Many people take great delight in trying out different restaurants in town.
Sometimes you can hear folks around church saying, "Let's get together, I have found a G-R-E-A-T restaurant!”
When a RESTAURANT serves good food, at a reasonable price the customers will keep coming back for more, even if they have to travel a long distance to get there.
The same thing is true for a CHURCH. When a church preaches and teaches the Word of God, people who are hungry for God’s Word, will be there every time the doors are open, ready to partake of what God has for them to enjoy, even if they have to travel a long way to get there.
Notice I said if people are HUNGRY FOR GOD’S WORD.
But those who are not hungry for the word of God will not walk across the street to hear the the preaching of God’s Word.
The preaching and teaching of God’s Word attracts people who are hungry for His Word.
God instructed Peter “feed my sheep.”
• In 1 Peter he FEEDS GOD’S PLEOPLE some delicious neutritional spiritual food that will cause CHRISTIANS to grow in the Lord.
• But now as we come to 2 Peter we come to receive some more spiritual food.
The food that Peter has served was nothing like what some restaurants serve. For example, have you ever been hungry for a good steak, and you went to a restaurant to get one, and the steak that you ordered was so tough that you could not eat it?
Illus: This reminds us of the story of a man and his wife who went to a steak house for a good steak. The waitress brought the man his steak, and he took one look at it and licked his lips, and got his utensils ready to eat. But:
• He sawed it
• He stabbed it
• He jabbed it
• He threatened it
But still he couldn't cut it.
He called the waiter and explained to him how tough the steak was.
The waiter examined the steak, and said, "Sir, I am sorry, but I can’t take it back, you've already bent it."
As we begin reading Peter's second letter, we immediately see two things.
There are several things in these two verses that we need to consider:
(1) WE NEED TO CONSIDER WHO HE IS ADDRESSING
Look at verse 1, “...to them that have obtained... " He is writing to Christians who have obtained salvation.
Illus: Can you imagine a postman sorting out his mail for delivery, and coming to an envelope with the words, “To Them That Have Obtained" written on the front of it? He would be confused, not knowing where he should deliver such a piece of mail.
WHAT IS PETER SAYING TO THE CHRISTIANS IN 2 PETER who have obtained?
Peter is saying that this letter is not for everyone, it is “...to them that have obtained like PRECIOUS FAITH with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. "
He makes it clear that these have obtained salvation.
How?
He says, “...through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
That is, he took our sins upon Himself on the cross of Calvary and we took His righteousness.
These who have “obtained” this precious faith through Christ are the ones he is addressing.
(2) WHAT IS HE WRITING TO THEM ABOUT?
He wants them to know that God the Father has some MORE GIFTS that He wants to bestow upon them after salvation.
You see what many christians do not know after they have obtained salvation through grace there is more gifts God give them to cause them to grow in the Lord.
We might wonder why many who attend church never grow in the Lord. That is in 20 or 30 years of attending church they have not grown in the Lord one iota!!!
This could be because:
(1) No one has taught them after they have obtained salvation there are some things they should ADD TO THEIR SALVATION. This could be why they have never growned in the Lord.
(2) Also, it could be the reason they have never gowned in the Lord is because they have never been born again.
Before you have growth you first must have a birth.
But in II Peter he is addressing those who have obtained.
We are saved by grace ALONE but after we are saved there are some things we have to add to our salvation. WE CALL THESE GIFTS GROWING IN GRACE!!!
WHAT ARE THESE GIFTS?
Look at verses 3-4. "According as 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: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Peter depicts those he is writing to as having once been in the prison of sin.
Look at verse 4. “…that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Look at the word “escaped”. This is what happens when a man escapes from prison.
What kind of prison were we in before we OBTAINED? A prison of “corruption.”
And now, He wants to give those of us who have "obtained" salvation through Christ, some other gifts.
HOW DO WE OBTAIN THESE GIFTS?
Look at verse 3. "According as 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:”
We did NOT obtain them through human power, or political power, but through DIVINE POWER.
Peter is saying that salvation through Christ is the foundation of the Christian life.
We have to look at the Christian life as a building program. Before there ever is going to be a building, there has to be a foundation to build on. THE FOUNDATION IS ESSENTIAL!
Did you know that you will never hear anyone say, “My, what a gorgeous foundation!” on the most beautiful building in this town?
Why? Because the foundation, (Christ), cannot be seen. In fact, if you did not build on the foundation, most people would not even know it was there.
Christ is the foundation of our Christian life, and no one can see Him unless we build our Christian life on Him, using the materials he has given us to build with.
Once we have OBTAINED SALVATION THRUGH CHRIST LET US look at some of the things we should build on this foundation,
Peter said…
I. WE NEED TO ADD TO OUR FAITH - VIRTUE
Look at verses 5-6, we read, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge. And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness.”
The first gift is the gift of building material is called VIRTUE.
Illus: Remember the woman in Mark 5:25-30 that had the issue of blood and came to the Lord? She squeezed through that crowd, and she had the faith to believe that if she could but touched the Lord’s garment she would be made whole. When she did this, the Lord turned to His disciples and said, “Who touched me?” And they were quick to tell Him that many touched Him. But he wanted them to know someone touched Him that had genuine faith, and He said that he felt “VIRTUE” leave His body.
In other words, the good from within Him flowed into her, and she was healed.
• This is a perfect picture of salvation. The good from within Him flowed into us.
• At Calvary He took our sins and we took His righteousness.
The only way we can live a virtuous life is for His righteousness to flow from Him to us.
God wants those of us who have OBTAINED SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST, to add virtue to our faith.
We can be born again but until we add these things in this passage of scripture we will never grow in the Lord.
What else should we add to our faith.
II. WE NEED TO ADD TO OUR FAITH - KNOWLEDGE
Look at verse 5 again. We read, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge.”
WHAT KIND OF KNOWLEDGE?
The knowledge of knowing Him.
You see many christians who have obtained really do not know this wonderful Savior.
That is:
• If they really knew him you would not have to beg them to attend church and worship Him.
Illus: For example, Dr. Odell Belger was in Washington, D.C. and he was walking around one of the corners of the capital building in Washington D,C. and as soon as he turned the corner of the building he bumped into Senator Ted Kennedy and knocked some papers he had in his hand down. Dr. Belger reached down and helped him pick the papers up and they said a few words and departed. Now I can say I KNOW SENATOR KENNEDY!!! But I really do not know him.
I could say the last time I was in Washington I bumped into him and talked to him to make it sound like I know him…BUT I REALLY DO NOT KNOW HIM!!!
And many in our churches can say they know the Lord Jesus but REALLY THEY DO NOT KNOW HIM INTIMATELY!!!
How do we know that some really do not know the lord jesus intimately.
• Many christians if they really knew him you would not have to beg them to sing in a song service to open their mouth and praise him.
• If they really knew him you would not have to beg them give the tithes that belong to him.
• If they really knew him you would have to beg them to witness to the lost.
They would do all these things because they love him.
Illus: Every pastor knows the joy of conducting a wedding ceremony. What makes the ceremony special is that two people who had been going in separate directions in life, crossed paths, and they have never been the same since.
If we humans can have that effect upon each other, how much more will we be effected when we come to know the Lord Jesus?
When a person comes to know the Lord, he will never be the same! He can never go back and enjoy the pleasures of sin, because he has tasted the joy of the Lord.
Once a person receives Christ, sin makes them sick.
Illus: It is like people who are slaves to cigarettes, and they go to the doctor and get a shot, and every time they take a puff of that cigarette, the smoke makes them nauseated.
When a person accepts the Lord, he will be the most miserable person on this earth, if he tries to go back to the sins that the Lord have saved him from.
He is now a new creature in Christ, and that new creature does not love what the old creature loved.
One of the first gifts that God wants to give us after salvation is THE GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE, WHERE WE COME TO KNOW HIM.
Illus: When a baby is born into this world, it has much to learn. The very first lesson is for them to learn something about the ones who made it possible for them to be here, DAD and MOM. Most of the time, the very first words that come out of their mouth is "Da-Da!" and “Ma-Ma"!
When we come to Him though salvation in Christ, He wants to give us the gift of KNOWLEDGE SO THAT WE CAN COME TO KNOW HIM! But He wants to give us another gift to build on.
III. WE NEED TO ADD TO OUR FAITH - TEMPERANCE
Look at verse 5, we read, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge. And to knowledge temperance;”
The definition of "temperance " involves two things.
1. MODERATION
2. ABSTINENCE
There are some things we ABSOLUTELY abstain from because they are sinful, such as drugs, alcoholic beverages, pornography, and gambling. Without a doubt, these are sinful, and every Christian should abstain from these things.
But, there are some things that are not sin in themselves, but we are allowed to do them in moderation.
For example: Owning a television is not a sin.
Illus: Owning a television is like possessing a gun. A gun does not kill. A gun is no more than a piece of metal. A gun has never killed anyone. It is the people who have misused guns that have killed others.
And a television is no more than a composite of wood, metal, plastic and glass. It is not sinful, but we can make it a sin:
• By watching the wrong kinds of things
• By neglecting to spend time with the Lord because of television
• My wife does the editing of my sermons for publication and she included in my sermon - consuming too much of our time, watching cowboy movies, etc.
We might know the Lord as our Saviour, but if all our time is spent on building our lives on golfing, fishing, hunting and watching television, the lost world will never know we are saved.
Look at Hebrews 12:1, we read, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”
Notice, Peter is speaking of laying aside SINS and WEIGHTS
Some things in our lives are not sin, but they are definitely weights that we have got to be willing to lay aside, if we are going to run this race in a way that pleases the Lord.
But look at the next thing we are to build on.
IV. WE NEED TO ADD TO OUR FAITH - PATIENCE
Look at verses 5-6. We read, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge. And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness.”
The definition of “patience” is: “self control.”
Did you know that in one split second, you can lose your temper and completely destroy your Christian testimony?
Illus: I have seen christians completely ruined their testimony in one church business meeting.
We who have OBTAINED salvation, are instructed to add to our faith - SELF-CONTROL.
In the Christian life, many things happen that we do not understand. When these things happen, we can do one of two things:
1. LOSE CONTROL
2. TRUST THE LORD
The lost world will never see that our faith is built upon Christ, if we do not have SELF-CONTROL.
We who have obtained to add to our faith “PATIENCE”.
V. WE NEED TO ADD TO OUR FAITH - GODLINESS
Look at verses 5-6. We read, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge. And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness.”
Godliness is: "God like-ness."
The lost world will never see that we are building our lives on Christ, unless we become God-like. The thing that makes us different from sinful man, is that through the gift of godliness we can become God-like.
We often refer to the ungodly by saying, “He/she is full of the devil!” What we mean by that is that you can see the devil so clearly in their life.
But also there are some godly people who have become so GOD-LIKE, that:
• You will never find them engaged in gossip
• You will never find them talking in unbelief
• You will never find them trying to do harm to someone
Their every action is a God-like action.
But look at the next gift the Lord wants to add to our faith-
VI. WE NEED TO ADD TO OUR FAITH - KINDNESS
Look at verse 7. We read, “And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”
Some of the meanest people who ever lived on this earth are living around us today. We do not want to take time to talk about the evils of our society. Everyone here would concur this is an evil society. But if anything good can come out of a dark evil society, it is our kindness.
Remember; light shines best in darkness.
And today, it is a wonderful thing to find that many who have built their lives on Christ, are letting their light shine for the Lord in this evil environment in which we live. But it is sad that not all who profess to be saved, are living a life of KINDNESS. What a bad testimony they are to a lost world.
If you and I are a part of the "Body of Christ", I cannot hurt you without hurting myself, and you cannot hurt me without hurting yourself.
We are to our faith “BROTHERLY KINDNESS.”
But next Peter tells us…
VII. WE NEED TO ADD TO OUR FAITH - ASSURANCE
Look what verse 8 says, “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Some Christians have no assurance of their salvation. And it is easy to understand why; they do not bear the fruit a Christian is supposed to bear. I am sure that if I lived the way some Christians live, I would doubt my salvation also.
Illus: In Columbia, S.C. a good Christian man with a sense of humor owned a old red dodge pick up truck. It was so old that the paint had faded and everyone that knew about this truck called it BIG RED because it was so beat up.
But this man with a good sense of humor went to the local Cadillac dealer and got him a Cadillac bumper plate and fastened to the back of BIG RED.
But just putting a Cadillac on BIG RED did not make BIG RED a Cadillac!!!
Just telling people that you are a Christian is not enough.
YOU HAVE TO SHOW THEM!
HOW DO YOU SHOW THEM?
The Bible tells us John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Then Peter says, "For if these thing be in you, and abound…” then you will not be “Barren nor unfruitful.” Peter says those who do not bear this fruit are like this.
Look at verse 9, "But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. "
Peter compares a Christian who is not seeking these things in these two areas as being someone who:
(1) Is “blind, and cannot see afar off.”
(2) Has “Forgotten" what God has done for him, and that they were purged from these old sins.
Conclusion: We need these things in our lives to build on Christ.
We who have obtained WE NEED TO ADD TO OUR FAITH…
I. VIRTUE
II. KNOWLEDGE
III. TEMPERANCE
IV. GODLINESS
V. PATIENCE
VI. KINDNESS
VII. ASSURANCE
Note: You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach many of these sermons on Youtube. Just type Youtube Lykesland
