Real Saving Faith

Sermon Transcript

Would you pray with me? Our Father in heaven, we give you all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise because it belongs to you and you alone. And, Lord, we are excited as your people to gather to bring you all the adoration that you deserve. And, Lord, we ask today that you be helpful to me as I preach and helpful to us as we listen. Because, Lord, we as a people believe that every time that your word is proclaimed faithfully and accurately, that you are speaking.

So our prayer this morning is speak, Lord, for we are ready to hear. And so now, for all those who have gathered who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ speak directly to you, who will believe what he tells you and who will, by faith, put into practice what he shows you. Will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word amen? Amen. I'm so thrilled to be starting a new series today called stay the course.

And one of the first things you need to understand if you're going to stay the course is to ask yourself, where is it that I'm going? If you don't know where you're going, it's gonna be hard to know whether you're on course. And as we begin this series, we're gonna talk about how it is that you can stay the course in your faith, because it's really important, because so many people that think that they're starting out well don't understand where it is that they're going and end up shipwrecking their faith over time. And we don't want that to happen to anybody here. One day, no matter who you are, you need to know you will stand in front of the Lord Jesus Christ to give an account for your life.

And the question is, are you ready? It's the most important question that you're ever going to answer on this side of heaven. Are you ready to meet the Lord Jesus Christ? Because one day, that will be you, all by yourself, with nobody else there, to give an account for what you believed about the person and work of Jesus. That's why even Jesus said when he was on the earth, not everyone that says, lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom.

He said, on that day, there will be many that will say, but, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Do we not cast out demons? Did we not heal people? In other words, there will be those on that day when they meet Jesus. Did we not attend church?

Did we not do good things? And then what's he going to say? Depart from me, you worker of iniquity. For I never knew you. Even the apostle Paul, when he writes to the corinthian church, he asks them this question.

Examine yourself, make sure you're in the faith. He's writing to a group of churches, he's writing to church people. He's writing to people like you, saying, you better think about this one. You better make sure you get this one right, because this is a guarantee that's going to happen. You will stand before the Lord, and what are you going to say when you get there?

Life is short, eternity is long. You better be ready. If you're going to stay the course, you need to make sure that that is a bedrock and you know where you're going and you know how to get there. And that's what we're gonna talk about today is real saving faith. Throughout this series, we're gonna talk about how you can keep that faith, how you can grow in that faith, how you can avoid false teachers that are teaching you something other than the faith, how you can look forward to Christ's return in your faith.

How is it in this tide of uncertainty in which we live in, that we can stay the course with Jesus? That's what this whole series is about and why you can read the book of second Peter in about five to ten minutes. We're gonna spend about nine weeks in this book to give you a thorough understanding of what God's trying to say, because there's nothing more important in your life than staying the course with Jesus Christ all the way to the end. Amen. So I wanna encourage you to open up your bibles to second Peter.

We're gonna read the first four verses today, and Lord willing, go through those, and you need to understand why you're turning to the book of two. Peter. Peter, out of all of the disciples that Jesus has, is one of those that was closest to him. Peter, James and John were closest. Peter was one who was quick to speak, slow to listen.

Peter was one that seemed to have all the answers. After he was restored by Jesus, after Jesus Christ's resurrection, Peter preached the first sermon. This is later in Peter's life. This is right before Peter died, probably somewhere in the mid to late sixties, maybe about 67 AD. This book was written so that Peter, as a stalwart in the faith, as one that Jesus has called, is giving a word of exhortation to all those who believe on how it is that they can stay the course.

So let's read these first four verses together, and then we're going to unpack what real saving faith is. The word of God, reads Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours. By the righteousness of our God and savior Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. For by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. And here in these short four verses, as Peter is writing to those who believe, he's going to unpack what real saving faith looks like.

And today I want to highlight five of those truths. As we're going through this today, I want you to ask yourself, are these five true of me? When you hear each point, say, is this true of me? Am I growing in this? Because if you're not, examine yourself.

Make sure that you have real saving faith. Because there are people that attend church all the time that don't have real saving faith, and God wants to make it crystal clear to you. Don't just listen to this and say, I wish so and so was here today. Don't just listen to this and say, this is for other people. Listen for yourself first.

And if this is true of you for all five, then you will know what to look for in other people as you are out witnessing. And the first is this. That real saving faith transforms pride into humility and service. Is that true of you? If you have real saving faith, it will transform your pride into humility and service.

Notice how Peter starts this book under the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Simon Peter. How does he call himself a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ? Peter, one of the twelve apostles. Peter, one of the three in the inner circle. Peter, they got to see Jesus do all of his wonderful miracles.

How does he first and foremost identify himself? In our english translations, it's translated bondservant. Some of your translations may say servant, a bondservant was one who chose to be in servanthood, but that's not the word. The word is the greek word doulos, which means slave. You know what slave means?

Slave. That's what it means. The reason we don't use that in many of our english translations is because of the sin of slavery that took place in our country. But the reality is the way Peter identifies himself as a slave, and that's even lower than a servant. He doesn't identify himself as I'm one of the twelve.

He doesn't identify himself as. I'm one of Jesus favorites. He doesn't identify himself as Peter, James, you know me, James and John. We were the three that were close. He identifies himself first and foremost as what?

A doulos, a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what's a slave? A slave is one who's dependent, unqualified, available, waiting, willing, obedient. You say, well, what am I? You're a slave too, if you're a born again believer.

First Corinthians 620 says you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body. If you are born again, it's because Jesus Christ bought you with his blood and you are no more and no less than a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. Does that offend you or does that give you great joy that you have the privilege of serving the king of the universe as his willing slave? And notice what else he identifies himself as.

Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. Apostle literally means one who is sent. In the first century, Jesus had twelve apostles. Of all of his disciples, he had twelve. To be an apostle, you needed to see the resurrected Christ with your own two eyes and verbally be told by him to go.

That's what qualifies you as an apostle. That's why there's no modern day apostles. Now. I believe the gift of apostleship still exists. Every time I've taken a spiritual gift inventory, apostleship comes up first.

Apostleship is a spiritual gift as one sent by God to a place where Christ is not known. So you're not building on someone else's foundation. Go and spread the good news in an area where it's not. That's what fires up someone that has the gift of apostleship. But there are no modern day capital a apostles that speak in such a way that's authoritative.

The word of God is closed. The word of God is authoritative. Amen. But here's what I want you to see. Peter identifies himself first and foremost as a slave.

I'm a slave of Jesus. And I'm identifying with Jesus because here's what he calls me. He calls me an apostle. He's gifted me as an apostle. I'm a slave who does what Jesus tells me to do.

I'm a slave that identifies with Jesus. That's what I am. Real saving faith will give you that heart. Real saving faith. You'll come out and say, I'm a slave and identify with what Jesus says I am, I'm forgiven, I'm holy, I'm righteous, I'm good.

How do you know that? Because I'm a slave. And that's what Jesus says that I am. I am not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God for salvation unto everyone who believes.

I'm not afraid to tell you about Jesus. I'm not afraid to talk about Jesus because Jesus is the reason that I have life. I am a slave, and I identify myself with him. It means this. If you have real saving faith, it means you're first and foremost a Christian who happens to have other roles.

You're first and foremost a slave of Jesus Christ who happens to be a mom. You're first and foremost a slave of Jesus Christ who happens to be a dada, first and foremost a slave of Jesus Christ that happens to be an attorney or happens to be an athlete or happens to be a coach. You're first and foremost a slave of Jesus that believes everything about Jesus, that's not afraid to talk about Jesus, walk with Jesus. Do Jesus centered stuff, because Jesus is the center of your life. That's what real saving faith does.

Not necessarily instantaneously, but progressively over time, there'll be a growing desire to be more available and more willing and more serving and more identifying with who Jesus is. It won't embarrass you if somebody says, are you a Christian? Of course I'm a Christian. I'm a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever he says, I do.

If his word proclaims it, that's what I'm going to become. I'm going to orient my life around who he is. I'm dependent upon him. I'm not ashamed of him. Now.

I didn't come from a family that talked like that. I wasn't born again until I was 18 years old. And so when I was around people who talked like that, that was new to me. I remember when I was getting ready to go into ministry and trying to seek the Lord and ask him, is this what you have for me? I didn't go to a church that talked like that.

I wasn't around people like that. And I remember one time I had to go meet a guy at a restaurant that had run a college ministry, and there were all these college students around, and we were eating dinner, and he looked at me and he said, jeff, tell us what Jesus Christ is doing in your life right now. And I'm like, that's a forward question. Like, at dinner, like, we're gonna talk about Jesus. It just seemed a little forward.

It seemed a little, you know, too much or whatever. But I realize in hindsight, he was walking with Jesus, he was hearing Jesus, he was loving Jesus. That's what he was talking about. And the longer you walk with the Lord, you won't be able to keep him inside. He won't be someone that you can just set to the side and be this, quote, christian chameleon that can come to church and act like a Christian and not act like a Christiane because his life will begin to consume you.

And people say, tone the Jesus thing down. How can I? He died for my sins. He rose from the grave. He's ruling the universe.

He's my God, and I'm willing to serve him anyway. There's a growing desire for that. That's how you know you have real saving faith. Over time, that becomes a part of your life. It transforms your pride into humility and service.

Now, notice this. Apostle wasn't just a title. Apostle was what he did. You call me an apostle? Good.

I'll go where Christ is not known. I'll proclaim your word. I'll get arrested. I'll be crucified like you were, Jesus. But I'm going to do it upside down because I don't feel worthy to be crucified like you were.

I'll go do whatever you tell me to do, because I'm your slave. If you tell me to go, I go. You tell me to stay, I stay. That's my role. You want me to be a pastor?

I'll preach your word. You give me the gift of encouragement, I'll encourage the saints. Give me a gift of intercession. I will intercede for every. I'll do what you want me to do, Jesus, even if it costs me my life.

There's a growing desire of humility that way. And humility means I am who Jesus says I am, and I'm willing to do what Jesus says he wants me to do. Amen. Is that true of you? Just ask yourself a rhetorical question.

If you have real saving faith. It is. It is for every true believer. That's true. Second, it does this real saving faith celebrates the gift of Christ's righteousness.

This is important. Real saving faith celebrates the gift of Christ's righteousness. Notice who he's writing to. To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and savior Jesus Christ. What's he saying?

What's the same kind meand? It means of equal value. Those of you that have the same faith, regardless of what nationality you have, regardless of what ethnicity you have, regardless of where you grew up or what neighborhood you're from, if you have the same faith as what I'm talking about, here's how I know. You have the same faith because you have the righteousness of Christ, and Christ is the only one that can give you his righteousness. That's what separates christian faith from every single other faith in the world.

And who do we get that from? Our God and savior, Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Jesus is both lord and savior. Jesus is God.

He's always been God. He will always be God. And what are you celebrating? You're celebrating this gift that you've received by faith. If it's a gift, let me tell you what you didn't do.

You didn't earn it. What we celebrate about the gospel, what we celebrate about the good news is not anything we did to earn it. You didn't find Jesus if you're a Christian, he found you. You didn't do good things. If you were a Christian, it was God who did a good thing for you.

There's nobody here that's deserving of what God has done. It's a gift. And if he gave you the gift and you've received the gift, it's an irrevocable gift. As a parent, I remember when my kids were little, you know, Kim and I would think through what gift or gifts to give them. And you always know if you've missed the mark on Christmas morning, because if you give the gift that you think is going to bring joy, as children, they don't have the maturity level to say any more than, oh, I don't want that.

Right. Salvation is offered and you must take it. And when you take it, nobody's ever taken it away. No one's going to snatch you out of God's hand. You belong to him for all eternity, and you celebrate that gift.

What's the gift? The gift is Christ's righteousness. The gift is Christ's righteousness. Here's what I need you to understand. We teach the gospel wrong.

We teach the gospel wrong in that we tell nonbelievers, unregenerate people, that, hey, why don't you come to Christ? There's the promise of health and wealth and prosperity and influence and fame and a better life. Don't you want that? Every unregenerate nonbeliever wants that. Name one person you would meet today that doesn't want to be more healthy, more rich, more prosperous, more influenced, more fame.

Everybody wants that. That's what the unregenerate mind wants. That's not what's offered, and that's not the gospel. Because if that's the gospel, then God owes tens of millions of believers an apology. Like your life may get worse after coming to Christ.

Inevitably, it will get more difficult after coming to Christ. Here's what the gospel promises. The gospel promises the righteous life of Christ for those who are dead and forgiveness of sin for those who are wicked. That's the gospel. So the good news is only for people who are dead and wicked.

If you're neither spiritually dead nor wicked, there is no good news for you. That's who he's for. Let me be clear on this, because this comes across harsh sometimes, and I'm telling you this because I love you. The gospel is only for dead people. Spiritually, the gospel is only for wicked people.

If you consider yourself a good person, I have no hope for you. If you consider yourself alive and you have a good life, I have nothing to offer you. The only offer I can make you today is if you're spiritually dead and you're wicked. Now before you get up and leave, I'm talking to you.

Romans chapter three tells you and me about you and me. There is no one righteous, not even one. That's all of us. That's you. There is none who understands.

That's you. There is none who seeks for God. That's you. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless.

That's you. There are none who does good. That's you. There is not even one. That's you.

You're not good. You're useless. You can't find God. Well, I found God. You found the God you made up in your mind.

You didn't find the real God because the righteousness of Christ is only dispensed to dead, wicked people. You have to come to the place where you realize you are spiritually dead and wicked. And you have a resume from the time you started breathing to prove that you're dead and wicked. And some of you, it's pretty evident to everybody that you're dead and wicked, but to others, you've hidden it in your own pride that says, I'm not as bad as some of those other people out there that's dead and wicked too. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The reason that the father sent his son to be the savior of the world is not because you are good and he's looking to improve your life. It's because you're dead and you're wicked and you're facing an eternal judgment in hell. So God the Father sent his son to be the savior of the world. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, stretched out his arms on the cross, took the full wrath of God on the cross in your place for what you deserve, for all your deadness and wickedness. And then he rose from the dead, showing that he is the way, the truth and the life, and offers that to anybody who would recognize their wicked and dead and come to him.

That's good news.

So here's my question. Do you celebrate the gifts of Christ, righteousness in your life? That's what I'm celebrating. I'm not looking to meet Jesus and telling him what I did. And I was a pastor and I preached, and I don't care about any of that stuff.

Here's what I want to tell him. I was dead and I was wicked, and you made me alive. And that's all I'm hanging on to. That's the gospel. Amen.

God made him who had no sin to become sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God. If you recognize you're dead and you recognize that you're wicked, then you bring all your sin to Jesus, and in exchange for your sin, he gives you all of his righteousness. What gives us the same faith as somebody in another country? What gives us the same faith as somebody different? Socioeconomically, what gives us the same faith is that we all recognize we're dead and wicked and we needed Christ to save us.

And he did it on the cross and he rose from the dead. And he's the one and only one that could do that. That's why this is important to get, because you have a lot of faiths out there that talk about Jesus in a similar way that don't believe the Jesus I'm talking about. I was on an airplane once. It's been two decades ago.

I remember it was the first time I ever tried witnessing to a Mormon. There was a mom and a girl. They admitted they were Mormon, and I didn't know much about the Mormon faith at the time. And I was asking them, do you believe in Jesus? They said, yes.

I said, well, do you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sin? Yes. Do you believe he rose from the dead? Yes. Do you believe he ascended into heaven?

Yes. I was stumped, and they said, you know what? What you really need is the book of Mormon. We're going to send it to you? And I was like, I got off the plane, I started doing research.

I'm like, what did I miss? What did I miss? And what I missed is they don't believe that Jesus Christ is savior and God. And had I known it then I would have said, do you believe Jesus Christ has always existed and has always been God? They would have said, no.

Do you believe Jesus as God incarnated himself as God and came? No. We believe, they think that Jesus was the good son and the devil was the bad son and Jesus became a God and we can become gods too. I don't believe that. You say, I know a Mormon that believes what you believe, then they're a bad Mormon.

They should come to our church.

I grew up in the midwest. Most of the people I hung out with were Roman Catholic. Roman catholic doctrine doesn't teach this. You can be roman Catholic and be saved if you believe this, but roman catholic doctrine doesn't save. Roman catholic doctrine says you need more sacraments, you need to go to mass more often, you need to do more confessions.

If you do, do, do, do more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, then you'll get out of purgatory quicker. That doctrine doesn't save. That doctrine sends to hell. You say, well, I know a Catholic that believes that Jesus righteousness is the only thing that saves. Then they're a bad Catholic and they need to be here.

Do you understand what I'm saying? It's the righteousness of Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. There is no other way but through Jesus and what the word of God proclaims. Amen.

And before you run out of here, so Pastor Jeff says, if you only go to brave, you don't get any points for going to brave you. Don't you get points for believing that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and is the only way to the Father.

I've been in India. I've preached in hindu cultures where there's hundreds and thousands of gods. And if you don't preach that Jesus is the only God, they'll just add him to their dashboard. Of all the other gods that they believe, there's only one God. Jesus is the way.

Do you celebrate the gift of Christ righteousness in your life? That's all I celebrate. Christ is the one who saved me. Christ is the one who made me righteous. Christ is the one who came to the earth.

Christ is the one that died on the cross. Christ is the one who rose from the dead. Christ is the one who ascended to heaven. Christ is the one who's coming back, and Christ is the one who saved me, and that's all I'm hanging on to. Amen.

That's the gospel. Real saving faith transforms pride into humility and service. It celebrates the gift of Christ's righteousness, not your works and not how holy you think you are. Number three. It does.

This real saving faith believes deeper intimacy with the Lord Jesus multiplies grace and peace. Real saving faith believes that deeper intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ multiplies grace and peace. The more you go deeper with Jesus, the more of his grace you're going to receive. He says in his word. It's one of my favorite verses in the New Testament.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. This knowledge of God, it's the word epigenosco. It means having a personal relationship with. It's knowing the person of, it's really, really knowing who Jesus is. It's going deeper with him.

And what I would tell you is no matter how much you think you know Jesus, there's more to the relationship than what you currently have. I mean, just think about it. If you're married, at what point in time do you know every single thing about your spouse? I mean, at what point in time do you know every single life experience they've ever had and every way they think on every single topic? You can't in a lifetime.

You can't in ten lifetimes. At what point in time do you know everything about your children and everything they're thinking and why they're thinking? You can't. Life is dynamic. We're growing now.

Think about this. Jesus is eternal. There's never been a time he didn't exist. How can you possibly know everything about him? You can't.

Well, I've read the Bible. Good. So have I. Many times. And I find that the more I read and the deeper I go with Jesus, the more I realize I'm just scratching the surface in our relationship.

And the reason I'm so excited about eternal life is that billions and billions of years from now, I'll be like, I didn't know that. I didn't know how great you were, man. That's even better. And what has he promised for those that have a deeper relationship through a knowledge with him, multiplied grace and peace. Not added grace and peace, but multiplied grace and peace.

Now let's talk about this. What's grace? Most people in the english speaking world say unmerited favor. It means that God gave me grace to save me. Ephesians two eight, nine says, for it is by grace.

You've been saved through faith. It's not your own doing. It's a gift of God, so no one should boast. And that's true. It's unmerited favor, but it's more than unmerited favor.

It means something you didn't earn. And God displayed his divine power in your life to do something that was impossible. God took the wicked dead you that was set on an eternal course to hell, and he stepped in the gap because of nothing that you did. And he rescued you from the pit of darkness. He indwelled you with his spirit.

He set you up for a future, and for all eternity, your future is secure. That's grace. And it's not just the grace that saves, it's the grace that grows. Because Titus, chapter two, verses eleven, talks about this grace, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men like we just discussed. What else does it do?

Instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. So what's grace also do? Grace not only saved us, grace sanctifies us. Let me tell you what else grace does. Grace glorifies us.

Grace is what brings us all the way home. That's why you have, sometimes you have christians who believe, yeah, I know I'm saved. I know I'm saved, but I just don't know. I'm struggling with the same sins. I'm always struggling with the same sins.

I can't get over the hump. I'm not like one of those christians that keep growing. I know I'm saved, but there's just. Nah, I can't get there. There's multiplied grace for you.

Not just a little more, but like, more than enough more. There's multiplied grace wherever you are in your life. Imagine if God can multiply that by ten times or a hundred times. Well, I don't know if he can do that. He does do that.

He does it in every believer's life. That's what the parable of the soil is all about. When the soil hits the right heart, what does it produce? A harvest of 30, 60, or even 100 fold. What is John 15 about?

Fruit. More fruit. Much fruit. How come it is that some christians seem to grow and other christians seem to stagnate? Because they multiply in their grace, and they multiply in their peace.

Well, how do I get more of that? By going deeper with Jesus, the number one thing you need in your life is more of Jesus. Let me be clear on this. You need more Jesus in your life, because for many of us, we think of spiritual disciplines as just ways of doing religion. I believe in the spiritual disciplines.

I believe you should pray frequently. I believe you should read the Bible. I believe you should fast serve tithe, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Those are all good. But if you're only doing those things as a spiritual practice, without doing those things to grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus, you're going to become a religious bigot.

You're going to be like the Pharisees where Jesus said, you honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me. Now, I believe in spiritual disciplines, but when you read the Bible, do you read it? Because you're like, I got to know the Bible. I know the Bible better than other people. Are you reading the Bible because you're like, I got to know Jesus better?

When you listen to a sermon, are you listening because you're taking notes? Because I really got to know. Second, Peter and I got to know all the points, or are you listening because Jesus Christ is alive and he's got something to say to you that he wants you to go put into practice, and you're yearning and you're hungering for Jesus? Friends, I can't remember my points that I make in a sermon from week to week. Sometimes I don't even remember the sermon that I preached the week before, albeit last week.

I remember the sermon that I preached, but that's neither here nor there. My point is, it's all about what you're going to do with Jesus. Are you hearing him? Are you listening for him? Are you putting him into practice?

Do you tithe? Because I go, oh, God wants 10%. That's not tithing. Tithing is God. I trust you with my resources.

You always get my first fruits, and I believe in you for my finances. And here you go. Do what you want. And God, I'm reading my Bible because I believe it was pinned by the Holy Spirit to show me who I am in you. And I want more of you today.

Show me who I am. And, Lord, I'm praying to you, not because it's the right thing to do. I'm praying to you because I want to grow deeper in my understanding of who you are. I want to experience the person of you. I want to grow in you.

I want to know you, Lord. Please do that, Lord, I'm serving at the church in core not because it's the right thing to do, but I know that if I'm using my gifts best for you, you're going to show up in my life and multiply grace and peace to me. God, I'm in a cadre because I want to be used of you to not only grow in my faith, but I want to reach my neighborhood and my city for the Lord Jesus Christ. I have to do, I'm compelled to do that. I must do this.

Do you see the difference? One is I'm going to grow with Jesus and therefore I'm going to do some of these things. The other one, I'm just going to do some of these things because religion's good. We have too many people in the church today that are just doing the right things because it's good that are missing the heart of who Jesus is. Grace is to save and sanctify you by the power God.

When you truly believe and you know you didn't do anything to earn it, but based upon the word of God, you are assured that you're saved. And you know that if you continue to go deeper with Jesus, he's gonna grow your faith and you're gonna walk with a confidence that you didn't know you had. And you know that because of his grace, he's gonna bring you all the way into heaven and present you faultless before the Father. You will live different. That's the gospel multiplied.

Grace and peace. Peace. And here's the thing. If you have more grace in your life, guess what? It brings more peace.

Anybody here could use a little more peace in their life. No matter what culture you live, no matter what season it is, it's chaos out there. God doesn't promise to change your circumstances. He doesn't promise to change our political world. He doesn't promise to change your financial condition.

He doesn't promise to change your health. He promises to give you peace in your heart regardless. And he'll multiply that to you if you continue to go after him. I believe Jesus is alive. I believe Jesus can do everything that he's always been able to do.

I believe he does that through his church. I believe if you're sick, he can heal you. I also believe if you're sick, he may heal you after you die and you're in heaven. But if you're walking with Jesus, what difference does it make really? I mean, is the goal of your faith really to meet Jesus or is the goal of your faith to have a good life here?

I'll tell you what. My goal is, I can't wait to meet Jesus. I can't wait. I can't wait. I love my family.

I love my wife. I love my kids. I want to be here as long as God gives me breath. I love this church. I want to preach.

I want to see as many people grow in their faith. I want to see as many people reach with the gospel. I want to see. But the day he calls me home, I will not think of any of those things anymore. Don't think.

Well, Jeff's up in heaven looking down at us. I am nothing.

I'm up in heaven with a healed hernia, dancing before the Lord. Amen.

But like any good relationship, you have to prioritize it. It doesn't happen by accident. It doesn't develop by accident. You don't grow in Christ by accident. So the spiritual discipline is not, I got to read my bible more.

I got to pray more, I got to give more. That's not where you're gonna grow more. It's, I want more of Jesus. And this is one of the ways I can grow in Jesus more. That's what it looks like.

Because then you move from getting through principles and precepts, and it becomes all about a person. And the person is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I'm telling you about. I mean, preaching the word means preach Christ. I'm telling you about Jesus.

I'm telling you about the one you're gonna stand before, telling you how much he loves you. I'm telling you how much he already came and died for you. I'm telling you how much he rose from the dead. Because he has all power in the world. I'm telling you, he ascended into heaven.

I'm telling you he's coming back. I'm telling you, you're gonna stand before him. I'm telling you. You don't need to wait until that moment to get ready. Cause there's great life here.

If you go in with Jesus now, he'll multiply grace and peace in your life. He can multiply it. Real saving faith transforms your pride into humility and service. It celebrates the gift of Christ's righteousness. It believes deeper intimacy with the Lord multiplies grace and peace.

Let me give you a fourth r1. Saving faith recognizes the sufficiency of the gospel for everything. Real saving faith. If you're truly born again, it recognizes the sufficiency of the gospel for everything. Listen to this verse.

I love this. Seeing that his divine power, that's the power of our Lord Jesus. Christ, who is God, has granted to us that those who believe everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him. Who has called us by his own glory and excellence. Who's the one who's called us if we're born again?

God. Who's this God? He's excellent and glorious. He's perfect in all of his ways. He's the one who called you if you're saved, you didn't go looking for him.

He came looking for you. If you're here today in this church, say, I don't even know anything about God. He's the one who brought you here because he wanted you to hear about him. He's always on the move. He's always looking.

He's always coming to seek and save those who are lost. And what does he give us? Everything we need. For what? For life and for godliness.

Don't you love this? He's sufficient. Sufficient means he's ample. It means he's more than enough. And how does he give us life?

Well, because you were dead in your sins. And the Bible says you were by nature children of wrath, just like all the rest. Life is the fullness of everything you were created for. It's the abundance of your being you're looking for. Quote the life.

You won't find it in alcohol, you won't find it in drugs, you won't find it in immoral relationships. And you won't find it in moral relationships. You won't find it in the church. You won't find it outside the church, you won't find it in politics, you won't find it in the educational sector, you won't find it in sports, you won't find it anywhere. You know where you'll find it?

The only place that you will find life and fulfillment is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. He is the way, he is the truth and he is the life. And no one comes to the father except through him. He's given you everything you need for life.

Pastor Jeff, you don't understand. I got this little cabin up in the mountains and it is the life. It is not the life. It is something that you enjoy. The life.

And the life I am talking about is only found in the person and work of Jesus. It doesn't mean you may not have some other blessings that you hold with an open hand, but life that is going to truly satisfy is only found in Jesus. And he's given you how much that you need for life. Everything. He's not holding back.

He's lavish if you have in Jesus everything you need, nothing else matters. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. You are dead now.

You're alive. Why? Because of Jesus. How long are you going to stay alive? Well, for all eternity.

That's how long the life is. Amen. And here's why we need to understand that. Because for too many people, here's what they think. Grace is only to get people saved.

And then you need to go to a place called a church, where they're really nothing more than a christian activities director on a cruise ship. They give TeD talks.

One of the reasons I never went to pastor church is that was my view of church. Same people sitting in the same seats month after month, week after week, year after year, not doing anything, not excited about Jesus any more than they were 20 years ago. But they're just sitting, going through the religious motions. I don't have time for that. I don't know how many times I sat down with pastors and would tell them, like, what can I do?

You tell everybody, join the church. You tell everybody, serve in the church. I'm an evangelist. I'm reaching people outside the church. What can I do?

They said, well, that's a hard one. Maybe you can help people in our church go out and share the gospel. I'm like, I do that? What else? Yeah, I don't know.

And I don't know how many churches in our culture and around the world are nothing more than christian activities. With Ted talks, you don't need another TED talk. And by the way, some TED talks that are ten minutes are better than most sermons that you can hear on a Sunday morning. And that's a shame. People don't need TEd talks.

You may think now that I'm saved, I need to talk about marriage, I need a seminar on marriage. Or now I need a seminar on money. Now I need a seminar on parenting. And perhaps that's true, perhaps. But you know what you need?

First and foremost, you need more of Jesus. If your marriage needs some tweaking, I can promise you, you and your spouse need more of Jesus. If your parenting needs tweaking, I promise you, you need more of Jesus. If your finances are skewed, I promise you, you need more of Jesus. And when you humbly go before the Lord and you tell him, I want to steward my finances like you, I want to be a husband like you, or I want to be a wife like you, or if I'm single, I want to date like you want me to date, or I want to honor my boss the way you want me to honor my boss, or I want to have employees and honor them the way you want.

And I don't quite know how to do that. Would you show me in your word, what that looks like? I'm like, I want your way. I want your wisdom. I want your grace.

It's amazing what Jesus will show you. He's got answers for all of life. Everything you will ever need starts with him. And even if you say, well, I read this book on finances. I've read several books on finance, or I've read this book on marriage.

I've read several books on marriage. Any of the good ones get all their principles from that book right there. They all do. Start with Jesus. Give your life to Jesus.

So about 15 years ago, I started just reading through church history because I was like, what did pastors preach 100 years ago? What did they preach 200 years ago? Telling me about this guy named Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the prince of preachers. I heard every pastor quote him. So I started reading tens to hundreds of his sermons, like, what's he preaching?

Do you know what he preached? The gospel of Jesus Christ in every single sermon. And the more I read him and Wesley and Whitefield and others, I began to get mad, because I was like, how come pastors don't preach like this today? Who's willing to stand up with fire and say, jesus Christ is lord to the glory of God the Father, get ready to meet him, and if you know him, let the holy spirit take over your life and live for him. Where's that going on?

Very few places is the answer. Very few.

And I'm telling you, I believe with my whole heart. If you go all in with Jesus, a lot of the things you're looking for become really, really clear. I don't know where I'm supposed to go to college. I don't know what job I'm supposed to take. I don't know.

Should we get married or not get married? Go deeper with Jesus. Go all in with Jesus. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face, and the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

Amen. Everything you're looking for is in the gospel. And for those of you that would say this morning, I know the gospel. Jesus died for me, and he rose. Have you taken time to think about the gospel in your own life?

I mean, perhaps you have, but have you ever taken time, just ponder for five minutes, maybe 30 minutes, the significance of just how dead you were when Christ found you. I mean, the Bible says you were dead. The Bible says you were wicked. The Bible says there was nothing you could do that was good. Have you ever taken time to ponder that?

Have you ever taken time to ponder how lost you just were? Have you ever taken time to ponder that prior to coming to Christ you were under the wrath of God and were by nature children of wrath just like all the rest? How long have you thought about that? How long have you thought about the fact that it was never you that went searching for God in the first place? It was him that came for you even 2000 years before you were born.

He came to this world for you. How long have you thought about that? How lost were you really? Have you ever considered how you've been an enemy to goddess? How many times have you said, well, this doesn't matter and that doesn't matter and I really don't care about that sin and I don't care about that.

And every time you did that way, you were acting like an enemy of God? If you think about all the ways that you rebelled, have you ever pondered just the fact how desperately you deserve hell for who you are? Or how about the significance that the father loves you so much he would send his only son to rescue you?

I only know the love of a father towards a son as having my own earthly son. And I know when he's out doing something I can't be there. I think about him and where he's at. But I don't have the eternal love of a perfect father that sent his son that had never done anything wrong. That he allowed to be crushed for our iniquities and slaughtered on a cross so that those people who were rebels could come to him.

I don't have any fathom idea how glorious that is. There's no earthly example of. Have you thought about that? Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus, in obedience to his dad willingly incarnated himself and became human for all eternity? That he put on flesh, he's fully God and he put on flesh to identify with you forever?

Ever think about the humility of that? You ever thought about how he made you alive? How he ever thought he made you holy? How he ever thought about how he's continuing to grow you? It has nothing to do with you.

We need to quit patting ourselves on the back and quit celebrating all these saints that we think are so awesome and look at them. God doesn't want us to look at other people. God wants us to look at him and how wonderful he is and how glorious he is and how he can take a wicked dead person and make them alive and do great with them. That's all. Glory to God.

It's all about him. I was at the Pro Football hall of Fame this year. I've been there. I've been there twice and was watching the inductions. And it's really interesting because the night before, they had what's called the gold jacket dinner, and they have these guys that about 100 of them or so that are still alive that were able to make it that week, and they have to walk in the center of this auditorium.

They have to walk up two steps and go to the center and walk down two steps and go sit down. And people are going crazy cheering for them for all of their accomplishments. And you wouldn't know 10% of them, I promise you. And to watch these guys go up two stairs and down two stairs is a chore. It's hard because they've been beat up so much physically in their whole life.

And I got to thinking while I was watching all this, like, this can't be what heaven's like. There's no way he's going to call. People from every generation have billions of people walk across the platform where we have to applaud them. I mean, have you ever been to a graduation ceremony where you wish there was only, like, two people graduating? Like, it can't be like this.

But I bet what it's like is, let me tell you about this one and what I was able to do. And we start giving glory to Jesus as that person walks, and we start giving glory to God for what he's done. And we never, ever get tired of seeing the work of God that took that which was dead and made it alive and turned it into something miraculous. And all the time, what are we going to be doing? We're not going to celebrate what God did through that, what that person did.

We're going to celebrate what God was able to do with that dead, wicked person. That's what it's about. Do you have that real saving faith? Do you get excited about that? Jesus that was able to do that for you?

Recognize the sufficiency of the gospel for everything. I mean, that's all you need. That's all I proclaim. If the text talks about marriage, I talk about it. If the text talks about money, I talk about it.

But I'm just preaching the word. I'm telling you what Jesus did because I want you to love Jesus. And if you get these first four then this fifth one is incredible and real. Saving faith does this. It relies on God's promises and partnership to escape worldliness.

It relies on God's promises and partnership to escape worldliness. Notice what he says in verse four. For by these he is granted to us by what? By the gospel. By the fact that he's given us his divine power, by the fact we have everything for life and godliness.

And godliness is the devout practices of our spiritual obligations. We're living for God because he's working through us. For by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises. That's valuable. Blow you away promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

No matter when you live, and God's the one that set your time frames and he sets the date of your birth and he sets the date of your death, he already knows when all that stuff's going to happen because he's sovereignty. No matter where you live, no matter what part of the world, the whole world, if you grow in Jesus outside of you is going to be corrupt. I don't care if we're talking to first century, second century, 10th century, 15th century, 21st century. The world doesn't go the way of Jesus. It's corrupt.

And when you live for Jesus, there's this desire to escape that corruption and the lust that the world has. And how do we escape it? By relying on the promises of God and partnering with his divine nature in us. I mean, some of the promises God gives. Have you ever thought about how magnificent they are, how wonderful they are?

I mean, here's just a few. This isn't exhausted by any stretch of the imagination, but I know how many people that come in here this morning feel alone. I'm the only one that knows this. I'm the only one that struggles with this. Nobody even sees me.

I bet if I go to church, nobody even say hi to me. I just don't feel valuable. Here's what Jesus would say. I will be with you always to the very end of the age. Never will I leave you.

Never will I forsake you. If you're a believer, there's never a time that you're alone. Based upon the promises of God, you and Jesus are always together. You and the one that's controlling the universe are always walking together. You and the one that controls the universe are always able to have a conversation and be in sync about whatever's happening.

Well, I wish I could just avoid sin sin is so hard, I'm tempted all the time. Well, first corinthians 1013 says that when you're tempted, no matter how you're tempted, you're tempted in a way that's common to men. In other words, there's no temptation that has gotten a hold of you, that hasn't gotten a hold of somebody else. But if you continue to seek the Lord, he'll always provide a way out. The promise is this, you don't have to sin anymore.

You can quit lying to yourself and say, the devil made me do it. No, he didn't. You did it because you didn't want a way out. There's always a way out. There's always a pathway.

Well, if the devil wasn't so strong against me. It's just the devil. He's on me. Well, James four seven says, resist the devil. Oppose the devil, he'll flee from you.

He has no power over you. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. The devil doesn't have power over the believer. Doesn't.

Well, I know God's forgiven me. I just don't feel clean. Well, that's good news, too, because one John, chapter one says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sin, God not only forgives our sin, but cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

In the Old Testament, we were cleansed of our sin. We were covered. I'm sorry? We were covered from our sin. They slaughtered animals so that your sin was covered until what?

Until the next time you sinned. But Jesus Christ came once for all, and when he shed his blood, you were cleansed forever. You're clean. Amen. Why?

I so know that I'm going to have enough grace. Jesus says, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my power is perfected in your weakness. When you're weak, then I'm strong. Well, what about wisdom? I wish I had some wisdom.

I wish I knew how to live life. The whole book of proverbs is filled with that. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and understanding. You want to know how to have skillful living? You can read that.

You can read James chapter three. He'll tell you how to live with wisdom. Yeah, but I wish I was just free. I mean, I have so much guilt and I have so much shame in my life. Romans eight one tells you, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Say goodbye to shame. Guilt is good in the sense that it leads you to the cross, but it's not to remain there. You give all your sin to the Lord, you confess all your sin. He washes you clean. He's not condemning you.

Yeah, but I just don't feel loved. But the Bible tells us while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. How much more now, having believed in him, does he love us?

There's so many promises in his word that if we take the time to meditate on them the very thing we're struggling with and stewing with is the very thing God can free us from. If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples. Then you will know the truth. And the truth will set you free. It's for freedom that he set you free.

He wants you to be free to serve him and not hung up. Why do you think the devil lies to you all the time and tells you, yeah, you may be saved, but you're not forgiven. And you're gross and you're unclean and you'll never get over. Why do you hear all those thoughts? Because the devil hates you and he hates God.

That's why you have to set your mind on whatever's true, whatever's noble, whatever's right, whatever's admirable, whatever's excellent, whatever's praiseworthy. Think about these things and the peace of God will be with you. The more grace you have, the more peace follows. The more you walk with Jesus, the more peace you have in your life doesn't promise to change any. Anything outside of you.

But if you have the grace of God in your life, you can have peace no matter what. Have peace. I've watched people over the last 35 years on hospice terrified, weeping, crying. I've watched people on hospice with a huge smile on their face saying, I'm moments away from meeting Jesus. I said, well, tell them, hey, for me, what's the difference?

It's the grace of God. It's the peace of God. Do you have it? Cause here's what I wanna tell you. Think about these five.

I'll ask them rhetorically to you before we close. Do you have the real saving faith that's transforming your pride into humility and service? I mean, are you really growing in humility before the Lord? Do you really wanna serve him? Do you celebrate the gift of Christ's righteousness?

Is that how you think of salvation? Of what God did for you in your unrighteous, wicked, dead state? That he made you alive? Do you consider the fact that if you go deeper with Jesus, he will multiply grace and peace in your life. He can do things with your life that you wouldn't even believe.

Do you recognize the sufficiency of the gospel for everything? That what he's calling you to is his personal relationship with Jesus? And are you relying on his promises in his word so that his divine nature can partner with you to escape this world of corruption by lust? Because this is normative for everybody that believes. If you're truly a believer in Christ, this is true of you.

If you say, well, I love sin and I love living in sin, here's what you need to know. You're not a Christian. You're not a believer. Now you can come to church and you can fake your mom and dad out and you can get everybody to thank you. You can say whatever you want to say.

You can give lip service all you want. You can go through the religious motions. I'm telling you, all of these things are true of people that have real saving faith. So here's truth number one. If you can't answer yes in the affirmative to all of those, make today your day where you repent and trust Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior.

And if you have repented and you say, I know, I'm saved, I'm just not seeing the fullness of this. God wants to multiply grace and peace to you, not through your works and not through your efforts, but because of your pursuit of him. He wants more of you. That's why today we're going to end with communion. We're going to have a song sung over you.

You can prepare your heart any way you want as you hold the elements in your hand. On all of our campuses, this juice and this wafer represent the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is why we're here. It's what God is doing. Anybody that has real saving faith is welcome to take this meal. Anybody who's repented and believed in Jesus as their own personal lord and savior can take this.

And as you're preparing your heart today, here's what I want you to think about. I want you to think about the gospel. I want you to think about God's love for you, how Jesus left heaven for you, how he incarnated himself for you, how he died on a cross for you, how he rose from the dead for you, how he's given his life through his holy spirit to you, how he's never stopped loving you. I want you to hold those elements and think about all that he's done. Because if you believe the gospel.

I want to tell you something. You are truly, truly, truly clean. Amen. You're a new creation. The old has passed away.

And behold, all things have been made new. Would you pray with me? Father in heaven, we just give you praise, glory and honor for who you are. And as we hold these elements in our hand, we're reminded of all that you've done. If you're here today and you've never responded to the gospel, you're just playing christian games.

And you know that you love your sin more than you love Jesus. This is him tugging at your heart, saying, come to me if you desire to have a relationship with Christ. You can clearly pray in your heart this morning. Lord, I repent of my sin. Come into my life and be my lord.

Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Give me your righteousness, Jesus, for those of you here today that have the righteousness of Christ, but just need to be reminded of the fact that he wants to do exceedingly, abundantly more than your life. Then as you pray and as you hold these elements and as you think about his powerful work in your life, consider all that he's done so far and all that he's going to continue to do. Lord, we give you praise, glory and honor for all you're going to do. Lord, help us hear this song and prepare our hearts.

And as our campus pastors come up after this song, let us take the elements together. For your glory. We give you praise in Jesus name. Amen.