A Child of God's Rewards

I have really enjoyed being with you this week that's been great joy to preach have felt great freedom in preaching and diet. It takes and under most circumstances, it takes a sympathetic receptive audience for preacher to really preach well.

So as I have looked out of the congregation seen you paying such attention is been an encouragement to me and also thank you for coming so faithfully. Thank you for listening so well and a great blessing to me and I have Carol and I have enjoyed the week it's been very relaxing.

We love dusting of the mission house. Thank you for providing that ministry delightful and also thank you to all of you who have fed us and are yet to do so.

Thank you. We've we've enjoyed the meals have enjoyed getting to know you have enjoyed getting to know your pastors and their wives.

You have a delightful, conscientious staff very friendly, very impressive.

I believe that their God honoring men and their wives are God honoring women and it has been a source of encouragement for us to be among you this week. Thank you for asking us.

Please open your Bibles to the book of second Peter chapter 1. I need to say a little preliminary here because there is a danger that someone could possibly criticize this sermon and say there's very little information in here on how to get say and I suppose that's going to be true, but I I think that we have made a mistake in identifying four or five facts about Jesus work on behalf of sinners and saying that alone is the gospel. I know there's a summary of of the gospel that includes those four or five facts, but what I'm talking about the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and his ascension into heaven, and I am in no wise minimizing the centrality of those truths. I just think that the gospel is a broader concept than that I think that the gospel is the fact that Christ has done everything that is necessary to reconcile sinners to God and now everyone who repents of sin and receives Christ will be transformed by him redeemed from their sin and made fit to live in heaven, and if that last part of the gospel that is especially contained in the passage that is my text tonight being made fit to live in heaven without holiness no one will see the Lord and I believe that the kind of holy pursuit. The kind of holy life that is described in this text has the potential to be a powerful tool of evangelism site. This is the sort of thing that is expected of you and if you look if you look fully at what the Lord expects of you. What the Lord expects of me and we were going to have to admit that we cannot fulfill that perfectly and that we must have a Savior who will fulfill the law for us.

But as I said last night, the doctrine of justification is not a legitimate excuse for being lazy.

The doctrine of justification by faith does teach us that when we are justified. It is because we have had faith that faith is united to a Savior who suffers on our behalf and who imputes his righteousness to us that we would never have had faith if it were not for the regenerating power of God that God gives us the new birth and enables us to believe in him, so the the new birth brings about a response of faith and love that faith is a transformative virtue, and it is the foundation of the eight virtues that are mentioned in the text that the pastor just read and that I spent the entire evening on last night so there eight virtues, but they all rest on faith. You're not going to really have evangelical virtue, not really going to have gospel knowledge.

Unless it is founded first of all on faith believing what God has said, especially because God has said it, especially when that's the only reason that you have for believing it is because God has said so faith is fundamental to everything that I said last night's fundamental everything that I say tonight so in this passage of Scripture. There are there are two conditions that are mentioned and then there are three rewards that are mentioned and so we will just divide our time between those things this way will look at this text.

There are two conditions that are mentioned they are both phrases that begin with the word if if this is true, then these things will be true. I want to be happy. You want to be happy. I don't draw the fine distinction between happiness and joy that many people do.

The way that some people end up describing joy.

It is it it seems to be something like a perseverance without being happy about, or the confidence that everything is going to turn out right.

Even though I'm deeply miserable right now and those are those are that that's a valuable perseverance is valuable. Constancy is valuable I just don't think that that's what joy is. I think that joy carries with it an idea of emotional exuberance that there is a happiness ace a sense that I am delighted about God's overall plan.

And while I'm not supposed to plaster a sappy smile on my face when someone in my family dies and say well I'm happy about this, that, yet the, the usual state of a healthy Christian is one where there is emotional exuberance about the overall way that things are going and so I want to be happy. Everybody wants to be happy. You want to be happy. The person who cuts his throat wants to be happy. The person who hangs himself wants to be happy there under the delusion that they will be happier if they in their life in this world but they do it because they want to be happy.

God has constituted us so that we want to have an and a delighted sense that all is well and that it is going to continue to be well. I want to be happy now I want to be happy in eternity and God has revealed the way that we can be happy and that is that we should turn away from ideas, ways of thinking ways of behavior that are ultimately contrary to our long-term happiness effort put this way when God says thou shalt not, he is saying don't hurt yourself. And when God says thou shalt he is saying. Help yourself to happiness. And so in in this passage of Scripture. But I think throughout the Bible God is saying here is a way that you're going to make herself desperately unhappy now and forever.

And here is a way that you can make yourself incredibly happy now and forever. So what do you really want out of life. I've answer the question for you.

I know that it's true. You want to be happy. I want to be happy. But then our answers may vary a bit when I ask you what is it that will make you happy.

Walked what is it in life that may while you are on your deathbed in your last day conscious of the fact that within 24 hours you will enter eternity. What is it about your life that you look back on and it will make you smile and say, by God's grace unhappy about the way I live my life. What are it's worth thinking about. And probably you don't have time to work it all out right now but I'll tell you some of the things that I think contribute to my happiness right now and that will make me smile when it's time to die. One thing is that I can't overemphasize how this is at the top of the list. I don't want to go to hell and I do want to go to heaven and I hope that I am am spiritual enough that my desire to go to heaven is stronger than my desire to avoid hell, but honestly I'm not quite sure it's been a long time since I have really dreaded hail because I've had assurance of my salvation, but if you if if you're in the state where you're not right with God. I don't think it's terribly unspiritual of you to dread hail far more than you anticipate heaven your taste for the things that make heaven delightful has not yet been implanted in you but when you're converted and you're given a taste for the delights that await in heaven right now.

If you are not converted, you should really be afraid of going to hell. One of the books that I have taught through the years is Dante's Divine comedy of the Divine comedy has three sections to it. There's a section that is devoted to an exploration of hell it's called the Inferno and then there is the para DCO which explores explores purgatory. Dante was a Roman Catholic. If you never had the Bible purgatory would be just an extraordinarily good idea, but since we have the Bible, then we know that purgatory is not true. And then the third section of the book is exploring. I said the middle section of the book was para DCO but it's actually the third section, a book that is paradise.

The middle section is purgatory and most people only read most people don't read it.

But if if you do read it all.

You're probably assigned the Inferno, that's a little bit like going to New York City and touring the whole city on the subway and not seeing anything but the subway their great beauties in the purgatory and beauties also in in paradise but that not like like many people, when I taught when I taught the Divine comedy. I never had time to read to have the students read the whole thing and so we just read the Inferno, and in one of one of the discussions questions that would come up when I was teaching the Inferno was is the fear of hell. A legitimate legitimate motivation for embracing the gospel and fleeing to Christ. Not a lot of the students like some of us surely came out of ministries where perhaps that was overemphasized and that there was just a constant threat of going to hell and that perhaps receive more emphasis than it receives in the Bible and so some of the students would respond and say no that's not a legitimate motivation for wanting to turn away from your sin and receive the Lord Jesus Christ. And then I would perform a little experiment with the class. If there were 27 people in the class than I would say a lot less find in our Bibles, the book of Matthew and I want you to take Matthew one. I want you to take Matthew to and so on until all the chapters of Matthew had been assigned and then I would say I want you to read your chapter and Matthew and when you come to a reference to eternal torment. Whether it's hell or the places where the fire where the fire is not quenched in where the worm does not die if you come to a reference to hell you tell me I'm going to write down on the board and so we would go through that and I would write it down and if you ever do that and you will find what the students discovered that there are more references to hell in the book of Matthew. Then there are chapters Jesus talk way more about hell than he did about heaven and so is it is a legitimate motivation is the fear of hell.

The legitimate motivation for changing your life turning away from your sin and embracing Jesus Christ, you better believe it is, yes it it's not the only motivation but yes it is a legitimate motivation flee from the wrath to come.

The terrible part of the death Berg that I preached about on Sunday morning. Is this eternal city eternal being under the wrath of God, and you should be terrified at the prospect of going to hell if you're not right with Jesus Christ and so boy at the top of my list is. I'm glad that I'm not going to hell, and I'm glad that I'm going to heaven and are looking forward to being there.

So that's one of the things that makes me happy now, and will make me happy forever. And then something else is that I don't I don't want my life on earth to be a waste want my life to have meaning I want to bear fruit.

I wanted to have influence for the glory of God and then really this is kind of the flipside of that, I don't want to bring disgrace on the Lord.

I don't want to be one of those preachers.

The people say wow can you believe that Orrick did that. Can you believe that he ran off with that money ran off with that woman was involved in that shady deal wrecked his ministry. I don't want that to happen, so I don't know what's on your list, but those are three things that I really want to be true of my life and I think that those three things are going to make me happy and those are three rewards that are promised in this text you want your life to matter what your life to be effective. You want your life to be fruitful and pay attention to what this text says do you want to live your life in such a way that you are never guilty of a witness destroying scandal. You never stumble so as to fall and bring disgrace on the name of the Lord.

Pay attention to this text. Do you want to have the confidence that you are going to be ready to live in heaven and you're going there patent did this text let's first of all, look at the two if clauses that are in the text and it says in verse 84 if these qualities are yours and are increasing which qualities okay let's back up to verse five here. Here are eight qualities that are mentioned for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness and steadfastness with godliness, godliness, brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love.

So these are the qualities and he says if these qualities are yours and are increasing, and then there follows the first promise that keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's just take a moment to think about this. This first of two conditions and it is if these qualities are yours and are increasing.

I believe that this is chapter here in first Peter gives us a nice summary, not an exhaustive summary but a summary of character qualities that are present in every believer. They may not be very well developed. That's why you need to be diligent about this. That's why you need to make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and so on through the list, but I believe that everyone who has been born again has been given a nature that at least has the seeds of these character qualities present.

I believe that it's not that one Christian has faith and then another Christian has virtue and then there's someone else who has knowledge. There many ways that we have different gifts. But I don't believe that this is a list of gifting's that only certain Christians are to have certain one of these, but all of these characteristics are to be manifested in everyone who is been born again and so this is a it's an opportunity for us to examine ourselves in light of these things do I have faith in my pursuing after virtue, do I have knowledge do I have self-control is, is it are the seeds of at least there do I have steadfastness the seeds.

At least there I think that what I'm saying about this list is also true of a couple of other descriptions of Christian character that we have in the Bible like the Beatitudes. I don't think that the Beatitudes describe here is a person who is poor in spirit, but he may not be mournful or he may not be meek. I think that the Beatitudes are description of Christian character that everyone who is in the kingdom of God is poor in spirit. Everyone who is in the kingdom of God is mournful and has been comforted. Everyone who is in the kingdom of God is meek and is inheriting the earth, and so on through the Beatitudes. I think that the same thing can be said for the fruits of the spirit that are described in Galatians chapter 5 the fruits of the spirit of these love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. I know people who are famous Christians and I'm not there job that I don't see any of those characteristics born in their lives. Sometimes I look at the laws and think they don't love anybody except someone who's going to give them some kind of advancement joy.

Are you crazy, most angry person I've ever known, doesn't have joy, peace is always agitated about something and to go through the list will there would be a dangerous thing.

If I just said what about that guy over there to see.

Have these fruit.

What I'm really supposed to be doing is looking at my own life I have love do I have joy drive peace. My patient are the seeds. At least there your character is a garden that must be cultivated. It's not one of those kind of plants that you just throw the seed out on the ground and then go back later and lo and behold, there is a crop there. Your character that God has given you as his child is a character that must be cultivated and that's what this passage of Scripture is encouraging us to do this if these qualities are yours and are increasing, and so I have said that I believe every Christian has at least the seeds of these character qualities implanted in his in his nature, they are not always increasing in everyone. And I think that these blessings that are promised are conditioned on. Are they increasing so this is an ongoing project were never able to just fold her hands and say will certainly that's enough knowledge. I don't need anymore after that or I've got this self-control thing down.

I don't need any more self-control. I would say that saying something like that is probably a pretty good recipe to get yourself some very trying circumstances to show you that you're not as patient as you think you are. And the Lord, the Lord has gentle ways of dealing with us but he has alternative methods as well.

There is a song that says Psalm 32. I will guide you with my if you grew up with parents who guided you then there were probably times when your mother or your dad gave you that look in church that said if you don't stop that you're going to get it when you get home and we just that look and if you didn't pay attention then then things would things will become more severe. But it started with a look. Pay attention to my I the Lord says I will guide you with my eye.

But then he says this. Do not be like the horse are like the mule, which have no understanding but which must be guided with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. So the Lord says I I have a preferred method of dealing with.

I will guide you with my eye but if you don't pay attention, then I'll put something in your mouth that will make you obey. That's, of course, the way a bit works you're able to control that 1500 pound horse because you have something in his mouth that hurts him if he tries to put his head the way that you don't want to go several years ago that my two youngest daughters. The now 18 and 21 and I think they were about three and a six when this happened. They shared a bedroom and grace and the old one came in into my room crying saying that Naomi had hurt her and Naomi came in crying because she was afraid that she was going to get a spanking and I and they were both delirious and I just not just settle down to settle down, show me what happened and I wasn't expecting what came next. Naomi, the three-year-old said, well, we were just wrestling in and she reached her hand around grace and face and put a fishhook in the side of her mouth. I did this to her gray since it is a little too much information. Not really. You know I was kind of proud of the girl for doing such a great great wrestling move illegal. Of course, but you get control of persons head if you get that in the corner Matthew you guide them or you want and that's the principle of abetting the bridle and the Lord says don't do that I can put a bid in your mouth if you want to but want to pay attention to my kindness, as it says in Romans chapter 2. You show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath against yourself.

So the wrath is coming because you showed contempt for the kindness. These these qualities can be cultivated in the quiet pursuits of your heart as you watch the Lords and respond to his kindness, or they can be cultivated with the paddle of his corrective discipline upon you, but he is not going to leave you alone. If you're his child, and so pay attention to. This condition, if these qualities are yours and are increasing then there follows this blessing, but let's look at the second condition is very similar. A little further down in the text it says in verse 10.

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.

So last night we had the phrase make every effort now we see tonight that these qualities are to be increasing and that we are to be all the more diligent pay attention to this.

You got to watch it, how shall we escape, if we neglect such a great salvation. Be careful that you don't just let a happy life drift away from you because you're too lazy to pay attention to them to make every effort and to be diligent so those are the two qualifications.

The if clause is now what are the three rewards that are mentioned. Look again at verse eight. Four of these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Seems to me like it has the possibility that you can be a Christian you can know the Lord Jesus Christ in your life is not as effective or not as fruitful as it ought to be thought that if these qualities are present in you, and they are increasing. You will be effective and you will bear fruit is very similar to what Jesus says in John chapter 15 if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will bear much fruit, that this is a this is a great promise. This is a great comfort because sometimes we look at our lives and we sat on.

I'm not exactly sure that I'm doing anything. Some of your most powerful fruit and probably some of your most powerful effect.

You may never know about. And much of the time you're most influential influence is unconscious. It's just the influence that you exude because of who you are. My favorite little poems captures this so beautifully when someone is expressing her appreciation for a mentor who has helped her so much but she expresses the truth like this, not only in the words you say not only in your deeds confessed, but in the most unconscious way is Christ expressed is it a beatific smile or holy light upon your brow will know I felt his presence. When you laughed just now to meet was not the truth. You taught to you so clear to me so damn. But when you came to me, you brought a sense of him and from your eyes.

He beckons me and from your lips's love is shed till I lose sight of you and see the Christ. Instead you are reading people. I know that some of you have read the sermons of CH Spurgeon and you also have read a biography of Spurgeon to see how powerful and influential that sermon was when he preached it and honestly, you rarely feel it when you read Spurgeon now so much truth. It's great. I've read a lot of CH Spurgeon and love CH Spurgeon is been my hero since I was a boy, but I realize that when I read those sermons of CH Spurgeon.

I'm not feeling things the same way that I would if I were in the congregation. Hearing Spurgeon. There is something powerful about the word of God coming from a holy person doesn't have to be a preacher but if he is a preacher. Then if you don't think he is a holy preacher, then his words fall with no effect. But if you think this is a person who walks with God. This is a man who walks with God is English may not be that great exegesis may not be perfect, but somehow it comes with power. I can say the same thing about the what I said about Spurgeon was true about George Whitfield so you read the sermons of George Whitfield you you're not melted to tears, but thousands of people would be melted to tears as they listen to George Whitfield preach George Herbert is my favorite poet and and he has a poem that talks about this is called the Windows and he he starts off expressing his admiration. Lord, how can man preach thy eternal word, he that is man is a brittle crazy glass, yet in thy temple about us timber for this glorious and transcendent place to be a window through thy grace and he begins to answer his question.

But when thou dost anneal in glass thy story annealing is the process of putting color and glasses.

The process of making a stained-glass window but when thou dost anneal in glass thy story making thy life to shine within the holy preacher's. Then the light becomes more reverent and more winsome equivocal poem to the point of the poem is the word of God actually is enhanced when it is mediated through a holy person and that's true not just for preachers. That's true for all of you who are not preachers because when these qualities are yours and are increasing, there is a power that that God utilizes because it is a likeness to his own nature that is being stamped on you.

And so when these qualities are yours and are increasing, and you will not be unfruitful or ineffective in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, you may not always be aware of it. You may not may not always hear reports of it God's word is true if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ was going to this text and see what else is promised to those who who meet these conditions, says in verse nine.

Four. Whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. The imprinting of God's nature on you, helps you to remember some very important things. It helps you to see the big picture so that you're able to look back and remember with effect. The fact that you were cleansed from your sins, and then that has power on you right now. I was cleansed, the Lord changed me. Now I'm not living like it. I am just so caught up in what is around me and so obsessed with what is around me that I become like a nearsighted or shortsighted person who can only sing see things clearly that are close now for a while I was nearsighted I could Lasix surgery on my eyes, but some of you are nearsighted and you know what that is. You can read a book you can see was near what's close to your face but then when you look up everything is blurry.

That's a bad thing.

When that happens spiritually that you you get so caught up in the things that are around you that you failed to see the big picture. The overall trajectory of things and so for one thing you cannot see that you were cleansed from your sins, and that will cause you to be unhappy because you're not really sure that you are a believer not believe in the preservation. I believe in the perseverance of the saints. I believe that once a person is truly born again he he will never again be lost. But I believe that there are great many people who are deceived about whether or not they are born again and that being born again makes a change in your character you have been cleansed and those of us who know the sovereignty of God are sometimes pestered with questions that do not have to deal with who don't believe the sovereignty of God, so we might ask MI elect, because we know enough about Dr. know that if I am elect. I am up I will eventually be in heaven.

So, MI elect, we might ask and when when we are not having the character of Christ formed in us. That's a legitimate question. You're not supposed to let the doctrine of eternal security make you complacent and a lazy sinful life.

If you're living a lazy sinful life.

The indications right now are that you have never been born again. Nobody lives a perfect life.

We all have to cope with sin and a F at elements of sinfulness that remain in us, but the overall bent of your life is changed, the day that you become a born-again follower of Jesus Christ. And so when these qualities are are not intended in your life when they are not obviously present when they are not increasing then you are troubled with wondering. Have I really been cleansed from my sin, MI elect, so be diligent to make your calling and election sure and that's the way that it should go. The fact of the matter is you and I cannot look back into the Council halls of eternity and hear the discussion among the Trinity when they establish the covenant of grace to save certain persons called the elect and provide all the means for their salvation.

We are not privy to that conversation but here's what God has said everyone that I lacked alcohol and we can look at that because that's something that happens in time effectual calling is the work of God spirit whereby convincing us of our sin and misery and lightning our minds in the knowledge of Christ and renewing our wills. He persuades and enables us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel and so you look then say well have have I been convinced of my sin and misery apart from God or do I still relish the idea of living a sinful life.

Do I still call up those sins that I allegedly have repented of and kind of rolled him around under my tongue and enjoy them again. Have I been convinced of my sin and misery have as my mind been enlightened in the knowledge of Christ, so that I see him to be a suitable Savior and willing to submit myself to him as a prophet and priest and king.

Am I willing to take him on the terms that he is offered to us in the gospel. If you have been called, then you may be sure that you were elected you. You make your calling and your election sure, but it's connected to the thriving and prosperity of the divine nature in as I've said before in this conference. The greatest evidence that you're going to heaven is that even now your character is being formed so that you will enjoy living there, and so if you if these qualities are not yours.

Then you will be ineffective. You will be unfruitful and you will be confused about your Europe present spiritual state.

You will have be so nearsighted that you're caught up in what is going on right now and you will forget that you've been cleansed from your sins, you cannot make your calling and your election sure because the evidences of calling are not present in your life and so that's the first benefit.

Let's look at the second and third benefit which will not take so much time so remember in verse 10 we have this condition repeated. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

Now this does not mean that you will never mess up doesn't mean that you will attain perfection, but it does mean that you will not fall disastrously. It does not mean that you will stumble so as to stumble beyond recovery and if you just can't think through this there was there was a day when that man who fell into sin with a woman made a very slight decision that he was going to cast his lure in that direction and see if he got a bite.

What if that morning.

He had prayed through these qualities and said, Lord, thank you for giving me faith.

I want to supplement my faith with excellence of character, to pursue after virtue.

Help me to grow in the knowledge and wisdom with you is not just playing around saying words.

He's really having fellowship with God.

God today give me self-control. Help me to be steadfast and true to the calling that you put on my life and what if having that kind of fellowship with God. Then he sees that pretty little thing that pretty little thing that is going to cause disaster in his life. Sometimes just rinse in grief over the story of David and Bathsheba man. He does love David from the first time you see him going out there to beat up on Goliath. All you gotta love David and then one thing after another.

David is just such a wonderful man. No wonder God said he is a man after his own heart and that they sees Bathsheba on the roof and he sends to inquire comes back she's married wife of Uriah the Hittite right thin if David had said will God bless Uriah that pretty wife. What we having for lunch. How different the rest of his life would've been, but instead he said send for and you can just hear the cracks in that building start to start to fall. Please don't say that I read the Bible through, you know, year after year and I get to that is like a homeland.

I just wish he wouldn't say Cindy for her at that terrible story is therefore a variety of reasons, but one reason is when your day comes. May you have these qualities in you and increasing so that you say yes. She's pretty little thing.

May God bless her husband was for lunch. Let's go on this.

Think about something else.

If these qualities are yours and are increasing if if you practice these things you'll never fall, and then the third promise that is made here is that if for in this way that is in the way of practicing these qualities being diligent to see that there in your life. In this way there will be richly provided for you and entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I don't think this means that you're going to have a bigger parade when you get to heaven or that you're going to get to ride in a nicer convertible. That's what it means that you would richly provided. I think that it means that even now you are going to have a character that is going to make you more richly happy when you get to heaven I don't believe that everyone will miss them is to start that again. I don't believe that anyone is going to be unhappy in heaven but I don't believe that everyone is going to be equally happy in heaven. I do believe that there are going to be rewards and that the there going to be rewards for the works that have been done on earth and for the cultivation of character that has been done on earth, and that there are some people who are going to be more prepared to live happily in heaven right away and I thought I suppose I I just have to imagine that everyone is going to have opportunity to become increasingly more and more happy as they live in heaven but there are some people who cultivate it is not just a few super Christians. It can be all of you Christians in this room that if you are cultivating this kind of character than you are going to arrive at heaven and half. This is better than I ever dreamed. And I'm so happy to be here. I have as I was thinking about an illustration for this. I thought about my own experience among you this week. I've never met.

Most of you before, but when we when we get together then there's already so much that we have in common that there is just a comfort and joy and that we get along well and of course they're going to be this and that that we disagree on.

But for the most part, our characters are ready to mesh before we ever met and I think that's what is being explained here you're you're going to have a character that is really going to be a a rich entrance into heaven, into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I think that people who have this character implanted in them have already entered into the kingdom of God that the kingdom of God is now and so I think the Col. kingdom of God here is referring to what's going to happen in heaven. I'm reminded of a proverb. It's not in the Bible but is one of my favorites strengthened me and helped me a lot through life.

It says the stone that is fit for the wall will not be left to lie in the did stone that is fit for the wall will not be left to lie in the ditch it say it's a proverb that relies upon some knowledge of building a wall. Maybe you've done something like that you had all these stones scattered about and and here is a place in the wall that you need just exactly a rock that is square, but a little bit deeper on one side than the other and so you look at your rocks you have and there is the perfect one, and you get that perfect one put it right there in the wall. Will God.

In this illustration is the Great Wall builder and he is building his church on earth and he is building his family in heaven and this chapter tells us about ways that we can ready ourselves and chisel ourselves and in our various circumstance, cultivate faith and virtue and and so on through all the qualities that are mentioned are we can cultivate those things in my rock doesn't look exactly like your rock. But thank God because there's a place in the wall for your rock. There is a place in the wall where I'm going to fit and that this passage teaches us that the stone that is fit for the wall is not going to be left to line the ditch of these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and so be diligent to cultivate these character qualities for if you practice these qualities you will never fall, and there will be richly provided for you and entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ