Don't Stop Believing

Good morning, God's Word this morning is coming from 2nd Peter chapter 1 Verses 1 through 11 2nd Peter 1 1 through 11

Simeon Peter a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours By the righteousness of our God and save your Jesus Christ May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness Through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature Having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire For this reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and Virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness and steadfastness with Godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love For if these qualities are yours and are increasing they keep you from being From being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ For whoever lacks these qualities is so near-sighted that he is blind Having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins Therefore brothers be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election for if you practice these qualities You will never fail fall For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and save your Jesus Christ

Well church we are beginning a new series of messages on on second Peter the Lord has the Lord blessed us as we went through The book of Joshua when we studied the life of Joshua and the children of Israel as they entered into the promised land and all that the Lord did For them and through them and to them as he gave them the inheritance that he promised to give to Abraham their father and now By God's grace we're going to switch over into the New Testament as is our practice here at East Point Church If you've been here mainly at the time. You know that we go from Old Testament to New Testament Old Testament to New Testament and a desire to preach the whole Council of God and in doing that We've come now to the New Testament Second Peter Little while ago we went through first Peter and now we've come to second Peter and we're going to begin These messages with an introduction our sister Red for us first Peter chapter one verses one through 11, but actually we're not going to go through those verses Just had to have something to read this morning as we talk about Second Peter and we introduce Peter's second epistle to the church We will make reference a little bit to some verses in there, but next week we'll begin in earnest looking at First chapter of a second Peter, but this morning we want to do kind of an introductory and message to get us familiar With some of the themes that we're going to be covering as we spend the time over the next couple of months going through a second Peter so if you were pray with me and pray for me Perhaps the Lord would have something wonderful for us as we get reintroduced up perhaps for the first time introduced to this wonderful little three chapter Epistle from the inspired pin of the Apostle Peter. Let's pray and ask God's blessing on us as we go to his words this morning Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you that you are a gracious God. You're so good So marvelous so wonderful Lord yet you have a stowed upon your people your pleasure your pleasure this morning your presence and indeed your power We thank you that you have called us your people and that we indeed can call you our God And we can gather in this place and we can worship you in spirit and in truth That indeed we can go to the rock No one that he is the rock of our salvation When we need a shelter When we need a friend We go to Jesus and he is all in and all We do pray that he would be magnified and all that we do all that we say and all that we pray Everything be done for his glory On to him are all things Now and forever let the church say Amen Well, we begin this series of messages on 2nd Peter and these series is entitled Don't stop believing Now for those of you who are of any age Like that's fun Well those of us who are of any age you might know that that is an obvious illusion right to my formative years

Illusion to a time when pop music was at its best no arguments this morning Back in the 80s And one of the reasons why The music was so good is because of Steve Perry and his Group journey and one of their that indeed their most popular song is a song titled don't if you haven't heard it I suggest that after service this morning you rush out and download it and Listen to it The interesting thing about the song is that the song was born out of discouragement

Jonathan Kane one of the band members Early on in their career they were living out in California and things were not going very well

Struggling to make a career in music for himself One day he got on the phone. He called his father. He told his father said dad. I'm discouraged I don't know if this music thing is for me. You think I should just come back home Chicago It's not making a go of it. Reply and said no son State of course It's gonna happen Don't stop believe of course the rest is history

someone has said that discouragement is a uniquely human disease

Which we all catch at one time or another It's like a cold sooner or later somebody is gonna give it to you sooner or later you catch it Disguragement is a real temptation for Christians I feel safe this morning and saying that if you lived for if you have lived for any significant amount of time then you have been discouraged Perhaps perhaps perhaps you are even discouraged this morning Someone asked me pastor do you ever get discouraged and I say yes every Monday morning

Amen Take the whole week But rather to encourage himself in the Lord And start it all over again I would suggest to you that everything that Jesus said and everything that Jesus did As he lived and walked and talked with his disciples was to sow seeds in them And to prepare them to battle discouragement that was sure to come why Because the love of the temptation to quit is real

We're often tempted to give up We are often tempted to give in We're often tempted to just say you know it really doesn't take all that

We tempted to doubt the legitimacy of our faith we we see our failures We experience our weaknesses and we get discouraged In fact, we often look out upon the world and we see that the world seems To be getting along fine without they all the Trappings of trying to live by faith. So just seemingly without problems and getting along with these We're tempted to say like the psalm it says right in psalm 73 In in verse 2

But as for me my feet almost My steps that nearly slept Well, I was envious of the arrogant When I saw the prosperity Of the wicked we get discouraged

We get discouraged because we who Follow the Lord often don't do as well as those who don't amen

We get discouraged because the faith seems at times to take more from us than it gives We at times relationships lose friends Become disconnected and alienated from family lose jobs and opportunities Sufferings and persecutions become real and we wonder we wonder if It is all really Worse. I want to encourage you this morning

That what you and I Experience concerning discouragement in our lives on a weekly or even on a daily basis is not new

And as we begin this new series of messages from second feeder I want you as we meditate upon the word of God I want you Beloved to not just hear me But I want you to hear the apostle Peter saying to you over and over again Don't stop believing don't stop

And Peter Was inspired to write this of his Second epistle we tell that's right Step three He was inspired to write this of his second epistle to The churches there in the Asia Minor and scattered abroad He was inspired to write it In light of the fact that he was coming to grips with his own Mortality Peter knew that his days were short on earth and they were coming to an end second Peter Chapter one verses 13 through 14 Peter says I think it right As long as I am in this body To stir you up by my way of reminder since I know That the putting off of my body will be soon Jesus Christ has made clear to me

Here was Peter Realize that he was coming to the end of his day that these May be the last words that he is going to communicate to these beloved saints in the church Which he gave his life and love for and Peter wanted to write Kind of a last word to these saints who were and and no doubt struggling with keeping the faith Who no doubt was struggling with holding on to the faith amid discouragement There was discouragement of persecution. There's discouragement of false teachings and false prophets pressing in upon them And in his short little epistle Peter with his last words says to the church What Jesus said to him What Paul said to Timothy in his last days

Well, I'd like to say to you this one don't stop believe Don't stop believing So over the next few months The Lord carries He gives us space We're going to be looking at second Peter And hopefully Understanding why why he encourages us to keep the faith Why he admonishes us Don't stop believing In fact this morning I want to point out five things that we're going to be that we're going to come back to again and again that we're going to be looking at over the course of these next few months Five things that we lift out from this epistle that remind us don't stop believing Keep the faith

Five things that we're going to be coming to again and again and again

Should encourage us and don't stop believing Don't stop believing one Because you have been called by God

Peter begins He begins his encouragement To the church Keep believing with a word of assurance And he calls them And he's calling us to persevere in the faith because God was preserving them In other words in other words We are to keep holding on to God Because from the very beginning God has been holding on us

Regardless of what it looks like at any moment beloved God has you in his grips chapter one Therefore brothers The all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election For you practice these qualities you will not fall The great assurance of every question Should be this Not That he or she is good enough or strong enough to hold on to Jesus But the great assurance of every Christian is that Jesus is good enough He is faithful enough and he is strong enough to hold on to you This is why Peter says in light of that persevere In making your calling and election sure why because you've been called Because you've been elect even that you've been called Because your calling is not based on who you are even that you are elect Because your election is not based on what you have done

believing Because you've been called That's why he encourages them He encourages them to perseverance

Peter told them the reason why I can encourage you to persevere And the reason why I can encourage you to keep believing is because They had received all things necessary for it

So it says chapter one first three By his divine power He had divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life Throughout knowledge of him who what called up by his own glory and goodness All things All of you have received all things necessary for a godly life Well in case you didn't know it Perseverance is necessary for a godly life and you've received that You have received that at your calling you have received that as a package deal in your election

If you believe at any time You can believe now If you believe but life Then you can because the same pain you in the first place if you trusted Jesus At any time you can trust Jesus now who care I know Discursments about I know There is and trust races rocks But listen if you trusted Jesus Christ at any time

God's calling Is An a factual call and what we mean by a factual call Is that it is a calling that accomplishes everything god desired for it to accomplish

We know the words, right? We know we know the verse idea chapter 55 verse 11, right

We got that social my word be that goes forth out of my mouth It shall not return to me void or empty but it shall accomplish that which I purpose And shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it If the word of god came to you and calling you to salvation in Jesus Christ Yes, what that word accomplish just what god ordain that word to accomplish in your life And if you ever believe in Jesus Christ you can believe them now because god word accomplishes everything That he sends it to accomplish You know one of the most amazing accounts in the life of Jesus If John chapter 11 with Jesus is laughing I mean you can just sit there all day and night and meditate On all the nuances and the circumstances and the emotions and in all the words that were That was that was that was happening as Jesus was gathered there by the two But one of the most amazing things that transpired there Is that Jesus stood at that tune and in verse 43 of chapter 11 The Bible says Jesus said Lazarus Come out now that's things Rather simple until you really remember now and Lazarus been dead three days And Lazarus been wrapped in dead cloths That by this time he is thinking they say

Jesus says Lazarus Come out you know what's even more amazing than that is the next verse

So you know what Lazarus did The Bible says verse 44 The man who had died came out

The man who had died What's he gonna do Because the Lord of glory had spoken and the Lord had Lazarus his word What else was he gonna do that was growing up We didn't have call ID So in the phone rang who it was It could have been tax collectors It could have been bill collectors It could have been the police But today we got call ID So my phone rang I look at that and yeah, I get back to him That's not how you do with God beloved When God calls Oh You go and And beloved that Become your That's why you can keep believing Because you say I know at one point I answered that phone

Don't Believe don't stop believing because You have been called but don't stop believing also because Jesus is Lord

This is gonna be a common theme in Peter Over and over again. He's gonna be repeating this To be Lord means to be master To be Lord means to be ruler To be Lord means to be the one who has all authority and power The Lord is the one who is in control And notice what Peter says in chapter 1 and verse 16 Well, we did not follow cleverly devised miss When we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and witnesses of his majesty the name Jesus Appears eight times In second Peter It all but one that is seven out of eight Appears with the title Lord The Lord Jesus why Become Peter means to the Lord once Peter understood that there was no Jesus but the Lord Jesus was no Jesus but the Lord Jesus Christ He who saves is he who command who is in control who is master

Jesus that Peter was talking about is the sovereign Lord And as a sovereign Lord, he is the only Lord as Paul says in 1st Timothy chapter 6 and verse 15 where he says Jesus is the only Lord the king of kings and the Lord of Lord

It's a Peter will be reminding us beloved over and over again Don't stop believing why because who else are you going to believe in There is only one God There is only one Lord Jesus Christ. There is only one king Jesus is king Like Peter chapter 2 and verse 1 You know what false teachers do for love it in false prophets false teachers always undermine the person in work of Jesus False false prophets always undermine the truth of Jesus. This is how you can discern if it's true What does it say about Jesus? Doesn't say that Jesus is Lord Doesn't say that Jesus is Savior doesn't proclaim that Jesus is God to all of these Peter writes in 2nd Peter yes Yes, yes, there's only one Lord there's only one Savior

Is Jesus Christ Because there is no one

long before Kanye West ever decided That Jesus is king Peter tells us that Jesus is King that Jesus is Lord that you can trust him because you've been called Don't stop believing because Jesus is Lord and beloved don't stop believing because so many will

Because so many Will I call Jesus Peter and this episode will warn us Of a coming apart and this is a time And with From the truth of God That is in Jesus Christ But he says to us do not let that make you stop believing When others turn away when others follow after false teacher When others turn away from the only Christ who can save them don't you stop believing

Second Peter chapter one verse chapter two and verse one and two the Bible says But false prophets also arose among the people Yes, as there will be false teachers among you Who will secretly bring in destructive heresy even denying the masters Bringing upon themselves with destruction many will follow their sensuality and because of them The way of food will be Beloved Peter said false false prophets will rise And lead people astray But this is not new Jesus warned of it Matthew chapter 7 verse 15 Beware of false prophets who come into you and sheep Logan but inwardly our ravenous Paul warned of it before Paul left Ephesus He gathered the elders And the leaders together there and he warned them and act chapter 20 and verse 29 I know he says after my departure Savage wolves will come in among you and will not bear the flop the temptation beloved To disbelief Is just as real today as it has ever been the trappings of false teaching And false prophecy is just as prevalent today as it was then in fact I would argue even more so

Ready access only the truth But to error like you And like me Peter Is addressing people Who were impatient They were impatient And they were tired of the persecution They were tired of the suffering They were wondering if Jesus was really who they had heard that Jesus once They were wondering if it was all really worth it Jesus would do what Jesus said he would do and that is to take away their pain Never be cured He ever changed my wife Ever fixed my marriage Will he bring back my way or child Will he heal my broken relationships with my parents Will he send the solution that will end my loneliness You know what false teachers do You know what false prophets do They give false promises Because they convince people that walking with Jesus is nothing more than easy believeism Trick people into believing that all you have to do is name and enclaim it That all you have to do is plant a seed and meet a need And Peter says to them Don't let this move taste for you beloved Not forgotten you says in chapter 3 and verse 9 that the Lord is patient The Lord is kind And sometimes the Lord moves slower Then you might want him to move but the Lord always keeps his promises Don't stop believing Because false prophets make false promises The Lord is not black Concerning he is Don't because the end is coming The end is And this again is a thing that Peter is going to remind us of again and again That pre-inverse 10 The temptation beloved the temptation in any age is to forget That this world is not your home

That is the temptation In any age It's to forget That this world is not your home The world as you and I know it is passed you away The day of the Lord is coming The day of the Lord is coming And as we will see As we will see when we Again there that this idea of the day of the Lord is an Old Testament Way of referring to the day of God's judgment Judgment upon his enemies and the vindication of his people This idea of this Fist these words the day of the Lord is mentioned 19 times in the Old Testament And another four in the New Testament And beloved when you when you read this These words the day of the Lord I want you to understand that there is nothing more prophetically assured Than the day of the Lord Many prophecy you read in the Bible There is no prophecy that you can hang your hat on more There is a day coming when the Lord is going to vindicate his people And he's going to write everyone And it is said over and over again Overdia Chapter one verse 15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all of the nations

As you have done is shall be done to you Your deed shall return on your own head It's coming Malachi chapter 4 and verse 1 Surely the day of the Lord is coming It will burn like a furnace All the arrogant and every evil door will stumble And the day that is coming will set them on fire Says the Lord Almighty Not a root or a branch will be left The day is coming Dr. Raya chapter 14 verse 1 Behold a day Behold a day is coming for the Lord When the cold is taken from you will be divided in your list It is not just an Old Testament reference for loving First us alone in chapter 5 and verse 2 Paul says for you yourselves are fully aware That the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night To live in this world To live in the world that those who originally received this letter lived in And even more so to live in the world And which we are presently living now Is to experience and witness the injustices of sin They all around us They raise their evil and ugly head Every day the world Is overpopulated with injustice

Peter will remind us of the judge of all the units To come in and one day he is going to write every quote The world and the devil is angels And all those who refuse to walk with Christ And find their hope in him will find themselves under the judgment of God And Peter says in chapter 3 and verse 6 So you don't think I'm just selling woof tickets here I want to remind you that he already didn't watch He did it one time with water But this next time he's coming with fire Don't get it twisted If God can do it one time beloved He can do it and give me a call of God Brusting For the only way to escape the coming judgment As it was in Noah's day So shall it be in the day of the Lord Is that you have been taught not to stop believing Trusting Don't stop believing beloved because you've been called Don't stop believing because Jesus is the Lord You don't stop believing beloved because the day is coming But don't stop believing And this is our last one Because Jesus is coming back Jesus is coming again You know what the scoffers and mockers do chapter 3 and verse 12 Bible says that they mock and they scoff at his return He had Peter wanted to remind the church and therefore remind us Don't stop trusting in the word of the Lord Jesus Christ But the Lord is faithful to do Just as he said he would do and as he left He promised us He promised us that we would see him again That just as he left so would eat You want to know how important The return of Jesus Christ The second coming of Jesus Christ is We're going to be going over this But I wanted to give you a glimpse of just how important The second coming of Christ is Our lives Our lives as Christians are a testament Not just to the resurrection of Christ But our lives every day are a testament to the ascension of Christ And a testament to the fact that Christ is coming again That's what it means to be a Christian beloved It is not simply that you believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead It is that you believe he's coming again If your life and life of it The day of the Lord when the Lord returns It will be a pain and a punishment to the scoffers But to those who are longing and looking To those who are watching and waiting It will be pleasure and praise We long We look for his return The apostle John says 1 John chapter 3 and 2 and 3 That We don't know what will happen when Jesus comes But we do know this That when he do come We will be like him But when he does come We will see him face to face Peter says and 2 Peter chapter 3 And verse 13 We don't know when He is coming But we are waiting And we are watching And we are watching For a new heaven And a new earth Where as the Bible says in Amin Step 3 And chapter 5 and verse 24 Where justice rolls down like water And righteousness like an ever flowing stream The new heavens And the newer Where righteousness reign Where injustice and unrighteousness Is once and for all Stamped out Yesterday Yesterday there was a football game Between Harvard and Yale Now most of you probably want to be paying attention to that Because you were worried about Georgia and Texas A&M Anticipating, Alabama and Auburn But there was a football game yesterday Between Harvard and Yale And half time of the Harvard and Yale game Students came out to stand Gathered at the middle of the football field And protested Against climate change And for over an hour The game was delayed Because they were concerned About a change in the climate I got news for There's coming more than just a climate change You worried about the climate changing I'm talking everything changing So there's going to be a newer There's going to be a new heaven And while you think you want to get ready for the climate change You better get ready for the common change The common change that is coming When the Lord Jesus Christ comes And changes everything And believe it It's coming This is our motivation for service and worship So Peter says right in chapter 3 and verse 14 Therefore believe it Since you are waiting for these Since you are waiting for that newer Since you are waiting for that new heaven Be diligent to be found by him Without spot or blemish In other words, don't stop believing I believe him Peter is saying Don't live your life Looking back At his first company Live looking forward To the second Now beloved I want you to hear this morning In the coming days We will celebrate We will commemorate And most of us will even Consumerate If that is a word Consumerate If it's not suggested this morning We will consume the birth of Jesus And we call it Christmas We celebrate And well we should Well we should Because the angel celebrated The shepherds celebrated The wise men celebrated Elizabeth and Mary both celebrated And so we celebrate But I want you to understand this morning That the great joy of the church Was not in the first coming of Jesus But the great joy will be In the second coming of Jesus Of heaven is not in your first verse But it is in your second verse, beloved We don't ask people Have you been born once What we want to know Is have you been born again Christian church, beloved Is not whether or not You believe in the first coming of Jesus But do you live and long For the second coming A lot of people believe Jesus was born A lot of people believe Jesus lived A lot of people believe Jesus died Not only that he was raised But do you believe he's coming again That don't stop Don't stop Don't stop believing Beloved I hope I hope Do you like me Can be present I hope the Lord carries Just for a little while And we might have opportunity To go through this word of his And be reminded how much he cares and loves For his people to persevere But shall he not carry this morning Shall this be the day When the sky's hot And the trump of sound And the voice of heaven and the angel Shout And the Lord says May this day he find you Believe him Trust him Longing And looking For his don't stop Don't stop Believe him