I invite you to open your Bibles
with me today to the book of 2 Peter. I want to bring you
a message on this subject. God's precious promises. God's precious promises. In 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 2
through 4, Peter writes these words, grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge of God and through the knowledge
of Jesus Christ, our Lord. You know, the master prayed in
John 17 and said these words, eternal life is to know God.
to know the true and living God and Jesus Christ whom He had
sent." And that's exactly what Peter is saying here. Grace to
you and peace from God the Father multiplied to you and all of
that through a knowledge, a heart knowledge of God and of Jesus
Christ our Lord. According as His divine power
hath given unto us, now listen, ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO LIFE
HIS DIVINE POWER HAS GIVEN TO US. IT'S THE GIFT OF GOD. ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO LIFE
AND GODLINESS, WHERE DOES IT COME FROM? GOD GIVES IT TO US. THROUGH WHOM? THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE
OF JESUS CHRIST, WHO HATH CALLED US TO GLORY AND VIRTUE. NOW,
I COULD JUST CAMP THERE. grace and peace be multiplied
to you through a knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord,
according as His divine, mighty, sovereign power HATH GIVEN AS
A FREE GIFT, GIVEN UNTO US ALL THINGS, NOTHING NEEDS TO BE ADDED. EVERYTHING THAT PERTAINS TO LIFE
AND EVERYTHING THAT PERTAINS TO GODLINESS IS GIVEN TO US THROUGH
THAT KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD WHO HATH CALLED US OUT
OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT. WHO HAD CALLED US BY HIS
BLESSED SPIRIT TO REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD IN FAITH IN CHRIST,
WHO HAD CALLED US TO GLORY. ALL RIGHT, WATCH THE NEXT VERSE
NOW. WHEREBY, WHEREBY ARE GIVEN UNTO US, EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE
IS GIVEN TO US. WHO MADE YOU TO DIFFER? WHAT
DO YOU HAVE YOU DIDN'T RECEIVE? Now, if you received it, why
do you boast in glory as if you didn't receive it? All these
things are given to us, whereby God hath given to us exceeding
great and precious promises, precious promises, that by these
promises, You, you might be a partaker of His divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in this world through lust. Now, I tell you, this business
of preaching the Word of God, is a weighty, heavy responsibility. Paul said this, who is sufficient
for these things? Ministering the Word of God,
speaking for God, delivering God's message to our generation. This is a heavy and weighty responsibility
not to be taken lightly. In fact, James wrote In James,
the third chapter, verse one, my brethren, listen, my brethren,
covet not to be teachers. Covet not to be teachers, knowing
that we shall receive the greater condemnation. What's he saying? He's saying this, don't rush
eagerly toward and aspire to be a preacher. TO BE A TEACHER
OF THE SCRIPTURES. GOD WILL HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE
FOR EVERYTHING YOU TEACH. AND OUR LORD SAID, IT'S BETTER
THAT A MAN HAVE A MILLSTONE HANGED ABOUT HIS NECK AND CAST INTO
THE SEA THAN TO TEACH ERROR WHEN YOU SPEAK FOR GOD. COVET NOT,
MY BRETHREN, TO BE TEACHERS. DON'T RUSH MADLY AND EAGERLY
TOWARD AND ASPIRE TO BE TEACHERS. and preachers of the scripture,
God almighty will hold us responsible for what we say in his name.
In fact, a lot of people at the judgment said, Lord, we prophesied
in your name. And he said, you're workers of
iniquity. The religious works you did were
works of iniquity. They were not for my glory. I'll
tell you this, we have not made full proof of our ministry. Now
listen to me. Just pull your chair up a little
closer there and listen a while, will you? We need to stop screaming
at people and dancing jigs and singing foot stomping songs and
start telling me what God Almighty has said. Pull your chair up
and listen. We have not made full proof of our ministry until
we learn and until we're taught by God's Spirit TO TOTALLY SHUT
MEN UP, SHUT MEN AND WOMEN UP TO THE FREE AND SOVEREIGN GRACE
OF GOD WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS. DID YOU HEAR HOW MANY TIMES WHEN
I WAS READING THOSE VERSES OF SCRIPTURE FROM 2ND PETER, THESE
THINGS WERE GIVEN TO US, GIVEN TO US, GIVEN TO US? WE'VE GOT
TO SHUT MEN UP TO THE GRACE OF GOD, SALVATIONS OF THE LORD.
Salvation is not something I do for God or something I do for
myself or something the preacher does for me. Salvation is of
God. It's of the Lord. David said
two or three times, the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. SALVATION IS OF THE LORD IN ITS
ORIGINATION. HE PURPOSED IT. HE PLANNED IT. SALVATION IS OF THE LORD IN ITS
EXECUTION. IT PLEASED HIM TO SEND HIS SON
INTO THE WORLD. IT PLEASED GOD TO BRUISE HIM.
IT PLEASED GOD THAT IN HIM SHOULD ALL FULLNESS DWELL. SALVATION
IS OF THE LORD IN ITS APPLICATION. IT PLEASED GOD TO REVEAL HIS
SON IN ME. IT'S NOT OF HIM THAT WILLETH.
IT'S NOT OF HIM THAT RUNNETH. IT'S OF GOD THAT SHOWETH MERCY.
As many as received Him, Christ, to them gave He the right, the
privilege to become sons of God, who were born, not of fleshly
inheritance, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not
of the will of man, but they were born of God. It's the Lord
that has saved us, salvations of the Lord in its application,
in its sustaining power. We're kept by the power of God
through faith, not without faith, not apart from faith. But it's
God who keeps us. We don't keep ourselves. And
salvation's of the Lord in its ultimate perfection. Yes. Let
us preach the gospel so powerfully and boldly and biblically that
men are shut up to the mercy of God. SHUT UP TO THE GRACE
OF GOD AND YET WE MUST PREACH THAT GOSPEL SO THAT OUR HEROES
ARE LED TO SEEK THE LORD. THEY ARE LED TO CRY OUT OF THEIR
MISERY FOR MERCY. TO PREACH THE FREE GRACE OF GOD
SO THAT SINNERS WILL FLEE TO CHRIST IN THEIR NEED LIKE THE
LEPER OF OLD WHEN OUR LORD CAME DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN. AND THIS
UNCLEAN LEPER COVERED WITH CORRUPTING ran to meet him and fell at his
feet, knowing of his sovereign power. And yet he looked up at
our Lord and he said to him, Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. Now that's the way to preach
the grace of God and the sovereign mercy of God in such a way that
men are shut up to the will of God. They're shut up to the power
of God. They're shut up to the mercy
of God. And yet they led to his feet to seek that mercy and seek
that grace like the Canaanite woman. She came to our Lord and
she said, Master, have mercy upon me. And he didn't even answer
her. Not a word did he say. And she
kept pleading, have mercy upon me. And he turned and said, he
said, I'm sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And she
kept saying, Lord, have mercy. He said, it's not right to give
the children's bread to Gentile dogs. And she said, yes, but
the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table.
And I'm a dog, but you're my master. And I'll be satisfied
with crumbs. And our Lord said, woman, great
is your faith. Can you do that? Can you do that? Or the woman
with the issue of blood, she came to Christ and she said,
if I could just touch the hem of his garment, just touch but
his clothes, I'll be made whole. Now that's the way, that's the
way to preach the gospel, in such a way that God gets all
the glory, all the glory, and yet men are led to seek him.
I wish I could preach like that. Our Lord did. Sinners sought
Him out. They sought Him out. And yet they knew that it was
according to His own will what He did for them. When He went
down to the pool of Bethesda, He didn't heal everybody, but
He did heal one. When He went to the land of the
Gadarenes, He didn't save them all, but He did save one. AND
THEN WE HAVE NOT MADE FULL PROOF OF OUR MINISTRY UNTIL WE PREACH
HOLINESS, PERFECT, IMMACULATE, INFINITE HOLINESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
IN CHRIST ALONE. HE IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE
LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, JEHOVAH SIDKENU, THE LORD OUR HOLINESS. IN I CORINTHIANS 1-30 THE SCRIPTURE
SAYS, Of Him are you in Christ, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. All the righteousness I need
is in Christ. ALL THE HOLINESS GOD REQUIRES,
ALL THE PERFECTION THE LAW DEMANDS, ALL THAT HEAVEN REQUIRES IS MINE
IN JESUS CHRIST, AND I ADD NOTHING TO IT. HE WAS MADE SIN FOR US
WHO KNEW NO SIN, THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF
GOD. WHAT KIND OF HOLINESS DO YOU
HAVE, PREACHER? GOD'S HOLINESS. THAT'S THE ONLY KIND THAT WILL
BE ADMITTED TO HEAVEN, GOD'S HOLINESS. It's not a manufactured
holiness. It's not a feigned holiness.
It's not a hypocritical holiness. It's not a phony worldly holiness.
It's God's holiness, God's righteousness. And Jesus Christ is the end of
the law, the consummation, the termination of the goal of the
law for holiness, righteousness to everyone that believe it.
He is our righteousness. And we must preach the Word of
God so clearly and so plainly that no man glories in himself. No man feels that he within himself
has any holiness. Isaiah said, we all do fade as
the leaf. Our righteousness, our righteousnesses
are filthy rags in God's sight. Did you know that? Man at his
best state is altogether vanity. There's none that doeth good.
There's none that seeketh after God. There's none that understandeth.
They're all gone out of the way. In the flesh dwelleth no good
thing. In the flesh, no man can please God. Well, how's God pleased? He said, this is my son in whom
I'm well pleased. He is our holiness. Yet, listen
to me. Yet we preach the gospel so that
men understand that the grace of Christ, that the mercy of
God, that the salvation which is in Jesus Christ produces works
of faith, labor of love, and a godly walk. Those who know
the Lord Jesus Christ know him by grace, but they hate sin. and they love righteousness.
And they seek to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior by walking
in love and truth and honesty and integrity and generosity
and hospitality and kindness and gentleness and humility and
faith and love. No man has ever been saved by
praying, but no man knows God who does not pray. You see what
I'm saying? No man's ever been saved by works,
but no man knows God who does not have works of faith and labors
of love. God saves greedy men, but they
don't stay greedy. They become generous and warm
and kind and caring. And that's the fruit of grace.
That's not what produces grace. Grace is the gift of God. Mercy
is the gift of God. But true mercy and grace produces
righteousness. No man is saved by loving others.
That's not the way you're saved, by loving others. You can't do
it anyway. Not by nature. But no man has ever been saved
who does not love others. No man knows God who does not
love others. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, and it's
not of works, lest any man should boast. But we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works. You see what a responsibility
it is to preach the Word of God? Not just standing up, popping
off, showing your knowledge of the Bible and arguing doctrine
and defending your traditions and swearing on a stack of Bibles
you save when you're not. It's delivering God's message
to your generation for the glory of God in the Spirit of God.
Shut up to the power of God. Shut up to the Spirit of God.
And we've not made full proof of our ministry until we're able
WITH COMPASSION AND AFFECTION TO WARN MEN, TO WARN THE FALSE
RELIGIONISTS. OH, HOW IT... HE SAID, WARN THEM
FOR ME. WARN THEM. CAUTION MEN AGAINST
PRESUMPTION. MY FRIEND, BE PRESUMPTUOUS ABOUT
A LOT OF THINGS, BUT DON'T BE PRESUMPTUOUS ABOUT YOUR IMMORTAL
SOUL. LET THE POTSHERDS OF THE EARTH
STRIVE WITH THE POTSHERDS OF THE EARTH, BUT THE MAN'S A FOOL
who strives with his Maker. We just have one death to die
and one judgment to face and one eternity to spend and one
soul in which to spend it. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be found in you an evil heart of unbelief. Don't be so sure. Don't be so cocksure. Don't be
so presumptuous. Don't let your hope for eternal
glory rest in a silly profession you made years ago, an old profession
that stayed old. Don't be following some man,
putting confidence in the flesh, following the voice of a man.
Be careful. Try the spirits, whether it's
God who's spoken to you. Salvation's not in the church.
Salvation is not in the law. Salvation is not in giving mental
assent to some facts. Well, I believe there's a God,
the devil does too. Well, I believe Jesus died on
the cross, was buried and rose again. The devil was there when
he died, when he was buried and when he rose again, but he's
not saved. Salvation is not mental agreement with facts. Salvation
is in a person. IN A LIVING, VITAL, PERSONAL
UNION BY FAITH WITH THE SON OF GOD. THAT'S SALVATION. AND THAT SALVATION GIVES THIS
STRONG EVIDENCE. THIS IS THE STRONG EVIDENCE OF
THAT SALVATION. WE CONTINUE IN THE FAITH AND
GROW AND GROW. EVERYTHING THAT'S LIVING GROWS.
PROMISE YOU THAT. Is dead it does not grow It does
not grow everything living grows Too many professors of religion
are still standing right where they made their profession 40
years ago. They've digressed a little bit
Continuing the faith and growing grace and knowledge of the lord
jesus christ and god give us the wisdom to warn men and yet
And yet we preach the mercy and grace of God in Christ so as
to give comfort and assurance and confidence to those who truly
believe. My brethren, we are hedged about,
we're hedged about in the Word of God with warnings, warnings,
warnings, warnings, lest we presume But thank God we're hedged about
with precious promises. Oh, the precious promises of
God, lest any man despair. If it were not for his promises,
I'd throw up my hands in helplessness and hopelessness. For what I
see in myself is not God. I have to look without myself
to see God. Peter calls these promises great,
exceeding great, and precious promises. And you know, these
precious promises are in some good company. Show you the value
of them, the glory of them. The Word of God uses the word
precious in reference to Christ. He is precious. And so are His
promises. And it uses the word precious
in reference to His blood. It's precious blood with which
we're redeemed. You know how precious His blood
is? How precious He is? How precious His blood. And precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. You know
how precious that is? What august company these promises
keep. They're precious promises. Why
are they precious? Well, 1 Kings 8, 56 says, There
hath not failed one word of all His good promises. And Abraham
said this, that he's able. He's able. He's able to perform
all that He promised. He's able to perform. Well, what
is His chief promise? That's what I thought about in
preparing this message. We talk about the precious promises
of our God. What is His chief and most glorious
and most beneficial THE ONE THAT I'M SO VITALLY INTERESTED IN,
AND THE ONE IN WHICH YOU'RE SO VITALLY INTERESTED. YOU KNOW
WHAT IT IS? IT'S THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE. HE SAID IN TITUS
1-2, IN HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE, ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH GOD, WHO
CANNOT LIE, PROMISED, PROMISED IT BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN. NOW YOU THINK ABOUT THAT. ANY OF HIS PROMISES, AND YET
HE PROMISED BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN ETERNAL LIFE. I'LL SHOW YOU THAT AGAIN, I JOHN
2, 25. THIS IS THE RECORD THAT HE HATH
GIVEN US AND PROMISED US EVEN ETERNAL LIFE. THINK ABOUT IT. HIS PRECIOUS PROMISE, NOT ONE
WORD'S EVER FAILED, He's able to perform them. And He, God,
has promised us eternal life. Now, brethren, this life on earth
is short, so short. That life's eternal. This life
will one day end. That life will never end. This life is one of sorrow, sorrow. And that life is one of happiness,
glory, free from pain. This life is one of sin. That's
right. And that one, perfection. This
life is one of toil and tears. And yet, John wrote in Revelation,
and I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the
tabernacle of God is with AND HE WILL DWELL WITH THEM AND THEY
SHALL BE HIS PEOPLE AND GOD HIMSELF WILL BE WITH THEM AND BE THEIR
GOD AND GOD SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS FROM THEIR EYES AND THERE'LL
BE NO MORE DEATH, NO MORE SORROW, NO MORE CRYING, NEITHER SHALL
THERE BE ANY MORE PAIN FOR ALL THESE FORMER THINGS HAVE PASSED
AWAY." What a promise. I must confess,
I am desperately interested in this promise of eternal life
for myself and for myself. This thing of salvation is a pursuit of God. It's seeking
the Lord. Oh, Paul said that I may know
Christ. that I may know Him, that I may
win Christ and be found in Him. How can we take such a precious,
precious commodity, such as our eternal souls, and rest them
on such flimsy, flimsy foundations? Like, I haven't done this, or
I haven't done that, and I've done this, and I've done that,
and I've made my profession. I'm a Baptist, or a Methodist,
or a Nazarene, or a Presbyterian. God help us. You see, where is
this promise of God? Where is it? Where is this promise? Listen, listen to me. This promise
of eternal life, where is it to be found? You tell me, but
I'll tell you. In 2 Corinthians 1 20, it says
this, for all the promises of God are in Christ. And they are yes, and in Christ
the promises of God are amen, so be it, under the glory of
God. Where is this promise? In Christ. And it's nowhere else. This is
the record God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. Could that be spoken in a clearer
fashion? I wouldn't know how. This is
the record. This is the truth. This is the
testimony. This is written down. God has
given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son, not in the
law, not in the church, not in the ordinances, not in baptism,
not in your profession. It's in Christ. And he that hath
the Son of God hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God.
Listen to me. HATH NOT LIFE. GOD HAS NO SPIRITUAL
BLESSINGS FOR SINNERS EXCEPT IN CHRIST. BLESSED BE THE GOD
AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO HATH BLESSED US WITH
ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN THE HEAVENLIES IN CHRIST. THE FATHER LOVETH THE SON AND
HATH GIVEN ALL THINGS INTO HIS HANDS. GOD HAS NO WORD OF FORGIVENESS
OR REDEMPTION FOR SINNERS EXCEPT IN Ephesians 1, 7, in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins through his blood. You don't spell that W-A-T-E-R,
that's blood, precious blood. God will not speak to any man,
nor will he be spoken to by any man except through Christ. There's
one God and one mediator between God and men, and that's the man,
Christ Jesus. There's a promise. And it's precious. It's the promise of God who cannot
lie. It's the promise of God given
us before the foundation of the world. It's the promise of eternal
life. But that promise and that life
is in Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. And the
word is clear. And it's not a matter of denominationalism
or sectarianism or what you think I think or anybody else thinks.
It's what hath the Lord said. There's gonna be a flood, Noah
said. They said, I don't believe it, but it came. And the Bible
says, other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid,
Christ Jesus. There's none other name unto
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Our Lord said,
I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father,
but by me." Precious promises. Now, I have this message on a
cassette tape called Precious Promises. If you want it, write
to me. The address will be given to
you in a few moments. There's another message that
I'll bring next week. on We Preach Christ and Him Crucified. If you want both of these messages
on this cassette tape, you write to me. Send $2. That's what it
cost us to produce them and mail them. Until next week, I bid
you a pleasant good day.