Let us turn again to God's Word
in the 2nd Epistle of Peter. In 2nd Peter I'll read the opening
words here in chapter 1, reading verses 1 to 4. Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious
faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
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. And I want to take really
those final words in verse 4 and consider them for a while this
morning, 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." Now, previously, of course, he has spoken of that that they
had obtained through Christ. In the opening verse, they had
obtained, like, precious faith with us, he says. That faith
is a precious faith for a number of reasons. It is precious because,
of course, it is the gift of God. And is it not the giver
that makes any gift precious to us? When a loving husband
presents his wife with a present, or the wife presents that present
to her husband, or the parents present that present to the child,
it is the giver that makes the gift so precious in the eyes
of those who are the recipients and that is why faith is precious
by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves
it is the gift of God and as God is the giver of that faith
so God is also the the author of that faith in Colossians Chapter
2 and verse 12 we read of that faith that is of the operation
of God. And it is because God has worked
in the soul and brought that spiritual life where there was
nothing but deadness and sin and granted that remarkable gift
of saving faith. It is God's work that makes that
also to be so precious. and then also as God tries that
faith. And now in the midst of that
trying of the faith, the faith is found to be so real. Remember
how in the opening chapter of his first epistle Peter speaks
there of the trial of your faith being much more precious than
a gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, is found
unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. All that faith together with
hope it's like an anchor that has been fastened into the Lord
Jesus Christ so sure and so steadfast and so in the trial how that
fight is seen to be such a real fight there is in that precious
fight that he's spoken of those that Peter is addressing here
in his epistle they are true believers to them that have obtained like
precious faith with us, he says, through the righteousness of
God and our Savior Jesus Christ. And then he goes on to say how
these things were accomplished in them, 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, whereby are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises." And as I said, it's
these precious promises in particular that I want us to consider for
a while this morning. What are we to understand? What
are these promises? Well, they belong to that new
covenant, the covenant of grace, that covenant that Paul speaks
of in his epistle to the Hebrews. He refers there in Hebrews 8
to a better covenant that is established upon better promises. as he draws the contrast with
that covenant that God had given at Mount Sinai, that covenant
that we think of in terms of law and all the condemnation
of that Holy Lord of God. The law was given by Moses grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ, those precious promises. And
so we can say in a sense that this reference to exceeding great
and precious promises is nothing less than the gospel. The gospel
of the grace of God. The gospel is the promise of
God. And it has been observed that really in the New Testament the word that we have rendered
as promise is synonymous with the word that we find rendered
as gospel. It's interesting because in the
original those words, the word that we have as promise and that
that we have as gospel, they're very similar in sound and they
are synonyms. The word that we know as gospel
is really the Greek word that comes to our English language
as the word evangel. The evangel is the gospel. Evangelical
then simply refers to gospel. And as I said, the word that
we find in our Bibles rendered as promise is very similar in
sound. One word is evangelion, the other
one is epangelion. So you see, there's a similar
sound to each of these words. The gospel is really the promise
of God. And what God promises in the
Gospel is what God gives. God's Word is always as good
as His deeds. Oh, that's the sureness and the
certainty of the promise of the Gospel. God says, I have spoken
it, I will also do it. I have spoken it, I will also
do it, I will bring it to pass, He says. There's no doubt, because
what God has promised, He has then confirmed also by giving
an oath. Isn't that what Paul says again,
writing there in Hebrews chapter 6, when God gave promise to Abraham? And that was the promise of the
gospel 430 years before the giving of the law, the covenant that
God made with Abraham. When God gave promise to Abraham,
because he could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself,
how He has magnified His Word in the Gospel above all of His
name. And so we are to rightly understand
that the Gospel is the promise of God, 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 we sang it just now.
The gospel bears my spirit up. The faithful and unchanging God
lays the foundation of my hope in oaths, in promises, and blood. Why doesn't Peter also, back
in that first epistle, speaks of precious blood. How they were
redeemed, not with corruptible things, he says, but with the
precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot. There, in chapter 1 and verse
19 of the first epistle. It's precious blood then. that
has sealed all the great promises of the Gospel. The Lord Jesus
Christ has died. All the testator has died. His Testament now stands. And that Testament, of course,
is the New Testament, the New Covenant. It is the Gospel of
the grace of God. And here in the Gospel, all God's
promises are Yah and Amen. to the glory of God by us," says
the Apostle. Well, let us consider what these
promises, these exceeding great and precious promises that are
spoken of in this fourth verse, what do they bestow upon us? I want to mention three things
in particular that we come to by receiving such promises. First of all, there is the knowledge
of God, secondly there is that knowledge of ourselves, and then
finally there is that knowledge of salvation. Those three aspects
then, those three blessings that come through these exceeding
great and precious promises. First of all, we come to the knowledge of God. And see how that is spoken of
here in the context. He says in verse 2, Grace and
peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God
and of Jesus our Lord. And then again, he mentions that
knowledge in 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. The Lord Jesus, remember, in
His remarkable prayer there in John 17, we call it the high
priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you remember how
He prays there, addressing the Father, He says, This is life
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent, that they might know thee, the
only true God, and the one that the Father hath sent. Hasn't
the Lord Jesus Christ come as that one who comes to make known
God? How can God be known? That is
impossible, because God is altogether different to ourselves. God is
the Creator, we are the creatures. God is that one who is infinite
and eternal and we only know all the limitations of our mortal
life here upon the earth. Oh God is clearly so far above
and beyond what we could ever begin to understand. We often
refer to those words in Job 11, Canst thou by searching find
out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It is high as heaven, what canst
thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst
thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, broader
than the seas. There we have a plain statement
of the infinity that belongs unto God. How is it that anyone
could ever know God? We can only know God as he is
pleased to make himself known. We can only know God as he reveals
himself. And God does reveal himself.
He reveals himself, of course, in his works. His work of creation
as a voice. is work of providence, has a
voice. God speaks through these things. And the psalmist, you remember
how the psalmist acknowledges that very basic fact in the language
of Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory
of God, the firmament showeth his handiwork. or he speaks of
the heavens, the firmament, we have that parallelism that belongs
to Hebrew poetry, the same truth declared in two slightly different
ways there in the opening verse of Psalm 19. The heavens declare
the glory of God. He repeats it, the firmament,
show us his handiwork when we look up into the vastness of
the universe. day unto day uttereth speech
night unto night showeth knowledge there is no speech nor language
where their voice is not heard their line is gone out through
all the earth and their words to the end of the world in them
he set a tabernacle for the sun and so forth God's creation speaks
and he speaks of his greatness he speaks of his glory And so
what does Paul say there in Romans chapter 1, that men, though they
have no scripture, no word of revelation, yet they are inexcusable. Well there Paul says so solemnly,
that the invisible things of Him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, His eternal power and Godhead, and so they are without
excuse. Even those heathen people who
have never known anything of the Word of God, never heard
the Scriptures, yet they have a revelation of God. It's all
about them in His works. There is that general revelation
then that God has given. But God has also given a special
revelation and that's what we have of course before us today
when we come to the Word of God. We're told how those holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Spirit of God. Isn't that what Peter says here
at verse 21? He's referring to the Old Testament
prophets and their ministry, the words that they spake. They
spoke as they were moved, and it's a strong verb that he uses
here, that verb to move. They were born along, they were
carried along by the Spirit of God. They were not speaking their
own words. Those prophets of the Old Testament,
they could say, Thus and thus saith the Lord. All Scripture
then, Paul tells us, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's the breathings of God, it's
the words of God that we have here in Holy Scripture. And how
God in his word has revealed himself of course in terms of
his law. What is that law of God that
we have? Back in Exodus chapter 20 and that same law that is
then repeated by Moses on the borders of the Promised Land
in Deuteronomy chapter 5. After the 40 years of wilderness
wanderings he reminds them there in Deuteronomy chapter 5. And
it's interesting what he says as he recounts those 10 commandments. He says there in Deuteronomy
5.24, Behold the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and
his greatness That's what God does in the Ten Commandments. He shows Himself. He shows His
glory. He shows His greatness. He reveals
Himself as a God who is a holy God, and a righteous God, and
a just God. When we go back to Exodus chapter
20, in the beginning of that chapter, God spake all these
words, saying, I am the Lord thy God. Oh, He declares Himself
and then in the commandments that follow He is revealing something
of His character. He is declaring something of
His holy attributes. As we said, He is the Holy One
and the Righteous One and the Just One. There is a revelation
of God clearly then in the law of the Ten Commandments.
But the law was given by Moses. as we said, and grace and truth
have come by Jesus Christ. And oh, what a remarkable revelation
is that that has come in these last days. Again, remember the
opening words that we have there in Hebrews. God, who at sundry
times and in diverse manner spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His
Son. whom He hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also He made the world, who being the brightness
of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding
all things by the word of His power. O how God has revealed
Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that work that Christ came
to do, that remarkable work, the work of the salvation of
sinners, in His highest work, redemption, see his glory in
a blaze, nor can angels ever mention aught that more of God
displays, or the revelation that God has given then in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the image, the image
of the invisible God. And so God has made himself known
ultimately in the promise of the Gospel. Grace and peace be
multiplied unto you, he says here at verse 2, through the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 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. All the knowledge of God is in
the promise, really. It's in that great promise that
we have in the Gospel. Again, look at what the Apostle
Paul says there in Hebrews chapter 8, speaking of the covenant, the
covenant of grace, the new covenant, the Gospel. He says there in
chapter 8 verse 10, this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will
put my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts,
and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man
his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me from
the least to the greatest." What is the point of the Gospel? It
is that sinners might come to the knowledge of God. It is life
eternal, this knowledge. to know thee the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now first then, what is
conveyed is the knowledge of God, but as we come to this knowledge
of God there is also that knowledge of ourselves and all that that
implies. What do we know about ourselves
when we come to this revelation that God has given here in His
Holy Word? Well, we come to know that we
are sinners. In the opening words of that
great work of the Reformation, John Calvin's Christian Institutes,
in the very opening words he speaks of two main branches of
knowledge that we have to come to. What are these two branches? It's the knowledge of God on
the one hand, it's the knowledge of ourselves on the other hand. As I said, the Bible is God's
special revelation of Himself. He reveals Himself in the Law,
in all His holiness and righteousness and justice. He reveals Himself
in the Gospel, and there, of course, we see all the wonder
of His grace, His compassion, His love, His mercy. And how
in the gospel all these holy attributes of God they wonderfully
harmonize, mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and
peace have kissed each other. God is seen to be a just God
and yet he is the savior of sinners. Or we see God so clearly revealed
in scripture, but remember how In creation, God made man in
his own image after his own likeness. And so, as those who were created
as the image-bearers of God, when we come to the Word of God,
what should we see reflected? Oh, we should see ourselves in
the image of God. But of course, we don't see that.
Because we're the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, we're sinners.
We sinned in Adam, we sinned in our own persons. That image
has been defaced, that image has been lost, disfigured. What
are we by nature? We are dead in trespasses and
in sins. And so when we come into the
Word of God and look into it, and remember how James speaks
of it as a sort of mirror, as a looking glass there, in the
opening chapter of his epistle. He says, verse 23, If any be
a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in a glass, in a mirror, a looking-glass. For he beholdeth himself, and
goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man
he was. Oh, we're to look into the Word
of God and we're to pray that God would show us ourselves and
reveal to us what we are, something of our sinnership. And how God
does this, He does it of course in the law, that's the ministry
of the law, whatever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified in His sight, By the law is the
knowledge of sin. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. Now Paul brings that out time
and again in his various epistles. He says there in Romans 7.14,
we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal. sold under sin. Why is the Lord Jesus Christ
himself in his own ministry who brings out the true nature of
the Lord? It's a spiritual law. It doesn't
just have to do with the way a man behaves and conducts himself,
the things that he does. It has to do with all that the
man is. His thoughts, his feelings. And
Christ shows so plainly that when the commandment says thou
shalt not kill Oh, we can be guilty of the transgression of
that holy law when we're hateful to another without any cause
at all. When the commandment says, I
shall not commit adultery, why, if we think a lustful thought,
that's adultery. Oh, how God's law finds us out,
it's a spiritual law. We know that the law is spiritual,
but what are we? Paul felt it, I am carnal, he
says. sold on the scene. How he was made to feel the awful
reality of that. That's the ministry of the law.
Again, writing to Timothy, he says, we know that the law is
good if a man use it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is
not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient,
for the ungodly and for sinners. That's the point and purpose
of the law of God. It comes to the sinner, it exposes
the sinner for what he is. So, solemn truth, we discover
in that law, the law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there
is no transgression. or how it is that ministration
then of condemnation. The hymn writer says here, Lord,
my soul convicted stands of breaking all thy ten commands. How God, as he reveals himself
in his law, makes us to see and understand what our corruption
is, what our lust is. And we have it. We have it here
again in his fourth verse. He speaks of the promises. But
he says, "...by these ye might be partakers of divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust." Well there we have, you see, what it is that God's Gospel
delivers us from. Escaping the corruption that
is in the world through lust. And Paul certainly knew something
of that. I have not known sin but by the
law. I have not known what lost is, except the commandment said
thou shalt not covet. Oh, that same commandment, you
see, found that man out. Paul, when he was sold, of Tarsus
when he was the self-righteous Pharisee, he imagined, he boasted
touching the righteousness which is in the law, he was blameless.
Ah, but then what does he say there in Romans chapter 7 and
verse 7? It was that 10th commandment,
thou shalt not covet. And what is covetousness? It's
desire. And he saw then that his whole
nature was given over to concupiscence, sinful desires. I had not known
sin, he says, but by the law. And here we see it in the text.
This is what the person who is brought to trust in those exceeding
great and precious promises has been delivered from, having escaped
the corruption. that is in the world through
lust, or the promise of God in the Gospel then. It brings deliverance. God's Word shows us what we are.
But God's Word also reveals to us the only way of escape, the
only way of deliverance, the only way of salvation. And now
when God comes to us in the gospel, in a sense we see something more
even worse of the horrors of what we are as sinners. We often
refer to those words of the hymn, Law and terrors do but harden,
all the while they work alone, but a sense of blood brought
pardon soon dissolves the heart of stone. Ultimately we must
come to that. It's not enough to know what
we are as sinners to see ourselves in the mirror of God's Word as
those who have fallen short of the glory of God because we're
the transgressors of His holy law we're deformed, we're dead
in our sins. It's not enough though. We need
to see where the remedy is found even in the Lord Jesus Christ.
and to see what sin cost that man, holy, righteous, just, and
good, when he died for sinners, dying the just for the unjust,
to bring sinners to God. And so ultimately, ultimately,
what do these promises, what does the gospel bring? It brings
the knowledge of salvation. It brings the knowledge of salvation.
And that's what we see here in the text. 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 there are two aspects
of salvation that I want to try to deal with as we come to a
conclusion this morning. There's the power of God in salvation,
but there's also this, the believer becomes a partaker of the divine
nature. That's a remarkable statement
there in the middle of verse 4. By these promises, partakers
of the divine nature, but first of all to say something with
regards to the power of God. which is spoken of, of course,
in the previous verse. There, at verse 3, it says, 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. How do we come to pertain, to
obtain life? And godliness, well, it's by
divine power. It is divine power that's spoken
of there at the beginning of verse 3. See, in the gospel,
what we have is not a salvation that is merely a possibility. It's much more than that, isn't
it, that we have in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
a salvation that is sure and certain. It's a salvation that
has been accomplished once and for all. That's gospel salvation. I like the lines of dear Joseph
Hyams concerning the gospel. He says, the only gospel The
only gospel we can own says Jesus Christ upon the throne proclaimed
salvation full and free, obtained on Calvary's rugged tree. That's
what the Lord Jesus Christ did. He accomplished salvation. He didn't just make salvation
possible for all men. He made salvation something that
is sure and certain for as many as the Father had given to him
in the eternal covenant. The reason why we are particular
Baptists, believing in particular redemption or limited atonement,
is because that is what we have been brought to see quite clearly
here in the Word of God in the Gospel. And this is the Gospel
that the apostles preach. We read those words in Romans
1.16, where Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth,
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. It's the power of
God. And what does it lead to? The
just shall live by faith, he says. Oh, it's that great doctrine
of justification by faith. And that faith, of course, centers
in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the blessed object of faith. It's not the faith that saves,
it's that one that faith has to do with, that faith centers
in. Christ accomplished a salvation. And the salvation that the Lord
Jesus Christ accomplished is a salvation that is then actually
applied and made a reality. It's not just an accomplished
salvation, it's an applied salvation. It is brought into the heart
and into the lives of all those that were given to Christ, all
those for whom Christ died. And so when Paul writes to the
Thessalonians, remember what he says there in the opening
chapter of his first epistle at verse 5, our gospel, he says,
came not unto you in word only, but in power, and in the Holy
Ghost, and in much assurance. And he goes on, doesn't he? To
speak of their experience of the efficacious grace of God. in the second chapter of that
first epistle to the Thessalonians there in Thessalonians 2.13 for
this cause he says for this cause also thank we God without ceasing
because when ye receive the word of God which ye heard of us ye
received it not as the word of man but as it is in truth the
Word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe."
Well, that's what he's really said already in the first chapter,
but now he amplifies it. How did the Word come to them?
It came not in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost,
in much assurance. It came as that Word which effectually
worketh It was that efficacious grace, it was the power of the
Holy Ghost taking that word of truth and making it a blessed
reality in their soul's experience. Or they were those who were dead
in trespasses and in sins, but what power came into the soul
of that sinner. Remember again Paul writing there
in the opening chapter of his epistle to the Ephesians says,
it is the exceeding greatness of his power. Typical Pauline
language, it's not just power, it's not just great power, it's
the exceeding greatness of his power to us who do believe. According
to the working of his mighty power when he raised up Christ
from the dead. All that power that was there
in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the same power that
comes into the soul of the sinner, dead in his trespasses and in
his sins, when that sinner is born again. Where there is a
communication of new life, and the evidence of that new life
is faith. That's trusting. in that God
who has revealed himself and made himself known in the gospel
exceeding great and precious promises. This is the great work that God
does in the soul of the sinner and this was Paul's experience.
We read not only the opening words of Romans where he speaks
much of the gospel but also the opening chapter there in Galatians,
because he speaks of how that gospel came to him. He always
says, it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. How did God reveal His Son in
the soul of that man? It was nothing to do with men.
He didn't consult with men. It was the efficacious grace
of God. It was the application of that
Gospel that he was to preach and that he went on of course
to proclaim as we read throughout the Acts of the Apostles all
the knowledge then of salvation. How does he come? He comes by
the power of God. As these great promises, exceeding
great and precious promises are proclaimed and the Holy Spirit
takes that word and applies that blessed word in the soul of the
sinner. And then what? Why they are partakers of God
even? That's what it says. That by
these, that is the promises he's spoken of, ye might be partakers
of the divine nature. partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust." You see, if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new
creature. He is a new creation. That is a truth, is it not? The sinner who was made in Adam,
in the image and the likeness of God, why that image now is
restored? Doesn't Paul say to the Ephesians,
put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness. There's a restoration you see,
created in righteousness. and true holiness. Going to the
Colossians he says that they have put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge, renewed in knowledge after him that created
him. The sinner is made anew, is a
new creature, a new creation in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
has that knowledge of God as his God, as his Saviour. Well
this is the the wonder of it he is a partaker now of the divine
nature just as Adam when he came pristine from the hand of his
maker was in God's very image so that image has now been restored
in the soul partaker of the divine nature and you know that that
new nature never sins That new nature never sins, it's
the image of God. Remember what John says in his
first epistle, "...whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because
he is born of God." What is John saying? Surely None of us would
say we are without sin. We know only too well we have
a fallen nature, we have a sinful nature still. We still love sins. We still disobey God. We're ashamed of ourselves so
often. What does John mean? Whosoever is born of God does
not commit sin. Well he goes on to speak of that
seed. His seed remaineth in him. That
is the new nature. That is the divine nature, that
can never sin. He's a new creation in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Ah, but then, what is the consequence
of all this? They're still the old nature. The flesh lost it against the
spirit, the spirit against the flesh. These two are contrary
one to the other, says Paul, and you cannot do the thing that
you would. That's what he writes there in Galatians 5.17, but
of course he brings it out in such tremendous detail when he
speaks of himself there in Romans chapter 7. And his own conflict
with himself, with his fallen nature. The good that I would,
I do not. The evil which I would not, that I do. He cries out
as a wretched man. Oh, there's a conflict, you see.
There's a conflict between the old man, the old man of sin,
the new man of grace, the old nature, the new nature. That's
what the believer is contending with all the days of his life
here upon the earth. Oh, but what is the believer's
comfort? What is the believer's strength? What is it that encourages
him? It's this gospel. Oh, it's this
gospel. It's the power of this gospel. It's the knowledge of God that
he comes to when he is brought to rest in these exceeding great
and precious promises. Oh, God grant that we might be
brought to that, to turn from ourselves and to look to this
God, and to look to this God who has so graciously revealed
Himself, made Himself known in the person and the work of His
only begotten Son. It's the Lord Jesus Christ throughout
all these verses that we read at the beginning of this Gospel,
is it not? Or they had obtained that like
precious faith, He says, through the righteousness of God and
our Saviour Jesus Christ. And that faith was to rest in
the promises of God, 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." And
then, how he spells it out, you see, how we're to live. Beside
this, he says, giving all diligence to your faith's virtue, and to
virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance
patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness.
and to brotherly kindness, charity or love. O God grant that we
might live then upon these exceeding great and precious promises.
Amen.