y'all,
02:42we find out about treasure we didn't know was there.
02:45So we don't have to live below our spiritual means anymore.
02:50We can operate according to the inheritance that has been given to us.
02:54And so it feels like a gift to me, a privilege,
02:57every time I open it up personally.
02:59But the privilege that it is to do it with you is a joy tonight.
03:04And I'm praying that God will speak to you as clearly as he has to me,
03:07encouraging me through this little portion of Scripture.
03:09Let's pray.
03:10Lord, I thank you so much for your word,
03:12that it is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.
03:16Lord, I pray, Father, that you would give me a clear mind
03:21and I yield my mouth and my words to you, Lord,
03:23to do with it what you will.
03:26Father, I ask that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
03:29would be acceptable to you.
03:32In Jesus' name I pray.
03:34Amen.
03:36Second Peter is where you're headed.
03:38If you've got your Bible,
03:39maybe you still actually use a Bible with paper pages like I do,
03:42all old school and stuff.
03:44Or your iPhone, your iPad,
03:46any manner of I-ness can take you to 2 Peter chapter 1.
03:51That is where we're going to be.
03:53And in this passage of Scripture,
03:54we meet Peter,
03:56the bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ.
03:59This is that Peter,
04:00the one who you know,
04:01the kind of lead disciple whose name continues to show up
04:04all throughout the Gospels.
04:06He has written to us a couple of epistles
04:09that end up being letters
04:10that you and I can glean from.
04:12And he says in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 12 through 15,
04:17therefore,
04:19I will always be ready to remind you of these things,
04:23even though you already know them.
04:25And you've been established in the truth
04:27which is present with you,
04:29verse 13.
04:30And I consider it right,
04:31as long as I am in this body,
04:33in this earthly dwelling,
04:34to stir you up,
04:36to wake you up,
04:38to awaken you.
04:39And how I'm going to do it
04:41is by way of reminder.
04:44Knowing that the laying aside
04:46of my earthly dwelling,
04:47my body is imminent,
04:48as also the Lord Jesus Christ
04:50has made clear to me,
04:51verse 15.
04:52So I'm going to be diligent
04:54that at any time
04:55after my departure,
04:57you're going to be able to call
04:58certain things to mind.
05:02Peter says,
05:03my whole goal
05:03is to remind you of some things.
05:06I want to stir you up.
05:07I want to wake you up
05:08by way of reminder.
05:10One of the things that
05:11sometimes becomes
05:12a little overwhelming to me
05:13as a parent
05:15are the reminders.
05:17It's that I end up having to say
05:19the same thing
05:20over
05:22and over
05:23and over again.
05:24It's the redundancy
05:25that gets me sometimes.
05:26We have a couple of things
05:27that I've been telling my boys
05:28since they were very little.
05:30They are getting ready
05:30to be 19,
05:3217,
05:32and 13 years old now.
05:34And the same thing
05:35I was telling my 19-year-old
05:36when he was one
05:37seems like the exact same thing
05:39that I'm telling him right now.
05:41Like, sir,
05:42when I talk to you,
05:43the response back to me
05:44is not,
05:44yeah,
05:45mm-mm,
05:45I can't handle that.
05:47I need you to put a handle on that.
05:49Yes, ma'am.
05:50Yes, sir.
05:51I'm still telling him that
05:53after all these years.
05:55One of the other things
05:56that happens in our house
05:58is that when the boys
05:58wake up in the morning
05:59or when they return home
06:01from something,
06:02like they've been at practice
06:02or school or something like that
06:03and they come home,
06:04before they move
06:05about their life
06:06and about their day,
06:07they have to come to me
06:08and their dad
06:09and they have to ask a question.
06:10Is there anything
06:11that I can do to help?
06:14You just have to ask.
06:15The answer might be no.
06:17It might be yes.
06:18But you do indeed have to ask.
06:20Most of the time,
06:20the question looks like this.
06:22Is there anything
06:22I can do to help?
06:27But a lot of times,
06:28the question doesn't even
06:29come out like that.
06:30I just don't get
06:31the question at all.
06:32So I find myself
06:33having to search
06:34for the boys,
06:35the same boys
06:35I've been telling this
06:36since they were very little
06:37and reminding them
06:38to ask the question.
06:40And I keep telling them,
06:41this is to your benefit.
06:42Do you realize
06:43you're going to be
06:44a husband one day
06:45and it's going to bless you
06:47to bless your wife
06:48by asking her this question.
06:52I'm trying to help you
06:53and I'm trying to make sure
06:54I have daughters-in-law
06:55who rise up
06:56and call me blessed.
07:04Reminders when we're telling
07:05somebody the same thing
07:06over and over again.
07:08But the reality is
07:09when we think about
07:09our own life
07:10and our own experience,
07:11the stuff that has stuck
07:12with us over time
07:13are the things
07:14we've been reminded about.
07:16Things that have become
07:17habitual.
07:18The reminders have actually
07:19dug a rut of routine
07:21and habit into our life
07:22so that we don't even
07:23recognize sometimes
07:24the kinds of decisions
07:26that we're making
07:26or the words
07:27that we're saying
07:28or choosing not to say.
07:29The kind of relationships
07:30that we choose
07:31or don't choose
07:32that a lot of that
07:33has stemmed from
07:33the reminders
07:34that we've been given.
07:35I remember my mother
07:37telling me when I was growing up,
07:38Priscilla,
07:39it's not what you said,
07:41it's how you said it.
07:43Your mama told you that too.
07:46Reminders.
07:46She would say it over
07:48and over and over again
07:49and at times
07:50when we hear something
07:51that we've heard before
07:52in the season of life
07:54that we're in
07:54at that point,
07:55that exact same statement
07:57or exact same directive
07:58or bit of instruction,
07:59it hits us completely different
08:01because we're at a sensitive
08:03place in our life
08:04or we're at a hard place
08:05in our life
08:05or our mind
08:06or our heart
08:07has been turned
08:07in a different direction
08:09and so reminders
08:10are necessary
08:11because they give us
08:12a 3D perspective
08:13of a particular,
08:15a particular insight
08:16or a particular principle.
08:18Peter believes this obviously
08:20because he says
08:21that the way that I want
08:22to stir you up,
08:23wake you up,
08:24alert you
08:25to the things
08:26of God
08:27and to what it means
08:28to grow spiritually
08:29and to live
08:30a victorious life
08:31and to grab hold,
08:32he's writing about
08:33in this book,
08:34to grab hold
08:34of everything
08:35that God has planned
08:36for you.
08:37The way for me
08:38to get you
08:38on that track
08:39is to stir you up
08:41by way of reminder.
08:43Now,
08:44this is interesting to me
08:45because, you know,
08:45this is Peter
08:46we're talking about.
08:47Peter is the one
08:48who actually traveled
08:49with Jesus
08:50for three and a half years.
08:51This is a guy
08:51we're talking about
08:52who walked with Jesus
08:53and talked with Jesus.
08:55This guy witnessed
08:56the actual transfiguration
08:57of Jesus.
08:58This is the one
08:59who washed Jesus' feet
09:00at the Last Supper.
09:02This is Peter,
09:03the one who denied
09:04Jesus three times
09:05but then knew
09:06what it was like
09:06to feel the grace
09:07and the mercy of God
09:09reach out to him
09:10and restore him
09:11after that devastation.
09:12This is Peter
09:13who saw the empty tomb.
09:15This is Peter
09:16who saw the resurrected Jesus.
09:18This is Peter
09:18who after the ascension
09:20and the coming
09:20of the Holy Spirit
09:21Peter would be a leader
09:23of the church
09:23which was at Jerusalem.
09:25Peter did missionary work
09:26and preached Jesus
09:27as the Christ
09:28for the rest of his life
09:30and when it comes time
09:31for him to write this letter
09:32he says,
09:33I don't want to stir you up
09:34by telling you anything
09:35you have not already heard before.
09:38After everything
09:39I've seen with Jesus
09:40and the walking with Jesus
09:42the discipleship with Jesus
09:43the friendship with Jesus
09:44I'm telling you
09:45that the things
09:46you have likely already heard
09:48are the things
09:49you just need
09:49to be reminded of
09:51because if you'll be reminded
09:52of old things
09:53instead of constantly
09:54trying to come up
09:55with new things
09:56then you'll realize
09:57that the treasure
09:58that you've been looking for
09:59you actually already
10:00have access to.
10:02So he says
10:03I'm getting ready
10:03to stir you up
10:04but I'm going to do it
10:05by way of reminder.
10:07And so
10:08from the top
10:09of that chapter
10:10he just starts
10:11reminding you of things.
10:13He just starts
10:13calling them out
10:14one after the other
10:15and we're just going
10:15to take a few of them
10:16a handful of them
10:17to be reminded of tonight
10:19so that we can be awakened
10:20so that we can be encouraged
10:22and challenged
10:23to remain alert
10:25aware
10:25and reminded
10:26of these truths
10:27that he wants to share with us.
10:29The very first one
10:30is in the very first verse
10:31at the top
10:32of the chapter.
10:33He writes
10:35Simon Peter
10:36Simon Peter
10:37a bondservant
10:37and apostle
10:38of Jesus Christ
10:39to those
10:41who have received
10:42a faith
10:42as the same kind
10:44as ours
10:44by the righteousness
10:46of our God
10:47and Savior
10:48Jesus Christ.
10:49If you read it
10:50too quickly
10:51you'll miss the reminder
10:52that he has tucked away
10:53and embedded
10:54within this verse.
10:55He says
10:55hi I'm Simon Peter
10:57and just so you know
10:58I'm a bondservant
10:59and apostle
10:59of Jesus Christ
11:00and I am writing
11:01to those
11:02who have received
11:03the same kind
11:05of faith
11:05as ours.
11:07Peter says
11:08let me be clear
11:09I have an intended
11:11audience
11:11for this letter
11:12I am writing
11:13to those
11:14who have received
11:14a certain kind
11:16of faith
11:16a faith
11:17that has come
11:18to us
11:18through one channel
11:19through one means
11:20he says
11:21it's through
11:22the righteousness
11:22of our God
11:23whose name
11:24is Jesus Christ.
11:26The first reminder
11:27comes to us here
11:28as he challenges us
11:29to consider
11:30and to clarify
11:31the content
11:32of our faith.
11:33He says
11:33make sure
11:34your faith
11:35is the same
11:35kind of faith
11:36as ours.
11:37The reason why
11:38he needed to remind
11:39the people
11:40that he was writing
11:40to and by the Holy Spirit
11:41is because
11:42one chapter later
11:43if you read it
11:44you will find
11:44that he starts
11:45detailing the fact
11:46that there were
11:47false teachers
11:48that were rising up
11:49within the church
11:50and they were
11:50they were preaching
11:51a twisted version
11:53of the good news.
11:54They were watering
11:55down the purity
11:55of the gospel.
11:56They were introducing
11:58twisted heresies
11:59and even denying
12:00the singular deity
12:01of Jesus Christ
12:02and so in this
12:04second chapter
12:04of this same book
12:06he begins to detail
12:07how the way of truth
12:08was being slandered
12:09by people
12:10who just were
12:11introducing
12:12slight perversions
12:13and hints
12:14of manipulation
12:15added opinion
12:16and philosophies
12:17to the purity
12:18of the gospel.
12:19So Peter
12:20right here
12:21at the top
12:21of the letter
12:22he says
12:22I want to remind you
12:23that there is a faith
12:25that is the same
12:26kind of faith
12:27as ours
12:27and it is the faith
12:28that comes
12:29through faith alone
12:31in Christ alone
12:32to redeem you
12:34from your sins.
12:35Peter
12:36cuts through the lies
12:37and the errors
12:38and the efforts
12:38to malign the purity
12:39and the power
12:40of the good news
12:40of the gospel
12:41and he says
12:42I ain't messing around
12:43with this faith
12:44of ours.
12:45I've walked with him
12:46I've talked with him
12:47I've seen his miracles
12:48I've heard his voice
12:49I saw him suffer
12:51a gruesome death
12:51and become a ransom
12:52for all mankind
12:53so I came to remind you
12:55that there is no other way
12:57through which you can be saved
13:00except through this one
13:02who is indeed the Christ
13:03our faith
13:04he came to remind you
13:06is in Christ
13:07and Christ alone.
13:08The reason why this is
13:10such an important reminder
13:11y'all
13:11is because we are living
13:12in a culture
13:13and in a day and age
13:14where it's a very similar scenario
13:16to what he was describing.
13:18We are in a time
13:19when the culture around us
13:20is seeking
13:21if you look closely
13:22to water down the gospel
13:24in a culture
13:25that is seeking
13:26to generalize God
13:27so that he is
13:28one of many options
13:30instead of a singular
13:32unmatched entity
13:33without comparison
13:34and with no counterparts
13:36Peter says
13:37I've come to remind
13:38the women of Awaken tonight
13:39that there is
13:40our great salvation
13:42and that salvation
13:43comes by no other name
13:45and through no other way
13:47except through Jesus Christ.
13:50So he's stirring you up
13:51by way of reminder
13:53that the gospel y'all
13:54is still the good news.
13:57It has not changed
13:58because our Savior
13:59has not changed
14:00and listen to me
14:02you are going to have
14:03to be incredibly discerning
14:04in this day and age.
14:06You're going to have
14:06to have a keen
14:07spiritual ear
14:08and listen to what
14:09you are being fed
14:10through your social media feed
14:12and on through your screens
14:14and even as you sit
14:15in the building
14:15on some Sundays
14:16in some spaces
14:17you need to make sure
14:19that what you're hearing
14:19is actually what it is
14:21that Jesus says.
14:23He says I'm just challenging you
14:25in this day and age
14:26where everybody's just seeking
14:28to add little hints
14:29and cleverly devised tales
14:31and a popular opinion
14:33and that which is
14:34politically correct
14:35that you're going to have
14:36to tune your spiritual ears
14:38to make sure
14:38this right here
14:39is the same kind of faith
14:40as ours.
14:42Just because someone
14:44says it passionately
14:45and charismatically
14:47and didactically
14:49if it adds to
14:51or takes away
14:52from the purity
14:52of the good news
14:53then it is not
14:54the same kind of faith
14:55as ours.
14:59And then after you yourself
15:01after we ourselves
15:02sisters have had
15:03our own discernment
15:05tuned in
15:06our spiritual radar
15:07up to make sure
15:08that we have balanced
15:09everything against
15:10the truth
15:11of the word of God
15:12we are also going to have
15:13to be clear
15:14and confident
15:15and unashamed
15:16and unmoved
15:17in our own salvation.
15:22You are living
15:22in a day and age
15:23where you're going to
15:24have to have some boldness
15:25to be clear
15:26about who your Savior is.
15:28You're going to have
15:29to have some spiritual fiber
15:30some spiritual fortitude
15:32you're going to have
15:32to have some spiritual
15:33meat on your bones
15:35in order to stand up
15:36and be unashamed
15:37about the good news
15:38of Jesus Christ.
15:40To use your influence
15:41to use your social
15:42media platform
15:43young people
15:44who are in the room
15:45I mean I'm still young
15:46but I'm just saying
15:49that I'm just saying
15:50that if you are
15:51in your 20s
15:52in this room
15:53the Lord has given you
15:55unmitigated influence
15:56in a way that
15:57previous generations
15:58did not have
15:59and it's going to take
16:00some boldness
16:01and some courage
16:02to be willing
16:03to stand alone
16:04separate from many
16:05in your peer
16:06who will refuse
16:07to have integrity
16:08and who will not cave
16:09under the pressure
16:10of the culture
16:11to stand up
16:12without shame
16:13and say there is
16:15only one name
16:16by which men and women
16:17can be saved
16:18and that is the name
16:19of Jesus Christ.
16:24You're going to have
16:24to be bold.
16:25The Holy Spirit
16:26is going to have
16:27to give you some courage.
16:28You're going to have
16:29to be fortified
16:30because it will not be
16:31at times
16:32politically correct.
16:33It will not be popular.
16:35You will not receive
16:36the applause.
16:37You will be unfollowed.
16:39But you have to be
16:40like Paul
16:40and say
16:41it is by grace
16:42that I have been saved
16:43and I am constrained.
16:45The love of God
16:46constrains me.
16:48He's done too much.
16:49He's saved me
16:50from too much.
16:51He's redeemed me
16:52too radically
16:53for me to add to
16:54or take away
16:55from this good news,
16:56this gospel
16:57that has saved my soul.
16:59Christ alone.
17:03It's Christ alone, y'all.
17:05It doesn't matter
17:07how clever
17:08the culture becomes
17:10with adding to
17:11and trying to morph
17:12a new set of ideas
17:14and ideals
17:14and philosophies.
17:16We have to be clear
17:17on who our Savior is.
17:21The means of the gospel
17:23is actually quite narrow.
17:25Christ alone.
17:27But the scope
17:29of the gospel
17:29is very broad.
17:31It is for everyone
17:33from every sphere of life,
17:35not to some
17:36but to all,
17:37not to one nation,
17:39not to one political party,
17:40not to one race,
17:42not to one religious sector,
17:43but to every breathing
17:45human being
17:46the salvation of our God
17:48through Jesus Christ
17:49has been extended.
17:53Do you know
17:54the great lengths
17:55that God has gone through
17:56to win you?
18:00Do you know
18:01what a miracle it is
18:04that after where we've been
18:06and what we've done,
18:07after the rebellious heart
18:09that we had,
18:10the times that we turned
18:11our back on God,
18:12the times he came
18:13looking for us
18:13and we kept diverting
18:15his advances toward us,
18:18the fact that we're sitting
18:19in this room tonight
18:20in relationship with him,
18:22do you know what he did
18:23to woo you to himself?
18:25what he did to woo you to himself?
18:28Even when you wanted to run,
18:30the hound of heaven
18:31would not let you go.
18:35And I mean,
18:35if we had time
18:36to tell the story,
18:38if we had time
18:39for me to just take
18:40this little microphone off
18:41and start right here
18:42on the front row
18:43and just go down
18:44one by one
18:45all throughout this room,
18:46all the way
18:47into the furthest reaches
18:48of this sanctuary,
18:49time would not allow us
18:51enough opportunity
18:52to tell the stories
18:53of how we were
18:54far away from him,
18:56but he came
18:57and he found us
18:59and he loved us
19:00and he called us
19:01to himself.
19:05And this love story
19:06between you and he,
19:07you do know
19:08it did not just start
19:09at the time of your birth,
19:10it started before
19:11the foundation of the world,
19:13that he already had you
19:14on his mind
19:15and he was already looking
19:16and watching
19:17and waiting for the opportunity
19:18when he knew
19:19in his sovereignty
19:20and omniscience
19:21that he was going
19:21to have to redeem humanity
19:23to himself.
19:25He was already
19:26planning for you.
19:27Okay, I want you
19:28to think about this.
19:30I want you to think
19:31about what a miracle
19:31it is that you were born,
19:33I'm talking about
19:33physically born,
19:35in this day,
19:36in this age,
19:37in this generation,
19:38in that body,
19:39in that skin color,
19:40with that hair texture,
19:41with those facial features,
19:42with your personality.
19:43It is not by chance,
19:45you are not a surprise
19:46to God.
19:48Your parents may have
19:49been surprised,
19:50God was not.
19:52He was not in the heavens
19:54saying,
19:54oops, that one slipped past me.
19:56Nope.
19:58He planned for you,
20:00which is,
20:01little rabbit trail here,
20:02the reason why
20:03you can be confident
20:04in who you are,
20:05in that skin,
20:06with that hair texture,
20:07in that body,
20:08is because you have been
20:10fearfully and wonderfully made
20:11with that personality,
20:13with the way your mind
20:14is wired
20:15and the creativity
20:16that you have
20:17or don't have.
20:18You don't have time
20:18to be comparing yourself
20:19with her
20:20and what she has
20:21and what she can do.
20:22God made you
20:23as you
20:24for a reason.
20:29He did it strategically
20:30and intentionally.
20:31It's a miracle,
20:32your birth and mine.
20:33And by the way,
20:34not only is who we are
20:37a miracle,
20:37but the time
20:38in which we live
20:39has been strategically designed
20:42and defined by God.
20:45Meaning,
20:46you and I
20:46didn't come through 2020
20:47on accident.
20:50He didn't mistakenly
20:51set you in this decade
20:53on accident
20:55that your lifespan
20:56and mine
20:57was situated
20:58in this generation
21:00on purpose.
21:02Because there is
21:03a testimony
21:04you're going to have
21:05that you're going to tell
21:05your grandkids
21:06and your great-grandkids
21:07about the faithfulness
21:10of God.
21:12He made you for this,
21:14in other words.
21:16your great-great-grandfather
21:19with the seven billion
21:21plus people
21:22that are on the planet.
21:24He just happened
21:25to intersect lives
21:26with the woman
21:27who would be
21:27your great-great-grandmother.
21:29They came together
21:30and had your great-grandfather.
21:32And then with the seven billion
21:34plus people
21:34that are on the planet,
21:36your great-grandfather
21:37just happened
21:37at the right time
21:39in the right generation
21:40in the right year
21:41on the right day
21:42to intersect lives
21:43with the woman
21:43who would be
21:44your great-grandmother.
21:45The two of them
21:46came together
21:46and created
21:47your grandfather.
21:48And then with the
21:48seven billion plus people
21:50that are on the planet,
21:51he just happened
21:52to intersect lives
21:53with the woman
21:53who would be
21:54your grandmother.
21:54And then the two of them
21:55came together
21:55and created your father.
21:56And then your father
21:57with the seven billion
21:59plus people
22:00that are on the planet,
22:01he just happened
22:02to intersect lives
22:03with the woman
22:03who would be your mother.
22:04And then the two of them
22:05came together
22:06and they created you.
22:10There ain't nothing chance about that. That's the divine hand of God orchestrating circumstances
22:17and orchestrating scenarios and the movements of people in different times and days and
22:22generations to make sure that you would be born for such a time as this.
22:32And if you think then that it's a miracle that you were born, how much more of a miracle
22:40is it that you were born again? Since before time began, God's been orchestrating stuff
22:54to make sure that he could win your allegiance to himself. I've heard my dad describe it as a
23:00cosmic chessboard. God is sitting on one side of the cosmic chessboard and the enemy, you do know
23:05there is an enemy who has also been vying for your soul, vying for your allegiance, vying for your
23:11attention. He's been on the other side of the cosmic chessboard. God made the first move. He put Adam
23:16and Eve, perfect people, in a perfect environment, perfect relationship to himself, perfect opportunity
23:21to have rapport and cultivate a deepening friendship with God. But then the enemy made a move. He slithered
23:28into the garden and introduced sin. And now culture devolved to such an extent that Cain ended up
23:34killing Abel. And now that perfect relationship was infringed upon because sin was introduced in the
23:39garden. They were separated in relationship from God and it seemed like all hope was lost. But our God,
23:46never to be outdone, he made another move. He caused Adam and Eve to come back together again.
23:51They had a baby boy named Seth and Seth gave birth to Enosh. And I don't know what it was
23:56about Enosh,
23:57but Genesis chapter 4 says that when Enosh was born, everybody started to worship God again.
24:02But then the enemy made another move. He introduced sin back into the equation and it proliferated so
24:07much so that the entire earth had to be destroyed by a flood. And this time it seemed like for
24:13sure the
24:13enemy had won. But our God, never to be outdone, he made another move on the cosmic chessboard and his
24:19name was Noah. And he said, Noah, I need you to go build me an ark. Noah said, do what?
24:26He said, I need you to go build me an ark because it's going to rain. And through one man's
24:31obedience,
24:32mankind was preserved. The enemy made another move. So that sin and rebellion proliferated through the
24:38hearts of mankind once again, even after the flood. And it seemed like all hope was lost,
24:43but then God made another move. He went to a little pagan town called Ur and he plucked out
24:49of it a man named Abram. And he said, Abram, I'm going to change your name and I'm going to
24:53change
24:53the GPS coordinates on your destiny. I'm going to send you to a brand new land. And he said,
24:59look up in the stars, Abraham. You will see as many stars are in the sky. That's the number of
25:04descendants that I'm going to give to you. I'm going to create a brand new group of people.
25:08They will be my people and I will be theirs. Then the enemy made another move. Now God's people
25:16went down into Egypt, captured 400 years of brutal slavery. And it seemed like this time for sure,
25:25there was no hope they would never come out of this slavery. But then God made another move and
25:30his name is Moses. And at just the right time, he raised Moses up as the prince of Egypt. And
25:36he told
25:36Moses, Mo, go tell Pharaoh, let my people go. And after 10 miraculous plagues and 40 years in the
25:44wilderness, they came into the promised land, the people of God's promise in the place of promise
25:50where his presence and blessing has been promised to them, the land flowing with milk and honey.
25:58But by the time you get to the end of the book of Judges, the enemy has now introduced idolatry,
26:04so much so that, listen to me, the children of Israel did not have to turn their back completely
26:10on Yahweh. They just set idol worship, cultural idol worship alongside their worship of Yahweh.
26:16So they had one foot in idolatry, worshiping the idols of the culture, and one foot of allegiance,
26:21worshiping God. And it denigrated the culture so much so that the last book, y'all, of the last line
26:27of the book of Judges says. And everybody was doing what was right in their own eyes.
26:35If that don't sound like America in the year 2021, I don't know what does.
26:43And it seemed like all hope was lost. But then God made another move.
26:50Ruth. And her name was Ruth. And Ruth's story got off to a rough start, but then at the right
26:56time,
26:57Ruth met her kinsman redeemer. And the two of them came together and had a little baby boy named Obed.
27:02And Obed gave birth to Jesse. And Jesse gave birth to a little baby boy named David.
27:09And with that one move, the enemy didn't even know it, but the checkmate was already on the way.
27:20And then the Old Testament closes, and there's 400 years of silence. God is on one side of the
27:25cosmic chessboard, the enemy is on the other side, and nobody makes a move for 400 years.
27:31All of history and humanity is hanging in the balance, waiting to see who's gonna make the next
27:37move. And then the New Testament opens, and God makes a move the likes of which the
27:44enemy still to this day has never had a response for. He basically puts on flesh and says,
27:50let me come down here and take care of this myself.
27:57He lives a perfect life, and he dies a substitutionary death, and three days later,
28:03he's resurrected from the grave, and he offers salvation once and for all for you, and for you,
28:10and for you, and me. Do you realize what he went through for us?
28:16How dare we be ashamed of a salvation like that?
28:23And so Peter says, I came to stir you up by way of reminder today,
28:27that you would never forget there is a certain kind of faith.
28:32And that faith comes through righteousness in Christ Jesus, found in Christ and Christ alone.
28:39He's got another reminder for those of us who have that kind of faith. He says, that's who I'm
28:43writing to, verse one, those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours. He says, verse two,
28:48here's your second reminder. Grace and peace be multiplied to you. Not only has he come to remind you
28:57of the same kind of faith, but he wants to remind you of a multiplication, of peace, and of grace.
29:06This makes me happy, because I like God's math.
29:11You see, a few verses later, around verse five, Peter's going to start talking about addition.
29:17He's going to tell us to add to our faith moral excellence, add godliness, add kindness, add love.
29:24He starts to tell us the things that we need to add to make sure that we are growing up
29:29spiritually
29:29and maturing in our faith. So he's about to talk to us about addition. But before he ever gets to
29:35us
29:35regarding what we need to add to our faith, he tells you right up here in verse two, God's working
29:40in a completely different set of metrics. He's going to multiply to you. He's going to multiply
29:48grace and peace. They are not added, they are multiplied. An exponential explosion of peace to you
29:58and grace to you. Y'all, I can't imagine anything we need more right now than peace
30:07and grace. And we don't need it in measures that we can provide for ourselves.
30:13We need it in divine proportions that only God himself can pour out upon us.
30:19Peace, do you know what it is? Peace is the capacity and the potential for calm in the midst of
30:24chaos.
30:25Peace is an internal anchor of stability in the midst of unhindered instability that swirls all around you.
30:33Peace is the capacity to remain steady when everything around us is completely unsteady.
30:39Peace in the midst of a storm. There is a storm, if you have not noticed, that is raging around
30:48us.
30:50And it doesn't matter what your personal concerns may or may not be right now in this particular moment.
30:56We want to tell you though, if you personally are not going through a storm, we just want to tell
31:00you
31:00how happy we are for you.
31:04But for the vast majority of us who are in this room, we are in one of three places.
31:09We're either right smack dab in the middle of a storm, on our way into a storm, or on our
31:14way out of one.
31:15Because it's the nature of the life in which we live.
31:18Jesus himself said it in John 16. He said, in this world, you will have trouble.
31:24You don't have to go looking for storms, y'all. Just keep living.
31:27Amen. The storm is eventually going to come and find you in one way or another.
31:33But even if personally, you're not having the heavens open up over you and the hurricane,
31:38the rains, the floods, the difficulties of life are not pressing in on you right now.
31:43Personally. All of us, collectively, have been in a storm.
31:50Because we have not just been through and still going through one pandemic.
31:57Y'all, there have been layers of pandemics upon pandemics.
32:01There's been a medical one, yes, but there has also been a political one.
32:05There's been a racial one.
32:07Layers of pandemic upon pandemic.
32:10And in order for us not to succumb to anxiety and fear or cave to hopelessness and despair,
32:16the only way a Jadalyn can come before us and say,
32:19I've lost this person and that person.
32:21I have suffered this difficulty and this difficulty.
32:24But I can still come up with a smile on my face and still serve the people of God and
32:29still serve the house of God
32:30and not succumb to bitterness or resentment or skepticism about the goodness of God
32:36is if there is an anchor in her soul.
32:41The peace of God anchors you in your soul.
32:45It's a supernatural peace that he multiplies to you.
32:48And Peter says, I want to remind you that if you have received the same kind of faith as ours,
32:53then you can know that that kind of anchoring peace is going to be multiplied to you.
32:58Jesus said in John 14, my peace, I leave with you.
33:04I give it to you in spadefuls, not as the world gives it,
33:08because they give it sparingly and they give it temporarily with condition.
33:13But not this peace that I give.
33:14This is the kind of peace, Philippians 4, 7, that passes all understanding.
33:20You know these kind of people.
33:21It's the friend that you have or the person that you work with.
33:24And she's your girl.
33:25You know what she's going through.
33:27She's filled you in on the trouble that she's had and the struggle that she's going through
33:31and the call she just got from her kid's school or the tragedy that has just happened
33:36or the financial struggle that she's been under or the doctor's diagnosis that's just called.
33:41You've been privy to all that information and yet she keeps getting up every day.
33:47She keeps showing up.
33:49She still has a sense of calm.
33:52She still has a bit of a smile on her face.
33:54She's not ignoring her reality.
33:56She's not denial.
33:57She's very aware of it and she needs to deal with it.
34:00But at the same time, she's able to stay steadfast, unmoved.
34:07This is a supernatural kind of peace.
34:09It's a peace that makes you go, huh?
34:12Because it passes all understanding.
34:23Grace is God's unmerited favor on your life.
34:29That's what it is.
34:30It is God being free to do everything he wants to do for you because of what Christ has already
34:35done for you.
34:37Grace is the goodness of God dispensed to you that you do not deserve, that you could not repay, and
34:43that you cannot earn.
34:45Grace is, of course, the basis of our faith, y'all.
34:47But there is not only a grace that saves you, there is also a grace that sustains you.
34:53This is what I call a grace for grown-ups.
34:57This multiplied grace is the grace for grown-ups.
35:01It's the grace that actually meets you in the details of your days and the darkest hours of your night.
35:06It meets you in your struggles and your strife and your difficulties and your daily decisions.
35:11It's a grace that, if peace anchors you, grace is actually an engine that motivates you and encourages you and
35:18sustains you.
35:19It's an uplifter and a keeper.
35:21It's a second wind that keeps you moving forward when, honestly, you would have caved a long time ago.
35:28Grace gives you inspiration to keep going.
35:31It sustains you when everything around you is not changing.
35:35The difficulty is staying the same.
35:37But somehow, God gives you a grace that keeps you moving forward.
35:41When the marriage is still hard and the finances are still low and the babies are still not sleeping through
35:47the night
35:47and the adult children are still living in a way that is outside of the way that you raised them
35:52to live
35:53and the relationship with that person is still strained or your heart is still broken or the business is still
35:59flailing.
36:00When your needs are still seemingly unmet and unattended, there is a grace for grown-ups that can be your
36:08keeper.
36:11Y'all, I don't know that I have ever in my life had personal testimony of this quite the same
36:20way I do now.
36:24Y'all, we've all, as I said, corporately been through a whole lot of stuff.
36:29But y'all, the last two years of my life, our life as a family has been devastating.
36:38In the past two years, we have lost eight family members, back-to-back.
36:44It started off with the loss of one of my closest friends and my biological cousin.
36:51She actually was a member of this church.
36:56And one day we were planning to go to the movies.
36:58I still have the voicemails from her trying to organize our her kids coming to my house to hang out
37:02with their cousins while we went to the movies.
37:04That's what we did together, hang out at the movies over hot, buttery, salty popcorn and a good Coke.
37:11And one day we're planning to go to the movies and the next day at 38 years old, her heart
37:16just stopped.
37:18And that loss started a string of losses in our family, one after the other.
37:26Ending with December 2019, right before the pandemic began, in December, the same month, my grandfather died, my father's father.
37:37The beginning of the month and at the end of the month, December 30th, my mother died.
37:44Eight months later, my mother-in-law died.
37:48In between those two deaths, the doctor saw something on my left lung that needed to be removed.
37:55And the only way they could remove it was to actually take out the entire left lobe, upper lobe of
38:01my lung.
38:01So a week after my mother's funeral, I had to go have that surgery.
38:07One thing after the other.
38:10And I don't know if you've ever had a season of your life where you look back on it and
38:15you realize,
38:17grace sustained me through that.
38:23That it had to be grace, that it had to be something supernatural, that we've still had our minds regulated,
38:30that we have still kept our faith and our trust and our hope in him.
38:35He is indeed a grace giver.
38:38And he extends grace for folks going through grown-up situations like you and I are facing.
38:42He gives a grace for grown-ups.
38:46So I want you to know that there is a multiplied peace.
38:50And I want you to know from my own personal testimony that there is a multiplied grace that has been
38:54extended to you.
38:56Paul, the apostle, talked about it a little bit in 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
39:00He said, there's this thorn in my flesh.
39:03Oh, if I could get rid of this thorn, my life would be so much easier and better.
39:07And he prays.
39:07He asked the Lord to get rid of the thorn because that's what we do.
39:10Lord, if you can change the situation, this thing that's poking me, it's uncomfortable.
39:14It's bothering me.
39:16If you could get this out of my life, then everything would be fine.
39:19Jesus, God heard the prayer.
39:21He prayed three times that the thorn would be removed.
39:24And God, in his sovereignty and his goodness and his grace to us,
39:30sometimes does not remove the thorn.
39:32Listen to that again.
39:33Somebody needs to hear that.
39:35That God's sovereignty, that God's goodness, that God's love for you
39:39has not been misplaced just because the thorn remains in your life.
39:45He said to Paul, no, I'm not taking away the thorn because it's by this thorn.
39:49It's because of this thorn that you're getting ready to learn that my grace is sufficient for you.
39:53In other words, the multiplication of grace is tied to the hard things that we are facing.
40:00That sometimes the Lord allows it because you'll never see the multiplication without it.
40:05So, if you're praying, Lord, take away this thorn.
40:09Lord, change this difficulty.
40:10The thing that you wrote down on those cards that we wrote our request down on earlier and turn them
40:14in.
40:15And you're praying and the Lord in his goodness and sovereignty chooses not to take away the thorn.
40:20Then we begin to know we are growing up in our faith and maturing a little bit spiritually
40:26when instead of completely caving in hopelessness or bitterness and resentment against the Lord
40:31that the thorn remains, we instead sit on the edge of our seat with our chin in our hands
40:37in holy anticipation that if he's allowed the thorn to remain,
40:41that must mean there is a multiplication of grace that's on the way.
40:49So, Peter says, I came to stir you up by way of reminder that there is the same kind of
40:54faith as ours,
40:55but also there is a multiplication of grace and peace that is coming to you.
41:00And God, 2 Corinthians 9, 8 says, is able to make all grace abound to you
41:07so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.
41:15Paul has reminded us about the same kind of faith.
41:18He has reminded us about the multiplication of peace and grace.
41:22And finally, he reminds us that there are magnificent promises for anything and everything that you face.
41:30In verse 3, he says, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness
41:41through the true knowledge of him who called us by his glory and his excellence.
41:47His divine power, he says, and his precious promises have been given to you for everything that you need
41:53for life and for godliness.
41:56Please don't miss the two layers of living that he addresses right here.
42:01Everything you need not just to live, but to live in a way that honors God.
42:06He's given you everything you need for that.
42:08For both layers.
42:10Not just to keep getting up out of bed in the morning,
42:12but actually to walk in a manner worthy of the calling by which you have been called.
42:17He's given you enough grace for that.
42:18He's given you promises for that.
42:20He has given you everything you need to be able to sustain you,
42:23to not just live, but to honor God in your living.
42:26To not just live, not just keep on waking up every day,
42:30but to face your day with a measure of faith and hope and spiritual maturity.
42:36Everything you need to engage both of these layers of living,
42:39you have already been given,
42:41even if you don't see proof of it.
42:43And even if based on your current level of lethargy or apathy or indifference or lack of energy,
42:49you feel a little discouraged because you feel like this cannot be true for you.
42:54Peter says, that's why I came to remind you
42:57that everything you need, you already have.
43:02Y'all, my boys, two of them are here with me tonight.
43:05Some of y'all probably saw them outside.
43:07They were helping many of you bring your bags in earlier tonight.
43:11But my boys are gargantuan.
43:13They're huge.
43:15And they just keep getting bigger.
43:17And I look at them now with all these muscles popping out
43:20and their voices are all deep
43:21and they're walking around with their shirts off.
43:23It's nasty.
43:28Shucks.
43:30I'm looking at all of that manliness walking around
43:33and everything that they needed to become who they currently are and will be,
43:39they already had at the moment of conception.
43:42When they were in my womb and we did that first ultrasound six or seven weeks in,
43:47it just looked like a little nut, a little ball of like an acorn, very, very small.
43:54Everything, though, that they would develop into was already there.
43:58To the extent that I cultivated and took care of the new life that was on the inside of me,
44:05that was the extent to which they would be able to completely flourish.
44:08But everything that they are now, they already had.
44:13Everything that you need, you already have right now.
44:16The new life of God is on the inside of you in the person of the Holy Spirit.
44:20Do you realize that the DNA of God himself is pulsing on the inside of you?
44:26And as you cultivate and keep healthy the life of God on the inside of you,
44:31everything that you will become, everything that you need to be sustained
44:35through the hardships and the difficulties and the struggles and the joys,
44:39the ups and the downs of life, everything you and I need, we already have.
44:44Do you know that in the scriptures, there are over 8,000 promises?
44:50That daughters, sons and daughters of God have been given access to, over 8,000.
44:56But most of them he did not put in our hand, he put them in our reach.
45:02Which means you have the opportunity to experience God in the way that that promise confirms that you should.
45:08But it's not just set in your hand, it's in your reach.
45:12That as you trust him, as you believe him, as you walk with him, as you remain connected to him,
45:18as you deepen your friendship with him, then you begin to see that outworked in your life.
45:24Peter says somebody needs to be reminded today that according to Colossians chapter 2 verse 10,
45:30you are complete in him.
45:33The enemy wants to dull you in that regard, and me.
45:37He wants to make us think that we need to go outside of Christ,
45:41outside of what he has given us to find completion.
45:44And so we become codependent in relationships, and we become addicted to substances,
45:48and we go outside of our relationship to God to find stuff that he has already given you access to.
45:55But every treasure that you need, it's already there if you'll just open the book.
46:01There will, some things will come tumbling out of the book.
46:05Some treasures, some insights, some details, some strengthening power will come tumbling out for you
46:11so that you will know that everything you need to become and to be who God has called us to
46:17be as women of God,
46:18you and I have already been given access to.
46:21Peter says, I just stopped by Awaken to stir you up by way of reminder,
46:27to remind you of the power and the purity of our faith,
46:31to remind you of the multiplication of peace and grace,
46:36and to remind you that the magnificent promises of God are yours
46:40for anything and everything that you face.
46:44Amen?
46:45Amen.
46:46Amen.
46:46Amen.
46:46Amen.
46:48Amen.
46:50Amen.
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