How Have We Grown Spiritually?

Well, thank you, Cleo, and good afternoon again. I thought it was an example of, you know, we were trying to sing. We just didn't think that everything was... I thought I was really messed up here. I'm not familiar with this song at all. So, thankfully, we got on the same page, I guess, is what we all want to do, be able to get on the same page.

Well, brethren, I'd like to remind you of the fact that, you know, a year ago today, all of us became involved in something that we didn't really want to be involved in.

A year ago today, you know, those of us here in the United Church of God became enveloped in a pretty sizable, divisive action that had created a great deal of controversy, a great deal of division within the framework of the church.

Many ministers were leaving, some members were also leaving.

And, as I think back over this past year, that was a very difficult time for me, and I'm sure it was for you as well, because, you know, we don't want, we don't like to have to go through something like that.

And, of course, the name that we go by is not just the Church of God, but we call ourselves the United Church of God.

And, of course, that should be something that we're living up to. It should be something that we have a personal and individual responsibility to cause to come about.

And yet, as you know, a year ago, you know, we became party to that just by having to live through it.

And so, I'd like for us, as we think back, perhaps over this past year, we've had many number of adjustments that we've had to make.

Of course, we've got a new hall, a different hall, at least a different place to meet.

We have kind of a different configuration to our congregation.

But we also have had many of you even more widely involved in different activities and different things that are needing to be done here in order to have services.

And so, in many ways, we've made those adjustments.

And, in other ways, I think we can say that we have grown spiritually.

I hope that you can say that because I think I can see that as far as the church goes.

We've certainly grown in living up to our name, being united.

Those of us who are here, hopefully all of us, want to live up to the name of the United Church of God. But we're also learning more about the type of cooperation and the type of peace that is necessary in order to achieve the preaching of the gospel that we have as a mission.

That's our job. That's our commission. That's the mission that the church has, is to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God.

And we are striving to do that as effectively as possible, whether that's through radio, whether that's through the printed magazines and literature that we make available, whether that's through the internet, whether it's through our seminars, whether it's through church services.

All of those efforts are involving the preaching of the gospel.

So as we think back, I know often around the time of the Passover, we are asked to examine ourselves and to think about our own lives. But I'd like for us, as we think through this past year, just how has this year impacted you?

How has it impacted your spiritual growth?

Personally, your individual development as a child of God. I think it's good for us to be able to think of those things from time to time. It's not something we cover usually around Passover, but I'm doing it now because I'm thinking back to this past year.

And I do see a good amount of growth in many of us here, and that's encouraging. That's uplifting.

And yet, I think we should ask ourselves, do we feel, do you feel, and of course when I say you, I'm always pointing at me more than I'm pointing at you, but do you feel that you're closer to God? See, because I think as we grow in spiritual maturity, we should feel a closer connection to the One who is our Heavenly Father, to the One who is giving us all of the wonderful blessings, as Mr. Keener mentioned in our opening prayer, that we have a great deal to be thankful for. And yet, all of those blessings have come from God. They've come from the One who not only has blessed us, but the One who sent Jesus Christ to the earth, the One who sent our Savior that we so drastically and desperately need. So, are we personally closer to God? And how can we deepen our commitment, our devotion and participation in the work of God? Because that's what we all need to be doing. We need to be thinking about how I can be more involved. How can I be more committed to the work that God has called me to be a part of, the work of preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God? And I thought in connection with this, I thought about it and thought about how, again, a year ago, we were in a very troubled time, and a very unsettled time for at least a little while. And yet, throughout this year, it's become quite settled and quite peaceful. It's become quite, maybe we could say, ordinary. And that shouldn't be the case. It shouldn't just be ordinary. It needs to be better than ordinary. But I was thinking, do we really value the support system that the Church provides?

That's something that in many ways, unless that support system fails, or at least it feels like it's non-existent, you don't even really understand how much of a benefit it is. And I mentioned this simply just thinking back myself over, say, the last 15 years. There have been certainly times that I was very perplexed and distressed. And yet, whenever people are troubled, and if people try to seek any type of help, and I clearly have been discouraged, I have been confused, I have been distressed, I have been depressed at different times, and I've actually talked to different people about some of those things.

And then they tell me, or at least one of the counselors that I talk to, tell me, well, all you need to do is be able to reach out to your support system for help. And I'm thinking, I don't have a support system. That support system is dissolved! It's not even here. That's the way I felt. And so, thankfully, a few years ago, as I started meeting with all of you, I felt that support system, once again, reviving. Once again, not only just available, but actually, hopefully thriving. Thriving in the love of God, because that's what all of us are required to be sharing. And so, I hope that you can think about it in that light as well. A support system is really an important thing to help us through difficulties.

Whether some of those difficulties might be health-related, sometimes that's the case. All of us labor with different illnesses at times. And, certainly at other times throughout our lives, whenever we're in deep distress, we want to be able to turn to our support system. And that support system is not only God the Father and Jesus Christ our Savior, but the people that we know.

The people that we love. The people that we are a part of the body of Christ with. And so, I think it's good for us to consider just how we have grown. And perhaps even think about how we can better achieve what God has set out before us. I'd like to start here in John 8. Because here in John 8, you see an example of something that Jesus says. He explains what true disciples look like. This is what Jesus was doing here in this section of John 8.

We've actually gone over this up in Topeka in our Bible study. So, I'm going over this a little bit again, for those of you who may have been up there. But in John 8, you find Jesus talking to... He's actually being confronted by the Pharisees. He's been confronted by Jewish officials. And as he talks throughout chapter 8, you find that He is showing them or telling them something that they just simply cannot, or at least for the most part, most of them cannot believe. They cannot believe who He is.

They cannot believe He's been sent from God. They just couldn't stand that. They could not believe that, at least again for the most part. But it does say down in verse 30, as He was talking to, in this case, a number of Jews. As He was saying these things, many started to believe. Many believed in Him. See, some of them, it appears that certainly those who were more hardcore, maybe religious leaders, they didn't want to hear what Jesus had to say.

They didn't want to believe what He said. They didn't want to believe what He said about them. That was primarily what they didn't want to believe. Because He told them, you're not of my Father, you're of your Father the Devil. You're following things that are completely wrong. You're out here trying to kill me. That is not what my Father would be doing. And so here in verse 30, at least some of them, some of the Jews who heard what Jesus said believed in. But what I want to focus on starts in verse 31.

Because there, in verse 31 of John 8, John said to the Jews who believed in Him. And so here He's talking to those, not the group who don't believe Him, who don't want to have anything to do with Him. He's talking to those who believe. And of course, that would also fit our category, because we believe. We believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in God the Father. We believe in His intervention in our lives. And yet Jesus said to those who believed, or those who believed, in this case, the Jews who believed, if you continue in My words, you are truly My disciples.

And so here He's pointing out something about what it is to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. What it is to be a true Christian, a true follower of Jesus Christ, if you continue in My words, then you are truly My disciple. And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. See, He points out that believing in Jesus Christ, which these Jews were initially starting to at least a little bit understand, that was a springboard. That was a beginning.

That was a start. But that wasn't all that was necessary. He said, I want you to continue in My word. I want you to obey. And of course, when He got that far, they probably started backing up a little bit, because I don't know how many of them really wanted to do that. But when we apply this to ourselves, we see that, well, this is what God is asking us to do. He's wanting us to obey. If we turn over to John 14, and you find this more directly stated as He's talking to the disciples. And of course, in John 13, and 14, and 15, and 16, and 17, chapters that we're very familiar with, because they're leading up to the Passover being observed, and the foot washing service that's described in chapter 13 was an example that Jesus set.

But here in John 14, it says in verse 21, He says, He says, And if you're going to love Me, if you're going to truly be a Christian, then you're going to have to obey and do what I say. And we know that there are numerous other verses that we could turn to that would talk about keeping the commandments, respecting the Word of God, respecting what He says is what He's requiring us to do. And if we jump back to chapter 8 again, we go on in verse 33.

And this is what He was telling these Jews who initially believed but then who needed to learn to obey. And of course, again, that applies to us as well. He goes on in verse 34, and He says, And in verse 36, He says, And what He was telling them was that, well, you don't realize it, but you are enslaved to sin. You need to come to recognize that, and you need to realize that I'm the one who is able to release you from that captivity. I'm the one who's able to provide freedom to you. And I want to elaborate on this more over in Romans 6.

Because here you find Paul elaborating on this quite a bit more. And yet, as Jesus said, if you are living in sin, if you are continuing to sin, then you're a servant of sin. And seeing them anyways, that's why the law is so important. It's why the Ten Commandments are so beneficial to all of us. Because without them, you really can't tell. God is the one, as Ken was mentioning earlier, God's the one who tells us what's right and what's wrong. He's the one who outlines the plan. He's the one who gives us the law. He's the one who defines what sin is. Here in Romans 6, starting in verse 16, Romans 6 verse 16 says, Do you know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey? Either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness.

So here Paul, I think, frames it very easily. We're either serving sin and a slave to sin, or we are obeying and we are seeking righteousness. He goes on in verse 17 to say, But thanks be to God that you, having once been the slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become the servants of righteousness. See, that's what we all want to be. And of course, that transition, having been enslaved to sin, having been freed from that captivity, we are obeying and then seeking to be the servants of righteousness. I'm speaking in human terms, he says in verse 19, so that hopefully you can understand this just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity, and to greater and greater iniquity. So now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. See, we want that transition to happen. We want that transition to be an ongoing process. And yet, as again Ken mentioned, is guarding the will that we each have. We have to choose to obey. We have to choose to continue in the Word of Jesus Christ. We have to choose to put sin out of our lives. In verse 20, when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Actually, when we were slaves to sin, we really didn't know anything about righteousness. We didn't know what it was that God is and what it is that He wants us to also acquire. So what advantage did you then get from the things which you were ashamed or which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But in verse 22, now you have been freed from sin, and you are now enslaved to God. And the advantage you get is sanctification, and ultimately the end is eternal life. That's what God holds out before us. He wants us to pursue that. He wants us to seek that. He wants us to appreciate that we have been freed from sin through Jesus Christ. But we want to be a slave. We want to be a slave of God. Enslaved to God, a servant of righteousness.

That's what we have to evaluate. Are we doing that? Are we living up to what Jesus requires? Are we thinking about that on a day-to-day basis, and does it become our way of life? Because that, again, is a part of what we want to analyze as we think about our spiritual growth throughout this past year. The second thing I want to mention is over in Hebrews 10. And I think Mike touched on this a little last week, and I want to be able, or two weeks ago, I believe, whenever I was here and heard him.

Here in Hebrews 10, starting in verse 23, actually you find here in Hebrews 10 that not only are we called to be disciples and true disciples of Jesus Christ, we're called to persevere. We're called to endure. And this is what this section here in chapter 10 of Hebrews is talking about. But it says down in verse 23, Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. For He who is promised is faithful. And it says, Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and to good works. See, that statement, verse 24, is one that I think we'd all say we're familiar with.

I'm sure that's been read to us many, many times. We've read that ourselves. Whenever you read that, you ought to think, or I think each of us should think, how are we doing that? How are we able to do that? To provoke unto love the support family, the support system, the people that I meet together with on a regular basis to worship God and praise God and love one another. How am I provoking them to love and to good works, to good deeds? See, actually, the word provoke is possibly a little bit misleading. Because sometimes provoke would be thought, at least in our common terminology today, it would be thought to be more of a harsh word, kind of to almost offend someone or to irritate someone into doing something right.

And that's not what it's meaning. What it means is to arouse or to excite or to call into action. That's what this word that's translated provoke is meaning. And so it's telling us that we have a responsibility toward one another, a responsibility to encourage and to arouse, to call to action, to love and good deeds. That's what we all can do for each other. That's what we're asked and required to do for each other. But of course, it talks about how we do that, that it should be done again in order to provoke love and to provoke the benefit of all.

In verse 25, it says, "...not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but exhorting one another, encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching." Now for us today, we're anticipating the intervention of Jesus Christ in world affairs. That's the biggie. That is the major intervention that I hope and pray will come as soon as we can possibly.

As soon as God determines that that needs to be done here on the earth, because Jesus said He was coming back. And He said that this is something we should look forward to. Thy kingdom come. And yet what it tells us is to be exhorting, to be encouraging to one another, to do that however much time we have to do it in.

We don't know how long that is. When this was written, the Christians around Jerusalem, this is written to the people who were the Hebrews, and mostly at least a focus around Jerusalem, that could have been encouraging them to encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching. What day was approaching right then? Well, ultimately the temple was going to be overthrown. Ultimately, the Romans were going to interact and overthrow the system that was set up there in Jerusalem. Maybe that's what it was referring to then. But clearly to us, two thousand years later, it's referring to the intervention of God in sending Jesus back to the earth.

We might look as well to Romans 1. I'm going to come back here to Hebrews 10, but I thought I would read just one verse here in Romans 1. Because Paul points this out in this chapter as well, where he is talking to the people who were a part of the church in Rome, and he was thanking them for their faithfulness, thanking them for their encouragement.

And yet in verse 12, he says in verse 11, I long to see you so that I can share with you some spiritual gift. And verse 12, or rather, so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. See, I think that's really the reference that we have to what we find here in Hebrews. That if we're to be encouraging to one another, exhorting to one another, what Paul was saying, that I am able to encourage you and I hope you can encourage me. That you can lift me up because all of us have a role to perform. But back in Hebrews 10, in verse 32, we're called to persevere. It says in verse 32, recall those earlier days.

Earlier days, after you were enlightened, see, for some of you, that was 20 or 30 years ago. For some of you, that was 40 or 50 or 60 years ago. When God called you, when you became enlightened to an understanding of the truth of God and of what God asks, what God wants of you. And in this case, the people receiving this message, the Hebrews, were told, recall the earlier days after you were enlightened that you endured a hard struggle with suffering, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion for those who were in prison. You cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and far more lasting. See, He was reminding them of their calling. He was reminding them, how was it that you felt? What kind of reaction? What kind of excitement did you have when God started working with you? When you realized, I owe everything to God. I owe my entire life to God. Here, forty years later, I still owe my life to God. That's what He was wanting them to be recalling. Do not, in verse 35, therefore abandon that confidence of yours. See, the confidence that we have in hoping in God. He says, don't ever lose that. Don't ever put that off. Don't abandon that confidence of yours. It brings a great reward, for you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. See, and even as we look back over this past year with the transitions and changes that we've needed to make, and of course, as many of us have taken on different roles, even within our local congregation, and we need to recall now that we are called to endure. And He goes on to say in verse 37, Yet for a little while, one who is coming will come and will not delay, for my righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back, but we are not among those who shrink back and are lost, but among those who have faith, and so are saved.

To hear Paul's admonition, of course, he's going into a chapter here in chapter 11 that is listing numerous people most out of the Old Testament who are examples of faith. But he actually mentions and he points this out to the people there as they are called to persevere, as they are called to endure. He said, I want you to keep pursuing that. To not give up on that, to not forget that, or to not be sidetracked by getting tired. Galatians 6 verse 9 says, you don't want to be growing weary in well-doing. That's what God tells us. He tells us that we don't want to continue to do good. We want to be setting and aligning our lives to do good and to love one another. But He says, never grow weary in doing that. Actually, we might also look here in Hebrews 6 because to back up a few pages in Hebrews, He gives some other warnings here about letting up or letting down. But He concludes that section by saying in verse 9, even though we speak in this way, beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation. He was encouraging to them. He was warning them, but He was also encouraging to them. I know that you're going to respond in a positive way. For God is not unjust in verse 10. He will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for His sake in serving the saints as you still do. And we want each of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who faith and patience inherit the promises. This is actually, in a sense, Paul's way of saying, you've got to keep going. You've got to keep going. You've got to keep on with the responsibilities that God has given you as His calling would require.

The third thing I want to mention is actually that, again, as we think of our spiritual growth, our spiritual development, we can see that we want to be turning from sin to righteousness. We want to be seeking the righteousness of God. We can see how we can persevere, or we should be persevering in doing the work that God has called us to do.

But over in Mark 9, there's a section here that I want to focus on and ask you, are there unseen obstacles? Unseen, at least to others, are there unseen obstacles that are holding back your spiritual growth?

See, now, I say it this way because I know what those might be for me. I don't know exactly what they might be for you, but you would know. If there are things that you are aware of or that you are doing, that you know are wrong, and the place to stop that is in thinking about it. In the progression that we see described in James, you find that sin ultimately is produced from the wrong way of thinking and from the outlook that is described as giving in to temptation.

But here in Mark 9, I want to point out a section here that Jesus actually talks about this in Matthew 5 and in other parts of the Gospels, but I think this particular section is a little more clear in what I'm wanting to point out.

He says in verse 42 of Mark 9, If any of you put a stumbling block before one of those little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you to have a great millstone or hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. He's telling us to be sensitive, to be concerned, to be sincere, to be honest in our dealings with one another, and certainly not to be a stumbling block to others.

It could be referring directly to even little children, but it could also refer to all of us, perhaps, because we think God surely looks at us as little children. And yet Jesus goes on from that statement and says, if your hand causes you to stumble, then cut it off. Now, this is a pretty alarming statement, really.

He says in verse 45, If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. In verse 47, If your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out. It's better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.

What's Jesus talking about? Is He talking about just something that sounds terribly bizarre? Is He talking about dismemberment? Is He talking about plucking out your eye or cutting off your hand? Well, the answer is no. He's not wanting us to directly do that, but He does want us to think about the life that we've been called to live as the life of overcoming.

A life of no longer being a servant of sin, but being a servant of righteousness. Having an integrity, having a character that is reflecting the character and mind of Jesus Christ. That's what we're asked to do. We're not trying to just live up to our standard, whatever that might be. We're trying to live up to the standards of Jesus Christ. And so we want to strive to do that, and we want to encourage others to do that. And what I mentioned earlier are there are obstacles that are holding back our growth. Are there things that actually in our lives that we need to eliminate, we need to remove?

And again, as I mentioned, I can formulate some of these scenarios in my mind. And perhaps you can as well. Do we have habits that we know are not terribly beneficial for us, but we do them anyway? Do we actually come to accept certain things that we ought to just change? And maybe change them not to where they get to the point of completely being wrong, but try to change it back at the very beginning. That makes more sense, I think, to try to keep from. He's talking about keeping from causing others to stumble. He's also causing us to think about, well, how is it that we stumble?

How is it that we get mixed up in situations or circumstances that cause us to not be entirely truthful? To not tell the truth all the time? It's very easy to slip from that. It's very easy to get sidetracked from that. Not being, and certainly not exemplifying the type of integrity and the type of honesty that Jesus had. He was talking about our own stumbling. And of course, it tells us to go to an extreme, whatever extreme that might be, in order to eliminate those things so that we would not stumble, and so that we would enter into the Kingdom of God, which is what our goal is.

We want to do that. That's our desire. But He tells us, take obstacles out of our way that can take us away from our ultimate goal of being a part of the Kingdom of God. That's something each of us have to do. If we're going to be an overcomer, and that is a part of every Christian's life, then we're going to need to see what it is I need to overcome. To identify that. Not to just be comfortable with it, but see what it is that I need to change. And I think that would have to apply to every one of us in one way or another.

The last thing I want to mention here today is described here in Matthew 25. And we're familiar with this description that Jesus gave. Starting in verse 31 of Matthew 25, you see Jesus saying, When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. The nations will be gathered before Him, He will separate people, one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will put the sheep at His right hand and the goats at the left. And so this is clearly an example of a judgment before Jesus Christ, and of us actually being able to learn the outcome of the sheep and the outcome of the goats.

And again, He is separating those. And King says in verse 34, He says to those on His right hand, Come, you who are blessed from My Father, you that are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. That was a wonderful commendation. That's a commendation we certainly want to hear. It's a commendation that we want to look forward to. Now, in contrast to that, if we look down a little lower, in verse 41, then He will say to those on His left, You that are accursed, depart from Me into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. So that's a contrast. You have a contrast of being received into the kingdom of God. You have a contrast then of being rejected. But of course, I think the important thing to learn from this is, well, what would put us in the better category? What would put us in the right category? Well, obeying God, honoring God, living according to the Spirit of God, seeking the righteousness and mind of Jesus Christ. But what Jesus says, starting in verse 35, He says, This is what you should be doing. For I was hungry, and you gave Me food. I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed Me. I was naked, and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you took Me in. I was in prison, and you visited Me. See, how are you doing what Jesus said to do? This is what He tells us to do. He tells us to have this type of love for one another and for other people. Now, I know that we can certainly read through this and see that there's a spiritual application that you can feed and you can give water and care for and nurture others with spiritual information, and that's truly what the church tries to do. But you can't get away from the fact that Jesus is saying that those of My disciples that are true will be doing these things toward one another because in verse 37, the righteous answer, and, well, Lord, when did we do that? When did we see You hungry and gave You food? And when did we see You thirsty and gave You something to drink? And when did we see You as a stranger and welcome You or naked and clothed You? When was it that we saw You sick and imprisoned and visited You? And the King will say, Truly I tell You, just as You did it to one of the least of these, My brethren, You did it to Me. See, how much responsibility do we have toward one another? How much responsibility do we have toward other people? I think all of that is a part of the analysis that we should do if we're analyzing our spiritual growth. Then each of these areas ought to be. See, what Jesus is talking about here in this section, and of course He's describing it in a setting of judgment, is action. Action that we take in service to other people. In caring for those who are afflicted. In nurturing those who are in need. See, that's exactly what Jesus tells us to do. And of course, He points out the opposite for those who are not accepted. They didn't put high priority on what He said. But as we read to begin with, He said, My disciples are going to be continuing in My Word. They're going to do what I tell them. And of course, this is a part of what He says. I hope that we can analyze each of us, analyze these items, because these are some, and of course there's many others, but these are ones that we can think about that can help us in growing closer to God. Help us in growing spiritually.

And so, I want to conclude this by reading a section here in 2 Peter 1 that is actually one of the most fabulous sections here in the Bible. 2 Peter 1 Peter talks about how it is that as the children of God, we can be successful. He tells us how it is that we can continue in the Word of God.

He tells us how it is that we can be fruitful, and that we can be servants that God will accept. But here in chapter 1 of 2 Peter, verse 3, down through verse 11, is actually one of the most beautiful sections, I think, in the New Testament, because Peter summarizes what we're doing.

He summarizes the purpose of human life. He summarizes what it is to be a Christian. He summarizes how it is we are to live. He says in verse 3, "...His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, for the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness." To hear He acknowledges that if we're a part of the church of God, if we are truly Christian, then we're going to be called.

By God, to Jesus Christ. He says, His divine power has given us everything we need. In verse 4, thus He has given us through these things His precious and great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust. It may become participants, partakers of the divine nature. See, that's a summary statement of what God is doing with us. He is causing us to grow in His divine nature. That's only possible through the help of the Spirit of God.

It's only possible through the Spirit of God leading us. It's only possible by the life of Christ, the mind of Christ growing in us. And so He wants us to become participants of the divine nature. And for this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and your goodness with knowledge, and your knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. To here He lists an entire section of topics that we are to grow in, that we are all to be thriving in.

If we're going to take on the divine nature, this is a description of the divine nature. It's also described in Galatians 5, verse 22 and 23. It tells us the fruit of the Spirit of God. Again, describing the divine nature here, it talks about the divine nature very directly, because it mentions it in verse 4. But are these things thriving?

Are these things growing in our hearts and our minds? It says in verse 8, for if these things are yours, and if these things are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. If these are the things that we focus on, these are the qualities and the characteristics that we desire as a human being to be able to have and to share with one another, then it's going to cause us to be effective.

It's going to cause us to be fruitful. He says that these abound and you won't be ineffective and unfruitful. For anyone who lacks these things in verse 9 is nearsighted and blind and is actually forgetful of the cleansing of past sin. If we're not growing in the divine nature, then we're not remembering where we came from.

We're not remembering having been brought out of slavery to sin. And then as we fight that through the rest of our lives, we become the servants of righteousness. And of course, as we grow in the divine nature, as it's described in verse 5 and 6 and 7, then we're going to become the people that exemplify the nature of God. But He says if anyone lacks those things, then they're forgetting that they've been cleansed through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, brethren, in verse 10, be all the more eager. Be all the more eager to confirm your calling and election, for if you do this, you will not stumble. See, that's the category we want to be in, but it's a matter that we want to do. We want to grow in a divine nature, which actually goes beyond. Simply obeying it, it's transforming our heart, transforming our mind into the nature that God describes Him having.

And in verse 11, He says, For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you. That's actually how God is causing us to grow and to develop, to be able to pursue the kingdom of God, to look forward to that, not with fear and anxiety and wondering what's going to happen, but to do that with peace. To do that in a calmness, knowing that God can certainly provide. Peter just said, He will provide everything we need.

We just simply want to pursue the divine nature that's described here. And if these things are growing and increasing in you, then you will be fruitful. You will be effective. So as we think back over this past year, this just happens to be at the end of the year, and so this is not an analyzed 2011 sermon. It's a matter of that, you know, if we think back through this past year, we've come through a transition, and we have been growing, but we have need yet to continue to grow.

We have need to take on what God describes as His divine nature. And so I hope that in reviewing this, that this helps all of us to be able to more clearly see how He wants us to be loving of one another, loving toward one another, encouraging and enduring one another, but also growing in a divine nature that will cause us to be a loud entry.

Into what we hope would be very soon coming, the Kingdom of God.