“Add To Your Faith”

II Peter 1:3-8

3) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5) And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6) And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

8) For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Introduction

I

f we ever intend to be victorious over anything, it will be only through our faith. This is because the only power that we have is outside of ourselves; therefore, our accomplishments must be taken outside of our hands.

Many of us will admit that we are limited, yet we still will attempt to try to accomplish things on our own. This is largely a result of a limited, powerless being attempting to retain control that he has never had.

Despite how it may appear, things are really not as difficult as they appear. Not only do people who are unsaved feel that it is difficult to enter salvation from their old lives, far too many of us who are already saved feel that it is difficult to leave the old life behind. What we fail to realize is that our “old lives” were not what was “real.” It is only the life in Christ that offers any hope of reality.

Main Thought

We may ask “If we know what the Word of God says, what more responsibility do we have?” the answer is that we have the responsibility to act upon what we know.

Perhaps the most beneficial thing that the Lord has ever required of us is that we believe Him; that we operate in faith. Why? Because the operation of faith takes the place of “knowing,” intelligence, and our five senses, thereby, freeing us from ourselves. When we attempt to handle our own problems; operate in our own best interests, we find that instead of things getting better, they simply get worse.

This is an era in which education is valued, and rightly so. Everyone should has as much education as possible, for this opens doors of excess to more of life outside of our own circle. However, with all of our getting, we can never forget that education is not salvation. As many doors that education opens, salvation opens even more, and will take us places and allow us to do things that education, alone, never could.

Man’s focus on power and authority is powerful and “sucks in” many, unawares. Salvation, then, and the pastorate, in particular, attracts many who feel that this is the way to “fame and fortune.” No matter whom one is, or what he does, if one does not acknowledge that the only power that we have comes from our union with Jesus, he will never be successful. For too many fail and fall because they come to believe that “power” is independently theirs.

Any knowledge that we seek or attain is not just for the purpose of our having it. The most important knowledge that we can every accept is the divine knowledge of God. This is given to us that we might know His plan for Mankind.

If we would prosper and advance, we have to accept that that the Word of God is to be followed unquestioningly. Today, this is much more important than ever, for there is no shortage of “preachers” on television, radio, and in print who do not have an “opinion” concerning what God said, how He said it, and what He meant when He said it. If we are to “live,” we cannot afford to listen to how anyone “feels” about the Word—especially us!

Scripture is quite clear in telling us that the Word of God is “hidden” from those who try to gain it through understanding. The way into God’s “heart” is through living by faith. When we really begin to believe what God has said, this will be in an automatic response.

Verse four of our text, today, speaks of the fact that God gives us “promises,” and one thing that we can be sure of concerning these promises is that when God makes a promise, it will not be broken. However, all too often, all that we look for in the way of promises is those things that are “human.” Why would we ever want to relegate a spiritual being to that which is only human?

When we attempt to “humanize” God, we do Him a disservice, for we make Him as “weak” as we are in doing so, deprive ourselves of the only help that is available to us. Consequently, we find ourselves powerless and upset that we are powerless. Well, there is no point in being upset over being unable to solve a problem that was not ours to solve in the first place, particularly when we have taken that problem out of the hand of the One Who was sent to solve it!

As the redeemed of God, victory is rightfully ours. However, in order to “realize: it, as each test comes to us, we must “add” to our faith. This is impossible. Unless we believe that God can be trusted in every situation. Once we decide that He is trustworthy, our lives will be revolutionized.