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Bro. Otis Fisher
It opens with Peter telling us who he is, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained the precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our
Savior Jesus Christ. Simon Doulos Peter.
Joy, what does Doulos mean? You don't know.
Doulos. And you've been in my class, you've been in my class how long?
The word Doulos means Greek, it means servant. It's Greek for bond slave.
Simon Doulos Peter, a delegate, messenger sent forth with orders of Jesus Christ to them that have
Langano means allotted to them not by acquiring it for themselves, but by divine grace, an act independent of human control, equally precious, given by God to those of his choosing, very, very important, that have the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, my provider, bestower of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ with us through the state of him, the state of him who ought to be what he is, righteous, the condition acceptable of God, our
Savior Jesus Christ. So we have in that first verse who
Simon Peter was, a bond slave of Jesus Christ.
He was an apostle. He's writing to them that have obtained precious faith.
They obtained this by the will of God through Jesus Christ.
We belong to God, always belong to God, have never belonged to anyone else, and he gave all of us to Jesus the
Christ. Are there any questions concerning the first verse?
All right, moving on to the second verse. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
Savior. Grace and peace. Greg, why is grace always first?
That's right. The grace and peace being multiplied unto you through the eponosis, what's that mean,
Greg? All right, through the perfect, precise, and correct knowledge of God.
You can learn in no place else. Grace and peace increase with knowledge of God and Jesus the
Christ. If you want your grace and peace to increase, this is the place to do it.
Therefore study. I cannot emphasize that enough. Study.
It's God's knowledge that you're studying. Now, let me give you two statements, and Greg, you tell me the difference in these two statements.
It's God's knowledge. It is the knowledge of God, all right?
It is the knowledge of God that you learn. It is God's knowledge that we have.
The main purpose of the local church is to do what,
Virge? What's the purpose of the local church? To get what other people think.
To feel good. To be God -willing and kind.
To have a good relationship with God. To have a good relationship with the world.
All right, that's good. All right, we do that.
But Roger, what's the first purpose of the church? That's what it is.
Our main purpose is to edify the individuals. Now, the definition you two give come after that,
I hope. If they don't, we haven't edified. Now, you will all learn something this morning.
You will not all learn the same thing. But you cannot sit in the audience and not learn something.
If you've learned something, it's not me that's responsible. According to his, verse 3, according to his divine power, hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.
For his divine power has bestowed upon all of us all things that are required and suited to this life through the full personal knowledge of him who called us by and to his own glory and excellency and virtue.
We have no lack, but it takes wise management.
We cannot waste our substance and expect God to replace it. Now, listen real close.
It is by knowledge that we learn how to manage knowledge gained by study.
Let that soak in. It is by knowledge that we learn how to manage knowledge gained by study.
It all starts with study. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
This blessing may be expected by those who are continually escaping, fleeing from the corruption that is in the world.
The corruption that is in you, you can flee from it. Whereby we are given, it's given unto us all of the precious promises of God that we may be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
David, what is his divine nature? You've escaped it.
What is it? That's exactly right.
His nature is not ours. Our worldly way. This blessing may be expected by those who are continually escaping.
Now, Joy, I thought we had escaped. Have we not escaped the corruption of this world?
All right. Virge, who is it that has escaped?
Well, who is it that has literally escaped? Well, that's true, but there is another person who was right.
Those that are dead. Virge is trying to make it hard and difficult.
Yes, we will catch up. And besides this, giving all diligence add to your faith virtue and to the virtue knowledge to the knowledge temperance to the temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity.
Another word for charity is love. It's true that our most important Is it true?
Now listen close. Is it true that our most important business or objective in the world is to do all of the good that we can?
Greg, is that true? No. You mean you're not supposed to do good?
Let me read it again. Is it true that our most important business or objective in the world is to do all the good we can?
Greg says no. Well, the answer is no.
Well, if it's no, then what is our great business? Greg, what'd you say,
David? Roger, was it you that answered?
Greg? That's right.
Sure. That's right.
Our great business, and I say it again, is to do
God's will. We don't need to try to make it complicated.
We don't need to try to I have to learn all of this and all of this and then put it into practice.
Just do His will. Sure. Sure.
And so change through His Spirit into the image that we may be fit to live with Him forever.
Now, you're not going to heaven until you can do that. We're not to be idle or slothful in our work.
We do not live to eat, drink, and sleep. Do all unto
Christ. Now, let me go back. Starting with the question, is it true that our most important business or objective in the world is to do all of the good we can?
We don't know what's good, so we can't do good on our own. The answer is no. Our business is to do
God's will, and by doing His will, we're changed into His image that we may be fit to live with Him forever.
Little by little, day by day, minute by minute, we're changed. But being
God's will and doing God's will David, do you answer that?
Is there anybody in the world that has lived his life outside of God's will?
Everybody does what God wants done, mainly because He's already done it.
He decreed it, everything. Don't think that the
Hitlers and all of the unsaved people are going to heaven.
That's not what we're talking about. Being God's will is what you do.
Being in His will is for His saved only, to be in His will.
Any other questions? All right. For if these things be in you and abound, they make it you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he starts that statement with for if these things be in you, if these things, what does he mean,
Greg? Our soul.
We have that through the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Fred, where do we get the knowledge of Jesus Christ?
Well, from study, from that book you have. I hope you have the right one.
For things to be in you means that they have to be part of you. Is that right? To be part of you takes more than just reading or hearing it read.
There's no way to escape the study. But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Now, it is possible that you're a
Christian and you never study because studying is not a prerequisite for being a
Christian. You can be a Christian and not have verses 5 through 7.
You'll be idle, unknowledgeable of our Lord. Wherefore, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure.
For if you do these things you shall never fall. A better translation would be stumble instead of fall because you don't.
We fall away from something. You don't do that in your salvation. You stumble. But let's go back to this statement.
Wherefore, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure.
We are to make our calling. I am to make my calling sure.
Now, Roger, how do you do that? All right.
That is their own calling and election which Christians are called upon to make sure not someone else's now.
I'm not to have anything to do with your salvation. We must leave their case to God.
It is well to know our own. Now, you don't pass in and out of this.
He has given to us our salvation. We can make it known.
I think in this church, in this class, you know whether you're saved or not more than anybody else in the world.
You know it. Make your salvation to be known to you so that you will never again question the fact.
Now, David, how do we really know? How do we really make our salvation known to me?
How can I make it known? You know exactly how to do it.
You can go to the Word and read the whole Bible and verify it.
You know about all people. All right.
Once... Yes. Very good. Do you think it's going to be revealed to you as a
Bible? No. I was just fixing to mention that.
I don't know... I don't know where you learned that. Fred? That's right.
That's right. That's right.
Let me go back to what Virg was talking about. If you have learned anything in this class, if you read the
Bible and you can learn a spiritual truth, whether you're plowing or mowing the yard or reading the
Bible, if you can learn a spiritual truth, it was revealed to you by the
Holy Spirit. God will not reveal His Word to a lost sinner.
So you know you're saved. To me, that's the starting point.
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Your salvation does not depend upon you knowing these facts.
Is that true or not, Greg? That's true. But the abundant life does depend upon you knowing it.
Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of those things, though you knew them, and be established in the present truth.
Wherefore, I will not be negligent. What does negligent mean, Roger? Well, that's good.
Someone add negligent. All right.
To be careless, to be neglectful, we're not to be that way.
To put you invariably at any and every time when according to the circumstances sometime something is or ought to be done again.
Meaning of to put you always means all of the time in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established.
Established. What does that mean, Joy? Make stable, place firmly, set fast, fixed.
We are there in the present truth. Now, the reason
I go over and over so many things, and I don't go over enough, you're to teach them again until you get tired of hearing them.
Keep on teaching until you love it. Because after I'm gone, the only things you will remember are those things that we went over and over and over so many times.
13, yea, I think it meet. What's meet mean,
Joy? All right.
Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.
The word meet is used of him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God and who therefore needs no rectification in the heart or life.
As long as I am in this tabernacle, David, what's this tabernacle?
The human body is the dwelling place of our soul, our life.
To stir, arouse the mind, stir up, render active, to make it active, to put you in remembrance, knowing that shortly
I must put off this tabernacle even as our
Lord Jesus has shown me. So, Peter knew ahead of time that he was going to die.
We all know we're going to die. Peter didn't know just when and neither do
I. But he said, I must die very soon. Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance, to have these things.
Moreover, I will endeavor. Endeavor means to hasten, to make haste, to exert oneself, to give diligently that you may be able after my decease or departure to have these things always in remembrance.
To remember a thing or call to remembrance isn't memory wonderful?
What if we had no memory? Greg, what if you had no memory at all?
That's right, you would forget them as soon as you heard them. Memory is a
God -given, given blessing. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Now, we have not followed cunningly devised fables.
David, is there any of that going on today? Well, there is no mistake or doubt about the gospel.
No such fables as the myths of the Gentiles. The myths you learn today, you will think the truth unless you know the difference.
When we make known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, preached by coming into the world and the divine power of Christ, since the apostles were personal witnesses of Christ's glory, they know whereof they speak.
Peter says, I saw his glory. I saw his glory.
Now, David tells us when that happened. That's right.
What did the transfiguration do? He says,
Hear ye him. They had listened to the law up until then, but not anymore.
For he received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellency, excellent glory.
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
For he received from God the Father, honor and glory. He cites one scene that had witnessed where the divine glory rested upon Christ.
The glory of his transfiguration is the prophecy of the glory which will be received when
Christ comes. At the Mount of Transfiguration, Greg, they saw his what?
They saw the glorious body shining through the physical body.
It obliterated the physical body. And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the
Holy Mount. And this voice we heard that is himself.
James and John heard it. They saw the glory. For these only were the beholders on the
Holy Mount. It is where they remarked that our blessed
Lord who came to give a new law to mankind appeared on this
Holy Mount with splendor and great glory as God did when he came down Mount Sinai to give the old law.
And he gave it to Moses. And you remember Moses heard it and saw it.
The people heard the thunder. They saw the lightning. And David, the people wanted to go up on the mountain.
Is that right? I fear that we would experience some of that if he should speak in this room today.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart.
Now we have a more sure word of prophecy. What does that mean,
Virg? Well, he says we have right now.
We have also a also beside the Mount of Transfiguration we have also a more sure word of prophecy.
That certainly is true. Where unto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the return of Christ.
What is it that we take heed to today, David? Or it's a written word.
We have the word of God. This is God in print. Until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts.
And in each one of you he will arise.
In each one of you we are to keep his word until that day.
We have also a more sure word stable, fast, firm of prophecy.
Where unto you do well rightly so that there shall be no room for blame well, truly that you take heed.
Now taking heed means what, Greg? To apply oneself to.
Attach oneself to, hold or cleave to a person or thing as unto a light that shineth in a dark place to a lamp he likens it to the eye.
What does a light require? Dennis?
What does a light require? That's from one viewpoint.
Roger, what does the light require? Now, what did he say?
A recipient. The light requires a receiver. It's not light unless it's a receiver.
Now, you can receive it. Can a lost person receive it?
Oh, well, somewhat.
The prophets of the Old Testament did as much as they afforded and at least some knowledge relative to the glorious return of Jesus Christ from heaven until the daylight breaks through the darkness of night.
If there was no dark we would not see light and the day star or Christ arise in your hearts your heart, the soul or mind as it is the fountain and seed of the thoughts, passions, desires appetites, affections, purpose, endeavors.
Well, we have to stop. How much? We'll start with 20 next week.
Now, Greg, will you come pass these out, please?
I have here a project for you. I want you this week to work on this assign anything you want to it make it mean something because it does and that's all
I can tell you about it. No, you're to study, to describe write on it whatever you want but come back next week with this means to you something.
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... ... ... That's true.
Very true. Yes. Oh, God is so good.