I want to give you two facts about spiritual growth as we begin today. First, spiritual growth has nothing to do with age. Spiritual growth has everything to do with your level of personal commitment (meaning submission and surrender) to the will of God. Second, you can grow as much as you want to grow! Salvation as a work is entirely upon God, but growing up in the faith is entirely upon me!

Peter wrote in 1 Peter Chapter 2 verse 5, (check this out), “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Think of your strength of faith (spiritual maturity) as a building. Every building project must have an investor, someone who finances the thing. In your case, that is God. He has invested His divine power and His divine promises.

You can grow/build as much as you ultimately want to because you have access to His divine power. The same power that raised the dead. The same power that created the earth and everything in it. The same power that spoke all things into existence…yea, that power. What God expects you to attempt, He also empowers you (provides the power) for you to achieve. You just have to believe Him. Which leads us to His second investment. His divine promises.

What are God’s divine promises? Nothing at all aside from His Word. The Word of God is indeed the promise and promises of God. Here’s where a huge play comes in on your end. Will you learn His Word and will you apply/believe what God has said? God’s divine power is His account, God’s Word, His promises are His checks. Will you cash them?

If I wrote you a check for $1M after church today, a personal check from my personal account, you would take that to the bank and they would laugh at you! “This account is $15 short, sorry!” HA, not really!! But if Jeff Bezos wrote that personal check to you, no problem… God’s Word contains His commitments and growing up in faith is all about trusting God, cashing those checks, finding out how faithful and true He is, and essentially, growing in spiritual wealth. So, we have the investment, the backing, and in verses 5-9, Peter hooks us up with the building plans…

2 Peter Chapter 1 Verse 5
• If you are to grow then you are to apply all diligence. You must make this serious and go after it for yourself. This means MAX EFFORT! One spring a family was driving from Ft. Lauderdale to Tampa, Florida. As far as the eye could see, orange trees were loaded with fruit. When they stopped for breakfast, the mom ordered orange juice with her breakfast. "I'm sorry," the waitress said. "I can't bring you orange juice. Our machine is broken."
• They were dumbfounded. Surrounded by millions of oranges, oranges in the kitchen and orange slices garnished on their plates. What was the problem? No juice? Hardly. They were surrounded by thousands of gallons of juice. The problem was they had become dependent on a machine to get it.
• Christians are sometimes like that. We are surrounded by Bibles in our homes, entertained by fantastic bible teachers…but if something should happen to their smartphone or favorite pastor, they would have no nourishment for their souls. The problem is not a lack of spiritual food; but that many Christians have not and won’t apply personal diligence, discipline to get it for themselves. And that lack of diligence applied to faith, shows up rampant in a life…
• You need to know… Spiritual growth is the work of the moment. If you won’t be faithful now, if you won’t be disciplined now, then you will not grow up, you will not develop in your faith. Don’t live your life seeing others set free with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control thinking “God’s working on me, I’m a work in progress…” It’s like you’re on the sidelines talking about “I got next,” NO MAN, its “I got now!”
• It’s there, it’s already granted to you through Christ. Your history, your life will be the record of your personal encounter between character and circumstance…not just circumstance. If you refuse to be diligent then you’re going to miss the growth…
• Now, if you are not yearning for diligence in your walk with God then you have not yet given Him your heart…you’ve just given Him your belief. Not enough. No power there…You’ve received grace. Through Jesus Christ, God’s grace is yours! To walk with Him and activate that grace, access the divine nature that you’ve been granted and grow up, you must follow the building plans, you must give all diligence…
• Listen, all this is not for salvation, this is for strength, maturity, growth. In your faith…you’re already saved…add to your faith…this is what YOU must supply. You have every bit of potential you need, the entire code…but if you don’t supply the soil then the seed has no place to express its potential. You’re not adding onto what God has done….your job is to provide the environment so that all that God has done can develop and can flourish!
• You ever buy juice concentrate? A whole jug of juice is in this 4 ounces of ice. But unless you add water…you can’t even enjoy it! All of the juice is there already…the water adds no juice…it just creates the capacity for you to actually use it…benefit from it!
• So, you and I are to supply…virtue. Virtue means moral courage and moral excellence! Giving something what it needs to fulfill what it was designed to do…that’s giving virtue. If you think of a seed, giving it water and good soil, that is to give it virtue. 2 Peter 3:18, “Grow in grace and in the knowledge…to Him be the glory.” You were made in your divine nature to bring glory to God. If you want the seed in your Spirit to breakthrough and grow…you must add to your salvation the goal and desire and FIRE to bring glory to God. You must live with the consciousness of glorifying God. “How does this reflect God? Bring Him attention? Put the cam on Him?” When you become aware of the purpose to glorify God you have added moral excellence and moral courage will follow. God will not force you to do this…but this is step one in your development.
• We need help in this, don’t we? We need Godly men/women around us that not only can be an example and a good influence but can also pull our card if we are slipping. We hate that don’t we? In the flesh our pride gets slapped…but remember, Proverbs 12:1, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” HA. Pretty clear isn’t it?! Who in your life has the correction card for your heart? Someone you’ll listen to and obey? We all need these people in our lives…it’s been said, accountability feels like an attack when you’re not ready to acknowledge how your behavior is harming others. Know what that sounds like to me? A baby. Surround yourself with those who are on the same mission as you and obey one another in the Lord and as unto the Lord.
• Then he says, add to your virtue, knowledge! We get it backwards! As you seek to glorify God….and THEN add information…what happens? You learn how to glorify God more! You become a master in it! MBA…Master Born Again! If you get it backwards…growing in knowledge, taking in bible study after bible study but none of it is changing your heart, none of it with the goal/aim/purpose to glorify God…then you become a monster!
2 Peter Chapter 1 Verse 6
• By the way, this will happen naturally…that’s why it’s in this order….one will lead to the other. Activate moral courage…leverage your knowledge of truth and use those to turn the crank of self-control! Honor God in the moment because the moment you realize you’re numb to sin, its too late. Its tragic to see that played out…
• The first time you grumble in your heart towards someone else and it goes unchecked…you feel terrible about it. Over here at the prayer meeting crying out to God for forgiveness! But if you lack self-control and diligence and do it again and again you dull to it over time and end up outwardly expressing evil and name calling and all that…outbursts of wrath and finally just being cruel and damaging!
• That’s indicative of a heart that is not growing but rather dulling and where did it all begin…a small insignificant moment of no diligence, no moral excellence and a lapse in self-control…remember this…the simplest steps of faith will build the most solid of foundations!
• From self control comes…. Add to that perseverance. Hang in there. Don’t quit. Always this is related to trials. In the Bible, this word comes along with trials. But if you have put into motion all that has proceeded this…you can grit it out, trusting God…knowing His promises are LEGIT! Better than grit it out, thrive even!
• Folks wondering why they can’t persevere…you’ve yet to grow in grace…you’re not activating that grace through a real walk with God and therefore diligence, moral courage, knowledge, self-control…all still in seed form…so why would you expect to harvest the fruit of perseverance? Here’s a secret…the worse things get…the closer you are to whatever God is trying to do…trust Him…return to grace…plant the seed in the good soil of closeness to Jesus and diligence of the will! Here’s the image of perseverance, last man standing after the battle is done!
• Peter gives to us what he himself has found through grace and diligence…through moral courage/excellence, knowledge of the truth, self-control and perseverance…he says then add godliness…because the temptation when you are persevering is to bail out on God. The most godly thing you could ever do is not bail out on God…its exactly how Jesus saved you…its exactly what got Him through the cross…
• Now comes the things folks can see. Isn’t that interesting? I like to stay in shape. I like to say that I like to stay in shape so that my heart is healthy and all that jazz…but nobody can see that… What truly motivates me to hit the gym each day? My wife taking a second look at me when I’m shaving in the morning…holllllaaaaarrrrr!!! I want to jump right to what people can see but that’s not how God works…he works from that implanted seed of His divine nature…outwardly.
2 Peter Chapter 1 Verse 7
• Let me tell you again, please …this will come quite naturally at this point…find a brother/sister who is going through something similar to you and minister to them. Selflessly pour into someone else. I know what you’re thinking…I need someone to pour into me…, but the Bible says “give and it shall be given to you.” As much as you need it…minister to someone else! Whatever you are need of, give! I know it doesn’t make sense because you have a need…but that is Godly and that seed is breaking through and slapping with defiance the devil!
• Can I just add this too…do SOMETHING! Are you active in your church? Do something! God has to deliver us from a Sunday Morning only spectator mentality about the Christian faith! Being a Christian is not dependent upon, nor is it summed up by, sitting in a comfy seat and looking bored at a preacher. That isn’t true Christian faith and it certainly isn’t growth and development! The Christian faith is living alive. Living with some grit of grace and character on earth and with a desire and heart for heaven on earth! Practical steps to growth include these three things…if you have only two you will topple…be in the Word (doer), be a person of prayer…and serve at your church!
• Then, at the end, the apex of development, what you want to do the most because it never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever fails…love. Brotherly kindness is to a brother. Someone who is on your side…on your team…you don’t mind talking to them, dealing with them…but God demonstrated His love towards us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). This love is folks you don’t necessarily like…. Ministry to the irregular people in your life…serving those that do not in any way serve you. You are developing! You’re acting exactly why Jesus came to die! God’s nature is being reflected in your spirit.
2 Peter Chapter 1 Verse 8
• Knowledge…, this is first hand, this is ME experience, epiginosis. You will become a fruit bearer. You will empirically have knowledge of Jesus. There are many Christians with no fruit. Nothing coming out of your lives that God can use. Why would God bless a life that isn’t usable?
• Couple three things about fruit. Fruit is always visible. You can always see it, experience it…Second, fruit always bears the character of the tree that it is a part of. Third, fruit is always to the benefit of someone else. Fruit that eats itself is rotten fruit.
2 Peter Chapter 1 Verses 9 - 11
• If you don’t add these qualities, you’re thinking only short term. You don’t have the big picture. You don’t get it…you’re in 5th grade and done…try to go get a job! Fruitful life, meaningful life, a life that glorifies and puts on blast the power and heart and truth and eternal strength of Jesus Christ! That’s the big picture. And even worse, you will forget even the cross. Whenever you do that…you won’t now see the need at all for Jesus over time…

The cost of the cross was too high to forget. Someone picked up the tab for your eternal life. Paid in full…paid at Calvary…and you have the ability to make that payment fruitful in your own life…you have the ability, the calling, everything you need to grow up, bear much fruit and glorify God…if you don’t you’ve forgotten the price paid overall… And really, if you don’t NOT A PERSON ON EARTH TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF.

Where does it start? With you. The cross is in the past, isn’t it? God’s part is done…it starts, development, growth, strength, breakthrough…it’s on you…

Have you received the grace of God and is your motive and directive to grow up in that first? Good. Now add some diligence. Seek the Lord. Submit your flesh…not submit to it…and moral courage will flourish. Spend time in the word. No one on this earth should have to tell you to do that! Be a person of prayer. God cannot use a person that He cannot speak with…. Serve at your church. DO something…and if you are one to kick up trouble then recognize your diapers man…and either own it or grow out of it.

Work forward in your walk. Develop in your faith…stop trying and start dying…and see what God can do with a heart, your heart…completely defaulted to him. A heart, your heart…grown. His promise here, His check written to you and to me that God pleads with us to cash, is that an entrance will be provided to you TODAY abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of the Prince of Peace and the Prince of Power!!