The Two Vital Points of Christianity

Let's read the text again, if
you will, 2 Peter 1, verses 1 through 3. 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. Now, the two
most important things in our religion, what are they? What would you say are the two
most important things in our religion? I would say, and I
believe that Peter is saying here, they are faith and life,
or faith and godliness. He who rightly understands these
two words, someone said years ago, is not far from being a
master of true theology. He who really understands the
meaning of these two words, faith, faith, and life, life, is not
far from being a master in true theology. Faith and life, faith
and vital union, these are the two vital points to a Christian. They cannot be separated. They
cannot be divided. You'll never find true faith
where you do not find true godliness. And you'll never find true godliness
where you do not find true faith. Because true, saving faith always
produces a living, vital union with Christ. And a true, living,
vital union with Christ has as its foundation and has as its
root an unyielding, uncompromising faith in the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. Faith and life, true faith and
vital union with Christ, you cannot separate them. Where you
have true faith, you have a living union with the Son of God. To
see Him is to love Him. To see Him is to believe on Him.
To see Him is to follow Him. He that seeth the Son hath life. And where you have true faith
in Jesus Christ, you have true godliness always. And where you
have true godliness, you don't have it except that person has
seen the Son. And he has his roots buried deep
in Christ Jesus. Now then, two things I want to
point out here, and I don't mean to be offensive, but I want you
to listen carefully to them. There are those in our day, and
no message Don McKinney said at the last Bible conference,
if you're not communicating to people in reference to their
need, in reference to their need of mercy and need of God, you're
not communicating. If people are in reference to
their particular need in their particular day, you're not preaching. Now, let's remember that. We're
not living in the days of the Puritans, nor the Apostles, nor
the Israelites. We're living in 1977. And if
I'm preaching to you, unless I am meeting a particular need,
unless I am making an application of what this Word says, and who
God is, and who you are, and your need, I'm not preaching.
I'm not preaching at all. Preaching is communicating. It's
communicating. Now I want you to listen to these
two things that I'm going to say. There are those today who
preach faith. They run after faith. And they
cultivate faith. But they forget that vital living
union with a person. Faith to them is intellectual
agreement with some facts or terms or doctrines or theology
or denominationalism. Faith to them is a mental acceptance
of some facts about a person who lived and died and was buried
and rose again and ascended back to heaven. And they teach and
cultivate and run after faith. And they forget that vital living
union with Christ, that life and godliness which Paul talked
about in Galatians. Now turn to Galatians chapter
4, verse 19. And this is what he's talking
about here, and some of you will know what he's talking about
the minute you read this verse. He says, My little children,
of whom I prevail, in birth again, again, again, until Christ be
born in you. You know, when Paul was talking
about his conversion, he said, God, who separated me from my
mother's womb, was pleased to reveal His Son. What's the next
word there? in me, not to me. Christ wasn't
revealed to Paul. He was revealed in Paul. And
this is what I'm saying. I'm saying to those who are preaching
faith, you want to go to heaven? Everybody does. You don't want
to go to hell? Nobody does. Well, the way to heaven is to
believe on Jesus. Will you believe on Jesus? Do you believe he died,
was buried, and rose again? Well, yes, I do. Will you say?
And they preach that kind of faith, and they cultivate that
kind of faith, and run after that kind of faith, and the devil
has that kind of faith, James says. Turn to James, chapter
4, and listen to him as he talks about this very contemporary
thing. James, I beg your pardon, chapter 2 it is. And he says
in James, chapter 2, in verse 17, faith, if it hath not works,
if it does not produce fruit, If it does not give forth evidence,
it's dead. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast
saved, and I have worked. Show me your faith without your
works, without proof, without evidence. I'll show you my faith
by my work. You believe there's one God?
You can add other things to that. You believe there's one God?
You believe Christ came into the world? You believe he died
on the cross? You believe he was buried? You believe he rose
again? You can add any doctrinal truth to that. You believe this
doctrinal truth? You do well. The devil believes
and trembles, but we'll found no old vain man that faith without
vital union, faith without godliness, faith without evidence, faith
without works is dead. Now, this is the foundation of
modern evangelism. It doesn't matter to me what
anybody says. This is the foundation of modern
evangelism. Every effort is exhausted. Every
gimmick is used in order to persuade men and women to believe on Jesus
Christ and to make a public confession of that faith. in Jesus Christ,
while a total commitment to Christ, while the enthronement of Christ
as Lord of our lives, while Christ Jesus, born in us, while regeneration
by the Holy Spirit, a new creation in Christ, is ignored. And that's dead orthodoxy. And
it's a dead letter of the law which kills all who receive it
and all who believe faith without life, faith without vital union,
faith without true godliness, faith without a supreme devotion
to Jesus Christ is dead. Now, in the second place, there
are those on the other side of the coin who pursue a show of
religion and piety and morality. in good works, who know absolutely
nothing of true repentance and saving faith. Now, they're described
in Romans 10. If you'll turn to the 10th chapter
of Romans, you'll find Paul describing these people. Now, on the one
hand, they're those who preach faith to the extreme. All you've
got to do to be saved is believe. All you got to do to be saved
is believe Jesus down on the cross and there it was, rose
again. While on the other side of the coin, there are those
who cultivate morality and good works and a form of piety and
righteousness and totally forget and totally ignore the need of
mercy. and grace and redemption and
substitution. In Romans 10 verse 1, Paul said,
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved, truly saved. Not that they might make a profession
of faith, that they might be saved. Not that they might be
church members, but that they might be saved. I bear them record. They have a zeal of God, but
it's not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, who is God's righteousness? It's Christ. It's Christ's obedience. It's Christ's substitution. It's
Christ's satisfaction. It's Christ's holiness imputed
to us. It's what Christ did in our place
instead, what we couldn't do because of the weakness of the
flesh. And they're ignorant of this. They're ignorant of their
lost condition and their need. And they're going about. Now
watch it. to establish their own righteousness, their own
morality, their own credibility, and will not and have not submitted
themselves to the righteousness of God, for Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. Now, this is the foundation of
what we call the modern holiness movement. Every effort is exhausted
to get men and women to separate themselves from the world, to
live a moral, clean, religious life serving God and serving
man. And these people are sincere,
just like I believe that many of the faith promoters are sincere,
the holiness promoters are sincere. They're seeking to establish
a righteousness before God. They're seeking to establish
a basis on which they will be accepted by God and received
by God. And they do not know that this
righteousness without Christ is filthy rags. And they do not know that apart
from true faith in Christ as our substitute and as our sacrifice,
all of the works that all of the men of all of the world could
do put together wouldn't put away one single. Paul was in
this condition, turn to Philippians 3. And Paul was in this condition
before he met Christ, before he was genuinely converted, before
he was genuinely saved. In Philippians 3, he talked about
glorying in the flesh. And he says in verse 5 of Philippians
3, I was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel. Covenant
theology, steeped in. of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ, yea, doubtless, I count
all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, all of
these traditions. All of this human righteousness,
all of these works of religion, all of these ceremonies, all
of this heritage, I count it but done that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. The unwritten laws of religion
today is that we sit in judgment on no man's religion. And every time you deal with
something like this, there are those in the congregation who
get offended. And we're supposed to criticize
nobody's preaching, and call no one's name, and criticize
no one's faith. A man's preaching and faith and
so forth is a hallowed institution that no man is supposed to question.
Now you listen to me a minute. But when a man steps up in a
pulpit, or on a television screen, or on the microphone of a radio, and he begins to preach, And
he claims that he's preaching a message from God Almighty.
That's what he's claiming. He says he is a man of God, he
is called to preach, and he's preaching a message from God.
And he is advocating, publicly, by television or radio or in
a pulpit, in this church, that's what I'm doing, or any other
church, and he is advocating that I, or you, can or cannot
approach God depending on what he's preaching, then I got a
right to question him. You see what I'm saying? Now,
if it's his private belief, that's none of my business. He can believe
what he wants to. If he keeps it private, if he
keeps it in his study, if he keeps it in his closet, if he
keeps it in his home, that's none of my business. But when
he preaches it from a public pulpit as I'm preaching tonight,
Then I've got every right, according to this word right here, to examine
his message. Did they not do that to the Apostle
Paul? To beree and search the Scriptures
to see if these things were what? So. That's what Scripture says. They went home and searched the
Scriptures to see if what that man preached was so. If he's going to make himself
a servant of God, if he's going to claim to be a messenger from
heaven, if he's going to stand up and say from the pulpit that
what he is declaring is what God says, and I can or cannot
approach God dependent on my obedience to what he says, I've
got a right to check up on him. And if he's wrong, I've got a
right to expose him. That's so. Do you want me to
show you that? Turn to 1 John chapter 4. 1 John
chapter 4, when he makes it public, when he makes it public. And we preachers got the idea
that there's something sacred that nobody can, nobody can question
what they say, and nobody can question what they do, nobody
can question what they preach. Well, listen to the Word of God.
1 John 4 says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, try the spirit. whether they are of God, because
many false prophets have gone out into the world. You better
try them. A false prophet's not going to come up here and say,
I'm a false prophet. He's going to come and say, I'm
God's prophet. He's not going to come preaching
evil. He's going to come preaching
righteousness. For Satan's ministers are changed
into ministers of righteousness. That's what the Scripture says.
He's Satan himself into an angel of light. Turn, if you will,
to 1 Timothy 4, 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1 through 8. Now listen. Now for man's private
belief, that's his business. And I've got no right to call
him on the street and say, you're wrong. I've got no right to charge
him with being wrong. That's his business. He wants
to be wrong if he wants to be whatever he wants to be. But
a man who says, I'm a minister, I'm a spokesman for God, and
what he's preaching, his message, he's advocating that I cannot
come to God except the way he says, I've got to write the question. That's what Paul says in 1 Timothy
4, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their
conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, commanding
to abstain from meats which God had created to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth, for every
creature of God is good, Nothing to be refused if it be received
with thanksgiving, for it's sanctified by the Word of God in prayer.
And if you put the brethren in remembrance of these things,
you shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ." That's what's
said. Now what I'm saying, and I leave
it entirely to you to search the Scriptures, and I beg of
you, I beg of you when I preach, Don, or Cecil, or Frank, or Joe
Wilson, or Booth, or Charlie Payne, or any of these preachers
preach, don't you accept one thing because we say it so, you
search the Scriptures. Be convinced of God's Holy Spirit. And any man who is not willing
to have his message measured by the Word of God is a dishonest
preacher. He has his own glory at heart,
he does not have the glory of God at heart. And what I'm saying
tonight is this, and I want you to look into God's Word. You
look back at 2 Peter 1. There are two vital areas that
demand our utmost attention, and two areas where we must have
the mind of the Lord, and those two areas are these, faith and
life, faith and life, faith and life. or justification and sanctification. It would be unheard of to claim
either without the other. He who is justified in Christ
is sanctified. And he who is sanctified has
got to be justified. The Word of God says, if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature. If any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. So these two things are
inseparable, and I want to look at them briefly. Now, first of
all, we'll look at faith. 2 Peter 1, verse 1. Simon Peter,
a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have, look
at this word, obtained like precious faith. Obtained faith. What is the source of faith?
One old preacher says, saving faith does not grow in the garden
of the human heart by nature. It is the gift of God. Saving
faith is not the product of education. It's not the product of example. It's not the product of heredity.
It's not the product of instruction. Saving faith is the gift of God. If you tonight are a believer,
a true believer, In Jesus Christ, God Almighty gave you that faith. That's what I'm saying. I want
to be understood as plainly as I can make it. Now, we are commanded
to believe on Christ. That is true. We are commanded
to believe on Christ. And faith is an act of man. The Holy Spirit does not believe
for me, I believe. The Holy Spirit does not believe
for me, I believe. Romans 10, 9, and 10 says this,
"...if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and
believe in thine heart God raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." What
I'm saying is this. Now listen clearly. We are commanded
to believe faith is an act of man, but no man, no son of Adam,
Will or can exercise faith apart from divine grace and divine
enabling of the Holy Spirit. God enables you to believe. And
in that way, it's the gift of God. God leads you to faith. In that way, it's the gift of
God. Look at a few verses. First of all, Psalms 110. Now
look at these, and please remember what I'm saying. Faith is the
gift of God. Not that God splits open your
head and stuffs faith in it. Not that God splits open your
heart, does an operation by surgery, and sticks faith in it. That's
not it. God enables you to believe. God gives you the light that
reveals the object of faith. God illuminates your heart. God
enlightens your mind. God Almighty reveals Christ to
you. God Almighty leads you to believe.
You believe, you receive, you trust, but God enables you to.
Christ said, no man can come to me except my Father which
sent me. In Psalm 110 verse 3, thy people
shall be willing. They're going to be willing.
They're going to be willing. You know, Noah went in that ark
willingly. The people stayed out willingly. God didn't pick
anybody up and throw them in, and God didn't push anybody out
that wanted in. When that old ark left the shore
and floated up on the first foot or two of water, everybody in
there wanted in, everybody out wanted out. That's right. But
those that were in there saw something these didn't see, and
heard something these didn't hear, and understood something
these didn't understand, and believed something these didn't
believe in. Noah, being warned of God, moved with fear. He believed
God. He believed Him. That's what
it's saying here, "...thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power." Yes, sir, faith is an act of man. But no man can
or will act in faith till he's seen something, till he's heard
something, till he's understood something, till he has had revealed
to his heart someone. That's so. Turn, if you will,
to 2 Corinthians 4. Now listen to this, 2 Corinthians
4. There's nothing difficult about this at all. As Brother
Roth used to say, somebody says, that's deep. He says, it's not
deep, it's just so. And the natural man will not
receive the things of the Spirit, they have to be revealed. And
in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6, here's what happened. In verse
3, it says, If our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are
lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded their mind,
lest they believe. A blind man who's got no eyes,
an object can be right there beside him, he doesn't see it.
He doesn't see it, it's dead to him. I've got eyes, I'm looking
straight at it. The other night, Darcy and I
were sitting out at the ball game Monday night, we were coming
up from the stadium, walking up the street, and there's a
fella in front of us with a white cane. A blind man. He had on
his cest and had a red hat, and he had a badge here, a big red
machine. He had a radio, you know, and
had a cushion. He had his white cane. And I
walked up and said, I said, do you go to the ballgame? He said,
I go put it right. I said, where you live? He said,
I live up there in the Milner Hotel. And he goes down and sits
and can't see a thing. But he listens to that game on
the radio and hears that crowd holler. He gets right in the
middle of all of them. And we came to some construction,
so I led him around. I told him, take my arm. And
he said, I'll make it all right if you help me around this construction
work here, you know, and around across the street where the traffic's
so heavy. And we took him all around with
a post office there and told him good night. And he went on
his way, but he couldn't see a thing. I could see the construction,
I could see it and go around it. It was there, but he couldn't
see it. And the gospel's here, but the
naturally blind men can't see it. They can't see it. It's there. They're looking right
at it, but with no eyes they can't see it. But look at verse
6. But God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in Christ Jesus, in the face of Christ Jesus.
That's why we believe. He showed Christ to us. That's
why we believe. That's why a blind man doesn't
believe. The blind man does not believe because he doesn't see.
He doesn't believe there's a car there because he can't see it.
I believe there's a car there because I've got eyes and I can
see. And that way, faith is the gift
of God. That way. I believe, but God gives me the
sight and hearing and the understanding and the comprehension of my sins
and of my Savior and of his mercy. All right, now back to 2 Peter.
Back to 2 Peter. So faith is the gift of God.
I didn't figure this out by myself. That's what I'm saying. I didn't
figure out I was lost. God showed me I was lost. I didn't
figure out who Christ is. I don't believe on Christ because
I'm smarter than somebody else. I'm a lot dumber than most folks.
But God revealed him to me. You can see if you've got eyes,
and eyes are the gift of God. All right, the object of faith.
Now, Simon Peter, and a servant apostle to them that have obtained
like precious faith with us, Through the righteousness of
God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. What's the object of faith? Now,
if you've got an amplified Bible, here's a better translation of
that. Look at the last line. Like precious faith with us,
through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's what that says. Through
the righteousness of our God and Savior. Our faith is in Christ
our God. Our faith is in Christ our righteousness. Our faith is in Christ our Savior. Our faith is in the righteousness
of our God, his perfect righteousness, his perfect obedience, his perfect
life, and our faith is in our Savior. He bore our sins in his
body on the tree. Our confidence and our faith
is never in ourselves, never in what we've done, never in
what we are doing, never in what we will do, but our faith is
in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now watch this, the quality of
faith. He says, "...to them who have
obtained like precious faith." like precious faith with us.
Peter's writing here, like precious faith with us. All saving faith
is the same. Now, it may differ in degrees.
There may be little faith, there may be great faith. But all faith
is the same if it's true faith. I don't care whether it's found
in Abraham, or whether it's found in Peter, or whether it's found
in John Calvin, or whether it's found in Charles Spurgeon, or
whether it's found in Cecil Roach. All faith is the same. If God
Almighty gave one, he gave the other. If God Almighty reveals
one to one Christ, he'll re-reveal Christ to the other. If one is
in Christ, the other's in Christ. If one brings life, the other
brings life. All faith is the same. That's
what Peter is saying here. They have obtained like precious
faith with us. It's the same. I turn to the book of 2 Timothy
chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Here's that old definition of
faith. Faith is the same. Peter says
that they have obtained They didn't earn it. They didn't produce
it. They obtained it. I obtained
mercy. They obtained it. And it's the
object of that faith, Christ. His righteousness, His deity,
His substitution. And Peter says, the same faith
I got. Light, precious faith. Same faith Paul had. Here's Paul's
faith. Paul's faith, he said in the last line of 2 Timothy
1.12, I know whom I have believed." That's a knowledge of him. I'm
persuaded he's able to keep that confidence in him, that which
I've committed to him. And that's a committal. All right,
look at the value of faith. Now this, I want you to get this.
I didn't realize the importance of this particular point until
just a little while ago. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle
of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained, like, precious
faith, precious faith. Now brethren, get your concordance
sometime and see the things that God, by divine inspiration, calls
precious. There are not many things. Do
you know that, precious? God calls some things precious.
Now listen to some of them. He said in Isaiah 28, I lay in
Zion a precious cornerstone. Precious. He that believeth shall
not be ashamed. In 1 Peter 2.7, he said, unto
you who believe he, Christ, is precious. In 1 Peter 1.19, he
says we're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. In
2 Peter 2.4, he says he has given us precious promises, or his
word. So up until now, through there,
there are just a few things called precious. Christ, his blood,
his word, And now he says, this faith that
you have obtained that's like that of the apostles is precious. Boy, I tell you, it's no small
thing to believe on Christ. I don't think a whole lot of
people do. I think that little light way that faith is regarded
today is not only ignorance, but it's more than that. I think it's worshiping at the
shrine of an unknown God. I really do. The man who has
true saving faith, I care not whether it be to a small degree
or a great degree, but that person who has saving faith in Jesus
Christ has one of the most precious jewels that God can entrust to
a human being. It's as precious as his word. That's what he says, precious. And do you believe he is precious,
his word is precious, his blood is precious, that cornerstone
is precious, and that faith is precious? No light thing. The reason I
say, and I'll bring that point to a close on that particular
note, two vital things in Christianity, one is faith. And I'll tell you,
if you have faith in Christ, you've got something mighty precious. All right, the second thing,
and I'm not going to be on this long, let's look at the divine
life. Now, these two verses, verses
2 and 3, let's just read them together. 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 to life and godliness. Now, let's read that. You listen to me read it this
way. See if this doesn't help you. The grace and peace that comes
through a knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord be multiplied
to you. For, there's the word according,
for, God hath by his divine power given unto us through this knowledge
of Christ all things that pertain to life. Let me give you that
again. The grace and peace that comes
through a knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord be multiplied
to you. For God hath by his divine power
given unto us through this knowledge of Christ all things that pertain
to life and Godliness. When God gives a man Christ,
he gives him all things. That's right, all things. When
God gives us Christ, he gives us all things that pertain to
life. Now, I'm not talking about this
temporal life. And when I say what I'm about
to say, I'm talking to me as well as to you. It's so easy
for us to get bogged down. in materialism. Did you know
that? That's the easiest thing in the world. In fact, this is
a temptation that has to literally be fought, especially in this
day, as much as anything else. Getting bogged down in materialism
and enslaved to these things of the flesh and the things of
the world. It's a mistake, it's a terrible mistake to measure
God's blessing by the health and wealth standard. That's a
big mistake. Paul didn't have either one.
He had no health and he had no wealth. That's right. He didn't
have either one. He was a very poor man and a
very sick man. He was very frail and very poor. We measure God's blessings by
our physical condition and our material condition, and that's
a mighty poor standard by which to measure God's mercies. I want
you to look at some scripture. For example, in Matthew 6. Now
listen to this. But this is what we're given. We're given a dose of this every
time we turn on the TV or the radio, every time we listen to
some preacher. God wants you to be healthy and
prosperous. Isn't that what they say? Health
and wealth, health and wealth, health and wealth. It's all a
materialistic kingdom. Now you listen to Christ. Verse
24 of Matthew 6, no man can serve two masters, either he'll hate
the one and love the other, or he'll hold to the one and despise
the other. You can't serve God, and the word mammon is riches.
Therefore I say to you, take no thought for your life, this
is anxious thought, what you shall eat, or what you shall
drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. Is your
life, is not your life more than need in your body, more than
raiment? Behold, the fowls are there, they sow not, neither
do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly
Father feedeth them unto you much better than they. Which
of you?" My taking thought can add one year to his life. That's
what that's saying there. And why do you take anxious thought
for clothing? Look at the lilies of the field,
how they grow. They toil not, neither do the
spin. And yet I say unto you in Solomon, all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothed the
grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into
the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought. Saying,
what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what withal shall
we be clothed? Now watch this next line. After
all these things do the heathen seek. Put that word Gentile,
that's heathen. Your Father knows you have need
of all these things. Seek ye first, seek ye first
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. All these things shall be added
unto you. So you don't measure God's blessings
by what you have, nor by your health, nor any of these things.
How much you got to eat, that's not the measurement of God's
blessings. Turn to 1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6. Let's look at this scripture
here a moment. 1 Timothy 6, verse 6 through 11. Now listen carefully
to this. 1 Timothy 6, verse 6. Godliness
with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into this
world, and it certainly will carry nothing out. And having
food and clothing, let us be therewith content. For they that
will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish
and hurtful lusts. which drown men in destruction
and perdition. For the love of money is the
root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have
erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee
these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, patience, meekness." There's where we live. So this life that I'm talking
about, this life that God has given us, all things that pertain
to this life, it's not temporal life, it's spiritual life. God
has given us all things that pertain to life, real life. I
have them all. Where do I have them? I have
them in Christ. I have them in Christ. In Christ
he gives me the right to this life. In Christ he gives me the
promise of this life. In Christ he gives me the nature
of this life. Look there at verse 4. A partaker
of the divine nature. Now let me give you this and
I'll close. And in Christ he will multiply.
the grace and peace of this life, the grace of it and the peace
of it, through the knowledge of Christ. Now listen to this,
I stole this. The more I look to Christ and
lean upon him and realize his great love for me, the more I
grow in grace. The more of his grace will be
revealed in me when I spend much time looking to him, looking
to him, looking to him, the more of his grace will be revealed.
Now, I found this to be true. If you spend a lot of time with
a person, you get to be a whole lot like them. And if you spend a whole lot
of time with the Savior, good chance it'll rub off on you.
Me too. All of us. If we spend a whole
lot of time with Christ. But you know, when I look within,
when I dwell on my ideas and dwell on my thoughts and when
I dwell on my opinions and my principles, I just get more like
myself. You know, you've heard people say, he's set in his ways.
You know what set him there? He looked within all the time.
That's what set him in his ways. He only walked with his ways.
He was only open to his ways. He was only listening to his
thoughts, only listening to his desires. He molded his thinking. If he had spent less time looking
within and more time looking to Christ, he'd become more like
Christ. So, if I spend more time, the
more time I spend with him, with his word and with him, Not telling
him who I am and what I am and what I'll do and asking him to
meet me halfway, but just with him. Just, Lord, I want to find
out more about you. There's a good possibility that
I'll become more like him. That's grace. And secondly, peace
is multiplied through a knowledge of Christ. Now, when we speak
of peace, we have to define it. There's the peace with God through
our Lord Jesus. There's peace among yourselves,
the Church. There's Hebrews 12, 14, follow
peace with all men. And then there's this peace.
In John 14, 27, turn over there and read it. John 14, 27, there's
this peace. Christ said in John 14, 27, peace
I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth,
give I unto you, let not your heart be troubled. And don't
be afraid. I have a fullness of joy from
knowing Christ, and a confidence in the sovereign purpose of my
God, and a sense of a full and free pardon through his blood,
and a heart satisfied with his presence and his prophethood. Those are the two things vital
to Christianity, faith and life. true faith and true life.

The Two Vital Points of Christianity

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The Two Vital Points of Christianity

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