Sermons
Keep Growing In The Grace...
KEEP GROWING IN THE GRACE…
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / May 06, 2018
On May 2, 1863, Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Jackson (aka “Stonewall”) was mistakenly shot by his own men when
he and a few others returned to camp following an under-the-cover-of-darkness reconnaissance mission. His left arm had to be amputated. He lingered for a short while but then Jackson died of complications from pneumonia on May 10, 1863, eight days after he was shot. On his deathbed, though he became weaker, he remained spiritually strong, saying toward the end,
“It is the Lord’s Day, my wish is fulfilled. I have always desired to die on a Sunday.”
The attending physician, Dr. McGuire, wrote down a precise account of his final hours and his last words.
A few moments before he died he cried out in his delirium, “Order A.P. Hill to prepare for action!
Pass the infantry to the front rapidly. Tell Major Hawes…”, then stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished.
Presently a smile of ineffable sweetness spread itself over his pale face, and he said quietly,
and with an expression, as if of relief, “Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.”
Stonewall Jackson was a deeply spiritual man. He possessed a great love for the Holy Scriptures amd knew them well.
Having read much about General Jackson, I’m confident that his cross over the river was a reference to crossing Jordan.
I have always been impressed with “last words”.
I have a book in my library, Last Words Of Saints And Sinners, written by Herbert Lockyer.
The Greek expression is, eschatos logos (eschatology) and The Latin is novissima verba (last utterance).
This morning I want us to consider the last words of the apostle Peter.
While we do not have a record of Peter’s last spoken words, we do have one of Peter’s last recorded written words.
} Open your Bible to 2Peter 3:18 |
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen
I think it is safe to say that all of the apostles were fixated on GRACE.
In Paul’s final epistle - - 2Timothy - - his last recorded written words were, Grace be with you (2Tim.4:22b).
In The Revelation, likely John’s last book, he closes by writing: The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen (Rev.22:21).
Sadly, that which was such a central focus in the minds and hearts of the apostles
(and a host of other first-century saints), is not always the centerpiece of our thoughts.
I feel like I have been a bit long-winded of late (in my sermons) so I will try to be brief this morning.
I will readily acknowledge the desires of many and send you a K.I.S.S. - - KEEP IT SHORT SIVERD.
I will also try to KEEP IT SIMPLE. Short and simple - - what more could a church ask?
Typically I have three pages of notes, but this morning I have just two pages.
So I apologize in advance for cutting into your pre-luncheon naptime.
Last Sunday, Vic Rossi spoke to us the seven sayings on the cross.
The gospels preserve for us that last spoken words of Jesus prior to his death (spoken while He was being crucified).
As Vic pointed out quite well, these words move us greatly, even to tears.
They provide us with keen insight into the mind of Christ, even as He was suffering so badly.
Back to Peter’s last recorded words: Keep on growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The tense of the Greek verb “grow” is such that it is best rendered, “keep on growing”.
Surely we would all acquiesce (agree without dissent) that we are to keep growing in our KNOWLEDGE of Jesus.
Our quest to cultivate a deeper understanding of The Bible and Jesus is never-ending - - a lifelong endeavor.
We will never reach the point where we can say we have now studied the Bible enough.
But how do we keep on growing in THE GRACE of Jesus?
Is not grace something that God gives us that is already complete and full in everyway?
Indeed, this is one key facet of grace - - the mercy of God bestowed upon us the sacrificial death of our Savior Jesus.
There’s no need to grow this grace because it’s already as abundant as it needs to be. Who can improve on God’s grace?
But there is another aspect of grace that, like knowledge, requires a diligent pursuit that spans our lifetime.
This is what we might call HORIZONTAL GRACE (as distinguished from VERTICAL GRACE).
This horizontal grace is that which we offer others in the way that we speak to them and treat them.
Jn.1:14 says: And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of GRACE and TRUTH.
Jesus not only procured our salvation by becoming GRACE for us, His life was full of grace in word and deed.
Lk.4:22 notes, they were all speaking well of (Jesus),
and wondering at the GRACIOIUS WORDS which were falling from his lips.
In Col.4:6, Paul writes: Let you speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were,
with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.
This is surely one element in the arena of Christian discipleship whereby we all need to keep on growing.
In Eph.4:32 Paul gives another exhortation that relates to Horizontal Grace - -
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven you.
If you want to know if you are growing in grace, ask yourself, “How good am I at forgiving others?”.
Some passages are hard to understand (2Pet.3:16), as Peter observed regarding Paul’s eschatological teachings.
But some other passages are crystal clear - - nothing hard to understand about them at all.
Such as the tail end of Jesus’ model prayer (Mt.5:14-15) - - If you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
These words are not hard to understand, although we often find them a bit hard to implement and apply in our lives.
But practice these words we must!! This is part of growing in the grace of Jesus.
In 2Cor.8:7, Paul attaches grace to the act of giving (monetary gifts). He urges,
Just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness
and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also.
Intuitively we all seem to be able to recognize grace when we see it. True grace is a beautiful thing to behold.
Recently, I saw online a previously broadcast Veterans’ week episode of the game show, Wheel Of Fortune.
There were three veterans. A black service woman, Nura, who was trouncing two white male vets, Troy and Steve.
When the spinning began for a new word/phrase in the speed round, Nura started with a “Z” … then a pass …
a “Q” ... another pass … and then an “X”. She won the tournament handily, but she was gracious in throwing the
round so as to share the wealth with her fellow Vets. When Pat Sajak quizzed her afterward, she said with a hidden smile, “That’s just what I saw.” It was an unexpected but quite vivid picture of grace in action - - truly heart-warming.
Nura ended up winning the game with $14K, but Troy and Steve also took home some cash ($7K and $4K).
So as we go about our lives in the days, weeks and months ahead, let us intentionally
look for a multitude of ways in which might be gracious to others, both by our words and our deeds.
“Grace to you!” became a common greeting among the early disciples.
How wonderful it would be if we could bring about a revival of such a salutation. What a difference it could make.
Let us resolve that we are going to grow in our knowledge of Jesus, but also in the grace of Jesus.
In words similar to Peter’s, the apostle Paul exhorts Timothy (2Tim.2:1) - - Be strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ.
