Living for God for the Holin..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. 2 Peter 1, and we're going to be addressing the same verses that we addressed last week by God's grace. And we are going to hope in the Spirit that He may guide us and lead us as we speak and as we hear.

2 Peter 1, we're going to be addressing verses 12 through verse 15 once again. But beloved of Christ, we're going to be reading the whole chapter just to get a context. and then just to remember what the Spirit of God says to us through the Apostle Peter. So, beloved brothers and sisters, with much reverence and paying much attention to each one of the words of God given to us by the Spirit, let's pay attention with all our mind to the inspired, inerrant, all-sufficient, life-giving, empowering word of our Savior. So this is 2 Peter 1, from verses 1 until the end of the chapter.

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 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 virtue with knowledge, and 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 or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For whoever lacks these qualities is only excited that he is blind, having forgotten 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 entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, that you know them and are establishing the truth that you have.

I think you're right, as long as I'm in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure, you may be at any time 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 God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention, as to a lamb 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 men, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Amen. That is the word of our Lord and Savior.

Now, brothers and sisters, beloved of Christ and those friends who are with us today, we are going to continue with our study here on the book of 2 Peter. And as I said last week, in verse 12, we are starting with a new section in this book. The Apostle starts that section saying, therefore, it is a new, very important section of the book that is going to go until the end of chapter one, in which the Apostle Paul is going to deal with the vital importance of the word of God in the life of the Christian. Vital comes from life. That means that the life of the Christian, of the one who by grace through faith has been inserted, baptized by the Spirit of Christ into the body, depends, the life depends, from the Word of God.

And that importance is connected to the main argument that the apostle is trying to communicate to us, or the main thought. And that is that we need to be careful. He's warning us not to be taken, not to be carried away by the deceitfulness of false teachers that will be in the church. So the apostle exhorts us in the end of the book that we are not to be carried by those things, but grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the way that we remain until the end, the way that we are preserved in our life, in our profession of faith until the end, is by growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

That knowledge is through the Word of God. We know the Savior intimately, spiritually, through the workings of the Word of God. The Word of God is that which connects us vitally to the Savior. The Savior is that Word of God, the Logos of God, that we may not take that for granted, that we may not see the Word as just something that is just a written letter, a book that is just in front of us, but that we may understand of the vital importance of the Word of God for your personal spiritual life. The beating of your spiritual heart depends on the pouring of the Word of God into your soul, not into your mind, but into your soul.

It is the Word of God, the one that has given you life, the one that is going to preserve it until the end. And that Word is going to be made visible in the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes. That is the section that we are starting in verse 12 until the end. The apostle wants to warn us about these false teachers, because the false teachers are going to come to confuse the Word of God. They are going to come to stain the Word of God.

They are going to come with deceitful teachings, secret teachings into the church. And those deceitful or difficult teachings of these false teachers are not completely opposite to what the scripture says, are very similar to them. That's what is difficult to pick them or perceive them or discern them. They are deceitful in nature. Satan is behind them.

So the Apostle is telling us of the vital importance of the Word of God in our lives. For each one of the Christians, and of course, the ministry of the Apostle and the prophets in communicating, carried by the Spirit of Christ, because no prophecy of Scripture comes from man's interpretation. But it's when man is carried by the Spirit of Christ, the spirit of the prophecy or the spirit of prophecy of Christ in men. That is when God speaks to men through the lips of other sinful men. So this is very important, beloved of Christ.

And I said to you last week that this section, or at least a portion of the Scripture that we're dealing with from verses 12 to 15, is something of a particular way of teaching, or at least very interesting to me. Because the Apostle is not only going to speak to us and communicate to us a message about the importance of the Word of God, but also we can see in this portion of the Scripture, and even until the end of that chapter 1, aspects of the life of the Apostle Peter. He tells us about his experiences. He tells us about the awareness that he has that he is going to die very soon. He tells us about his witnessing of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ that he was the father witnessing or given this testimony of the son.

The Apostle gives us this insight into who he is, his heart and the life that he's experiencing and even his awareness of death. So I said to you that there is biblical evidence, at least I'll try to prove at least that to you last week, to say that we can learn from Scripture. It's a little bit cool, right? I said to you from Scripture that we can learn not only from the message that is written, but also from the example of the apostles and prophets. We are to learn from the words of Christ and also from his life, but we are also to learn from the apostles and what they say and also their lives.

I'm just going to give two seconds for your minds to come back with me after the air con is turned off. Be with me, brothers and sisters, OK? Now, this is the way that we learn from scripture. We learn from the example of the Savior and the example of the apostles and prophets, and also by the message that they communicate. And I said last week that my intention was, on previous Sunday, to speak to you about the clear message of this portion of Scripture.

And today I want to see the example of the life of the Apostle Peter as he communicates to us the importance, the vital importance of the Word of God. He said to us, at least I try to open the passage to you to show you how important is the word of God in the message of the Apostle Peter, that this is something that should not abide in our minds, but it should be in our beings entirely, that should take over, that the words of Jesus Christ should abide in us. Not in your mind, not in your intellect, but in your heart. Just as you have a real relationship with Christ, you are to have a genuine and real relationship with the words of Christ. The sweet, majestic words that come from the mouth of the Savior in your soul.

That this is to be poured into you by the communication of the apostles and prophets from Scripture constantly and ongoingly so that you will be awakened to the deceitfulness of your nature, to the passions that are making war within you, to the remaining of sin that is still in you and that will be your companion until the day that the Lord takes you to His glory or when He comes. We need to be awakened by the power of the Word and the Spirit to our sin, to false prophets, to the system of the world, to Satan himself. We need to be awakened. And the one that has given us that message, it is Peter. the servant and the apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The one that is not only an apostle and a servant of the Lord, but it's also a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ, who spent time with Him in His ministry. And as I said before, received this testimony from the Father. He is a witness of Him. He's a carrier of the Spirit of Christ and a proclaimer of the words of Christ. This Peter is also an elder.

We know that he is now old and that he's very close to die. And he's not only elderly in terms of age, but also he's an elder of the church, spiritually speaking. We have here a man that learned from the Lord, that was taught by the Spirit, a man that grew in glory in the Savior. A man who spent time with the Lord, not only when the Lord was alive, but a man that also spent with the recent resurrected and triumphing Savior through prayer and fasting and intimacy. A man that was matured, not only by the memory that he had of the Savior, but the sweet and still as genuine communion with the Savior after the departure of the Savior.

He speaks to us in 1st Peter that we can enjoy the same joy unspeakable, He says. The Savior that we have not seen, the Savior that we have not seen yet, believe and love Him. The same Lord and Savior matured Him and made Him an elder of the church. a witness of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, a witness of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a man that is not only an elder physically speaking and also spiritually speaking, but it's a man, as I said last week, that is aware of his death.

His death is coming. He knows that His days are going to come to an end. And as I said last week, there is power in knowing that your days are coming to an end. There is much power when death is illuminated to your eyes. There is much power when a person comes to the understanding that life in this world is temporal and that death is coming very close.

And the way that the apostle is going to describe that awareness of death is just simply Peter. It's just simply Peter. The way that he's going to describe this knowing or awareness that his days are coming to an end is very interesting. If you pay attention to the last verse, he says in verse 15 of the portion of Scripture that we have, he says, And I will make every effort in the years, he says, so that after my departure, He calls His coming to an end, His departure. You might have in another translation, after my disease, He knows that He is going to die.

But the word that He actually uses, and I don't know why they did not translate this word in the way that it should be translated, at least literally, is in my Exodus. This word is literally the word that is used to speak of the Exodus of Israel from the land of Egypt. So he says that his death is going to be his Exodus. And I'm just so tempted to take everything that the brother said just to spend here like a 5 or 10 minutes speaking about this glory. That death for the Christian, and of course, for Peter, it is the Exodus.

It is the going outside of this world. It is the final arriving into the promised land. It is the final departure from this period of time. This is the Exodus of the Christian. That is the departure.

He knows that. He's using so much Old Testament words that he speaks about the putting off of his body in verse 14. He says, since I know, in verse 13, I think it right as long as I'm in this body to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon. Literally, what he's saying is the putting off of my tent, the putting off of my tabernacle. this dwelling place which is temporal I will very soon put off and it will go into my exodus, spiritual exodus, away from this world, away from this pilgrimage, away from this sojourning and entering into the presence of the one who is indeed honey and milk, the one that is the source of everything that the soul of a person, of a saint needs.

Brothers and sisters, that is death for the Christian. It is a longing. It is an eternal longing for the jubilee, for the eternal rest, for being with the Savior. Not only that, but escaping, departing from the corruption of this world. That is glorious, that is glorious indeed.

That's why the Apostle John says in 1st John chapter 3 or 4 or 5, I don't remember exactly, but he says that the hope of the coming, chapter 3, purifies us, purifies us now. It's the hope of that unkept, reserved, undefiled hope that we have, the living hope, as Peter says, it's a hope that should purify us. Faith, right? As we said once, this glorious certainty that we have in Christ, it is twofold. It is faith on one side and it's hope on the other.

With the faith, we see back and we see Jesus Christ triumphing. And with the same substance of this glorious grace, the side of hope, we see towards the future with the same certainty that the one who died is the one that is going to come and take us with Him into this. Eternal, glorious, spiritual Exodus, the putting off of the tent of the tabernacle. But now the Apostle says something also very interesting about his death. And that is that the fact why he has certainty about his death is because someone declared that to him.

Who is that person? It says the Lord, it says verse 14, Since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. That made clear means confirmed. It's an absolute confirmation that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to Peter that he was going to die. So the Lord said something to Peter that informed him with certainty and assurance that his death was coming.

Of course, you may know the passage where that is found. And we're going to go there because there we can actually find some important light that will help us to understand this. And this is going to be found in the book of John, chapter 21. So go there to John, chapter 21. And that what the Apostle is referring to, the time in which the Lord Jesus Christ made it clear to him about his death, is contained and given to us in chapter 21 of this book of John.

Now, you're going to have to bear with me here a little bit because we're going to have to prove something from the text so that we can move on to what I want to communicate to you. In verse 18, we have this story. You may remember this. People call this the confirmation or restoration, I think, of Peter. And then in verse 18 of chapter 21 of the Book of John, we find this story of of this narrative better, of the confirmation of the death of Peter from the mouth of the Savior.

It says, verse 18, Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted. But when you are old, You will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. Now, if you stop there, I don't know if this was happened to you when you read that for the very first time, that like if there was no next verse, I would have never concluded that he was speaking about death. I would have never concluded that he was speaking about the last day of the Apostle, if it's not because of the next verse that actually explains the purpose of the statement that was made in verse 18. It says, this he said, the Lord said this, to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.

And after saying this, he said to him, follow me. So now we know that that statement that was given from the mouth of the Lord to Peter was a statement that was in relation to his death. Now, in 2 Peter, he's saying that the Lord made it clear to me. But now you can see that there's a little bit of difficulty reconciling those two things. So I hope that you can see that.

Because in 2 Peter, he speaks about the timing of his death, right? He speaks, I know that I'm going to be or I'm going to die very soon, that the putting off of my tent or my tabernacle is very soon, that I will depart, that I will exodus very soon. He's speaking about the timing of his death. Yet when the Lord Jesus speaks here, speaks about the type of death, at least it says verse 19. So speaking about the type of death could be similar or into the timing, but there are two different things.

Now, for that reason, people have concluded, and sometimes for the language that is used here, that tradition says that Peter died as a crucified man when they use this vocabulary of stretching out your hands and things like that. Now, my simple, very simple reading of the passage shows me at least, and this is what I'm just going to try to show you, that this is indeed speaking of the timing of the death of the Apostle. Now I said to you, please bear with me because I need to show you this from Scripture. That the passage is indeed speaking of the timing of the death of the Apostle and therefore the Apostle is 100% sure referring to this particular passage. Now, if we remove from our mind the presupposition or the information that we have that history or tradition says that Paul or Peter better die crucified, and we just simply read it empty of those things, we can see that what the Lord Jesus Christ is telling him in verse 18, bear with me, please, bear with me here, that what he's telling him is just in simple understanding and in simple language, what he's saying to him is, that when you are young, you are strong enough so that you can dress yourself and you can go wherever you want, right?

This is what the text says. It says, truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk whatever you wanted. But when you are old, then it comes a contrast. So when you were young, you were strong enough so that you can dress yourself and you could you could go wherever you wanted. And now the contrast is going to be about when you are old, When you are old, now you're going to be weak and you're not going to be able to do it on your own, but you're going to need someone that is going to dress you and is going to take you from one place to another.

You see the contrast there, right? It's a contrast of when he was young to a contrast when he was old. As I said before, if verse 19 was not there, I would have never known that this was about death. I would have just thought that this was about his later years. However, we know that it's about his death.

We know that it's about his death. But verse 20 is going to give us more information about the understanding of the apostle Peter after the statement that was given to him. Please bear with me. This is going to finish very soon. Verse 20.

It says, Peter. Now we're going to see the mind of the apostle in his understanding of what the Lord Jesus Christ said to him. Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? So after the statement, Peter is walking with the Lord. And also John is there, right?

The writer of this book. So now here we're going to see the mind of the apostle. Verse 21. When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man? What about this man?

So it is, you have said something to me, Peter, in his mind, you have said something to me, you have provided some information about the future. So now, what about this man? So if the Lord was speaking about just simply how he was going to die, he would have said he's not going to die crucified, or he's not going to die stretched out or something like that. But he says, Jesus said to him, If it's my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? And he said again, you follow me.

So the saying is spread among the brothers. that this disciple, that is John, was not to die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not going to die or that he was not to die. But if it is my will that he remain until, that is the timing of his death, until I come, what is that to you? Now, why am I saying all of this and why am I doing all of these things?

Because I simply and I think it's very clear to me that what the Lord is doing is giving Peter signs of the time of his death. So that it is when you are old and when you are so weak and needy and vulnerable that you cannot be taken or dressed or carried by like you cannot do it yourself, but someone has to do it with you. then that time will come. And the type of that is a type in which you're going to get as vulnerable and needy and weak and in times of assistance by others. Now, he could have died, as tradition and history says, one does not take the other.

But I think that the Apostle or the Lord is giving him a sign of the time of his death. So then the Apostle can come, and I'm finishing now here, the Apostle can come in 2 Peter with certainty. that the Lord has said to him that the time of his departure, that the time of his Exodus is very soon. He's old, he's weak, he's needy, he's vulnerable. So he knows that the Lord has spoken to him that this is going to be the type of death that he's going to have.

He's going to be vulnerable and needy and there is going to be the need of assistance. None of those things are so important for what I'm going to say next, but I had to do that. So please continue to bear with me, because what the apostle or what the Lord Jesus Christ, beloved of Christ, what the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching and instructing here, the apostle Peter in this passage in John 21, is actually deeper and greater and is going to serve us a lot for our understanding of 2 Peter. I want you to notice that before the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to Peter about his death, he spoke to him about the value and the purpose of his life. before the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to Peter about the type of death that he was going to have and the signs of when he was going to come to an end.

Before he said that, he said to him the purpose and the intention and the value of his life. And now this is super important because your life as a Christian is as connected to death as your eternal life after death. That's why we believe in eternal life. We believe in eternal life once we know God by faith in Jesus Christ, and that is eternal life. But this eternal life has a time in which is temporal and physical, and that physical aspect of our life has to come to an end, death, so that we will enter into eternal life.

When the Apostle Peter is speaking to us in 2 Peter about what he does with the Word of God, he's speaking about the value of his present life as he approaches to that death. And the Apostle, or the Lord Jesus Christ, speaks clearly about the value of the life of the Apostle in the preceding section of this chapter, or this section of the Scripture. This is the restoration of Peter. Please pay attention to what the Lord says to Peter. Verse 15.

Please pay attention to this. Verse 15. When they had finished breakfast, this is what the Lord says to Peter before he speaks about his death. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

He said to him, Feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, Tent my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

Peter was grieved. Because he said to him the third time, Do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.

Now, brothers and sisters, beloved of Christ, the value of the life of the apostle Peter, before he reached the point of his death, before He exodus this world, before He put off this tabernacle and this tent, was a continual manifestation of His love to the Savior through the feeding of God's people. He elaborates in 1 Peter chapter 5 of the feeding of the flock of God. But brothers and sisters, this is glorious for the life of Peter, that a manifestation of his love to the Lord Jesus Christ was seen in the feeding, in the nourishing to God's or Jesus' people. The Lord Jesus Christ could have said many things that the love of Peter could be manifested to the Savior. But the way that the Lord puts the value of this person, Peter, is by what he does for the people of God.

This is glorious. The love that he had in his heart was to be manifested, not with fancy or great words or thoughts, but rather the love that Peter would have for the Savior was to be manifested in the feeding. And then, as he says in first Peter chapter five, this is the word of God given it to the people. That was the heart of the apostle. for him to publicly say to the world and to testify before the divine court that he was in love with Christ, that he loved the Savior.

That was through the feeding of the Word of God to the saints. This ministry of Peter is confirmed in the life of the other apostles. This is glorious, and I hope that you can see it in the depth in your heart of what this actually means. Because love to others is manifested, at least in the life of Peter, in the pouring and in the communicating of the Word of God to them. And that is a qualifier of my love to the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are two main characters of this transaction, the Lord Jesus Christ and others, and the one that remains last is self. The demonstration of the love to the one that saved us, it is at least in the life of the Apostle Peter, in the pouring and the communicating of the Word of God to others. This is a glorious thought, at least for me, because then the Apostle Paul, using the same principle, is going to speak about the value of his life. Go to Philippians chapter one, because the same apostle, Apostle Paul, a different apostle, but the same spirit, in Philippians chapter one, a passage of scripture that you very well know, and that perhaps is coming to your mind even now, The Apostle Paul speaks of the value of his life. Now pay attention to this, brothers and sisters, in Philippians chapter 1.

You know this very important verse that perhaps many people have memorized in verse 21 in chapter 1. Now he says, For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. We know that verse. Many times we've heard that verse. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell that is either remaining alive or dying to be with Christ. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire, he says, is to depart and be with Christ. For that is far better.

But to remain in the flesh, that is to remain alive, at least physically alive, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on whose account? on your account. Now, I want you to see a place here, the dichotomy of the apostle. He says that for him to die and to be with the Lord Jesus Christ is far better. And he knows.

But if he remains alive, and that is for the benefit of the saints, he's hard pressed. Now, think about everything that our brother said. Think about the Hope and the expectation of being with the Lord. Sin is no more. Because when the trump sounds, there's a shortcut for that.

And that is that you die, right? That you die and then you are with the Lord. Now imagine this. This Gloria. Sin is no more.

That you are with the Lord. that everything that afflicts you is removed and is being with the Lord. Yet the apostle says that knowing that his life is for the service of others puts him in a difficult situation. Now, I think that when we consider both of them, and I've heard from your mouth, take me Lord, take me. We don't even consider the value of our lives for the one that is seated next to us.

Yet, the apostle, in the same spirit of what the Lord Jesus Christ said to Peter, is hard-pressed. He's in a dichotomy. He doesn't know. He wants to be with Christ that is far more better, better to be with the Lord Jesus Christ Yet he knows that because his presence among the saints is for the value of the saints, he's in a difficult situation. Verse 23, he says, I am hard-pressed between the two.

My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is better. Verse 24, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Now, verse 25, please keep this. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all. These two words is the only thing that I want you to keep from this sermon.

This is the only thing. It says, for your progress. For your progress and joy in the faith. That is that the summary, the summary of the value of the life of the apostle in relation to others, just as the Lord explained to Peter, feed my lambs, feed my sheep, was so that others will progress. Other Bibles said advance, I think, will progress, of course, in the faith or in the spiritual life and for the joy of the faith or in the faith.

No, brother and sister, we have to grasp that and make it a reality. Otherwise, this is just a blah, blah, blah. The life of each one of you seated there, the life of each one of you is a life that should continually proclaim your love to the Savior in relation to the church. That is, that by the preaching, the proclaiming, the pouring of God's Word to others, you manifest your love to the Savior and you do it with one intention. Your progress?

No, you will progress as you do it, but you do it for the progress of the saints and for your joy. No, you do it for the joy of the faith of your brothers and sisters. Now, the Lord is gracious and good that He is going to make us advance and be more like Him and be joyful in our faith. But brothers and sisters, this is the purpose or at least the substance of the principle given to Peter and given to Paul. Now, some of you may say, yes, but they were apostles.

They were apostles and they were called to be carriers of the words of God. They were apostles and they were supposed to prophesy and to speak the words of God. And when we are reading all of these things, we're speaking about the written scripture that is the one that satisfies us and the one that fills us and all of that. Well, brothers and sisters, the Bible is very clear. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16.

For all the Scripture is given by inspiration from by the mouth of God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and training in righteousness, that the man and the woman of God might be fully equipped for every good work. Paul says in 2nd Timothy, be with me, that the Word of God that is coming from his mouth is sufficient for everything that we individually need. And that is training, righteousness, training, correction, exhortation and training in righteousness, teaching and training in righteousness. This is the sufficiency of the Word of God. Yet the same apostle writing to the Colossians in chapter one, verse or chapter three, verse 16, he says, let the word of Christ or let the word of God dwell in you richly, richly teaching and exhorting the same words that he uses in second Timothy chapter three, verse 16, in all wisdom.

and speaking in Psalms and spiritual songs and in hymns. He says that the Word of God is to dwell in each one of you richly so that each one of you will be a fountain of the Word of God that serves others to be fully equipped in every good work to bring glory to the Father. Peter, the same Peter, when he's writing his first letter in chapter number two, he says that we are too long, that we are to desire the pure spiritual milk, which is the Word of God, that we may grow into salvation. And then after saying that he speaks of us as living stones, that when we come together to the living stone, we are all built up together. The ones that long for the spiritual milk, which is the Word of God.

The church is the buttress and the foundation of truth, that is the dwelling place of God. It is the church, it is the members of the church. Those who have been baptized by the Spirit, inserted into one body, they become the members of the church. And the edification or the building up of the church depends on the individual building up of the members that happens through the Word of God, so that we all nourish one another through the Word of God. The same Apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 3 that the church is the means through which God has announced, proclaimed the mysteries to rulers and the heavenlies.

He is proclaimed through the church. The wisdom of God that was kept and reserved from ages ago is proclaimed, is made known through the church. The Word of God is supposed to dwell in us richly, brothers and sisters, so that each one of us will be a fountain of the saints of Christ, not so that we will know more, but that the person that is seated next to me and who lives with me will progress and will have joy in the faith. That is glorious. And that is actually very difficult because we live in times of individualism.

We live in times in which looking to self is so much easier than looking to others. We live in times in which my concerns are two meters around me. And concerning for the others, it is more difficult. Brothers and sisters, I'm telling you now in the authority of the words of God, it is different to wake up in the morning to pray to be holy for the glory of God, which you should do ultimately for the glory of God, than to pray to be holy so that others will be holy in the congregation and to pray for others to be made like Christ so that God will be glorified. It is different to pray that you may have more light and understanding of the scripture for the light or for the glory of God in the morning when you pray, than praying to have more understanding of the word and to have more light of the word so that I can speak and proclaim this word to my brothers and sisters and they will be conformed to the image of God for his ultimate glory.

It's different to pray for your progress unto the glory of God than to pray for your progress so that your brother and sister might progress in the faith and have joy in the faith. I think that this is the power that the church needs. A power that unites us in a way that it is inconceivable, that I do not care about my life, but I care about yours and your holiness. Lord, I love you because I feed your lamb. Now, I know that there are roles in the church for those who teach and those who proclaim, but I think if you check Colossians 3 or Ephesians 5, or if you go and check 1 Peter 2, or if you check Ephesians 1, you will see that the mission or the duty of the Word of God in us is for each one of the believers.

This is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, brothers and sisters, I just want you to have two or perhaps three things in your mind that we can learn from the apostle Peter. So let's go back to 2 Peter. There's perhaps two or three things that I want you to have in your mind or three characteristics, if you want, of this life. of giving ourselves for the edification of our brothers and sisters.

At least two or perhaps three things that I want us to see in the life of the Apostle Peter, when it comes to this dedication of this giving ourselves to proclaim the word to others. The first one that I want you to see is that this requires devotion. Or this requires, in other words, the giving of oneself to something else than self. This requires diligence and discipline, and in a simple, simple word, devotion. This requires your singular, particular devotion.

Look what the puzzle says. Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities. Though you know them and are establishing the truth that you have, the apostle is concerned and he is concerned always. The intention of the apostle to remind believers of these spiritual matters is something that is constantly in his mind and therefore he wants to do it all the time. Verse 13, I think you're right.

As long as in this body, That is, as long as I'm alive, I want to stir you up by way of reminder. The apostle was completely consecrated, devoted and given to the supplying of the Word of God to the believers. I will make every effort, he says in verse 15, I will make every effort so that after my departure, you may be able at any time to recall these things. Brothers and sisters, this is something that we are to learn. We can be very diligent in studying for ourselves.

We can be very diligent in praying for ourselves. We can be very diligent in seeking spiritual blessings and benefits that come from on high for self. Yet the Bible calls us to be devoted, to be agents that remind our brothers and sisters of the spiritual things. This requires diligence, and this requires work, and this requires much study and much giving to the Lord. If He gave His life for us, how are we not going to give our lives for His?

If He gave His life for us, how are we not going to give our life for the bride, for the church? This requires more diligence. Because if you're going to open your mouth, that which has to abound in your heart is not your word. but it's the Word of Christ. If you're going to open your mouth to teach and exhort with much wisdom, as the Apostle Paul says in Colossians 3, verse 16, if you're going to do it with much wisdom, that wisdom has to be the wisdom that comes from on high.

So you see that quiet time or devotion or your studies of the Word is not for you alone. It is for the benefit of those who are around you. And therefore, each Christian is to be diligent. So not only to remind our brothers and sisters of these spiritual things, but to make sure that that which is coming out of this fountain is not dirty water. But that which is coming from the fountain that is within you is the fountain of living water.

That you don't speak your language anymore, that you speak the language of Christ. That you don't speak the words that you have in your mind anymore, but that you speak the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is required devotion and diligence. How are we going to be a powerful church? I'm not speaking about Cornelius, but speaking about the church in this time.

How are we going to be powerful, if the sword that we have is something that we touch from time to time, five minutes, and we give ourselves to the world the rest of the time? How are we going to open our mouth to speak the wisdom of Christ, if we don't know what he has said? How are we going to be Christ to the world if we have not seen Jesus Christ in Scripture? How are we going to nourish and minister and be of edification to our brothers and sisters if we are not edified ourselves? This requires much diligence.

before the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit, with the sweet words that come from on high, that has been given to us easily in front of us, we can come to these words and store it not only in our minds, but also in our hearts, being a fountain. So that those people who are around me, this is how I think now, how are people around me progressing in the Lord? How are people around me rejoicing in the faith? How are people around me having victory over sin? How are people around me growing in the Lord?

Because how people around me are growing in the Lord, it is what the Lord is doing through my calling. And we are a body, brothers and sisters. This is not about the one that preaches and the ones that are seated. We are a body in which we are to nourish one another and to rejoice in the progression of my brother and sister and be filled with joy, not with envy that comes from Satan. Satan produces envy and disorder.

But when there is peace and there is union, this comes from above. To see a brother triumphing over sin, to see a brother or sister that is having victory, that is growing in understanding, that is growing in holiness and love, that should be the desire of each one of the members of our congregation. Devotion is needed. Not only devotion, brothers and sisters, but also Power. Power is needed to utter words.

Remember what I said last week, that the place where the words of God should go into is the mind. And I'm not talking about the memory of the person, but I'm talking about the being. I'm talking about the heart, the soul of the person. So if one is going to speak to another, not to the mind, but to the heart, the words that come from that person have to be powerful words. It is a person that is speaking on behalf of the Spirit, so that when He says, Grace be upon you, that word comes into the mind and into the heart of the person by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We need power to speak. There's no benefit in your soul if I open up a systematic theology and I speak to you and I read aloud doctrine. There is no power in that. There is power when the one that is taking my words into your mind and ears is the Holy Spirit. And for that power is needed.

So that I'm not only a carrier of truths and systems of theology and concepts that I learned from someone, but I'm carrier of the power, the spirit of prophecy in the scriptures. by the light of the Spirit, speaking unto my brothers and sisters." And that is the power of the Word of God that pierces, goes to the deepest part of the being, separating the Spirit from the soul, putting everything naked, so that when a brother is called to repent, it is Jesus Christ the one that calls his brother to repent. When a sister is called to repent, then it is Jesus Christ the one that is calling that sister to repent. We don't want to be happy and okay with our sin, brothers and sisters.

We want to be more like Christ. And this requires the sharpening of one another with the words of Christ. This requires the loving one another with the words of Christ and that requires power. Power was needed when the lost heard the gospel for the first time and his heart was transformed from stone into flesh. Still power is needed when the Savior speaks to us so that we will be illuminated.

That's why Paul, the Apostle in Ephesians chapter 1, prays that the Ephesians will be illuminated, that they will have the revelation of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, an understanding, enlightenment of their eyes, that they will see the hope that is kept for them, that they will know all of these things. The Apostle prays that there will be revelation, illumination, because understanding the things of this book, beloved of Christ, is not a human exercise that is done in the flesh and in the intellect. Many of those will walk towards hell and the doors will be open and there will be trophies that are collected for them awaiting them. That's why Jesus Christ says, do as they say, but don't do as they do, because their mouths were filled with truths that had no root or power in the Spirit. You do not know the Scriptures nor the power in them, says the Lord Jesus Christ to the Sadducees.

You don't know the Scriptures nor the power in them. We are to be people that know the Scriptures and the power in them. This is now very important. How are we going to obtain that power of speaking? Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and I show you a very important teaching about how we are to be useful instruments of the Lord for the service of the Master.

Second Timothy, chapter two. The apostle is instructing Timothy, the pastor at the church, and he's speaking about this wisdom, okay? And then chapter two, verse 14, he says something very interesting. He says it a little bit lower, but let's just start in 14. Remind them of these things, that is the church.

and charge them before God not to quarrel about words which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth, but avoid irreverent babble, For it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like a grain. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands bearing this seal.

The Lord knows those who are His, and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." Now, pay attention. Now, in a great house, now he's going to compare the servants that are useful for the church and those like Hymenaeus or Philetus who are not useful. Now, in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.

Therefore, verse 21, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. Vessels that what comes out of them is for the destruction and division of the church and vessels that what comes out of them, it is for the edification and the building up of the church, for the edification of those who are around them. And he says that those vessels that are to be of use for the master of the house are to be cleansed, cleanse yourself from what is dishonorable. He will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart for fruitful use of the master. Holiness.

We are to grow in cleansing ourselves from the defilements of the flesh and of the spirit, growing up in the perfection of holiness as the Apostle Paul says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 verse 1, that we will grow in the perfecting of holiness, putting or cleansing the defilements of the body and the defilements of the spirit, growing in conformity to Jesus Christ, that we will be vessels of use of the Lord. If you're not sure about it, go to Ephesians, please. Ephesians chapter 5. I want you to see here in Ephesians chapter 5, the connection between speaking the words of God for the fruitfulness and for the benefit of the church with holiness of the vessel that proclaims the word. Pay attention to the words in verse 18.

In chapter 5, this is the parallel passage with Colossians. Please pay attention to this. We're going to finish very soon. Chapter 5, verse 18. This is the parallel passage of Colossians 3, verse 16.

He says, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery. But be filled with the Spirit. Power is needed. How is that power manifested? Or that feeling of the Spirit?

addressing one another in Psalms and in hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. This is the workings of the power of the Holy Spirit in the saint, so that he is not filled with wine for debauchery and sin, but he's filled with the Spirit. And because he's filled with the Spirit of Christ, then that which comes out of the mouth of that saint is the words of Christ, which are of benefit for the believers, for the church. But before he has said all of that, he started his thought in verse one. He says in chapter five, before he arrived to that practical usefulness, if you want, of the believer, before he arrives to that particular point, he gives this exhortation.

Chapter 5, Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity of covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral, or impure, or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the son of disobedience.

Jump to verse 15, just the preceding verses from what he says about the Spirit in verse 15. Look carefully then how you walk not as an unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And then he says, And be filled with the Spirit. And then the words that come out of your mouth will be for the edification of others.

Power is needed, brothers and sisters. I need your words. I need the grace that the Lord gives you through a scripture. The one that preaches, the one that teaches, needs the grace that comes from you in exhortation, in encouragement. Each one of you needs to speak to each other in devotion to each other and empower to each other in the spirit the words of the Savior.

Church is not an exercise that happens on Sundays on a Bible study. It is the continual growing in the Word of God through those who have been saved by grace. It is the continual pouring of the words and the sayings of the Savior through the mouths of those who have been saved and redeemed. The Spirit of the Savior is in you. Yes, there's roles, there's gifts, there's an elder, and a teacher, and a deacon, and all of these things the Lord has given to the church, that the church may grow in maturity, but all are called to speak in truth and in love, as the Apostle says in chapter 3.

If we are going to be joined together, if we are going to be loving one another as the Bible says, then there has to be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon you, an outpouring of the words of Christ from your mouth. This is what the church needs. Devotion to this task. Devotion to give oneself to the progress and the faith and the joy of my brothers and sisters. Devotion and work and commitment to the Lord to spend time with Him in the secret place, so that when I come outside of the secret place, they will know that the hand of the Lord has been upon me.

Power is needed. so that the rejoicement of our soul may be in seeing each one of you becoming more like Jesus Christ. Devotion and power, and all of this can only be carried by genuine love. The love that you have for me, the love that you have for brothers and sisters, the love that we have for each other, It is manifested in the secret place and in my desire to see you like Jesus Christ. My love to you, my love to each one of you is measured, is calculated by my desire to see you constantly dying to self and living like or unto the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is not going to happen by me telling you what is my preference about this done this way or this done that way. This is only going to happen when your heart and your soul is pierced by the Word of God that comes out of my mouth. This is going to be happening only when when you open your mouth, the riches and the abundance of your heart is being taken captive by Christ. When the love that abides in you, it is not the fleshly, temporal love that is conditioned to, if you do good to me, I love you. And if I like you, I love you.

And if you fulfill my requirements and preferences, I love you. But rather the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. who gave himself for us. The one that was the master made himself a servant. The one who deserves all glory and all power and all majesty and all worship made himself a servant to teach us that if we want to be first, we have to be last.

So pray about it. Desire to be last. Desire to be forgotten. desire to be removed from the equation, that the glory of God, by the edification of the church, the saving of the lost, might take priority when it comes to seeing my life? How are we going to progress in our faith?

How are we going to progress as a church, if self is before any of those? God, the church, or the lost? Brothers and sisters, Christianity is an invitation to die. And that's why it's insulting to the flesh. That's why it is an offense to carnal people.

That's why it's an offense to the lost, because it's an invitation to die to self, to die to your reputation, to die to your dreams, to give yourself to Christ so that you will be a vessel that is used for the edification of the saints. How much we need to grow in love for one another. How much we need to grow in a love that is manifested by the preaching of the gospel of Christ and the word of Christ. Brothers and sisters, don't forget these words. Keep them in your ears, in your mind.

By faith, apprehend this. Pray about this, that if the words that I'm saying to you are the words of God, then it's not me, the one that is calling you and exhorting you to this. It is God himself. That is the way how the church is protected from false doctrine. That is the way how the church is kept and preserved in times of tribulation.

That is how lampstands are not turned off when difficulties come. This is how the saints endure until the end in the context of the local church. This is how the truth of the gospel is proclaimed without compromising. This is how Christians endure until the end, in light of the majesty of Christ and in the abundance, grace and love of the saints, that when we're walking, crossing Jordan River, we're joyfully walking towards Him, knowing that we are exiting or we're in this Exodus out of this world, not only us, but we're coming with our brothers and sisters. and that we have given our lives, our everything so that they will go ahead, that they will go before us, that they will go in front of us.

filled with love and filled with this unity that can only be given by the Spirit of God. This type of union, brothers and sisters, can only be given by the Spirit. We need your words. You need our words as long as they are the words of the Holy Spirit. So please share of your grace.

Share of the light, share of the glory of Christ in you to those around you and with us, so that we will grow joined together in love in Christ, so that the glory will be always ultimately for Him. Amen.