Led by the Spirit

2 Peter 1

Encourage Christians to grow in their faith and knowledge of God.

2 Peter 1: 5-9

Climb the ladder of virtues … To our FAITH we add GOODNESS, add KNOWLEDGE, add SELF CONTROL, add PERSEVERANCE, add GODLINESS, add BROTHERLY KINDNESS, and add LOVE

James 2: 14-17

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?” … “faith by itself, if it is NOT accompanied by action, is dead.”

John 13: 1

Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of His love.

John 13: 12

Do you understand what I have done for you?

John 13:15

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done.

Ephesians 4:1

God has chosen us to be Christ’s ambassadors here on earth. We have been given a tremendous opportunity, with enormous responsibility!

Ephesians 4:3

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit …. Focus on God.

What's Most Important: Peter’s Desire for us is That We Would Be Confident of our Relationship with Jesus, Assured in our Faith

Make every effort: Peter’s desire for us is that we would be confident of our relationship with Jesus, assured in our faith.  I believe that this is the reason he implores us to make every effort to add to the faith we have been granted those disciplines that will enhance and make effective our relationship with our heavenly Father, Jesus our Brother, and the Holy Spirit who indwells us.  

Through our brother Peter, God reveals His desire for us.  God’s desire is that we would see and choose what is most important – experiencing His love, we would then Love Him with our whole strength, showing our devotion, in and to that love, by making every effort to show Him and others, that He and those that are His ARE most important.   In adding to our faith what is most important we are agreeing with God that He is wise and good and join with Him in His grand and most important purpose - that we would be like Jesus – to the glory of our Father. 

It is God’s intention that we see then, that this life of making every effort is not just with Him, but that we would receive from God His admonition that “it is not good for us to be alone” and thus recognize the privilege and joy of being part of the Body of Christ, those with whom God has placed us, and see the second part of the “Great Commandment” to love, for what it is, that it is like the first, that when we love one another, we are loving Him and His purposes, Him and His Body, we are loving what and who He loves.  That we would place much energy and effort into the loving of “one another”, just like Jesus did, like family, and therefore, see affection for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we agree with Jesus with what He believes to be most important among all things important – to love those with whom we will spend eternity (and in doing so, entice the lost to join the party!).

When we develop and foster brotherly affection, we are joining Jesus in calling one another “friend and brother, family”, and actually participating in Jesus’ declaration: my family is those who do the will of God by following me with full devotion, with one another. (Mark 3)

Brotherly affection - I love my relationship with you - I like you, I have a growing affection 

Mark 3:31-35

Hebrews 10:19-25

Phil 2:1-5

1Corinthians 11:17-34

Let us consider this: though we are responsible and will be held accountable for the maintenance of our own relationship, we are never meant to do this alone:

His Divine Being in His own Divine Community - “Let us make them…” (Gen 1:26) - a reflection of the fullness of the deity which is Jesus (Jn 1:16; Col 1:19; 2:9)

As God, in essence, is saying: “I AM not alone, neither have I ever been alone, therefore…”

His divine wisdom - “...it is not good for man to be alone…, …in Our image and likeness…” (Gen 2:18)  expressed most fully in Jesus, the wisdom of God, in whom is locked the wisdom of God, which is now ours in Christ Jesus (1Cor 1:24,30; Col 2:2-3; Ja 3:17)

And I will not leave you alone… John 14

His divine power - the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jo 14:16; Ro 8; Eph 1:13; 4:30 1Cor 1:12; 2:9-11; 2Pe 1:2-3)

His divine presence - “my Father and I will make our home in you” (Jn 14:21,23; 15:10 16:27)

His divine working - “it is God who works IN you” (Isa 26:12; Phil 2:13; 1Co 12:6) also works through you

His divine providence and placing - “...members of one body… given grace… to edify one another…” (1Co 12)

His divine prompting - “to will and to act, to desire to act, according to…” (Phil 2:13; 1Cor 12:6; 15:10; 2Co 5; Eph 1:5)

His divine keeping - the Lord knows how to keep His own” (ps 37:28; 97:10; 1Pe 1:4; 2Pe 2:5,9)

His divine finishing - promises to finish what He has begun - “He will finish the work that He has begun (Ph 1)

His divine purpose - creating and conforming us in and to Jesus - “to be conformed to the image of His Son…” (Ro 8)

His divine plan - to fill the kingdom of and for the Son He loves - “.... that He would be the first among many brothers and sisters” 

His divine going - “...as You have sent me, so I send them…”, “...therefore go… and I will be with you…” (Jo 17; Matt 28)

His divine intercession - Jesus and the Holy Spirit are interceding, advocating for us, defending us

To His divine glory - that in His grace upon us, not just for salvation, but for our privileged work with Him, that He would declare to the heavenlies His immeasurable grace - (Matt 5; Eph; Phil 2)

By His divine sovereignty - that everything would be placed under His feet (Ps 110:1; Dan 2:44; Mat 22:44; Heb 1:13; 10:13; Phil 2:5-11) and we would rule with Him forever

All according to… 

His divine breath - His Word, Jesus, and His words - the words that proceed from the mouth of God - and this according to God’s final Word, practiced and confirmed by Jesus (Matt 4:4; Luke 4:4; Jo 1; Deut 8:3; 29:29; Pr 6:23; Ro 2Tim 3:16; 15:4; 2Pe 1:20-21)

Experiencing the Love of God, We Love, and Making Every Effort to Grow in that Love: Hebrews 4

2Peter 1 - experiencing the love of God, we love, and making every effort to grow in that love, we then grow in love and the assurance of that love - the knowledge of Him, because He has made Himself and His love known to us: Having a real live encounter with God, is the moment God has made Himself known to us by His love and we realize His real presence and are moved toward Him by His love.  Meaning, that in meeting that love, our heart has been touched and has responded and turned, and now, we have come to know Him - really experiencing His mercy and grace, His love and forgiveness - and now, we are at peace with Him because we realize through this experience that He has made peace with us and it for us (Rom 8).  

It is important we understand that this peace is a “positional peace” established by God.  It is this position in in Him that gives us peace based on hope or assurance. The peace we have might be better stated so that we better understand it as - assurance - as in our world, “peace” is often used as a “feeling of calm”, or an expressed moment in which we are in a “tranquil state” that is temporary and based on (feelings) in a circumstance and therefore can be taken. 

This peace, which is actually assurance (Col 1:23 NLT), rises from an inner confidence of what is sure to come, what we rightly anticipate because of the surety of its coming because of our position (where we have been placed by God’s grace) - this is hope, not wishful thinking, or a whim, but in particular, a firm and eager expectation of a what is sure - in this case: a sure and hardy welcome because of our confidence in God’s grace - having “met” God, we expect from His goodness and good promises to those who love Him - a joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation. (Rom 5; 1Peter 1)

This peace God has established with us, this gracious experience we have with God, has persuaded us that God is who He says He is, and, we are who He says we are, and this produces in us, assurance, or, peace.  (Phil 4) because now, being free (from accusation), we have a fearless confidence, giving us a cheerful courage, to approach God because of the good standing we have with him, in Christ, being accepted and adopted as children - we can with surety, anticipate a His being for us now, and in eternity - a rich warm welcome into the Kingdom of Heaven (1Peter 1:3-6).

• In the now:  Hebrews 4:14-16  14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, f Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

And eternally: 2Peter 1:8-9 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls

Here, in Peter’s second letter, he gives a road map to grow in our faith - that we might be more and more persuaded of God and His love’s truth and promises.  So that as our relationship with God grows, our trusting hope would increase, and with our trust and hope, our assurance, or, confidence, and thus, our peace.

It seems it is our hope, our assurance, our confidence that Peter here is most concerned for us and gives us a map to increase and live in that confidence.

So a quick review: 2Peter 1:3-8

Faith - being persuaded by God that He is God, glorious and good, and that this God - love us - it is true and we can trust it.

Goodness - being the change He has made in us - we are like Jesus, we can speak and act as Jesus

• What is it? To think, feel, and act differently - moral goodness - Jesus, to see and hear, follow and be like - to act rightly, according to truth, or, what is good and gracious

• What can I do?  Bring what is good, the best of me, to bear on the body - my brothers and sisters – being the good I have been created to be and do what that goodness does.

Knowledge - 

• What is it?  The word of God, which is from God, about God that we might know more of Him 

• What can we do?  Make every effort to engage with God in His word so that we might know more about God and His will and purposes.  Read and listen to it; recite and remember it; remain in it allowing it to do its work and grow in it; believe it; do it and share it - with one another, with the lost.  

Self-control - 

• What is it? It is an unwillingness to be moved from - remain in that place God has me

• What can I do?  Persist in that place God has placed me and with whom looking for God’s promise to “work all things for the good of those who love Him…” 

Perseverance - 

• What is it? To see through to its end; bear up with joy; the joy of knowing that God has me in this time and place and is doing a work in me through it - that is my perseverance, godliness, hope, and assurance as Jesus is revealed through in our trials.

• What can we do? To not only remain but to see through to the end result of the circumstance and suffering that one finds oneself - looking forward with joy to the God-promised results of times such as these. 

Godliness -  

• What is it? character, Christlikeness, Christ’s righteousness - it is the fruit of remaining in and persevering through suffering - this life (Romans 5; Ja 1; 1Pe 1) 

• What can I do? Be godly!  Exercising my family right as a dearly loved child to be who I am in Jesus and act on it. (Is 56:5; Lu 11:2; Jo 1:12; Ro 8:15-16; 1Co 2:12; Ep 5:1) - 

All of this is our responsibility, but not ours to do alone, but by and with:

• The Holy Spirit (Jo 14; Ro 8; Ep 1) or, His Divine Power (2Pe 1:3)

• One another – the Body of Christ – of which He is the Head (Eph 4)

The next thing we are called to “make every effort to add” is - the one-another - to be a part and develop a “brotherly kindness”, or, affection.  And this can’t happen without being a part of the Body, and, as God ordains a “body” local - with one-another - and placed us each and every into one. 

Our making every effort to add all that we are asked to add, with make in us - brotherly affection - which means, we need to be a part of a local body to which we express that affection.  

So what of this brotherly kindness?  It is important that we understand the nature of fellowship, being part of the body, and that we see that it is not only being a member of the body, a body of which you have been made apart but developing our affection for it and those in it with us.

What is this brotherly affection?  The simple attitude and work of brotherly kindness or as Romans 12:10 phlostorgos “family affection” - tenderly loving, kindly affectionate to. 

• A mutual love – one to another, given and received, gladly, even or especially when difficulties exist.

• This term is derived from storge - cherishing one’s kindred (especially parents and children)

• It is the special affection shared between members of God’s family - people born again - divinely adopted and serving the same heavenly Father!

Jesus sets this forward here in Mark 3:34 “who are my mother and brothers?  He asked.  Then He looked at those seated in a circle around Him and said, “Here are my mother and bothers!  Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” 

This brotherly affection is to be developed – with every effort - with God and toward the fellowship of believers - our adopted family - as it a large part of our growing confidence, our assurance, as we together spur one another on to grow in Christ bringing forward the good tha that we have experienced with God and have been made by God in Christ. 

And here’s how!

Hebrews 10:19-25  19Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Our assurance grows with one another - but this is not passive, it is active, as we do unto others, bringing ourselves to the party and allowing everyone to enjoy the favor of all the people (Acts 2)

What is it – this fellowship and our growing affection for it?  It is to realize that this fellowhip is Jesus’ body and that He has placed you in it - for your good, the good of others, and for His good!  It, the Body, is our family, truly, with God as our Father, Jesus our brother, and His DNA flowing through us - the Holy Spirit. 

What can I do?  We can adjust your attitude regarding the Body of which you are a part; then, be a part; commit to bringing your best - honest and transparent self; serve and be served. 

May we make every effort to calibrate it to God’s good pleasure of having made and formed the body as He thought this best and most wise and loving -

And just like in any other relationship, when we make every effort to maintain and enrich it, we grow in confidence in it, them, our love and are more and more assured that they are there with us and for us - and our love and affection grows. 

The Work, the Making Every Effort, of Believing, Beholding, Worshiping , Adoring, Loving - God - John 6; 2Peter 1

The faith you received - faith is the act of persuasion of God toward a person to enliven their heart to His love expressed through His merciful grace - that converts our knowledge about God, to experience God Himself and His love - from knowing to knowing.

Glory and goodness - 

• What evokes good opinion - honor, renown; glory, an especially divine quality, the unspoken manifestation of God, splendor.

• Excellence - moral excellence, goodness, virtuous, righteousness, perfections - is what it is about God which shines forth that calls to us (Ps 23; John 10)

If you can see and love God, then you have experienced God.  Faith is the moment of having been persuaded by God, that He is God, and rightly seeing God, I am persuaded to turn and place my faith, my believing trust, in God - this is the moment of transformation, of becoming God’s child, being born again - having known about God in my mind, I now know Him in my heart - I have experienced His glory, His goodness, expressed to me by His love, I see and believe that I am loved. 

In response to such love, I am to …make every effort to add to your faith - 

• Every - means "all" in the sense of "each (every) part that applies." The emphasis of the total picture then is on "one piece at a time." then focuses on the part(s) making up the whole – viewing the whole in terms of the individual parts.  Extensive-intensive force!

• Effort - haste, diligence, giving one’s best full effort by making haste; quickly obeying what the Lord reveals is His priority. This elevates the better over the good – the more important over the important – and does so with earnest swiftness (intensity).

To faith, goodness - an endowment from God, of God, the fruit of which is a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action; virtue, moral goodness - having experienced God’s goodness - His gracious act of love, His feelings which moved Him to action (Jo 3:16; 2Co 1: compassion to comfort), we turn, with like feelings toward others that move us to do what is good - gracious acts of service to one another that in turn bless God (2Co 1 to comfort with the comfort we’ve received; Is 58:6-14; Mat 25:31-40; Gal 5:22 goodness is a fruit of the Spirit).  The irony is that the act of serving does not exhaust our feelings and ability to act, but instead, our service makes deeper our feelings to the point that my spirit is enlivened - bubbling up to a boil, fervent, effervescent.  By exercising the faith God has distributed to us, we strengthen it, it is proven genuine, and our love for God and others grows in sincerity - we learn to hate what is evil and destructive and move to express God’s goodness to others by serving others with virtue and courage - seeing in God what is good, we do good 

Ro 12:1-11 “11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

My spirit now being stoked, I want to grow, I want to know more about my good Father so that I might know Him, and His goodness, more and more, and make it known, better and better… 

To Goodness, knowledge - God’s word tells me more about God and His commands, it works to further persuade and affirm me - both my mind and heart - of what is true.  By making every effort to spend time with God in His word my understanding deepens, my experiences gain context, and I grow in my knowledge of God so that when I experience more of God, I can discern what is true, my mind and heart are calibrated to Him and each other.  God’s word informs me, guides me, and gives me direction, corrects my trajectory (Ps 119), affirms me in whose I am, convicts me of my wrongdoing (when I am not acting on who and whose i am), and reminds me of and brings me back to my Father’s love (Ps 51; Luke ) - we encounter the living God by His living word and it penetrates us working its way through our mind to our heart reinforcing everything we believe and further converting our belief to faith - thus deepening our faith through experiencing Him more

Hebrews 4:9-16 “12For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Now, by ingesting God’s living word, which actively aligns my mind and heart to Him, I can engage more fully with the Holy Spirit and agree with God about what is good (Ro 12:1-2).  As I engage with God’s word, it works to further persuade me of what is good - right, just, and fair - and being further persuaded, I now look to act more in accordance with His word and less on my own desires.  As I make every effort to behold God in His word, His word patiently and powerfully works to convert my mind and heart to change my heart’s desire to His desires - the self-control I am now to practice is what allows God’s word to accomplish the conversion of my desires to His in each and every circumstance I find myself - to know what would He desire for me - here and now.

To knowledge, self-control - true mastery from within - dominion within, i.e. "self-control" – proceeding out from within oneself, but not by oneself - it is a fruit of the Spirit!  Through the word, I am persuaded of what is true, and by His Spirit, I am empowered to agree with His word and can have and exert mastery over myself (my desires) as I cooperate with God’s indwelling Spirit and choose to walk with Him, in His way - by that Spirit’s power, I can say no to my fleshly desires and say yes to Him by obeying His word (Jo 14:15-27). Self-control is the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites - and what’s even better is that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit!  (Gal 5:22-23)

BEHOLD!  As I make every effort to engage with God by faith and imitate Him in virtuous acts of service, God’s living word and Spirit living in me my faith bubbles up and is excited to know more and be more like Jesus - and I am miraculously able to look and act more and more like Jesus!

To self-control, perseverance - to remain, stay back, remaining under what God allots in life: exercising self-control by not running from this moment, but remaining under, staying put, in the circumstances in which I find myself.  I am learning to trust God more, being further persuaded by His word, that not only is God NOT surprised I am where I am, He knows and has prepared me for this moment apportioning grace to me to accomplish what lies before me.  This is truly trusting God’s sovereign plan and purposes, His working in me, on me, and through me, where He has me, and, is equipping and empowering me for this moment - if I will exercise self-control and remain - cheerfully enduring, He and I, together, can and will accomplish His will. (Rom 8:28-30; 12:1-2)

James 1:2-3 “2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, a whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

And by beholding God I become like God, which is God’s loving intention for me…

To perseverance, Godliness - someone's inner response to the things of God which shows itself in godly piety (reverence); ."godly heart-response" naturally expresses itself in reverence for God, i.e. what He calls sacred - what He calls good.   Godliness is our acting more and more naturally like Jesus.  This is the fruit of the hard work of beholding, adoring, and abiding - we become who we behold, and we will most naturally express the attributes of who we spend the most time with and affix our heart to.  

John 13 “...the one who loves me is…

It is in and through the joyful persevering that we act like God (Ro 2:4) and become like God, as we remain in the place God has us to work in and on us - godliness is the JOYOUS result of persevering (our suffering and the joy of the becoming is the strength that enables us to stay - cheerfully!) 

Romans 5:3-5  “...we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

Hebrews 12:2-3 “...2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured… ”

As Jesus loves the brotherhood, as I behold Him, and become more like Him, my love for my fellow believers grows and I have a deeper and deeper desire to be with and serve more the fellowship of believers.  Jesus, who loves me, is the head of the Body of which I am a part and as I behold Him, I want more and more, to bless Him by loving one another. 

To godliness, brotherly kindness and affection - philadelphia - the cherishing of one-another

And our brotherly kindness and affection will grow into love… storgepholeo (Ro 12:) - not just kind affection for the Body, our brothers and sisters, but also a deep and sincere love that celebrates our belonging with lavish care and provision for one another - and this - at our own expense - a Body of love, that loves, because it is loved and has experienced that love and now, because it has been loved, makes every effort to believe, behold, worship and adore - Jesus - together in love. 

John 13:34-35 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 17:20-21  20“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Acts 2:44-47 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

If you have these in increasing measure, it will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of Him… your experience with Him, your beholding of Him, your sincere worship and adoring of Him, your being like Him…

You will, instead, having made every effort to add your God-granted faith - this life-giving encounter with God, the work of beholding, will have the great and growing assurance that you are who God says you are, a dearly loved child possessed and held by a loving Father, a sympathetic Brother and savior, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

The work of beholding - Adding all of these in increasing measure - incrementally - I experience His goodness and love more and more and come to love Him more and more, sincerely. 

And we do this, together - with one another, the Body of Christ, each part belonging to all the others bringing with them gifts to give to build up their brothers and sisters. 

The Work of Believing, Beholding, Adoring, and Making Lord: Col 1

Make every effort to know and experience Jesus. 

Who is God?  Whose am I?  Who am I? Why am I here - what for?  How am I to go about this life (if my life IS IN Christ?)

Becoming like the One I behold, the One (ironically, I am beholden to) the one I follow, the One whose disciple I am; dwelling on the One who indwells me, occupied with the One who occupies me, to be possessed by the One who possesses me, to be like the One I behold, adore, and abide in - it is mine to be like Jesus.  Joining God in His working to confirm me to Him - adoring. 

My life and its work will reflect the sincerity of my worship - my giving God His worth - proclaiming His value by working to believe, behold, and adore. It is not that good works produce sincere worship, it is that sincere worship, emanating from a humble spirit, will produce more and deeper humility, and in humility, we see God for who He is and what He has done (Matt 5:3).  

Having beheld God, being taken with Him, in light of Him, I can now see others as better than myself (Phil 2:3-4) our eyes can now see the plight of the downtrodden, our heart aches for the wounded and marginalized, and our heart reaches out to comfort with the very same comfort we ourselves have received. (2Cor 1:3-4)

Why?  Because we have beheld the glory of God in the face of Christ - that is, the Father of compassion, we have seen Him rightly, had our minds and hearts touched, and so we become inclined to go His way, in His manner - humbly, gently, respectfully (Matt 11; 1Pet 3).  Not just to do what He did, but say it, do it, the way He did.

The work that God requires: Good works, doing the right thing, can soften the heart, it can open us up to God’s moving, but it is beholding, abiding in, dwelling on, being occupied with, possessed by, being discipled by… Jesus, that will massage the heart to a fervent life (John 1:1-5) and prompt the works that will bring Him glory. (Ro 12)

To behold Jesus is to see Him for who He is and marvel at the truth…

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome a it.

The hard work is to behold, adore, and abide - to enter into the rest of Jesus and the grace of God (Heb 2;3). The ongoing work is to continually remove from the heart everything that my flesh would want to possess and place on that throne, and to put on the One your heart was actually designed to be possessed by and to possess - the One for Whom that seat was actually designed. 

The work of the kingdom is not necessarily to do good works  - though for those we are being created (Eph 2:8-10) - the work of the kingdom (and to be able to rightly do the good works God’s prepared for us) is to work to believe in Jesus, to behold Him, to adore him, to abide in Him - and to make him Lord. Then the good works come more naturally - our works that are truly born out of our righteousness and that righteousness acting itself out rightly, flowing from this truth: that the good works we do are out of this life of sincere worship.  (Gal 5:22-23)

• The work is in the believing - John 6:28

• The work is in Seeking - Isaiah 55:6; 26:9; Proverbs 1:8; 2:1-5; 3:1,5-7, 9,11, 21

• The work, in conjunction with our great and powerful Helper, the Holy Spirit, is fighting the flesh’s desires for the throne of the heart to be occupied by its desires. - Col 3:5-17; Ro 6:6,13; 1Co 6:18

• The good works that follow are then an extension of our heart’s desire to please the object of our adoration - not me, but Him. - Isaiah 58

A changed life having beheld - Isaiah 6:1-9 - Isaiah saw God, and can only respond with two things: one Amandum and two here am I send me

1In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”  4At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.  5“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”  6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”  8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”  And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

And God gladly said… 9He said, “Go

A changed heart calling out to other hearts to sincerely behold - So what Isaiah was called to write, and Isaiah 58, would’ve been a natural expression of his experience with God and would have written it from a position of understanding in an attempt to convince his brothers and sisters to be hold God and be changed

Isaiah 58:5 Was this the kind of fasting I have required…

5Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?  Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?  Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

Isaiah 58:6 Or is this the kind of fasting…

6“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,

Tell me what to do! We are so desirous to be told what good things we are to do, that we think it strange when we are told that the thing we must do first and foremost is not “to do”, but to believe, behold, adore, and make Lord.  That the true work of God is to believe, behold, adore, and abide - granting Jesus access and authority in and over our heart (which, btw, IS the most difficult work of all - and even in this, we are not left alone - as Jesus has overcome this world and its trouble and granted us that victory - John 14:18; 16:33; 1Cor 15:50-58) and everything we are to do becomes more and more obvious and natural. 

Here are some statements we have heard over the past couple of months: 

• what is in or on the heart will come out 

• we will say and do what we become who we behold, 

• we will be indwelled by the one we dwell on, occupied by the one with whom we are occupied - who we allow to occupy us, possessed by the one we are possessed with (John 14:23; Rev 3:20-21) 

• we will be like the one of whom we are a disciple - and we will naturally do what they do and will learn to do it the way they do it 

The work of redeeming our imagination - and we are not alone in this great work!  We have been graced with:  God’s word, His presence - Holy Spirit, the grace of our imagination - redeeming our imagination in turning our minds and hearts toward Jesus.

Let us behold Him

Colossians 1:15-23

Behold and Become | 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:7

Main Idea/Bottom line up front: We Become Who We Behold.

Read - 2 Corinthians 3:12 - 4:7

“3:12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who

would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the

outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were

hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil

remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this

day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when

once turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and

where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled

face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same

image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who

is the Spirit.

4:1Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2

But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to

practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of

the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight

of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are

perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the

unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of

Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but

Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  6 For God,

who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the

light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.7 But we

have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to

God and not to us.”

Reflect - 2 Corinthians 3:1 - 4:7

• 2 Corinthians is a letter from Christ written by the Spirit (Vs 3:1-6)

• Compare & contrast the Ministry of Death/Condemnation vs .Ministry of the Spirit/Righteousness (Vs. 3:7-11)

• See how beholding is tied to becoming glory/beauty (Vs. 3:12-18)

• Bask in the light of the Gospel (Vs. 4:1-7)

Respond - Application

Recognize that even giants of the faith (like the Apostle Paul) are merely “jars of clay”.

Therefore, don’t be too quick to criticize, critique and condemn God’s servants/vessels.

Regard yourself as merely a clay pot that is vessel of Christ’s precious glory and power.

Think and act accordingly.

Implementation - Questions for Personal or Group Consideration

Grab a pen and a notepad. Finish the following sentences. Christ is glorious/beautiful to me because_________?

I am glorious/beautiful to Christ because ________?

Come up with as many words as you can to complete these sentences.

What would look different in your relationship with God if you truly believed that Christ’s glory and power was your greatest treasure and resource?

Is the inertia and energy of your life proceeding from your own resources or from Christ?
How do you know? What needs to stop, start, or continue in this area?

Think about how the church in Corinth treated Paul since they didn’t view him correctly. How will recognizing that everyone in the body of Christ is a “clay pot” change how you regard and treat them? How will you treat others (including unbelievers) differently based on what we’ve studied here?

The Hard Work of Abiding, is, Being in View of God’s Mercy: Isa 58; Luke 15

The hard work of abiding, is, being in view of God’s mercy (Ro 12:1), to persistently put down or put to death - to renounce - our flesh, and its desires (Col 3:5), that which competes for the allegiance and devotion of our hearts, and, to pick up the cross of Christ and His manner and way  (Mk 8:34-38; Jo 14:6)

We have examined our hearts toward God and the worship that comes from the condition of our heart - insincere vs. sincere and the life that comes from the measure of our sincerity.  First the warning to the insincere: the type of worship that is expressed, without truly considering, taking into account, being in constant remembrance of God’s mercy and our need for it - having been forgiven much, will we remember, and love much? (Lu 7:47)

Isaiah 58:1-5  1“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.  Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.  2For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?  Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’  “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.  You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?  Is that what you call a fast,  a day acceptable to the Lord?

As children of God and recipients of love expressed in His merciful grace - this might be called our “prodigal moment”.  Perhaps losing sight of God’s mercy, taking for granted His grace, taking advantage of His goodness and blessing, and going our own way - the way of our own will and pleasures - and the perilous and fruitless results. 

Luke 15:11-16 11Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.  13“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

Then we began to examine our hearts in light of God’s mercy and grace, remembering Him and His love for us in Jesus - this is the heart that persistently puts to death what belongs to the flesh and remembers, has in mind God’s mercy that produces a grateful and sincere worship - and the life that is born of it:  The fruit of sincere worship: a changed character that changes behavior that changes you as it changes them: in service to God and others:

Isaiah 58:6-8a “Isn’t this the fast I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness and injustice and untie the cords of the burdensome yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  To have compassion as your Father has shown you compassion and comfort others with the comfort you have received (2Cor 1)…to share your food with the hungry… shelter for the poor wanderer… to clothe the naked… and love and serve your family?”

8a THEN your light will break forth like the dawn… 

This might be called the “coming to our senses” response - when a light dawns in and to our heart - a startling remembrance of the true nature of our Father - His goodness.  This is the light that dawns, a light that lights not just our hearts, but our path back to our Father and Father's goodness - the darkness of my crippled heart is chased away and the path back to Him is now illumined, by Him, and the light of His Truth. A light to our path… 

Luke 15:17-20 17“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20So he got up and went to his father.

…seeing and coming too know our Father rightly and becoming, more and more, imitators of Him as the dearly loved children that He has made us to be and that we are - and we run back to Him:

Isaiah 58:8b and your healing, your recovery, your restoration, will quckly appear

This then IS our recovery, our healing, and as we turn and go, we realize our recovery, our healing, by the real and true love of our Father (in Jesus), we are refreshed by His rich welcome and acceptance, we are restored to rightness with Him and ourself, we are returned to Him and His goodness, then to accomplished His goodness reflected by His work in us, and we go as a light of the very light of God in us to others as a proof of His goodness to us, in us, and now, rightly and goodly and joyfully, through us.  

Luke 15:11-24“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.  21“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.