The Word God Said - Being Men of Faith - 2 Peter 1:12-21 pt.2

Okay. So before we get started there, I'm going

to read the question. You read the answer. This

is from the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Question

number 34. What is adoption? Adoption. Think

about that. As a child of the living God, you

have full rights and privileges as the king's

children. What an amazing thing. The doctrine

of adoption. A beautiful work of Christ through

soteriology. Next week, we will be starting our

journey on the genuine sound doctrine of the

faith. Versus the false doctrine of and exposing

those teachings through the biblical lens of

scripture. So get ready for that. That is going

to be a ride. And it will lovingly and kindly

challenge you. We are going to read 2 Peter chapter

2 Peter 1:3–21

1 verse 3 through 21. And then we will. Dig in.

Let us pray. Father, I want to thank you so much

for your goodness. Thank you, Lord, for your

word. Thank you for this amazing three -chapter

letter from Peter in the midst and given to the

people of God in the dispersion. to help them

to continue to carry the truth, to know who and

in the truth we have, who is the truth and in

the truth we have, and to know the doctrines

of grace and the doctrines of God so that we

may live it out rightly for all to see. Help

us to be people of faith and to add to our faith

virtue and knowledge and self -control and steadfastness

and godliness and brotherly affection and love.

May you be honored and glorified in all things

in Jesus' name. Amen. Second Peter chapter 1

2 Peter 1:3

verse 3 through the end of the chapter. His divine

power has granted to us all things that pertain

to life and godliness through the knowledge of

him who called us to his own glory and excellence

by which he has granted to us his precious and

very great promises so that Through them, you

may become partakers of the divine nature, having

escaped from the corruption that is in the world

because of sinful desire. For this very reason,

make every effort to supplement your faith with

virtue and with virtue knowledge and with knowledge

with self -control and self -control with steadfastness

and steadfastness with godliness and godliness

with brotherly affection and brotherly affection

with love. For if these qualities are yours and

are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective

and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus

Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is

so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten

that he is. or that he was cleansed from his

former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the

more diligent to confirm your calling and election,

for if you practice these qualities, you will

never fall. For in this way, there will be richly

provided for you an inheritance into the kingdom

of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Therefore,

I intend always to remind you of these qualities,

though you know, them and are established in

the truth that you have. I think it right as

long as I am in this body to stir you up by way

of reminder since I know that you or that the

putting off of my body will be soon as our Lord

Jesus Christ made clear to me. I will make every

effort so that after my departure you may be

able at any time to recall these things. For

we did not follow cleverly devised myths when

we made known to you the power and coming of

our Lord Jesus Christ. But we were eyewitnesses

of his majesty. For when he received honor and

glory from the Father, from God the Father, the

voice was born to him by The majestic glory.

This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

We ourselves heard this very voice born from

heaven. For we were with him on that holy mountain.

And we have the prophetic word more fully. confirmed

to which you will do well to pay attention to

or pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark

place until the day dawns and the morning star

rises in your hearts. Knowing this, first of

all, that no prophecy of scripture comes from

someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy

was ever produced by the will of man. But men

spoke from God as they were carried along by

the Holy Spirit. Oh, this is a good part of the

chapter. This kind of carries into our discussion

next week. But what does it mean to be a man

of faith? Principle number one, since we are

partakers of the divine nature, we must always,

without fail and not reluctantly, remind each

other of how we must live and whom we represent.

Genuine faith is not seen in how genuinely human

you are, but in how genuinely Christ -like you

are. You want to see people of faith? How much

of faith do they represent? For in 2 Peter chapter

2 Peter 1:5–7

1, verse 5 through 7, which we just read, for

this very reason, make every effort, supply with

all diligence to supplement or furnish your faith,

your firm trust and persuasion and conviction

in Christ with virtue, which is uprightness.

And uprightness, knowledge, the wisdom of God.

And the wisdom of God with self -control. To

master desires and passions. And to master desires

and passions with steadfastness. Endurance in

the faith. And endurance in the faith. Godliness.

Reverential devotion. And reverential devotion

with brotherly love. Philadelphia. Brotherly

love. It's really no other word for it. And brotherly

love. With love. Agape. The active love of God.

This is what we should be adding. To our faith.

As people of God. Specifically since it's Father's

Day. Men. As you go. So goes your household.

It does not mean that you're not going to struggle,

that you and your wife aren't going to have disagreements.

Even after 62 years, I'm sure, Ron has forgotten

to clean a spoon and put it in the sink. Or pick

up his socks after a long day when he says, honey,

my back hurts. Therefore. I love this word, therefore,

2 Peter 1, verse 12. Therefore, because of all

2 Peter 1:12

of that that I just read to you, for this reason,

I intend always, I am destined to constantly

remind you. I want you to understand, Peter is

at the end of his life. This is the last letter

he is going to write. He knows he's at the end

of his life. One, he tells this. And he is reminded

of what Jesus had told him when he had went with

Jesus for a walk in John 21, which we'll see

in a minute. That Jesus said, you will be taken

to a place you don't want to go, and you will

be dressed by people who have never dressed you,

and you will stretch out your hands. And so he

knows he's at the end. And what does Peter want

to do before he dies? To remind the people of

God, to remind, I am reminding you as men in

the same way, that you should live in these qualities.

So goes the man, so goes the household. So goes

the household, so goes the church. So goes the

church, so goes the country. If you have any

questions on where we are as a country, look

at the family and look at the church. When there

are godly homes, there are godly churches. When

there are godly churches, there's a godly country.

It's not by accident. I believe that God has

guided us through these four years to this moment.

We live in the days of wickedness and post -Christianity.

And he is calling men everywhere. to turn and

come to him and live rightly before him as obedient,

committed to holiness, and loving the sacred

by which God has placed before you. He has intended,

he is destined to constantly remind them and

us of these qualities. Thank the Lord that he

has given us this letter in writing by divine

inspiration. Though you know, And are established

in the truth that you have. Because the gospel

has been clearly given. The doctrine of the truth

of Christ. Peter has faithfully provided. By

the guiding of the Holy Spirit. Notice what he

says in verse 13. I think it right. It's then

right as long as I am in this body. To stir you

up. To awaken you thoroughly. I mean we live

in. We live in the woke. I mean, do we not? I

mean, woke is everywhere. Woke is on YouTube.

It's on Fox News. It's on CNN. Everybody's woke.

But listen, they're not woke. They're sleeping.

You know why they're not woke? They're only woke

to the things they desire. They're not woke to

the truth of Christ. That means they are dead

in their trespasses and sin and not awake. But

if you know Christ, you are. And what he's saying

is, I am waking you up thoroughly. It means to

walk in a bedroom and shake someone awake. Now,

I'm warning you wives, don't do that to your

husband. They will knock you out and then they

will be like, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it.

They'll think you're a burglar and you're going

to be... You're going to be coming to church,

and I'm going to be like, what happened? My husband

punched me. Oh, no. Ben, Chuck, Lanny. Blake,

no. I woke him up in the middle of the night.

I wanted to make sure he's wide awake. So that's

what this means, to stir you up, to awaken you

thoroughly by way of reminder. We do this with

our kids, my wife and I. Especially our daughter.

I know, Ash, I'm sorry. I'm going to use you

as an example. Because Nick is, if I'm not the

first up, Nick is. Like 4 .30. I don't know how

he does it. He's already dressed and everything.

I'm like, it's 5 o 'clock in the morning. But

my daughter, forget it. It's like, hey, the dog's

got to go out. Uh -huh. Dog's got to go out.

Dog's got to go out. And then she'll walk out

and be like, can you take her out? I figured

that. I hit home for some people. It did. So

by way of reminder, we want to awake thoroughly.

Since I know that the putting off of my body

will be soon as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear

to me. And that scene. In John chapter 21, verse

John 21:18

18 and 19. Very important. Look what it says

here. Well, there it is. Truly, truly, I say

to you, when you were young, he's talking to

Peter, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever

you wanted. But when you were old, you will stretch

out your hands and another will dress you and

carry you where you do not want to go. This,

he said, to show by what kind of death he was

to glorify God. And after saying this, He said

to him, follow me. He must take up his cross

and follow me. Isn't that interesting? He must

take up his cross and follow Christ. He must

deny himself. So Peter realized he's going to

deny himself upside down. I, and I will make

every effort, verse 15, Peter says, I will make

every effort so that after my departure, you

may be able at any time to recall these things.

So I want you to get this. As a man, what is

your legacy? What do you want to give your kids?

You want to give them a house? A money? Life

insurance policy? Stuff that they could care

less about? Though it doesn't matter how many

times you told them it's 200 years old and it's

worth a million dollars? Trust me, when you're

gone, they're going to sell it and get that million

dollars. Right? It means nothing. Your money

means nothing. Your home doesn't mean anything.

Your hobbies and trophies mean nothing. What

are you going to leave? Is it Christ? Is your

legacy Christ? May the legacy you leave be the

constant reminder of Christ and that your kids,

when they become men and women, say with full

unction and conviction that you, as their father,

left them Jesus. That is the only thing you can

give from generation to generation. I am, through

my father, a second generation. Through my mom,

a first generation. My kids are second generation

in reality. If you look at my father, third generation

believers. Some of you sitting here are fourth

and fifth generation believers. That's the legacy.

How many of you know that your father, your grandfather,

their parents were believers? How many of you

can say that? I want you to hear that. We have

two people with three or more generations. Any

question on why our country is in the situation

it is after 250 years? Why? Because they left

them property instead of leaving them Jesus.

You can go back generations and find out how

long that farmland has been in the family for

seven, eight generations. That's what I hear

here. I haven't buried out back. Where are they

in faith? Has their father given them Jesus?

And has their grandfather given their father

Jesus? And has their great -grandfather given

their father Jesus? And has their great -great

-grandfather given their father Jesus? Our country...

And the church is in dire straits because we're

not giving away Jesus. We're giving away things

that have no value. That's what happens in fatherless

countries and fatherless homes. Second principle.

Jesus Christ is not a myth devised by men's imagination.

He is the great I am, worthy of all glory, majesty,

and power. There is no one greater. There is

no one more loving. more kind, more holy, righteous,

and just than him. Luke 9, 28 through 36. Now

about eight days after these sayings, he took

with him Peter, John, and James and went up on

the mountain to pray. And as he was praying,

the appearance of his face was altered and his

clothing became dazzling white. In the gospel

of... I think it's Matthew. It says that his

white, his clothes became bleach white. And behold,

two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,

who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure.

Notice, Elijah and Moses are there. standing

next to Jesus, having a conversation, and they're

not talking about, hey, where is my mansion?

Just talking about, Lord, when are you coming

back? Why? Because his departure is the fulfillment

of the promise by which Moses and Elijah spoke

of years, centuries before. They want to see

the fulfillment of what they had proclaimed in

the promise of the coming Christ. When are you

going to die? Because we know when you die and

you resurrect, you're coming back. And when you

come back, we know that what you have promised

is fulfilled. When are you going to fulfill that?

When is your departure? Which he was about to

accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those

who were with him were heavy with sleep. Peter

has a problem with sleeping. We know that because

at the Garden of Gethsemane, he had the same

issue. Just likes to fall asleep. And it's interesting

because he uses the term to awaken thoroughly.

Which we just read. Now I know why. Peter is

reminding us to stir each other, to awaken us

thoroughly. Because if he was awake thoroughly,

he would have gotten this. The God of all glory,

the one who created him, is standing before him

and his glorifiedness, though veiled. He got

to see what Moses saw. And he says, but when

they became fully awake, thoroughly awake, they

saw his glory. So I want you to get this. For

those of you who are sitting here and you don't

know Christ, you can't see the glory of God without

the Spirit of God. But God is calling you to

come. If you hear his voice today, do not harden

your hearts, but come now. Because the day is

coming when you will not have a chance. And the

glory of Christ will come before you and you

will not look at him with splendor and glory

and awe. You will fear the coming of the great

king who will judge you for your sin as a child

of wrath. But he wants you to become a child

of the living God. Come now. And the two men

who stood with him, meaning Elijah and Moses,

and as the men were departing or parting from

him, As Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said,

Master, it is good that we are here. I'm privileged,

but it's so good we're here. Let us make three

tents. Let us make three houses of worship. This

word tent is tabernacle. Peter knew exactly what

he was saying. Because he knows that the tent.

That was made by human hands. Given by God's

verbal command. Exactly in proportion as God

had determined it. His glory, his presence would

rest upon the tent. Or in the tent. On the seat

of mercy. And here, Peter's like, let's make

three of them. Because there is no prophet greater

than Moses and Elijah after all. One for you.

One for Moses and one for Elijah. Knowing what

he said. And as he was saying these things, a

cloud came and overshadowed them. Do you get

that? In the same way that the cloud overshadowed

the Mount of Sinai. And sat upon the top of the

mountain as fire and as a cloud. The presence

of God looking like it was consuming the top

of the mountain. This same cloud comes and rests

upon them. And they were afraid as they entered

the cloud. They should be. But notice what he

says. What a beautiful statement from the Father.

And a voice came out of the clouds saying, this

is my son, my chosen one. Listen to him. Why?

Because Christ is the living word. In the beginning

was the word and the word was with God and the

word was God and the word was speaking. Listen

to the word, Peter. I like my voice. I mean,

I got that little inside voice, right? I mean,

we pray and we have these, maybe this is God

speaking. If it's not according to the word,

it ain't God speaking. That's why he says, Peter,

John, James, listen to him. And Jesus was found

alone. No other tent, Peter. No other tent. No

other tabernacle. No other one can you worship

but him alone. And they kept silent. Oh, I love

that fact. That'd be kind of hard for me. But

Peter shut his mouth. He's like, and told no

one of those days anything of what they had seen

until 2 Peter chapter 1. In 2 Peter chapter 1,

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention 2 Peter 1:16–18

verse 16 through 18. For we did not follow cleverly

devised myths. The first coming of Jesus. His

death, his burial, resurrection, his fulfillment

of the law and perfection, obedience, was not

a myth. It was real. It does not matter what

all of the science and all the quote -unquote

men of wisdom say they know that Jesus is a myth,

and this is just a bunch of books devised to

scheme you. They want you to follow their cleverly

devised statements, but they don't know the God

that we know. When we made known to you the power

and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you hear

that? The work of Christ before them in his power

and might. And the most powerful moment in all

of world history. That has clearly delivered

and healed every man of every sin. The cross.

And the resurrected Christ. There is no greater

power. But were eyewitnesses of his majesty,

of his greatness. For when he received honor

and glory from God the Father, the voice was

born to him by the majestic glory. That is my

beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Stated

at the beginning of Christ's ministry as his

baptism. And now stated again after Christ proclaims

his death and resurrection. If you have any questions,

you can see that. I'll give it to you in a minute.

He proclaims this truth when Jesus is symbolically

buried and resurrected in an act of what repentance

should look like. Jesus isn't repenting of sin.

He didn't sin. So that all righteousness may

be fulfilled, Christ was baptized. And what does

the father say? This is my son in who I am well

pleased. And the spirit of God was hovering over

him like a dove. And again, here, it's interesting.

If you go and you read these scriptures I'm about

to give you, you can see right before, literally,

right before God the father proclaims a statement,

Jesus predicts. His death and his resurrection.

We ourselves heard this voice born from heaven.

For we were with him on the holy mountain. I'd

like to know what mountain that was. Not because

I would go and worship it there. But it would

not surprise me if it was Mount Moriah. I would

not be shocked. But we don't know. In Matthew

17, one through eight, this is stated. In Mark

chapter nine, verse two through eight, this is

stated. In Luke chapter nine, 28 through 36,

this is stated. In three of the four gospels,

this statement, this is my son in who I'm well

pleased after he proclaims his death and resurrection

is present here. What is Peter doing? Peter is

building our confidence that Christ is who he

says he is, and we can fully have confidence

in the truth. So as men of God, do you have full

confidence in what God says is true? Do you reflect

that in how you live at home? God's word is for

him, by him, and through him. given for the edification

and sanctification of his people for life and

godliness until we all attain to the unity of

the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of

God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature

of the fullness of Christ. Do you hear that?

Put that in a nutshell. Add to your faith virtue.

And virtue, knowledge. Knowledge, self -control.

Self -control, steadfastness. Steadfastness,

godliness. Godliness, brotherly love. Brotherly

love, love. That's living the word actively.

Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1 through 3. Long ago

Hebrews 1:1–3

at many times and in many ways, God spoke to

our fathers by the prophets. But in these last

days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he

appointed the heir of all things. through whom

also he created the world. He is the radiance

of the glory of God and the exact imprint of

his nature. And he upholds the universe by the

word of his power. So if anyone tells you that

the word of God is only one means of his proclamation,

they are a false teaching church. Christ alone

and his word, this is what he gave us, is the

only proclamation of the truth of the gospel.

There is nothing else inspired, only his, which

we will see in a minute. 2 Peter 1, verse 19

2 Peter 1:19–21

through 21, and we're done. You're like, oh,

thank you. It's 1130. I did good since vacation.

Can you imagine if I had two weeks? We'd be here

at one o 'clock. And we have, we hold, we keep

the prophetic word. The word proclaimed by the

prophets. What did the prophets proclaim? The

gospel. The very thing that Moses and Elijah

had been proclaiming. When are you coming back?

When are you going to return? When is the gospel

going to be fulfilled? That's the proclamation

of the prophets. More fully confirmed. How do

we know that the gospel, that the word that the

prophets proclaimed is fully confirmed? Empty

cross. Do you get that? The cross is empty and

so is the tomb. Do you get that? The God of all

creation has resurrected from the dead and by

that alone is proof that our God lives. He's

not a God in the imagination of men. We are created

by some type of protozoa or some one -celled

organism that decided on its own to replicate.

That's a myth by men. He is the living God who

spoke all things into existence for his glory.

The risen creator. That's the prophet. That's

the one who the prophet's confirmed. Why? We

are sure and certain to which you will do well

if you practice with propriety. Do you practice

the gospel? Anybody, what's that mean? What do

you mean practice the gospel? The gospel is Christ

crucified, buried, rose again on the third day.

Yes, that's true. But what else did Christ do?

Lived obediently. Have you committed as men to

be holy in your home? Well, holiness means that

I don't get to enjoy certain things. No, it does

not. It means when you enjoy these things, you

do it rightly for the glory of God. God doesn't

want us to be fools and live as if we are not

here. But we live as lights here. Pay attention.

Be on guard. Give heed. Attend to yourselves

as a lamp shining in a dark place. As a lamp.

Matthew 5, 17 through 20. We know what that says.

After all, a man does not go and light a lamp

and stick it under a bowl. So that no one in

the house can see, he leaves it out so everybody

can see in the house. Are you a light for all

to see in your house so that no one in your home

is walking blind in the dark? Then he says, dark.

It's an interesting word. Doesn't mean dark without

light. It means dingy and filthy. We have a couple

of ponds like that around here. Some ponds I

don't want to fish and swim in because I can't

see the bottom. It's a little scary. I know that's

what the big mouth bass are. And that's the only

way to get a good big mouth bass is a pond you

can't see because they eat everything and they

get big and fat. I get it. But that's what he's

talking about here. A dingy, filthy place, i

.e. the world. Until. Hey, who is the word here?

It's a very interesting word. Hey, who? It means

up to where? Over there. Until up to where the

day dawns. Who is the day that dawns? Who's the

one that rises and brings the dawn? Christ shines.

And the morning star rises. Christ rises. Where?

In your hearts, he says. In the seat. of your

spiritual intelligence, spiritual faculty, and

your spiritual understanding where the seed of

Christ reigns in you. Does the light reign in

you? Is he your God? Or is he just a means to

an end to make you feel good that you have met

your requirement for the week? Knowing this first

of all, That no prophecy, no inspired message

of Scripture, God's Word, because that's literally

what it means, God's Word, comes from someone's

own interpretation, ellipsis, someone's own explanation

of the Scripture. Man cannot determine how to

explain, untie, or loosen the Word of God. So,

for no prophecy was ever produced, was brought

to bear. The reality of the truth of God was

not brought to bear by your own thinking. That's

the problem with some of these preachers. They

sit behind the pulpit, they give you a verse,

and they go, this is what it means. Because if

they held to the full counsel and the context

of the scripture, they would have walked rightly

before a holy God. But people don't want that.

They want people to tickle their ears. Brought

to bear by the will, by the desire, by the inclination,

or the desired will of any human. But men, men

announced or preached the word of God and his

doctrine as they were carried along, as they

were led to bear, bringing forth, and producing

the truth of God by the Holy Spirit. That's called,

the reality is called inspiration. The doctrine

of inspiration. Matthew Henry says it this way,

and this is the end of the message. He, the apostle

Peter, tells us, we do well if we take heed to

them. That is, apply our minds to understand

these senses, or the sense and our hearts to

believe the truth of this sure word. Yea, bend

ourselves to it. Do you bend yourself to the

word that we may be molded and fashioned by it,

that we may be forged under the heat as men drawn

by God into the heat and then beaten and pounded

to the point that he brings us to the point of

what we are to be, the tool used by God. Are

you the sword in the hand of God in the house

that you live and in the community in which you

serve? Are you molded? The word is that form

of doctrine in which we must be cast. Not the

doctrine that we choose, but the doctrine that

he has provided beforehand. That formally, formulary

of knowledge by which... by which we are to regulate

our thoughts and sentiments, our words and our

confessions, our whole life and conversation.

If we thus apply ourselves to the word of God,

we certainly do well in all respects. What is

pleasing to God and profitable to ourselves?

And this indeed is but paying that regard. which

is due to the oracles of God. You owe it to him

because he has given everything for you to give

you life and godliness to walk solely by the

word of God, not by a man dressed in a pretty

suit telling you to pray to pictures, saying

that's the way. Christ is the only way. And his

word are the words of life. And if you walk and

you live by them, you will shine like you've

never shined before. So be people of God. Love

him and love his word. Build upon your faith

virtue. And virtue, the knowledge of Christ.

And the knowledge of Christ, self -control. and

self -control, godliness, and godliness, steadfastness,

and steadfastness, brotherly love, and brotherly

love, agape. Be like Christ, men, always, in

all things. Father, I want to thank you so much

for your word. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for your

message. Father, we come before you hearts broken,

challenged, revived, awakened to be men fully

committed to your ways. And I pray that we would

be an example to the women and the children in

our lives. And I pray that the women and the

children who are here live in such a way as we

follow Christ, they follow us because your way

Is the only way. We thank you and praise you.

In your holy and precious name. The name of Jesus.

Amen.