Sunday, April 2, 2023 PM

Michael is gonna rest his voice and so you are stuck with me, you get me, I'm it. As I tell the guys at the Grace Rescue Mission when I walk in they say, are you gonna preach tonight? I said, well you'll find out when it's over.

Let's pray. Father, I again I thank you for your great love and mercy and I thank you that we have your word so readily available that we can open your word anytime and get a word from you. What a blessing and I thank you for Michael and I pray that you continue to minister comfort, strength, and healing in Jesus' name, amen.

The Divine Power and Promises of 2 Peter 1

I turn in your Bibles to 2nd Peter chapter 1. I'm gonna start reading at verse 3 and the section I'm gonna read has a section on justification and a section on sanctification. Verse 3, 2nd Peter chapter 1.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. That word excellence you may have translated in your Bible as virtue.

By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

For this very reason, at this point, okay, at this point the text changes from a description of what God has done for us, okay, to a description of what he expects from us, okay, to a description of how the Spirit works in us to bring about this work of sanctification, okay.

Let's go back over this section one more time to see this is the work of God in our lives. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Paul would say this, you know, that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ and the heavenly places, okay.

All things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and virtue. He called us, we didn't call him. By which he has granted, again, he has granted to us his precious and very great promises.

And you can read all about those promises in the New Testament in Ephesians chapters 1, 2, and 3, which is a very good description of those blessings that God has blessed us with. Those promises, great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, or as Paul would say, the Apostle Paul, we have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father, or as the Apostle John would say, we are born of the Spirit, born again.

To all who received him, to all who believed in his name, he gave the authority to become children of God who are born not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but born of God. Partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire for this very reason, for this very reason that God has done these things for us, brought us to the new birth, gave us his life, okay.

We now have the two natures, the old and the new, the flesh and the spirit, okay. At this, okay, he says for this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, okay. I want you, let's see, I want you to notice it says to make every effort.

Now this is, well when I get around to it I'll take care of it, or well I just don't feel like it right now, or I'll get to it. No, make every effort. For this reason, because God has brought you to the new birth through his son the Lord Jesus, okay, and you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, born, okay, to the kingdom, born to the family of God.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, okay. You see it started out with faith, and when the Bible speaks of faith, it's faith in Christ. It's always faith in Christ.

When the Bible speaks of faith, it's faith in Christ, and it's a very good synonym for this is trust. It's trust in Christ. It's dependency on Christ. It's leaning on Christ. It's relying on Christ, okay.

It's trust. Add to this trust, okay. Supplement this faith in Christ with virtue, okay. Virtue. Virtue is attaining or aiming, having a moral standard. A moral standard, okay. Virtue. A person of virtue is a person who lives according to a moral standard.

Virtue. It's the collection of a group of characteristics. It's the development of a character, okay, that's built around a group of virtuous character traits. They are listed in a number of places by Paul in Galatians, the fruit of the Spirit.

You know those? Okay. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control. They are listed by Paul in Colossians chapter 3, you know. They are listed by Paul in Ephesians chapter 4 and 5.

They are listed in Romans. John speaks of these characteristics, okay. They are the characteristics of Christ himself, the character of Christ, okay. These virtues, okay, are the character of Christ. They are, for example, humility, compassion, meekness, patience, long-suffering, forgiveness, okay.

Love. These, you know, these are the virtues, okay, that Peter is speaking of here. Add to your faith these virtues. Add to your faith the character of Christ. This is your goal. Aim for this, okay. Add to your faith virtue, the character of Christ, and virtue with knowledge.

You see, we start out with faith and this is faith in Christ. For by grace are you saved. Where is this? Where is it? Ephesians. For by grace are you saved through faith and that, not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, right?

Faith, faith in Christ. James, the brother of Jesus, would say, don't forget verse 10. Add to your faith virtue, the character of Christ. Add to your virtue or supplement virtue with knowledge. Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Put on my yoke and learn of me. I think that's 11, 28, and 29 and I want to look at now Philippians chapter 3, knowledge of Christ. There's no better place to look at this knowledge of Christ than Philippians chapter 3.

Paul speaks of this knowledge. This is not knowledge about something or knowledge about some person. This is not knowledge as an acquaintance. This is intimate knowledge, okay? Here's a description of it.

Philippians chapter 3. I'm going to start with verse 4. Though I myself, this is the Apostle Paul, have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.

Circumcised on the eighth day of the, circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law of Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Had every reason to think he was saved, if you will. Verse 7. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss. Now listen to this. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Or as the psalmist would say, there is nothing on earth I desire besides you and there's no one in heaven but you. For his sake I've suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. The righteousness from God that depends on faith. You see, that's where we start. Faith. That I may know him.

That I may know him. We're speaking of knowledge of Christ here. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. You see, this is not an acquaintance.

This is just not knowledge of a person. This is an intimate knowledge of Christ. That by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or I'm already perfect, but I press on.

Okay, he's making every effort. Okay, you get the picture here? I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Wow, when I read that I think of, there's a couple of verses in the Song of Solomon, you know, in the Old Testament where the bride says to the bridegroom, my beloved is mine and I am his.

And she says that again, but this time she says it just a little different. She says, I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. You see, she just switches them. My beloved is mine and I am his. And five chapters later she says, I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.

You see, she's come to realize the importance of this bridegroom making her his own. You know, as much as she may think that he is mine, okay, she has come to the understanding that the reason I am his is because he has made me his own.

That's what Paul says here, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own but one thing I do, one thing have I required of the Lord, one thing have I asked of the Lord that I may dwell in his house all the days of my life and gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and meditate in the temple.

One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on, I make every effort toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way.

You see, this is mature Christianity. This is mature faith, okay. This is faith that's growing, it's maturing, okay. And these are the thoughts of a mature Christian, one who has grown a little and has, you know, come to realize just how much Christ has done for me, just how much God in Christ has done for me, the knowledge of Christ.

Back to 2 Peter, okay. Back to 2 Peter. This is the knowledge that he's speaking of, okay. Supplement your faith with virtue and your virtue with knowledge and your knowledge with self-control. Self-control.

Now there is a word. Have you got it? I'll tell you, if you do have it, okay, if you do have it, it's because it's not under self-control. You see, Christian self-control only occurs when the Holy Spirit's in control, right.

You see what I'm saying here? It says we're in the New Testament here. We're in the realm of sanctification and God has indwelt us by his Spirit and as his Spirit works in us, okay, we become, if you will, in control as we are obedient to the Spirit, okay.

That's a New Testament self-control. Now this is related to another word that's usually translated, normally translated, meekness, okay. Now the two words are different but believe me, they're related, okay.

A Christian self-control means that we are under the control of the Holy Spirit. That's the only way we're in control. Now this word meekness, like I said, it comes from a different Greek word, okay, but the concept is the same.

Here's what it means. Meekness. The Greek word for meekness is the same Greek word used for a horse that is broken. Now you know the difference between a horse that's not broken and is broken, okay. One is wild and one is under the control of a rider.

Now a horse is a powerful animal. As a matter of fact, we use that word to express power, right? Horsepower. So many horsepower. If you buy a lawnmower, it's got so many horsepower and it takes, you know, breaking a horse is not an easy job, okay.

But when a horse is broken, okay, it's now under the control of somebody else. Before a horse is broken, all of his strength is under the control of the mind, the will that says, I can do whatever I want.

After this horse is broken, okay, the mind and the will of the horse are now under the control of somebody else. The strength of the horse over here is X. The strength of the horse over here is still X, but it's under the control of someone else.

Now you see how that word meekness is related to this word self-control now. You see that? At one point, you were living with the mind and the will that said, I'll do whatever I want. And under the control of the Holy Spirit, you now say, like Christ, I desire to do your will, right?

That's what he means here. Self-control. Under the control of the Holy Spirit. And self-control, okay, this self-control, part of our growth in sanctification, growth in Christ, like meekness. Self-control, and after that comes steadfastness.

Don't give up. Steadfastness. The word picture here is a person who is burdened under a heavy load and keeps going. That's the picture here. No matter what happens, okay, we're focusing on Christ, we're headed for glory, and nothing is going to sidetrack us.

We're headed for glory with our focus on Christ. Steadfastness. Hebrews chapter 3, Christ, verse 6, is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting and our hope.

And then down in verse 13, exhort one another every day as long as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin for we share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

And the picture here is, you know, we're traveling together and we are encouraging one another, you know, to follow after Christ. I see him up ahead. Come on, let's go. You know, we encourage one another to keep going.

And in chapter 6, verse 11, and we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness. That is, you know, how did Peter put it again? Make every effort, okay? We desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

That is, those who make it to the end, okay? Through faith and patience, okay? Through steadfastness. We will not give up. And by the way, don't forget, for this very reason, remember, as we move from what God has done for us to what God is expecting of us, okay, he says for this very reason, okay, we can be steadfast.

The Holy Spirit is the seal upon us, you know, to make sure that we make it to the end, okay? Add to your steadfastness godliness. That Greek word is, it basically means the right attitude towards God, okay?

The Greeks use it just to mean the right attitude towards the gods that they served. Right here it means for us to have the right attitude towards God. You see, after he saved us, after he justified us, he is now our father.

Well, what does a father expect of his children? Obedience. How about that? Obedience. Now, this has nothing to do with relationship, okay? That was established with justification, right? We're his children, okay?

But now he expects us, you know, to have not only a relationship with him that he brought us into, okay, he expects us to have the right attitude towards him as father. And fundamentally, that means obedience.

Fundamentally, that means obedience. It means to have the right attitude towards God, to be grateful for him for what he's done for us. As we grow up in his family, he continues to provide the needs that we have, right?

He continues to minister to us. He continues to encourage us. He continues to forgive us, right? And so, we should be a grateful people. You know, that should be our attitude towards our father. This godliness is the right attitude towards our father, towards God, okay?

That's godliness. With, okay, this godliness, supplement this with brotherly love. It's an interesting word. It's the name of a city here in America. I mean, if you saw this word in Greek, you could read it and it would say Philadelphia.

Brotherly love, philo and delphos, okay? Brotherly love. We should, as Michael has reminded us over and over, okay, remember the diagram he puts up here, you know, with the arrows going up, you know, our attitude towards God, and then the ones going out this way, which is what?

Our relationship to one another, okay? If this one's right, this one's right, okay? And then we also are supposed to be good stewards of the earth, right? Okay? Here, it speaks of this brotherly love, you know, love one another.

That's it, okay? Michael's been teaching us on the Ten Commandments. I'm looking forward, you better be ready next week. We're still on two or number three? Okay, he says he's talking with his fingers now, okay?

Number three. There's one more. Jesus gave one commandment. Jesus gave one commandment. What is it? Not it. That's a good answer. He gave a new commandment. He gave a new commandment, one commandment only.

That's it. A new commandment I give you, love one another. That's it. The one commandment, brotherly love. And lastly, it's, what is it? What's the last one? Add to your brotherly affection love, okay?

This is, you probably recognize this Greek word, right? Agape. That's the love that God has for us. And as we grow in sanctification, as God works on us, that kind of love, okay? The brotherly love, okay?

You know, the brotherly love, you know, it has some limitations. You know, we're still, it's almost time to quit, okay? And we're also almost at the end, just to let you know. Like I said, this brotherly love, since we are of two natures, okay?

And we're still learning, still growing. Sometimes it gets turned off. You know, I'll love you if you love me. I'll be nice to you if you're nice to me. You know what I'm saying, you know? And at some point, you know, this person that we have brotherly love for, you know, they will cross the line and do something that will change, you know, how we feel towards them, okay?

Now that's not the kind of love that God has. I mean, you tell me this, is there anything you can do to make God stop loving you? Absolutely not. He is love. He is love. And his love is a, you know, it's one way.

It doesn't depend on anything coming back, okay? So that's this kind of love, okay? So we can move from here to here. And this is the picture, okay, that Peter gives us, if you will, of sanctification, alright?

And he says, listen, supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly love, and brotherly love with the love of God, okay?

And I hope you see this, you know, it's sequenced, okay, ordered, okay, but there's no reason at all why it can't be in parallel. Now, you know, what I mean by that is you don't have to go directly from here to here to here, you know, you can go from here to here, or from here to here, or from here to here, you know.

Think about this, as you focus on Christ and you go through life day by day, you know, these characteristics are being worked on in you by the Holy Spirit, and it's our job just to cooperate with Him as He makes us after the image of Christ.

Any questions? Okay, thank you. Let's pray. Father, again, how blessed we are to have these promises, that you will work within us to make us after the image of Christ. Help us to be grateful for all your promises.

Help us to be grateful for your Son, the Lord Jesus, who gave us His life, gave up His life to give us His life. Help us to live for your glory. Help us to live in such a way that Christ might be reflected in our character, that Christ might be glorified, and that His kingdom would come, and your will would be done here on earth as it is in heaven.

And I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.