[0:00] Bible is going to the book of 2 Peter. 2 Peter, we will pick up where we left off last Sunday, which we did not get very far. And then we will pray.
[0:35] The Word of God says, Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence.
[1:07] For by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
[1:21] Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the glorious opportunity we have of gathering together, the lifting up of our voices in song, the giving of our offerings and tithes, Lord, the worship that we can have through fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ, the encouragement that it can be in the gathering of the saints.
[1:45] But Father, we come now and we thank you for the reading of your Word. We thank you that we have the privilege and the opportunity to see it, to hear it.
[1:55] And Lord, now we ask that by the presence of your Spirit that you would help us to understand it. May the Word of God be the very tool and the instrument that you use to form and fashion us to become the people that you have called us to be.
[2:09] Lord, may you continue to move in our hearts and minds, and may we have the willingness to live it out for your glory and honor. And we ask it all in Jesus' name.
[2:20] Amen. You may be seated. As Peter is writing this letter to the church, we get the intended audience, as we said last week, in 1 Peter.
[2:32] In the first verses of 1 Peter, we'll see that he is writing to the saints that were scattered abroad. And he is writing to the believers in Christ.
[2:42] Here in this second letter, he is writing for an intended purpose. And the intended purpose is to strengthen those saints which are dispersed, as he refers to them in 1 Peter 1 and following.
[2:54] Those who are dispersed among the region of the world in which Peter was living and the early believers were living. And now, in 2 Peter, he is reinforcing those believers, and he is encouraging them for the sole purpose of being able to resist false teachers and false doctrine.
[3:15] The majority of 2 Peter will focus on just that, false doctrine and false teachers. He will highlight for them what they look like. He will highlight some of their teaching.
[3:26] But before he focuses on that which is false, he really focuses his attention on that which is true. He introduces the saints to who they are.
[3:37] And he reminds them of who Christ is. He reminds us of our glorious position therein. And before we can resist that which is wrong, we need to have the sure foundation of that which is true.
[3:52] And we need to know exactly on which we stand. And it is for that purpose that Peter introduces his letter, reinforcing the foundation, if you will.
[4:02] He will go a little bit further as we continue on through verses 5 and following, and he'll give us some practical things that we can do. But before he gives us the things that we can do, and the steps that we can take, and we can add this to that, and add this to that, and all the practicals, and all the application, we must first understand what has already been done to us in Christ, apart from that which we can do.
[4:27] He has reminded us of the glories of our Savior, that he is both our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is fully divine and fully human.
[4:39] He relates to us as none other can. And because of the glorious position which he has, he has done that which nobody else can. He has positioned us in such a manner that we are fit and prepared to live in this life and to resist anything that may come against us.
[4:55] Here in the text before us, he gives us this understanding of the power that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. There is power that comes from knowing. There is the repeated refrain of knowledge.
[5:08] In their literal wording, it is the full knowledge, the full knowledge, and the full knowledge. These are things that are the result of fully knowing who Christ is. Too often, we want to know what the false teachers are, and what they teach, and how we can see them.
[5:24] But it is not until we have an understanding of the full knowledge of Christ, of who he is, and all that he has done in our lives, are we really positioned to resist that which is false, and that which attacks us?
[5:38] And here, Peter is writing that they may understand the power that comes from knowing Christ. Not that we will ever fully know him, for as Paul says, we will never be what we ought to be until that day when he makes us as he is, and we will see him face to face.
[5:56] There is always the unveiling of Christ before us as we live in relation to him, and we live closer to him. But there is power that comes from knowing Christ, power that transforms our life, power that does magnificent work.
[6:13] Peter speaks of that here, and he introduces it with two wonderful words. He says, grace and peace be multiplied to you. The very first thing that he longs for for the believers is that they may understand grace and peace.
[6:31] Not just understanding, but that it would be multiplied to them. Why? For it is here that we understand that by knowing Christ, there is a restoration. My text for the wedding service yesterday was found in Genesis 2, 15 and following.
[6:52] For those of you that know Genesis 2, you know that I stopped short of the end. There was a text that I left off, and I did not leave it off.
[7:02] I just didn't feel like it had application to what we were looking at in the gospel, but it has application for this morning. For the very last verse of Genesis 2 says, and the man and his wife were both naked and not ashamed.
[7:18] That is that man was completely exposed, that he was completely transparent before a holy God, and yet he was without shame. There was no shame, no hiding, no reproach.
[7:33] And we find out that the introduction of shame comes in Genesis 3, where man understands the knowledge of good and evil. And ever since that moment, man has walked in a perpetual shame, not wanting to be fully exposed, not wanting to be naked in the presence of a holy God, always trying to conceal that shame which we carry.
[7:56] But it is in Christ that we find a restoration of that, because it tells us that grace and peace can be multiplied to us. He says, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of our Savior and of Jesus our Lord.
[8:15] He is longing that they will come to the full knowledge of Jesus so that grace and peace. It is grace that restores us, and it is peace that is a product of that restoration.
[8:26] The reality that no longer do we have to be in shame in the presence of a holy God, for we have been forgiven, we have been renewed, we have been cleansed, and we have been fully clothed.
[8:39] We are now unashamed in his presence. And when we know Christ, we understand the reality that now we have experienced grace, grace brings a natural byproduct of peace, because we are at once restored to a right relationship and living at peace with the Holy One, no longer in conflict, no longer pushing about, and no longer wrestling with what man's natural desire to be.
[9:10] Man was created for one purpose, to walk in obedience and fellowship with the Lord God Almighty and to enjoy him all of his days. And we cannot do that apart from grace.
[9:22] And we do not know peace apart from that restoration. And in knowing Christ, we have both. Peter says they can be multiplied to you, that grace upon grace upon grace and peace upon peace upon peace.
[9:36] One thing that I long for for believers that they would never get over grace. Brothers and sisters, don't ever get over grace. It is by the grace found in Jesus Christ that we are restored to have a peace with the Lord God Almighty in all of his perfect holiness, for he is holy, holy, holy.
[9:59] And we live at peace with him through knowing Jesus Christ. And Peter says that we are restored not because of anything we have done, but because of the one that we know, because of the one who has called us, because much of the false teaching that Peter will bring about here, Paul refers to it elsewhere in his writings.
[10:22] Paul and Peter both are highlighting that most of the false teaching says that you have to do something, you have to do something, you have to do something. You have to obey this festival or not eat this or do that or do all these things.
[10:33] And Peter tells us here that we have grace and peace through the one we know, the full knowledge of Jesus Christ. We see this restoration brings about a magnificent work.
[10:47] When we understand it through grace, we now have peace. We are no longer wrestling nor working nor trying to do it. Man is forever seeking peace. Man is always trying to find contentment in his life and longing to find something that will restore that natural calling that is only there in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
[11:08] And when we live in that restoration, all of a sudden, we know that we are in a right relationship with the Lord God and we understand that we are his and he knows us and he accepts us and he calls us and we find a brand new motivation.
[11:21] Look at what the word of God says. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Here it is. Look at this. Seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.
[11:38] Too many people, I believe that if we tell them that if you walk with Jesus Christ, this is what your life is going to look like. There's an overwhelming sense of inability.
[11:50] I can't do it. There's no way. I can't give that up. I can't do that. I can't. There's no way I could do that for the battle within me is too strong. The battle within me is too great.
[12:01] And we lose all motivation for we try to motivate ourselves by picking ourselves up by our own bootstraps and saying, well, let me do a better job and when I get my act together and when I clean myself up and it's all focused on self.
[12:14] Friend, listen, there is nothing within you nor within me that could ever lead us to a life of godliness. Nothing. For the heart of every man is desperately wicked.
[12:26] We may not like to hear it and we may not like to consider it, but it is the truth of the word of God that that which was within us will never lead us to godliness.
[12:38] I've said it before that if anyone had ever told me before I came to Christ, maybe if they'd have told me the moment I came to Christ, you know, Billy Joe, in 20 years, your life is gonna look like this. I said, there's no way.
[12:49] I can't do it. I can't do it. There are things I can't give up. There are things that I'll never do. There are things that I'll never surrender for they are me to the very core of my being. They're me. You can't change that.
[13:02] That's who I am. And yet now I look back and I'm 25 years removed from salvation, 25 years from knowing Christ and I see things that he's changed I never thought he would change.
[13:14] I've seen personalities that he's adopted that I never thought he would do. There's formations in my life that I never thought would happen. Well, how have I done it? How does anyone do it?
[13:26] How do we seek to live a life of godliness? We don't find it within ourselves and sure we can surround ourselves by godly people but you know what I have found? Everyone I've surrounded myself with has problems of their own.
[13:39] Have you ever noticed that? That we're all messed up people. We all have problems and if we're looking for a perfect model beside us we will never find them.
[13:49] We will find people who may struggle in differing ways than us and different aspects than us but we don't find our motivation from one another but it tells us look at what it says in the word that his divine power it is his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.
[14:15] All that we need to live godly is found in Christ and it is his divine power it's not our power it's not our ability it's not our effort everything is in Christ why do we need to seek to know him more and more because there's more that he wants to do in our life there's more that he wants to work out there's more that he wants to form and fashion and all that we need to live godly is found in Christ it's not Jesus plus something it's not Jesus plus that it is Jesus all the way he is all we need for life and godliness you say oh praise God I don't need the church wait a minute that's the bride of Christ you don't throw the bride out and try to cling to the groom the two have become one and Christ is manifested in his bride the church through his people but when you come together together and we come to meet here and we come together as a church listen we're not coming to encounter one another
[15:22] I appreciate the encounters I have with everyone that I meet and I appreciate the fellowship that I can enjoy and I appreciate the communion that we can experience with one another and the community that's there I'm not seeking to belong somewhere I belong because we know someone there's a big difference there right so we're not just seeking to be a part of something we gather together so that we can meet together and the Savior can meet us there too for two or more gather together I am there as well we are benefited we are benefited by one another but we're not only here for one another I'm here for what you bring to the table that is you bring a part of Christ with you and the presence of the Spirit in your life ministers to the presence of the Spirit in my life and all of a sudden we are formed and fashioned as a body together and we meet Jesus with one another and he encounters us and he shapes us and godliness becomes a byproduct of true fellowship and iron sharpening iron because if you put two of us together anywhere else apart from Jesus it means nothing apart from Jesus if we're just friends hey we're just friends and we may become better at a lot of things but we'll never become more godly apart from Christ for he alone is the motivation for all that we need for life and godliness is found in him and he is our true source as we know Christ and the power of knowing him this leads to a wonderful transformation that we would dare not say if the text did not tell it to us the word of God tells us here in the text before us that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining everything pertaining to life and godliness here it is through the true knowledge of him so we have it through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence who called us by his own glory and excellence and then he transitions for by these that is what by what by his glory and his excellence for by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises if you read the word of God do you know what Christ has promised you that those promises have an outcome and the outcome is a wonderful transformation so that by them those precious and magnificent promises the very promises of the word of God it is a reality that every promise found in scripture is connected to those who know
[18:07] Jesus Christ that's why it's so difficult on pastors to preach the funeral of a non-believer when you look at a text and you say well that doesn't apply here this doesn't apply here this doesn't apply here because you can't pick and choose text and make it you can't speak it into existence in an individual's life you understand that the promises found in the word of God are for those who know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior you don't name it and claim it they are magnificent and glorious promises provided to you through his power and by them it tells us by these promises we are partakers of the divine nature we are transformed from the human nature to be partakers of the divine nature is one of the glorious promises that we find in the book of Revelation in the letters to the seven churches Jesus says and to he who overcomes
[19:07] I will grant him that he will sit with me on my throne being partakers of the divine nature sitting on the throne exalted with him not taking his position but sitting with him on the throne we are in his presence just a couple of days ago the grandkids were over the house and I was busy I was mowing the yard I was outside trying to take care of a few things and I come in and Carrie and Braden are in there and there's four grandkids in there and so you know they're going crazy and everything's going wild and Carrie looks at me and she said Bennett is just so tired he just won't go to sleep so I just grabbed Bennett and I went and sat down and in about two and a half minutes he fell asleep she said how'd you do that I said well he just sat with me I don't know but I love it when they're little and they'll sleep with me I said he just wanted to sit down you're too busy I mean not that she was too busy you're chasing his sisters and everything else and he just wanted to sit with someone and he just sat down and that's the picture I get when Christ says you'll sit with me on my throne that's his throne it's his seat and he welcomes us in his arms to be partakers of the divine nature what a transformation in Christ those glorious promises that we find that we are no longer confined and constrained to this world through the flesh and blood that we have but there will be a day where this robe of flesh will cast and rise and join the everlasting prize right we'll be united with him and we'll be partakers of the divine nature found in Jesus Christ what power there is what power and friend all of these are a reality something that we can hold on to because of the liberation that has already taken place notice what the text says there at the end of verse 4 it says having escaped that is to be liberated to be set free from something that holds you bondage having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust the knowledge of Jesus Christ brings a great liberation you have escaped the corruption that is in the world here's a reality that we know no one has to tell us how bad things is or how bad things are even in our own life we don't need someone always to tell us how bad we are because there is something within us that knows there is this void that we understand our own wickedness our own corruption our own drudgery we understand the bad things we do by the power and presence of the spirit there is a conviction that reigns upon the world men suppress that conviction through a number of ways and people finally suppress it enough that there are those sure that it says that God gives them over to a debased mind so as to believe the lie and they are given over to the desires of their own flesh but before that they have to be given over because man knows the bad condition man understands the corruption we just know when something is wrong but what we don't know naturally what we need to know is how can we be free from it where can liberation be found where can I be set free from everything that I see in the world around me you're not set free by living differently than anyone else in the world you're not set free by being with the world because this world is not carrying you away to godliness we understand that much like when we read the book of Judges the world is in a downward spiral we're not doom and gloom people here we're just reality we understand it the word of God tells us that we don't look to get better by attaining to standards of this world but there is this
[23:08] natural inclination to lust and to long and to desire to the things of this world but then there is this wrestling that says this can't be it so the question is how can we be free from that and the text tells us that it is through knowing Christ having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust you know what is so magnificent about this knowing Christ is not only have we been set free for Christ sets the captives free but we are also free from lusting or longing and desiring the things of the world no longer do we have to say well everybody else is doing it I must do it or this is the path that I should take in Christ we can long for something more we can long for something greater we can long to know Christ and make him known he can be our ambition our desire it doesn't have to be the standards of the world the power of knowing
[24:15] Christ is now our lusts have changed our longings our desires have changed we don't have to desire what everyone else desires we can utilize it to pursue the one great desire of our life and that is to know Christ because the text tells us there is power in the full knowledge of Christ but there must first be an escape because until we have escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust through knowing Christ then that is where we will be confined to long for the things that the world longs after to seek the things that the world seeks after but in knowing Christ we are free my friend the question we must ask ourselves is have we experienced that power of knowing Christ have we been restored with grace and peace being multiplied is there a transformation that has taken place because we are motivated not by who we are but by who he is and have we really been set free from lusting and longing after the things of this world so that our desire our great desire our grand desire are the things of Christ here is the power of knowing Christ let's pray father we thank you for this day we thank you for your word and we thank you for the power that is therein and we pray that by the power and presence of your spirit that you would bring about the conviction or the comfort that is needed for the fulfillment of your promises and we ask it all in Christ's name amen you