TRACKING – LEVEL TWO by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC
Introduction: Have you ever been around somebody who is just learning to lift weights in the gym? They come in after watching a YouTube video on how to build big muscles or after getting a subscription to the Iron Man magazine, and they are ready to hit the big plates. It is entertaining and scary to be around them. Instead of going through the levels, they would rather just jump to the top. Sometimes, it can even become very dangerous. In our series called “On Track,” today’s message is titled “TRACKING – LEVEL TWO.” Big Question: Have you intentionally or unintentionally skipped some levels in your Christian growth? Some people think that they don’t need certain levels in their Christian growth. Others don’t want to waste too much time on the lower levels. They just want to get to the top. They forget that each virtue in our Christian growth builds on the previous one.
2 Peter 1 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
Context: Last weekend, we focused on the first attribute on the list – faith. The fact that the first rung on the ladder of Christian growth is faith is not accidental. It is intentional. You and I cannot grow in our Christian life if we skip this rung of the ladder. Primarily, it refers to our faith in God and his promises. If we struggle with trusting God and his Word, we will struggle with all the attributes on the list. Question from last week: How is your faith level? Do you struggle with doubts a lot? Having doubts is not bad, but staying there is. You must submit yourself to what God has said in his Word. You must take God at his Word and step out in faith. This is the foundational virtue.
Before we start looking at the next level of virtues, keep in mind that God wants us to furnish/supply each of these virtues, but he only wants from us what he has already furnished/supplied to us when we got saved. Illustration: When our kids were young, Nicole would take them to shop for me on Father’s Day or my birthday, just a small something from the dollar store. She had to give them the money because they didn’t have any source of income. So also, when we work on these attributes for God, we are only working out what has been worked in. So, the first question is “Has it been worked in to your life?” “Has there been a time in your life when you received Jesus as your Savior and King?” Do that first and then you can begin climbing this ladder of Christian virtues. With that said, let’s look at Level 2 of these attributes – “add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, …”:
2. Virtue – the Greek word is “aretein.” This word can mean “perfection, excellence, and praiseworthiness.” This same word “aretein” is found two verses earlier in 2 Peter 1:3 “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (aretein). In other words, God gave us all things that pertain to life and spiritual life when he called us to salvation. In doing this, God demonstrated his glory and excellence. Our salvation is God’s glory and excellence on display. God’s excellence can be seen in many things:
- We can see God’s excellence in creation, the earth and all its many beautiful and magnificent creatures.
- We can see God’s excellence in space, the vastness of the great unknown.
- We can see his excellence in human beings, even the unborn. Psalm 139 13 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”
But nothing displays his glory and excellence as his plan of salvation in sending Jesus to die on the cross to save us. Here’s the point: When we are saved, we are not only forgiven and given new life, but we should also be amazed and awestruck at the excellence of our salvation. It should move us to praise him! Furthermore, since we are partakers of his divine nature, we are one with Christ, we now have the same spirit of excellence in us. It should change the way we do everything in life – marriage, parenting, home, church ministry, business, etc.
Personal story: When I first came to America, I was amazed at some of the people that I worked with. They did not stop just because it was 5 o’clock. They were going to finish their task. They were going to make it excellent. We used to call that the Protestant work ethic. Things have changed over the past 30 years. Work should be done unto God. Colossians 3 23 “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” Don’t misunderstand: God is not impressed by our excellent work. As Martin Luther said: “God does not need our good works, but our neighbor does.” Proverbs 22:29 “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.”
| Question: How is your excellence level? |
3. Knowledge – the Greek word is “gnosin.” Before we understand what it means, let us first discard what it does not mean:
- It is not the knowledge of God that comes when we receive Jesus as our Savior. In that case, the word would’ve been “epignosis” or “full knowledge.” 2 Peter 1 2 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the (full) knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the (full)knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” Even false teachers have that knowledge, but they have a strict judgment coming for them (2 Peter 2:20).
- It does not mean some theoretical knowledge, like some ideas where everything is abstract. An example would be “all the mechanics behind how a bicycle works” or “what do I need to ride a bike,” but you’ve never actually ridden a bike!
- Neither does it mean some secret knowledge, as if once you join the Christian club or some secret bible study, you will be initiated into some ancient and mysterious knowledge.
The knowledge “gnosin” that Peter is referring to is the “wisdom and discernment that a Christian needs” to live a life of excellence (Baukham). As you seek to live the life of excellence, you will have to learn how to make wise decisions. You will have to learn to avoid the pitfalls of life. You will have to learn the importance of discernment. Did you know that God has given us an entire book in the Bible that is dedicated to wisdom? It is the Book of Proverbs. Billy Graham, in his early days, would read one chapter from the book of Proverbs each day. He said that it had 31 chapters, one for each day of the month. Proverbs 2 1“My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures.” Of course, there is plenty more wisdom found in the rest of the Bible.
While this knowledge is distinct from salvation knowledge (epignosis), it is still connected to it. 2 Peter 1:8 “For if these things are yours and abound (What things? faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love), you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the (full) knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”Principle: Your Salvation Knowledge will make Life Knowledge available to you, and your Life Knowledge will make your Salvation Knowledge beneficial to you. In other words, until you are saved, life knowledge will not come to you, and unless you seek life knowledge, salvation knowledge will not be of much value to you.
Question: Is there zero life knowledge outside of the Bible? No, there is life knowledge out there. Illustration: When I was leaving home, my dad told me to stay away from wine, women, and gambling. This was wisdom which actually came from his father who was a Muslim. It helped me so much in my Christian life. Unfortunately, it did not help my grandfather in the most important decision in life because he rejected salvation knowledge. His life knowledge could not give him knowledge for eternal life because true wisdom is not a principle; it is a person. 1 Corinthians 1 22 “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Do you know Jesus as your Savior and King? If no, what is the basis of your decisions? If yes, are you making decisions in line with the Word of God or are you still doing things according to your old life?
| Question: How is your wisdom and discernment level? |
4. Self-control – the Greek word is “enkratein.” This means control “over oneself especially with regards to food, the tongue, and sexual desire” (Gene Green). Contrary to the false teachers who were given over to various lusts, the true believer in Jesus Christ should exercise self-control in life. Hebrews 2:18 “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Jesus demonstrated this during his temptation in the wilderness:
First Bait – Luke 4:3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” He appealed to His appetite. Remember – he did the same to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:6 “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food…” People will do almost anything just satisfy their taste buds and belly.
Second Bait – Luke 4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” He appealed to His eyes/pleasure. Once again remember he did the same to Eve. Genesis 3:6 “…that it was pleasant to the eyes…” The eyes are the windows to the soul.
Third Bait – Luke 4:9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: “He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ 11 and, “In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” He appealed to His pride. Once again remember Eve. Genesis 3:6 “…and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”
The baits haven’t changed – Appetite, Pleasure, and Pride. Listen to 1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.”
Each times the devil tempted Jesus He replied with Scripture. He used the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17)
#1 Food – Luke 4:4 Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” He was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3.
#2 Pleasure – 8 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”He was quoting Deuteronomy 6:13.
#3 Pride – 12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ” He was quoting Deuteronomy 6:16.
Most people (and I’m not exempting Christians from this category) tend to live by their emotions, intuitions, or experiences. As a pastor I do a lot of marital and premarital counseling. I explain to the couples that your emotions can be very misleading. You hear things like – “I felt I had to do that.” “I just had this feeling.” “You know when you get that feeling.” Men – You’re married but what if you were to come across this woman and immediately you feel a connection with her. It’s amazing! She’s the one! You can feel it deep within! I made a huge mistake and married the wrong person and I need to get with this one. You might wanna try Tums! And the same goes with you ladies.
One of my favorite quotes by J. Sidlow Baxter is “Your emotions are the shallowest part of your nature. God doesn’t do His deepest work in the shallowest part.”
Keep in mind that each quality is building on the previous one: Faith, Excellence, Wisdom and Discernment in Life, and Self-Control.
- If you don’t have faith in God, you will doubt his perfect will for your life.
- If you don’t strive to live the excellent life in light of God’s salvation, you will cut corners.
- If you cut corners, you will live by earthly wisdom.
- If you live by earthly wisdom, you will lack self-control and give in to the various lusts in life.
| Question: How is your self-control level? |
Are you saved? How is your Tracking Level?
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