Grow in Grace and Knowledge of the Lord - Jay Loyd

Welcome to the official podcast of the Church

of Christ Wheeler area. We're so glad that you've

tuned in for today's message. Whether you're

on your morning commute or if you're relaxing

at home, we're here to share the strength and

truth of God's Word with our community. If you're

in the neighborhood, we'd love to meet you in

person. Come see us at 1500 South Allen L. Bean

Boulevard right here in Wheeler, Texas. We gather

every Sunday morning at 10 .30 a .m. and in the

afternoon at 2 .30 p .m. We meet again on Wednesdays

at 7 p .m. Right now, let's open our Bibles together

and dive into today's sermon. This morning, I

want us to begin with the subject that we have

titled on the board, Grow in Grace and the Knowledge

of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And I want

to begin with this question, are you growing

as a Christian? And, you know, there's a lot

of times where we're asked questions that we

know what the obvious answer should be, but we're

not really sure, so we just, you know, well...

I don't know maybe kind of sort of we try to

find a nice gray comfortable area to slide in

to say well we're not not growing but I could

do a little bit better. Well how do we gauge

our growth? What does growth look like as a Christian?

And so this morning we're going to look at the

words of the Apostle Peter because one of the

things that we want to do this week is grow.

And so we want to grow individually, we want

to grow as a congregation, we want to make sure

that we are pursuing the right type of growth

not just coming together to you know to enjoy

great fellowship which is part of growing but

to be sure that whatever happens this week is

going to be something that's lasting and real

that's going to contribute to my spirituality

not just this week but moving on. week and our

text is going to come from 2nd Peter chapter

3 verses 17 and 18 where Peter at the close of

his second epistle says you therefore beloved

since you know this beforehand beware lest you

fall from your own steadfastness being led away

with the error of the wicked but grow in the

grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ to him be glory both now and forever In

chapter 2, Peter talks about false prophets of

that day and talks about how that those false

prophets were a danger to the disciples that

he was writing to. And notice in verse number

17 he says, That's great admonition. Okay, I

don't want to fall from my own steadfastness.

I don't want to be led away with the error of

the wicked. But notice that Peter doesn't just

stop with that exhortation, but he continues

on and he says, but. And the word but there,

and I like defining little seemingly insignificant

words that really shed a lot of understanding

on a lot of the verses that we're going to look

at. The word but here is a kind of a conjunction

that's just saying, okay, Don't fall from your

own steadfastness. Don't be led away with the

error of the wicked, but do this instead. So

in other words, whenever the Bible tells us not

to do something, it generally follows by telling

us what to do. and the understanding is if we

don't do what we are told to do then the warning

that's been given to us is probably something

that we're going to fall victim to and in this

we can understand that if we're not growing as

Christians what's going to happen is we're going

to fall from our own steadfastness and we can

be led away with the error of the wicked and

so if we want to fortify our life against wickedness

and falling from our own steadfastness, we have

to make growth a priority. And when I'm talking

about growth, I'm not talking about, okay, I

want to learn about all the different false doctrines

that are out there to be sure that I'm not led

away with those and fall into those from my own.

No, we're talking about just growth as a Christian.

It includes those things, but it's not exclusive

to those things. about the total growth of the

Christian I like to use this illustration to

go along with this verse you've got a plan and

you've got a pot and what is it that Paul or

rather Peter said he said grow in the grace and

knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

well what does that mean to grow in the grace

and knowledge well that just means well I need

to be a little more gracious and I need to be

a little bit smarter well that's part of it But

that's a long way from what it means. The word

in that he uses there is a word that means a

position inside of something. And it means instrumentality,

okay? So what that means is, using our illustration,

whenever you look at... Oh good, the blazer works.

Whenever you look at this potted plant, this

plant is in that dirt. And it is this dirt that

is instrumental in making this plant grow. So

it's not just, okay, I'm a little more gracious

and I grow a little bit and I get a little bit

smarter. But what he's saying is, is that as

Christians we are to be grounded in the grace

and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ. And that is to feed every aspect of our

life so that we grow into fruitful Christian

pleasing to God that this grace and knowledge

those aren't just the things that we focus on

growing in it's the grace and the knowledge that

is to bring about that growth to cause that growth

well then the next question is what does that

look like and I think what Peter is doing at

the very end of His second epistle is reinforcing

what he said at the very beginning. So we're

going to circle all the way back to 2 Peter 1

and we're going to look and see what it means

to grow in grace and knowledge, to be rooted

in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ. What's that supposed to produce

in me? What's that supposed to make me look like?

Well if you'll notice in the first four verses

of the of the text in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse

2 Peter 1:4

4 notice a couple of highlighted words and statements

that we have up here okay at the end he says

grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord

Jesus Christ notice a couple of things that Peter

mentioned specifically here that his divine power

has given to us He has given to us exceeding

great and precious promises. What does it mean

for God to give us and to bestow upon us? It

means He's gracious to us. That's what grace

is. It's the giving of a gift. And so at the

very beginning of this epistle, Paul says, or

rather Peter says, I want to say Paul a lot for

some reason, Peter says, God's given you something.

God's been gracious to you. from his devout power,

he's given you, he has graced you all things

that pertain to life and godliness. He has given

you, he has graced you with exceedingly great

and precious promises. And so whenever we think

about growing in the grace and knowledge, one

of the things that we're rooted in are those

things that God has given us that pertain to

life and godliness and the exceeding great and

precious promises. words all of that is to feed

our growth notice another word that he uses the

word knowledge in the knowledge of our of God

in our in Jesus our Lord He's given us this through

the knowledge of Him who has called us by glory

and virtue. So here in the very beginning of

the epistle, He's talking about the grace and

knowledge that He tells us to grow in at the

end of the epistle. And through this text, Peter

repeats some words and I think he repeats these

words for emphasis and so we want to emphasize

them so obviously we have these two statements

that are repeated denoting God's grace we have

these two words repeated denoting God's knowledge

but notice that he says his divine power has

given us all things that pertain to life and

godliness that we may be partakers of the divine

nature For something to be divine means that

it is of God. And notice the last statement,

having escaped the corruption that is in the

world through lust. In other words, since God

has given us all of these divine things by His

grace and truth, we don't have to live in the

lust and the corruption that is here in this

world. We can escape the misery and the corruption

and the life of this world and live a life that

is fed by God's grace and His knowledge. Don't

you want to live that life? Don't you want to

look at this world and think I don't like living

here Well for right now we have to live here,

but we don't have to be of here We can be fed

daily through the enriched soil of God's grace

and knowledge and grow to be people that partake

of the divine nature. Not the corrupt nature

down here that we're all born into, but we can

partake of the divine nature. Now that doesn't

mean that we all become gods, but it means that

we become partakers in the life of Jesus, in

the life of God. In verse number five he says,

but also for this very reason giving all diligence

add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge.

We want to highlight the word add. The word add

that's used there means to supply and it's another

repeated word that Peter uses. In verse number

five he says to add to your faith and then in

verse number 11 he says for so an entrance will

be supplied to you. Now in our New King James

Version, those aren't the same words, but in

the Greek language, those are the same word.

What Peter is saying is, okay, you supply all

of these things in your faith, and you'll be

supplied with an abundant entrance into heaven.

So notice here, he's saying, you supply something,

and something will be supplied to you. In other

words, he's saying, you supply in your faith

virtue, knowledge, self -control, perseverance,

godliness, brotherly kindness, and love, and

an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly

into the everlasting kingdom. And that's what

growth looks like. Growing in the grace and knowledge

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our faith

is being rooted in that, and then growing out

of that, We see in our life these graces as they're

referred to, these virtues as they're referred

to. And what I want us to understand that whenever

we start considering our growth, here are seven

specific places that we can look at in our life.

And we're going to break them down here in just

a moment. He says also for this very reason,

Well, what's my reason then for wanting to add

all of those things? Well, he just got through

telling me in verses one through four God has

given us all things that pertain to life and

godliness through the knowledge of him who's

called us to his glory and virtue He's given

us exceedingly great and precious promises. And

so what Peter is saying here Since God has all

done all of this for you. That is your reason

for wanting to grow. You want a reason to grow

as a Christian? The creator of the universe,

the great I am, the one who is from everlasting

to everlasting has graced your life. And he's

graced my life. And as we live in this world

of darkness, He broke through the darkness and

shined the glorious image of Jesus Christ and

manifested to us the knowledge of God and the

knowledge of life in Him. Now to sit here and

stand here this day and to hear that truth and

not want to grow in it, you better pinch yourself.

I better pinch myself Who would not want to take

advantage of such a gift and that's what Peter's

saying And then he says to give all diligence

The word diligence means to be earnest and it's

another word that's repeated in this text in

verse 5 He says giving all diligence in verse

10 as he's closing it out. He says be even more

diligent to make your call and election sure

Whenever you see the word diligent the definition

of diligent is earnestness It's earnestness It

is something that is you you you work out of

desire It's not something that you're complacent

about it's not something that all I can do it

or I cannot do it But it's something that you

give yourself to and you labor in it And you're

sharp about it. You're efficient about it. You're

good with it. And that's why Peter says, give

all diligence. Those are words that express effort.

Christianity is hard. It's hard. And we try to

make it sound as nice and comfortable as we possibly

can in order to get people into the building.

But when it comes to living the Christian life,

when it comes to growing in grace and knowledge

of our Lord and Jesus Christ, it's something

that you need to have a good reason for. And

we've already expressed that reason. And it's

something that you're going to give yourself

to and you're gonna look at that and you're gonna

say I want to be that And if you don't want to

be that if I don't want to be that Then we're

gonna be led away with the error of the wicked

we're gonna fall from our own steadfastness And

so those are the virtues that he speaks of and

we're gonna look at these briefly and I want

to notice the relationship between these. Whenever

I've heard and even given different lessons on

this, you know, how do these work? It sounds

like a stair step. Okay, we're going to do this

one and then whenever we get that one we move

to the next one. Okay, whenever we get that one

we move to the next one. Well obviously it's

not that because every day of our life we're

to be concerned with all of these things. So

it's not just a stair step where we master one

and then move to the other Or like a pyramid

Where you've got the pyramid going up? Okay,

you got to build this one and you got to build

the next one then build it Well, you know there

is some connectedness between these and we'll

show that but really that's not it also So I

want to use my illustration. I want to use a

chain illustration Whenever we look at all of

these We're going to be building a chain. And

what do we know about a chain? A chain is only

as strong as its what? Its weakest link. Its

weakest link. And in this, if there is a weak

link, you know what Satan's going to do, he's

going to expose it and we're going to fall from

our own steadfastness and be led away by the

error of the wicked. And so it's necessary for

all of us as we look at this to be sure that

we are strong in every one of these links. Because

collectively these links go together that make

a chain that guard our soul from the wickedness

of the world. And whenever we think about growth

You know, whenever we think about, well, you

know, am I growing? We think about, well, do

I read my Bible enough? Do I pray enough? Do

I go to church? And all of those things are necessary,

but if we read and pray and go to church, and

we're not doing it with a diligence and a fervency

that cultivates these in our life, then our effort

is fruitless. Well, let's look at the first link

in the chain, and there is some connectedness

to them. One does feed to the other, and hopefully

we can draw, put all of it together so that we

can see that. The first link is virtue. What

does the word virtue mean? Okay, this is the

Greek word for virtue, and it means excellence.

Some translations will say moral excellence.

Well, excellence. Well, what's excellence mean?

What do you think of whenever you think of excellence?

Whenever we begin to build this chain, it starts

with an attitude of excellence, of moral excellence.

And whenever we think of the excellence of something,

it's tied specifically to its function or purpose.

Okay, let me illustrate. The function of a knife

is to cut. If you've got a dull knife, would

you call it an excellent knife? No. Because it

doesn't fulfill its purpose. Or if it does, it

doesn't do it very well. But a knife that is

sharp and a knife that cuts razor sharp, we consider

that an excellent knife. Because it performs

its function to the best degree possible. Another

example, a horse. The function of a horse is

to run. Whenever you look at this Greek word

and looking at the history of it, these were

some of the references of how it was used back

then. The function of a horse is to run. A horse

is excellent if it runs fast. If you've got a

horse that's slow or doesn't want to run at all,

would you think that's an excellent horse? No.

You want a horse that's going to run and it's

going to run fast, so if you've got a horse and

it runs fast, it's excellent. So in other words,

excellence begins with understanding what the

function is and doing it the best it can be done.

And so whenever the Bible tells us to be excellent,

to be virtuous, We are to manifest our function

in a way that is excellent, as good as it can

be done. Well, what is our function? Verse Peter

2, verse number 9. Peter says, you're a chosen

generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

his own special people, that you may proclaim

the praises. That word praises is the same Greek

word that means virtue. You may proclaim the

excellence the praises of him who called you

out of darkness into his marvelous light That's

what our that's what our function is my God That's

why we are God's chosen people We are to show

his excellence to the world. How good are you

at doing that? How good am I doing that? When

people look at me do people see a Christian who

is striving to fulfill his function in the best

way possible? Not a Christian that's willing

to compromise or a Christian that's willing to

cut corners or a Christian That's just willing

to do what he thinks is the least he can do to

get by That's not excellence our function is

for our excellence to show to the world the excellence

of of God. Oh man, that's quite a function, isn't

it? Exactly. And if you don't have that desire,

and I don't have that desire, it doesn't matter

how many links of the chain we have, it doesn't

matter how many stair steps we have, it doesn't

matter how big we make our pyramid, it ain't

gonna matter at all. You cannot be a second -rate

Christian and represent an excellent God. And

if you don't have that, if I don't have that,

I need to grow. Need to start soaking up that

grace and knowledge that that the Lord has given

me to create within me that desire I want to

be excellent for the Lord The next link in the

chain is knowledge Well, how do I do that if

I'm going to show the excellence of God if that's

my function and I'm going to do it in an excellent

manner I'm going to have to be informed about

that because I don't know how to do it. There's

nothing else in the world that can tell me how

to do it. So I've got to look for some understanding

and some wisdom and knowledge in order to be

able to effectively carry that out. And that's

why the next link in the chain is knowledge because

to live excellent you have to be informed. You

can't be ignorant of the knowledge of God and

show His excellence to the world. And so whenever

we look at knowledge it simply means understanding

and it informs our quest for moral excellence.

It provides the insight needed to navigate everyday

moral choices. It's the ability to look at difficult

situations and discern right from wrong, truth

from error, and the good from the bad. We have

to be knowledgeable in order to live excellent

because we got to know what's right wrong, what's

good bad. Proverbs 19 verse 2, also it is not

Proverbs 19:2

good for a soul to be without knowledge and he

sins who hastens with his feet. To hasten with

the feet means that I'm just in a hurry and I

don't take time to learn what I need to learn

and there's a lot of people that have a zeal

and a desire to try to show forth the excellency

of the Lord but they do so without knowledge

and therefore make the Lord and Christianity

look foolish. You've got to be informed. I've

got to be informed. You know in Romans 10 verse

number two Paul talking about the Jews They had

a zeal for God, but it wasn't according to knowledge

So a person that desires to be Virtuous is going

to give themselves to study and growing and an

understanding of God's Word So whenever you assess

your growth and I assess my growth Am I growing

in that knowledge? Do I have the knowledge? Am

I growing in the knowledge that I need to properly

manifest an excellent life for the Lord? The

next one is self -control. Well, I want to live

morally excellent, and I'm going to be informed

by the Word as to what's good, bad, right, wrong,

and I'm going to need some self -control. You

know why? Because there's going to be some things

that that knowledge tells me to do that I just

don't want to do. And there's going to be some

things that that knowledge is going to tell me

don't do that I'm going to want to do. And so

I have to learn self -control. I have to learn

how to be disciplined and manage my life not

according to the appetites and the desires of

my body, but by the knowledge that I gain from

the Lord. Self -control means duh, self -control.

Don't you love it when you look up the definition

of the word and they give you the word itself?

Master one's desires. You know we live in a world

today where we're always to be true to yourself,

be yourself. That's the dumbest thing you can

tell anyone because we're all fallen people.

We can't do that. We have to control our dumb

selves in order to be enlightened by the truth

of the Lord and exercise that knowledge accordingly

to show forth His virtue. Your desires are to

be governed by knowledge instead of being unrestrained.

And again, this is a Greek word that was used

to describe a chariot driver who held tight,

absolute control over wild charging horses. And

that's what we are. Whenever we just turn loose

of ourselves and we become unrestrained in our

desires and our lusts, we just charge forth like

wild charging horses. But we are to be restrained

and governed by the knowledge of God Let me ask

you this when when was the last time you were

faced with a moral decision? A decision where

you had a desire or a lust that you really wanted

to indulge But you did what the Bible said That

you had the control to say okay as much fun and

as enjoyable as pleasurable as that's gonna be

I'm not going to do it. Or on the other side,

when was the last time you were sitting at home

and you knew you needed to do something? You

knew there was a service that needed to be offered.

You knew there was studying to be done. You knew

there was prayer to be had, but you were just

so comfortable in that recliner watching the

TV. But you know that the Bible says, To be diligent

to show yourself a workman that doesn't need

to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth

And so you get your body up out of that easy

chair, and you start going and doing hard things

That's what it means to be self -controlled Self

-control is a fruit of the spirit We're not going

to control ourselves. We're not going to control

our appetites and desires That control must be

divine control. So, self -control, perseverance.

You know what? This world is hard. Trying to

do what the Bible says to do is hard. And if

anybody tells you otherwise, they're not doing

it, right? You know, that's just my opinion.

You know, I keep waiting for the Christian life

to, you know, kick into autopilot. and I don't

know about you but I ain't kicked into autopilot

yet and I doubt you have too because there's

always always that battle and you know after

a while it gets to the point to where you get

to think if I'm tired I'm tired is this really

worth it and it's in those times that we need

to be sure that we have grown in perseverance

Perseverance means to bear up under. It means

to endure. It means to be steadfast. It means

when the times are hard I'm trying to live in

a world that says indulge your lust and indulge

your desires and then over here this book tells

me don't indulge your lust, don't indulge your

desires and I'm constantly living in conflict

with the world and I'm just tired. Do I want

to keep doing this? You've got to be sure you've

grown in perseverance To endure through trial

that living by the knowledge of God's Word can

bring to our lives And it's used to describe

a soldier who stood his ground in the heat of

battle while under heavy attack You know in the

parable of the sower, Jesus talks about those

where the seed falls on stony ground, they hear

it and they receive it with joy, but it says,

but endures only for a while for when the tribulation

of persecution arises because of the word. He

immediately stumbles. Persecution because of

the word. You know, we talk about, okay, you

know, well, the Word of God brings peace and

joy and happiness to your life, but you know

what it also brings? It brings persecution. It

brings conflict. It brings difficulty. And that's

why we have to be sure we're growing in perseverance.

That the grace and the knowledge that continuing

to feed us to where we become people who endure.

And then godliness. You know, as we persevere,

one of the things that it teaches us is a greater

dependence upon God. You just get to your wits

end and you just cry out, God, I can't do this

anymore. And you're turning and you realize and

have a greater respect and understanding for

the necessity of the power of God in your life.

And then you seek to draw closer to Him and create

a godliness about your life that gives you the

strength to be able to persevere. to endure trials

develops in us a greater reliance on and respect

for God. This Greek word meant giving gods and

parents and citizens their proper duty and respect.

Paul told Timothy in 1st Timothy 4 -8, bodily

exercise profits little but godliness is profitable

for all. This is godly exercise that we exercise

ourself in our piety and in our worship and in

our devotion to God Because we realize we have

to have that to persevere and brotherly kindness

Brotherly kindness comes from the Greek word

Philadelphia, which means the love of brothers

and sisters Well, how does godliness produce

brotherly kindness brotherly love? Well look

all of us here today We all serve the same Lord

We're all going through the common hardships

and struggles in life And as I go through my

hardship and struggle and you go through your

hardship and struggle and we share our common

struggles with each other In our attempts to

persevere through in living out the knowledge

of God then we realize how much we need each

other Churches that share their struggles with

one another will be churches that will grow closer

together in the bonds of brotherly kindness.

Let your guard down with your brother. Don't

walk in here every day as if everything's okay

because it's not. It's not with me and it's not

with you. So let's be real with each other. Let's

be authentic with each other Let's encourage

one another in order to persevere and develop

a brotherly love and a camaraderie with one another

that speaks to the world of Jesus being among

us Because the world doesn't need to see how

good I am the world needs to see how good Jesus

is one of the ways that we show the world how

good Jesus is, is to be a group of people who

are real and loving and kind towards one another,

encouraging one another to persevere in this

life. As Peter said in 1st Peter 3 verse number

8, having compassion for one another. Do you

have compassion for your brother and sister?

You just look at them and you see what they're

going through. I know brothers and sisters back

home in our congregation, my heart breaks for

them for the things that they have to go through.

The things that they've experienced in their

life and through our sitting down and our talks

and our discussions about those things and my

laying out before them the things that I struggle

with and difficulties that I have there's a mutual

respect and growth that takes place. that needs

to be shared among all of us. And then finally,

love. Love is that agape love. And going through

all of that, whenever we have brotherly kindness,

which is a brotherly love, then from that grows

the greatest love. agape love, unconditional

goodwill towards everyone. We are developing

the character of God Himself because of the practice

of love among each other. We're committed to

seek the highest good of another person regardless

of the personal cost. As John said in 1 John

4, God is love. When you look at all of those

is is there one of those that are more that's

not developed in your life where you think okay

that's a place where satan can expose me maybe

you have control you know you have difficulty

controlling your desires and lust that's a place

where satan can expose you maybe you want to

give up real easy that's a place where you can

be exposed maybe you don't love your brother

That's a place that Satan can use to expose.

As we continue on real quickly in verse number

8, Peter gives us a promise. If these things

are yours and abound, you'll neither be barren

nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus

Christ. How many of us would pay, I don't know,

$200 a ticket? If a guy comes to town and he

says, I've got the secret, if you want to serve

God, I've got the secret to being a fruitful

Christian. Well, I'd want to know what that is.

Well, we've just looked at it and you got it

for free. That's it. Virtue, knowledge, self

-control, perseverance, godliness. Brotherly

kindness love if those things are in you in you

you have grown in those in those things Abound

you're not going to be unfruitful. You're not

going to be led away with the error of the wicked

You're not going to stumble from your own steadfastness

He gives us a warning, but if you lack these

things you're short -sighted even to blindness

and have forgotten that he was cleansed from

his old sins. If you're not growing and then

you see here's the thing if you're not growing

you're dying. You don't stay neutral. Now you

know I mean you may get up today and think well

I'm about the same as I was yesterday but it's

one of those things where maybe the effects are

negligible on a small scale but you know what

one day you'll wake up or I'll wake up and I'll

wonder how did I get here? How did I get here?

And you don't want to do that. We don't want

to be short -sighted and blind. And so here's

Peter's exhortation. Be diligent. And he says,

if you make your calling and your election sure,

you do these things, you will never stumble.

You know, we talk a lot about today about our

confidence and salvation and we're going to touch

on that some this week. You know, we want confidence

and we want assurance. You want to be confident

and assured? Grow in those things, you'll never

stumble. You'll never stumble. And instead of

buying into the doctrines that we teach that

are false, but they give people comfort and assurance,

let's just take what God says very plainly and

go be diligent to do what He says to do to have

assurance. then finally an entrance will be supplied

to you into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ. I appreciate your attention

this morning and I hope you feel challenged by

this. I hope this gives you direction. If you've

just been, you know, you've been second rate

with your Christianity. Just doing the minimum

to get by. Just doing the minimum to satisfy

that brother or sister that keeps nagging you

every time you're not at church. You know, I

want to do enough just to keep them quiet. That's

not excellence. That's not excellence. Excellence

is doing everything that I can possibly do the

best that I can possibly do it to show the excellent

virtues of God. every day seeking to grow more

knowledgeable controlling my desires enduring

through the hard times creating a greater dependence

and reliance upon God having compassion for my

brothers and having love for them in having God's

character of love fully developed within me That's

what you should want and I challenge you as I

challenge myself use this week To address these

things if you're here this morning and you're

not a Christian We haven't talked about the gospel

in the sense that of what you need to do to be

saved But Jesus was excellent in his work. He

came to the earth and he lived an excellent life

perfect and sinless and You know what? Jesus

had to persevere. Jesus had to have self -control.

Jesus had to learn and go at a reliance upon

God. Jesus had to love his brethren and Jesus

had to love this world. You see what we've talked

about this morning is not anything that your

savior hasn't done for you. So don't you think

it's reasonable to do it for him? He died on

the cross atoning for your sins and so as you

sit there today a sinner He stands ready to receive

you and to wash you in his blood and if you are

a child of God and you look at this and you think

I'm I'm deficient and I know that all of us can

look at this and find deficiencies within us

But what I would ask you at this time is the

very first one Are you excellent in your thinking

about your Christianity? Do you want to excel?

Do you want to do all that you can to magnify

the praises of God? Or do you just want to be

a second -rate Christian? Someone who does enough

to get by? If that's you, I pray that these words

of the Lord will convict you right now and bring

you to repentance. Thank you for listening to

today's sermon from the Church of Christ Wheeler

area. We hope this message encouraged you and

strengthened you in your faith this week. Don't

forget the doors always open at 1500 South Allen

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p .m. on Sunday afternoons and recharge with

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blessed week and we'll see you next time.