Everything Pertaining to Life and Godliness
2 Peter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Prayer
Our God is a God of Power. There is nothing that He cannot do! Our God is the God who created the earth and everything within it in less than a week.
Our God is the God who wiped out every living animal on the earth with a global flood during the time of Noah.
He is the God who delivered 3 million slaves from Pharoah in the land of Egypt - the most powerful nation on the earth at the time… and led them into the promised land.
Our God is a God of all power, a God who works miracles, and the God who has redeemed us, who loves us and has granted to us the gift of eternal life.
Now that is a God of power!
We saw a touch of that power on May 18, 1980, when Mount St. Helens … exploded with what is probably the most visible indication of the power of nature that the modern world has seen. At 8:32 A.M. the explosion ripped 1,300 feet off the mountain, with a force of ten million tons of TNT, or roughly equal to force of five hundred of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima.
Sixty people were killed, most by a blast of 300-degree heat traveling at two hundred miles an hour. Some were killed as far as sixteen miles away.
The blast also leveled 150-foot Douglas firs, as far as seventeen miles away. A total of 3.2 billion board-feet of lumber were destroyed, enough to build 200,000 three-bedroom homes. 996
Now that is a display of power… and today’s text teaches us that God has made all that power available to you and to me.
Let’s take a look at today’s text found in 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 3 & 4. [That is page 1215 in your pew Bible, but if you have one of the new skinny Bibles with smaller print, it is page 180 in the back of the Bible.]
2 Slides
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
This is a most powerful verse. While the NASB and NIV have translated this verse as His divine power has granted to us… Literally, the Greek text says that “All things pertaining to life and godliness have been granted to us...”
God has granted to us all things through His divine power. Now that word “granted” is a perfect passive participle. The use of a perfect participle means that this is a done fact. This is an accomplished fact with long lasting results. God has already done it. It is an accomplished fact.
This is the same divine power that created the heavens and the earth.
This is the same divine power that raised Lazarus from the dead.
This is the same divine power that healed the sick, cast out demons, fed the 5,000 (not counting the women and children) and raised Jesus from the dead.
and not only this.…
The verb is a form of δωρημα which is a gift. This passage is telling us that by God’s power He has given to us a very special gift. A gift that was given to us at our salvation. a gift that has a permanent and has a long lasting effect and He did that through His divine power.
and what is that gift? It involves everything pertaining to life and godliness! Now that is something to think about. When this verse was brought to my attention a couple of years ago, I decided that this is a verse that I have to commit to memory.
It is one of God’s most precious promises to us. Think of it.
God has given to us everything pertaining to life and godliness! What more could you want?
Let’s just look at the first part. … He has given to us everything pertaining to life.
He is the one who provides us with our food, and clothing, and shelter.
9 Slides (ending vs 33)
25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?
26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27 “And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?
28 “And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
29 yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these.
30 “But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?
31 “Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’
32 “For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
We worry about so many things… but there is no need to worry. All we need to do is make our first priority God.…
to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, means to give God the first place in our lives.
If we make it our goal to please Him in all that we do, He will take care of the rest. He will supply our every need.
Does this mean that we will never have to work? No.… God gave Adam a job to do on day 1. He put him in the garden to till it… but God will provide for our needs.
God directed Paul to put it this way in
Slide
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
God is able to do far more abundantly than we can even ask or think!
The context of this promise is Paul was praying that they his hearers would be strengthened in the inner man.
3 Slides
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.
He was praying that we would comprehend and understand just how powerful our God is and how much He loves us and cares for us. and this verse is telling us that He can do far more than anything we can imagine.
Our God is the God who supplies our every need.
Slide
19 And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
However, this promise is far more comprehensive that just our physical needs.
Ultimately, it is God who provides for our healing.
It is God who can calm our anxieties.
It is God who gives us peace.
Does this mean we will never get sick? No , but He provides for physical healing in the present time and ultimately when we come to the end of our appointed days here on earth, He will raise us from the dead on that last day.
and then on that resurrection day God will do away with all sickness, and all death, and all pain, and all suffering. What a day that will be!
and that same power that raised Jesus from the dead, will raise us to life again!
God not only provides everything we need for life, but also everything we need for godliness.
He has given us the Bible, … His written word to guide us into all truth.
He has given us the church to train us and disciple us.
He has given us each different gifts according to His divine will so that we will lack nothing… but we are interdependent on one another. He made us for fellowship and we find strength and encouragement in one one another.
He has also given us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all the truth and to help us understand the Bible.
2 Slides
16 “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.
and
Slide
26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin, of righteousness and judgment so that we will come to Christ and seek salvation.
4 Slides (ending vs 11)
8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment;
9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me;
11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
Without the ministry Of the Holy Spirit, we would never come to Christ. and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Holy Spirit that we receive the ability to follow Christ.
God has removed our old heart of sin and given to us… who are Christians..... a new heart that desires to follow Jesus.
2 Slides
26 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 “And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
Now He goes on to say that He has given to us every thing concerning life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us....
Now your Bible may just have “knowledge” instead of “true knowledge.” The word in the Greek is ἐπίγνωσις.
γνωσις means knowledge… but when you add the prefix ἐπί in front of it. it strengthens or intensifies the meaning.
The NASB tries to capture this by making it the “true knowledge.” Others may intensify the meaning by making it complete knowledge. I have tried to intensify it by emphasizing that it is the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth. It is the Holy Spirit who will use the word of God to convict us of sin and righteousness and judgment. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the ability to overcome our sin nature and follow God.
In Celebrate Recovery, we say that we have learned, (and I might add the hard way) that we are powerless to resist our tendency to do wrong. We have tried in our own strength hundreds of times and failed. It was not until we came to the point in our life where we admit that we are powerless to control our tendency to do that which is wrong.…
and surrender our hearts, and our minds, and our lives to God that we can find victory over our hurts, hang-ups, and habits. It is the Holy Sprit who gives us that ability. It is nothing within ourselves.
Christians cannot claim that their sins and failures are the result of God’s limited provision. There is no temptation and no assault of Satan and demons that is beyond our resources to overcome.
Consider God’s promise to us in
Slide
13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.
God does this as a result and for His own glory and excellence. It is not because of anything within us. It is all to His glory.
It is God who... first… will not allow any temptation to come into our life that we cannot resist.
It is God who provides the way of escape, and
it is God who directs us to that way of escape!
Without the help of God, the non-christian is on his own and will fail.
and this is not the half of it. God continues in verse 4
Slide
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
When God promised to give us everything pertaining to life and godliness… that included a gift of His precious and magnificent promises. These promises are so precious they are beyond comprehension. It is by them and through them that we can become partakers of His divine nature!
Think of that! God promises to you and to me that we can become partakers of His divine nature!
This promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
With the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit comes the fruit of the Spirit.
2 Slides
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
If we have the Holy Spirit living within, then our lives should be filled with a spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
If this does not describe us.. then we need to be asking ourselves some tough questions.
Has God has given me the gift of the Holy Spirit? and the answer may be that you don’t have the Holy Spirit because you are not saved.
He gave the Holy Spirit to us so we could become partakers of His divine nature.
Then why are we not manifesting those characteristics?
Every day, we should becoming more and more like Jesus.
We need to stop making excuses and start conforming. and How do we do that?
It begins with repentance. We need to admit that we are wrong. We need to admit that we have no excuse for giving place to our old nature.
Let’s take a step back in Galatians.
6 Slides (ending vs 21)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
and check out Ephesians 4 & 5 which puts it this way.
9 Slides (ending vs 7)
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
3 But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;
Friends there is no place for the Christian to give way to or justify out-bursts of anger, or
to slander others which is basically lying about them to put them in a bad light.
There is no room for “bitterness” or to harbor grudges.
This is all the same as sleeping around in God’s eyes, or stealing, or committing murder. The Bible teaches us that those who do such things have no part in the kingdom of God.
We are also to get rid of dirty jokes and filthy language and greed.
These passages warn us; Don’t let anybody deceive you with empty words. It is because this type of behavior the wrath of God is going to be poured out on the sons and daughters of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them!
That is strong language!
What can we do?
1st - we can commit our lives to the Lord. We need to confess our sin (not try to justify it).
2nd - we need to place our trust in Jesus. We need to believe that not only did He die for our sins and was raised for our justification. We need to believe that He loves us. He is in control. He will make all things right. He is all- wise and all-powerful.. and therefore
3rd - we commit our lives to Him and make Him the Lord of our lives.
as Romans 10.9-13.
5 Slides (ending vs 13)
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;
10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him;
13 for “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”
and so we confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead.
and if He raised Jesus from the dead, He will also raise us from the dead.
I do have to warn you that “to believe” means more than just acknowledge that Jesus is God.
It means more than just to acknowledge that Jesus died for our sins and was raised three days later.
It involves a total commitment of our life to follow Him and make Him the boss of your life.
The Bible puts it this way in Romans 2.
Slide
13 for not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.
Are you willing to place your faith in Jesus and make Him the Lord of your life?
Then why not do it now?
Let’s pray
