To Those Who Have Obtained Like Precious Faith: Part 2

Redeeming Grace Church

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Well, we continue in our study through 2 Peter, 2

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Peter. I'd like this to be the second part of looking just briefly at verse 1 to 4.

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We continue our study here in 2 Peter. And actually the apostle

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Peter wrote two letters to the early church. 1 Peter deals with the problems from the outside, where 2

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Peter deals with the problems from the inside. Both are severe, but I personally believe the inside is more severe.

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Like a Trojan horse, the Trojan horse comes within. This second letter can be seen as the apostle

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Peter's final words as well. Like a last will and testament.

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He writes to the believers before he went into his martyrdom through crucifixion. Tradition says that him and his wife was crucified upside down.

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He mentions it in 2 Peter 1 .14 saying, knowing that shortly

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I must put off my tent. Basically what he's saying, I'm shortly to die and leave this body.

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Just as our Lord Jesus showed me. Jesus knew it. This second letter, his last will and testament,

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Peter warns and you know as well as I do, those who warns you the most loves you the most.

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He warns the believers of the apostasy that will be coming to the church and we are there.

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And this was 2 ,000 years ago in which he saw the apostasy coming. So how much more severe is it today?

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Basically apostasy is a departure from the truth of the gospel. That simple. We can go in detail about it but it's basically a departure from the truth of the gospel.

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We're seeing this, we're witnessing this today in our day. Peter also warns against false teachers and their false teaching.

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He pulls no punches. Spirit of God breathes upon him as he writes this and no wonder he tells them and us as well in verse 12, chapter 1.

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For this reason I will not be negligent. He was not negligent.

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I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things though you know and are established in the present truth.

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But you know he doesn't only warn them against the heresy and the false teaching, he also has a positive.

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And the positive is that he also helps anchor their faith in the word of the living

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God. That's the positive. There's a warning but there's also an exhortation.

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There's instruction and righteousness but there's also a correction. Beloved, this precious faith as Peter calls it is the only defense that we as believers have against the coming storm.

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It's our faith in Jesus. It's our faith in the truth. It's our faith in God. And that faith as we've been looking at is a gift from God.

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So in this first foundational section of the second Peter, that's why I'm taking another message here because we need to see some things we probably didn't have a chance to cover last time but as we continue to look at the apostle

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Peter's letter here by the Holy Spirit, he tells them to build up their like precious faith and their character.

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And the only way we can build that up is through the word of God, by the Spirit of God. It's only done through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our

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Lord. That's through the word of God. That's where we get the knowledge of God. But the

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Spirit of God must be upon us as well and not only upon us but in us. So once again, it is a glorious privilege, isn't it?

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It is a glorious privilege. We should never take this for granted that we have a Bible and we can turn to this second epistle of Peter.

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So turn with me please. If you're not already there, starting at verse 1 through 4.

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Verse 1 through 4, hear the word of the living God. He says this,

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Simon Peter, a bondservant and an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our

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God and Savior Jesus Christ. Verse 2, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our

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Lord as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to like and to godliness and through the knowledge of Him who called you by glory and virtue.

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Verse 4, 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.

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Praise God. Amen. May God richly bless His holy word to our hearts this morning.

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As we take this time, let's bow in prayer together. And let's seek

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God's grace and His help as we look into His word. Our Father and our

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God, our Savior. What a wonderful and glorious privilege it is today that we have once again by Your grace, by Your grace alone and Your providence to bow in Your holy presence and to hear

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Your holy word. Lord, we ask help from You today,

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Lord. We should be trembling before this word. We should honor it above all things.

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Above all things. Lord, we would pray that Your word would wash us and cleanse us as we have sung.

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May this be our prayer. Sanctify us through Your word. By Your holy spirit that we...

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And Lord, may not one of us leave here unchanged. May we be changed forever from glory to glory, from faith to faith.

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And transform us, Lord, I pray, into the image and likeness of the one who gave

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Himself up for us as a holy sacrifice. Pleasing to You at the cross of Calvary by shedding

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His precious blood for our redemption. It's all at the cross. It's all at the cross.

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Because of His shed blood that we have access through Jesus Christ our

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Lord. And we pray this in His mighty name. Amen and amen. My outline is really simple today and I'm just taking it straight from Scripture.

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I wish I could come up with an outline here that would help us remember.

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Brother Keith did an outstanding job on the outline last week. I had to write it in my Bible. But what a wonderful outline from one verse.

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I'd like to point out in verse 1, a precious faith that has been received.

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A precious faith that has been received. Second point in verse 2, grace and peace that's been multiplied.

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Grace and peace that's been multiplied. Third, God's divine power that has been given to us.

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Grace and divine power that has been given to us. And fourth and final, with along, we will look at personal application, great and precious promises that has been given to us as well.

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Great and precious promises that has been given to us. That's our outline. So let's begin.

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Verse 1, Here the apostle Peter speaks of a precious faith that has been obtained or received.

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He begins and says, Simon Peter, a bondservant, an apostle of Jesus Christ, as we've already seen.

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But it's important to bring out and be reminded once again that how

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Peter begins this second letter. He begins by saying a servant.

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Some translations, a servant and some a bondservant. I believe it's more accurate a bondservant because the literal translation to the original

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Greek language is bondslave. That's doulos. He's saying I'm a bondslave of Jesus Christ.

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Doulos, I'm doulos. It seems as if Peter is really, he really does not like to take a lofty, dignified title or a position that he's the head apostle, which he was.

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But he doesn't begin this letter by saying I am the head apostle of Jesus Christ and then a servant of Christ.

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No, he begins by saying I am a bondservant, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ.

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I think that's significant. It's very significant because what do we see here? We see

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Peter's humility. We see his lowliness that he's being like Christ. He is not taking a position, a high position.

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He's taking a low position. That's a man of God. Opposite of that is not a man of God.

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And I don't care how well he preaches. Peter likes to think of himself and refer to himself as a bondslave.

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May we never forget that. First and foremost, he's a bondslave.

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Then he does mention, I am an apostle. Apostle was one that was commissioned and sent.

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Apostle is one that received their commission and command by Jesus Christ, by the authority of Jesus Christ, none other.

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And I've mentioned this before. There are no apostles today. None. These are the apostles in this word, in this book, like the prophets.

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The same with the prophets. They were commissioned and ordained of God. They were handpicked.

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Peter's handpicked. And this is who he got his authority from. Jesus Christ.

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The head of the church. The Lord of the church. Lord of all. But notice he doesn't say, the apostle,

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I'm a apostle. And why doesn't he say that? That's humility as well.

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Because he was lowly, he was humble to admit that he was not the only apostle.

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He says, I'm one apostle among many. Not a lot, but those whom

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God has picked. God called to his service. Simon Peter, a bondslave.

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An apostle of Jesus Christ. And then he says this. To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our

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God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, that's a wonderful, glorious statement.

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It's glorious. What faith is he talking about? Precious faith.

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Precious faith. That means that's a faith of the same value that Paul had.

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Apostle John had. Peter had. The same like faith.

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Isn't that wonderful? God has no respecters of persons whatsoever. The same faith that saved them.

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We have. Now, they had a higher calling because of the apostleship.

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And by the way, I remember going to seminary and people that really wanted to take a high position as an evangelist or a pastor.

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But they had no idea of the sufferings that went behind it. The higher and the greater the responsibility and the position, the more the suffering.

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I'm telling you. And look at the apostle Paul. And when he was first called, and before he knew it, and as the

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Lord Jesus speaks to Annias in a vision, he said,

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I will show Paul what great things he must suffer. He is called to suffer. That was the calling of an apostle.

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And we see that. He suffered. But this man was unmovable because he caught a glimpse of Jesus Christ.

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Nothing could move him from the faith. That's the way we should be. Same faith.

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Precious faith. Like precious faith. That is, by the righteousness of God and Savior Jesus Christ.

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And he seems to be saying, I'm writing to all of you who share this same precious faith.

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We have. We have this faith given to us by Jesus Christ.

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We have this in common as a gift from our God and Savior who makes us right with God.

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Isn't that glorious? Turn with me very quickly to Romans chapter 1. I want you to see this.

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Paul says the same thing in a different way. And just read a couple of verses in chapter 1.

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Look at verse 11 and 12. Listen to the humility and the heart of Paul.

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He speaks to those as he begins this letter. And by the way, look at verse 1.

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Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Right from the cuff. He does not speak, oh,

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I'm an apostle. The first thing he says, I'm a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Called to be an apostle.

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First, but I'm a bondservant. And then he says, separated to the gospel of God.

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In other words, God has me separated. Separated for this calling.

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Separated to the gospel of God. But look at verse 11.

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And then he speaks to these believers in Rome. For I long to see you. What a heart.

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Listen to this. He had a longing to see them. That I may impart to you some spiritual gift.

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I don't know exactly how. But by the Holy Spirit. He desired to impart to you some spiritual gift.

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So that you may be established. You see, he had a heart for them to be established in the truth of the gospel.

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Be established in the gospel. That's everything. Who Jesus is. What he's done.

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But notice what he says in verse 12. That is, that I may be encouraged together with you.

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Listen, this is the apostle Paul. That I may be encouraged together with you. By the mutual faith.

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Both of you and me. Did you see that? That like precious faith.

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Peter was speaking of. The apostle Paul. So that you may be established. That is,

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I may be encouraged together with you. By the mutual faith. Both of you and me. So it's like precious faith.

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The apostle Paul was speaking of the same thing. You've received this like precious faith from the

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Father of lights. Which is no variableness and shadow of turning. Precious faith.

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A gift from God. As we saw. By grace through faith. Is that if not of yourselves.

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It is the gift of God. Later on. Peter tells us how to add to that faith.

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We're going to look at that. Very soon. Faith is that foundation. It's like. I think.

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So if I can use an analogy. Brother Keith loves these analogies. And rightly so. The Lord uses them.

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And the apostles uses them. But it's almost like the foundation of a house. It's like the pouring of concrete.

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That's the faith. It's like the concrete. It's like the firmness. That's how firm our foundation.

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That faith is in. It's solid rock. Bedrock. And for the house to be built.

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With the lumber and everything else. It must have the concrete. That faith is the concrete.

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It's the anchor of the soul. As the writer of Hebrews says. So. He tells us how that we would add to that faith.

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And how to build on it. To grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. We live by faith. And we grow by grace.

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Live by faith. Grow by grace. To grow in the grace and the knowledge of God.

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Don't you want to grow in the grace and the knowledge of God. That's my desire. Grow more and more and more.

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In the grace of God. And in the knowledge of God. And what to do with it.

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To obey. That's what it comes down to. That we are to put obedience to it. You take away obedience.

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You have taken away everything from the gospel. Because Jesus. When He came.

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He obeyed the Father perfectly. He obeyed. He learned obedience. And He learned in suffering.

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All these things. Up until the point of the death of the cross. True faith.

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Genuine faith. Is always active. Is always obedient. Always. Always. So. You take away obedience from faith.

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You have taken away. The heart of the gospel. This is the beauty of faith.

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Paul says. The just shall live by faith. Basically those that have been justified by God.

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Will live by faith. It's those that have been righteous before God. And that's what he is saying. You have been righteous.

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You have been made righteous before God. In other words.

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Those that have been justified. Declared righteous before a holy God. Lives by this faith. They live by this faith.

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I cannot say that enough. That is our life. That is our living. Our dying. Everything that we do.

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And believe in. Is faith. In Jesus Christ. Faith alone. In Christ.

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Not in government. Not in men. Not in preachers. In Jesus Christ alone.

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I like what J .C. Rowell says. We became Christians by faith in Jesus. We stay

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Christians by faith in Jesus. We grow as Christians by faith in Jesus. And then he says.

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That's the end quote. How true that is.

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All in Jesus. All in Jesus. All in His person.

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All in His works. All in His sacrifice. All that He has done. All that He has loved us with.

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All in Christ. Precious faith. No wonder Peter calls it precious faith. The message of the gospel is precious.

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And the faith to believe in this message is precious. The blood is precious.

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The promises are precious. The trials of faith is precious. They mean more than life.

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They are more valuable than silver or gold. Beyond all worth.

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Beyond all value. God is no respecter of persons. He is absolutely fair. Is He not?

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He has given all of us the same precious faith. Peter does not differentiate between one faith to another, does he?

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It's all given to us in the same light precious faith. Actually in Romans chapter 5.

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Verse 1 and 2. Paul says this. Therefore having been justified by faith.

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We. We. Not me. We. We have peace with God.

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Through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other peace that can be found but only in Jesus Christ. This sin sick world out there is trying to find peace.

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And every other unsatisfying lustful sin. Even calling it good.

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But there is no peace outside of Jesus Christ. For He is our peace.

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We have peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says this in verse 2.

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Through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.

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We stand by it. And then he says this. We rejoice in it. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

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Romans chapter 12. Verse 3. Paul says this. For I say through the grace given to me.

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To everyone who is among you. I believe brother Keith quoted this last week.

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But Proverbs says. As a man thinketh so is he. Listen to what he says. Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.

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But to think soberly. As God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

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A measure of faith. So Peter calls it a precious faith. So how is this precious faith obtained?

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He tells us. Look at the text. Our text. Verse 1 tells us the answer.

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Notice. To those who have obtained like precious faith with us.

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And here's the answer. By the righteousness of our God. By the righteousness of our

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God and Savior Jesus Christ. That is such a loaded statement. Think about the righteousness of God.

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The righteousness of God is so completely different than the righteousness of man.

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It is on a level. Beyond us. There is a perfect righteousness.

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Man cannot even get close to it. Even our best works cannot even come close to it.

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This is the righteousness of God. The holy righteousness of God. And Savior Jesus Christ.

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The key word really here. And knowing how to take a hold of this. Is the word obtained.

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We receive it. Now this is what's wonderful. Jesus Christ received that righteousness.

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That He was the perfect Lamb of God. Who shed His blood. He was without spot.

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Like a lamb without spot. But He obtained that righteousness from God.

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Because He was God. But there is like an obtaining.

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He obtained it. Now we come and receive it. And by the way we cannot even take a hold of it.

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Unless the Spirit of God activates that within us. We can't do it. That's why the

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Spirit of God is in this. Cannot do it without the Spirit of God. Another translation like I said is received it.

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This word implies a believer's salvation. Is a sovereign free gift of God.

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It's sovereignly given to us. Because out of God's goodness and His love.

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Freely given. John chapter 1. John chapter 1.

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Verse 12 and 13. One of my favorite verses. I love this. John says this.

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But as many as received Him. To them gave

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He power. Notice it's God's giving. How many times you have heard people say

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I gave Jesus my heart. Have you heard that?

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No. We are not saved by our giving. We are saved by His giving. No one can out give

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God. But as many as received Him. To them gave

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He power. There's another. I love the word power here.

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It means in the original. He gives the right. The authority.

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Or the privilege. I love that. He gives us the privilege. To become the sons of God.

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Even to them that believe on His name. Which were born. Listen to this. This knocks

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Armenianism between the eyes. Which were born not of blood.

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Nor of the will of the flesh. Nor of the will of man. But of God. It's not by man's will.

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It's not man's flesh. It is by God. It is by God's will. That we are in salvation.

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That we are in Christ. Isn't it wonderful? What you have today is God's. It is

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God the Father. God the Son. And God the Holy Spirit. As Brother Keith mentioned about our worship.

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We worship God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Our salvation is by God the Father, the

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Son, and the Spirit. It's all of God's. Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah said that.

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That was the last thing he said in his prayer. If you noticed when he was in the belly of the whale. And God spoke to the whale to spit him out.

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That's what God wanted to hear. Humbled him. You know it's wonderful.

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Isn't it? All of God. God alone. All for His glory. God's glory alone. Isn't that what the church is about?

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Through Jesus Christ. For Him to be glorified. Jesus said if I be lifted up.

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I would draw all men unto me. You know that lifting up. Yes, we are to lift up His name. But actually what He is talking about is the lifting up Him on the cross.

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I really believe. That is the reason why the church is in trouble today. We have departed from Christ crucified.

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Jesus Christ must be lifted up in the sense. Preach Christ crucified.

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We don't hear it. That's the blood flow of the gospel.

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That's the heart of the gospel. Faith given by God's will. That is God's will.

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That was God's will. All points to the cross. Everything points to the cross. All of God's attributes is just glowing at the cross.

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By the perfect Son of God. The receiving of Jesus Christ. The power. The right.

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The privilege. To become sons of God. Only through Jesus Christ and His divine power.

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To receive Him. By faith alone. Trusting in Him alone.

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Nothing else. No one else. Giving Him allegiance. And surrender to His Lordship.

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Really in essence. This is the great exchange. Isn't it? The great exchange.

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Brother Keith didn't know I had this verse coming. I'm going to it.

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I got a few scriptures to go to it. The great exchange is given right there in 2

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Corinthians 5. 21. That's the great exchange.

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What's the great exchange? What do we have to offer to God? Our sin.

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That's it. Our sin. Then once we are in Christ we have obedience. We give our obedience to Him.

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But outside of when we first come to Him. All that we can offer to Him is our sin. Our dirty rags.

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Our dirty robes. We give Him our dirty rags.

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He gives us His righteousness. His clean pure robe. Isn't that glorious? All this is provided in Jesus Christ.

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Ultimately it's God's giving that saves us. Not man. Not man's will.

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Not ours. It doesn't matter how many times we go to church. A person go to church. If they could live a thousand years.

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A thousand years would not save them to hear the best of sermons. One must come to Jesus Christ as a humble child.

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Coming at the foot of the cross and saying. I am a sinner. Be merciful unto me oh

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God. And repent. And even that repentance is a gift from God. Because in and of ourselves we do not have the ability to turn from these sins.

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Because naturally within us is Adamic nature. I've been speaking to some of my family members about this.

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Those that have been training children. I don't want to call any out by name by no means.

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But you take a guess. Most of my children have children.

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And these little cute ones with little blue eyes. And cute faces and angels.

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They look like angels. But they say no. No. Mommy and daddy didn't have to teach that little one to say that.

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It comes as a birthday gift. We all come with it. The problem is teaching them yes mommy.

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Yes daddy. And even being thankful. By the way little children are born in grades too.

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Am I right? I mean born in grades. We're born in grades. We're born. We say no.

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I don't like this. I want my way. Little ones. Cute little ones. God gives fathers and mothers to train them.

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To teach them. To love them patiently like God. God lovingly trains us.

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Teaches us. And when we have a balled up fist saying no. God says no.

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I'm the master. And if we disobey. There's something

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God has. A rod. Makes me think. God says Moses. What's that in your hand?

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It's a rod. Rod is a loving instrument. Of reproof.

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God lovingly reproves us. Because we're his children. That is such a simple thing.

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But how many parents depart from this? Still don't even know it. They look at the rod as something terrible.

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Oh my goodness. If you lovingly know how to use and weld that instrument.

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It loves them. And corrects them. And trains them. It teaches them what right and wrong is.

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Morally. It teaches them the ways of God. What God. And this is the road map.

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This is everything right here. Aren't you glad that God disciplines us?

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Listen to Hebrews. Chapter 9, 12. Neither by the blood of goats or calves.

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But by his own blood. He entered into once. Into the holy place. Having obtained eternal redemption for us.

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Listen to John Owen. On his commentary. On Hebrews. Puritan John Owen. Makes this observation from this text.

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He says this. The effect of this blood shedding. Was obtained eternal redemption.

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He effectually obtained redemption. By the price of his blood. By the price of his blood.

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All redemption respects a state of bondage and captivity. With all the events that do attend it.

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This redemption is effected in two ways. By price and by power.

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By price and by power. One. By that which gave it its worth and value.

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That it might be a sufficient ransom for all. Two. By its special nature.

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As to the first. It is the person of Christ himself. He gave himself.

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He offered himself unto God. He gave himself a ransom for all. This was that which made the ransom of infinite value.

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Meet to redeem the whole church. Ha. I gave you a benediction.

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That would be well fed right there. That feeds my soul. By price.

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You have been ransomed. Think of that. Think of the love.

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Think of the grace. That sent Jesus to die on a cross.

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For unworthy sinners like us. And now we are sons of the living God. All because of what

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Jesus did. Now we see the apostle calls faith precious.

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And God made us righteous. And here it is. Second Corinthians 521. You knew it was coming. Through this precious blood of his son bought us.

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He redeemed us. He purchased us. Made us his very own children. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us.

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That we might become the righteousness of God in him. I'm telling you.

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You put a sealer right there. And think about the righteousness of God. That is given to us.

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In Jesus Christ. And knowing how filthy and dirty we were. He takes the dirtiness.

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And gives us that robe of righteousness. I'm telling you. It's joy unspeakable. And it's full of glory.

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Hallelujah. This is what gets us into heaven. This is the ticket.

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This is the ransom. That Jesus gives us the righteousness of God.

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That's beyond my imagination. Oh wow.

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I can camp right there and preach. But I got to go on. Look at verse 2. Then he says this.

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I won't spend a lot of time right here. Because time goes quickly. He says this.

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Grace and peace be multiplied to you. In the knowledge of God. And of Jesus our Lord. That's a sealer.

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Think of that. Grace and peace be multiplied. First he says.

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You obtain this light precious faith. Then he says. Grace and peace be multiplied.

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How? Again the text tells us. In the knowledge of God.

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And of Jesus our Lord. Grace and peace are always in this order.

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Beloved. You know when we say. It's not peace and grace. It's grace and peace.

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The Holy Spirit always has an order. Why is it like this?

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So in order to have peace. We must first have grace. There's no way we can experience the peace of God.

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Unless God graces us. Amen. It is God's unmerited favor to the undeserving.

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That is a simple definition of God's grace. It is something we do not deserve beloved.

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We deserve hell. We deserve punishment. We deserve separation from God.

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But God says. I'm going to grace you. And I'm going to give you peace through that. And it's going to be multiplied.

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Don't you love that word multiplied? Multiplication means over and over.

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There's just not one time. Two times. But a thousands of times. And thousands of times.

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We need grace and we need peace. It's constant. The way I like to think of it is. God is never out of commission.

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His resources never runs dry. You can't get to the bottom of it. His character is infinite.

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His grace is infinite. His peace is infinite. Be multiplied to you.

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Be multiplied to you. Through, in and the knowledge of God. Now there it is. Jesus our

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Lord. That's the key word. Notice when we go through this book. We will see this word come up time and time again.

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The knowledge of God. The knowledge. The knowledge. And the grace of Him.

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Who called us. The knowledge of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul talked about this in Philippians.

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Chapter 3. He said a prayer. That I may know Him. There's the knowledge.

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It's not about God. He's not saying I don't. Look. He's not talking about knowing about God.

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The Pharisees knew that. And they had a wrong view of God. That I may know

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Him intimately. That's what he's saying. That I may know Him and who He is. And to do that we got to spend time with Him.

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We got to spend time with Him on our knees. And spend time in the Word of God. You any wonder why the church is in trouble today?

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People don't spend time before God and knowing Him in the book. And I tell Teresa all the time.

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I said it's in the Bible. It's right there. That I may know

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Him. And what does he say? In the power of His resurrection. Paul had a desire to know

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Him personally. In His power of His resurrection. And the fellowship of His sufferings.

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You're not going to get the power unless you get the fellowship of His sufferings. You're not going to get the power of God unless we have the purity.

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The cleansing. That's where the power flows. Makes me think of a drain.

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If a drain gets clogged up in a pipe. There's no flow. There's no water flow.

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It has to be a clean flow. And you got to unclog it. Unclog it.

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And the water flows through it. That's the way it is with God's power and purity. The power of that water goes through those channels itself.

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Through that pipe. It cannot be clogged up. I think that's our problem today.

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We're all clogged up. We need to be unclogged so the water flows through.

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With power. The power of His resurrection. And the fellowship of His sufferings. Being conformed to His death.

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That was His prayer. That was His desire. That I may know Him in the power of His resurrection.

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The fellowship of His sufferings. What a prayer. Knowledge of God and our

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Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we can imagine in our spiritual life. And God is a believer. And our pilgrimage to the kingdom of God is right here.

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One verse. And by the way. The one verse that the Puritans preached more than any other verse in the

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Bible. Was John 17 3. You know it. That's it. This is eternal life.

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Or some translation says life eternal. Same thing. That they. Who's He saying?

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They. He's speaking of His people. His people that He has elected.

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His people that are specially given this grace. That they may know You. The only true

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God. This is Jesus. And Jesus Christ. As far as I know of. You can check me on this. It's the only time that Jesus mentions

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His name in a prayer. And Jesus Christ whom you have sent. That one verse right there.

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Those who know God through Jesus Christ personally. Intimately. Have eternal life.

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Didn't Jesus say it? He said. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life.

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There is no other way. There's no other truth. There's no other life.

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To get to God. One preacher put it this. I am the way. Without Him there's no.

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Knowing. Or going. I am the truth. Without Him there's no knowing.

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I am the life. Without Him there's no growing. That's an absolute by the way.

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That Jesus when He said that. That's an absolute. He is the way.

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The truth. And the life. That's our message. Jesus Christ. Only way to God.

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Is through Jesus Christ. Marvelous relationship to be born again in the spirit of God.

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Is it not? Brother Keith mentioned about John chapter 4.

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Let me briefly mention to you about John chapter 3. A Pharisee.

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A religious scholar. If you don't mind. A man of the

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Pharisees comes to Jesus by night. Asking Him questions. He didn't want to be seen did

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He? He asked Him questions. And the first thing He says about. He starts talking about Jesus' miracles.

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Jesus didn't take the flattery. Jesus gets right to the core of His heart problem.

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John 3 .3. Jesus answers Him. And said unto Him. Most assuredly or verily, verily.

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In other words what He's saying is. Amen, Amen. He says His Amen before He says something. Because He is the

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Amen. He says. Verily, verily I say to you. Unless one is born again from above.

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He cannot see the kingdom of God. Verse 5. Jesus answers

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Him again. Verily, verily I say unto you. Unless one is born of the water. And of the spirit.

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He cannot enter into the kingdom of God. You can't see it. And you can't even enter into it. Must be born again.

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This is the message we must hear today. This is where. We must come back to the foundations.

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Which is crumbling. The foundations. This is the foundation. Jesus Christ. And then He speaks about being born of the spirit of God.

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Verse 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit.

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I think what Jesus is saying here is that. You born of the flesh. You was first born. We're here.

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We're in the flesh. In person. Jesus says that reality. Must be. As true in the spirit as it is in the flesh.

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What is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Then you're born of the spirit. In other words what

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He's saying. You got to be twice born. Do not marvel. That I said to you.

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You must be born again. Wow. I cannot hear that enough.

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This is the message we are to give to the world. You must be born again.

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The word marvel means don't be surprised. This is the way into the kingdom.

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This is the way right here. You must be born. Of the spirit of God. Beloved that's how we receive the knowledge of God.

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That's how we receive the knowledge of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It's real to us.

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Aren't you glad? It is that knowledge of God that brings us near to God. Not just knowing about God.

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Anybody can know about God. Just read the facts. Anybody can learn how to do the system. Anybody can put all the facts in their head.

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But you got to know God with a knowledge in your heart. With the heart man believes unto righteousness.

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The heart is the problem. Is that not the problem of this world? Why that 18 year old went to that school and gunned down all those children?

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It's not a gun problem. And I'm not getting political. Let's look at it. It is a heart issue.

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Take away the guns. Timothy Mubay found a way to kill as well without guns.

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He took fertilizer. That's a heart problem folks.

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And this man was executed. And he said he would do it again right before he was executed. The hardness of a conscience is right to hell.

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Right to the way of hell. And that's what happened. And I'm saying all that. And I'm being frank as I can be to the scriptures.

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Way before guns was invented Cain killed Abel. It's hearts.

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It's the hearts. We must tell people you must be born again.

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I'm telling you folks. Tell everybody in your family. Tell your friends. You must be born again.

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Well let's go to the third point. As His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.

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Now the only thing I want to really focus in on here is we looked at the word knowledge.

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That knowledge comes through God by God. The knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. I do want us to look at, before I go to this, what it means that has called us by glory and virtue.

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I want to look at the calling. The one more thing I want to mention about knowledge and I must bring this out to you.

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Go with me to Matthew chapter 7 and you know where I'm going on this. This is all important.

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I'm telling you. We can know all about God but we must know God. We must know

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Jesus. Notice what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount. Preached by the greatest preacher that ever lived.

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Greatest sermon that ever been preached. I can assure you of that. Look at what

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He says in verse 19. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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By their fruits you will know them. Know them. That's the key word.

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Know them. Verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, and this is on Judgment Day folks,

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Lord, Lord. They even call Him Lord. Shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus just talked about how you can enter into the kingdom of God.

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You must be born again. So obviously a lot that's going to be standing before God here are not born again.

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And He says shall not enter the kingdom of God but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.

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Many will say to me in that day. That's the day of judgment. Many. Many. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?

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In other words, they're ministers. They preached. We cast out demons in your name.

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They were able to cast out demons. That doesn't mean they're a child of God. Just because they preached doesn't mean they're a child of God.

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Done many wonders in your name. That doesn't mean they're a child of God. You say this in most charismatic churches today, they'll look at you crazy and say, what are you talking about?

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These are signs and wonders by God. See, that's why Jesus told Nicodemus, you must be born again.

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Don't look at the miracles. Excuse me. What does

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He say? All those that made that profession, Jesus has a profession. And then

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I will declare to them. Notice this, what He says. This is the most terrifying words in the

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Bible. I never knew you. I never knew you. In other words, they've never been born again in the first place.

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They've never been in the kingdom of God in the first place. I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

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This is how Jesus concluded a sermon. And then

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He talks about, you hear my words? Who does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

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And He gives a beautiful illustration, a very sobering illustration about two houses.

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One that's built on sand, one that's built on the rock. The foundation. The foundation must be in knowing

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Him. In faith, not about Him. A preacher,

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I'm telling you, a preacher can have all the books, theology books, and know all about God.

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And not know Him. It's terrifying. Judas earned all of his sermons.

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He went to hell. He kissed. He kissed Christ. He went to hell.

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Back to 2 Peter. Notice. Through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, this knowledge is given by grace through faith.

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Theologically, God's call comprises two aspects.

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I want to minister to you on this in my closing. There's the general call, and the effectual call.

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Theologian Charles Horn says to find two aspects as follows. Notice what he says.

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Quote. The general call of God is which comes through the proclamation of the gospel.

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It is a call which urges sinners to accept salvation. As Jesus said in John 7, 37, on the last day, the great day of the feast,

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Jesus stood and cried aloud, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

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Could you imagine just sitting there on the day of the feast? Jesus cries out with a loud voice. If anyone is thirsty, come to me.

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It's a general call. This message, which is, as Horn says, which is the authoritative proclamation, not optionally debated, contains three essential elements.

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Listen to this. Number one, it is a story of historical occurrences and historical proclamation.

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Christ died, was buried, rose, 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4.

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Two, it is an authoritative interpretation of these events.

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A theological evaluation. Christ died for our sins. Three, it is an offering of salvation of whosoever will, an ethical summons to repent and believe.

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This is the external general call. He goes on to say, the general call is to be freely and universally offered.

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Jesus came up and said, full authority, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go then and make disciples to all nations.

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And then he goes into the effectual call. That's the general call. The effectual call is efficace.

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It's effectual. It's effective, in other words. It always has results and accompanies the external proclamation of the gospel.

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First is the general call. Then God has, what I like to say is, to all peoples, we preach to whosoever will, then

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God with the effective call, the effectual calling, gets his person, gets his elect.

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It is invested with the power to deliver one of the divinely intended destination.

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Thank you, Keith. John Murray says this, and I've been reading. I'm gonna try to get everybody a book by John Murray.

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Redemption accomplished and applied. I'm telling you, if you ever read that book, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

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I gotta get this sand out of my throat. Thank you.

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John Murray says this, it is very striking, listen to this, it is very striking that in the

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New Testament, the terms for calling, when used specifically with the reference to salvation, are almost uniformly applied, not to the universal call of the gospel, but to the call that ushers men into the state of salvation, and is therefore effectual.

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You see what he's saying? In other words, you could back that up with Scripture, Romans 8, 30, whom he did predestinate, them he also called.

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Romans 11, 29, for the gifts, and then also, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

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In other words, they come in. We give the proclamation of the gospel, it's to whosoever will.

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Then, the effectual call. Fourth, we see, by which is given to us exceedingly great and precious promises.

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And I'm gonna end with this, with an application. You think of this, listen to the verse of Scripture.

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Verse 4, by which we have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers.

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Now listen to this, partakers of the divine nature. Aren't you glad that you are partaker of God's holiness today?

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Unless you've been born in the spirit of God, the spirit of God has given us this faith, God has given us this faith.

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Isn't it wonderful? The more you study this, the more you realize that it's all of God. How people can deny this, it just blows my mind.

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Because it attacks the pride of man, really. Notice with me these words in that verse.

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And let this really minister to you. Look at verse 1b, to those who have obtained.

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Verse 2, grace and peace be multiplied to you. Verse 3, as His divine power has given.

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Given to us all things. Verse 4, by which have been given to us.

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That through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. Notice those words, to you has given.

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To us has been given to us. God does it all, and He gives it.

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Again, it's not our giving, it's God's giving. God's gracious giving.

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He didn't have to, but He did. He did it with love and grace.

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Through Jesus Christ our Lord, none other. All in Jesus. All these riches have been given to us, all because Christ died on the cross, folks.

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Depart from that, you've got no gospel. Romans chapter 8, verse 31 -32.

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And I'm going to close with this. Go with me there, please. You know where I'm going. Romans 8, oh my goodness.

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Oh, praise God. Paul says, what then shall

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I say to these things? And all he's talking about, what he just mentioned, this is a hymn, this is a song.

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And he's talking about all these things. He's talking about the trials, the tribulations, that he speaks of.

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Well, he goes to that anyway. But what things is he talking about?

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Moreover, whom he predestined. He marked out, in other words, God handpicked, whom

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He has called, He also justified. See, the calling, that's the effectual calling, folks.

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And whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things?

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If God is for us, who can be against us? And here's the verse that really just nails me and humbles me to the dirt.

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He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall

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He not with Him, with Him, also freely give us all things?

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That is glorious. Let me elaborate just a little bit in closing on this, okay?

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Paul's making a point here in the text, and he's basically saying, would God do less for His children than He did for His enemies?

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God spared not His Son, His one and only Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How will

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He not also with Him freely give? That word freely give is wonderful because it basically means to bestow out of grace.

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Paul used this word to speak of forgiveness. Every sin the believer commits when it's accompanied by true repentance, present through the grace of God and the atonement,

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God freely forgives. He freely forgives. God does not, does this,

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I'm sorry, He does this to whatever is necessary to complete the purpose

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He is in choosing us. God chose us. Verse 29,

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For these, those, in verse 29, those whom He foreknew, He also predestined, a choice that God made out of His free sovereign love on us and established an intimate relationship with us.

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He also predestined us to become conformed to the image of Christ.

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That is God's goal for us. Ephesians 1, 4 and 5,

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Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. This is mind boggling. That we would be holy.

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Did you see that? That we will be holy. We would be holy and blameless before Him in love.

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He predestined us to the adoption of His sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the kind intention of His will.

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His kind intention of His will. To the praise of the glory of His grace, which

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He freely, there it is, freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Freely bestowed.

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Verse 7, In Him we have the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, trespasses according to the riches of His grace.

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See, there it is. The riches of His grace. I love Paul's language here.

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It's the Holy Spirit. God has riches of His grace. Marvelous grace of our loving

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Lord. Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt. Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured, there where the blood of the

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Lamb was spilled. Grace, grace. God's grace.

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Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace.

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Grace that is greater than all our sin. What a wonderful, glorious truth.