Thank you for taking the time to read the Weekend Sermon. I am grateful to the Lord for the opportunity to post this message. I hope that all of you are having a good week and a good holiday season so far.
Today, we will continue with our study in the book of II Peter. Next week, I will post a message about Christmas. We will then get back to our current study.
There are four phrases in our passage today that I would like us to examine. The first one is found in verse three and states, "His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness."
The first thing that strikes me about this is that all that we have comes from the hand of the Lord. Every blessing that we've been given comes from Him. He has given what pertains to life. To me that means that the Lord has provided for our needs such as food, clothing. companionship etc. We should thank the Lord for the good things that He has brought into our lives.
The second part of this phrase says that we've been given what pertains to godliness. The Lord has provided us with what we need to live for Him in this world. He has provided us with salvation. The Lord Jesus came and lived a holy life as our perfect example. He died on the cross to save us from our sins. He rose from the dead conquering death. He will come again in power and great glory.
The Lord has also provided us with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live a holy life. The Spirit convicts us of sin, and the Spirit draws us closer to the Lord Jesus.
We have been given the Word of the Lord in the Bible. In the pages of Scripture we have the words of Jesus to guide the actions of our lives.
We have what we need from the hand of the Lord for our physical and spiritual lives.
Verse 4 of our passage tells that we have been given great and precious promises. I've been thinking about what some of these promises are. First of all, the Lord Jesus promised that whoever would come to Him, He would not cast them out. He also told us that He has gone to prepare a place for us so that wherever He is, that is where we will be too. Jesus also told us that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. These are just a very few of the great and precious promises that we have been given by the Lord Jesus. We know that we can trust in His promises because Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
This is the second time that Peter has used the word precious to describe the things of the Lord. How precious are the things of the Lord in our lives? This is something else that I've been thinking about. There should be nothing in our lives that means more to us than our relationship with the Lord. It is amazing that the God of all the universe loves us and cares about us. We should value our relationship with the Lord as the greatest thing in all the world.
Verse 4 goes on to tell us that we have been made partakers of the divine nature. I don't think that Peter is saying that we are going to become God in some kind of way. What he is saying is that because of what Jesus has done, we have been delivered from sin. As the Bible says, we have become a new creation in Christ Jesus. We have received the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
When we are in Christ, we grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord each and every day as we are led by the Spirit. We become more and more like the Lord Jesus. We put on the mind of Christ and act the way that He did in the world. He lives His life in and through us.
The final phrase that I want to focus on today is the phrase that states that we have escaped the corruption of the world. This world and its systems are corrupt and sinful. When we look at all of the truly evil things that are in this world, we know what corruption is. Through Jesus Christ, we have escaped the evil of this world because this world is no longer our home. We are looking for a heavenly city whose builder and maker is God. We are no longer part of the value system of greed and lust that is this world. We follow the path of love and righteousness set forth by our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Prayer Requests and Other Matters
This was a very good week in writing, and I want to the thank the Lord for His blessings. I would ask that you pray for me in a couple of matters. I've not been feeling well all week. Please pray that I will get to feeling better. Also, there is supposed to be a bad winter storm coming. Please pray that it won't get too bad. Thank you.
Please pray for those who were hurt when the volcano exploded in New Zealand. Some are burned very badly. Pray that they will recover quickly.
Pray that the terrible fires in Australia and in the Amazon will be extinguished. Pray for those working to contain these blazes.
Let us continue to pray for those suffering as a result of the measles outbreak in Samoa. Pray for an end to the Ebola outbreak in Congo.
Remember to pray for peace. Pray for peace in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Libya. Wherever you know of strife and conflict, pray for peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the United Arab Emirates and those in Algeria. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, I will post a message about Christmas for the weekend sermon. I will post the sermon on Saturday. On Monday, I will try to post the verses. If the library is not available because of weather, the verses will be delayed. I will post the Cat Book Of the Year on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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