this week to Jim Poe who is just
10 years shy of 80. And happy birthday to Claura
this week and also Julie all those got birthdays this week
so The planned trip we had to leave tomorrow to go see my sister's
been canceled because her husband's sick, so we're not gonna be,
we'll stay, so we will, if you're available, we will have Wednesday
night services regular this week since I'm not leaving, so I'm
hanging around, all right. Other than that, I can't think
of any other announcements. Fred's due for his heart on the
19th, right? Is that for the operation or
is that for? That's the surgery on the 19th. And then six weeks
later will be the beginning of the chemotherapy? It depends
on how I do coming out of heart surgery. Okay. Okay. All right,
continue to remember Dee Parks and the others who request prayer.
Seek the Lord's help for them. Let's begin our worship service
with hymn number 141. We've sung this song twice, and
I'm hoping third time's a charm. I love the song, but ? Look ye saints, the sight is
glorious ? ? See the man of sorrows now ? ? He from the fight returned
victorious ? Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him,
Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him, Crown Him, ? The trophies Jesus brings ? In
the seat of power enthrone him ? While the ball of heaven rings
? Crown him, crown him ? Crown the Savior King of kings ? Sinners
in derision crowned him ? ? Marking thus the Savior's claim ? ? Saints
and angels crowd around him ? ? On his title praise his name ? ?
Crown him, crown him ? ? Spread abroad the victor ? Those bursts of acclamation,
hark those loud triumphant chords. Jesus takes a highest station. what joy the sight affords. Crown Him, crown Him, King of
kings and Lord of lords. Some good words in that song. After scripture reading and prayer
we're gonna sing hymn number 209 greater than our sins. If you
have your Bibles, turn to 2 Peter chapter 3. I'm going to read
the entire chapter. I'm going to take my text from
verse 11. Simon Peter writes, This second
epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir
up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that ye may be mindful
of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets,
and of the commandment of the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,
walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise
of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
And for this they willingly are ignorant, that by the word of
God the heavens of old and the earth standing out of the water
and in the water were by the world that then was being overflowed
with water perished. But the heavens and the earth
which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto
fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
But beloved be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is
with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. Seeing then all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto
the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens shall be
on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
the fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to his promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be diligent that you may be found in him
in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul,
also according to his wisdom given unto him, hath written
unto you. And also in all his epistles, speaking in them of
things which are some things hard to understand, which they
that are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do also the other
scriptures unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing
ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall unto your own steadfastness,
but grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus,
of the Lord Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and
forever. Amen. Let us pray. We rejoice to read such things
and to know of the promise that you have given to your children
concerning this new world wherein dwelleth righteousness. We thank
you, Father, that you have shown us the truth and given us faith
to believe it. You have called us unto yourself
by your gospel You have taught us, and because you have taught
us, we have come to Christ. We thank you for the perfect
sacrifice of Jesus Christ that satisfied your law and justice.
We thank you that you have made him to be unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. We thank you for our salvation
that's full and free. We thank you that you didn't
look to us for any of it. For we are failures, full of
faults, weak, puny, having nothing to offer. So you did it all. Glory be to your name. We pray
for those who are sick. Pray for Brother Fred as he's
awaiting this heart operation on the 19th. Pray for those doctors,
prepare them for this work. Father, we pray also as he awaits
the time where he'll be in chemotherapy that you'd be with him and be
with those specialists who deal in this type of cancer. Pray
for Brother D. Parks that you'd continue to
minister to him and to his family. Pray for those of our company
who are shut-ins for Brother Wayne and Sister Ethel and Sister
Peggy Lambert. We pray, Father, for ourselves
as we gather here this day. that you would meet with us in
the presence of your spirit to take the things of Christ and
reveal them unto us. Cast us down in the dust where
we belong. Let us take our headquarters
there. And then if you would be pleased to lift our eyes to
see our Savior, enthroned, exalted, high and holy, the King of kings
and Lord of lords. May with our hearts and faith
crown Him for who He is and rejoice that you have made us to know
Him what a thing for a sinner to
even consider. Help us now to worship you, we
pray in Christ's name, amen. Grace greater than all our sins.
This is Mickey's favorite song. We'll try that again. ? Marvelous grace of our loving
Lord ? Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt ? Yonder on
Calvary's mount outpoured ? There where the blood of the Lamb was
spilled Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse
within. God's grace, grace that is greater
than all our sin. Sin and despair like the sea
waves cold, threaten the soul with infinite loss. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse
within. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that is greater than all
our sin. cannot hide. What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson
tide. Whiter than snow you may be today. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse
within. God's grace, grace that is greater
than all our sin. Marvelous, infinite, matchless
grace, freely bestowed on all who believe. You that are longing, Will you this moment His grace
receive? Grace, grace, God's grace, Grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin. Let's pray. Father, again we
approach in the blessed name and perfect righteousness of
Jesus Christ the Lord. who is our king and our master,
our great benefactor, the unspeakable gift that you have given to your
children, the gift that is so great words cannot describe.
And with him you've freely given us all things. We have nothing
that we've not received. Let us not boast as if we've
not received it. We return unto thee that which
you've given us. Let us do so with joy and thanksgiving. and a cheerful heart. We pray
in Christ's name, amen. Simon Peter writes to the church
in general in verse 11, he says, Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought
ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? The words of verse
11 are written to a group of people who are said to see and
are said to be looking for something. Though the word seeing is italicized,
which means that it was added by the translators to help us
understand the text, it is true that in the context, because
this group is also described as those who are looking, in
verse 12, the word seeing has to do with understanding rather than the physical sight
or believing, rather than viewing. And this group of people, because
they understand or believe the promise of God, are looking for
the accomplishment or fulfillment of that promise that He spoke.
And as it says in verse 14, Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look
for such things, be diligent that ye may be found in Him in
peace without spot and blameless. In both verse 11, as I just read,
and verse 14, Peter asserts that what this group sees and looks
for is seen in the way they conduct or comport themselves in reference
to the two things that are set before us. Though there can be
no doubt that words such as holy conversation and godliness, being
without spot and blameless, do address to some degree conduct
and deportment and character. This is not the thrust of Peter's
admonition here as he is speaking. What Peter is addressing is truth
and error and the identification with one
and not identifying with the other. The truth by which they
are identified is that Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, is coming
again to destroy the world to judge the world and to make a
new heaven and a new earth. This understanding is to be reflected
by how they live in reference to the world that is to be destroyed
and the doctrine espoused by that doomed planet. The words
used to describe what manner of people these ought to be are
first used to describe what they are in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are people to whom Peter
wrote another letter, according to the first verse of this letter
in chapter 3. This second epistle, beloved,
I now write unto you. So this is the second epistle.
He's already written to them one time. They were elect according
to God, having foreknown them before the foundation of the
world. If you look back at 1 Peter, chapter 1, He describes them,
Peter and Apostle to Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia elect according
to the foreknowledge of God. That's who he's talking to. That's
to those who are seeing and looking are the elect of God according
to his foreknowledge. They are people persecuted by
the world, for they are strangers here and pilgrims and sojourners
in this world. They are spiritually alive by
regeneration, for it says in verse 3 of chapter 1 of 1 Peter,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again, birthed
us again into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. They are spiritually alive by
regeneration. They are kept by the power of
God, according to verse 5, who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation that is to be revealed in the
last time. In faith they love one whom they
have not seen, and believe in one whom they do not now see,
it says in verse 8, whom, speaking of Jesus Christ, whom having
not seen ye love, and whom though now ye see him, yet believing
ye rejoice or see him not yet believing you rejoice with unspeakable
joy full of glory these people are ready and anticipating a
holy separate people by faith they look to the coming of the
lord jesus christ verse 13 says wherefore gird up your loins
of your mind be sober and hope to the end of grace that has
brought you to brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
that obedient children not fashion yourself according to the former
lust of your ignorance, because it is written, Be ye holy, for
I am holy. Be ye people of a holy conversation,
he says. They are people who know they
are redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and no other way. In verse 19, but with precious
blood of Christ as a lamb without spot or blemish. That's how you're
redeemed according to verse 18. There are people who are born
of God by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, which he says
in verse 23, being born again, not of incorruptible seed. or
rather corrupt, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. And verse 25, But the word of
the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word. This is
how the word is preached in no other way. This is the word which
by the gospel is preached unto you. If you don't preach the
gospel, you're not preaching the word of God. Now, you may
mess around with Bible quotes and such, but unless you preach
the gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ and what
he's accomplished on Calvary's tree, you've not preached God's
Word, no matter what you might do historically or come up with
ideas. You may have all kinds of things.
You may have theories. That's all well and good. You
may be a theological genius as far as remembering Scripture,
but unless you preach the gospel, you've not preached the Word.
That's what it says, which by the gospel is preached unto you,
and that's how you're born again. These are a spiritual house,
he said, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, and a people
of God. This is how they're described.
These are the ones who are seeing and are looking and hasting the
day that the Lord will come and destroy all things. In chapter
2 and verse 5 of 1 Peter it says you are also as lively or living
stones are built up into a spiritual house and holy priesthood to
offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Then verse 9 and 10 it says we
are a chosen generation. a royal priesthood, and holy
nation, a procurer, or a purchased people, that ye should show forth
the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness to his marvelous
light, which in times past were not a people, but are now the
people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have
obtained mercy." This is how they're described. They are a
people of like precious faith through the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter 1, It says in verse 1, Simon Peter,
a servant of the apostle, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them
that are obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness
of God, which is Jesus Christ our Savior. Like precious faith. They all are of one accord and
of one mind. All of God's people are. They
may differ on this point or that point of something having to
do with ecclesiology or eschatology or something like that, but they
all have one mind on how they stand before a thrice holy God. They stand completely and wholly
in the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ and no other way. They
are that singleness of mind. They are a people who have been
given all things that pertain to godliness and life. They've
been given these things. They didn't earn them. They didn't
work them up. They didn't get them through
study. They didn't get them by going to theological seminary.
They got them through Christ. They've been given these things.
Verse 3 of chapter 1 says, According as His divine power hath given
us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the
knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue. He says
basically the same thing in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings. All of them. If you're a child
of God, you're not lacking in anything. You say, well, I don't
know everything. Well, you don't and you do. We'll
be learning until the day we die. And then I expect eternity
to be spent rejoicing in what we finally know fully and realize
fully without sin. But we know everything. Scripture
says that God has given you his spirit, which is an unction from
on high, And you know everything. I'm looking at a bunch of know-it-alls
right now. You just know everything, don't you? Yes, you do. You say,
well, I can't quote it. I know, but when you hear it,
you know it's true. And not only that, you know the source of
all things. You know the purpose of all things.
You know the reason all things exist. And you know the end of
all things. You know everything. You know
everything. God has abounded toward us, given
us all these things. They've been made to be partakers
of the divine nature, it says in verse four. What does that
mean? The word partakers means to fellowship with. You're able
to fellowship with God. Think on that. You're a worm
of the dust, a maggot on a dunghill, raised to sit among princes,
and you whose heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, whose
mind is darkened, who can't see clearly, you can fellowship with
God. What does that mean? Fellowship. Fellowship means that you and
whoever you're fellowship with are on the same page. Y'all like
the same things, you want to do the same things, you appreciate
the same things. You have fellowship with the
divine nature. You're partakers of that. They've escaped the
corruption of the world, that's what it says in verse 4, whereby
we're given exceeding great promises and precious promises, that by
these ye might be protectors of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Now,
how's the corruption in the world? Is the world corrupt? No. Things aren't sinful. They just
aren't. Nothing in this world, in and
of itself, whether animate or inanimate, is corrupt. What makes them corrupt? Lust. It's corruption in the world
through lust. That's how things are corrupted by us. Things were really nice in the
Garden of Eden. In fact, God Almighty, who knows
everything, who's totally omniscient, said in the Garden of Eden, everything
was good. What happened? Adam ruined it
all. And it ain't getting better.
It ain't getting better. People talk about fixing the
atmosphere and fixing the world. I heard of those days. You don't
talk about goofiness. A woman says, well, maybe a nuclear
war would be good because it would create nuclear winter and
stop global warming. And this is where they're getting
to with this argument. Shows you how stupid people can be.
But that was her accident. She was a senator. Said this
is somebody who's a leader of the country. I grew up side to
head. It's what it needs to be. Why
is the world in a condition of sin? Through lust. And where
is it going? Downhill. We are hasting to the
day that everything is going to be burnt and melted with a
fervent heat from the voice of Almighty God. It is clear that
God has distinguished this people from the rest of the world. As
Christ said, they are in it but not of it. Their interests transcend
boundaries and nations and governments of this world because they see
something else and are looking for something else. Paul describes
it in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 as seeing things which cannot be
seen. We look at things that are not
seen as though they were seen. What a thing! You see, what can't
be seen is what runs this world and what controls this world,
not what can be seen. And the believer looks for another
world, another world a world that he knows to exist because
God has promised it and God has given him faith to believe it
and will reveal it at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
manner of people these people ought to be is based on what
God has made them in contrast to the world that passes away.
This is it. A world is going to pass away
and a world is going to remain and the world that is going to
remain has a people and those people comport themselves in
reference to the world that is passing away. They will live
elsewhere. They look for a city whose builder
and maker is God. Abraham looked for it. Jacob
looked for it. Every child of God looks for
that city. We ain't seen it yet. We see
it how? By faith, because God has said
this is the city. We say, okay, that's the city.
We say, sir, it's coming. It's coming. And this is the
thrust of the words of Simon Peter in verse 11. He says this
in chapter 3 and verse 11, he says, Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to
be in all holy conversation and godliness? The word manner actually
means tribe. That's what it means, or people. what tribe or people ought you
to be. Now here you have a world that's
passing away and a world that you're looking for. Which world
are you a tribe in? That's what the word manner means.
It means tribe or people. As you know it in Native American
culture, every tribe has a word for itself which names itself
as the people. Whether you're Cheyenne or Arapaho
or Cherokee, you have a word in your language that represents
you as the people. That means ain't no people, but
you people. That's the meaning of it. The
word in Cherokee is ayawin. It means the people. The people. And this perfectly fits the context
in which these words are written. The world The physical, natural,
religious, and doomed world has its doctrine, and its doctrine
is described in a most graphic way. Chapter 2 deals with these
false teachings and false prophets of that religious world and concludes
all of it in two ways. They include it in pig's wallow
and dog's vomit. That's how Peter ends it up,
describing the doctrine of this world. The world is a place that
has heard and known of Christ, it has heard and known of the
gospel, but has utterly rejected it, not in a manner of being
irreligious, but rather rejecting the truth of salvation by substitution,
satisfaction, imputation, as Christ, the singular hope of
mankind and his people, have given mental assent to it, but
have returned to the law for righteousness, having turned
from the holy commandments of the gospel, which is faith toward
Christ and repentance toward God, And since they reject Christ,
they also reject His coming and judging and making a new world,
which is what Peter is dealing with in chapter 3 here. It's
what he's talking about when he says in verses 3 and 4 of
chapter 3, knowing this first, that there shall come in the
last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts and saying, where
is the promise of His coming? You say He's coming? Where's
the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Ain't nothing changed. Ain't nothing gonna change, they're
saying. They're scoffers. Their doctrine
is that the world is the same and will remain the same, so
Christ has not kept His promise according to their timetable.
He's not come. And they are ignorant of God
and ignorant of the reason for the time that is past and shall
pass till he comes again. To the world it is a delay born
of a broken promise, for the believer it is the longsuffering
of God which is sure salvation. Verse 9 says this, The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise. This is one of those verses that
false religion quotes all the time to leave out seventeen They
say that the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. That's what they quote. That
means God wants to save everybody. If God wanted to save everybody,
everybody would be saved. God always does what He wants
to do. But that's what that verse says. What is the promise? The promise is made to the children
of God, those whom God has made to see and to look for Him and
hasten His coming. And He says God is not slack
concerning His promise to these people. God is not slack concerning
His promises. Some men count slackness. Who
counts slackness? The scoffers. Where's the promise
of His coming? They count God as slack. He's
not slack as men count slackness, but His longsuffering toward
usward. Who's He talking about? those
who He's described in chapter 1 as elect according to foreknowledge
of God, those who are looking to Christ, those who are trusting
in His merit, that's who He's talking to. He's long-suffering
to us, and He's not willing that any of US should perish, but
that all of US should come to repentance, so that's how it's
going to be. Then down in verse uh... sixteen, fifteen it is,
it says, in account that the long-suffering of our Lord is
salvation. Even as our beloved brother Paul,
also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written
to you, the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation. It is salvation. The doctrine of the world is
the same, and will remain so, because Christ has not kept His
promises, what they say. But they're ignorant. For the world, it is delay born
of a broken promise. For the child of God, it's long-suffering
of salvation, conditioned upon the promise of God. For the world,
it's a thousand years. For God, it's a day. That's what
He said. For loving, verse 8, be not ignorant. It's one thing that one day is
with the Lord is a thousand years. And a thousand years is one day,
what does that mean? Time, God's not about time. We're about time. Time was made for us. Wasn't
made for God. God's in eternity, dwells in
eternity. And if this thing lasts 10,000
more years, it'll be like yesterday to God. No difference. Men don't understand
that. They say, oh, where's the promise
of his coming? It's just been a day for him.
One day. Represents all these thousands
of years for the world, the tribe, nation, country of believers,
their interest is this other world. And for the world that
is against this, whether religious or irreligious, they
have a doctrine. Whether economically or religiously,
their doctrine is the same. They believe in growth and possession,
wealth, power, promotion, establishing borders, fame and fortune, personal
righteousness. They are the order of the day.
The ways that seem right unto men are the ways of the world.
And all of them are just different ways to die. There's different
ways to perish. They desire to grow and be bigger
and better. Now in the natural world, in
the world we live in, these things are not bad. Not wrong for a man, not wrong
for Steve to look for the day when he's finished that apprenticeship
and jumps into that journeyman and starts making the dough he's
earned. Same way with Stan, though he's been halted by the education
system, so what, but the desire to be, to get a good education
and become a full-fledged surveyor and make the money a full-fledged,
that's a good thing. We believe that. We believe a
man should be rewarded according to his labor. But in the realm
of, in the realm of God, where salvation is by him alone through
the grace of God alone, the works of man and the ideas of man are
death. are just different ways to die.
And even in the natural world you may make that goal. You may
rise to that place where you feel you finally made it in this
world, but you know what? You're still going to die. You're
going to perish. You're going to perish forever
if what you're counting on is what you have accomplished. It's that simple. Our Lord says
to the believer that he is to live in this world as a member
of another tribe, a citizen of another nation, a citizen of
another country. The believer's interest is ELSEWHERE.
He's opposite of the world. He's interested in growing in
an unworldly way, a strange way. He desires, according to verse
18, to grow in grace. This is an odd growth, this matter
of growing in grace. It is the realization of unworthiness.
That don't sound like growth, but that's what it is. Growth
is a realization of unworthiness. It's a downward growth. It's
a growing in unmerited favor. How do you do that? Down, down,
down. Lower than a whale's belly in
a wagon rut. That's a mixed metaphor, by the
way. It's supposed to be a snake's belly. A believer's growth is in the
realization that he's not worthy of anything. It's a growth toward
invisibility. Was it John the Baptist said
of Christ, he must increase. I must decrease. I must decrease. This growth is being humbled
by grace to each day become more acquainted with our own corruption
and our utter dependence upon the grace of God for all things.
To each day grow more and more out of love with self and more
in love with Christ. To the world, growth is a flower.
To the believer, growth is the root. To the world, growth is
the house. To the believer, growth is the
foundation. To the world, growth is being seen. to the believer,
growth is disappearing. That blessed growth is only accomplished
one way. Grow in grace and in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing Him. That is what Paul said,
that I may know Him. Now, he had been preaching the
gospel a long time and wrote a whole bunch of epistles, writing
from prison right now when he wrote to the Philippians. He
said, O that I may know Him, and be found in Him, in His righteousness,
not my righteousness which is of the law, but be found in His
righteousness. O that I may know Him. This is
the lifelong goal and the university in which this tribe is enrolled
in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. His growth and grace is based
on the knowledge of Christ and is illustrated throughout scripture
over and over again. Those who see Christ, those who
see Christ, down they go. Job, I've seen thee, I've heard
of thee with a hearing ear, now and I see it thee, and I abhor
myself in sackcloth and ashes. Isaiah, woe is me, for I am undone,
for I have seen the Lord in his glory. Daniel, when I saw thee, my comeliness
melted into corruption. What tribe, what country are
you? If you're of this tribe, how
ought you to comport yourself concerning that other world?
This is what Paul is saying, or Peter is saying. You ought
to be the tribe you are, Your holiness and godliness, spotlessness,
and blameless are found in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Only
there. It is a downward growth of grace,
your eyes of faith fixed on things of Christ, his work, his coming,
his grace, his new world. The world is dead to you, that's
what Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. I am dead to the
world and the world is dead to me. You ought to be the tribe,
the nation, the country that looks for that promised land,
because you see that the world around you is passing off the
scene. The flower fades, the house built
on sand collapses in the storm, but the word of God liveth and
abideth forever. What is your land? Your land
is Emmanuel's land, the land of green pastures and still waters.
the land where no unclean thing can reside, the invisible land
that rules the world and spans the universe. Your life, by the
grace of God, is about Jesus Christ, about Him and no one
else. So Peter ends this grand treatise on faith with a declaration
of the object of faith. He says to Him, be glory forever. Amen. Father, bless us to understand
we're praying in Christ's name. Amen.