In the sermon 'Divine Power for Godly Living,' Trent Moody explores the first four verses of 2 Peter, emphasizing the significance of divine power in cultivating a godly life. The sermon underscores the role of knowledge of God and Jesus Christ as vital for the multiplication of grace and peace in believers. Moody highlights Peter's intent to remind the early church of the dangers posed by false teachers who distort Christian doctrine. He cautions believers to remain vigilant and grounded in scripture to discern and counteract false teachings. The sermon also discusses the importance of understanding and embracing the 'exceedingly great and precious promises' promised to believers, which enable them to partake in the divine nature and escape worldly corruption. Through a deep dive into the text, Moody encourages believers to recognize that they have been granted all they need for both eternal life and godliness through God's divine power, urging them to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord.

In chapter 1 we will be looking at the first four verses. Thus says the word of the Lord. Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His defined power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, again, we just want to thank you and praise you.

We call out to you, Lord, because we need you. Lord, we need you for wisdom. We need you, Lord, to increase our knowledge of what we have just read and what Peter is telling us, Lord, it is through the knowledge of God that we receive these things. And so, Father, would you increase that this morning. Lord, may your spirit teach us through the Word of God and Lord may your people be fully blessed and Lord may grace and peace be multiplied to each of us this morning we pray in Christ's name amen.

You may be seated. This morning as we begin our study in 2nd Peter continuing after we just finished 1st Peter, it's always a delight to do so because you can see the relationships between two epistles especially written by the same person and how each of these play with each other and help us to understand what the full understanding of what God is for us. And in titling this message, we're going to do a little bit of a overview of the book but then just briefly and then we're going to hone in on these first four verses. So as a theme and as a title I want you just to have this in your mind regarding divine power for godly living. Divine power for godly living.

One of the key verses in 2 Peter is found in 2 Peter chapter 3 which really gives us a good clue and an understanding of what and the reason that Peter wrote this epistle. And he says this in chapter 3 verse 1 and verses 2. He says, Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle, in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of our Lord and Savior." So here he gives us an understanding into why he wrote. He really, I like to call the book of 2 Peter the book of remembrance or reminders because that's what Peter constantly is doing in this book and Really, I'm not here to tell you anything new this morning I'm here just to remind you of these things that you have heard The things that you have read And I pray that it would be such a blessing to you as he says here to stir up your pure minds by way of reminder. That's my desire this morning.

So nothing new this morning. Just a stirring up in you of God's Word and the amazing benefits of God's Word when we love it and when we do it. See, specifically, Peter in this epistle was concerned about the dangers of false teachers. If you'll remember in the book of 1 Peter, he was working with the church and encouraging the church because they were in the midst of persecution. They've not come out of persecution here.

They're still dealing with that, but Peter had more to say. There is not only the dangers of persecution, but brothers and sisters, there's the dangers of false teachers and false teaching and lies that the devil would love to use to trip you up and to lead you astray. And these false teachers were bringing in damnable heresies and doctrines and not only that but also immoral lifestyles were influencing those who were in this church, in these churches I should say. And so Peter wanted to sound the alarm, if you would, to expose their lies, to expose their destructive ways, and to expose their false doctrine. They denied and distorted the truth of Christ, they twisted the meaning of Scripture, and they lived immoral lives.

If you remember that Peter mentions regarding the Apostle Paul, that there are many things in them hard to understand, of which they twist to their own destruction. So false teachers will take God's Word and they will twist it. That's why we understand and we believe that a text in context is our safest place to be. That we will stay within this book, we will stay within the context, and that we will not just pull out from it whatever meets our fancy but I am bound as if by a chain to the Word of God and you are to be those who would study and see if these things be so. Christ is the one who is exalted in this book of 2 Peter and that is Peter's desire is to exalt the living Christ.

If you ever wanted to know if a certain religious group or religious sect, if you would, is false in their teaching, What you do is you look at what they do with the doctrine of Christ. Look at their Christology. Calvin notes this. He says, Peter predicts that danger was approaching from false teachers who would spread various impious inventions as well as from the despisers of God who would mock all religions. So he's saying there's two groups here that you've got to watch out for.

You've got to watch out for those who are coming up with inventions. They're twisting the scriptures, they're inventing things from the scriptures to lead you astray because remember rat poison is 99.995% good food. 0.005% is poison. That's what kills the rat. And it's much like that with false teachers.

They will have a lot of good things to say, but it's that .005% regarding the doctrine of Christ that will send you to hell. So he goes on and he says that there is another group and they will be the despisers of God and they will mock you. So those are the two main groups that we look out for and that's the ones that Peter deals with here. Calvin goes on and he says that the faithful might learn to be watchful so he's warning them he's sounding the alarm so that we would be watchful and that they might be fortified. That's my desire for each of us today and through this study.

He goes on, and he seems to have spoken this thus designedly, lest they expected that the course of the truth of the kingdom of God would be tranquil and peaceable and free from all contentions. Now that last part I want to reiterate he says he's writing these things lest you think that the course of the kingdom of God in other words as being a Christian following in the ways of the Lord. He doesn't want you to think that that pathway is going to be as he says tranquil and peaceable and free from all contentions. When you see wars and when you see fighting and when you see contentions and when you see false doctrines and you see false teachers, when you see these things, you know that they are attacking the truth of the Word of God. So, brothers and sisters, if you have followed Christ under the pretense of having your best life now, then my friends you have been duped and somebody has lied to you.

This is not our best life now. If you're a believer this is as bad as it gets, but there is better to come, much better, far better, and that's what Peter is really wanting them to understand. He speaks of these things and we'll get into that in just a few minutes, but Peter wanted them to understand that in this life you will have tribulations, you will have persecution, and that there would be false teachers who would seek to lead you astray and you must be discerning. Christ said as much in John 16 33, these things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace in the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world that is Christ's word to his disciples he was wanting to encourage them he didn't want to give them sell them a false bill of goods and thinking that this life if you follow Christ, hey it's going to be smooth sailing. No it's not.

It's going to be full of trials and tribulation and persecution. If you're following Christ for your best life now you have been duped. Now is there peace? Yes that's what Jesus said. In me you will have peace And that is where our peace comes from.

It comes from Christ. It does not come from this world. But there are a few other themes that Peter deals with in the second epistle as well as we work our way through this epistle and it's a shorter epistle but as we work our way through this I'm just going to mention these briefly and then we're going to jump into our text one of the things that he that is a theme within this book is his encouragement to continue to develop our Christian character It's not that we are saved and that we sit, but we are saved and then we are sanctified by the power of the Spirit of God working in us. So, we are encouraged in this book to develop our Christian character. That's part of what we do as Christians.

Secondly, we will be led to an assurance of our salvation when we do these things and when we see these things at work in us. It will bring us assurance of our salvation. Another theme that we will see is that he wanted to strengthen our belief in the divine nature of the Scriptures we quoted it this morning. That this prophecy of Scripture is not of any private interpretation, But holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. These words that I have read to you this morning are not the words of men.

This is the Word of God. That's why often when I read the Scriptures, you will hear me say, thus says the word of the Lord. I hope you didn't have come just to hear me this morning. I hope you came to hear God's word. I hope you came to not only hear it but with a desire to obey it.

And fourthly, and this is not the only one, but lastly that I'll mention here as a theme within 2nd Peter is that Peter also wants to broaden our understanding of eschatology or the end times. He goes into this a little bit later on in the epistle and so we'll, coming off of the book of Revelation. We're not quite finished with that yet when Scott gets through that, but there are some benefits here in 2nd Peter as well to help us to understand and to round out all of what God has for us regarding the end times. So What do I say to you regarding these things? I, like Peter, am not here to give you some new thing, as I said, but my purpose rather is to stir up your minds by way of reminder that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the Holy Prophets and of the commandment of the Apostles and of the Lord of our Lord and Savior.

That's my desire. And that the end result would be as Peter closes this book and he says grow in grace and in knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's my desire for you. So let's jump into this passage beginning in chapter 1 verse 1 and let's see the depths and the richness of what Peter has for us as he wrote to these churches, this epistle. So first and foremost I just want to look at who wrote it and who he wrote it to just by way of a greeting and introduction.

Really that's what we're looking at in the first four verses is just a greeting that Peter had to this church. And he writes this and he says, Simon Peter, a bond servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. This is not something that is new to you. You understood that when I said turn to 2nd Peter that you understood that Peter was writing this but I believe we have some very interesting insight what Peter was saying here. If you'll note in this epistle he describes himself as Simon Peter as opposed to just Peter.

Simon was his parent given name if you would. His name was Simon and Jesus gave him the name of Peter and here I believe that what he is representing here is that he is a man that has understandings and failures and shortcomings but yet what has Christ done in him and through him? It's because of what Christ has done that he is a new creature. And brothers and sisters, if you're here this morning in Christ, you are a new creature. Think about it just for a moment.

Simon Peter, think about Peter before the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Think of all the mistakes and all the things that he did. He wasn't free from those things after, but think about what happened when the Spirit of God came and dwelled within believers. Think about the boldness, think about the passion and the zeal that he had for preaching the Word of God even to the point of imprisonment and in beatings and even in death. That is the Apostle Peter, Simon Peter.

He describes himself here as a bond servant, which means that he's willingly a servant. Often what they would do in that culture is they would take a servant and if he saw that his life was better with his master than it was on his own he would come willingly a voluntary servant and he would seek to be in that servitude for the rest of his life they would take an all and they would all his ear and it would be split in this culture and then during this time period of a bond servant and I don't know that that's what Peter is doing here but he's describing himself in that way that he is a voluntary servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and he loves his Lord and he recognizes that his life is better with Christ, far better with Christ than it ever was before. And not only that, but he is an apostle. He is one who was sent by the Lord Jesus Christ to feed his sheep specifically. We see that in the Gospel of John when Peter called out to the Lord, Lord, you know that I love you.

And the Lord looked at him and he said Peter feed my sheep and that is what Peter is doing right here in 1st Peter and in 2nd Peter he is being faithful to the calling of God in his life he is the one that was sent to feed the sheep of God And so we see also in this text regarding Peter and the followers that he was writing to, he describes it in this way. He doesn't call them by name as he references in 1st Peter. He says that these in 1st Peter he says to the pilgrims of the dispersion and he lists where they were from but in this epistle he writes this to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ we see such such graciousness within this Now you might not see it right off the bat, but I want us to look at something to those who have obtained like precious faith. This word obtained here, to my understanding, is the only time this word is used in all of the New Testament. And what it has in mind here is that this obtaining is something that was determined by lot.

That's really what the root of this word means. Determined by lot. What Peter is describing for these recipients is you are the ones who have been determined by lot, God's lot. In other words, you have been chosen. Just like he says in 1st Peter chapter 1, he calls them in verse 2 there that They are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God.

And here he says, you are the ones who have obtained or been chosen by lot to a like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. I think that's so important for us to understand. Brothers and sisters, if you are a follower of Christ, you are not here as one man said, I call him a preacher, but one time this preacher said that I was visiting, he said, I just want to thank the Lord that I had enough sense to choose Jesus. That is not why you are here. You are here following Christ if you are following Christ this morning and you're here.

You are here because of God's abundant mercy and grace in choosing you. Giving you eyes to see and ears to hear. You were dead in your sins and trespasses. You weren't just sick. You weren't just needing a little help or encouragement.

You needed life because you were dead. And that's what he's getting at here. You have obtained like precious faith. You have been determined by Lot to receive this faith and notice it is a like precious faith. He wants you to understand that God doesn't have favoritisms within the kingdom.

There's no second-class citizens, no second-class Christians. You have obtained the same type faith, the same faith that saved Peter or saved Simon and to the Lord called him Peter. The same faith that is at work in Peter is the same faith that is in you. It is a like precious faith. It is a faith that has equal preciousness both to Peter and to the recipients and to us.

And so brothers and sisters we stand in this grace and we can acknowledge that it is all because of the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ." That's what he says here. We have this faith by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. It's interesting here how he mentions this. He describes Jesus as our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. That doesn't always happen.

A lot of times it speaks about God, and it speaks about Jesus in two separate instances, or two persons, if you will. But here he's warning them to understand that Jesus Christ whom you follow is God. Because remember he's combating false teaching. And we actually see some of that over in chapter 2 where he speaks about those who would deny the Lord who bought them. They would deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

They would deny the lordship of Jesus Christ. And here he is setting out from the get-go that this Jesus is God. He's our God and he is our Savior and his name is Jesus Christ. And that is the one whom we follow. And so as we see this and as we understand who we are in Christ, I think it is so important that we see these next three verses and what it means regarding God's divine power for godly living.

He's setting this stage, he's introducing, and he's saying that brothers and sisters you are of the faith. You're of the faith because of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and this is what I have to say to you. He wants them to understand that they have been endowed with a powerful endowment. If you will, Peter's benediction here in verse 2, see what Peter says regarding this apostolic benediction. He says to them, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." He ends as many authors end.

He begins as many end. He says grace and peace to you. It's almost like a prayer of benediction. He's desiring for them to understand that their life is a life of grace. And brothers and sisters and friends, let me tell you this, that if you do not, if you have not received the grace of Christ, you do not understand the peace of Christ.

These are written in order. You have received the grace of God and because of the grace of God you have the peace of God. His prayer for them is that it would be multiplied to them. His desire is that they would grow as he says in the latter part of chapter 3, that they would grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He can't wait till the end of the epistle to pronounce this blessing upon them.

Again, it reminds me of Peter in chapter 5 of 1 Peter, just how Peter looks at himself and describes himself as he is also an elder. He's a fellow elder if you would. He had the heart of a pastor and he's wanting to to proclaim these truths to these people who are in still in persecution but also are getting ready to experience and have already experienced false teachers and the destructive heresies that they bring with them. You can think back with me into Acts chapter 20 and verse 28 and right in that area there where he speaks about Paul is speaking to the elders at Ephesus and he's telling them that there will even be savage wolves who will rise up among you speaking to the elders. So those are the false teachers that Peter is talking about and that the early church saw and that we see And that's why we must be on guard.

That's why you should have your Word of God open. That is why I want to always take you back to the Scriptures and keep you there. I want to be bound here. I don't want to tell you my opinions. I want you to see what God says.

And that's why it is so important to do that. And so he reads this and prays really this benediction over them that grace and peace would be multiplied to them, not just added to them, he wanted to be multiplied. He wanted exponential growth in grace and peace for these beloved believers, an abundance of grace and an abundance of peace in their life. And he tells us how this happens. Note the means of these blessings is in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

It is through this means that we receive a multiplication of grace and peace. Here the means of the multiplying is through the knowledge of God. Now this is not preaching and teaching some sort of gnosis or hidden knowledge, far be it from that, we are talking about an experiential knowledge, something that is defined in an intimate way of knowing God. It's not mystical, it's not a secret, it is, this is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not something hidden.

It's here for us. It is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and this knowledge here is so important. This word implies something larger and more thorough and an intimate knowledge of something. Brothers and sisters, growing in grace and peace is not something hidden in a corner, but rather it is based on a clear objective truth revealed in the Word of God. That's why we are constantly reading and praying and preaching God's Word to you.

It is based upon these clear observable objective truths. It is a historical truth based upon what God has done in reality and in history. It is things that you can look to, that you can read about, that you can touch and taste and hear and that's what the Apostle John said in his epistles. So I'm not at this time talking specifically about a saving faith but rather growing in grace and peace. Remember you will not grow in grace and peace if you've not already had a saving faith.

So if you're here this morning outside of faith, like you have not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not trusting in him, you're not living for him and loving him, then you're not growing in grace and peace. You cannot. It's not just that you don't want to, you can't. That's why you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You must follow him.

You must repent of your sins and trust in Christ. And then you will be a brother and sister in the family and you will grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus. You see, Saving faith is the supernatural work of God whereby God, by His grace, gives us spiritual life and saving faith to believe the gospel. It's not natural, it's supernatural, but it's certainly not mystical. It is something that God does in time and in reality.

It is the supernatural work of God taking a man who is dead and making him alive. And when you see there is an abundance of grace, There is this growing in grace and knowledge. He desired this this piece, grace and peace to be multiplied. One of the ways I describe this is as this when I first became a believer, I was overwhelmed with the grace and the mercy of God in saving someone like me. But my understanding of God was very limited.

It was very limited because I'd not spent a lot of time in the Word of God. I'd spent very little time there. My knowledge was based a lot upon what I'd heard people say. And one of the things that really amazed me as I began to study the scriptures and I began to read the scriptures for myself is how much of what I had heard from preachers and other people did not align with what I read. And so as I read and studied I began to grow in grace and in knowledge.

When I say grow in grace I don't mean it was something that I did. What I mean by that is I grew in my understanding of the abundance of grace that it took to save someone like me. And what that did was it magnified God. It glorified him more and so I was multiplied in grace and peace because the more I understood grace the more peace I had because I understood this is a work of God. It cannot be undone.

This is an amazing work that God does to bring a dead man to life and when I understand that and I'm still amazed by it, praise the Lord, he doesn't act like there's an end to this. He's praying that they would be multiplied in this. And then he closes by saying, grow in grace and in knowledge. Why does he keep talking about this knowledge? You'll see this throughout this epistle.

He uses this word knowledge many times. And so, They're growing in this word. And so, what has changed in my life is my knowledge of God has increased. And that is our desire for each one of you. And if you'll note, it's because of the time I spent in the Word.

John 17, 17 says, sanctify them by your truth. Your Word is truth. If you want to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ you want to grow in grace and peace and you want that to be multiplied you get into the word you're sanctified by that that is the truth It is by the Word of God that I'm sanctified through the power of the Spirit of God testifying that these things are so. And they testify to my Spirit. But now let's get to this divine endowment.

This is part of that divine endowment, but this divine endowment gets much more glorious, and I hope that you see that. Note what he says. He says in verse 3, as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue." There it is again, the knowledge of him. He sets those as bookends around this understanding and idea that his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness. It's one of the most amazing and encouraging statements that I read that he has given to us, his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

What has he left out? Our God has not shortchanged you. He has given to you all things that pertain to life and godliness. What has he left out? Our God has not shortchanged you.

He has given to you all things that pertain to life and godliness. You know, too often as Christians we feel that we lack something, that we lack the power to live victorious Christian lives. That is a lie and I base that upon this verse. Peter says that God, His divine power, has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness. God cannot lie.

Let God be true and every man a liar. When we deny the power of God that is at work in us to live holy and victorious lives, we are denying God. God has given to us all of these things. If we lack that which we need in order to grow in grace and peace, then God is not keeping his word. He says he's given to us all things that we need and all things that pertain to this.

That is why there are so many books out there that fall into this line of thinking of the secret to the Christian life. Let me tell you something, it's not a secret. Spend time in God's Word. Humble yourself, repent. These are read and written throughout the Scriptures.

Don't look for the secret. It's the Word of God. It is the Spirit of God at work in you. It is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what it is.

It is no secret. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ. And so Peter tells us it is no secret. In fact, you have all that you need to live the Christian life to the fullest. Peter tells us that the problem is that for our, is because of the worldly influence that has on our mind.

It's almost as if it's not fantastical enough, like we need the secret, because then we feel special. It's often like salvation is for, I think some, and even in our own midst, some of our young people, they're waiting for this fantastical thing to happen. It is fantastic, it is amazing, it is a miracle going from death to life but it doesn't mean that external supernatural things are going to happen. It's a supernatural thing that happens within your heart when you go from denying the gospel to believing the gospel. And that is the work of God.

But look at this. The progress in the Christian life is no secret. It is simply believing what God has said in his word and living in obedience to it by his power. Look at what Peter declares, as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness this divine power is the power of God Joshua wondering why you kept going back to that passage in Ephesians chapter 2 let me tell you why because it's in Ephesians chapter 1 where you read Ephesians 1 and Ephesians chapter 2 he says this that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ this is verse 17 the father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and listen, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his mighty power which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heavenly places.

What is he saying? Do you hear what he just said? The same power by which God raised Jesus from the dead and Seated him at the right hand of God is at work in you You need a little more power to live a victorious Christian godly life? How much more power do you have? How much could you possibly need?

How much more could he possibly give you? He raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand. He has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, and the power that is alive and working there is the power of God that is alive and working in us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit of God. My mind can't handle that.

I can't even contain that. The power that raised him from the dead. Sometimes I just feel weak. I don't know about you. I just feel like I can't do it.

You know why? Because I lack the of what God has said or I lack belief in what God has said. Anytime you lack these things you will feel defeated. If you're struggling with that right now like I just can't overcome this temptation, I just can't overcome this sin, I just can't overcome this attitude, and you say I can't if you ask any of my family you'll understand that word is banned from my house I hate that word I can't you just don't want to I mean let's just be honest You don't want to spend time in God's Word. You don't want to love Jesus more than the things of this world because my friend you have all the power that raised Jesus from the dead living in you.

It is through the knowledge of him, he says. He's given unto us all things. What could we possibly be lacking? Psalm 23 says this, you know it, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

That word won't there means lack. I shall have no lack. If the Lord is your shepherd you do not lack the power because he just said he gave you by his divine power all things that pertain to life and godliness. Romans 8 32 says he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" James says you have not because you ask not. What if we, what if I, spend as much time asking my father as I did complaining?

What would be the difference in my life. What if I spent most of my time acknowledging, believing, and understanding what God has said is true? Lord, I believe that. When I have those thoughts that I can't live for you, I reject that because your word says this. He's given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness and here what I'm just going to bullet down real simply life here means eternal life and godliness means godliness.

That was profound, wasn't it? Life, eternal life, and godliness. See, he's given unto us all things that pertain to life, to eternal life. There is nothing else lacking for you to be saved. You don't need anything else, no more sacrifices.

We don't need any animal sacrifices, we don't need any blood. The book of Hebrews goes through and explains all of that for you. We have the Lord Jesus Christ who purchased for us eternal redemption. And it says that once he had offered himself as a sacrifice for sin, he sat down. It's forever.

It's done. It is finished. He has given unto us all things that pertain to life. You need nothing else for your eternal salvation. And he's also given us unto us all things that pertain to godliness.

As we read in Romans 832, he did not even spare his own son to secure our eternal salvation. Not only for that life but also for this godliness, this godly living Christ-like attitude, this refers really to the idea and understanding of us being like Christ, this righteousness as he mentioned here before that we have this faith by the righteousness of God we have all that we need to be righteous to live a holy life I'm not talking about sinless perfection. Unfortunately, we are still in this flesh. We battle with these things. But it's not because we lack anything from Him.

Brothers and sisters, you lack no good thing. You have been given all things. And when you live as if you were defeated, when You live as if you have, that you don't have what you need to overcome sin. You're denying what God has said. You're not believing what God has said.

You're not asking for what God has promised to give you. The Bible says that when we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. He tells us that. Think about what Jesus said in Matthew 7. He says, ask and it will be given to you.

Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and him who knocks it will be opened or what and then he gives this great illustration what man of you is there or what man is there among you if his son asks for bread will he give him a stone or if he asks for a fish will he give him a serpent? I love this. I believe it is a little bit of divine sarcasm but he says if you then being evil, God knows the nature of us doesn't he, if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

You give good gifts and Jesus says you're evil. He's right. We are. How much more will God give good things? Now, I've asked for certain things before and I didn't get them.

Maybe they weren't good for you. Maybe you need to understand what true goodness is. Maybe you need to understand that God has given unto you all things that pertain to life and godliness and he sees maybe that thing you've asked for does not tend towards your life or godliness. But he is ready and willing. God has an infinite storehouse of goodness and grace and blessings to pour upon you that will be good for you.

Not just good for your fleshly feelings but good for your soul. And that's where the rub comes in. Often what we ask for is good for our feelings but not so good for our soul. Have you ever prayed, Lord give me whatever it takes to make me more like Christ? I'll be honest with you that kind of pray it scares me I think it's in second John first second John I believe it is might be third where John says he says I pray that you I pray that your soul prospers or I pray that your health prospers even as your soul prospers.

Have you ever prayed like that? If we did, how many of us would be going straight to ICU right now? God has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, and we have not because we ask not. But listen, it's not just us pulling ourselves up and forcing ourselves. That's not the message that I want you to understand this morning.

I want you to understand the goodness and the abundance of God. I want you to understand the divine endowment that He's given to you. It's not God saying, work harder, do more. He's saying, I've given you all things that pertain to life and godliness. This is a grace to you.

It is a gift to you. Revel in my good gifts. I've given you the power to overcome sin. Think about what Philippians says, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. There will be no boasting in heaven.

There should be no boasting now. This is the work of God in you, even your sanctification. And so here's the key. He says, through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue. You know, all that you need is right here in God's Word.

Remember that God has not left you to yourself. He knows what's in you. He needed no one to testify what was in man. He knows what's in man. We just read it in Matthew 7.

If you then being evil know how to good give, he knows where we are. He's not left us there. He's filled the storehouses full of the goodness and divine power of God in order that we might live victorious Christian lives. He knew that we needed divine power to live godly lives, that we couldn't do it. And so he's given unto us all these things for that purpose.

And so this knowledge here, again, it's not this secret knowledge that he mentions. He's given you an understanding of who he is, this experiential intimate knowledge of God. It is the bookends of that statement about this divine power. It's the knowledge of God and by the knowledge of God and through the knowledge of God. That's what we need.

We need to understand who God is. We need to believe who God is. We need to trust in what he says in his word. And then it says that he called us by glory and virtue. The calling here is clearly an effect and looking to the effectual calling of God to salvation.

This effectual calling means it is God calling you from death to life by his power. And it is effectual. It happens, if you will, irresistible. God calls you. He says, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.

It was through this gloriousness of God, through the gloriousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all that He did and all that He was. And we see this and He opens our eyes to it. That's what it is. He takes us from death to life. He gives us eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to understand.

Then we begin to see Jesus for who He is. It's glory and virtue. We see pure perfection in Jesus Christ. We see the glory of Jesus Christ. I think about when Jesus took a few of the disciples up onto the mountain and Moses and Elijah were there and they were talking and Peter, oh Lord let us build a couple tabernacles here, one for each of you, and God says this is my beloved son, Hear him.

And everybody else was gone. And it was just them and Jesus. They saw the glory and the virtue of who he was. And it changed them. It is through this effectual calling by the glory and virtue of Christ whereby we are secured or there are secured for us exceedingly great and precious promises.

And I don't want to rush this. I want to read through some of these. The by which here that we see in verse 4 and when we think about what he's saying and we think about the extent I'd love how the scripture does this He's exalting all that he does by which have been given to us exceedingly great. What do you think is the greatest thing ever? This is exceedingly great.

There's no bounds to the greatness of this. And they're precious. Promises. This by which pertains to our calling, which is by glory and virtue of Christ. In other words, because we have been effectually called by God to salvation, we now have exceedingly great and precious promises.

It's part of what Peter talks about in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 5, these precious promises. Let's read that real quick. 1 Peter chapter 1 and he says this in verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead listen to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God there it is again through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time you are kept by this divine power of God that's one of these exceedingly great promises so these exceedingly great and precious promises first and foremost I believe it is the promise that he has given to us all things that pertain to life and governance. That's an exceeding – what is lacking there? It's full.

And then he goes on from there, I cannot help but believe that it includes all the exceedingly great and precious promises throughout the entire Scriptures. So when you look at this and you go into the Word of God and every time you come to the Word of God, in the Word of God, a promise from God, that is an exceedingly great and precious promise that He has given for you so that you know I am divinely endowed with the power to live a godly and holy life. Because none of this is here by chance. It's all here for your good. It's all here for you.

So let me just read. I'm just gonna read scripture and read just a handful of these precious promises. These exceedingly great and precious promises. 1st Peter 1, 3, 2, 5. I just read that.

Hebrews 13, 5, for he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Romans 8, 1, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8 26, likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. I don't know about you, if you've been weak, listen to what he says. This is an exceedingly great and precious promise.

He says, likewise the spirit also helps in our weaknesses for we do not know what we should pray for as we all but the Spirit himself the Spirit God himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered how about that for a promise Romans 828 and following and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose, for whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. How about that for a precious promise? He predestined you to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren moreover whom he predestined these he also called whom he called these he also justified whom he justified these he also glorified How about that for an exceedingly great and precious promise? What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns?

It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercessions for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword, as it is written for your sakes, we are killed all day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter, yet in all these things we are more than conquerors to him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How about that for an exceedingly great and precious promise? Philippians 1, 6 being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. You see Peter's point is that through these exceedingly great and precious promises, we may, and that word may is not in the sense of uncertainty, but rather it means to become. It carries the sense of having the power to do something. For instance, when a child asks, may I do this or that, and the mother says, you may.

Have you ever had your child say, can I? And how often is mom, I don't know, can you? May I? God is giving you the authority and the power to do something. That's what he means.

Look at what he says, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may Be partakers of the divine nature He's giving you the power and the authority to be partakers of the divine nature I'm not saying you're gonna become like a little God I'm saying you're gonna become godly. God has given you all that you need for it. Don't deny that. And then he closes us out with saying these things, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. This escape, I want you to understand, is not by our own power, but it is best understood as what we read in Colossians 1, 12 through 14.

He says this, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of his love in whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins." That's what he's talking about. To escape the corruption that is in the world, that was the work of God. There is an escape from the corruption of this world. And think about this, all of that beauty was wrapped up in his greeting to the church.

Now, way of application, I want you to think about a few things as you as we go on in our day and throughout this week I have a few things I just want you to think about. Let it meditate on. Number one, be encouraged. If you're a believer here this morning, then you possess the same faith that the Apostles had, which was secured by the righteousness of Christ. Number two, be encouraged.

You have the privileged position of having your grace and peace multiplied in this life and in that which is to come. Number three, you no longer have any reason or excuse to think that you lack anything regarding your salvation or your sanctification. You have been given all things that pertain to these things. Number four, meditate on the exceedingly great and precious promises that have been secured because you are now partakers of the divine nature. Meditate on that.

Number five, you can escape the corruptions of the world through the knowledge of Christ's glory and virtue. Delight more in Him than you do in the lust of the world. I mean, that's really what it boils down to. When we are overcome by the temptations and the corruptions of the world, that's really what it boils down to. We have chosen to delight ourselves in the corruptions of the world rather than in the glories of Christ.

And number six and lastly, consider the extent to which you should bless God for the blessings and the miracle of having escaped the corruption that is in this world, of which so many others have not. Let this be a catalyst for much praise and thanksgiving. Let's pray. Our Father, you overwhelm us with the goodness of your grace, the exceedingly, exceeding greatness of your promises to us. Lord, there is so much here.

There's so much for us to be thinking upon and meditating upon. I pray, Lord, that these things would just settle down into the hearts and minds of your people. And Lord, that this last thought would really capture us, that we would consider the extent to which we should bless you and praise you and give you thanks that you have rescued us and you've translated us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of your dear son. Why was I a guest? We praise you, Lord.

We love you. We bless your name. Lord, your grace is abounding. Your mercy is more than can be understood. Lord, your promises are rich and full and effectual.

Oh God, help each one here to believe your word, to trust in your word, and to delight in it. To the glory of God the Father through Jesus Christ, his Son. Amen.