Tuan: Well, first of all, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who
was very encouraging this morning after you found out that I was, uh, preaching.
Um, so hopefully I can encourage you after you've heard the things that I've said.
Amen?
Okay, so, uh, uh, we have, uh, as a church, uh, been studying out, uh, how to,
um, go through our transformations, right?
How, how to How to become, uh, more, uh, I guess, you know, faithful as a people.
Uh, how to be, uh, maybe more present in our relationship with God.
So, we have this term called Become More in 24.
And, uh, my part of this, uh, kind of series is godliness.
And I have to tell you that godliness, uh, at least to me, is It's very
intimidating to talk about, uh, because I think, uh, I personally just feel
the pressure of, uh, defining it, of, you know, like, Making sure that,
uh, it's something that, um, kind of conforms to what God wants me to say.
Okay?
So, at the beginning of this year, I actually started this book
called The Practice of Godliness.
And so, when, uh, Marcel, you know, had sent out a text with, uh, the
different people who would be, uh, giving the lessons, I thought, oh,
Okay, I can just copy the book, right?
And, uh, you know, I can, uh, do what it does, right?
Which is, you know, it defines it, gives you a few examples, and
I thought, cool, I got a plan.
Okay.
So, fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, I sat down with some friends, I
tried out the ideas for the lesson.
And I think, uh, the Well, they, they're, you know, they look very confused,
like what are you trying to say?
What is, you know, what is the point?
And I walked away from that thinking, okay, well, uh, that's not a good plan.
Yeah, because I definitely don't want to confuse people.
And so, uh, I prayed about it, uh, angrily, I would say, you know, just
frustrated that, uh, that was not as clear to them as it was to me.
Okay, so, what you're gonna hear this morning Is, I think, the Spirit's
prompting of me changing my mind about, uh, this concept of godliness.
And, and, really, what the Spirit told me was, Okay, have you ever considered
looking at this from Peter's perspective?
What is he really trying to tell us in the Scripture when he talks about this?
Okay, so that's what we're going to be, uh, reviewing.
Okay, first, let's go through, uh, 2 Peter, uh, chapter 1, verse 3, right?
And, and we'll go through, uh, verse 3 through 9.
So I'll read it.
It says, His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life
through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.
Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises so
that through them you may participate.
In the divine nature, having escaped the corruption of the
world caused by evil desires.
These words are really, really rich in detail, I think.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness,
and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self control, to
self control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, mutual
affection, and to mutual affection, love.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you.
From being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ, but whoever does not have them is nearsighted
and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Okay, so in order for us, in order for me to understand what's in the mind
of Peter, I think it's very important, it was important for me, uh, to
consider what Peter's worldview was.
So basically, what was his idea of God, what was his interpretation of God's
people as they practiced godliness, right?
So for that, we'd go to the Old Testament, because I do think that
Peter was influenced by scripture and also by teachings and by the way that
people lived their life out, okay?
Now, uh, I have to warn you that you'll probably see a lot of scriptures, not
every one of these is going to be, we're not going to read all of them,
we're not going to explain all of them.
I just want you to, to see here that this is his worldview.
And when I started to, uh, look at all of the different variations,
the ways that, um, you know, the, the concept of godliness
appeared through the Old Testament.
These three stuck out.
And I think they stuck out because I really think that Peter,
uh, was influenced by these.
Okay, so, the first one.
And it's also important to note that, uh, in different versions of the Bible,
there are different words that are used.
So, in the English Standard Version, the word godly is used.
In the New International Version The word faithful is used.
Okay, so, you know, the first one, talks about, uh, God
being able to save the godly.
Uh, the second one, it talks about, um, you know, God setting, uh,
setting apart His, His people.
Uh, people of faith.
People of godliness.
So, in the Old Testament, Godliness wasn't necessarily something that you did.
Godliness was more of, like, a community identity.
Like, we are a people of God.
Not that, you know, like, Peter was godly and his friends were not godly.
Does that make sense?
Because it was really associated to your faith in God.
Okay, the third one I think is really, really, uh, Very significant.
Uh, it, it talks about, you know, the godly who are saved, uh, even when a
rush of great waters, uh, confronts them.
Right?
So, you can think through, you know, some of the incidents in Peter's life
where he could be thinking about this.
I'll make it much more clear as we go on.
Okay, so, let's see who Peter was.
A lot of us, you know, see Peter as someone who was rash, right?
Someone who was impulsive, someone who did things before
he, uh, thought them through.
I can relate to that.
Uh, you know, when Simon, uh, and his name was Simon, when Simon meets
Jesus, uh, he owned a fishing business.
Right, so he was an entrepreneur.
Uh, and he had partners in the business who trusted him.
Right, so he at least was the president or the CEO of this
fishing, you know, uh, venture.
Right?
Uh, he had very, very close relationships.
People followed him.
Right?
Uh, he was a family man.
He was very close to his, uh, wife's family.
We know this because Jesus Prior to meeting Peter, uh, on, you know, the
shores of Zebedee, uh, on the shores of, uh, Galilee, uh, he goes to Peter's
home and he heals his mother in law.
So we know that, you know, Peter is, um, uh, he cares a lot about his family.
Uh, when Peter follows Jesus, uh, there are some things that only happen to Peter.
I don't know if you, uh, you, you know, like, uh, know that, like, when he sees
the transfiguration, even though he's joined by others, he's the only one that
asks, you know, to pitch a tent, right?
Uh, he's, uh, recognized, he's the only one who recognized Jesus as the Messiah.
He's the only one who rebukes Jesus.
He's the only one who denied Jesus.
He's the only one who walked on water.
And, he's the only one who sliced Someone's ear off, right?
Actually, there are many other things that Peter did that only Peter did.
Okay, so, uh, Why, why, you know, am I bringing all these things?
Because I think I really needed to understand what he was saying in that,
you know, passage of scripture, right?
So, it's important, it's important to, for me, I like to know
who it is that I'm talking to.
Uh, do you ever feel that way?
Like, hey, I wonder why they are coming at me with that, right?
Or, I wonder what they're, uh, I wonder what, why they're using this approach.
What do they mean when they use the words that they use?
I think that's very important because I think it helps us to understand
each other as we're interacting with each, with each other, right?
We all have individual.
You know, like they may, they may not all be unique, uh, you know,
ideas or, you know, uh, opinions.
But they are individual and they are influenced by some of the things
that happened to us during our life.
Okay, so we'll go back and we'll just take a look at the
first part, not the second part.
It says, His divine power.
Has given us everything we need for a godly life through our
knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these he has given us his great and precious promises so that through them
you may participate in the divine nature.
Haven't escaped the corruption of the world caused by evil desires.
Okay, so.
Oh no!
Yeah, that's terrible.
Okay, so, uh, yeah, I had, I worked on it for a while.
It was animation.
Okay, so, Sorry.
Um, so, so, Peter knows that there is a human nature, Peter's
nature, and God's nature.
And they are distinct.
They're separate.
Right?
Now, Peter knows that if you rely on your human nature, what happens
is that you conform to the corruption of the world because
it's caused by evil desires.
Right?
He knows this.
Right?
Okay, so what the slide is supposed to do is it's supposed to show us
that faith is what allows us To move a little bit closer to God.
Okay?
But it's God's goodness and His glory that allows us to
participate in the divine nature.
Does that make sense to you?
So imagine the red circle coming to the yellow circle and
of course there's an overlap.
There's a region of overlap.
That region of overlap does a few things.
What do you think it does to Peter's nature?
It suppresses it.
Right?
Because you cannot participate in the divine nature and still be corrupted.
Right?
You can't do that.
So, as the divine nature takes over our nature, transformation occurs.
And it is this that Peter is really trying to express to us.
One, you cannot accomplish it unless you recognize God's goodness and God's glory.
And it's not just godliness to help you do godly things.
I'll show you why Peter clearly understands this.
But, The goal of this, really, honestly, if the only thing that
you remember from this is that the two circles overlap, okay?
And the goal is for God's divine nature to take over our nature completely, right?
But you cannot have that.
You cannot have that.
Unless you have a faith that it's the goodness and the glory
that allows that to happen.
Alright, okay.
So, let's see what Paul says about godliness.
Because I think, you know, his writings are very important to the New Testament.
Uh, Paul says, hey, we, we, right?
Not people corrupted by the world.
We can have a form of godliness, but deny its power.
Now, I'm going to leave it up to you.
To search in the Bible to see what that actually means.
Having a form, denying its power.
But it's possible for us to have faith, to, to seem to take on
the form of godliness, right?
I think part of it is we, we look like we're godly people.
We look like we're a people of God.
But the divine nature is not suppressing our nature.
I think that that's what that means.
Okay.
Uh, it's a knowledge of the truth that leads us to godliness.
Okay.
So, if we are not studying God's word, and I think more
importantly, taking it as truth.
So in other words, it is more important than the messaging that we receive from
the world, or even from other people.
Right?
If we're counseling each other without the truth, we don't get led to godliness.
Okay, we have to pursue godliness.
Right?
It's not something that comes to us.
We actually have to exert a lot of energy to make sure that we Now,
again, I don't want you to think that I think that this is an effort thing.
Right?
It's not an effort thing.
I think that this is God's glory, God's goodness, God's precious promises
that allow us the, the luxury of being able to call ourselves God's people.
Okay, now, this is one thing that I think is really, you know, uh, tough.
Train yourself to be godly.
Okay?
Like, you know, Preaching is always great on Sundays.
Your midweeks are fantastic.
Right?
Discipling partnerships, they're great.
But train yourself.
That is not easy.
And I think that I'll share one incident in Peter's life.
Where I think he really understood this, even though Paul states
this, I think Peter understands that you have to train yourself.
And the rest of it says there's value for this present life and the life to come.
Kind of strange.
That after we pass this life, and we go to meet our loving Jesus, that the
divine nature is still significant.
Do you know what I'm saying?
You know, like, we don't just become perfect when we become disciples.
And we certainly do not reach perfection when we cross over to the other life.
Okay, what kinds of things in our life can be godly?
Sorrow can be godly and must be godly.
Sincerity must be godly.
Okay, so let's go back to Peter.
What about Peter's perspective about all of this?
Okay?
Now, remember when I said that, you know, Paul says that we
can have a form of godliness.
So Peter, in Acts 3, at the very, very beginning, after, you know, Pentecost
happens, Uh, they go to the temple, right?
Uh, they see, uh, a beggar, who, uh, I think was, uh, paralyzed
or, was crippled, crippled, yeah.
And so, So, uh, you know, Peter, you know, he asked him for money and he
said, you know, money we don't have, but you know, uh, here's what we do have.
We have the power to, uh, we have the power of God, you know, walk.
And so, you know, he starts walking and the people are wondering
like, Hey, what's happening?
How did you do this?
And Peter says, when Peter saw this, he said to them, fellow Israelites,
why does this surprise you?
Why do you stare at us as if by our own power and godliness?
We have made this man walk.
Okay, is it possible for you and I in our yellow circle to have our own godliness?
Well, according to Peter, yeah.
Yes.
It's not easily recognizable.
But, it kind of fools us, right?
What he's saying is, hey, you just saw a miracle.
Don't think I did it.
Don't assign me the credit.
It's glory and goodness.
Right?
But he knows that we, as people, of a corrupt, you know, like, mindset,
sometimes look at each other and see godliness where there is not a
sincere and a truly an authentic.
Godliness, right?
Okay, so, uh, remember when we were talking about Psalms 3 and, you know,
like, God's people, godly people, or faith, uh, you know, faithful
people, they are set apart, okay?
Peter, twice in his books, says, live holy and godly lives.
Now, I think he believes that these two are different.
But I think he knows you cannot have one without the other.
So in other words, if you have not, if you cannot see yourself as set apart
and live a life that is set apart, then it's really difficult and nearly
impossible for you to attain a godliness.
Hopefully that makes sense.
Okay, uh, this one, I really think, well, this is the one that Uh, I think the
Spirit was telling me, is what we need.
Uh, 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 9 says, If this is so, then the Lord knows
how to rescue the godly from trials.
Okay, so remember the rushing waters, uh, the psalm that
talked about the rushing waters.
Uh, I think that Peter had that on his mind.
Whenever, He was on the seas, and fishing, and especially when
he, uh, interacted with Jesus.
And, and we'll talk about that.
Okay.
So, the only point is the godly, you and I, if we see ourselves as God's people.
If we are set apart, if we're holy.
We need rescue.
Now, is that something that you think about all the time?
I do not.
Because my first question is, well, if you're godly, why
do you need to be rescued?
What's your problem?
Are you godly?
Right?
I mean, I don't know, maybe I'm, maybe I have a critical mind, but I think, right?
Like, if you're being godly, things should be going well for you.
So, uh, when did Peter need to be rescued?
Well, I think the first time that we see Peter needing to be rescued, his
conversion, Luke 5, uh, when he's fishing, large crowds are traveling,
you know, like following Jesus, Jesus sees them, Peter and his, Partners had
already gone through a night of fishing.
They didn't catch anything.
And, uh, Jesus says, hey, uh, can you take me out from shore?
Right?
That's all it was.
That's all, that's all that that was.
And so I think, you know, Peter Now remember, you know, uh, Jesus had
already healed Peter's mother in law.
And so, you know, Peter, I think, had Some obligation to this rabbi
who was, you know, walking around.
And I think also, Peter saw Jesus as a different type of rabbi.
Right?
Okay.
So, you know, Jesus is on the boat.
Uh, they go out.
Uh, uh, you probably remember this.
You know, he says, he casts the nets.
Peter says, hey, we've been here doing this all night.
But because you say so, I'm gonna do it.
He does it.
You know, they catch.
A large, uh, you know, uh, they, they catch a lot of fish.
And so, um, Peter, um, What, Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus knees and said,
Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man.
Then Jesus said to Simon, Don't be afraid.
From now on, you will fish for people.
Okay, so I think it's important.
When we're talking about Peter needing to be rescued to know why it
is that Jesus said don't be afraid.
Right?
What are you afraid of, Peter?
I think Peter in this moment was afraid to live for the rest of his life in sin.
I think that that's, that's what he said.
Right?
I'm a sinful man.
He comes into the presence of who he knows is God.
And he's afraid.
He's afraid that there will be an accounting for his life.
I believe this.
So what does he do?
He does the natural thing that a person who is godly does.
He leaves his nets and he follows.
That's it.
Right, now.
When I learned about this as a, as a young man, new disciple,
I thought, yeah, naturally.
You know, like, what's the big deal?
You know?
Like, for me, I didn't have a lot.
So, it's not much to leave my nets.
But I think for Peter, it's different.
Right?
Peter had a business.
He had people who were relying on him.
And I think what he found was, hey, I only have One real option.
If I don't want to live the rest of my life this way, I need to follow him.
Right?
So that was the first rescue, I think.
He had countless rescues.
The second rescue, uh, was, you know, when they were, you know, they were with Jesus.
Jesus said, you know, go ahead of me.
You know, uh, Jesus stayed behind.
Um, they were on the Sea of Galilee.
And, uh, they go ahead, there's a, you know, there's a storm, you know,
there's waves, uh, it's night time, uh, and, uh, uh, suddenly, the disciples
see a figure walking and one of them says, oh no, it's a ghost, right?
Um, and, uh, he comes closer and Peter says, hey, Lord, if it's you, tell me
to come out and I'll come to you, right?
Now, Uh, there's plenty of people on that boat.
I don't know why nobody else said this, except for Peter.
Well, I think that Peter, as a person, uh, who strives for godliness, Peter keeps,
uh, you know, scriptures in his mind.
I think one of those scriptures was that god will save the
man from the rushing waters.
They'll never reach him.
Right?
I don't know that that's true.
I like thinking that way.
Right?
Okay.
So, Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, came toward Jesus, but when
he saw the wind, he was afraid, beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me.
Okay, and I think, you know, we've heard plenty of things,
plenty of lessons about this.
Okay?
What do I think Peter needed to be rescued from.
I think that Peter, when he saw Jesus, when he thought about the
scripture, uh, he was untouchable.
Right?
That, uh, and I, really, I don't mean untouchable in the sense,
you know, in the human sense.
What I mean is that the forces of nature, uh, that, that, you know, gravity, that
time, space, like all those things, Uh, did not apply to his physical, like, form
at the time because, uh, he was thinking simply about Jesus, about the scriptures.
And when he lost track of that, he needed Jesus to save him.
He needed Jesus to remind him that this is the most important thing.
I think that that's the thing that he needed rescue from.
Okay, and then the final thing.
So, the final thing is, I think, really, uh, well, probably
what I need at this time.
I've been a disciple in the church here for thirty, two, thirty, yeah, three.
Thirty three, yeah.
Thirty three years.
Uh, so I've gone from a campus student to being a single, to, you know,
and we've, my wife and I, we've led ministries, uh, large and small.
Uh, we've seen a lot, we've been through a lot, uh, we have, like you, endured a lot.
Right?
Sometimes, uh, because of people around us.
Godly people, spiritual people, right?
That's, it's okay to say, cause I think that's what happened with Peter.
Right?
And I think Peter also was someone who caused Jesus, you
know, a lot of hardship, right?
Okay, so, John chapter 21.
Jesus has died, he's, he's, uh, you know, he was, uh, crucified, he's doing his kind
of resurrection, like, uh, tour, right?
So he's appearing to different people.
Okay, so, important to note, that I'm just setting up the context, okay?
Uh, Peter, Peter is not by himself, he's with his partners, sons of Zebedee, and
four other disciples, they name them.
Peter says, hey, I'm going out to fish.
They say, hey, we'll go with you.
Okay, caught nothing all night, very, very, uh, familiar.
Uh, they see a man from the shore in the early morning.
Friends, haven't you any fish?
Throw your net on the right side, right?
And of course, I think this is very reminiscent.
I think probably in Peter's mind, he's thinking, Oh, I don't recognize
who's talking to me, but I recognize the circumstance that I'm in.
And of course, I think at the time, just like when Jesus met him, the temptation
was, you know, I own a fishing business.
I know what to do.
Now, a lot of us, I think, can feel the temptation to think the same way.
Why?
Because we're just, we're a part of the corrupted world.
Do you know what I'm saying?
Like, it's just natural for us to have thoughts that are opposite.
Of what Jesus, I mean that's why he needs to train us, you know, okay.
All right.
So says throw your nets on the other side They catch a large number of fish
And and in the bible, it still doesn't say that peter knows who this is.
He just jumps in the water Notice he's not walking on the water goes toward the shore
ahead of the boat Uh, and I don't know if he swims or if he's just, you know,
it says they're a hundred meters away.
Okay, uh, they land and they see a fire with fish and bread.
Okay?
Jesus says, bring some of the fish you have caught.
Okay?
And then, you know, the Bible gives you a count of how many.
Jesus says, come and have breakfast.
No one dared ask, who are you?
It says, they think they know that it's the Lord.
They all have, they all take bread and fish.
Okay, so the interesting thing here, okay, Uh, you know, we're not reading,
but, but, The interesting thing is, um, Jesus says, Bring the fish, but
he doesn't cook any of the fish.
He just says, Bring the fish.
Okay, and I think this is also a lesson to Peter.
So, I think what happens now is, uh, You know, Peter denied Jesus.
It's been
He doesn't see his lord.
He's hanging out with his friends.
They don't know what to do.
He says, I'm going to go fishing.
They don't catch anything.
Someone tells them to do something ridiculous.
He does it.
They catch, you know, like, they see a miracle.
So, uh, so, they, they have this miraculous catch.
Something miraculous happens.
Because, uh, He obeyed Jesus.
Right?
So he, you know, like Jesus told him to do something, he did it.
Okay.
Uh, Jesus says bring the fish, but he doesn't use the fish.
He doesn't cook the fish.
He doesn't give them the fish.
Okay.
This, I think, is Peter's lesson.
Okay?
The lesson is, uh, your nature, God's divine nature.
Even though you saw a miracle when you obeyed me, Uh, we cannot,
I can't use your good deeds.
Because you need the fish I give you.
We can't mix the two.
That's what I think.
Right?
Now, the other reason I think That Peter has to, you know, bring the fish.
Okay.
It says, When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son
of John, Do you love me more than these?
Yes, Lord.
He said, You know I love you.
Jesus said, Feed my lambs.
Again, Jesus said, Simon, son of John, Do you love me?
He answered, Yes, Lord.
You know I love you.
He said, Take care of my sheep.
The third time, He said, Simon, son of John, Do you love me?
Peter was hurt.
Because Jesus asked him the third time, do you love me?
He said, Lord, you know all things, you know I love you.
He said, feed my sheep.
Okay, uh, The way that this hit me, okay, I thought, okay, well, let me
put myself in Peter's shoes and try to think through what he was feeling,
think through what he needs, okay, and why he needs to be rescued.
Now, you know, the last time he saw Jesus, he denied him three times.
Right?
And then, he basically is by himself.
Now, he's, you know, maybe with some of the other disciples,
and maybe he's talking to them.
But he's grieving pretty much on his own.
And I think, you know, once, Jesus, you can ask me, and I'll
say, you know that I love you.
The second time, I'm tempted to feel like, you know, you weren't there.
When I was struggling, when I was really grieving, where were you?
Why did it take you so long to come to me?
Right?
And also, like, why ain't you asking these other guys?
Why are you asking me?
Right?
You already know that I love you.
Why are you putting me through this torture?
I don't know if you would feel tortured, but if someone asked you three times
and gave you the same answer, like, feed my sheep, what, what, what about them?
What, don't they need to feed your sheep?
Right?
I think the thing that Jesus was trying to help Peter to understand, that he
needed rescue from, he says here to us.
One, if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, meaning, uh, when you
feel like you have become a godly person, remember that there are increasing amounts
of these qualities that help you not to return to the place Where you would go if
I, if you felt like I didn't go with you.
Do you know what I'm saying?
So, in other words, I think sometimes we want to go back to
the places where we draw our power.
Where our nature is what drives our success.
Not the divine nature.
Because the divine nature suppresses, right?
It makes us have to submit, right?
Increasing measure.
That's the first thing.
It will keep you from an ineffective, unproductive, being unproductive in
your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Right?
When is knowledge unproductive?
When is it ineffective?
Right?
I think the lesson also for Peter is, Hey, you're not alone.
You got people around you.
And it's important for you to understand that you, whatever
decisions you make, impact them.
You wanna go fishing?
Guess what they did?
They went fishing.
You know what I'm saying?
It's super important for us to remember that the daily decisions that we make,
the decisions to worship God, the decisions to, uh, not listen, We all
have a right not to listen, right?
But remember that that makes an impact on somebody else's faith.
I think that that is the rescue.
That's the thing.
Whether you're a young Christian or an older Christian, I think the important
thing to remember is God wants us to have these qualities in increasing measure.
So, this week, and for Communion, I'd like to ask you to meditate about this.
Because I think this also was a revelation for me.
In Hebrews chapter 5 it says, During the days of Jesus life on earth,
He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the
One who could save Him from death.
And he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered, and once made
perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obeyed him.
Jesus cried tears to the one who could save him.
Even Jesus himself recognized.
that he needed rescue.
Amen.
I'm going to pray for our communion.
Father in heaven, we are so grateful to you that, um, uh, you love us as
deeply as you do grateful for, uh, examples like Peter who, uh, help us to
understand that it's possible for us.
Uh, to become, uh, a people, um, who resemble you.
Uh, a people who have qualities, uh, that you desire, that you're pleased by.
Um, Father, I really pray that as, um, a family, um, as, uh, a spiritual
community, uh, that we would, um, be committed to helping each other,
uh, to grow, uh, in this area.
And I pray that you help us.
Uh, not to misunderstand your scripture, uh, but to, uh, really
develop a, a, a true sense of worship.
Um, we love you so much.
Thank you for forgiving us of our sins.
Thank you for, uh, providing a way for us, uh, towards salvation.
I pray all the saints in your son's name.
Amen.