If you would, and you want to
follow along, I about freaked a little bit when Paul got up
here, turned to second Peter, chapter one, and he went to first
Peter two, so I thought, oh boy, okay, that's good. It wouldn't have stopped me,
these are the only notes I got anyway, so you know. But thank you, Paul, that was
good. 2nd Peter, chapter one, I'm gonna
read just the first four verses, which is the first sentence.
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. I'm gonna try and answer a question
through what Peter has written here. And the question is, why
do we preach? Why do we teach? Why do we preach
and teach? But to start it off, I do want
to point out this. This is the salutation of Peter,
and it's a good one. Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ. I like the order. That order
was not there by accident. You understand, this is exactly
how Paul would address himself. when he was writing a salutation.
He starts off, a servant of Jesus Christ. And then it says, and
an apostle. Well, one thing's for certain,
you can't have one, the apostle, without the other. Simon, a servant,
and I looked, it's the same word Paul used, a bond slave. A slave
of Christ. a bond slave, and an apostle. And that is how it is. In that order. That's the way
it is. Because you are his servant first,
and everything else comes second. Even being an apostle. There's
no way to be an apostle unless you're a servant. You can't be
an ambassador for him if you're not his servant. Everything else
is secondary and this is the relationship of Christ with all
of his people. He's either primary or you don't
know him. And that's just the way it is. We glory in him. We don't glory in our office,
whatever it is. preacher, teacher, pastor, or
in this case, Peter, apostle. Paul was exactly the same way.
This is not anything new. This is the way it is. You have
to be a servant of Christ in order to be anything else. You
have to be submitted to Christ or you are nothing of him. He is our Lord and Savior. But then he addresses this further,
telling first he says who he is, but then it says, to them
that have obtained like precious faith with us, with us. I like this. First of all, before I get too
carried away, to them that have obtained like precious faith,
that word obtained there, a lot of people want to say that you
go out and get it. You have obtained it. That's
not what this word means. You look it up in the Greek.
It ain't hard to do. I can do it on a computer online. There's
programs. I've got them on my computer,
but I can do it online a lot quicker and a lot neater. That
word means you were chosen by lot. That's how you obtained. It wasn't you. You didn't choose
him, he chose you. And the only way you obtain it,
you didn't go and get it, it means it was given to you. Now
you have it. If Christ gives you anything,
You have it. If Christ gives you life, you've
got life, whether you know it or not. If Christ gives you faith,
you've got faith, whether you understand it or not. Because our Lord, you know, when
he gives, he never takes anything back. My word shall not return
unto me void. No man rejects the gifts of God. It's not possible. It's not possible. It shall accomplish whatever
I send it unto do. Secondly, this is to them that
have obtained like precious faith. Guess what? That's us. There's only one faith, Paul
read it. Paul talked about it this morning. Jesus Christ is
the author and finisher of, and it says our faith, but that ours
in italicized. He's the author and finisher
of faith. There's either his faith or no
faith. And if you have obtained like
precious faith, this whole letter is to you. And I don't care what
anybody says. That's Jew and Gentile. That's bond and free, that's
male and female. There's no distinction among
the children of God among themselves. We all have to be given life
from God. We all have to be given faith,
the faith of Jesus Christ. And it is a like, what? Is that
word you were talking about, Paul? Precious faith, it's a
precious faith. People make out, if you ever
heard them talk, that believing is easy, living for God is hard. No, believing takes, and we say
it this morning, a miracle of grace. It takes the gift of God. You are saved by grace, through
faith, and that's not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. I just, you know. People vex you, let's just put
it that way. You didn't go get it, you were
given the like precious faith of Jesus Christ. But we'll listen
at this last word here. It tells you. Who have obtained
like precious faith with us. Peter's including us with him.
Isn't that something? He was a servant of Christ, an
apostle. And yet he's saying, we're all
the same. This is written to everyone with
this like precious faith, with us, what? Through the righteousness
of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. There's no precious faith without
the righteousness of God, without the righteousness of Christ. He has made unto us wisdom and
sanctification and what? Redemption. He has made everything
unto us. We have been given his righteousness
by the Father. It has been imputed. And it does
use that word, imputed righteousness. But there is an imparted righteousness
that we have in the Father's sight. He sees us exactly as
his son. He sees Paul Pendleton exactly
like Jesus Christ. He sees Mason Lilley, everyone
here who believes Christ, when God looks at you, He sees the
righteousness of his son. My God, talk about a blessing.
Oh my. Through the righteousness of
God in Christ. And he gets to these words. And
this is what gave me an idea, pause, thoughts in my head. Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you. through the knowledge of God
and of Jesus our Lord. Now, of course, gotta talk about
it a little bit separately, grace. First of all, this is Peter writing
of the grace of God. Got nothing to do with man, this
is the grace of God. And the grace of God is what,
also a gift of God. Glorious grace, amazing grace. What is grace? It is God giving
you exactly what you don't deserve. We just read it. We just sang
it, actually. Life and health and peace possessing. Where? From the sinner's dying
friend. I didn't deserve life, Mason.
I don't deserve what health I got. And I certainly didn't deserve
peace. Not a lick. Because like you, just exactly
like you, I was fighting against God my whole life until he stopped
me. I was an enemy of God, even when
I didn't know it. And so were all of you. Every
single one of you. And maybe some of you, He hadn't
stopped yet. But I didn't know any of that,
Walter. But you understand this, my ignorance doesn't mean I wasn't
an enemy of God. Now I was not a religious person.
I went to the Catholic Church mainly to keep familial harmony. So my mom wouldn't get mad at
me, okay? That's what that means. Well listen, if mama's happy,
everybody's happy. Or not, and it doesn't matter,
you know. But that's the reason I went to church. I wasn't a
religious person. I just went to, it was the easiest way to
keep peace in the family. When I was away from the family,
guess what, Walter, I didn't even think about church. I didn't
think about Christ, certainly didn't think about God. Didn't
know anything about the Holy Spirit. But here. God gave me grace. I deserve none of it. Wasn't
looking for it, wasn't seeking for it until he found me. Now, now, this is the strange
thing. Now, the rest of, part of that
verse of the song we sang, Here it is, I find my heaven while
upon the lamb I gaze. Love I much, I've much forgiven. And here's the word, I'm a miracle
of grace. That gives me a little bit of
chill bumps there. It does. I'm a miracle of grace. If you
believe Christ, you're a miracle of grace. That's the grace Peter's
writing about here. because that's the grace of God
seen, seen in the face of Jesus Christ by faith, by faith. We are given to see and believe
Christ Jesus. We are given to live in God's
sight and we are given to know the things of God by his Holy
Spirit. So then it says peace, grace
and peace. This is the peace of God, again. But not only that, it's the peace
of God unto you. Unto you. It's the grace of God
unto you. In Christ, we have the peace
of resting from our labors. Our sins are forgiven by his
grace. God is satisfied. Jesus Christ made. peace with God. Through the blood of his cross,
through the shed blood of his cross, he reconciled all things
unto himself. You understand, lots of people
want things reconciled to them. When I was young, I wanted things
reconciled my way. No, no, he reconciled everything
to himself. Understand it's it's it's not
about us. It's about him It's never been
about us In the beginning God He made the heavens and the earth
and everything in it It's about him This is the peace of God
unto you he reconciled all things unto himself even us though his
chosen people and but we also as believers, and this is a glorious
thing, we don't realize it sometimes, I know, and I'll let it slide.
I try not to, but I forget everything some days. But here's the thing,
we believers have peace with God. Not only the peace of God
in Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. Thank his holy name,
We're not at war with God anymore. By his grace, by his faith, by
his power, we have quit fighting against God. Now listen folks,
God was never fighting against you or me because we'd be dead. It's that simple. God kills,
God makes alive, and all it takes is a thought of God for somebody
to be dead. That's all it takes. But we would
fight against him, even when we didn't know it. He's made
peace with God. I don't want to fight God anymore.
I don't want to. I'm not saying I don't, but I
don't want to. Oh, you can find yourself slip,
you'll find yourself trip, you'll find yourself fall, but you will
not be utterly cast down. You understand? You might fall
on that rock and be broken, but you don't want that rock falling
on you because then you're ground to powder. Believers have peace with God
because believers are not blind toward God anymore. They know him and they love him. I like what Paul wrote and I'll
put this in here for this. Believers do not frustrate the
grace of God. Believers have both the peace
of God and peace with God in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus. And now our instruction is don't
strive against God. or his will. But see now here,
the way Peter did this, he joined these two words with this conjunction,
grace and peace. Why did he do that? Well, it's
very simple. There is no peace of God and
there is no peace with God without the grace of God. Lots of people
like to work their way around a lot of things, but there's
no working your way around that. Without grace, there is no peace. Period. End of statement. Because without the grace of
God, you don't know Jesus Christ. Now, but here's the glorious
thing. There is no grace without his peace. It's grace and peace. It's grace and peace. There is
no grace without peace. Now, I can't help you as to how
much you feel that peace, how much you know about that peace,
I'm trying to work on now. But it doesn't matter how you
feel. If you've had the grace of God on you, you've got the
peace of God on you. It doesn't matter whether you
know it. If God has given you his grace, he's given you his
peace. Because he's given you his son. and he is our peace. And grace and truth came by him
and he is our peace. There's no separating grace and
peace from Jesus Christ or his people. Or his people. By his son. So, let both of these
things because you can't separate them. Grace and peace, what did
Peter say? Be multiplied unto you. Multiplied
unto you. What's that mean? It means increased
plenteously. I like that word. Plenteous increase. Let it be
abounded unto you. Who? you who have like precious
faith by the righteousness of God and Jesus Christ. That's
who Peter's writing to. Because here's the thing, this
is not more redemption. This is not what they call a
progressive sanctification. You're getting better and better
every day in every way. No, you're not. That's not what
he's talking about. This is, there is no more, put
it this way, there is no more redemption than what there is. Christ only died once. There
is no more salvation. You are not more saved now than
you ever were because of having more grace and peace. But there
is more grace and peace unto you. It's under you, you understand? God's got it all. Jesus Christ
is not growing in grace and peace. He's not making it all out there,
no. He's just letting you know about it. And guess what, folks? That's why we preach. That's
one reason why we preach. Because here, from our perspective,
put it this way, there is no end to the grace and peace of
God. Because it is in Jesus Christ. And there is no end to him. There
is no limit to the grace and peace of Jesus Christ. But there's
limits to us. There's limits to us. But Peter
wants all believers to have more. Grace and peace in Christ Jesus. But he tells us, and this is
part of the thing here, See, he ties grace and peace and grace
and peace being multiplied unto you, what? Through the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord. That's where Peter, talk about
Paul so much, that's where Peter ties these together. Because
here's the thing, the knowledge of God and the knowledge of Jesus
Christ is a comfort to the people of God. I want, I'm talking to me personally,
I want all the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ that I can take. You understand? I started off
really, really ignorant of Jesus Christ, because I had no background. I had teaching, but I had no
Bible teaching. I had no scriptural teaching.
But I did know Christ. But thank God, I know more now. And yes, it does give you more
grace and more peace. Because you understand, the more
you know of Jesus Christ, the more you find out it's all good. It's all good. I can't say that
about the more you know about me. You understand that old saying,
to know me is to love me? Well it ain't necessarily so. Now it might be in my case, but
you never know. But I know some people that it ain't so. Seriously. But this, the more
you know of Jesus Christ, The more you learn of Jesus Christ,
what he has done, what he has done through ages past, hundreds
and thousands of years, he has been spoken of in this scripture,
of what he has done and foreshadowing, prophesying, and then he came. And then he did it. He died the
death. Why? So that you can have grace
and peace. in him, but through the knowledge
of him. It does say it, grow in grace
and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Growth in grace and peace is
tied to growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's what
Peter did here. Because here it is, the more
you know of Christ Jesus, the more you will love Christ Jesus.
The more you know of the Lord of glory, the King of kings,
the Lord of lords, the only potentate, the more you will believe him. The more that you know Christ
Jesus, the more you will submit yourselves to him. Because you
know you belong in the dust. And guess what? You're gonna
find out there's more dust around you than you ever knew. I'm sorry, because growing in
the knowledge of Jesus Christ means that you're gonna grow
in the knowledge of who you are. And you're gonna know he gets
higher, I get lower. And I can't even think myself
much lower than I do. But guess what? He can do it. Growing in the knowledge of Jesus
Christ is necessary for grace and peace to be multiplied. I'm
glad I'm not as ignorant as I used to be. I know there's still a lot to
learn. I learn stuff every week. Every day. But bless God, I spent the first
23 years of my life without knowing him at all. I don't wanna go
back to that. I do not wanna go back to that.
And by his grace, I can't go back to that. Because I just
said it, the gifts and calling of God are what? Without repentance
on God's part. I ain't worried about your part.
The gifts and callings of God are without repentance on his
part. If he's give you something, you're
gonna have it. And that's life or death. That's all there is. I know some
people might be shocked, but trust me, we were all dead before
we met him. We were already there and well
deserved of it. Darn happy in it. The more you know of Christ Jesus,
the more you will love Christ Jesus. Because it's all good. Peter says it, according as his
divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto
life and godliness, here it is again, through the knowledge
of him that hath called us to glory and to virtue. You see why this is truly important?
All things that pertain to life and godliness, you're not gonna
know them unless you know him. Through the knowledge of him. Without the knowledge of Christ,
you can't say you have life. I mean, that's just it. So if
you reject what the Bible says about him, if you reject what
we say about him, because we're talking about the scripture here.
I'm not putting myself above it, but I'm right behind it.
I'm pushing, too, if I get a chance. You understand? All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them that are called according
to his purpose. God does everything he wants
on purpose. God does everything he does on
purpose. What about disasters? What about
them? I can't help you. I know it's for my good. Because
I love God. Now if you don't love God, it
might not be for your good. I mean that's as simple as it
can be. Now if you don't like that, take
it up with Jesus Christ. I warn you, it won't be a pretty
sight. No man can come unto me unless
it be given unto him of my father. And from that time, many walked
no more with him. You understand why? Because they
had no grace and no peace. You know why? Because they didn't
know him. That would just spoke those words to him verbally out
of his own mouth, the son of God spoke the truth. And people
walked away from him. That's what we do. It's all by His grace. You know, I've lost track of
time because of certain things. So I'm just gonna finish up with
this. All things that pertain to life
and godliness are through the knowledge of Him. The son quickens whom he will. And what did Jesus Christ say?
Also, my sheep hear my voice and I know them. And they follow me. How you gonna follow somebody
you don't know? Well, don't worry, because about 10 verses before
that, John 10, 14, he said this. Before he said that, he said,
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep. But he didn't stop
there. He said, and am known of mine. There is no grace and peace without
knowing Christ. And there is no knowing Christ
without grace and peace. Grace, this is out of one of
Tim's bulletins. Here, the meaning of grace. To
the moralist, grace is a religious word devoid of real meaning. To the legalist, grace is a theological
problem, the meaning of which must somehow be twisted until
it means a reward for doing good. To the ceremonialist, grace is
a commodity gathered and stored by the performance of mandated
rituals and works. To the theologian, I like this
one, grace is a point of scholarly research and contentious debate. Ah, but to the sinner. But to
the sinner. Grace is a bright light in a
dark tunnel. Grace is a cool drink in a hot
and dry desert. It is life from the dead and
hope in the midst of despair. To the guilty, to the guilty,
grace is the voice of the judge declaring a verdict of not guilty
even when you know you're guilty. It should be guilty. To the condemned. It's the sound
of the keys in the cell door, the shackles hitting the floor,
and a voice saying to you, you are free to go. That's what grace
is. And here's the best thing. In
the Bible, grace has a name. God's grace has a name. Not merely a doctrine, it's a
person. And his name is Jesus. He is
full and overflowing with God's grace, and from that overflow,
all of God's people receive one grace right after another. Why? Because Jesus is full, full. What? Of grace and truth. And I'll add it in here, and
peace. He's full. He is our peace. He is our grace. Heavenly Father,
we're thankful again for this time and this place. Lord be
with Walter as he comes. Preach your gospel through him.
Help us to hear your words. And we'll give you all the glory
and praise and honor and glory because it is your glory and
praise and honor. It is all your work. In Christ's
name we pray, amen.