And be the whole shoe.
Let us turn to 2 Peter, chapter 1. We shall read from verse 3.
Through which 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 Saviour Jesus Christ.
Let us turn to 2 Peter, chapter 3, and read from verse 10.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness,
Looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
But, according to His promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.
Let us bow down and pray again.
Lord, when we sing that song and say, “We wait and wait, but You have not come,” is it because our heart in waiting for You is really not that earnest?
Lord, is it that we are waiting for You, or You are waiting for us? Is it because of our condition that You can only endure?
Lord, we believe that Your heart to return is more earnest than ours. Lord, forgive us. Forgive us that we did not wait enough. Lord, forgive us. It is our condition which delays You.
Lord, this morning we prostrate before You. We pray that You have mercy on us. Lord, Your longsuffering is our salvation.
We pray that through Your Spirit You will work in us again, working to the extent that our waiting can hasten Your coming.
Lord, it is for this purpose that we gather before You. May You prepare us. In the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
This time when we gather together before the Lord, we learn to be a people that wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God.
We remember that when our Lord was to depart from the world, He Himself told us that He would come back.
The saints of the first century waited for the return of the Lord. When the church was persecuted, and brothers and sisters met each other, they would say, “Maranatha,” to one another.
Through the generations, all brothers and sisters who had a heart toward the Lord waited for the coming of the Lord.
All through twenty centuries, the prayer of the church has been for our Lord to return. But until today, the Lord has tarried.
Is it that our Lord was not willing to return? Is there any bridegroom who, having a bride, is not waiting to return?
The reason He still has not returned is that we are not ready. It is because our heart toward Him is not that earnest.
But do we really want Him to return?
Lately, I received a poem from a brother. In this poem, he longed for the return of the Lord. But he said, “When I think that my Lord is coming, on one hand I expect and hope for Him to come back soon. But I am afraid, too, because I am afraid that when my Lord returns, I am not ready.”
Brothers and sisters, is this the feeling in you and in me? On one hand, we hope our Lord will return soon. But on the other hand, there may be fear in our hearts, and we hope that He would actually return later, because we have not made ourselves ready.
Are we really ones who wait for and hasten His return? Maybe this kind of people is few on earth. May the Lord have mercy on us, so that we can be those who hasten His return.
When the Lord meets us, when He sees us, when He hears our cry, He cannot help but return soon. This is our heart’s desire in this time when we gather before the Lord.
We thank and praise our God because, according to His foreknowledge, He has chosen us. He has chosen us not because of our works; He has chosen us according to Himself.
He has chosen us before the foundation of the world in Christ. He has called us by His own glory and virtue. He has given us His life. He has given us His precious and exceeding great promises.
Through these promises, we can be worthy of His calling and election.
We know that God’s gifts and calling are without repentance. Romans 11:29 very clearly tells us this.
But in 2 Peter 1:10, we see:
Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble.
On one hand, God’s gifts and calling are without repentance. When God gives us His grace, He shall never take it back. When God selects us, He will never let us go. From the standpoint of God, His gift and calling will never change.
But from our standpoint, we need to abide in His grace. We have to be diligent so that His calling and election may be made sure.
In other words, even though God has already selected us, God has called and selected us to enter into His glory. He has called and chosen us to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that the character of His Son may become our character, and so that His Son may be the Firstborn among many brethren.
This is the gracious gift and calling that God has given us. God will never regret it.
Yet, on our side, although God has given us His gift and has called and selected us according to His own glory, it is possible that we consider ourselves too lightly. We may take His gift very lightly.
Maybe we think that His selection of us really has nothing to do with us. Then it is possible that we will sleep. It may seem that God’s calling and election are on shaking ground.
Is this what is happening among many of God’s children? Indeed, God has chosen us, but is our living worthy and suitable for His calling? Indeed, God has given us His gift, but are we abiding in His grace?
Is it not that we are sleeping? Are we not pursuing, pressing on, and walking in the will of God’s calling?
This does not mean that we will lose the salvation that God has given us. But it very clearly tells us that it is possible for us to lose the very purpose for which God called us. Because of our carelessness, we may lose the will and heart for which God called us.
Last night, our brother spoke especially concerning this inheritance. God called us and selected us so that we may inherit this inheritance.
Our brother also said that, on one hand, inheritance is a gift. It is a free gift from God. But, on the other hand, we have to possess it and obtain it.
God promised Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan. God is a faithful God. He had already given the land of Canaan to His chosen people.
According to God, He had already given it. But the Bible tells us that the Israelites had to set the sole of their feet upon the land, one step at a time, until they possessed all the land that God had promised them.
So, dear brothers and sisters, when we remember what our Lord told us in the Gospels, He said, “Many are called, but few chosen.” We are all called ones, but have we been chosen?
It is the Lord who calls. But being chosen, or not being chosen, has much to do with ourselves.
If we can receive His precious and exceeding great promises on the basis of the precious faith that He has given us, then we can see that His grace is sufficient for us to be chosen.
But if today we take the gift of God lightly, if we have no desire for God’s calling, then we will be set aside.
This is not to say that we shall perish or fall. But it does mean that we will have no part in His kingdom.
We remember that the letter to the Colossians tells us that God has transferred us from the power of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son.
According to the work of God, we who have been saved by grace have been saved from the power of darkness by God. We have been placed by God into the kingdom of His beloved Son.
But, dear brothers and sisters, we should ask ourselves: Is our daily living in the kingdom of His beloved Son? Are we willingly submitting ourselves to the authority of His Son? Have we allowed His purpose and will to prevail in us? Have we allowed Him to conform us to the image of His Son? Or are we actually opposing Him?
Even from the standpoint of God’s work, He has already put us in the kingdom of His beloved Son. But according to our own living, we may not be like those who are in the kingdom.
Peter had a great burden before the Lord. He was willing to remind brothers and sisters before he left the world.
He knew that it is very easy for brothers and sisters to forget these things. Although we know, it is easy for us to forget.
So he said, “I want to use all diligence to remind you.” He wanted to remind us that the will of God is that we may enter richly into the kingdom of God.
God does not want us merely to wander around outside the door of the kingdom. So Peter says that we have to use all diligence.
We know that Peter himself was a very diligent man, although he had many weaknesses in the way that he followed the Lord.
We see that there was one time when he was tempted to escape. The Lord called him when he was casting a net in the Sea of Galilee. Peter abandoned his boat and followed the Lord.
After a while, when we read Luke 5, we see that our Lord went to Peter’s boat. That night, Peter had gone out fishing. Why? Because there was a feeling within him: “This way is too hard. The Lord is too holy. I am too filthy. It is possible that I cannot follow Him.”
There was a temptation in him to abandon the way and escape. The next morning, our Lord borrowed Peter’s boat to preach.
Our Lord has a large heart. Not only did He not blame Peter, because the Lord knew Peter’s heart, but He also said, in effect, “This is your boat, and I shall repay you.”
The Lord said, “Bring your boat out into the deep, and cast your net.” They took up such a haul of fish that they asked their companions to come and help them take the fish.
If our Lord borrows something from anybody, His repayment is a thousandfold. You will never be the poorer. He is very magnanimous.
But that act touched the heart of Peter. He knelt down before the Lord and said, “Lord, I am a sinful man.”
If you can enter into the feeling in Peter’s heart at that time, he saw the glory of the Lord. He was drawn by the glory of the Lord, but he felt his own corruption. He said, “I am a sinner. Depart from me.”
But in the depth of his heart he was saying, “Lord, do not leave me.” The Lord said, “I will make you a fisher of men.” Peter rose up and followed the Lord.
We see that Peter was a faithful follower of the Lord. When our Lord fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish, many people wanted to follow the Lord.
The Lord began to tell them, “I am the bread from heaven.” Even His disciples thought that word was too hard. The Bible tells us that many of His disciples actually left Him.
But the Lord asked the twelve whom He had chosen, “Will ye also go away?”
Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God.”
Peter followed the Lord diligently throughout his life. When he was about to leave the world, he still said, “Diligence, diligence.” This way is not easy.
Remember the Mount of Transfiguration. When the glory of the Lord was manifested, Moses and Elijah appeared also.
Because of the greatness of the glory, the disciples fell asleep. When they awoke, the conversation of those three was just about over. Peter was so anxious.
He said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us build three tents: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. The three of us can sleep under the sky.”
The scene was so glorious, and that is the kingdom. This kingdom is so glorious.
Then the glorious cloud of God overshadowed them. God interrupted Peter, and Moses and Elijah were taken away. God said, “This is My beloved Son: hear ye Him.”
Brothers and sisters, what does this mean? Peter had a thought in his heart: he wished that he could obtain glory without going through suffering, and obtain the crown without the cross.
When the Lord Jesus asked, “Who say ye that I am?” Peter received revelation from God and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Then our Lord told His disciples how He would go to Jerusalem, be rejected, and be crucified. Peter took hold of the Lord and said, “Lord, that shall never be unto Thee. Thou must spare Thyself.”
Peter was saying, in effect, “You can receive Your kingdom. You can be King. You do not have to go through the cross.” But the Lord told him that this was the thought of Satan: “Get thee behind Me, Satan.”
Although Peter had gone through that lesson from the Lord, that thought was still in him. So, at the Mount of Transfiguration, he thought that the kingdom had arrived and that he could enter it without going through the cross.
The Lord instructed him again. If we want to enter into the kingdom of God, we have to go through much tribulation. We have to seize the kingdom of heaven by force.
This force is to be violent toward self; it is not violence toward others. In other words, we have to deny self, take up the cross, and follow the Lord. The way of the Lamb is the way of the cross, but the cross leads us to the throne.
The story of Peter shows us that if we want to enter into the kingdom, and enter into the kingdom richly, we need to use all diligence.
God has called us. God has given us so many promises. Essentially, everything is ready. Now we have to rise up, use diligence, and walk forward.
What does diligence mean? According to the natural man, some are a little lazy and some are a little more diligent. But one thing is very interesting: I am lazy.
The diligence here is a character of the Lord. When our Lord was on earth, He was a diligent Man.
In the Gospel of Mark, we see the word straightway very frequently: straightway, straightway, straightway. When our Lord was following the will of His Father, He never left anything for the next day.
This is the character of our Lord. The life that we have received has this character within it. If we can follow the character of this new life in us, then we can become diligent.
The question is: today, by what life do we live? If we try to be diligent by ourselves, it is not possible for us to succeed. In spiritual matters, man’s diligence is totally useless.
But if we can confess before God, “God, I am a lazy man. I look to You to be my diligence,” then we can become diligent before God by following the diligence that is in this new life.
Proverbs tells us that the one who has a diligent hand shall be rich, and the one whose hand is lazy shall be poor. Proverbs also tells us that the diligent shall rule.
Therefore, we need to have an attitude of diligence before God.
The grace of God is equal toward us. Why, then, do some seem to have received more grace and others less? It is not because God is partial, giving more grace to one and less grace to another. It is because some are diligent and some are lazy.
What does this diligence refer to here? Does it mean that we must rise up and strive by ourselves, refine ourselves, improve ourselves, and thus move forward? No.
The diligence here means that we are diligent in believing the promises of God. We are diligent in being obedient to the work of the Holy Spirit.
This diligence particularly refers to the maturity of character. Peter says that if we are diligent in these things, they all refer to the maturity and growth of Christian character.
It does not mean that you are merely diligent in doing work. Diligence in serving the Lord has its place, but this diligence particularly refers to diligence in being conformed to the image of the Son of God.
We are not able by ourselves to conform ourselves to the image of the Son. The One who can conform us to the image of the Son of God is the Holy Spirit.
You can never, by your own power, will, and effort, conform yourself to the image of the Son of God. Outwardly, you may learn something, but inwardly it is not so. You become a hypocrite. You have a godly appearance, but you do not have godliness inside.
This is the work of the Holy Spirit. Where, then, are we to be diligent? We are to be diligent in cooperating with the Holy Spirit. We are diligent in placing ourselves into the hands of the Lord.
If we are so diligent, then we shall see that the Holy Spirit will minister Christ into us.
Verse 5 says, “Yea, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue.”
Faith is the foundation. Our brother explained very clearly this afternoon concerning faith. We know that faith is a gift of God.
Oftentimes, we try to create faith. We hypnotize ourselves by saying, “I believe, I believe, I believe.” But the more we say, “I believe,” the more something inside says, “I do not believe.”
We are saved by grace through faith. It is not by our own works, but it is the gift of God. Faith is according to Christ.
Hebrews 12 says that our Lord Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith. God has given us this precious faith.
Every one of us has believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now we have to allow this faith to be exercised.
As our brother said this afternoon, we believe that God is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him. Faith is the foundation.
Peter says that when you have faith, you have to supply virtue. In the original language, supply means to furnish or provide.
On top of faith, we have to furnish virtue. In the original language, virtue carries the thought of energy and courage.
This is what is said in the book of James: the body without the spirit is dead; therefore faith without works is dead.
If you truly have faith, there will be works of faith. There is energy and power in faith. There is courage in faith, so that you can do what man cannot do.
Hebrews 11 tells us of the heroes of faith. They had this courage. They had this strength.
By faith Abraham forsook all to follow the Lord. By faith Abraham offered up Isaac to God, because he believed that God could bring life out of death. By faith Rahab received the spies of Israel.
So we see that if you have faith, there will be evidence. That is virtue.
Peter says that when you have virtue, you should supply knowledge. This knowledge refers to our knowledge of the will of God. This is true knowledge.
Paul says in the book of Romans that the Israelites had zeal for God, but not according to true knowledge. They sought to establish their own righteousness and rejected the righteousness of God.
Brothers and sisters, many people today are very fervent toward the Lord. But if that fervency is not established upon true knowledge, it can be dangerous.
In Matthew 7, the Lord says that the day will come when people will say, “Lord, Lord, did we not by Thy name cast out demons, and by Thy name do many mighty works?” But the Lord will say, “I never knew you.”
Not every one that says, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter into the kingdom, but only those who do the will of the Father.
If we are obedient, that obedience will bring us into a more abundant knowledge of the will of God. If we already know the will of God but are not obedient, God will not give us more knowledge. The more we obey Him, the more we can understand His will.
In knowledge, supply temperance. The time is too short. We only have one minute. I have to borrow some minutes, but I will not charge you back. If you feel too tired, you can stand up and walk around, because I have had that experience before.
In addition to knowledge, you have to add temperance. Temperance, according to Galatians 5, is a fruit of the Spirit: self-control.
Now self-control is actually control by the Holy Spirit. It means that the Holy Spirit within us restrains us.
Why must this control by the Holy Spirit be added to knowledge? Because 1 Corinthians 8 tells us that knowledge puffeth up.
We may have a little knowledge, even so-called spiritual knowledge, and unwittingly become proud. When we see other people, we say, “They do not understand. Only we understand.”
Brothers and sisters, we are really weak. It is so easy for us to have a little knowledge and lose control.
Therefore, after we have knowledge, we have to add the control and discipline of the Holy Spirit.
Paul said that if eating meat caused his brother to stumble, he would not eat meat. It is not that eating meat is wrong. Indeed, forbidding foods is not the way of God.
But Paul said that if he caused his brother to stumble because of meat, then he sinned against the Lord. If you have knowledge, keep it before God for yourself, but do not make your brother stumble because of your knowledge.
In temperance, supply endurance. Endurance means that in every temptation and trial, you do not lose courage.
One who truly knows the will of God and faithfully follows the Lord will meet many trials and sufferings. But in these trials and difficulties, can we endure to the end?
The Lord said, “He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” If we endure with Christ, we shall reign with Him. Therefore, we have to add endurance.
In endurance, supply godliness. This means that in our body, the image of the Son of God can be manifested.
Paul told Timothy that bodily exercise is profitable for a little. Of course, it is still beneficial, and we should exercise our bodies.
When we were young, we thought that we should only exercise godliness and not exercise our bodies. But even if you exercise godliness, it is hard without bodily health. Do not only exercise your body; exercise godliness also.
This word exercise in the original language means to enter into a gym. You go into the gym to exercise yourself.
Who is the coach? You should not exercise merely by yourself, because then you may hurt yourself.
Some want to exercise to become like Madame Guyon. But the result is that outwardly you look like Madame Guyon, while inwardly you do not. God does not want you to be like Madame Guyon; God wants you to be like the Lord. Is that not better?
This exercise is under the coaching of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will exercise your godliness through all the people and things that you meet, just as you use different instruments and equipment in a gym.
The Holy Spirit knows what you need. He will arrange your surroundings for you to exercise godliness.
At the beginning, it is painful. But through this pain, godliness emerges, and it is the Lord, no longer you.
With godliness, supply brotherly kindness. Because you are like God, and God is love, love your brothers.
We remember John 3:16, but sometimes we forget 1 John 3:16: we ought to love our brothers and lay down our lives for them.
Today, very regrettably, we want our brothers to lay down their lives for us, but we are not willing to lay down our lives for our brothers.
With this brotherly love, we also have to supply love. In the original language, it simply says love.
This means that we are being conformed into the image of His Son. Because when we are in love, we are in God. The love of God will fill us.
Here it says that if these things exist in us, then we shall not be idle or unfruitful regarding the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The true knowledge of our Lord Jesus is that the character of our Lord Jesus is manifested in us. It is not how much you know in your brain.
The Corinthian church was fully equipped with eloquence and knowledge, but what they expressed was their own ugliness, not the glory of Christ.
Truly knowing the Lord is to let the Lord be expressed. In this way, then, you can enter the kingdom of God richly.
Dear brothers and sisters, the day of our Lord’s coming is at hand. When He comes, we shall all be gathered before Him.
We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. There we shall be judged.
We thank God that the judgment of the great white throne, the judgment of death and life, has already passed for us, because our Lord Jesus substituted for us and died on the cross. We shall not be subjected to that judgment.
But we who are in the house of God shall be judged before the throne of Christ. This is the time for our reward. Yet, brothers and sisters, it is also possibly the time when we will be reproached.
Judgment begins in the house of God. If we long for His coming, we shall be diligent.
May we be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.
How we hope that, because we are a people who wait for and hasten the coming of our Lord, when He comes He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Only when, in our daily life, we allow the Holy Spirit to conform us to the image of the Son of God are we truly waiting for the Lord.
Only this condition can make our Lord see that He cannot but return soon. The Spirit and the bride say, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
Let us bow down and pray.
Lord, help us so that we do not become those who only say that You should come back.
Let us be people who, in our daily life, wait for and hasten Your coming.
We wish that You would see that on this earth there is a group of people who can draw Your heart for You to return quickly.
In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.