Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
to them that have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
seeing that His divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that called us by His own glory and virtue;
whereby He hath granted unto us His precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.Yea, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge;
and in your knowledge self-control; and in your self-control patience; and in your patience godliness;
and in your godliness brotherly kindness; and in your brotherly kindness love.
For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For he that lacketh these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.
Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble:
for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Ye therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own steadfastness.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, as we continue in Thy presence, we do ask Thee to shine Thy light upon us, that we may not only hear Thy Word, but we may hear Thy words. And may we see the glory of the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ.
We commit this time into Thy hands and ask Thee to bless it. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
In 2 Timothy, we have the last will and testimony of the Apostle Paul. So, 2 Peter is the last will and testimony of the Apostle Peter.
Peter loved the Lord. He was willing to give up his life for the Lord. But, unfortunately, he did not know himself. Because of this, he denied the Lord three times.
But through his failure, his love towards the Lord was actually purified. Therefore, you find by the Sea of Tiberias, after the Lord was risen from the dead, He appeared to Peter.
He told Peter, “When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” In saying that, the Lord signified by what death Peter would die.
Being a very active person, after the ascension of our Lord Jesus, the Apostle Peter had been vigorously engaged in the Lord’s business until he reached an old age.
It is commonly acknowledged that Peter was older in age than our Lord Jesus Christ. Possibly, he was the oldest among the twelve apostles. If this is so, then by the time he wrote this second letter, he must have been in his seventies, or possibly his early eighties.
He served the Lord through long years, and this itself is a miracle, is a wonder. Why? Because we know Peter was such an impetuous and changeable person.
And yet, he was kept by the Lord through all these years until his advanced age. He became almost like an immovable stone. That is the grace of God. That shows the keeping power of the Lord.
He wrote this last letter. It does not say here to whom he wrote this letter, but, of course, as you read the letter, he says, “I have already written two letters.” In other words, he wrote a former letter, and here is the second one.
We believe that this letter is addressed to the same people to whom he wrote in his first letter: the sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
We already mentioned last time that even though the word Dispersion is especially used for the Jews who were dispersed outside their homeland, Palestine, Peter did not write to the Jews in the Dispersion in general. He wrote to Jews who had become Christians.
They are strangers and sojourners upon this earth. And not only the Jews, but in the first letter we discover that he also mentioned the Gentiles, because the church is composed of both Jews and Gentiles. So we believe that this second letter is addressed to the same people; and, being so, we believe it is addressed to us also.
Peter wrote this letter because he knew that the day of his departure was approaching, as the Lord had predicted. He wanted to write a letter before his final departure.
In doing that, he had one purpose in mind. If you read the second letter of Peter, you will find at least three times why he wrote this letter. He wrote this letter for one purpose only: to remind them, to bring to their memory, to stir up their pure mind, that they may remember what the holy prophets had said and what the commandment of the Lord Jesus, by His apostles, had said.
In other words, it is a letter to stir people up, to remind them to remember, to bring to memory something that they have already heard. It is not something that they have never heard or something that they have never known. They had known these things, they had heard these things, and they were established in the truth; but Peter felt it was his responsibility to remind them, to stir up their pure mind, that they would not forget.
That is really the purpose of this letter.
Now, you know, if a person is going to leave, probably forever, and this will be his last message, his last word, he cannot afford to say something or write something very trivial—very small, small talk. He cannot do that.
He has to pour out that which is uppermost, deepest, dearest, and closest to his heart, and share it with those whom he loved.
Do you remember, before our Lord Jesus was to leave His disciples, going to the cross to die, there in the Gospel of John, from Chapter 14 to Chapter 16, were His last words to His disciples? These were important words, words that were uppermost in His heart. The same thing you find when Paul wrote 2 Timothy.
So when Peter was trying to convey to those whom he loved his last departing words, it must have been something very precious, very dear to him.
What are the things that he tried to share with those whom he loved in this second letter? I think it is very clear that what is uppermost in the heart of Peter—not only at this time, but throughout the years that he followed the Lord and served the Lord—is one thing very, very close to his heart.
This is the very thing he tries to recall to the minds of the saints: the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
When our Lord Jesus was upon the earth, you find that He talked a lot about the kingdom. We hardly hear Him talk about heaven. But strangely, when our Lord was on earth, He talked a lot about the kingdom.
At the very beginning of His ministry, His message was, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” On the mountain, He instructed His disciples about the kingdom.
When He came down from the mountain, He demonstrated the power of the kingdom of God by casting out demons and healing the sick.
He told His disciples that from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force. Of course, by violence, it does not mean doing violence to other people. It simply means that you do violence to yourself—to deny yourself.
Again, you find that He told stories, parables, about the kingdom. In Matthew 13, He told parables concerning the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. As you go on, you find that often He told parables about the kingdom.
He was born to be King. His testimony before Pilate was that for this cause He was born. He died as the King of the Jews. And after He was resurrected, for forty days He talked to the disciples about the kingdom of God.
In other words, you find the kingdom is something very much in the heart of our Lord Jesus. Here you find the Apostle Peter, who followed the Lord for three years, and so he learned to love the kingdom. Then, when he began to work for the Lord, you find the kingdom was something very dear, very close to him.
The Lord said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” It is a different kingdom, but it is a kingdom—a kingdom that our Lord Jesus is to establish upon the earth.
He is gathering a people for that kingdom, to make them sons of the kingdom, that one day these sons of the kingdom may inherit the kingdom with Him.
To the Apostle Peter, the kingdom is a reality. It is ever before his eyes; it is always in his mind. This is something that delivered him.
Peter said that this kingdom does not come through cleverly devised fables or imagined schemes. No. He said he was an eyewitness of the kingdom.
In Matthew 16, the Lord Jesus told His disciples, “There are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom.”
Immediately afterward, in Matthew 17, you find the Lord Jesus took three of the disciples—Peter, James, and John—to a mountain, and there He was transfigured.
His face shone like the sun. His garments became white, exceedingly bright. Then Moses and Elijah appeared, and they talked with the Lord Jesus about His departure, how He would leave the world.
You remember, suddenly Peter awoke from his sleep. The glory was probably so great that the three disciples fell asleep. Suddenly he woke up and saw that Moses and Elijah were almost leaving, so he cried, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us just stay here forever. I will make three tabernacles: one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, the heavenly Father intervened and stopped him. He said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.”
A bright cloud—the Shekinah glory of God—covered everything. When they opened their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
Now Peter was an eyewitness at the scene. What is this scene? It is a preview of the kingdom of God that is coming upon the earth.
Peter had a full taste of it, and it was good—sweet. He could never forget it. Therefore, when he wrote this last letter as his last will and testimony, he mentioned this. He said, “I am an eyewitness of the kingdom, because I was there. I saw it.”
“I saw His majesty. I saw when Christ received honor and glory from the Father, and I heard a voice: ‘This is My beloved Son; hear Him.’ This is the kingdom. I am an eyewitness to it.”
Dear brothers and sisters, what is the kingdom of God? What is the kingdom of heaven? “Thy kingdom come.” One day His kingdom will be established upon this earth. What is His kingdom?
This kingdom is the time when our Lord Jesus shall receive honor and glory from the heavenly Father. The kingdom is the time when our Lord Jesus is the center of everything.
You shall see no one but Jesus only. The kingdom is when you shall hear the voice, “This is My Son; hear Him.” He is the kingdom.
Peter said, “It is more than just my personal testimony, because there are the prophetic words made more sure.” If you read the Word of God, you find in the Old Testament and the New Testament that the prophets were all talking about the same thing.
They say these prophetic words are like a lamp that shines in a dark place, until the day shall dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts.
Now, brothers and sisters, the world is dark. You cannot see anything in darkness. We know, of course, that we are approaching the darkest part of the night. Everything is dark and obscure.
But thank God, even though we live in a dark world, yet we have a lamp. The prophetic Word of God is like a lamp that shines upon our path, so we are not in darkness. We know where we are going.
As we take heed to the prophetic words, something happens: the day begins to dawn in our hearts. Even though all around us is still midnight, yet in your heart the day has already dawned and the morning star has already arisen.
You know, the morning star can only be seen by those who wake up early. If you are a late sleeper, you will never see the morning star. When the sun rises, you will not be able to see the morning star. But the morning star is there before the sun arises. It is a beautiful sight.
One day our Lord Jesus will come upon this earth as the Sun of Righteousness. One day the Sun of Righteousness shall arise, and the whole world will see Him.
But before that happens, dear brothers and sisters, He will appear in your heart as the Morning Star, if you are awake in your waiting for Him. If you take heed to the prophetic words, then even though the Sun of Righteousness has not come yet, He as the Morning Star has already arisen in your heart.
How blessed it is for those who have seen the Morning Star in their hearts.
The kingdom shall be established upon this earth. It is an issue of fact. But, dear brothers and sisters, among God’s people there are many who do not even know the kingdom.
Even though there is a kingdom, among God’s people you find that people only think of heaven. One day when we die, we go to heaven. But may I say, yes, you will go to heaven, but not that quickly.
If you read the Word of God, you find that if you are in the Lord and you die, you do not go to heaven right away. You go to Paradise, waiting until you are resurrected. Then one day, yes, you will go to heaven.
Unfortunately, among God’s people they only know heaven; they do not know about the kingdom. They do not know that before heaven shall be our eternal home, there will be the kingdom coming upon this earth for a thousand years.
This is the time when those who are ready, waiting, prepared, and following the Lord—and who seize it by force—shall reign with Christ for a thousand years.
There is a kingdom for God’s people: not only heaven, but also a kingdom. Heaven is a gift, but the kingdom is a reward.
You are not only born again to inherit eternal life. Being born again, you are to enter into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
There is another problem with people who know about the kingdom. There is a fear, and the fear is this: “How can I obtain the kingdom?”
The kingdom is of such glory and majesty. How can I obtain the kingdom? Probably it is so difficult that you have to give it up.
But do you know how the Lord Jesus said in Luke 12:32?
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Why does He say, “Fear not, little flock”? The term little flock is used only there in Scripture, and it refers to the church. So far as the church is concerned, in comparison with the world, the church is just a little flock. The world is multitudes and multitudes, but the church is a little one.
But the Lord says, “Fear not, little flock. It is the good pleasure of your Father to give you the kingdom.” Our heavenly Father delights to give you the kingdom.
Now, it is true: this kingdom of heaven, which is so much better than the kingdoms of this world, has such a high standard. God will not lower the standard to compromise. He will not do that.
The standard is high for people to enter into and inherit the kingdom. But, dear brothers and sisters, even so the Lord says, “Fear not.” In other words, it is not so difficult that you cannot obtain it.
On the contrary, you find that it is so majestic, so glorious, that you should have it. Why? How? Because God has made every provision for you to obtain it.
If God had not made provision for you, no one would be able to obtain the kingdom, because it is just too much for us. But if God has made every provision for every one of His children to obtain the kingdom, then, dear brothers and sisters, if anyone does not enter into the kingdom, obtain it, and inherit it, it is his own fault.
That is the way the second letter of Peter begins:
His divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that called us by His own glory and virtue;
whereby He hath granted unto us His precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature.
Brothers and sisters, here you find God has called us by glory and virtue. Do you know we are all called by God? Of course.
But when we think of our calling, our problem is that we think of our calling in terms of our own need. I need to have my sins forgiven, so I consider that God has called me to come and have my sins forgiven. Thank God for that.
My need is to go to heaven; therefore, I consider that God has called me to give me eternal life as a passport to go to heaven. We consider our calling according to our needs, and because of this our calling becomes a low calling.
But remember, brothers and sisters, God has called us by His glory and virtue. He does not call us according to our need; He calls us according to what He is. He called us according to His glory.
In Scripture, glory is something indescribable, but glory is synonymous with God Himself. He calls us according to His glory. He calls us according to His virtue—that is, His character.
Because He has called us according to His own self, He called us that we may be like Him.
It is a high calling, not a small calling. He called us to be like Him. He called us to take upon ourselves His virtues, His character. He called us to enter into His glory. That is our calling.
He called us into His kingdom, to be heirs and co-heirs with Christ in the everlasting kingdom of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. What a calling! No small thing.
But you find He has not only called us; He has also given us the greatest and precious promises. He has promised us, and with these promises we can become partakers of His divine nature.
Think of all the greatest and precious promises of God. All these promises are for one purpose: to make us partakers of His divine nature.
Then you find that He not only gave us promises. He says His divine power has given to us all things relating to life and godliness. In other words, by His divine power He has given us life—the life of His only begotten Son.
With this life, you find there is all the power for godliness: to be like God, to take up the character of Christ, to become conformed to the image of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, here you see all the provisions: the calling, the promises, the divine power. He has not only called us and said, “Now I have called you; work it out.” Who can do it?
He has called us with a high calling. Then He gave us promises to lay hold of by faith, and His divine power is available for us to enable us to enter into all that He has promised.
Everything that we need for the kingdom has been provided.
Brothers and sisters, do we realize this? Do we realize that God has made every provision for you and me to enter into the kingdom abundantly?
If He has made all these provisions, then it is our responsibility to lay hold of these greatest and precious promises and to make ourselves available to the divine power that is there to work out our full salvation.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have a responsibility. What is our responsibility? Our responsibility is that we be diligent.
You know, the kingdom of God is not for the lazy. It is for the diligent.
If we are lazy, we remain as babes in Christ. As babes in Christ, we cannot inherit the kingdom. Why? Because there is no suitability in us for the kingdom.
To inherit the kingdom, you have to be part of the kingdom. In other words, the very character of the kingdom must characterize your life.
So it is not for babes in Christ; it is for the grown-ups in Christ. In order to grow up in Christ, you have to be diligent. Brothers and sisters, there is one thing very important in our Christian life, and that is diligence.
Yea, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge;
and in your knowledge self-control; and in your self-control patience; and in your patience godliness;
and in your godliness brotherly kindness; and in your brotherly kindness love.
You cannot afford to just sit back, lie down, waiting to be carried to heaven. You have to apply yourself, by the grace of God, with diligence.
This is the octave of spiritual growth—from faith to love. You begin with faith, faith in the Lord Jesus, and then you add to it.
The word add simply means supplying at one’s own cost for any purpose, affording more than that which is barely demanded. You have faith; you believe in the Lord Jesus. But you need to add on, to supply, to add alongside of it virtue—character.
This is the same thing that James speaks of. He says, “You have faith? All right, show me your faith, and I will demonstrate my faith by works.” If you really have faith, it is not just a vague thing, an idea. Faith is concrete. Faith will produce works. Faith will create character.
With virtue comes knowledge: discernment and understanding. With understanding comes temperance, self-control. Actually, it is Spirit-control.
With Spirit-control, then you have godliness: to be like God. Then you add to it brotherly love. You love the brethren, not because this one is lovely or that one is ugly, but you just love them because they are brothers.
Then you find not only love of the brethren, but love for all. In other words, in order to enter into the kingdom, God has provided every means for us.
We need to make use of all these promises and His divine power, and with diligence apply ourselves, that the character of Christ may be built up within us. As the character of Christ is built in us, you find it makes us suitable for the kingdom of God.
When you inherit the kingdom, you will not be strange, because it is already in you. If the kingdom character is not in you, even if you are put into the kingdom, you will be like a fish out of water. You will not feel comfortable, because you do not fit.
I remember that story. There was a kind of excursion, and two boats were leaving the port at the same time. One boat was for Christians. They had a Christian excursion, so all the believers were on the boat. When they got on the boat, they were singing, worshiping the Lord, and sharing with one another.
The other boat was just a pleasure boat for worldly people, with all kinds of rock and roll and all kinds of things. Unfortunately, one Christian got on the wrong boat.
He discovered it and said, “This, this, this is not it.”
No, brothers and sisters, the principle is right. If you get on the wrong boat, you do not feel comfortable. That is the reason why, in order to inherit the kingdom of heaven, you have to have the kingdom character built in you.
How can it be built in you? Your part is just diligence. Diligently lay hold of the promises of God and allow divine power to work them out.
In other words, you find it is He that works in you. It is His grace. But it is grace that needs to be diligently received, diligently obeyed, and diligently cooperated with. That is all that He requires us to do.
If you do that, then you will be neither idle nor unfruitful with regard to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The word knowledge here is epignosis: full knowledge, personal recognition. The full knowledge of God is to know His calling. The full knowledge of God is to know His promises. The full knowledge of God is to know His divine power.
If you do that, then you will not be idle. You will not be unfruitful.
But if you do not have these things, then you are blind, short-sighted, having forgotten the cleansing from your former sins. Brothers and sisters, we thank God that He has purged us from our sins.
After our sins have been purged and we are saved, if we do not use diligence and pass on from faith to love, then we are blind and short-sighted. Today there are lots of believers who are spiritually short-sighted.
The Lord said, “Buy of Me eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Maybe modernly we are going to be fitted with a pair of glasses so that we may be able to see.
Therefore, brethren, use diligence to make your calling and election sure. Dear brothers and sisters, the calling is sure. The election is sure. But whether you are called and elected, and yet are chosen, that is something you have to make sure.
The Lord says, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” We are all called, because it is the good pleasure of the Father to give you the kingdom. You are called; you are elected. But whether you will be chosen depends on your diligence to make your calling and election sure.
For doing these things, you will never fall.
Again, I say that all this does not refer to eternal salvation. All this does not refer to the gift of eternal life. All this does not refer to going to heaven. No.
Thank God, that gift has been given to us, and once given, never taken back, because God is faithful. But all this concerns the everlasting kingdom.
For thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord is coming, and He is going to establish His kingdom upon this earth. But when that time comes, whether you are able to inherit the kingdom with Him, whether you are to reign with Him, whether you are to be a co-heir with Christ at that time, is something that you have to decide.
It is given, but whether you take it or not is up to you.
When the Lord gave a preview of His kingdom, do you know what happened? Of the twelve disciples, He only took three with Him. In other words, only three of the disciples were able to see the kingdom. The other nine were on the plain.
Does that not give us a kind of hint? May I say this? It may sound harsh, but it is the truth.
We are all believers. We are all disciples. Thank God, because we are all believers and disciples, one day we will all go to heaven. The gifts of God are without repentance.
But that does not mean that because we are believers and disciples, we all enter into the kingdom and reign with Christ.
You remember our Lord said, “Many will come to Me and say, ‘Lord, Lord, in Thy name I cast out demons; in Thy name I do this; I do that.’” And the Lord said, “I never knew you.” Why? Because you do not do the will of the Father.
Dear brothers and sisters, let this be a warning. Do not think because you are a believer that therefore the kingdom is yours. Yes, it is given to you, but whether you are qualified to inherit it is up to you.
It is the good pleasure of the Father to give you the kingdom, and He wants you to enter into the kingdom abundantly. He has made every provision for you to do so. If you do not, it is your fault.
The kingdom is in view. Peter has the kingdom before him all the time. But as he is talking about the kingdom, immediately he senses the wiles of the enemy.
The enemy of mankind, Satan the devil, does not want us to gain the kingdom. He will try every means to deceive us and distract us, to keep us out of God’s kingdom.
So in Chapter 2, Peter immediately begins to talk about false teachers. He said, “As there were false prophets in the old days with the children of Israel, so now there shall be false teachers with you.”
False teachers will come in. They will begin to teach destructive heresies. What is heresy? The word heresy today is used so freely that we do not really know what it means.
Actually, the word heresy in Greek means a school of opinion. That is the reason why sect in Scripture, in Greek, is heresy.
Instead of submitting yourself to the inherent Word of God, you begin to have opinions—your own opinions. Dear brothers and sisters, we are all opinionated people, and unless we learn discipline, we will be people of opinions.
So there will be teachers, false teachers, who come forth teaching their opinions about the Word of God—not submitting themselves to the Word of God. Instead, they take the Word of God and try to give their opinion about it.
Eventually, you find they begin to deny the Master who bought them. The word Master here in Greek is despotes. We do not like the word despot, but the word itself means absolute monarch.
Our Lord Jesus, who has bought us with a price, is our absolute Monarch. He is our Sovereign, our absolute Monarch, and we are to obey Him to the uttermost. This is what we ought to do.
But instead of doing that, these false teachers deny Him. They reject Him as their Monarch, as their absolute Sovereign, because they want to have their own opinions. They deny the Sovereign, and it is destructive.
They use cleverly contrived words—double talk, high-sounding words—trying to deceive people. Their purpose is to make merchandise of you and take advantage for themselves.
They will lead many people astray. They promise liberty, but they themselves are under bondage. It is very destructive. But their judgment will be swift and certain.
I will not dwell on this, because 2 Peter 2 is almost the same as the letter of Jude. One day, God willing, we will have to deal with the book of Jude, so I will leave 2 Peter for that time. There is much to say, but I will leave it with you.
In 1 Peter, the problem with believers is persecution—the trials and sufferings that come from outside. But the problem in 2 Peter, the enemy in 2 Peter, is not from outside; it is from within.
Within the church there will be false teachers. They will entice people, get people away from Christ unto themselves, and in doing so they take away your kingdom.
Not only that, but if you go to Chapter 3, you find there will not only be false teachers, but there will be mockers. These mockers are not of the world; these mockers are in the church.
Why? Because these believers are so materialistically minded. They are rational, as they say. They try to judge everything by outward phenomena.
So they look at the world and say, “Where is the promise of His coming? Is not the world the same as it was from the beginning of creation?”
They forget that the world now is not the world then. If you read very carefully, you find this does not refer to Noah’s flood. No, it refers to Genesis 1:1–2.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
In other words, once upon a time this world was destroyed by water. Then God repaired this world to make it habitable. The present world, one day, will be destroyed by fire.
But do not forget that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord has not come yet, not because He delays, but because He is longsuffering. He does not want any to perish, but that all should come to know Him.
But it is coming. One day, this heaven and earth will be burned and consumed with fire. If this is so, how godly we need to be.
So, brothers and sisters, you find that mockers are trying to take away your kingdom. They say, “Let us eat and drink. Let us enjoy the world. It will be here forever.” No. It will come to an end, and the kingdom of God shall be established upon this earth.
Finally, Peter exhorts us. He says, “Beloved, knowing these things beforehand, take care. Be careful, lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own steadfastness.”
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, we are here not only to wait for the coming of our Lord with His kingdom. We are here also to hasten His coming.
The timetable of the Lord is flexible. His schedule is not mechanical. You can delay it; you can hasten it. It depends on whether the bride has made herself ready, to be suitable to Him and to be fit for the kingdom.
Brothers and sisters, we have a great incentive. By the grace of God, we can hasten His kingdom. We can hasten His coming.
Do you want to hasten His coming, or do you want to delay His return?
If we grow in grace and in the full knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord, then, brothers and sisters, you are not only waiting for His coming; you are actually hastening His coming.
So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, do put before us Thy kingdom, that we may not be idle about it, but be diligent toward it.
Enable us to avail ourselves of all Thy greatest and precious promises, and all Thy divine power, unto godliness, that the kingdom character may be built in us.
Thy kingdom come. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.