In his sermon, Jason Dohm discusses the key themes from 2 Peter 3:17-18, emphasizing the need for believers to 'beware' and 'grow.' He warns of false teachers who twist the scriptures and lead believers away from their steadfast faith, emphasizing the importance of vigilance and discernment. Dohm highlights the fragile nature of steadfastness and the ease with which believers can fall into turmoil through carelessness. He stresses the importance of growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ as an antidote to false teachings, explaining that spiritual growth is essential to maintaining a firm foundation in faith. The sermon also touches on the significance of inspecting the lives and doctrines of teachers, highlighting how true pastors and teachers are gifts to the church to guard against deception. Dohm encourages believers to continually strive for spiritual growth, emphasizing that there is always more to learn and experience in the grace and knowledge of Christ, and concludes with a doxology praising Jesus for His atoning work.

In preparation for this morning's sermon text we're going to read verses 14 through 18. Therefore beloved, look looking forward to these things be diligent to be found by him in peace without spot and blameless and consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation as also our beloved brother Paul according to the wisdom given to him has written to you as also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to understand which untold and unstable people twist to their own destruction as they do also the rest of the scriptures. You therefore beloved since you know this beforehand beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

So a couple of quick points before the sermon. The first is, I am sad to be leaving the Peters, 1st and 2nd Peter, but I spent all week in Ezra and that's helping me get over it really fast. Unless I really fumble the ball, our time in Ezra and Nehemiah are going to be so helpful. The content is wonderful. So anyway, I want to stir up your anticipation for Ezra and Nehemiah, because they're just breathtaking.

They are breathtaking. And we'll be beginning Ezra next week with a public reading of all ten chapters of Ezra. And then I'll give a brief introduction, and then we'll really start the exposition the week after that. So a large part of next week is just going to be reading ten chapters of scripture to lay it out before us, before we start preaching through it bit by bit. The second thing to say is, happy birthday to you.

It's three years of being Sovereign Redeemer Community Church. The Lord has been very faithful to us. I don't think we knew what we were getting into, and what would happen in the three years, but they've been a blessing to me, and I hope they've been a blessing to you as well. We started with a hope to be a light in the little community where the Lord has planted us. And last year, this little church conducted probably 125 outreaches.

125 outreaches every Tuesday night in the nursing home, every Saturday morning at the abortion clinic, and half the time, three months on, three months off at Griffin's equals about 125. May the Lord use this. May the Lord make us a powerful light where He's planted us. So, on to the sermon. The last two verses of 2 Peter, chapter 3, verses 17 and 18.

The title of the sermon comes right out of the text, Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. Of our Lord. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes Lord, you know that I love you.

He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, yes Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?

Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. And so Peter did.

And so Peter does. Peter is still feeding the Lord's sheep, even almost 2000 years after his death. We're still feeding on the things that Jesus gave to Peter to pass along to his people. Peter loved the Lord Jesus, so he loved the Lord Jesus' sheep. And We've been hearing Peter say again and again and again and again, beloved.

So he fed them, he fed the Lord's lambs, and he tended his sheep, and he fed his sheep. He's still feeding his sheep. We're here. We've been through 1 Peter now, we've been through 2 Peter, now this is the end, and honestly Having spent time in these two letters, I'm feeling well fed. I think we've been well fed by the Lord in coming to these letters.

Here in the last two verses, Peter gives us a summary of all of 2 Peter. The summary is in the two imperatives. Imperatives are commands. They're telling you what to do. So in these last two verses, Peter is telling us what to do for the final time.

And here are the two imperatives. Beware and grow. So sermon outlines don't get any simpler than that. Two points. Two imperatives.

Two commandments. Beware and grow. And that's pretty much what's here. And that's pretty much what Peter has been saying for all three chapters of 2 Peter. As we go to the text, let's pray.

God our Father, it has been such a pleasure to sit at the feet of Your servant, Your bond servant, and Apostle, Simon Peter. And Apostle, Simon Peter. Thank you for giving him these truths, for him to pass along, for the feeding and tending of a people that desperately needs your words. Thank you for your words, O Lord. Now as we bask in them, as we soak in them one last time, we give you thanks for the words of 1 and 2 Peter.

Use them mightily in our lives, Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen. Verse 17, beware! Peter calls us, beloved, one final time. It's a word that he's used five times just in chapter 3. Beloved, beloved, beloved, beloved, beloved.

One of those was pointed at Paul, the rest of them at us. And so Peter is expressing love for the Lord's people. And how is he doing it in verse 17? By giving us a warning. By giving us a very stern warning.

And he's calling attention to something that he says, now you know beforehand. He's been reminding us, he's been stirring up our pure minds, those who have alike precious faith in Christ. And so he's saying, I told you this, so now you know it beforehand. And it is that there are those who twist the Scriptures to their own destruction. But they want to pull you off of your solid foundation.

The solid foundation of truth. There you are, a believer, Someone who has a like precious faith with Peter, standing on a solid foundation of truth, and there are those who are pulling you off of that steadfast solid foundation of truth. How are they doing that? They are twisting the Scriptures. It's to their own destruction, but they have an aim in mind.

And it's to pull you away from Christ. They are bringing damnable heresies, destructive teachings that will cost you your soul if you cling to those teachings. Remember in chapter 2 verse 1 when Peter starts talking to us about false teachers, Peter says in 2 verse 1, there will be false teachers among you. Peter makes a promise. This isn't one of those exceedingly great and precious promises from chapter 1.

This is another promise that there will be false teachers. There will be wordsmiths who know how to arrange words just right to sound convincing, to sound compelling. But they're not bringing words of truth. They are bringing destructive heresies. So Peter says, beware.

Be on the lookout. Be on guard. Be discerning. Beware. Because he's told us beforehand what will happen.

There will be false teachers among you. Peter has given us a promise. And he warns us about what is going to happen to you if You don't beware. So if you refuse to be on guard, if you refuse to be on the lookout, if you refuse to be discerning, something is going to happen to you. Peter says exactly what that is.

You will fall from your steadfastness. We tend to not think about how fragile steadfastness is. Peter is telling us it is a fragile thing. It is a short hop from steadfastness to turmoil and double mindedness. All that it takes To go from steadfastness to turmoil and double-mindedness is a little carelessness.

That is all that is required. There is A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. A little carelessness over your soul. And you can go from steadfastness, standing solidly on the truth, to turmoil and double mindedness. You can be pulled away from the solid foundation of truth just by being careless.

Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Ephesians chapter 4. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Where I'm going to be reading in Ephesians chapter 4 begins with a really familiar passage about the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. We often just saw it off right there, but if you finish the thought, Paul in Ephesians chapter 4 brings us exactly where Peter brings us here in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 17. I want you to see this.

Ephesians chapter 4 beginning in 11 and reading through 16. Ephesians 4, 11. And He Himself, so the He Himself here is Jesus Christ. And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.

But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." I don't know how many sentences that was. It's not very many sentences. It means it's hard to follow because it's a long extended thought. What Paul is teaching here in Ephesians 4 is that true pastors and true teachers are given as a gift in the church to keep the church from false pastors and false teachers. Did you get that?

It starts out that Jesus himself gives certain people to the church as a gift to the church. Part of that is pastors and teachers, true pastors and teachers. He gives that as a gift to keep the people of God from those who would twist the Scriptures to pull us away from our steadfastness, from the solid foundation of truth. Did you read verse 14 again, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. That's exactly what Peter's been talking about for Chapter and a half.

Men who come in cunning craftiness, who come by trickery, who engage in deceitful plotting. So Paul is teaching that pastors and teachers, true pastors, true teachers, are given to help us grow, not to be children anymore so that we wouldn't be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. So back to 2 Peter. How do we beware? I think that's a question we should be asking of this text.

How do we beware? It's an imperative, it's a commandment. So the presumption is we should obviously do something. How do you beware? Here's how, according to Peter.

You carefully inspect the life and the doctrine of your teachers. This is how you beware. This is how you're on the lookout. This is how you are on guard. This is how you are discerning.

You carefully inspect the life and the doctrine of your teachers. All of them. Peter says, being led away with the error of the wicked. There you have it. Error, doctrine of the wicked life.

These are the two dangers of false teachers. A life that will bring pollution into your life. Doctrine that will bring pollution into your doctrine. These are the dangers of a false teacher. They have a life that will work like leaven and spread to you.

They have doctrine that will work like leaven and spread to you. So You are to inspect the life of your teacher. Inspect the lives of your teachers. All of them. Carefully inspect the lives of all your teachers.

Instead of The wicked in New King James, the ESV renders it lawless people. Both are good renderings. The actual Greek is literally One who breaks through the restraint of law and gratifies his lusts. As you are inspecting the lives of your teachers, all of them, that's what you are looking for. One who breaks through the restraints of law and gratifies his lusts.

As soon as you see one of your teachers who has that pattern of life, you reject him as a false teacher. One who breaks through law to gratify his lusts. Here is what Jesus says in Matthew 7 verses 15 and 16. Matthew 7 verses 15 and 16, Jesus says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. But inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will know them by what? By their fruits. That's how you know them. Looks like a sheep. This is the danger of false teachers.

They're concealed. They look like a sheep, but inwardly they're ravenous wolves and they want to eat you. How do you know them by their fruits? By the careful inspection of their lives. If you ignore the fruits of your teachers that would identify them as false teachers, you're asking to be eaten.

Do you get that? You're asking for it. You're asking to be devoured. If you ignore the fruits in the life of your teacher upon inspection, it would identify him or her as a false teacher. So we are all to carefully inspect the lives of all of our teachers, without exception.

We are carefully to inspect the doctrine of all of our teachers. So we land back in Acts 17 with the Bereans. That's how you do it. You take what they're teaching and you take your Bible and you compare. If they match, you're on to something.

If they don't match, you reject them and move on to someone who's sound. The Bereans were fair-minded. They weren't poisoned against all teachers. They were fair minded. Then they received the Word of God with all readiness.

They had an eagerness for the Word of God. And then they searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. The Bereans were always holding up what they were taught, even by the Apostle Paul, and comparing them with the Scriptures to see if they had a match. And so should we, with all of our teachers. In Matthew 16 verse 6, Jesus says, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

That's Matthew 16 verse 6. Take heed and beware, same words that Peter is using in our text, of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. And in verse 12, the disciples finally realize that he is talking about, not bread, but doctrine. Jesus had identified the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees as leaven, as something that starts small and innocent enough but works its way through the whole lump. This is why it matters so much because when you coddle false teaching, you're making an entry point for leaven.

And it will not end there. It will not stop there. It won't be done until it's everywhere throughout the whole lump. Leaven permeates the whole lump. Just a little bit.

A sprinkle of leaven works its way through the whole lump. That's why you can't mess around with false doctrine. That's why you can't afford to say, Michael Pearl is good about child training, and I know he's got some other weird teachings, but he's good on child training, so I want Michael Pearl stuff in my house. If you've got Michael Pearl stuff in your house, get rid of it. He's a false teacher.

He shares no ground with you theologically. It's leaven, and it won't be done until it permeates the whole lump. Michael Pearl totally rejects the doctrine of depravity. He totally rejects the doctrine of the fallen nature of man. He calls our stream of theology, the stream of theology in which we stand, that of Luther and Calvin, an ancient heresy.

So he thinks you're a heretic. You should think he's a heretic. Why do I pick on Michael Pearl? Many names could be mentioned. Because he's loved so well in the homeschooling community.

That disturbs me. Because it's leaven. And it won't be done until it's worked through the whole lump. So as I've said many times, just because of what Peter's been saying, Forewarned is forearmed. Because he told us in advance, what Peter has told us in advance, what's going to happen.

We're forearmed. We should take up weapons to protect ourselves from what Peter has warned us about. Forewarned is forearmed. Since you know this beforehand, in the words of Peter. Here's what Matthew Poole says.

This admonition he gives them, not to discourage them with fear of apostasy, but to awaken them to that holy care, which would be a means to prevent it. And so to keep them from security and trust in themselves. What Matthew Poole is saying is, Peter is not saying this to paralyze us with fear in no way. It is to awaken us to vigilance, to throw off the carelessness that will cost us so much. Verse 18, so that was, that was beware.

Beware. Verse 18 is grow. Grow Christian, grow. Peter is giving us a contrast, not this, but that. Not being led away by the error of the wicked, but growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So these two things are set in opposition to each other. I've been saying one is the poison, the other is the antidote. False teaching is the poison, and growing is the antidote. The twisting of the Scriptures is the venom, and growing in grace and knowledge is the antivenom. It keeps you from dying.

Remember this is a summary. Peter is just saying again what he's been saying. When he says grow in verse 18, he is just coming back to a well-worn topic in this letter. I think he started it in chapter 1 verse 5 when he says, Add to your faith. And then there's a list of seven things.

And we might not a year from now remember the list, but at least we should remember that Peter said, add to your faith. Our faith is not to be alone. Our faith is to be a living faith, a vibrant faith, a growing faith that is always having virtues added to it. The Christian virtues, the fruit of the Spirit. Add to your faith.

Grow. And then in verse 10 of chapter 1 he said, for if you do these things, what? You will never stumble. If you do these things, you will never stumble. So Peter is just saying again, he is repeating what he started saying in chapter 1.

If we did a full reading of the three chapters, I bet we could find another couple of spots where he is saying basically the same thing. Grow Christian, grow Christian, grow Christian. Add to your faith. You will never stumble as you add these things to your faith. Here's the point.

Steadfastness is maintained by growth. Steadfastness is maintained by growth. Here's what Calvin says. Calvin says, he also exhorts us to make progress. For it is the only way of persevering to make continual advances and not to stand still in the middle of our journey.

As though he had said that they only would be safe who labored to make progress daily. That's what Peter is saying. You'll be safe if You make progress daily. It's the stalling out and languishing that puts you in jeopardy. Continual advances is to be the Christian's life.

John Bunyan puts this before us so beautifully in Pilgrim's Progress. He's never done until he gets to the celestial city. Continual advances, daily progress is the life of the Christian. It is to be the life of the Christian. There is no arrival this side of heaven.

Did you get that? There is no arrival this side of heaven because we have this massive chasm between what we were when Jesus put his hand on us and what he's like. And we're to be conformed to his image. The gap is a million miles. And your job today is to make the gap, by his grace, by the work of his spirit, 999, 000 miles, 999.

999, 000 miles, 999. And tomorrow, 999, 000 miles, 998. The gap is huge. What he's like is so far from what we were when he put his hand on us. And we're to be conformed to his image.

That's why we never arrive this side of heaven. There's so much progress to be made. So, grow In what? Two things. Grow in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let's take these One by one. First, grow in the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace, charis, is the Greek word. And it's unmerited favor. Unearned favor.

Undeserved favor. Unearned favor. Undeserved favor. You don't have it coming to you. Except at the will of God.

Except because of the kindness and mercy of God. You didn't earn it. You don't deserve it. It is a gift to be given or withheld at the discretion of the giver. And God is the giver and God has determined for His people He wants to give it.

And so He does. The implication for what Peter is saying here is that there is more for us than we have received so far. Thank heavens that's true. Thank heavens there's not just grace for justification where You don't deserve it, you haven't earned it, you don't merit it, but God says you'll be saved, but then that's it. You're saved, but then you don't have any more grace.

There's no more grace for you. No, Peter is denying that that's true. The implication is there's more than you've tapped into so far in your walk with the Lord. There's more grace, there's more unmerited favor, there's more unearned favor, there's more undeserved favor than you've tapped into, than you've experienced. Let the hungry come and be fed.

Let the thirsty come and drink. Ho, all who are thirsty, come." Isaiah 55. Don't get me started on Isaiah 55. We'll never end. This is what Peter is saying.

Let the hungry come and be fed by the grace, by the unearned favor of God. Let the thirsty come and drink of the unearned favor of God. Are you hungry? Then come and lay hold of grace more than you've known, more than you've had. Are you thirsty?

Then come, drink at the waters of God's grace for you. There is more than you know. There is more than you've experienced. Look back at chapter 1, verses 2 through 4. Again, this is a summary and a repetition of what he's already been teaching.

He's not opening any new veins of teaching here. He's summarizing his letter. Look in 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 2-4. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 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, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." There it is.

There it is. There's the grace for you. The exceedingly great and precious promises. So Peter comes and he says grace and peace be multiplied to you not just added but multiplied. Have more, have more.

You who are hungry come and eat. You who are thirsty, come and drink. Let it be multiplied to you, not dribbled but multiplied to you. All the things that pertain to life and godliness, have it. The exceedingly great and precious promises.

Claim them! Lay hold of them by faith. Have grace. Grow in the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Listen to Hebrews chapter 4 verses 15 and 16.

This is Hebrews chapter 4 verses 15 and 16. This is Hebrews chapter 4 verses 15 and 16. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Because Jesus is a sympathetic high priest who knows all of your sorrows And all of the temptations with which you struggle day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, because Jesus is a sympathetic high priest, let us therefore Come boldly to the throne of grace.

Come to the throne of grace because of Jesus, because he's a sympathetic high priest, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Oh, you who are thirsty, come and drink. So the first type of growth is growing in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The second type of growth that Peter mentions here is growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So grace Now knowledge.

Just as there is more grace for us than we've experienced, there's more knowledge of Jesus for us than we've experienced. I can say that with such Confidence to the oldest saint, to the one who has walked with the Lord decades longer than I have. I can look them in the eye and say, there is more knowing Jesus than you've known of Jesus. Because the gap is so big. Because He is so vast.

You don't know Him in a week, or a year, or a decade, or a lifetime. It will take heaven to know Him. But in the meantime, we grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Just as there is more grace, there is more knowing Jesus. This is not just knowing about, though that's included.

You can never go wrong feeding your mind on knowing about Jesus. So I am not heaping condemnation on knowing about Jesus. That is an essential element, but that's not all. There's knowing about Him and there's knowing Him. And the knowing about Him actually helps us to know Him.

So we should learn all that we can from the Scriptures about Jesus. And then we should meet with Him. It's both. It's both to become a student of Jesus by coming to this word of His and see all the things that point to Him in the Old Testament that give us a shadow of Him. Become so familiar with the sacrifices, with the temple, and the objects in the temple.

Christ, Christ, Christ, it's all Christ, they are pointing to Him. We can know more about Him, even in the richness of the Old Testament, and then the super-abounding richness of the New Testament, in the Gospels and the letters, we can know about Him, and then we go and meet with Him through prayer. We meditate on His Word and we pray to know Him. We can experience Him and know Him experientially in this life. Listen to Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24.

And tell me if you think this is just knowing about? Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24. Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might. Nor let the rich man glory in his riches.

But let him who glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows me, That I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord." Now that is something worth boasting about. That is something to glory in. That we understand and know Him. Turn to Philippians 3.

Turn to Philippians 3. Turn to Philippians 3. I find myself gravitating to the same cross references all the time. You probably only think I know a couple of passages. I just keep going back to them.

This is one of them. Years from now, children who grew up here are going to say, my pastor loved this passage. Philippians 3. And it's true, I do love Philippians 3. Listen to Paul.

Philippians 3 verses 7 through 11. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." Paul gave up everything to know Jesus. And then he looked back and he said, that trade was entirely in my favor.

I gave up rubbish to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. May it be so of us. May it be so of us. That we would give up everything to be found in Him. Not having a righteousness of our own.

Righteousness by the law, but the righteousness that is by faith in Christ. We would give up everything to know Him, and then we would look back and say, what a deal, what a trade. It was entirely in my favor. Finally Peter concludes with a doxology of praise. He is thinking about growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And it brings him to praise. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. There are three things that I want to say about this doxology of praise. Peter breaks out in praise.

There are three things at least that I think are noteworthy about it. Number one, for his atoning work, Jesus deserves and receives all honor and glory. For his atoning work, Because he laid down his life, he deserves and he receives all honor and glory. Because he took on the form of a servant, to put it in the language of Philippians chapter 2, because he took on the form of a servant, God has exalted him above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.

Because of His atoning work, He deserves it. Because of His atoning work, He receives it. All of the honor and the glory. Secondly, this is the why. Peter has been talking about the what.

Beware and grow. That's the what. The two imperatives, the two commandments. Now he gives us the why. Why must we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus?

Because when his people grow, he receives glory. So the universe was made for this, Colossians 1, that in all things he may have the preeminence. Jesus may be first place in every category, the top of every pyramid, is to be Jesus Christ. That's why we exist. That in all things he may have the preeminence.

When his people start out with so much sin and wrong thinking in their lives. But then they grow in grace and knowledge. He receives glory. He is seen to be preeminent. So we don't grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so that we'll be something, it'll be so that He is displayed as something.

This is not for our grand-isement, for making us loom large. It's to make Him look large. When His people grow, when His people used to be that, but now more and more and more they're conformed into the glorious image of Jesus Christ. He is seen for what He is. A God who can do that.

That's why we should grow. Not so that we can pat ourselves on the back for our progress. Because our progress is because of Him. We're not making progress without Him. It's His work in us.

It's that He might be on display as a God who can do that, who can take this. Think of what you were like when you were saved. How filthy. How full of wrong thoughts. But now little by little, he's wiping away the imperfections.

You're justified in Christ. You're cleansed in Christ. And yet, there's work left to do to sanctify you, to conform you into this beautiful image. And as He does, as He conforms us into the image of his son, he receives glory, and he ought to receive glory. That's the point of growth.

To him, to him be glory forever and ever. Thirdly, lastly, this is as unambiguous a claim of deity for Jesus as we could ever hope for. This doxology of praise that ends 2 Peter is as unambiguous, as clear a claim of deity for the Lord Jesus Christ as any you could ever hope for. Consider Isaiah 42 verse 8. In Isaiah 42 verse 8, God speaks in the first person and he says, I am the Lord, that is my name.

In my glory I will not give to another." Think about all the texts where God says that he is jealous over his glory. And he does not share that. And now Peter comes and says, to him be the glory forever and ever. Either Jesus Christ is God, or Peter is a blasphemer. Either Jesus Christ is God or Peter is guilty of blasphemy and should die for it.

In John chapter 5, The Jews are seeking to kill Jesus because he is making himself equal with God. Now this is not some grand misunderstanding. This is a perfect understanding. It's not that they don't get it and they want to kill Him. It's that they want to kill Him because they do get it.

Jesus is making Himself equal with God. And they understand it. And they're going to kill him for it. And they do end up killing him for it. Under the providence of God.

According to the providence of God. Here's what Jesus says in John chapter 5 to the Jews who want to kill him for making himself equal with God. John chapter 5 verses 22 and 23, Jesus says, For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son. Why? Why does God, the Father, commit all judgment to the Son?

John chapter 5 verse 23. That all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. So this is no mistake. This is no misunderstanding. Jesus says, yes, I am making myself equal with God.

God has entrusted judgment to me so that everyone would honor me just like they honor the Father. That's clear. That's unambiguous. That's clear. That's unambiguous.

Jesus Christ is worthy of all honor and praise forever and ever and ever. If you're in Christ, this is how you will spend your eternity. Giving Him what He richly deserves. All the honor and the glory and the praise. Forever and ever, there will be no end to it, nor will we want there to be an end to it.

In conclusion, this letter is written to those who have obtained like precious faith. It's a letter written to those in Christ. If you're outside of Christ, see the beauty of what Peter is saying. About all the things that pertain to life and godliness being in Christ, about a multiplication of grace and peace to those who are in Christ, about the exceedingly great and precious promises to those who are in Christ. And repent and believe the Gospel.

But if you're in Christ, the words of the letter to us are just two simple things. Beware. Beware. There are those with great swelling words of emptiness. They're like wells without water.

They want to knock you off of a steadfast footing. And grow. Grow in grace. The grace of Jesus. Grow in the knowledge of Jesus.

It is the great pleasure of this life. If we want to be weaned off of a love for the world, Here's how it happens. You grow in grace. You find yourself loving the grace of Jesus more and more. You grow in knowledge.

You find yourself Knowing and loving this Lord and Savior. And the world shrinks. When Jesus is magnified and known, When His grace is magnified and known, the world shrinks. This is what Peter is calling us to. May it be so in Jesus' name.

Let's pray. Father, I thank you for 1 Peter and I thank you for 2 Peter. I pray that you would help us to beware, to be on guard against false teachers. I pray that you would help us to beware, to be on guard against false teachers and I pray that you would help us to grow. Oh send your spirit to help us In Jesus' name, Amen.