But I kind of wanted to pick up where Seth kind of left off last week. And then we heard from Phil Thomas two weeks ago about receiving freely. And then we heard that last week, talked to us about our behavior a little bit. And we kind of been in second Peter chapter, second Peter 1 last week we were talking about confirming the call.
So I just want to read just the first four verses. There's a phrase in verse four. It says this. It says, by these, we may become partakers of the divine nature.
And by these, it's talking about great, exceedingly great, and precious promises. By these, we may become partakers of the divine nature. And if I think about our walk with the Lord, we're all born in sin. We're born with an old sin nature.
We're born because of what Adam did. We're born separated from God. And what Jesus did when he came to the earth, he came to restore that broken relationship. He came to give us a relationship with the Father.
And when you receive Jesus as your Savior, you become a child of God. The old man dies. And you get a brand new nature on the inside. We know that the second Corinthians 5, 17, which we talk about a lot, says if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation.
Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And so the moment you receive Jesus, everything that was broken before, everything was bad before, dirty, disgusting, all those things, he makes new on the inside. And you get a brand new nature.
But here's the thing. Possessing a new nature and partaking of your new nature are two different things. Like every believer in Jesus possesses a new nature. But not every believer in Jesus partakes of the new nature.
So he said that we have great and precious promises that by these we may become partakers. That word may become, it's in the subjunctive mood, which is the mood of possibility and potential. Like it could happen, but there's no guarantee that it will happen. It's not a for sure.
Because if the way to be a partaker of the divine nature comes through great and precious promises, guess what happens if you don't know the promises? See, it's pretty hard to be a partaker if you don't know the promises. It's hard to be a partaker if you don't believe the promises. It's hard to be a partaker if you might think, well, do I even qualify to be a partaker?
What does it mean to be a partaker? Anybody ever heard the Greek word, coin, O'Nilla? Coin, O'Nilla means communion or fellowship. We took communion earlier today.
The word partaker comes from that word, and it means to be a sharer in, to be a partaker in, to associate with. It means to be a partner. If you think of Peter who was writing this, Peter was what, a fisherman? And Peter had partners in this fishing business.
And what do partners do? Partners share in the benefits of a business or an entity. And what Jesus is saying through the apostle Peter, he says, I want you to partake of. I want you to share in.
I want you to benefit from the nature that's on the inside of you, the nature that's like me. But it happens through these great and precious promises. So I want to read just four verses here. We'll read these first Peter 1, or second Peter 1, verses 1 through 4.
And I told my wife this morning, I haven't preached without a PowerPoint, except when I'm translating into another language. So I'm just going to kind of free will it this morning. Is that OK? Going off-road today.
So thanks for putting these together too for me. I'll tell you a lot how Seth throws me out of the bus. I take this abuse all the time. The seniors pastor.
The old guy. A-R-P. I told somebody, I'll take any of you all on right now. Simon Peter, a bond servant and apostle of Jesus Christ.
I love how he starts this out with bond servant and apostle, because what happens a lot of times as we increase in ministry, we think that the position of authority eliminates the need to continue to serve other people. And Peter recognizes this. He starts out. He says, I get that I'm an apostle, but Jesus didn't take away the need for me to be a servant.
And what happens a lot of times is people move up and get greater positions. They abandon the fact that Jesus first and foremost calls us to serve. It's just like in John 15 when Jesus says, I no longer call you servants, but I call you friends, because a servant doesn't know what the master is doing. And just because he calls us to a higher level from servanthood to friendship doesn't negate the fact that he still called us to be servants.
It's not replacement. It's just in addition to. And Peter says, Peter, a bond servant and apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. So when you read this, it looks like he's the last week Seth talked about who Peter was writing this epistle to.
And here he gives us a little deeper insight. He says, I'm writing this to you who have obtained like precious faith with us. So when you read that, actually I don't like the King James on this one. Sorry, David.
But where's Mr. King James at? Oh, there he is. We have a King James among us.
Among us us. But it says to those who have obtained, it seems like it's something that you're acquiring. No, the word attain actually is the same word that is to draw by lot. If you remember when John the Baptist's father, Zachariah, was going to minister in the temple in Luke 1, it said when his lot came up to offer incense.
Or when Judas died, when Judas died, and Peter said we need to find somebody to take Judas's place. And it said the lot fell upon Matthias. That's the same thing. So it means not to acquire, but to be allotted by grace.
That you have received faith, not because you earned it, but because it was given to you by lot. Does that make sense? See, what you think about it says for by grace are you saved through faith. And then not of yourself if faith is a gift.
Actually the faith that you put in Jesus, we know grace is a gift, but faith is also a gift too. And he says that I'm writing to you who have obtained by lot through grace the same like precious faith. Like precious means of equal value. Think about this.
When we think of the apostles, we think of these guys of like stellar faith, right? But Peter says this, he says, I'm writing to you who have been allotted equal value apostolic faith. You actually say this, I have apostolic faith. Now if that feels weird, go back to the Bible.
Peter said that you have been allotted the very same faith that he had. Think about that. This is the guy that walked on water. This is the guy that on the day of Pentecost stood up, preached extemporaneously off the cuff and 3,000 people get saved.
This is the guy that the day after Pentecost goes to the temple and raises the guy that had been lame from birth. This is the guy that raised Dorkis from the dead. This is the guy that had visions of the Gentiles being brought into the family of God. This is the guy that as he walked down the street, his shadow would heal people.
You have been allotted the same faith that he had. And I got to sit here and think, well, what's the problem then? Like, you have it. Remember if you weeks ago I said it's not a faith problem, it's a doubt problem.
You have been given the measure of faith. You have the same faith he had. So it's not a faith problem. He said I'm writing unto you that had the equal value, same measure of faith.
It would be like this. Let's just say, see, so a lot of times we look at somebody's life and we think, my gosh, they have great faith. I could never have the faith that they have. Why is that?
Because what we're seeing is the demonstration of their faith in the natural realm. See, it's not that they have more faith than you. It's just that they have more faith than play in the natural realm. It would be like this.
Let's just say I was giving out $1,000 gift cards today. No, I'm not. But let's just say I was. Well, I could.
See, I'm not like Jesus. I can, but I'm not willing. Yeah. Jesus, on the other hand, he can and he's willing.
But I have my limitations. Michael, you tried. It was a good try. Well, let's just say I was.
Let's just say I gave everybody a $1,000 gift card. And one of you went out and bought a $50 pair of crocs. I hate crocs. My wife's got trek crocs.
They're awful. Yeah. But let's just say you went out and bought a $50 pair of crocs. Say somebody else went out and bought a $1,000 pair of tennis shoes.
Maybe somebody else went out and bought a $300 pair of dress shoes, whatever it is. When you look at the shoes on their feet, you would think by what you see that one has a greater purchasing power than another. They actually have the same purchasing power. They've just gotten more of it in play in the natural realm.
See, when he says you have the same faith, it's not that any of us are lacking faith. We have the same faith. It's just that not all of you have actually put it into play. But you have the same faith, equal measure, equal kind, just like the apostle Peter.
Like that ought to do something in you. Like the thing that you were worried about, I got the same faith that somebody could walk behind me and be healed. I got the same faith that let a guy walk on water. I got the same faith that brought somebody up from a lame to walking and leaping.
That's what you have. He says, to those who have panned like precious faith with us by the righteousness of God our Savior, Jesus Christ, we could stop right there. You didn't deserve it. You have that faith because Jesus did his part.
Like it's him. It's his faith. It's his righteousness. He came.
You deserved nothing. He deserved everything. But he gave up everything so that you could have everything he deserved. That's why you have it because he is righteous.
It says grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. Grace and peace be multiplied by you. Oh my goodness. I'm going to land this plane.
Let me tell you what. Let me just read these four verses. I could probably just preach on our verse. As he has, as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his glory and virtue, by which I've been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Yeah, there's so much there. He says this. He says grace and peace be multiplied to you. That's our word.
Everybody say increase. Grace and peace be multiplied exponentially increased to you how? Through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ. See, this word knowledge is not just your average word knowledge.
It's not just like, oh, I know Michaela, but I also know Kristen. Which one do you think I know a little bit better? It better be Kristen. Kristen says it better be Kristen.
See, this word knowledge is the Greek word epigenosis, which means full and exact and precise and correct knowledge that comes as a result of being thoroughly and fully acquainted with the thing or person that is known. It's the no-er taking an involvement in the life of the no-er, or vice versa. I don't know if I'm going to get that wrong. But anyway, it comes through intimacy.
It comes through experience. And a lot of times people say, well, I know scripture. Great. Have you experienced in life what's written on the page?
Because you know, like, well, you can't believe in experiences. I get it. But you should have experiences in your life that line up with this. Because when I have an experience with Jesus, when I have an encounter with Jesus, I don't care what you show me.
You won't talk me out of it. Because it is so solidified in my life. See, the more time I spend with Him, I begin to have an increase of grace. And it's not gracious isn't unmarried in favor.
Grace is actually something that enables me to do more than I'm capable of doing. It's God's enabling power. And the more I know God, the more I'm intimate with Jesus, the greater amount of grace and peace is evident in my life. It's just like this.
I've known Kristen for this week. It'll be 32 years. 32 years, but Mary's going on 31 years. I can tell you, I could be down at Martin's, three aisles over, and I could hear her cackle.
Ah! And I will know my wife is in the house. I could see her coming or going. I could see that little this and that.
I don't even have to see her face or hear her voice, but I know her walk. I even known her so long. I'm like, I know what's going to come out of her mouth before she says it. This morning, we have no power at our house.
I'm counting the minutes. How long is going to bring Beatle? She brings up needing a generator. Because this is what she always does.
So 30 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half. I'm like, it's coming. It's coming. You know why I know it's coming?
Because I got to faith of Peter. I know it's coming. She goes, you know it'd be about time we get a generator for this house. And she goes, I know somebody that sells them.
I'm like, I knew you were going to say that. I knew it. But see, even though I know her so well, I'm still learning about her. Like I haven't exhausted Kristin yet.
And don't you think Jesus is more intricate and infinite than he turned on in my wife? He is. Like there's so much to learn about him. I'm still learning about her.
We were in Charleston last week, two weeks ago. Kristin buys a dress. Bought a few dresses, actually. It's funny because she says, I can't buy this because I can't wear it to church.
We're never going to wear this. That old story. Anyway, she buys a dress. The next day, she goes, oh, good news.
I found the dress I bought yesterday at a different store actually in the size that I want. And guess what? It's last money. I'm like, OK, great.
She goes, I'm going to take it back and get a credit. That's what you do when you take it back. You get a credit, right? So she leaves me knowing that she's going to get up.
So I say it. Credit. I get the credit card bill this month. What do I expect to see on the credit card bill?
A credit. Guess what I don't see? No credit. So I'm still learning about her.
I said, maybe you took that one back. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I got the one that fits just right. And it's the right size.
And then I tell you it was less money. Like, that's a hint right there, guys, when I say it was less money. I said, well, you took it back for a credit, right? Yeah, I did.
Well, tell me out. Because I got the credit card bill. There's no credit. What a credit card bill.
Oh. Oh. Well, when I went back to the store, I forgot to tell you that they don't give the credit on the credit card. They just give you a store credit.
I said, all right. So what you're telling me now is you have a credit for a store in Charleston, South Carolina that we'll probably never go to again. Oh, no, no, I wouldn't do that. I actually bought a pair of jeans with the credit.
Oh, there. And here's the good news. They didn't cost me a cent. See, see, the depths of this woman, like they just keep coming.
Yeah. So, so Jesus wants you to be intimate with him. He wants you to know him because there's depths of Jesus that you haven't tapped into yet. See, there's things that come through having an experiential encounter relationship ongoing intimacy with him that actually revealed to you things that you never knew before.
I think I'm going to close right there. I'm not even going to get to being a partaker. Let me close with this. You can grow in grace.
I think about that. So grace, we think of saving grace, but there's grace that's meant to empower you to do great things. See, the grace that you saw in Autumn's life today, that's just not generic. That is Holy Spirit grace.
And like, just because you have grace, like it's so infinite and it can actually increase. I don't know how, but I know as I become intimate with him, the things in my life get easier. And they actually get harder, but they get harder and he gives me grace to do the harder thing. Mark chapter 3, I think I'll close this verse.
Mark 3 verses 14 and 15, say this, talking about Jesus calling the 12. When we think about the 12 being cold, we think about that he sent them out to do what? Preach the gospel, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers. And if you read Matthew, raise the dead.
But in Mark chapter 3, there's a little two couple words in there. It says, he appointed 12, this is Mark 3 verse 14, he appointed 12 to be with him. That he might send them out to preach, that they might have authority to heal the sick and to cleanse the leper. He appointed 12 to be what?
With him. See, before he ever sent them out, before he sent them to preach, before he gave them authority to heal, cleanse the leper, raise the dead, cast out demons, all those things, he appointed them for intimacy. He appointed them to be with him. See, and as I'm with Jesus, something begins to happen in my life.
Like I begin to do life different. Remember in Acts chapter 4, after they raised that guy, that lame guy, it says the elders said they were really confused. Said these guys are unlearned, uneducated men. But they knew this about it.
That they had been with Jesus. Like, you don't need it. Like, your education doesn't matter. Actually, your holiness doesn't matter.
Peter could say, do you think it was by our own power or our own holiness that we raised this man up today? That's a whole other message I really wanted to get to today. Was that God has given you all things that pertain to life and godliness. Like, everything you need to live a godly life is in him.
And that when you begin to understand that the knowledge of him and the intimacy with him gives birth and understanding to these promises that thereby you begin to partake of the very nature that's in you, it says through that you escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. Like, purity and holiness, let me say it differently. Even a partaker of his divine nature is not a reward for your holiness. Partaking of his divine nature is the roadway to holiness.
So you need his nature to live a godly, holy, pure life. Like, you don't, like, what happens to much with religion as we get to cart before the horse? You live a holy life and God will move in your life. I can show you, I'm seeing preachers evangelists that live immoral lives that operate in the power of God, so that's not true.
Not that it's right, but it is what it is. But what you need to live a life that's morally pleasing, that's holy, that's set apart, that's sanctified, that's pure, that's all those things you need to partake of that divine nature. That's what you need. Paul said, as he says, he says that, he says, walk in the spirit, Galatians 5, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flag.
It's not the other way around. See, I was thinking as we get told, you guys are here, I'm done. I'm done. I'm done.
I'm done. You ever heard of long COVID? Anybody know what long COVID is? Long COVID.
Long COVID is suffering the symptoms and effects of COVID after you no longer have COVID. Some people suffer for months or years. I had it for maybe six months. I felt like this week, God said, he goes, I think the church suffers from long old covenant, that you're suffering the symptoms of a covenant that's no longer around.
Like the old is gone, the news in, but you're still suffering the symptoms of a covenant where you're trying to put the card before the horse and earn the thing that God's already given you. And all God says, I want you to freely receive the thing that I've given to you. Just receive it. Just receive it.
Just receive it.