1
Peter 1:4-19 KJV 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. (5) And beside this, giving all diligence,
add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; (6) And
to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience
godliness; (7) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to
brotherly kindness charity. (8) 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. (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. (10)
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and
election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
(11) For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly
into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. (12) Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you
always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be
established in the present truth. (13) Yea, I think it
meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you
in remembrance; (14) Knowing that shortly I must put off
this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
(15) Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my
decease to have these things always in remembrance. (16)
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. (17) For he received from God
the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from
the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. (18) And this voice which came from heaven we
heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. (19) We
have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto 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 hearts:
Recall that Jesus said the house on the rock is the life of a person
who hears His words and does them!
Peter said that truth of adding to our faith seven things will cause us
to never fall.
- This reminds me of people in
Matt 7 whom Jesus said know He is Lord, and call Him, "Lord, Lord," but
are not on the rock because they hear His sayings and don't do them.
- And his sayings are things
many people don't really like to do since they involve TAKING UP OUR
CROSSES AND DENYING OURSEVLES.
- So they like the first
revelation of who Jesus is, which the Father gave to Peter in Matt
16:16-17, but when Jesus also beings to speak about the rock and taking
up their crosses, the second revelation is easily dismissed.
Remember that Jesus began to speak about dying at Jerusalem after He
saw someone got a revelation from the Father about Him being the SON OF
GOD.
Peter says that seven things must be added to our faith, so we never
fall, like the house on the rock that does not fall.
- If the people who know Jesus
sis Lord but do not do the sayings of Jesus, and are like houses on
sand that fall, then when we compare Peter's words with Jesus' we get
this conclusion:
- ADDING TO THE FAITH so we do
not fall is like GOING BEYOND THE FAITH THAT JESUS IS LORD, and doing
what Jesus said.
- He said doing what He said is
like building a house on Rock.
- He referred to His words
about DENYING SELF AND TAKING UP THE CROSS.
So the SEVEN THINGS Peter says to add to our faith are associated with
the CROSS and SELF DENIAL.
1
Peter 1:(5) And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your
faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; (6) And to knowledge
temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience
godliness; (7) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to
brotherly kindness charity. (8) 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. (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. (10)
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and
election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
Do what Jesus says and be a house on rock that does not fall in storms.
- Add seven things to your
faith and you shall never fall.
See how these go together?
Obviously Jesus sayings must agree with adding seven things to our
faith, since both cause us to NOT FALL.
This is how everything in the bible all fits together.
Add ...
1)
virtue,
2) knowledge,
3) temperance,
4) patience,
5) godliness
6) brotherly kindness
7)
charity.
Virtue is courage and manliness or
valour. A backbone.
- Many people know Jesus is
Lord but have no backbone to live a life that stands for this since a
person is intimidated about being mocked by a world that is against
Christ.
- Our self would much rather
shut up and not make waves with our friends and family, than stand for
Jesus for what is right in a world where what is right is mocked and
ridiculed.
- So SELF must be denied here.
Knowledge is wisdom so we are mature
believers.
- We need to learn the things
of God.
- Peter says grace and peace
are multiplied through the knowledge of God.
- Many do not want to learn
anything if it takes more than two minutes to study.
- So we have many people who
say JESUS IS LORD, but hardly know anything about the things of God.
- The devil really got an
inroad when TV came along since it has turned the majority into people
who do not like to read and study.
- They want to see moving
pictures!
Temperance is not allowing the animal
part of us to rule us, and it is limiting all earthly pleasures in our
lives.
- DENYING ourselves really
comes into play in this.
- Do not give in to your flesh
every time your flesh wants to sin, since it makes your flesh feel good.
- All sin makes the flesh feel
good.
Patience is being able to sustain
our Christianity and strength in the midst of tribulations and trials.
- More cross!
- Our flesh likes to "lose it"
instead of believe God is in control and everything is going to be
right, though it MAY TAKE TIME.
Godliness is true love for God and
great respect for God.
- Respect for God means you do
what He wants despite our feelings to enjoy sin, and this again is
denying self.
And brotherly kindness and charity speak for themselves
- Sometimes SELF wants everyone
to bow down to us, but we need to deny self and bless others.
If these things are not added to our faith, we will fall and never
enter the eternal Kingdom!
Recall that Jesus said the man who hears his words and does them is
in a house on the rock that storms cannot bring down.
Add these seven things to your faith of who Jesus is, and you will
never fall.
2
Peter 1(10) Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye
shall never fall:
Matthew 7:24-25 KJV Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
(25) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded
upon a rock.
Matthew 16:18 KJV And I say
also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
2 Peter 1:19 KJV We have also
a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto 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 hearts:
Last week we started to preach of how the whole episode on the Mountain
of Transfiguration was mentioned here by Peter.
- And the idea of Jesus being
transfigured (KJV) or transformed before their eyes was wonderfully
related to the words of Peter.
- Peter said we need to take
heed to his words as unto a light that shines in a dark place until the
day dawns and the days star arises in our hearts.
- He just mentioned the events
from Matthew 17 in verse 17 where the Father spoke of Christ's identity
saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am wellpleased."
Matthew
17:5 KJV While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed
them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
2 Peter 1: (17) For he
received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a
voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased.
It is interesting that PETER is the one writing about our need to take
special heed to the words he was referring to, because it was PETER who
had a problem hearing Christ's words.
- In Matthew 16 we read that
although Peter received a revelation from the Father of who Jesus was,
when Jesus spoke some additional words after this, ("And I say also
unto thee"), Peter did not receive them.
- Those words spoke of building
the church on the rock and taking up your cross and following Jesus.
- Peter did not want to hear
about the cross.
- He did not want Jesus to go
to Jerusalem and suffer and die.
- Peter totally missed the
words about the resurrection that would follow Jesus' death.
Matthew 17 occurs a week later on a rock, a large mountain, as though
Jesus physically illustrated His words about the HOUSE ON THE ROCK.
- And just as a week before
when Jesus spoke of the cross, Peter did not want Jesus to go to
Jerusalem and suffer and die, and mentioned that they should all just
stay there on that mountain.
- The cross was a repulsive
thought to Peter.
- Although Jesus rebuked him a
week ago, saying unless they take up their crosses they cannot be His
disciples, he still did not accept the idea of the cross.
So the sequence started all over again.
- Once again the Father gives a
revelation of who Jesus is, as Peter received a week prior.
- And like a week prior, Jesus'
additional words about the cross follow, and the Father tells Peter to
"HEAR YE HIM."
- We learned that Jesus was
speaking to Moses and Elijah, who suddenly appeared there, about his
decease, or death he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
Luke
9:30-31 KJV And, behold, there talked with him two men, which
were Moses and Elias: (31) Who appeared in glory, and spake
of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
That is why Peter did not want to leave that mountain.
- But the Father told him to
HEAR JESUS!
- LISTEN TO THE REVELATION OF
THE CROSS>
What I want to emphasize this morning is how Peter's words in 2 Peter
1, when he referenced us to the time when the Father announced to them
that Jesus was His Son, the next words of Peter about the light shining
perfectly correspond to the SHINING and the GLOWING OF Jesus Christ on
that mountain of transfiguration.
We said that in Matthew 17 on that mountain of transfiguration,
Jesus was ILLUSTRATING the truth He just spoke in Matthew 16 about the
house on the Rock.
When Jesus face shined like the sun, it represented physically what
Peter was trying to say in 2 Peter 1.
2
Peter 1:19 KJV We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto 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 hearts:
HEED PETER'S WORDS.
- Truth is LIKE LIGHT!
- When you carefully make sure
you GET what Peter was taught and endevaour to OBEY IT, it is like
LOOKING AT LIGHT UNTIL THE DARKNESS INSIDE YOU IS BLASTED AWAY BY
LIGHT, AND YOU EXPERIENCE THE SUNSHINE BEAMING FORTH FROM WITHIN YOU!
- In other words, LOOK AT LIGHT
UNTIL IT MAKES YOU START TO SHINE yourself!
God IS TRUTH.
John
14:6 KJV Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
GOD IS LIGHT.
1
John 1:5 KJV This then is the message which we have heard of him,
and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at
all.
Revelation 21:23 KJV And the
city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for
the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
This means GOD is like the SUN and Jesus, God manifested in flesh, is
the BEAMS OF LIGHT FROM THAT SUN.
2Pe
1:4 KJV 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
And just as the picture of hearing LIGHT of truth until it shines so
much on you that you ABSORB IT AND START SHINING YOURSELF, Peter said
these promises cause us to be partakers of HIS DIVINE NATURE!
It is not our goodness that shines out.
- It is HIS DIVINE NATURE that
shines out.
- We did not become good by
making ourselves try our best, but we ABSORBED HIS TRUTH into our lives
and IT CHANGED US and GOD STARTED SHINING OUT OF US!
PAUL SAID THE SAME THING!
- IT IS ALL OVER THE BIBLE!
2Co
3:18 KJV But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, are changed (METAMORPHOSIS) into the same image from
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2Co 4:5-6 KJV For we preach
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants
for Jesus' sake. (6) For God, who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:2 KJV And be not
conformed to this world: but be ye transformed (Metamorphosis) by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Matthew 17:2 KJV And was
transfigured (METAMORPHOSIS) before them: and his face did shine as the
sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Paul even said that His message he preached was JESUS!
As our callings and elections are made firm and sure by adding to our
faith of who Jesus is, when we add the teachings of self denial and
truth of the cross, we come more and more into the IMAGE OF JESUS
CHRIST!
HIS SHINING LIKE THE SUN when He spoke about the decease at Jerusalem
REPRESENTS THE LIGHT OF THE TRUTH of the cross shining in our hearts
when we open our hearts for this truth and do not reject it.
2Pe
1:3 KJV 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:
He called us to GLORY - TO SHINE - and it gives everything that
has to do with life and godliness.
- It comes THROUGH THE
KNOWLEDGE.
- Through HEARING HIS WORD and
OBEYING IT to deny ourselves and have virtue, knowledge,
temperance/self-control, etc.
All of this puts our house on the rock.
SO NOW WE HAVE A NEW COMPARISON.
- Getting these things in our
hearts changes us into His image and causes us to shine in glory, too,
is PUTTING YOUR HOUSE ON A ROCK.
- THE MORE YOU ARE CHANGED INT
HIS IMAGE, THE MORE SOLID YOUR HOUSE IS ON THE ROCK.
THIS IS "KINGDOM COME!"
When we are on the ROCK we are on the MOUNTAIN OF ZION -- THE KINGDOM
OF OUR GOD.
- SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM AND
HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
- His KINGDOM is where He is
KING, but IT GOES HAND IN HAND with HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
- If you want His kingdom to
come, you better realize that the way God's kingdom operates involves
what is
right and all that is righteous.
- SEEKING RIGHTEOUSNESS means
you understand that WE HAVE TO LIVE RIGHT when His kingdom comes.
- That is why so many like to
call Him Lord but not do what He says.
- His Kingdom means HE RULES,
and we live in every aspect of our lives the way HE thinks we should
act.
You cannot have the power of the kingdom on you when you do not want to
live the way He wants you to live.
- His word teaches this and
that and so many do not want this or that, just the fun parts.
- The bible teaches baptism.
- Many people do not want that.
- But Jesus preached it and the
apostles preached it and we must obey it.
- It's all part of seeking the
Kingdom AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
So this KINGDOM is a mountain of transfiguration FOR OUR LIVES, TOO!
WE TRANSFIGURE when we allow JESUS TO SPEAK TO US AND RECEIVE TRUTH
ABOUT TAKING UP OUR CROSSES AND DENYING OURSELVES - WE CHANGE INTO HIS
SAME IMAGE.
Compare these verses:
Rev
2:26-28 KJV And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the
end, to him will I give power over the nations: (27) And he
shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall
they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
(28) And I
will give him the morning star.
2 Peter 1:19 KJV We have also
a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto 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 hearts:
Rev 22:16 KJV I Jesus have
sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am
the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning
star.
We are changed into His
image as He is the Morning Star, and He gives the Morning star,
Himself, to us.