Growing in the Grace and Kno..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. second letter of Peter, and we are getting very close to the end of this book. And we have one last verse to do, but we're going to spend, I don't know how many sermons on that verse before we conclude this letter.

So we're going to start addressing verse 18 today of chapter three, which is the end of the second letter of the apostle Peter written for the edification of the church by the Holy Spirit given to one of his apostles, not only for these churches who received initially these letters, but also for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the ages until he comes. So beloved of Christ, today I want to call your attention on your hearts to that verse 18 of chapter three, in which the apostle calls us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He calls us to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And by His grace and through the knowledge of Him, I hope that He may help us and guide us by His Spirit to meditate upon growing in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, not only today, but if the Lord allows us and extends our days, whatever opportunity he may give us to preach from this pulpit. So we are going to be addressing for a number of weeks this of growing in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he is the heart of the apostle in that in that last verse, 18 of chapter three.

So what we're going to do is that we're going to be reading together the whole chapter three and getting the context of that verse, getting the context in our heads and in our minds. And then the Lord Jesus may help us and through his spirit may help us not only to speak, but also to you, beloved, to receive the word that is preached. So let's read together chapter three with much reverence and paying attention to each one of the words having in our minds and in our hearts that we're going to be addressing verse 18, growing in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is chapter three of second Peter, and this is the word of the Lord. This is now the second letter that I'm writing to you, beloved.

In both of them, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. Knowing these, first of all, that is coffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, Where is the promise of his coming forever? Since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed from long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of this the world that then existed was deluged by water and perished.

But by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not as low to fulfill His promise as some count His lowness, but is patient towards you or us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, And then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burnt up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed or burnt up. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people are you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God?

because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to this promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, Beloved, since you are waiting for this, be diligent to be found by him without a spot or blemish and at peace and count the patience of our Lord to salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other scriptures. You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory both now and to the end or to the day of eternity. Amen. That is the word of the Lord. May He bless the time that we're going to be spending together now. Beloved of Christ, as I said, what I desire and what I hope is the desire of God for us as a congregation is that we will meditate upon that which is contained in verse 18, in which we are called to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We are called to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And with this amount of sermons, I don't know how many I'm going to be preaching from this verse or from this topic, if you want. What I want us to do is just simply for us to answer biblically the question of how to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, how to grow in the grace of Jesus Christ and how to grow in the knowledge of the Savior Jesus Christ. Now, I hope that through the many sermons and now the many weeks and a few years that we've been preaching and teaching the Scriptures, you will be able to see in the text that the text does not tell us how to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. This verse 18 that we have in front of us does not tell us how to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, but rather tells us that it's expected of us that we will grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So what we're going to be doing is that we're going to be taking this text here as a departing point because The apostle does tell us how to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, not only in 2 Peter, but also in 1 Peter. And I believe and I hope once again that this desire of my heart is the desire of the Lord, that we will together come as a church and try to answer that question of how to grow in the grace of our Savior and how to grow in the knowledge of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ. Because if we were going to summarize those two, it's just simply we're talking about spiritual growth and beloved of Jesus Christ, brother, sister, my friend, whoever you are, Growing in the spiritual aspect, growing in grace and growing in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in the words of Peter, or growing in conformity to Christ in the words of Paul, is the principle and is the reason and is the desire of Christianity. We have been foreknown by God that we will be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Paul. That is the purpose of Christianity.

The purpose of Christianity is that we will die to self and that we will be made like the Lord Jesus Christ for the glory of our Savior in this glorious salvation that he has given us. so that we will spend eternity with Him, having died to self and to sin and to unrighteousness, and to be united with Christ for the eternity that is to come. That process in this part of eternity looks like growth, growing in grace and growing in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I do not know of any other portion of Scripture in the New Testament that speaks so clearly, not only here in this verse 18, but I'm talking about the whole letter of 2nd Peter, especially chapter one, that will so clearly address how we are to grow in this grace and how we are to grow in this knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, beloved of Christ, I do not have sufficient words, not the vocabulary, not the strength to communicate to you the importance, the vital importance for every Christian and for us as a congregation, to answer that question of how to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In a sense, the reason why we are here together is to fulfill that purpose, is that when we come together, and because we have been united to Christ, by coming together, we will be partakers of the glorious grace that God has promised to His church, And then we will grow individually and together in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know your hearts and I don't know how you're taking these words. If I just could know just to make sure that you see the importance, beloved of Christ, that you see the importance. The reason why you're seated there is meant to be that we will be more like the person of Jesus Christ, namely that we will grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ to the point that every genuine believer who, by grace through faith, has been inserted into the person of Jesus Christ, naturally and spiritually desires to be more like Jesus. If you're satisfied with yourself, then let me tell you that there is a danger with your soul.

If you're satisfied with your state, with your mind, and if you are at peace with that, Then there is a problem because then the Christian has to desire to be made more like the person of Jesus Christ, not in fleshly despair as if there was no hope, but rather desiring in the spirit to die to self and to be made like the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, in the words of Peter, Genuine believers, by the grace of the Spirit, they will be moved to desire to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is something that belongs to the nature of the person who has been saved by the grace of the Lord. That is the whole purpose of salvation, that we will be conformed to the Lord Jesus Christ and beloved. I cannot allow this opportunity to pass.

I was so excited to go into 1 John, but I cannot allow this opportunity to pass because we can address now practically this question of how to, and I cannot put it more clearly, how to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be doctrinal within the framework of what Peter says in 2 Peter, but I want to be as practical as possible for the sake of your soul, so that I will not be founding the things that I'm going to say only in abstract concepts that for some of you will just be passing over your heads. But I will also be pointing you by the Spirit, and I hope in alignment with the desire of God for us as a church, to practical, specific matters on how to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, as I was thinking about this this morning, I realized that in Christendom, there is basically two camps when it comes to perceiving this growing in growing spiritual growth. There is the type of Christianity in which the preaching of the word is so Christ center.

It is so God center that is always pointing to the person of Christ and outside of ourselves, that Christians will look outside of them and desire to be like that savior that they have been preached about. And then they are hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing. But there's other side of Christianity that in which preaching is not Christ-centered or God-centered, but it's more focused on men. And then when that preaching is focused on men, growth is redefined completely. Because for the person who is constantly being pointed to the person of Jesus Christ, then growth is defined by who he is and what should I be as a Christian in being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

But when from the pulpit we are preaching ourselves, and we're preaching men, then growth for this part of Christianity becomes a self-growth. How you can be better in and of yourself. How can you have a better life? How can you be better in this and that? How can you be empowered in and of yourself to have a moralistic life, a religious life, to have a better you?

We don't want to have a better you. We want to kill us. We want to kill you. It has to die. We have to set our mind on the person of Jesus Christ.

And that's why we point you always to who He is, what He has done, and with the limitation of our words that we have to look to the person of Jesus Christ. And we have done that with limitations and many times from the scripture, sometimes from what we know. But I want to address now in a practical matter, beloved of Christ, what Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church and whoever is going to be listening or whatever within the sound of my voice, how to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have this verse in front of us, verse 18 of chapter three, and we're going to start to simply from there. From there, we're going to use that as a departing point, and then we're going to get into what Peter defines as growing spiritually.

The first thing that I want you to note is that grow is another imperative in the last section of this book. You remember that the first imperative in this last section from verse 14 was be diligent. Remember? That is the first imperative. Be diligent in verse 14 to be found by Him holy.

That is the first imperative given to us. It's a commandment. You understand that word imperative, right? It's a commandment. It's an instruction.

It's a divine expectation that holds this power of you are required to obey. Be diligent. That is the imperative of God. The second imperative is count in verse 15. Count the patience of our Lord.

has salvation, it is to count the saving patients. That is the second imperative of this portion of scripture that we have there. The third imperative is in there in verse 17, in which we're called to take care, lest we will be carried away by the error of the false teachers and lose our own stability. And then the apostle concludes with another imperative, and that is to grow We are to grow. Now, pay attention to that.

It's an imperative. It is a command. God is commanding through the Apostle Peter, the churches who received these letters and also us, that we will grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That means that is not only a command, but that is not an option. You can decide not to grow, but if you decide not to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, when you break a commandment that is called sin and disobedience.

So grow is an imperative, it's a command. But now I want you to see how this grow word growth is given to us there in verse 18, because we can understand much of the meaning of the word growth as in the context that is given to us. Remember, Peter is trying to warn these churches about the error of these false teachers, that they will not be carried away. And then growing or growth is given to us in contrast to losing our own stability. You see there in verse 17, it says in the ESV, Lawless people over you.

Therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. And then it comes a contrast. But grow. That means beloved soul, brother, sister, friend. that growing for the Christian is the contrast to losing your own stability.

In the mind of the apostle, it says, take care lest you are carried away with the error of these false teachers and lose your own stability, but grow. That is, if you don't lose your stability, that means that you are growing. This is very important because the antithesis or the opposite to growing spiritually is not not growing, is actually to remain steadfast. Think about this. I'm not using very good words here, but just bear with me and think about this.

The apostle is presenting to us the option of either losing our own stability or growing. That is that you have only two options when it comes to our spiritual growth. We either lose our own stability in this immediate context is by false teachers who are carrying our way or, as I explained in the sermon in verse 17, ways of losing your own stability or growing. A steadfastness in the Christian faith is not that you remain completely static. You are not steadfast when you remain with an ascent of, I believe, in your head for many years as a Christian.

That is not the opposite to losing your own stability, according to Peter. The opposite to losing your own stability is that you grow. This changes completely. Because when we find a person that we meet on the streets, and then they say, I have been a Christian for 40 years, the Lord saved me when I was six years old, 45 years, I have been a Christian, and I've attended church, and I've done all of these things. And I know we can sometimes see that as the endurance of their faith, just because they remain with a sentiment was sent in their mind that they are Christian.

But a steadfastness and endurance, as we will see in the weeks ahead, if the Lord does not come or take us home, Steadfastness and endurance requires transformation, requires growth. Brothers and sisters, I'm not sure if I'm communicating what I'm trying to communicate with proper words, but we have a coin in which we have two sides. Losing your stability or we grow. There's nothing like you remain in the same state for years and years and years and years. That is closer to a backslidden heart that has already lost its own stability.

And you might not even be aware, or I might not even be aware. losing their stability on one side and growing on the other. This is the way that is presented here with this contrast. And now I want you to see what is that in which we are called to grow. So do not lose your own stability, but grow.

And then we're told that we are to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That means that the steadfastness for the Christian is not that we just simply remain static, not changing over time, but rather being a steadfast and not losing our own stability is that we grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is that whatever that means, we are to continually grow in the grace of the Lord and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Next task for us to understand this is what is grace and what is knowledge? OK, so if growing is that antithetical to losing your own stability and growing is not an option, but it's rather I command an expectation from God for the Christian.

And this growing is meant to be done in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tell us, Scripture and Holy Spirit, what grace is and what the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is and how those two are related together so that I will understand how I'm supposed to grow. Because, beloved, when we throw simply words to the air, look to Jesus, come to Him, all of these words, they need to have a substance and a practical path. Otherwise, it's left to our mind to interpret that according to whatever we are. And the Scripture does not leave that room.

The Scripture is sufficient for everything. The fact that we belong to an environment in where there's shallow teaching and there's shallow Christianity and there's shallow practice of these spiritual matters should not take us just to simply speak in abstract terms and be satisfied with that. Look to Christ, come to Him, enjoy all of these things that are supposed to have substance in us. I don't know if it happens to you, but it happened to me very often that when I was seated in a chair, listening to a preacher from my church, many times I was like, okay, but what do you mean? You know, but exactly what is how it's supposed to operate?

You know, how it's supposed to operate? I agree with the things they use, but how it's supposed to operate? And now I know that perhaps you have been in that situation many times with the things that I'm saying from the pulpit. So, beloved of Christ, let me allow and endure in your flesh with my voice and my words so that I will try to point you to how to grow in this grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. This glorious grace of ours, beloved, is this glorious divine favor that we do not deserve.

As I was just thinking how to define this, everything that God does for his church is grace. Every single thing that God does for His church is what grace is. The church is the object of God's grace in the person of Jesus Christ, and everything that God does for His church is grace. Because we don't deserve absolutely anything that the church receives in the person of Jesus Christ. So all divine workings that have the church as the object in the person of Christ is the grace of God.

This is the favor of God that we did not deserve what he did for us. Actually, we deserve the opposite. But the grace of God, the exceedingly rich grace of God, according to Paul, is manifested for the church in doing precisely the opposite to what we deserve. We deserve to die in hell. He did not only give us life.

He gave his son's life. We deserve to spend a time in eternity in hell. He did not only move us to a good place to spend eternity into, but he gave himself so that we will spend eternity in communion with him. That is grace. Grace is this undeserving favor of the workings of God that have as object the church, the people of God in the person of Jesus Christ.

And the greatest of the manifestations of that grace is our salvation. We have been saved by grace through faith. And this is of ourselves? No, this is not of ourselves that we will not boast. Grace abides completely in God.

There's nothing that we ought to do. There's nothing that we can't do. There's nothing that we should push in order to initiate the divine grace of God. It is only the will of God that initiates, commences or begins this glorious manifestation of His character towards us, namely His grace. That is only possible because one man, that man happens to be God and his name is Jesus Christ.

He manifests His grace in that particular way. Now, what is the knowledge of Jesus Christ? Beloved soul, The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the greatest of the manifestations of the grace of God. All the blessings that we have as Christians, the opportunity to come to a church, to have brothers and sisters, to be living lives in sanctification and putting sin to death, and all these glorious blessings that God gives to us are not compared with the ultimate blessing that has made all the blessings possible, and that is our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing Christ is the greatest of the divine workings of God from his grace.

People will go to hell, dying in their sins because they have not known Jesus Christ. They have heard of Him, they have perhaps even believed in certain things that He says. They may even believe that He existed and they may even believe certain aspects, biblical aspects of Jesus Christ. But of course, you know that the type of knowledge that I'm speaking about is not the knowledge that abides in the mind, but is the knowledge that abides in the heart. that a person, a sinner, a dead person might be able to know Jesus Christ in the heart is the greatest manifestation of the grace of God.

And from that knowledge all other blessings derived." According to the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 1, this is union with Christ. The same Apostle says in Romans chapter 8 that those whom he foreknew, he has predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, Jesus Christ. And in Galatians chapter 4, he says that it's not that we know him, but that he knew us first. That this knowledge, this spiritual knowledge is not initiated in us, but God has known us.

And then in Ephesians 1, verse 3, it says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. That blessing will have no meaning apart from the next two words, in Christ. in Him, even as He chose us before the foundation of the world, that we will be holy and blameless before Him, having predestined us to be adopted as sons by His blood, for the praise of the glory of His grace. This is the grace of God, beloved, beloved of Jesus Christ, brother and sister, dear soul. These divine grace of God has been manifested to the maximum extent in the knowledge of a sinner of the son, Jesus Christ of our Savior.

And this is the glory of these acts of God. And let me tell you this. that this grace and this knowledge of Jesus Christ are eternal. Before the foundation of the world, we were united and we, in a sense, were known by God. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.

And then in time, when by the Spirit of God, faith was given to us, we were united to the person of Jesus Christ. Grace through faith. We have been saved, not in works. And then there's going to be a point of the consummation of the grace of God and the knowledge that sinners have of the Son, Jesus Christ, in which the pinnacle, the pinnacle of the grace of God will be manifested in the union of the Beloved Bride with the Savior. Coming out of the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved.

coming out of the darkness of this world, people from every tribe and every nation and every tongue, those who are vile and despised by this world, those who are lowly and meek, those who are despised by the reputable person, leaning on the beloved comet, coming out of the wilderness to be united with this glorious Savior, a union that started in eternity past, that was manifested unto us so that the love of God will be manifested in this present time. And then the angels and all creatures will behold the accomplishment of the workings of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that he will receive the word worthy and holy, beloved of Jesus Christ. grace, and knowledge eternal from eternity past to the moment in which we are saved and to the moment that is to come. And we are called to grow in that. And this is when I need to make a doctrinal distinction so that we will understand the commandment.

Be with me, beloved. We are going to understand this grace and this knowledge of God in two different ways. As I have spoken to you before of the love of God, and as I have spoken to you in the past about the peace of God. There is this positional sense. You remember that word that I've used in the past?

This positional sense. of the love of God and this positional sense of the peace of God. That is that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Why? Because we are positionally placed in union with Christ and we are in the love of God positionally.

Nothing can remove us or take us from there. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. That is that positionally, we already have peace with God. And there's absolutely nothing that we ought to do to be removed from that peace. But in the same way that both love and peace are positional and unchanging, both of them are experienced.

That is, that we are to keep ourselves in the love of God. Remember? We are to abide and we're to keep ourselves in the manifestation of God's love according to Jude and according to John. We are to abide in his love as if we could be removed, not positionally, but from the experience of love. and in the same way that we can lose the peace of God.

Not that we enter in enmity with God, but rather when we are anxious and filled with all of these things, we don't have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding and that keeps our mind and our hearts. In the same way, grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ are to be understood according to the scriptures, positionally and experientially. The grace of God, eternal grace of God has been already manifested. Actually, if we were going to write a catechism, I don't know if catechisms will have this question, but if we were going to write a catechism and we were going to ask the question, how is the grace of God eternally manifested? Think about the question, how is the grace of God eternally manifested?

Because for grace to be manifested, you need someone that does not deserve that grace, that we never existed before the foundation of the world. But how is the grace of God eternally manifested? The grace of God is eternally manifested in the eternal union with Christ that the saints have. Before the foundation of the world, we were found in Him. And you think that we did something to be found in union with Christ before the foundation of the world?

No! This is the eternal manifestation of the grace of God that because of the love that He had in His Son towards us, we were found in Him. And as He chose us in Him, He blessed us with every spiritual blessing. So that eternal union that started in the past will be consummated in the future, not because God is only good to work things out, but rather because this union is in the person of Jesus Christ. We belong to him.

That is why God is eternally gracious, and he will remain eternally gracious to undeserving, not sinners anymore, but redeemed sinners. So, beloved of Jesus Christ, we have this position in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing that can move us from the grace of God. Understand this. There's nothing that can move us from the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Think in your mind about scriptures that speak about us. We have been foreknown before the foundation of the world, right? We have been already known by Him. God has foreknown us, and He has separated us by the spirit of sanctification that we will be sprinkled with His blood. 1 Peter chapter 1.

We have been foreknown for conformity to Christ. Romans chapter 8. We have been justified by faith, and we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Verse 2 says, Through whom we have access by faith, into this grace in which we stand.

It is by our salvation and faith in Jesus Christ that we don't only have peace with God, but we have access into the grace of belonging to God and being with him in which no Istanbul will move, but rather we stand. Positionally speaking, dear soul, those who by grace through faith have been saved in the person of Jesus Christ belong to the grace of God and belong to the knowledge of God. It's not that we know him, but that he knew us first. But there is a second aspect of the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that is the experiential. aspect of the grace of God.

And this is the experiential aspect of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is clearly evidenced through the scriptures as we read even just the salutations or the beginning of every letter. Grace to you. Grace be multiplied to you. You're already in the grace of God. The grace be to you.

The service of Paul is done by the grace of God. The grace of God is sufficient for Paul to endure all things. It is the grace of God that is constantly provided. And the apostolic desire is that people will grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when it comes to knowledge, many scriptures speak about that.

Think about scriptures that speak about us increasing in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The knowledge of God is defined as salvation, initial salvation. But, oh, that we might count it all loss for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is, that all temporal things will be count as dung, as rubbish. as lost for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, that our hearts, our minds will be removed from these things of this world.

And rather than loving the things of this world, we will know the love of God in the person, in the face of Jesus Christ. This is the experiential aspect of grace and knowledge. You're with me, right, beloved? We have this positional aspect of the grace and the knowledge, but we also have this experiential aspect. So about which one of those is Peter speaking about here in verse 18?

When he says, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, he's speaking about the experiential aspect of grace and knowledge, right? He's speaking about the experiential aspect. So he's commanding us to grow in this grace and in this knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, now think, try to put those things together as a commendment with the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, when grace and knowledge is purely from Him. There is no other explanation than what our brother said from Deuteronomy.

Go and take possession of the land. I have already given you the land. The land is already there. The only thing that you need to do is just go and take it. The same thing happens with grace.

Grace is already given. The knowledge of Jesus Christ is already available for every single believer. And it's not that we will know and the knowledge of Christ will be decreased or diminished. There is exceedingly glorious things in the presence of Christ as we grow in His grace and in His knowledge for every single believer. That is not only the desire of Christ for your soul, for your soul, for your soul.

I would name every one of your names. You would not feel uncomfortable about it, but I know that some of you may. So every one of you, that are in the person of Jesus Christ, that is the desire of Jesus Christ of God for your soul, that you will grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, so what does it mean, grow? What is the meaning of growing according to Peter?

Then is when we depart from the text. And I'm going to invite you now to come to chapter one, because in chapter one is where practically there's no other more practical way in which Peter will speak to us about growing in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is given to us in the first 11 verses. First 11 verses. What a great thing you will do for your soul if you treasure up this scripture in your heart.

And if you preach yourself every day this scripture to your heart or not every day, as often as the Lord leads you. These first 11 verses, beloved of Christ, are the reason why I'm not preaching only one sermon in that last verse of the letter, but rather that I want us, by the grace of God, to actually see how to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Specifically given to us, this growing in these aspects are given in that verse five. I think when we preach from here, I call that the golden change of Christianity or something like this. Verse five, when it says that to our faith, where to what virtue and to our virtue knowledge and to our knowledge, self-control and to our self-control, steadfastness and to our steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love.

We have all of those Christian virtues, that this is the way that we are going to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how do I know that? I'm just not simply jumping because I think that this is the right thing to do. It's just because the context clearly speaks to us of it. Pay attention to verse two.

This is the apostolic desire. of what he's going to teach us now he says may grace and peace be multiplied that sounds like growing to you in the knowledge of god and of jesus our lord this is the apostolic desire The grace of God will be multiplied, increased in this experiential sense for the saints in what? In the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that we will increase, that we will be fruitful in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he even continues in verse three, as his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called you to his own glory and excellence.

That is, all things have been given to us through the knowledge of him. And as we continue, if you go to verse eight, the apostle continues to think about this grace or this knowledge of the Savior when he says in verse eight, 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. You see that combination of words, unfruitful? That is that you do not grow. That you do not grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter has in his mind growing in grace and growing in knowledge what he has explained to the church in the beginning, in the first chapter. That is how Christians grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, I cannot emphasize the importance of what I am saying to you for your soul. We are to grow spiritually in grace and knowledge according to the things that Peter has mentioned to us here in chapter one. And if you think about the context of the whole letter, if you remember something from the letters and the things that I have said, If you remember something, this whole letter is just simply about my beloved brothers and sisters.

There's false teachers in the context of the church. For this reason, the way that you defend yourselves or even attack this full teaching is not by having guns and being strong and having just big people in the church, but rather is by growing in the knowledge and in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. so that you will be able to stand firm in your faith spiritually. And by the way, I tell you all of these characteristics of these four teachers. That is the summary of 2 Peter.

So having started with the growth of the believer, he concludes his letter with calling the believer to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So now, beloved, before we get into these aspects of growing here that we have in all of these 11 verses, I want to show you, I want to show you three essential things. for us to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to what Peter has said here. Three vital things. All of the things that I have said before are just simply hanging and are just simply accompanying the things that I'm just going to set here.

I know that it's taking a little bit long, but this is the most important thing that I just want to share with your soul. I'm not interested about preaching a sermon. I'm interested about encouraging and empowering and strengthening your soul. How? With the Scriptures.

Because I cannot do it. I can hug you and I can give you a kiss and I can do certain things that will temporarily affirm you emotionally. But beyond that, I cannot do anything for your soul. The only thing that I can do, by God's grace, experiential grace, the only thing that I can do by God's grace is to bring his word so that in hope that his spirit would apply that to your heart, then I will be broken in tears when I hear you praying, when I hear you triumphing over sin, when I see you just overcoming this and that, and when we are growing as a church in unity and in conformity to the Savior, no other interest. So beloved, a couple of things, two or three things that I want to point to your mind from this, bear with my words, and in your flesh, try to, not in your flesh, but if you're tired in your flesh or your mind, try to pay attention to the things that I'm going to say.

The first important thing that we are to note about this spiritual growth, that according to Peter is growth in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that you must, in order for you to grow, in order for you to grow spiritually in this way, you must believe that this growth starts from Him. In order for you to grow in this way, in grace and knowledge, you must, I don't know if you have any other stronger word to must, you know, but you have to, you must. It is absolutely vital and essential to understand and comprehend that this spiritual growth starts in God. Now, here I'm going to speak doctrinally, and then I'm going to speak to you practically. Now, where do we see the practical, the doctrinal principle?

Clearly stated for us in verse 3, right? His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. It is upon this reality of verse 3 that the commandment of verse 5 rests. In verse 5, the commandment is, for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with all of these things that are the growth, spiritual growth. Verse five rests, or the commandment of verse five rests upon the reality of verse three.

So for you to be able to supplement your faith with all of these virtues, which is equivalent to growth, which is equivalent to not to fall away, remember, losing your own instability, you must believe that this growth starts in Him. Now, you say, yeah, and then you say, like, you know, you note like this with your heads. I also do that, and I'm preaching this. But the only way that I know with the light that the Lord has given me up to this point to test that is by two things. Listen to this.

The way that I know for my heart, and I'm going to, of course, back up this with the scriptures, but the first thing that I'm going to do is just simply share that with you. The way that I know that whatever fruit in me is not only biblical, but it's coming from the Spirit, and that I truly, I truly believe that this starts with Him, and not in me, Because that is our temptation. Our temptation is to push the stone. It is to do it in our own strength. It is to fix the problem in our own way.

It is just to find a solution according to our amazing intellect. It is whatever thing. It's to do it in our own strength. The way that we know, the way that we know that we really believe, not the head, not intellectually, not doctrinally, but that we really believe that this work starts by God, It is by how much I self-examine or examine myself in light of the gospel. That is the statement.

I will explain it. The way that I know how much, or if I truly believe, if I truly believe, that my sanctification and my growth starts with God. The way that I know that is if I check my heart and I check my mind and I check my life, which that will not lie to me, right? Because I have experienced my heart and my life and so on. is that how much do I self-examine myself in light of the gospel?

Because the scripture calls us to self-examine, right? We have to examine our hearts and to check our hearts and to all of this. But there is a way of doing it not in light of the gospel. When a person is given themselves to search and examine themselves not in light of the gospel, that means that that person does not believe that his or her sanctification starts with God. Because they are examining themselves just to perhaps just search and see if there's any sin or any lack of conformity to Christ in their heart, and then just to try to fix it on their own.

Beloved of Jesus Christ. I don't know if this is clear. This is clear, brother? Beloved of Jesus Christ, all self-examination of our lives is meant to happen in light of the gospel. One thing is when I come in my prayers and I say, Lord, I'm a sinner.

Lord, have mercy upon me. Lord, what am I going to do with this sin that I have in my mind, in my heart, with my eyes, with my hands, with my feet? That is one thing to examine myself in that way, which I think that all do. But it's a different thing to do it in light of Jesus Christ died upon the cross. And not only Jesus Christ died upon the cross, He died for me.

Beloved of Jesus Christ, if your self-examination lacks the presence of Christ and Him dying upon the cross, then you may be self-examining yourself for the sake of pleasing your own flesh. Trying to be good. Trying to be a good Christian. Just trying to tick a box. You know, like, I shouldn't have looked at that thing.

I'm gonna try just to do the best. I'm just gonna now just put my head down, down. And every time that I cross that street, I'm gonna put my head down, down, down, down. You can do that for one day, two or three, perhaps. But there's not going to be any genuine fruit of actually, you don't even pay attention to what is happening there with your eyes.

Because that is fleshly examination. That is self examination in the flesh. Everything that we do as Christian is meant to be done in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Come to me to 1st John chapter four, please. 1 John chapter 4, verse 9 through 10.

In this, the love of God, you're there, right? In this, the love of God was manifested towards us. That God sent his only begotten son into the world that we may live through him. In this is love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Go quickly to chapter 3, verse 16. Just the first statement, it says, by this, now pay attention to those two words, we know love. Because he laid down his life for us. Now pay attention to what I'm going to say. The way that the Christian experiences...

Yes, I'm saying experience. The way that the Christian experiences the love of God is only through the gospel and the person of Jesus Christ. It is only to come into terms of agreement with God in which He died upon the cross to forgive my sins. Apart from the gospel and the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, we cannot experience the love of God. And the love of God is most greatly manifested towards us in the forgiveness of our sins, not only when we first believed, but every time that we come to His presence.

That means that when I have guilt and when I have self-condemnation or whatever upon my soul, I will never find satisfaction and peace to my soul and even the experience of the love of God if I don't do it through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can see yourself as a sinner. You can see yourself as the one who has broken his commandments and all of this. But if you don't do it in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you have no faith. Because this is our whole salvation.

That's how we were saved initially. We were condemned by the law. We were convicted by the Spirit. But then there was the door of hope, Jesus Christ. And then when we believed in him by the Spirit, we were forgiven.

Do you think that forgiveness changes as you progress in your life? And now you're all good just to go on your own? No! We need progressive and increasing manifestations of the forgiveness of God. In other words, the love of God, which we know because he laid down his life for us.

In these words the love of God manifested to us. What is manifested? That we can see it, that we can perceive it. In that Jesus Christ died upon the cross. Beloved, I cannot explain in any other words, but if you spend all of the time self-examining yourself, not in light of the gospel, you have a horrible problem with your soul.

You're gonna live in guilt and you're gonna live in despair and in frustration because you will never be able to deal with that guilt on your own. All self-examination is meant to be done in light of the gospel. Someone said, I don't know who it was, that you're to look to you once, and then to Christ 10 times. Add that a million times. You are to self-examine yourself always in light of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it's not that you examine yourself here, and then you examine then the gospel as an abstract concept, as you were moving from one thought to another. No, it's what Jesus Christ did upon the cross for the sin that you're repenting of. It's that He died upon the cross to pay for the sin that you're struggling with, that you're repenting of, and that you're coming before the Lord. Not as two abstract concepts that are separated. And not as the Lord dying upon the cross for the church, but dying for your soul.

This is the way, beloved, that we know if we truly believe that. Because if we truly believe that his power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, we know that this is only through the knowledge of him who is Jesus Christ. And if we know that he has provided all things, then I'm not going to try to push the stone on my own. I'm going to, by faith, which is that which saves us, believe in the great and exceedingly promises that he has given us, and therefore do things according to what is written. Then now you say, Ben, yes, I'm doing that.

Every time that I sin, or every time that I'm repenting of my sins, I'm actually doing that, and I'm doing it just before the Lord, and I'm doing it because of the gospel. You know, this is the second thing that I was gonna tell you, you know that you are truly doing it by faith, because one thing is just to say, I know that you died upon the cross for me. That is one thing. It's a very different thing to believe it in your heart, right? We're in agreement with that, right?

you know that you are examining yourself in light of the gospel according to genuine faith, when the result of that self-examination is the glorious receiving of forgiveness. Because if you know the gospel and then you know what he did upon that cross, And then when you're truly meditating upon your sin, about what He did upon the cross, how would dare a Christian say, my sin is too great for Him to forgive? My sin is too great for Him to cleanse? Or my sin is too great for Him to wash away? If that is the case, you might not say it with your mouth, but you might do it practically.

How do you do it practically? You continue in your self-condemnation, and you continue with the burden of an unforgiving sin upon your shoulders. Then that means that you don't believe what Peter says. You don't believe that it's his divine power, the one that grants to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, and that we're just simply recipients of these things, and then we are just acting or operating by his spirit, all of these things, and that everything rests upon him because of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that means that when the believer self-examines in light of the gospel by genuine faith, the only outcome of that is that if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It says, if you confess your sins, if you come in agreement with the lights of God, and if you confess He is faithful and just, not to perhaps, not to maybe. Most of the time, if you have been a good Christian, if you have repented enough, if you confess by the Spirit He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He was not only the propitiation of our sins, right? He is the propitiation of our sins. He is the advocate that is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.

He is the one that is mediating because of our sins. So if you examine yourself in light of who you are and not in light of the gospel, beloved, you don't believe this. Even if we preach through a computer. Even if we have one-on-ones and I speak to you. All of this matters.

It's a matter of faith. Self-examination is meant to be done in light of this person, Jesus Christ dying upon the cross. Dying for your soul. That when you hated Him, He loved you. That this is the love of God.

That He loved us first. That when He says that we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. I don't know what I looked like in the mind of God. But I was chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. I was united to Him.

In what way? I don't know. But this is what the Scripture says. This is what God says, so we are to self-examine ourselves in light of the gospel. That is the first thing that I want to show you from there, okay?

So if you're going to grow, is it a possibility that you will believe this? No, it's not a possibility. That was a rhetorical question. You must believe this, because otherwise we are going to be defeated by the sins that we commit and never moving from forgiveness onto conformity. We're always going to be repenting in the flesh and never moving on to holiness.

Repentance is only one aspect of sanctification. The most important aspect of sanctification is conformity to Christ. So repentance, forgiveness, and then we move on to conformity to Christ. If we do not truly believe this once again, then we cannot grow. We cannot grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The second thing that I want to point your attention to is that which happens to faith, or how growth is manifested. And that is in verse 5. I'm going to ask you that you bear with me because this is very important, what I want to share with you. So verse 5. First thing, you must believe that.

You must believe that. Now, verse 5. Beloved, spiritual growth... And I will say it and then we will explain the text there. Spiritual growth does not only necessitate that you believe by faith that it is Him the one that starts growth in you.

But when growth happens, it is a transformation, a better word, it is a systematic transformation of your faith. Spiritual growth is a systematic, that is a step-by-step, is a systematic transformation of your faith. How do you know that you are spiritually growing? When there is a systematic transformation of your faith. Remember what James says, So the faith that is alive is transformed because it's alive.

And the transformation of this faith as it grows spiritually, it couldn't be more clearly given to us in these verses starting from verse five. It says, for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue. And it continues, but be with me here. I said that spiritual growth is a systematic transformation of your faith. Why systematic?

Because it follows a process that is to be respected and that is to be honored. If you can see there in the list of virtues that we have, we have your faith, the one that is necessary for you to know that it's him, the one that started working you, and he's the one that has provided all things pertaining to life and godliness. We ought to have faith, this faith of equal standing with the apostles. Otherwise, nobody can grow spiritually if they are lost. We need that faith.

But that faith has to progressively and systematically grow. What do I mean by systematically? See in the list that you have all of these virtues, and then you have from faith, and the pinnacle or the climax of this is love. But the apostle, through the Spirit, is not just simply throwing their virtues that can be taken one here, one here, one here, one here. But rather, he's very careful to say, supplement your faith with virtue.

And then he doesn't say, supplement your faith with knowledge. But rather, he builds this ladder. Right? He says, supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. Brothers and sisters, the Bible is not careless in the way that many times we speak and we just simply throw words.

the Bible is very careful in how the scripture is given to us. What we have here is a spiritual growth in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this spiritual growth is a transformation, a systematic transformation of your faith. And it starts with virtue, then it continues to knowledge and self-control and moves towards love. In the words of Paul in Galatians chapter 5, it's a faith that is working, operating, energizing, moving.

It's not dead, it's moving. A faith that works through love. That is, that faith is the initiation, love is the consummation, love is the substance moves faith, and the workings of faith are to be manifested according to Peter with these characteristics that we have there. That is, that is a systematic process. That is, faith and virtue, and it moves, and it moves, and it moves.

But beyond that, the love of Christ. In verse 8, we have that Growing in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is equivalent to fruitfulness, right? It's growth, fruitfulness. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the fruitfulness of our faith.

But pay attention. If these qualities, not some of these qualities, not this quality or that quality, for if these qualities are not yours, then you are unfruitful. That is that this systematic process of growth, it starts with faith and moves on to love. And this is genuine biblical fruitfulness, according to the scriptures. So now, I know that your flesh is just getting tired now.

Many things I have to say. I will say this next week, perhaps, because I don't want you to just not pay attention to the things that I'm going to be saying. Not because you're not paying attention, but because your flesh is tired. But beloved of Christ, beloved of Christ, brother and sister, dear soul, friend, please, if we are going to grow spiritually in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and all the things that I said about that, we are to believe like a child, like a child. We are to believe you know, throw yourself to your dad, not announcing that you're going to throw yourself.

You are to believe that the solution for the dilemmas and for the controversies and the agonies of your souls, when it comes to lack of conformity to Jesus Christ, do not, does not start with you, starts with God. If you never believe that with the power of faith, I'm going to see you in five, 10 years if the Lord has not come yet, and we are going to continue to struggle, trying to push and climb the mountain like the pilgrim, right? Burden! And this requires only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that you will come in light of the gospel. And then, when the soul by faith does that, this power of God is manifested in us in a transformation of our faith.

In a transformation of our faith. That is, ask yourself that question, what is virtue? We will answer those questions. Virtue is to be added to your faith. What is knowledge?

Knowledge is to be added to virtue and faith. And then you build those things when you move towards love. That means that your fruitfulness should be described and should be explained in terms of faith and virtue and knowledge and self-control and all of these characteristics that are here. And many times we just simply read the text and pass, as I did when I preached from this, like three or four or five or whatever, whenever I preached. we are to analyze those things and to ask ourselves that question.

Let me just show you the final thing, the final thing, beloved. I'm just going to take literally 10 minutes for this. This is going to be important for your soul. So let me just please say this to your soul. This is the final thing.

It is not only that you believe according to verse 3, it's also that your faith has a transformation. But pay attention to the first words of verse 5. This growth in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ requires something. Right? Please pay attention to what I'm saying.

I'm saying require after I have told you that everything is from Him. And I have to repeat that to your soul because your flesh is tempted to think, Oh, it's about me. Oh, it's about me. It is in light of He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness in the person of Jesus Christ, that our faith may be transformed, and it requires diligence. Verse 5.

For this very reason make every effort, beloved of Christ. Can a person grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ with slothfulness, with laziness, with lack of diligence? No, I'm not preaching works. I have already given you the context of the things that I'm saying. We are to be diligent, and this is what is offensive to the flesh, because we don't have the first part, which is faith.

When the soul has faith in what I said, that it is everything about him, then there's no offense in the commandment. But when the person is walking in the flesh and does not believe that everything comes from Him, then the person is offended in the commandment. Because now the commandment is a requisite or a requirement for him or her. So they are offended in their carnality. But once the person is walking in the Spirit, if you love me, keep my commandments.

Like, there's love, spiritual love, so then you're able to keep the commandment. Remove love from the picture and give the commandment, and then there is offense, there's burden, there is despair, there's depression, because there's not love of God that is impulsive, that is that is a Spanish word, that is moving, that is moving, that is operating in the soul of that person. It's a beloved of Jesus Christ. This requires diligence. Again, my goal is not to throw words onto the earth that may mean something to you that I don't know what you mean.

I don't know exactly what, what is diligence? I wanted to share with you many of these things of diligence, but now the time is not enough. And I think it's wisest for us just to simply do it the next time when we have the opportunity to speak about these matters. But beloved of Jesus Christ, we are to move ourselves to behold the beauty of Jesus Christ upon that cross. And doing the things that he did, dying upon that cross, effectively applied to your soul Because he, by grace through faith, he had been saved.

From eternity past, you were chosen in him. Like, I'm not preaching, you know, things against the law or things against the command. You know how much I had preached about, you know, diligence and strife and all of these things and to work out your own salvation and all of these things. The beloved of Jesus Christ, the one that has been genuinely saved, the scripture says that this person was chosen in him before the foundation of the world. The scripture says that He will bring the work to completion.

It says that the promised land is ahead and that we're just to walk towards that promised land. It says that everything is about Him, that everything is about the Lord Jesus Christ. So they called to the Christianistic, set your eyes on things above. and not on things on the earth. The things of the earth are passing away, and the things on the earth include your soul, includes your flesh.

It is not said, your eyes on yourself, and you're in strength and in your own power, but rather surrender, because that's what God does when you don't realize what you have to do, that he brings you to the core. So now it's clear that you are to depend on him. You can do it the easy way or the easy way. You can go to that point in which you are to be broken entirely and completely by the judgment of God. Yes, it is necessary that the judgment of God will begin with the household of God.

when you are broken by that, and then the Lord shows you that, or that you simply come in the Spirit to believe what the Scripture says. So Lord, have grace and mercy upon me. Help me in my unbelief. Point my heart towards you, that I will not depend on my own strength and my own ability. Make me fruitful unto your glory, not because of who I am, but because of the things that you have done, and because of this faith that you have given me.

Open my eyes every day that I can see you, Jesus Christ. Make me diligent in coming to your presence, that I might not do it through motions, that I might not do it in the flesh. Give me diligence to focus my mind when I'm praying. My heart, focus on Christ when I'm reading. My heart and my mind and everything that I am, focus on the person of Jesus Christ.

Not doing it from here onwards. Not here from the mouth out, but doing it from the heart. Not praying prayers that do not go out beyond the rooftop or ceiling or whatever you call it. Prayers that send people to hell. Intercessions that are just done in the mind.

But rather, if it's one minute, two minutes, five minutes, three hours, be diligent in your heart, seeking the Lord. That is diligence. Seek the Lord in your heart through prayer, through the scriptures, through the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you seek the Lord with your heart, He's the one that is in charge of doing the things that you don't even expect. That you don't even know.

That is the one that transforms you. That is the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not about words. It's about power. It's a power of self-control.

Power of victory over sin. Power of loving the one that is unlovable. Power of turning your cheek. Is that power, that beloved, it doesn't matter how good you have been in your life and how moral you have been and how good you have been taught or educated. It doesn't matter that you have grown in the first world and that you don't know how the rest of the world lives.

It doesn't matter. You cannot do it on your own. It's meant to be done in the person of Jesus Christ. Is that name sweet to your heart, even as I pronounce it? Is that name sweet?

Hope for you is Jesus. Because that is where our heart should be. That apart from this God-man, Jesus Christ, our beloved Savior, there is absolutely no hope. Thanks to God that is the way. Because that is not hopelessness.

That is actually hope. That is actually hope that we can depend entirely on Him. May the Lord give us the grace that is needed through these things and make us more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen?