#Effort

As I was trying to explain to a few people what a hashtag is and I just kept using the same word in the definition, I don't know, it's a hashtag. I don't know how to explain it to you. As you're turning in your Bible to 2 Peter 1, let me give you the definition of a hashtag so that everyone can catch up anonymously and you can pretend like you knew exactly what we were talking about, what nonsense is happening in that video. I looked it up on Wikipedia because that's always right, and here is what Wikipedia told me is a hashtag as you're going to 2 Peter 1. A hashtag is a type of label or metadata tag used on social networking and micro-blogging services which makes it easier for users to find messages with a specific theme or content. That didn't help, did it? All we did is just raise the nerd level to like 98 in here, and now I've got to cut through all of that. But listen, let's say hypothetically you were looking for all of the content on Twitter regarding the election. And so you would look up, you would search #election2016, #polls, #Trump vs Hillary, #is there anybody else out there, #is Abraham Lincoln eligible for a third term, #wake me up when November ends, anything like that, right? And so you'd be able to find all of the content.

Well, what we've got in this series called Hashtags, we're not, there's a bunch of stand-alone messages in this series and, but each topic is not random. We believe that it's vital to the life of a disciple, and today's message is #Effort because I want to address what I believe to be a costly misunderstanding in the life of disciples of Jesus. A lack of effort or a misunderstanding of what effort is and where it should appear.

And even that very word effort causes us to recoil a little bit because it's not as, it's just not glamorous. I mean in talking about a relationship with Jesus, an effort? I mean, doesn't that really rob it of something special? Shouldn't it just come naturally or maybe super-naturally, and so when I say effort as it pertains to the life of a disciple you're thinking, uh, that doesn't seem to fit. It feels forced.

I mean this is even, this shows up even when we look at how some people think about marriage. That if it's true love it won't require any work. It should just happen. This looks like we've probably been more informed by the notebook than the Scripture but we think that if it's true love it won't require any work. It should come what? It should come effortlessly, and so we value this effortlessness and if it does require work that means the spark is gone, the flame is gone, and we should start looking for new options. But the truth is that no healthy flourishing marriage actually works like that. No effort. No healthy flourishing friendship works like that. No effort. And if you think, no, no, no, my marriage, it does. May I ask your spouse if they would agree with that statement? Chances are they're putting in all of the effort and you're just man, this is great, this is gravy. Can I ask your friends, oh yeah, all of my friendships are effortless. Can I ask your friends about that? Yeah, we have to call him all the time because he never returns my calls, right?

Hey, if there's no effort, the truth is there is no such thing I believe as a vibrant, healthy, flourishing relationship of any kind where there is no effort. There has to be effort. That doesn't mean that the spark is gone or that it robs it of something special, but rather that it is worth effort, and there's a huge distinction there.

So when Peter, in 2 Peter chapter 1, when he talks about effort as we will see, we have to understand that our information about effort has been misguided, and we need to see it more clearly through the lens of Scripture. Begin following along with me in 2 Peter chapter 1 beginning in verse 3. Peter says, "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

Father, I pray that in this time, as we unpack your Word, that we would hear your voice more clearly, more loudly, that we would dial back the voices and the noise of distraction in our lives and in the world for this time so that we can hear from You, which is what we so desperately need. I pray that you'd guide my mouth as I speak, that I would bring you honor from this text that is inspired and inerrant from You Yourself. I pray this in Christ's name, Amen.

There's a lot here. We don't have near enough time to work through all that's in 2 Peter 1, and we really only looked at a few of those verses. It's such a dense passage, but I think at least Peter wants us to see three things, the things that God does that only God can do. The things that we do that we can only do through him and the things that happen as a result. Or maybe to say it another way. God's gifts, our effort, and the outcome. So let's look at those.

Number one, God's gifts. If you're taking notes, that's number one. God's gifts. In verses 3 and 4, look at it again, it's on the screen. He has given us, his divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness, through these he has given us his very great and precious promises. God has given us this.

Well, what is this? Well now if you're reading this passage, we could come away with the fact that we've got all of this stuff, whatever that is, and we'll see that. We've received these gifts through our knowledge. In other words, what we've done. It's very easy for us to come away with that understanding. But notice that he says that it's through our knowledge of him who called us. That's the key phrase. It's not just our knowledge, like yeah, I know some stuff about God, but our knowledge of him and who is that him? The One who called us.

So the truth is, that if he doesn't call us we don't know Him. It's the knowledge of him who called us. If he didn't initiate, we'd still be stuck in our sin. If he didn't call there'd be no response, but our knowledge of him is a response to his first call. And that's the truth of the gospel. Not that I've attained some superior spiritual level of intellect, but that God has reached down to pull me out of the pit of sin. That's the message of the gospel, and that is a gift.

Peter tells us that in 2 Peter 1, but Paul tells us something similar in Ephesians chapter 2. He says "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." So Paul uses the noun, this is a gift, Peter uses the verb twice, God has given, God has given, and he has given us these things. It tells us he has given us everything we need for a godly life. He's given us his very great and precious promises. He has given us salvation, but salvation not just exclusively in the sense of eternity, the by and by, but in the sense of today. Not just a life insurance policy that we cash in when we die, but rather the ever-present eternal kind of life that is ours right now. The abundant kind of life that is ours right now in Jesus.

And I know that because of the terms that Peter uses. Look what he says. He says Godly life, he says that you would participate, present tense, in the divine nature. That you have escaped the corruption in the world while you're still in the world, you've escaped the corruption that's there caused by evil desires. He's talking about right now. And we experience that right now through our knowledge of him who called us.

But that knowledge is not just facts. That's not just a mental acknowledgment, not just a mental agreement, but that knowledge is actually the word he uses is so specific that it is something that you know through and through. Something that you know at the very core of your being, not just in your head but in your heart and in every part of your life. That's the kind of knowledge that he's talking about. That you would know God in this way. That's the difference between knowing the textbook and knowing the author. It's the difference between knowing the 23rd Psalm, the Lord is my Shepherd, and knowing the Shepherd. It's the difference between knowing that you're married, oh, I have a ring on my finger and knowing the intricacies of your spouse. There's a difference in that level of knowledge. We need to understand that what Peter is talking about is the second, the intimate, the deep. Not in a hierarchy.

You can feel free to take them out, that's okay. I've got children of my own and they cry too, so you're fine to just take them and they'll be having much more fun rather than listening to my voice. The rest of you are stuck. You can't go to King's World, there is no, there's not enough space. We are looking for volunteers, so you're welcome to do that.

But Peter is talking about this deep intimate knowledge. It's the difference between, as I said, knowing the 23rd Psalm and knowing the Shepherd. You see, it's entirely possible, it's entirely possible for us to claim that we know God and our lives deny that claim. Our lives don't support that claim. It's entirely possible for us to say oh, yeah, I know some Bible, I know this, I know these songs, I've known Jesus loves me since the beginning and your lives to in no way support that. That's not the knowledge that Peter is talking about.

In fact, Paul says something similar in Titus 1:16. He says this: "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good." They claim to know God but by their actions they deny Him. By their actions they deny Him. It's not just, knowledge is not in this sense just agreeing to doctrine. Just repeating creedal statements or even saying the right things in the right moment, but to have a deep, knowing in the core of who you are of what God gave you when he saved you. That's the kind of knowledge that he's talking about. It's through our knowledge of him who called us. These are God's gifts to us.

But the second thing, our effort. Our effort. Look at verses 5-7. "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love." He says for this very reason, what reason? Exactly what we just talked about in verses 3 and 4, what God has given to us. For this reason, I want you to make every effort for this reason. This is the cause, in other words you might say it this way. Because of what God did in your life here is what you do in your life. It says make every effort, the King James version which I grew up reading and memorizing says "giving all diligence", making every effort, giving all diligence, in this way. Because of what we know God has given us, that transforms how we live.

It's the difference between a spouse, a husband or wife who questions whether or not their spouse loves them. They doubt their love and so they set out to in any way that they can try to earn that love. To get their acceptance, maybe if I do this they will love me. It's the difference between that, there's a huge difference between that and the spouse who knows, who knows that their spouse loves them. And rests in that love. But resting in their love does not mean they kick up their feet and have no involvement, but rather they don't want to live unworthily of that love in any way. They don't want to live unworthily of the love of their spouse because they know it beyond the shadow of a doubt they are so certain of it.

Well listen, church. Jesus has declared once for all that he loves you, and he is not relinquishing or going back on those vows. He says it once for all at the cross and all throughout our lives we can rest in his love. We don't need to question it and try to earn it as if we possibly could. But we can rest in his love. That doesn't mean we kick up our feet and say, well I can't wait to get to heaven, but instead that we would make every effort not to live unworthily of his love. There's a huge difference.

And so he says add to your faith. Faith is the foundation. He's not saying it's faith in Jesus plus anything that saves us. No. Faith alone in Jesus is what brings us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. It's faith alone that does that, but he says basically I want you to build on that foundation. You've got faith, let's build on it. And by the way, you've been given everything you need to build on it. And as John Calvin eloquently put it this way. He said "we know that it is faith alone that saves, and yet the faith that saves is never alone." Meaning genuine authentic life-transforming faith in Jesus does just that. It transforms your life. We got to see that in the waters of baptism today. Changed lives. Even hearing "I grew up in this church, but I didn't know God but now he's redeemed me." He changes lives. And so the faith that saves is never alone, and Peter tells us what that faith should look like once we've been building on that foundation.

And by the way, this list in verses 5-7 is the answer to the question of what did God give us when it says in verse three "He gave us everything we need for a godly life". Here it is. Here's that list. He says add to your faith, that is the certainty to take Jesus at his word in all things.

Add to that goodness, or some translations say virtue, that is moral excellence. The courage do to what is right because it is right. Add to your goodness, knowledge. Here's a different word than the one we just talked about. This a practical knowledge to make right decisions.

Add to your knowledge, self-control. Since we have escaped the corruption that's in the world according to verse 4 that comes from our sinful desires, self-control looks like us preventing future flare-ups from past sinful desires. That we are conscious of those things, and prevent future flare-ups that could be damaging.

Add to your self-control, perseverance. That when you're walking through difficulty you're not just enduring it or tolerating it or just "I can't wait for this to be over" but that you are remaining faithful under, in and through that difficulty, that trial.

Add to your perseverance, Godliness. A generation ago might have called it piety. We might just say 'you practice what you preach'. This consistency between what you say and how you live.

Add to your Godliness, mutual affection. The Greek word is actually "Philadelphia". We know the city in Pennsylvania as the city of brotherly what everyone, love, right? The city of brotherly love. Mutual affection. That's because that's what that word means. And as we add this to our faith, what we are saying is that we have love for Christ's family, all of Christ's family. All of Christ's family. Not just the family members that vote, think, spend and look like us. Not just the family members that live in the same township or side of the tracks as us. All of Christ's family. It's not on the screen, but Jesus said in John 13:35, "This is how the world is going to know you are my disciples, that you belong to me". What is it? If you love one another. That one another is very focused within the family of God. If we do not have love for one another then the question is how will the world know we are his disciples. That's what Jesus said.

Add to your mutual affection love. This is the cap stone overarching agape - God's divine love flowing in and through our lives to all people and all things. But it's not just the last virtue. It's kind of holding everything together.

Paul says something similar in Colossians 3:14. He said this: And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. One scholar said love is not only the last and greatest Christian virtue listed here, it's also the glue that holds all of the rest of them together - the quality without which all the others would be less than they should be. They would be less than they should be.

Why does Peter list these things for us with the cap stone of love? Why does he list these things for us? Because this is how we participate in the divine nature. Isn't this list just a representation of who God himself is? That he embodies all of these things in every single way? And so how are we ever going to participate in the divine nature? How are we ever going to relate to God? Because we can't do it apart from Jesus in our sin and our brokenness - the hard wiring pre-disposition of every human being that has ever lived. We have both active and passive rebellion against God called sin. This connection to God was severed in the Garden of Eden with the first man and the first woman and no amount of religious effort can re-establish that connection.

But do you know what? The Father and the Son have a perfect communication - unity. There is no issue in communication in the God-head - in the Trinity. And so by faith in Christ, we are placed in him so that now we too can have that relationship with God - the connection can be re-established. What was lost in the Garden is re-established at the cross and Jesus now wants to renovate our lives - he wants to renovate our lives now that we are his for two things: so that we can rightly relate to God, and rightly represent him on the earth. Think back to our message on the value of life in the World View series - that we would rightly relate to God and rightly represent him on the earth. That is what he is doing. That is what God is up to in our lives.

We want to make every effort to want the same thing for our lives that God wants. What do you want for your life? Is it the same thing that God wants for your life? And what does God want for your life? For you to look like his Son because that's the best way to live.

Maybe this analogy comes up short, but I hope that it helps us get closer. Imagine a Christmas morning and a five year old boy gets a model airplane from his parents. And he's ecstatic because he loves flight, he loves to go to the airfield and he loves to see the planes landing. He loves it. And his parents tell him the plane is yours. You get to decorate it. You get to pick what color it is. You get to name it. You get to put the decals on. But you also get to put it together. Like most Christmas mornings, there's some assembly required, right? And you get to put it together. And the son is a little bit saddened because he didn't know there was going to be work involved.

And so he says thanks kind of begrudgingly and puts the box on a bookshelf in his room and it remains untouched for a day or two or three. Dad walks into the bedroom and says, son, why haven't you built the plane yet? And the son says it seems like it's too hard. I'd rather look at the picture of the finished plane on the box because I don't think I could ever make one like that. And the dad says, but son, I've built tons of these. This is my specialty. I've done so many of these. I know exactly what to do. You're not doing this by yourself. I'm working with you. Son says, this is too much effort. The dad is saddened not because his gift was partially rejected, but because he knows his son is missing out on some joy that could be his.

But because the dad loves the son, he's not going to sneak into his bedroom and assemble the plane while he's sleeping. That wouldn't be good for him. That wouldn't build any character in him. But instead what the father does, he says continually, son, come on. Let's build this together. Let's build this together. That's what his job is as the dad.

As I said, that may come up short, but here's what I know about many disciples of Jesus - they are missing out on joy that could be theirs because there's too much effort involved in making every effort to add these things to our faith. I could never look like the picture on the box. I could never look like Jesus, so what's even the point? And the Father will not assemble that in your life for you but he will continually call out to you and say, come on. Let's build this together. I've given you everything you need. I've actually gifted you this relationship so that you can know me and then I've given you everything you need to be able to relate to me. Let's build this together! And we prefer to sit on the sidelines and never discover the joy that could really be ours if we would finally want the same thing for our lives that God wants - Christ's likeness. We're missing out on the joy that could be ours.

So we need effort in this area, but number three: the outcome. Number three - the outcome. What's the outcome? Verse 8: For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive (or unfruitful) in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If these things are yours in increasing measure. Every couple of months we take out daughter to the doctor, just a well visit. They have a little growth chart and they tell us what percentile she's in for her height and for her weight and for her head size and she's doomed because she's a Drake and look at me. So, you pray for that. But every visit we generally hear this: She's doing great. She's growing nicely. If she were to stall in one of those areas, or any of the other areas the doctors are tracking, it may point to something that's not healthy, and that they would want to keep an eye on. But mostly we hear she's doing great, she's growing nicely.

How do you know - how do YOU know if these things are yours in increasing measure? In other words, how do you know that you're growing? How are you measuring that? By what are you comparing it to? Can you point to specific things that God has grown you in? Is there progress? Or do you feel like you've stalled out? Do you feel like you keep living the same one year of discipleship thirty times in your life? You've been a Christian for thirty years but you've made one year's worth of progress. So how are you growing? Where are you headed? If the destination is foggy, we're going to be tentative with each step. But if the destination is clear, we can run the race with perseverance that has been marked out for us - confidently, we can run to that, sprint to that.

But we're told what the destination is. He says you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Again, we're not doing all of this stuff in order to get that! No, that's works righteousness, that's trying to earn our salvation which is actually impossible. But rather, disciples of Jesus, who are on this path of following him - he will lead them to this rich welcome into the eternal kingdom. This is where you are going as a disciple. This is where you are going to end up. So what are you doing to make every effort on your way there? What are you doing on your way there?

Let me ask this: in line with verse ten, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. Does your life validate or invalidate your claim to be a disciple of Jesus? Does your life validate or invalidate your claim to be a disciple of Jesus? Does it validate it? Or are you kind of laissez-faire about the whole thing and kind of hide behind hey, nobody's perfect in order to do what you want and do what feels good? Which one is it?

If that's the case, Peter tells us what that looks like. He says in verse nine they are near-sighted and blind, forgetting what God did in their past. It's really past, present, and future in that phrase. Near-sighted, blind, and forgetful. Near-sighted because you can't see the end of the path, the goal, the destination. Blind because you are blind to seeing what God's doing right in front of you, the lessons that he's trying to teach you in his word - that he's bringing into your path. And forgetful of where God delivered you from. Near-sighted, blind, and forgetful.

But if these things are yours and are in increasing measure, verse 8 tells that that would keep us from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. It will prevent us from becoming ineffective and unfruitful or unproductive in the knowledge of our Lord.

Let me give you this example. There are 1.25 million people or so in Erie and Niagara County. How are we ever going to reach 1.25 million people in Erie and Niagara County with repeated opportunities to hear and see the gospel if we rely exclusively on the paid pastoral staff to do the work of the ministry? Instead of practicing the priesthood of the believer and recognizing that you are a part of God's strategic design. Do you recognize that you are placed in this body, and placed in the world where you are, and placed in your job where you are, and in your neighborhood where you are, and in the family of origin where you are - yes, your in-laws as well - for this purpose: so that they might see Jesus in your life.

But how is that going to happen if we punch our card, say well, I'm on my way to heaven, and make no effort to furnish our faith with everything that God has given us? How are people ever going to see Jesus in us if we don't clear away the weeds? How are people ever going to see Jesus in us when we aren't seeing these things in increasing measure nor do we even have any consciousness that they should be there?

See, it's not really a matter of if these things are present, but to what degree? He says you have been given everything you need - present tense. So it's not if you have them, but to what degree? Because as someone who's on the pastoral side of things, we're trying to mobilize God's people into action - recognizing their call and their place in his strategy. But we can't mobilize empty shells. We come to God as empty vessels but so that he will fill us - not so we remain empty. How are we going to mobilize an empty shell? We need every single person - we need every single person in the body of Christ - not just at The Chapel, or at any of our campuses but every single person in the body of Christ understanding their place in his body and his strategy.

In fact, I would go so far as to say this: by making every effort to grow in my faith, I prepare myself to give every man, woman, and child a repeated opportunity to see and hear the Gospel in my life. Leave that up for one minute so that they can get that down. By making every effort to grow in my faith I prepare myself to give every man, woman, and child a repeated opportunity to see and hear the Gospel in my life.

Do you recognize that the Every Man, Woman, and Child thing that we put at all of our campuses is not just the mission of the institution known as The Chapel? Do you know that that's your mission? Lockport campus - I hope you're with me, too. All right - everyone - class participation: Do you know that that is your mission? Yes. All right, good. Because it is. Because I'm not talking about, I want them to have a repeated opportunity at my church on Sunday. I'm talking about a repeated opportunity in my life on Monday. That's what we need! It's never going to happen if we wait every seven days. It's never going to get done.

In fact, I would say it a little bit more succinctly: I will make every effort so that I won't miss any opportunity. I will make every effort so that I won't miss any opportunity. Do you recognize that you are crucial and vital to the mission of God - again class participation. Yes! Since you have agreed and confessed these things, I expect you to live them. Don't be content to say I could never be that so I won't do anything. Never be that. We cannot have content Christians who have punched their card to heaven and say, well, my job here is done. No! That misses out on God's design.

Dallas Willard said this: The enemy in our time is not human capacity, or over activism, but the enemy is passivity - the idea that God has done everything and you are essentially left to be a consumer of the grace of God and that the only thing you have to do is find out how to do that and do it regularly. I think this is a terrible mistake and accounts for the lack of spiritual growth, for you can be sure that if you do not act in an advised fashion consistently and resolutely you will not grow spiritually. We all know that Jesus said, 'without me you can do nothing'. We need to add, 'if you do nothing, it will be most assuredly without him'...It is crucial to realize - listen - It is crucial to realize that grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning. Grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning. Earning is an attitude, effort is action.

The grace of Jesus is not opposed to effort, it's opposed to us thinking we can earn our way into God's favor. That is an attitude of the heart that says what Jesus did was not enough. But effort says I know exactly what Jesus did. Therefore I will make every effort in this life, I will make every effort so that I won't miss any opportunity to be useful in his kingdom. I don't want to be ineffective. I don't want to be unproductive. I don't want to be unfruitful in the kingdom, and I'm not talking about my job as a pastor. I'm talking about my identity as a disciple. I don't want to be useless in the kingdom. So I will make every effort so that I won't miss any opportunity for what God wants to do in and through my life. That's my conviction.

So where should we apply effort as disciples of Jesus? Where should we apply effort as disciples of Jesus? One: By rejecting the lie that I can survive on one meal each week. By rejecting the lie that I can survive on one meal each week. I get it. I listen to good preaching every week, too. But listen - we can slip into a dangerous place if we think it is enough to say, well Jerry has done so much hard work. Isn't it better for me to listen to his hard work than do any of my own? And so we put verses up on the screens so that people who are new to faith know exactly what we're talking about, and you misinterpreted that as a reason to not be familiar of how to navigate this book.

So you know there's good stuff in here. You just have no idea where it is. How are you ever going to make every effort to add these things to your faith and discover the voice of God and identify how to discern that voice in the world if you don't know what he said? We can't rest on one meal each week! And we misinterpret the diligence of Bible teachers who study for hours to present truth to us - we misinterpret their diligence as an excuse not to be as diligent in our own time, because we could never do what they do or see what they see. What does that say about what we believe about the Spirit of God and how he speaks to us? And I don't use this term lightly, but we are spiritually anorexic if we believe we can survive on one meal each week. I don't use that lightly. But we think we look good with one meal. We don't. We look frail. We look weak. We look anemic. You don't look good with one meal. You look starved. I look starved. Friends, we have to reject that lie if we are ever going to be useful and effective and productive in the kingdom in the knowledge of our Lord. We have to reject that lie.

Number 2 - we have to refuse to accommodate my old sinful desires. By refusing to accommodate my old sinful desires. Verse 4 says having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. Yet we accommodate those old sinful desires by phrases like, that's just how I am. This is just the way I am. Good thing there's grace for me. This is just my cross. This is just something I've been struggling with. Is it a struggle if it's a struggle for a decade that you keep letting win? That sounds like a beat down, not a struggle. And I think the reason we call it a struggle is because we're still hanging on not willing to let go of that thing - to our detriment. We need to stop accommodating our old sinful desires and recognize that this is the reason we have been rescued - not because we've got enough will power, but because of his power.

I think it a great detriment as disciples is when we get angry at other peoples' sin and just grieve our sin. We say how could they? How could they? How could they do that and we assume motives. But we grieve our sin and say, just a sinner saved by grace. What if we flipped the script and got angry at the sin in our lives, uprooted the weeds, said that's going to be enough. That's going to not have my number anymore, and then grieve the sin of other people. And then said, God, I know this breaks your heart and I want it to break my heart. That we would be more heart broken than ego bruised if someone sinned against us. We have to refuse to accommodate old sinful desires, old hard-wirings, old nature. We reject that and we say that is not a part of the way of Christ.

Even how you think about people of other races and classes. I don't care what town you came from, and how that's how we did it. I don't care! You're not from that town - you're from this kingdom, and you have a new nature through Jesus. We reject those things. We throw them away. You get the idea.

Number 3: By realizing that Jesus is Lord of my life and I am not. The statement you need to make Jesus Lord of your life is a nonsensical statement according to the Scripture. You can't make him what he is. He is Lord. He's my Savior but he's not my Lord. I don't know what that means, and I don't think he does either. If he's your Savior, he's your Lord - that's how that works.

Jesus said as much in Luke 6:46: Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things I say? So Jesus says, love your neighbor, and Peter says love should be the capstone virtue of every believer, and we say but Lord, that's too hard. He says love your enemies. But Lord, that's impossible! They're impossible to love. But the truth is, if we've been brought into relationship, given everything we need to live a godly life, that our only excuse is I don't want to - not I can't do it. I don't want to. And the phrase, No, Lord is also a nonsensical statement. It should be removed from our vocabulary. So why do we call him Lord, and do not guard our eyes and our minds and our lives from sexual impurity? Why do we call him Lord and make decisions based on feelings, not on what God has said? Why do we call him Lord and handle our finances in a way that doesn't recognize His ownership of all things? Why do we call him Lord and refuse to practice our priesthood? Why do you call me Lord and do not do the things I say? We need to realize Jesus is Lord, I am not.

Number 4, last: By remembering where God brought me from and where He's taking me. Not just where you're from but where he's taking you. Verse 9 told us, whoever does not have these things is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

So here's what I want you to do. I'm going to give you homework, and you're not allowed to complain on a message on effort about homework. You can do it. When did your life as a disciple of Jesus begin? I don't mean, I don't remember a time when I didn't believe that Jesus loved me. I don't mean that you were in the church nursery and sang Jesus Loves Me before you even knew what you were saying. I don't mean any of those things. I'm talking about when the grace of our Lord and our Savior invaded your life - when God's Spirit moved in. When you stopped playing the game and started following him daily. When did that start? I don't care if you don't know the date. When did it start? Write that story down. Write that story down. Articulate God's grace in your life on paper. People still do that. On paper. Write it down. Fold it and put it in the back of your Bible and re-visit it so that you will not become nearsighted and blind or forgetful - not recognizing where Jesus is taking you, what he's teaching you, and where he saved you from.

And then here's the homework part B - you take that written story of God's grace in your life and you give it to someone this month, who doesn't know Jesus Christ. I will make every effort so that I won't miss any opportunity. If you believe that, you'll do it. We need to remember where God brought us from and where he's taking us so that we can be fruitful, effective, useful members of his body because if we ever hope to reach people with the good news of Jesus - if we ever hope to make a dent in the lostness of our geography, it is not going to be up to a few. It is going to be up to all who claim the name of Jesus. And I want to make every effort so that I won't miss any opportunity in what he's doing.

Let's bow together for a word of prayer. I thank you not only for listening to the content, but for knowing the heart behind this message. That in no way do I think it's Jesus plus anything equals salvation. No. Jesus alone is my Savior and yours. All I'm saying is because of his great love for us we are compelled as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5. We are compelled. We are propelled forward. And I don't want you to miss out on the joy that is available to you in God, in his Son, by saying, well, my card is stamped. I'm going to heaven. I'll pick this back up when I die. I don't want that for you. And as much as I don't want that for you, God doesn't want it for you. He loves you and he's given you everything you need for a life that is pleasing to him so that you can discover what it would look like to have a fullness of joy. Not just momentary happiness but fullness of joy.

And whatever God has been speaking to you about through this text today, I pray that you would not brush it aside but that you would listen attentively to his voice - not just mine. You would listen attentively to his voice where you need to make application specifically. Maybe you are here today and as I was explaining what it means to be a disciple of Jesus you recognized that there's a hole in your heart that you've not been able to fill - a longing that you've not been able to satisfy and that Jesus is exactly the answer to your problem - to your every problem. And you want to know what that looks like to be a disciple. You want to know what it means to have forgiveness of sin - to have that weight lifted, to be brought into - of course a family known as the Church - but more importantly a relationship with Jesus Christ.

And if that's you, if that's you and if felt like a light bulb went on today as you were listening, that's God trying to get your attention. I can't take credit for that. That's God's work in your life. I would encourage you not to ignore it. And so when we dismiss I want you to take an active step of faith in this way, with all the faith that you have, that when we dismiss you would come by the Fireside Room across the Atrium - labeled above the door it says Fireside Room. And all you have to do is walk in there and say this: I need Jesus. Three words - I need Jesus. We want to help you. We're going to give you something that you can take home to help you understand what it means to be a disciple. We're not going to leave you high and dry. We want to help you because this is the most important decision you could ever make.

So Father, I pray that your word, which is both timeless and timely, would be written on our hearts - that we would not soon forget your good gifts in our lives. But not that we would appreciate the gifts, but that we would long to know the Giver better. We pray that we would make every effort as you reveal it to us - that we would not be slothful or lazy in our faith but that we would be diligent to build on with what you've given us for your glory - not ours. For your credit - not ours. For your kingdom, not ours. We pray these things in Christ's name, amen.

Thanks everyone - we love you. You're dismissed