Growing in grace involves actively cultivating seven specific virtues, beginning with moral excellence and culminating in love, as outlined in 2 Peter 1. These virtues, including knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, and brotherly kindness, are not isolated but build upon each other, empowered by a living faith and the new birth into God's divine nature. Cultivating these qualities ensures a believer is neither barren nor unfruitful in their knowledge of Christ, demonstrating genuine spiritual progress. The sermon concludes by emphasizing that this growth is essential for a fruitful Christian life and a sure entrance into God's everlasting kingdom.
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The reason I'm up here tonight and not down there is this microphone that makes a recording. Otherwise I would be down speaking on that side of the auditorium. Tonight we're turning to Second Peter chapter one. We're continuing our thoughts on Second Peter on the subject of growth in grace. And growth in grace is a theme of Second Peter. In the Second Epistle of Peter, you have the great problem of apostasy. You have the problem of false prophets and false teachers.
And because of this, he urges his people to grow in grace. So now we're beginning our reading in verse five, where it says, And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and the knowledge temperance and the temperance patience and the patience godliness and the godliness brotherly kindness and the brotherly kindness love 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 but he the lack of these things is blind and cannot see afar off and have forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things you shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. These are very important verses. You'll notice here in this passage that there are qualities that we as believers should nurture there to be nurtured in our lives now we cannot grow in grace unless we're born into the family this is most important there is no way that we can have the divine nature that he speaks about in verse four apart from being born it is birth that determines nature A horse is a horse and will never be anything but a horse because he was born a horse.
And that's the way it is. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And you can decorate the flesh. You can pamper the flesh. You can do anything you want for the flesh, but it's still flesh. And it's unacceptable to God. That's just the way it is. We need the divine nature. And the only way to have it is by way of the new birth. Now, in verse five, we are told to give all diligence to supply to our faith, virtue, and these other six things that he mentions. He lists seven qualities or seven traits of character in moral development.
Now, when you consider these seven things, you'll notice that each one is inherent in the one preceding it. You can't have number two before you have number one. And you can't have number five before you have number four. And that is the way that the preceding moral quality supplements the one that follows it. And all are empowered by a living faith. That living faith which was given to us when we were born of God. Verse four, we were made partakers of the divine nature. So this living faith, it draws on this divinely implanted life.
Now let us look at these seven qualities or moral traits of character. The first one you have, he said, add to your faith virtue. Virtue is translated by another moral excellence. The Greek word here has a variety of renderings. The one who fulfills the purposes and the implications of Christian calling. If you're saved, you have been called by God. And that call has resulted in an effectual work in your life.
And it provides what we could call virtue or moral courage or energy. in the exercise of faith. How we need that. Oh, how we long to see energy in the exercise of faith. There are those who would translate it, vigorous action in the exercise of faith. How necessary it is. It always reminds me of the late Dr. Barnhouse. He was preaching in California. And of course, when you have to travel a large distance, you usually leave early to avoid any problems that you don't get there late.
And he was sitting in front of the church about a half hour before anybody else came. And while he was sitting there, he saw a car come down the street driven by a drunk person. And an accident ensued. And the person who was sitting next to the drunk pulled the drunk man over. that that sober man got behind the wheel. When the police came and they wrote it up after they were finished, Barnhouse said, Excuse me, that man is a liar. That man was not behind the wheel of the car. The drunk man was.
Across the street is my automobile. I've been sitting there. I'm from Philadelphia. But I'll come to California to appear against that man in court. That's moral courage. That's moral courage. And you and I are living in a day when moral courage is needed. There's a real battle that's going to be waged this year here in Alamance County. They're taking a vote again in the city of Burlington on liquor by the drink. And very few people understand the liquor laws of North Carolina. It took me a number of years to try to understand what they meant by brown bagging when I first came here.
I couldn't understand this thing at all, what they were talking about brown bagging. But now they want liquor by the drink. What people don't realize are the subtle ways we're going to have many clubs springing up that have bars in them. And other moral degradation is going to follow. There's no question about it. And of course, the vote now is only for the city of Burlington. And I would urge everybody to get out and vote against it. If you're not registered, you should be. And it's a rare thing whenever I talk about anything like this from the platform.
But if you're old enough to vote, you're not registered, you should be, and you only have a few weeks to do it. You only have till about October the fifth. But one of the things that people don't understand about this liquor by the drink law is they can have satellite clubs out in the county where it's not supposed to be. Whether you know that or not, it's a fact in North Carolina. In the city of Asheville, Asheville is has a liquor by the drink license. It was voted in. But way out of the city limits of Asheville is a satellite club. It's not really a club. It's a hotel, a motel complex.
And they said, we'll pay taxes to Asheville. We don't want water. We don't want sewer. We don't want any protection. We'll pay you taxes. All we want is to get a liquor license. And they're able to do it. And the city is able to annex certain places in the county, to the city as satellite parts, jumping over a part of the county to do it for the purpose of a liquor license. Now you may not understand that, and I don't understand how it can be done, but it has been done and it's being done.
And that's one of the reasons we need the prayer. We need moral courage. in the day in which we live and then you'll notice out of moral excellence or virtue moral courage that which leads to vigorous action grows knowledge now this knowledge here that you have in the end of verse five is connected with moral excellence in other words it denotes a practical knowledge in which we can grow. It's a practical knowledge. In other words, it's an experimental knowledge, not something you simply have in theory, but it's something that comes to you and you realize it in fact.
You know it because you have experienced it. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians in First Corinthians, He said, await to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God. He wasn't talking about theoretical knowledge there. He was talking about experimental knowledge, an experimental knowledge which translates into a practical growth in the Christian life. Now, this practical knowledge, it denotes a discernment between right and wrong in facing the duties of life.
Discernment. If anything is needed in the Christian community today, it is discernment. Where moral and spiritual values are concerned, the good man, he thinks more clearly and discriminately than the licentious man. It's that simple. Add to your faith knowledge. Now the cure for false knowledge is not less knowledge, but knowledge that is based on moral insight. And let me get down to chapter two. In the second chapter of First Peter, where he deals with false teachers and false teaching and their ways and what they do, he's simply describing what has been going on in North Carolina in recent years.
making merchandise of men, bringing in terrible heresies, foolish things, and licentious activity. And therefore, you'll notice moral excellence leads to knowledge, an experimental knowledge, a knowledge that manifests a discernment that God expects his people to manifest. And that leads to self-control, as you have in verse six, and the knowledge temperance. And that word temperance, another word is self-control. And this self-control, this points to that inner power to control one's desires and cravings as a fruit of true knowledge.
You know what is right. That's knowledge. And out of that flows... self-control you use the knowledge to make proper choices now this term self-control while it's often used in relation to sexual desires it extends to all areas of life all areas of life where virtue is guided by knowledge it disciplines the desires and it makes the person, the master, rather than the servant of life.
There are a lot of people that are servants instead of masters. And God has put us into the place where we can exercise self-control and we can discipline our lives, that we're in control rather than being under the dominion of worldly and fleshly desires. Now, There's something we need to state and we need to state it firmly. Any system of religion which claims that religious knowledge emancipates from the obligations of morality is false. In other words, any man who says, I've been freed, I can do as I please, I can live licentiously if I like, that person is false.
That is a false teacher. And anyone who acts that way, if they're a true child of God, they're certainly going to be disciplined by God. Self-control. And out of self-control naturally flows patience or endurance, or as it is termed otherwise, perseverance. You see, this is the inner power of endurance. And how is the inner power of endurance developed? It is developed by persistent self-control. You see how the one flows out of the other. A person who knows no self-control certainly knows no discipline.
And the apostle says, add these things to your faith. God has given unto you all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Now here's where you can tell how you're growing in grace. Add to your faith virtue. to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control, endurance are patience. Now, the Greek word for patience carries the thought of to stay, to abide, to remain. The hardest thing to do is that. To stay somewhere when they're going tough. To abide when everybody else doesn't abide.
Patience. And that's a thought here. Now, when we think of patience or endurance or perseverance, this quality fosters the ability to withstand two satanic agencies that are constantly at work. One is within and one is without. There is the flesh within. And there is the world without. And the world without pulls. And it's hard to stand alone when the pull of the world is always there. But endurance is what is developed out of knowledge and self-control.
Endurance. Patience. There is the world without. And then there's a flesh within that always agrees with the world. And then, of course, there's Satan. who uses the world and who uses the flesh. And God has so called us and he has so equipped us that you and I are able to endure. He says, add to your faith, endurance or patience. So you'll notice the progression here from virtue, manly courage, to knowledge, to self-control, to endurance.
And then he adds an add to endurance godliness. Christian patience or endurance, it's motivated by godliness. A desire to be godly. A desire to manifest the character of Jesus Christ. Now, beloved, it's possible because we have been made partakers of the divine nature. That's in verse four. We have been made partakers of the divine nature. Therefore, godliness is possible. In other words, godliness is an attitude of reverence that seeks to please God. I want to please God. I don't want to please myself.
I don't want to please the world. I want to please God. I want to live for Him. Now, this is a desire to be rightly related. both to God and to man. And the only person who is really rightly related to his neighbor is the one who is rightly related to God. That's the only one who can be. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Then all these things will be added unto you. You see, now this desire to be godly This godliness distinguishes the true believer from the false teacher of the next chapter.
Godliness. It is godliness that makes a distinction. That godliness which manifests itself in a life that manifests Jesus Christ. It is written of the early church. In Acts chapter four, they took note of Gita and John. You see that they were unlearned men, but they had been with Jesus. They manifested the character of Christ. Furthermore, at Antioch, in Acts eleven, they were called Christians first at Antioch. Why? There was a manifestation of that godly life of Jesus Christ.
Now, their godliness, he says, brotherly kindness. Out of that godliness flows, brotherly kindness. This denotes the warm brotherly affection between those who are spiritual brothers in the family of God. It's quite interesting that Peter here uses the word, the term brethren. The only time it's found in Peter's first epistle, and you have it in verse ten, wherefore the rather brethren. He talks here about brotherly kindness. And then in verse ten, he uses the expression brethren. Now, this word here and this act in the family of God, it manifested toward acts of kindness toward the family of God.
And that you read about in Galatians six, where he says, do good unto all men. especially they who are of the household of faith. And you see, the household of faith are the brethren, and the sisters are included. And we're especially to do good unto them. And here's where this manifestation of brotherly kindness should be seen. John, when he writes in the third chapter, he says, if you see your brother in need, and he's talking about a Christian brother, and you shut up your bowels of compassion toward him, you do nothing to help him.
How draw up the love of God in you? How draw up the love of God in you? It's a good question. And finally, we come to number seven, which is love, translated charity in the King James translation. but it's love. Now this is our greatest of Christian virtues. First Corinthians thirteen, thirteen tells us that love is the greatest. You see, this forms a natural climax to the portrayal of Christian character. A man who claims to be a Christian and doesn't love the brethren, John says he's not a believer. That's what the first epistle of John says.
If we say we love God whom we haven't seen, and hate our brother whom we have seen, how dwelleth the love of God in him. Here we have love, and the term implies something. The term implies something. It implies warmth and affection. And this denotes a love that springs from intelligence and goodwill, purposely desiring the welfare of the one who is loved. That's really what love is. Love desires the best for the other person. That's wrong. That's a thrust of First Corinthians thirteen.
Genuine love desires the best for the other person. Not the best for me, but for the other person. And that's so important. Now, genuine love does not gloss over nor does it condone sin. If I fall into sin and you love me, you're going to rebuke me. If you don't love me, you'll keep your mouth shut. The Bible says, Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. And that love, which is talked about as love, but is only much, which would never say a word to anybody else, that is not love.
Genuine love cares enough to rebuke. The Lord to the church at Laodicea, he says, Those I love, I rebuke, and I chasten. In Hebrews chapter twelve we read, Whomsoever the Lord loveth he chasteneth. And therefore, if a man truly loves me, that man will be loving enough to tell me when I'm wrong. and to rebuke me if I sin. Love does not condone sin. It does not gloss over sin. It cannot. You see, love engages in self-sacrificing action to produce the highest good in the person loved.
Love that doesn't cost something isn't love. And I'll tell you, when you have to rebuke somebody, it costs something. You spend a lot of time before God in prayer, before you ever do it. And it hurts when you do it. You see, self-sacrificing, self-sacrificing, that's all, because you're seeking the best. in the other person you want the highest good to be manifested in the other person now we've noticed seven qualities or traits of Christian character here in verses five through verse seven it begins with virtue and it ends with love now all these elements are named as inherent characters of a maturing Christian character.
If you're maturing as a child of God, if you're growing in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord, here are the seven elements that are going to be manifest in your life. They're like the nine elements of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians chapter five. Now all these seven things may not be developed equally in any one believer. And you can't compartmentalize them either. You don't do that. We can't select one quality to the disregard of the other. Just like the fruit of the Spirit, it's one cluster. You can't have love without having joy and peace.
You see. And you can't have love here without having virtue and self-control and endurance You see, they all flow one out of the other. They are so important to us. They are all the fruit of the Spirit's work in the life of the believer. Now, after going over these qualities, Peter has something to say in verse eight. He says, 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. We're talking here about a personal knowledge.
Here we have the effect of abundant growth. It's a fact. Notice the phrase, for if these qualities are yours and are increasing, it depicts the marks of an abundant growth. If they're yours and they're increasing. And this expression in verse eight, it also summarizes. these seven elements in the growth that's elaborated in verses five through seven. Now he says these qualities had become a rightful part of their character. And these qualities rend a believer neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Let us look at those two words useless. That word useless there means unworking. It makes a person that he's not unworking. It doesn't mean that one is unavoidably unemployed. But it's talking here of one who avoids labor for which he should assume responsibility. He just avoids it. She's tired. I don't want to. And it can be avoided. You see, to avoid it. You see, James, in James chapter two, verse twenty, uses this expression when he talks of a faith that fails to show itself in works.
Useless. A faith that doesn't work is not a faith. And when these things are in you and abound, that means you're growing in the Lord, then you're not useless. That's what he's saying. They keep you from being useless. Now this is important. We should be wanting to be used by God. But notice something else. He uses the expression, will not only keep us from being useless, but it will make us that we're not barren or unfruitful. In other words, this picture is a fruit tree here which remains barren.
Under the most favorable conditions. And when you have a fruit tree in the yard, and it remains barren year after year, and the conditions are excellent. Like our Lord in the pig tree. You see, he had come to it for these three years. And it has never borne any figs. And he said, one more year, and I'll dung it. I'll fertilize it. and then see if it brings forth fruit. And if not, I'll cut it down. I'll cut the tree down. So he's speaking here, if these things begin you and abound, they make you that you're neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In other words, this expression, the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the aim toward an ever greater measure. Of which they are continually in advance. In other words, we came to know Christ when we were saved. But we're growing in that knowledge. I know him a lot better now than I did then. It's an intimate growing knowledge of that which I already have. Now this is a part of the divine nature. This is mine by the new birth. It will never be fully known in this life.
But I should be able to take a look at my life and say, I am growing. And here's the evidence. Are you growing? Here's the evidence that I'm growing in the Lord. Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control patience, to patience, brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness, godliness, to godliness of God. If these things be in you and abound, they make you that you're neither barren nor untruthful in the knowledge of God. Now there's more there in the text. It says if you lack these things, and we'll take that up next week, with the exhortation and then with a glorious abundant entrance into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Now let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you tonight for the good reign. You don't know how much it rained. We've heard it, but we thank you for it, for you're the giver of every good and perfect gift. And as you continually give to us, may, oh God, we give to thee in self-sacrifice, desiring the good of others, showing forth the praises of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Keep us, our God. from regressing as believers. May we progress as believers.
May we make headway. May we indeed grow in grace. Remember the many who didn't come out tonight. We commend them to you. And we thank you that they're in Christ. And their love for you is not measured by an attendance at a meeting. But by that fervency of spirits that he's manifested toward you in private. So we just thank you for this time together and the exhortation to grow in the grace and knowledge of thy dear Son. And we'll thank you in his worthy name. Amen.