Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

A young family had a child Friend went to the hospital. There was a beautiful little baby, coochie Coo. Sweet, lovely. And everyone was excited. And then three months passed. The friend went back to the house to find that the baby, in his observation, hadn’t changed much. It was still sweet, but there was little Coochie Coo, and there was a sense of not asking more questions. Six months pass, the friend returns. The baby is still the same way as it was on the day it was born. No further growth, no development. And now the friend hardly knows what to say. And as the year rolls by, others come and they ask, is there something wrong? Have you checked the formula? Until finally it’s obvious that something is wrong and that the child is not developing as it should.

Fortunately, in the physical world, that does not happen too often. But in the spiritual world, I’m afraid that it happens all too often to the extent that many who are born in Christ are not even aware of their deformity of spiritual stature. Joyful, joyful beyond from the word of God we invite you to stay tuned for the next half hour as we bring you a message from the word of God, brought to us by the Reverend Ken Smith, minister of the Princeton Presbyterian Church in historic Princeton, New Jersey. Once again, here’s Ken Smith as he continues his message from the word of God.

The apostle Peter wrote a very interesting book, several of them. Now we turn our attention to second Peter, chapter three, verses ten through 18. Most believe that it is in fact Simon Peter, who is the writer of this book. The situation was that the church had brought into it false teachings and false teachers who began to nourish the congregations with wrong teaching. Peter was very concerned about that, and so he wrote this letter. And one of the underlying themes of the book of Second Peter is the return of Jesus Christ. Apparently, that was a teaching that was not being heard often enough in these congregations. He goes through speaking about these false teachers and encouraging the Christians to live with anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ, the closing verse of the book.

But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, to him be the glory, both now and forever. Peter was very concerned about one word in the Christian life, that word growth. And everything underlying this book is an attempt to spur those Christians who seem deformed in their spiritual development to mature and not to mature in one area at the price of not maturing in another. He was calling for a well rounded growth in Christ. Now, the subject of growth is one that is found all through the scripture. We find that Jeremiah likened those who are righteous to being branches of righteousness, and he called us to grow up in that righteousness. In the book of Mark, we read that the seed, the gospel, when it is cast, that seed should grow up.

We read in the book of Ephesians, the word to all Christians, simply that we should grow up in Jesus Christ. And then we come to two Peter, that we should grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. And all through the New Testament we find very interesting pictures portraying the Christian. We are portrayed by Jesus as merchants, as bankers, as farmers, people who were interested not in the status quo, but in growth, in maturing, in seeing their investment prosper, in seeing their seed cast and bringing a great harvest. And the question for each one of us today, reflect on this. Are you deformed in your walk as a Christian, or are you growing in grace in the likeness of Jesus Christ? First, are you growing weary of being asked to do things to further the kingdom of Christ?

When someone comes to you and says, would you like to help in Sunday school, would you like to go and serve someone who is not able to be at the church, they are shut in. We need someone to watch over children, people to go in the name of Christ and to begin various ministries. Do you find yourself weary of those requests? Phinney says, be careful. That could be a sign that you are not growing in Christ. Secondly, do you infrequently talk about Christian things, especially things that you have experienced as a Christian this week, this month, this year? How many people have you talked to person, about things that you are experiencing in Jesus Christ as an encouragement for others to experience those things? If you say it’s been all too infrequent, Finney says, be cautious.

That could be a sign that you are not growing in grace. Third, are you spending less time in public and private acts of devotion? Is the world so rapidly moving by that you find where you were with the fellowship of the saints? You were there more often than the minister, and now your schedule has changed and you’re just not able to do it as much. Be careful. Be cautious. And what about those private acts of devotion, the time that you spend in your closet, quietly praying to the Lord, reading his word, those acts that no one knows about but you, are they becoming less frequent? Fourth, are you taking greater interest in public religious meetings than in private acts of piety?

Finney suggests that for those who are falling and growing away from Christ, they have a greater dependence on public meetings of the church than of private, individual time with the Lord. And they become to rely more and more on those public meetings and less on those private meetings with the Lord. Finally, are you cynical? Rather than excited when you hear that someone has become a Christian? Is your first response, well, let’s wait and see. I’ve seen them go through this before, and you have a cynicism. When someone says, I’ve trusted in Christ. Phinney suggests that is something to be very cautious about, that our excitement should be real, and that we should rejoice and do all to encourage those who are new in the faith rather than to approach them with our worldly understandings. But what about signs of growth?

How can you know if you are growing in faith? Well, in verse eleven of chapter three of two, Peter, we read this, therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Peter is saying to you and me that there is a world that seems so real, but do you live with the constant understanding that it is in the process dissolving? It’s in the process of passing away. And ultimately, there is a day coming when the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and he will end this physical world as we know it. Is that something that is high in your thinking? Is that something that helps you make decisions every day, realizing that Jesus Christ, in fact, is going to come and this world is going to dissolve?

I remember several months ago, Carol’s grandmother was in the hospital, 90 years old, saw eight out of eight daughters as Christian lived a very godly life. And then through one illness or another, her body was beaten away until came literally those last few days and hours of life. And went to the hospital to visit her. And there was Nana, unable to move with her familiar glasses at angle, laying in a bed, simply looking, no motion. And Carol took the scripture, and she read that portion from Corinthians that says, our body, this earthly tent, is passing away. It is literally dissolving before us. And she read that portion of scripture. Her grandmother’s eye opened the only good eye she had. And she looked, and there was a communication of, that’s true. Just look at me. I’m passing away almost before your eyes dissolving.

Do you have that sense of this world passing away? If you do, and that looms high in your thinking, then that is a good sign of growth and of understanding. The things of Christ. Secondly, we read in verse twelve looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God. Now, when he speaks about the day of God, he is talking about the return of Jesus Christ. And he says that you and I are to look forward to that with anticipation. Not only are we to look forward to it, but he says, secondly, that we are to do all that we can to bring it in quickly. McShane was a pastor in Scotland. He stood before his congregation and he asked the question, how many of you believe that Jesus Christ could come right now? Raise your hand? And no one raised their hand.

Then he said, this then can be the precise moment when he will return. Because we read in scripture, at the moment you least expect him, that’s when he’s going to come. Do you live with that momentary, immediate sense that Jesus could come right now? As unlikely as it may seem to you, if you do, that is an encouraging sign of growth as a Christian. Queen Victoria, coming out of a meeting at Winchester Cathedral, spoke to the chaplain, and she said, I look forward to the day when Jesus Christ is going to return. And the chaplain was taken back and he asked, why would you be so excited for that day to happen? She said, because I look forward to that day because on that day, I want to cast my crown at his feet.

Is that the way your labours are today, the things that you are working at, that you look forward to casting them at the feet of Jesus, that if he were to return right now, that would be the best news that you could hear. Verse 14 suggests another sign for us of growth in Christ, and that is therefore, beloved. Looking forward to these things, be diligent, to be found by him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And in verse 1011, we read that we ought to be a kind of person who ought to be in holy conduct and godliness. Peter is saying that you and I, as Christians, if we are growing in Christ, we should be aware of the moral impact of decisions that we make every single moment. That no decision that we make is incidental.

No decision is outside of what God wants us to do. Why? Because we are called to live a life that is holy and blameless in preparation for the day when Jesus will come. Is your life holy? Blameless? Are there people who you have sinned against that you should go to? Are there words that you have spoken in harshness, that you should go and say, please forgive me? Are there sins that still are right at the top of your mind, and they’re unresolved, unconfessed unforgiven, that ought not to be. As we are growing in Christ, we should put those sins as quickly as we can at the feet of Christ. And where appropriate, we should go to that brother or sister, we should ask for their forgiveness. Charles Spurgeon said that he lived his life like a man who is at the London railroad station.

Station he goes, and he’s bought his ticket. He’s all packed, everything is strapped in neat and tidy. He’s waiting, longing for the train to come in and take him out of London. George Whitefield said that he lived his life and went to bed every night with the belief that God might come. And if God were to come in Christ, Whitefield said he didn’t want so much as a pair of gloves out of place, meaning that he wanted to be right with God. He wanted to be right with his neighbor. He wanted to see that the moral decisions that he made at every moment made an impact on eternity. Do you live with that understanding? Fourthly, verse 16 ends rest on the word of the scripture that ultimately anything that is done that is not part of scripture will come back to haunt us.

And Peter faced people who were taking scripture and twisting it here and there, and the result was that the congregation became unstable. And he says that instead of that, we should simply rest on the scripture. But how can you rest on the scripture if you do not know the scripture? What would it be like if a woman had her husband at war, and you came and visited her and you asked, how’s your husband doing? Oh, he’s away at war. Do you love your husband? Oh, I love him so much. I miss him so much. And then you look up over the top of a table, and you see there a pile of letters. You say, what are those up there? And she says, oh, those are letters from my husband. Well, what do they say? I don’t know. I haven’t opened them.

You mean you haven’t read the letters from your husband who’s off on war? No. Well, why not? Don’t you love him? Sure I love him. You haven’t read his letters? Some of us as Christians talk about our love for God, our love for Christ, and we don’t realize that he has written us a love letter where he tells us about himself. He wants us to read this to know about him. And just like we would wonder about the love of a wife who never opened the letters of her husband, so we ought to wonder about the love of a person who says they love God but never read his letters. Are you reading God’s word. Are you studying it? Are you growing in your knowledge of the things of Christ? If you are, that’s a good sign of growth and trusting in Christ.

This portion of scripture ends with the word amen. Now, often we read that word and pass by it as a simple closing. But there are four uses for amen. One is the use of desire, where we hear something from scripture, Jesus Christ is going to return, and we say, amen, meaning, let it be. Let it happen. That’s my desire. That’s the wish of my heart. Amen. There is another use of the word amen, and that is, as a word of affirmation. What you have just heard, you agree with as truth. And so we recite the words of the apostles creed, and it ends, amen. And we mean by that we affirm that we believe that was truth. Amen.

Another use of the word amen is the amen of joy, where we hear, for example, that there will be a day when you and I will be at the right hand of God. And we say amen out of joy and anticipation for that. But I think that none of those are the amen in which Peter closes his words to us of growing in grace. For the last use of amen is an amen of resolution. That the things that you have just heard, that it is important for you to be encouraged when you hear that someone is new in Christ, that you read God’s word, that you be part of the fellowship of God’s church, that you look forward to the coming of Jesus Christ. That when you make your moral decisions every day, that you take into account Jesus Christ.

And Peter ends this portion of scripture by saying amen. What does he mean by that? By all of the strength that is in me, with all of the strength of a sovereign God who watches over my heart and controls my life, the things that I have heard, that I will grow in grace through Jesus Christ. I resolve, I proclaim, I affirm, and I will do amen.

Thank you, Ken, for helping us realize what a tragedy it is in God’s sight if we don’t grow spiritually. And it’s encouraging to know that God’s even more anxious for us to grow in grace than we are ourselves. If you’d like information on how to secure a cassette copy of this broadcast, just write to us at this address from the word of God, box 3003, Princeton, New Jersey 08540. You can also reach Ken Smith by telephone, if you’d like. Jot down this number, area code 609-92-1020 that’s 60992 110 20. We’d also be happy to have you visit the Princeton Presbyterian Church. We meet each Sunday in the John Witherspoon Middle School on Walnut Lane, just out from the center square in Princeton, New Jersey. Sunday school’s at 930 and the morning worship service is at 11. May I make another suggestion?

Would you be willing to call this station and thank them for carrying from the word of God time now to bid you goodbye? Do pray for us and write. Or call soon for Pastor Ken Smith and all the Princeton Presbyterian Church family. This is your announcer, Joe Springer, bidding you goodbye and trusting you’ll join us again next week, same time and station, when we come to you again from the word of God.

Thank you for listening to affirm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listeners. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. That’s Princeton Ministries Post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. The Lord bless you and Doctor Smith looks forward to hearing from you.