1. Following the Master Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard Sunday, September 15, 2013

2. 2 Peter 1-11 1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

3. 2 Peter 1-11 4 Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. 5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge,

4. 2 Peter 1-11 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self- control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. 8 For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

5. 2 Peter 1-11 9 For anyone who lacks these things is short- sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. 11 For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

6. If not rules... The rules can be a good starting point The righteousness of the heart is not going to be a lower standard Terry Black’s development in art We have a Model, a Master We have many models, our servants We have passages like 2 Peter 1 that spell things out

7. 2 Peter 1:5 5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge...

8. Every effort Similar in thought to Philippians 2:12-13: 12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

9. Our job Not to drum it up on our own strength when it isn’t there Rather, to participate with God who is happy to work within us Our job is to bend in toward His movements within the soul (John 15—to abide) Sometimes our job is to simply hang on

10. Support Faith with Goodness What is faith? What is goodness? Supporting faith with goodness seems like enriching it, adding to it Probably it also has to do with flowing in the same direction

11. Faith The open door into believing in, walking in, and growing in a relationship with an invisible God A posture of hope and growing assurance that life is richer than what is seen, and that God loves it when people try to do things in a way that will please Him

12. Goodness Moral, but more: add kindness Can include idea of beauty Bruce Waltke after 10 years of working on commentary for Proverbs Recent picture in a commercial

13. Stations on the Road to Freedom Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1945 Discipline If you set out to seek freedom, then learn above all things to govern your soul and your senses, for fear that your passions and longings may lead you away from the path you should follow. Chaste be your mind and your body, and both in subjection, obediently, steadfastly seeking the aim set before them; only through discipline may a man learn to be free.

14. Stations on the Road to Freedom Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1945 Action Daring to do what is right, not what fancy may tell you, valiantly grasping occasions, not cravenly doubting – freedom comes only through deeds, not through thoughts taking wing. Faint not nor fear, but go out to the storm and the action, trusting in God whose commandment you faithfully follow; freedom, exultant, will welcome your spirit with joy.

15. And knowledge? Next time!