Prescription for Christians

1990 SINGLE SERMONS
PRESCRIPTION FOR CHRISTIANS
DR. JIM DIXON
2 PETER 1:5-15
DECEMBER 30, 1990

The Denver Broncos are looking forward to next year, and they hope to have a winning record next season, and they hope to have a high draft pick in the offseason. Of course, God only knows what next season holds, what next year holds for the Denver Broncos. The truth is that God is really more concerned that you would be successful next year then that the Broncos would be successful next year. God wants you to succeed in life. And as you look to 1991, God has a prescription for you as Christians that will help you be everything you are meant to be. We find this prescription in 2 Peter, chapter one, where God says, “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. If these things are yours and abound, they will keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

So do you want to be fruitful? Do you want to be effective in 1991? Here are seven qualities set before us that God would have us strive for if we are to be blessed. Now, this morning I intend to explore, believe it or not, all seven of these qualities. We did this in the first service and the congregation, we made it through all of them. The congregation only listened to about one or two, but I continued on and plowed all the way through. We made it through at the second service too. I know we will here.

I want to give one word of warning: these seven qualities that we are to strive for will avail nothing if we’re not Christians. These are not substitutes for faith. They are, Peter says, supplements, supplements to faith. If you don’t have faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then you can make every effort towards these seven qualities, and it’ll only result in futility. But if you do know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then as you make every effort towards these qualities, the power of his Holy Spirit will be released in your life for transformation and blessing.

Let’s look then at these seven qualities. First of all, we have virtue. Supplement your faith with virtue. Now, the Greek word here is “arete” and this word literally means excellence. That’s how the word was applied in the secular Greek world. But in the biblical context, this word arete referred to moral excellence, it refers to excellence in the sight of God. As you look at the year 1991, you need to seek excellence in the sight of God. At the conclusion of this year 1991, you should want to hear God say “Excellent!” You should want to hear him say, “Well done.”

Now, like most of you, I have two fathers. I have a heavenly Father and I have an earthly father. I’ve had a lot of time to look back and appraise the relationship that I’ve had with my earthly father. It would not be accurate as I look back on my childhood growing up, it would not be accurate to say that my dad was my friend. I don’t think my dad really sought to be my friend, nor did he really seek to be a friend to my brothers. I think my dad was like most dads in my father’s generation. When I think of my dad during my growing up years, I think of three things. I think first of all, of a provider. My dad was a very good provider. My dad worked hard to provide for the needs of the family and many times he worked beyond his normal job and even took two jobs at a time in order to adequately meet the needs of the family.

Then I think of an enforcer of justice. My dad was an enforcer of justice. And when my mother said, “Wait until your father gets home,” I knew what that meant and my brothers knew what that meant. My dad enforced justice in the household.

Then when I think of my dad, I think of an example, sometimes a distant example, but always an example. My father was ethical and moral in his dealings at work, and he was known for that. My father was an elder at the church and he had a deep, real genuine commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord of life. And my father was faithful to my mother. There’s none of us that ever would’ve questioned the faithfulness of my father to my mother.

Now, despite the fact that my father was not really a buddy to me or to my brothers, still we always knew my dad loved us. My dad showed his love for us in many ways. Sometimes he showed his love for us simply the things he did for us. I remember how my dad went out and my dad built a basketball court with his own hands in the backyard. My dad didn’t play basketball, but he did that so my brothers and I could play basketball. And time again, my brothers would be out there shooting baskets and we’d see my dad standing in the distance with a smile on his face, just having joy that we were having fun. My dad worked extra hard to pay my way through college and my brother’s way through college. When we competed in athletic events, my dad was there with my mom.

He showed us in so many ways that he loved us and it was because of these kinds of things that growing up, I really wanted to please my dad. You see, I wanted my dad to say “Excellent son.” I wanted my dad to say, “Well done.” There were many things I didn’t do because I knew they would displease my dad. There were other things I did do because I knew they would please dad and I wanted to please him. For my brothers and I, it’s been a great blessing through the years to have heard our dad give his blessing on us and give his approval to us. But you see, there came a point in our lives as Christians when we had to make a transference, a kind of transference whereby our highest allegiance was not to our earthly father, but to our Heavenly Father. There came a point in my life where above all else, I had to seek the Heavenly Father’s approval. I began to long to hear my heavenly Father say “Excellent son.” I began to long to hear my heavenly Father say, “Well done.” I began to long to have my Heavenly Father pleased.

If you’ve not reached a point in your life where you view the Father in heaven in that way, then let 1991 be the year. Let it be the year when you resolve that you want to live for Him. Let it be the year when you resolve that you want to hear Him say “Excellent.” Let it be the year that you decide you want to be excellent in His sight. The year when you want to hear Him say, “Well done.”

A second word that is here is the word knowledge. This is to be our quest. Supplement your faith with excellence and excellence with knowledge. Now, the Greek word here is “gnosis” from which we get the word know or knowing refers to a very special kind of knowledge. In the biblical context, the word gnosis does not refer to academic knowledge or even to philosophical knowledge. It refers rather to knowledge of God’s word. This is gnosis, knowledge of God’s word and will. You see, you can receive all the education this world offers. You can go to elementary school and middle school and high school and college or university or graduate school, and you can have a PhD and you can be totally ignorant with respect to knowledge in the sense of biblical gnosis. Let 1991 be the year you decide that you’re going to study the Word to show yourself approved.

The Bible says “All scriptures inspired of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness that the man or woman of God might be perfect equipped for every good work.” So let this be the year that you commit yourselves to the attainment of knowledge of God’s Word and God’s will. You see, you might have a desire to please God. I mean, maybe you really want to hear God say “Excellent,” but unless you have knowledge, that desire will be in vain. You need to have knowledge of what pleases God. You need to have knowledge of what his will is. That’s why you need to commit yourself to the study of His word.

Well, thirdly, we have self-control. Supplement your faith with excellence, excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control. The word here is “enkratos.” It literally means strength within, inner strength. You see, in your life, even if you long to please God, and even if you have knowledge regarding what pleases God, it’ll still avail nothing unless you have self-control. You might want to please Him and you might know what pleases Him, but you’re not able to do it because you don’t have any self-control.

You see, this is what got Adam and Eve in trouble in Eden at the dawn of time. Surely, they wanted to please the Father. Definitely, they knew the will of God, but when they were tempted, they didn’t have self-control and they fell. The Bible says that a person without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls, defenseless. Even as a Christian, that’s what you are, defenseless, unless you have self-control. We need to understand that biblically, that self-control is not something that you can attain simply by your own effort. There’s a sense in which biblically self-control is a gift of God, a manifestation of the fruit of the spirit. So, you need to pray. You need to pray for self-control. As you approach this year, you need to pray for self-control every day that you might have His strength within you, so that as you relinquish your will to His will, His strength is provided.

Now, the fourth word is the word steadfast. Supplement your faith with excellence, excellence with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness. Now the word here is “hypomone.” It’s a compound Greek word from “hypo” meaning under, and “meneo” meaning to abide. “Hypomone” means to abide under, to be able to abide, to continue even when you’re under a burden or underweight. So the idea is that you are faithful even in the midst of trial. That’s what God wants from you in 1991 and every year thereafter, faithful in the midst of trial. Now sometimes this word “hypomone” is translated by our English word, patience. That’s unfortunate because that’s an inadequate word, entirely too passive. God doesn’t want you simply to be patient in the midst of trial. He wants perseverance and He wants persistence. He wants faithfulness to the service of his kingdom. Persistence is a great virtue in God’s sight.

Of course, Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but he kept swinging and became one of the greatest baseball players our world’s ever known…persistence. God wants you to be persistent in your service of the kingdom of Christ, no matter how hard. God wants you to persevere in your service of His eternal kingdom. You know, the Christian walk is not an easy walk. I mean, don’t let anybody tell you the Christian walk is an easy walk. If they think it’s an easy walk, they’re not walking it. The Christian path is not the easiest path to walk. It takes commitment. We live in a world where a lot of people would choose the path of least resistance, and it’s a lot easier to just sit down and watch television hours on end than it is to go out and try to help a neighbor or respond to the need of somebody who’s in need. It’s a lot easier to harbor anger than it is to go out and take the time and effort to try to reconcile yourself with someone that you’re angry with. You see, it’s a lot easier to just thumb through the Reader’s Digest than it is to take the time to study the Word of God.

But God calls us to steadfastness, perseverance, persistence in the things of Christ and in the service of the kingdom of Christ, no matter what the cost, no matter how great the sacrifice, no matter what we’re going through. I don’t think anyone illustrated this better than the Apostle Paul who persevered in the service of the kingdom of Christ in the midst of great hardship. You know that passage of scripture where Paul was writing to the Corinthians and he described his own life and he described his own ministry, and Paul said:

“Is anyone a servant of Jesus Christ? Will I serve him more? Though I’m speaking like a fool. But I’ve had far greater laborers with far more imprisonments, with countless beatings and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews, the 40 lashes, less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, near to death. Three times I was shipwrecked, a day and a night, adrift at sea, on frequent journeys, danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from the Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren and toil and hardship through many a sleepless night in hunger and thirst, oftentimes without food and cold and exposure. In addition to all this, I have the daily pressures of my anxiety for all the churches. Who’s weak and I do not feel their weakness? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?”

I mean, do you see the persistence of the Apostle Paul in the midst of incredible trial? Incredible hardship, incredible suffering, and yet he persevered in the service of the kingdom of Christ. So at the end of his life, he was able to say, “I’ve fought the good fight. I’ve finished the race. I’ve kept the faith, and a crown of righteousness is laid up for me.”

So as you look forward to this next year and to the remainder of your life, the length of which is known only to God, life in this world, make a commitment that no matter what the hardship, no matter what you’re going through, no matter what the test, no matter what the trial you’re going to be faithful. Persevere, steadfast, unshakeable in the service of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Well, the fifth word, the word godliness. Supplement your faith with excellence, excellence with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness. The Greek word here is “eusebeia.” It’s a compound Greek word from the Greek word “eu” which means good and “sebeia” which is the Greek word for piety. Eusebeia literally means good piety. Sometimes this word is translated with our word religion. But what this word really refers to as devotion to God. Eusebeia, godliness, is reflected in devotion. Devotion to Jesus Christ is the essence of godliness.

Now what are you devoted to? And I’m sure you’re devoted to many things, but what are you devoted to above all else? What’s your highest devotion as you look at the year 1991? You need to make a commitment. Now you’re going to make Jesus Christ your highest devotion and the service of His kingdom your highest devotion.

You know there’s a woman named Carol Frazier who lives in White Haven, Tennessee. White Haven is a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee, and Carol Frazier lives in a little flat near the Graceland Estate where Elvis Presley once lived. Carol Frazier moved there from New Orleans because she wanted to live near the place where Elvis had lived. She’s fought long and she’s fought hard to have some street in her community in White Haven named after Elvis Presley. Finally, she has succeeded and they’ve named this little street Elvis Place. Carol Frazier’s really excited. She says that she’s so excited she’s going to go out and rent a few of the old Elvis Presley movies. Of course, she’s already seen Love Me Tender 107 times. She’s seen Loving You 110 times. She’s seen King Creole 93 times and Jailhouse Rock 79 times. She has 40,000 pictures of Elvis Presley in her bedroom. She has a life size poster of Elvis Presley hanging on the wall near her bed. She says, “I’m devoted to Elvis.”

You know, we live in a strange world. I mean, we really do. We live in a strange world, and there’s a lot of people with strange devotions, devoted to strange causes, devoted to strange things. I want to suggest to you this morning that if your highest devotion is given to anything other than the Kingdom of Christ, then your highest devotion is very strange. It doesn’t make any sense, because you’ve chosen to devote your life to that which has no eternal significance, no eternal purpose. You see, only the kingdom of Jesus Christ is worthy of your highest devotion. So let this be the year, the year when you resolve in your heart that you’re going to live for Christ. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” devotion to Christ, the essence of godliness.

Well, the sixth quality that is set before us that we are to pursue in the time ahead is the quality of brotherly affection. Supplement your faith with excellence, excellence with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness and godliness, with brotherly affection. Now, the Greek word here is “philadelphus” from which the city of Philadelphia takes its name. This word, philadelphus, in the secular Greek world, was used to describe the affection that friends had for each other, the love that a friend had for a friend. Now in the Bible, the word philadelphus is given a special meaning in the biblical context. The word philadelphus normally generally describes the affection that a Christian is meant to have for other Christians. It’s a special word used to describe the love that you are meant to have as a Christian for other Christians.

Now, do you really love your brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ? We live in a strange time. We live in a world where so many Christians are almost embarrassed to admit they’re a Christian. So many times as Christians, we focus on the crazy things that other Christians have done, the embarrassing things. We look at the hypocrisy that exists within ecclesiastical structures and within the community of Christ. But God wants you to know that your greatest affection in this world should be given to other Christians. Jesus said “By this, all men will know you are my disciples. If you love one another.” It’s only as we love each other that the world is going to be drawn to Jesus Christ like a magnet. When they see us loving each other and when the world looks at us and says, “Look how they love one another,” that’s how the world’s going to be drawn.

1991 needs to be a year when you decide you’re going to commit yourself to the body of Christ, and you want to be bonded with some other brothers and sisters in Christ. Maybe you’re going to enter a koinonia group, or maybe you’re going to go to one of the age group classes over at the seminary so you have a chance to meet some brothers and sisters in Christ and draw close. You see, as a church, we exist to bring people to Christ and to build them up in Christ and send them out in Christ. But we also exist to bond people in Christ. We want to see Christian community developed.

You know, Margaret and Mary Gibb were sisters. Margaret and Mary Gibb were not normal sisters, they were twins. They were not normal twins. They were what is called conjoined twins, more commonly called Siamese twins. Margaret and Mary Gibb were physically attached to each other from birth. Of course, only one out of every 50,000 births results in a birth of Siamese twins. These are identical twins. Sometimes they even share one internal organ. Some Siamese twins have only one liver between two of them. That was not true of Margaret and Mary Gibb, but they were attached as all Siamese twins are. Of course, the most famous Siamese twins, as you look at history, were these two twins named Chang and Ang, who in the 19th century toured the world in circuses. They were born in Siam, which is where the word Siamese came from, as applied to these kinds of twins. They lived for 67 years. Well, Mary and Margaret didn’t live so long. They didn’t live that long, but they had a good life and they had a real affection for one another as sisters. I imagine that wasn’t easy. I mean, it would be awfully hard to be Siamese twins.

I mean, do you ever get to where you just kind of want to be alone and you say, “Give me some space.” I mean, what would you do? That would be awfully hard. Yet they really loved each other as sisters should. When they were 53 years old, Margaret came down with cancer. It was a very extreme case of cancer and a rapidly progressing malignancy. But Mary was cancer free. She didn’t have any cancer in her body. Of course, the doctors were very much concerned that the cancer would spread as inevitably it would from Margaret to Mary. So they wanted to perform surgery, and they believed that they could separate the two of them. They knew that Margaret would die in the surgery, but they believed they could save Mary’s life. Well, Margaret would not be able to live as long as she would have, but it would keep Mary from getting the cancer. Well, Mary refused. She refused to have that surgery. Mary and Margaret stayed attached to each other and the cancer did spread from Margaret to Mary. They died one year later at the age of 54, Mary dying two minutes after Margaret died.

We know the Bible tells us that as Christians, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. The Bible says we’re actually attached to each other, not physically, but spiritually. We’re actually attached to each other so that the spirit of God, if you believe in Jesus Christ, the spirit of God lives in you and lives in me. We share one spirit. We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, one spirit that binds us all. We are bonded in some sense. And we’re called to love each other even though we’re flawed.

So let this year be the year you make a commitment that you want to love the body of Christ unto death. As long as you live in this world, you want to love your brothers and sisters in Christ. You can take an actual step towards facilitating fellowship with some other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Well, finally, we have the word love. Supplement your faith with excellence, excellence with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. The Greek word here is of course the word “agape.” It’s a very special Greek word. I mean, there are many words, many Greek words that God could have chosen to describe the love He wanted us to exhibit as Christians. He could have chosen the word philos, which refers to brotherly love, friendship love. He could have chosen the word eros, which refers to a kind of romantic love. Could have chosen the word storgus, which refers to family love. But you see those three words, philos, storgus, and eros were all viewed by the Greek world as rooted in the emotions and seated in the heart. They had another word for love, this word agape that was different. It was separated from the emotions. This word agape described a love that was seated in the will in the mind and was not really an emotional word.

Early in my ministry, and I worked at Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora, part of my responsibility was to kind of take care of certain dimensions of pastoral care. When people were hurting or they had an emergency need, I was the person that oftentimes was called. In the phone book, when the church’s name was there, I was the name listed. So that when people were just thumbing through the phone book and looking for a pastor, they would call me. Sometimes, because of that, I’d go to hospitals to see people or I’d go to people’s homes to see them or sometimes even to the airport, people would just be flying through town and feel depressed, suicidal, and they’d thumb through a phone book looking for a minister and call my name out of the blue. Sometimes people would call at weird hours of the day. I must confess to you, I didn’t always want to go. I mean, sometimes it really felt like an interruption and an invasion. But normally I chose to go, just made a decision in my will to go, even if I didn’t feel like it. It wasn’t because I was moved by compassion—many times I wasn’t moved by compassion. It wasn’t because I had affections. Oftentimes I didn’t even know the person, But I would choose in my will, make a decision, to do what love requires to seek the good of another person and I would go. Many times after I went, I would be moved with compassion when I would meet them and talk to them. Sometimes after I went, I would feel affection for them as I got to know them and some friendship developed. But agape love is not really an emotional thing. It’s a decision.

As you approach this year, 1991, you can make it decision that you’re going to love people. Even if you don’t have lots of compassion and lots of affection, you can make the decision. You’re going to love people, you’re going to seek to serve people, and you’re going to look for people to serve and to seek their good. That’s the highest love. This kind of love you can even give to your enemies, because it doesn’t require emotion. Oftentimes it results with deep emotion.

So we have this charge from Christ, “Supplement your faith with excellence, excellence with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. If these things are yours and abound, they’ll keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in your knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Let’s close with a word of prayer.