turn in the word of God tonight to the second epistle of Peter the second epistle of Peter I would like to read two verses in chapter one verses ten and eleven this second epistle of Peter written particularly in relation to the closing days of the age very previously to the coming of the Lord he describes the conditions in the world as you may read particularly in chapter two and also in chapter three but in chapter one verse ten and eleven notice the beloved Apostles advice the counsel of his heart as he writes to the beloved believers to whom he was by the Lord's Son particularly he was the Apostles of the circumcision Paul was called the Apostles of the Gentiles Peter particularly Ministers of the Jewish believers in the early days of the church. But listen to his words of counsel in verse ten and eleven. Wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and your election sure. For as you do these things ye shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom. of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let me read the last word again in verse eleven, where the beloved apostle Peter particularly emphasizes a truth we need to realize, the coming of an everlasting kingdom. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly, indicating you'll have a triumphant entrance or admission into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May I humbly but carefully present to you that in the New Testament there are many great truths within it, but may I present to you three particular lines of truth which you can follow by the writings of the Apostles in the whole book of the New Testament. There is a line of truth that we could call particularly emphasizing the person of Christ. We could call it Christ's truth. And I believe the Apostle John particularly is one of the writers who set before us the person of the Lord Jesus more than any other writer. Let me give you the suggestive thought. When you read the writings of John, the Gospel of John, by way of illustration, He does not begin that gospel without, first of all, presenting the greatness of the glories and even the eternal greatness of the Son of God. In chapter one, verses one through eighteen, the subject of the portion is the person of Christ, the one who was in the beginning with God, the one who in the beginning was God, and the one who came from God to be made flesh. And Christ seems to be the particular theme of the writing of John. And you well know the gospel emphasizes the great deity and the glory and the greatness of Christ as the Son of God. But then when you go to the book of the epistles and he writes, the very first epistle, he cannot begin that epistle and he does not begin it. Without in chapter one and the first three verses or four, he particularly presents the Lord Jesus. the one whom he had seen, the one whom he had heard, the one whom he had handled, and the one who was the word of life. And again he presents, by way of introduction, the person of Christ, for the objective delight of the believers are. You've got a similar truth in his writing of the great book of the Revelation. He does not commence that great book of judgment with its many judgments that are described. and the full complete end of the purposes of God. But at the very beginning in chapter one, he presents the greatness of that coming person who is to be the judge of all the earth, even the Lord Jesus Christ. So may I suggest when you read the gospel or even the writings of John elsewhere, he very definitely emphasizes and presents to our hearts the greatness and the glories of the person of Christ. And we could call that Christ's truth. Then there is another great line of truth in the New Testament, and particularly in the epistle, and especially written by the beloved apostle Paul. As you especially read the prison epistles of Paul, it is Paul the apostle by the Holy Spirit that reveals more than any other writer, not entirely, not altogether, but more than the other, the wonderful truth of the church. And if you want to know what church truth is regarding its origin and its function and its ultimate destiny, how you can read with delight the unfolding of the epistles of Paul, he emphasizes the truth of the church. In fact, you may remember in one of his epistles, as you have it in the Colossian epistles, he declares that he completed the Word of God. Now, what did he mean when he made such a statement? He was not the last one to write the word of God. For we fully believe the last writer of the scriptures was undoubtedly the apostle John. But he was the one who gave the last revelation of divine truth regarding the church. For the church in the Old Testament and the church in the gospel who's not known. Though the Lord Jesus first of all spoke of him but did so concerning the future of him. But Paul particularly, how he enlarges the great subject of the church. Its origin, together with its functions, and I commend every brother and sister, to get to know the writings of Paul, if you would know the truth and the responsibilities of the church upon the earth. But then we have another line of truth, which Peter emphasizes in the words that we have read. It can be called kingdom truth. Now, giving of truth is not merely a New Testament truth. You find it the subject of the Old Testament again and again and again. Many of you may remember the great prophecy. Whether you begin with Isaiah and go down to the end, to the book of Malachi. But all those prophecies, together with other prophecies before, they emphasize that coming a glorious kingdom, a great kingdom. through Daniel himself that said, the blessed Lord the Messiah would have a kingdom, a great dominion. And I'm sure we well remember that others likewise have said in the scriptures of old, the Lord Jesus is to be the coming king of kings and the Lord of lords over the earth. And you have Peter emphasizing it. Now may I point out to you, Peter is emphasizing kingdom truth We have the joy this morning of considering that precious truth regarding the marriage of the Lord Jesus to the bride, which is the church. And what a wonderful truth that was. But please may I be reminded with you the marriage of the church to the Lord Jesus. And the great celebration in heaven is not the end of all things. There is a kingdom to come. Not only in its millennial reign of a thousand years, but an everlasting kingdom. Know with me what Peter writes. Let me repeat it again in verse eleven. He speaks of it being an everlasting kingdom of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ. Again, let me refer to Daniel. Daniel in chapter seven, they've mentioned it would be an everlasting dominion. May I also mention that when Gabriel came to marry the mother of the Lord Jesus in his earthly birth, you recall that Gabriel told her, he would be on the throne of David, he would be the eternal son of the highest, and would be on the throne of David his father, and of his kingdom, said Gabriel, there shall be no end. Can I repeat that again? You've got a lot of kingdoms upon the earth. So many kingdoms and nations. But here is the kingdom which God says will never end. And which Peter writes has ever lapsed in kingdom. I want you to look further with me what Peter says. For as we read on in the scripture here in this chapter one. Go with me to verse sixteen. Let me go down with you from verse sixteen and read if I may through verse eighteen. For here Peter gives a testimony regarding the glory of that kingdom, where he goes on to say in verse sixteen, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power, the authority, and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For we received from God the Father Honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him, from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice we heard, which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him on the Holy Mount. Now let me pause and meditate with you. I think you quickly recognize, Peter is writing of an event during the life of the Lord Jesus. of which you may read in Luke nine, Mark nine, as well as Matthew chapter seventeen, when upon that mount in the land of Israel the Lord Jesus took Peter, James and John, and on that mount he was magnified, glorified, and transfigured before them. You remember that scene which is described by Matthew and Mark as well as Luke? John never touches it, but Matthew, Mark and Luke do. And the Lord Jesus was transfigured, his face did shine as white, as bright as the sun, and his garment as white as the light. Together with him one on either side, Moses and Elijah in glory. And Peter, James, and John were eyewitnesses of that great glory. It was the revelation of the glory of the coming kingdom. Oh, may I say, thank God. As we sang tonight of that blessed one, we know as the man of Calvary. And as we sang of that blessed truth of Calvary, Mercy there was great and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me. There my burdened soul found liberty where? Calvary. My beloved, look, you'll never get, you'll never get in the kingdom unless you've been to Calvary. For said the Lord Jesus, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. But Peter and James and John were eyewitnesses and saw his majesty, the coming glory of that kingdom, as it were in miniature but fully revealed. You may recall that on that occasion, as they journey down the mountains following it. The Lord Jesus told his disciples, Don't tell anyone about it until I've gone. Make no mention of it until I've left. But thank God Peter writes about it after the death and the burial, the resurrection and the departure of the Lord to heaven. And if he writes to these believers to whom he was seeking to minister, he reminds them of their coming kingdom. We saw it. We were eyewitnesses. And we beheld His Majesty. Not only that, we heard a voice from heaven. And that voice said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I will please. And what a joy to recognize the preview that was given to Peter, James, and John of that coming kingdom. My beloved me, I say there's a great distinction. between what you have in John fourteen then this where in John fourteen we the Lord Jesus said in my father's house are many abiding places many mansions I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am then he may be also and may I comment the same Every child of God will be welcomed, just as welcome as any, as any all the others, the children of God. We'll all be welcome in the Father's house. It's home. My father's home. I'm going to bring you to my father's home. And everyone will be on the same basis, children to the Father. But now when we look at the kingdom, when we consider the kingdom, with this everlasting glory. Will you please remember there's much to realize of the vastness, the greatness, and the eternal glory of that coming kingdom. And then when Peter goes on to say and note this, though we saw that vision of our Lord's transfiguration, he says that something else better to go by. Look with me in verse nineteen. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Whereon do you do well that you take heed? And the prophetic books, as we have suggested, they all relate to the kingdom that is yet to come. And that sure word of prophecy, we can go by. It's a light in a dark place, shining in a dark place. A lamp that is shining in a dark place. Until the day dawns. And the days are arising your heart. And what a joy to realize. Please, may I say. Peter said, don't take my word for it. Don't take the fact that we saw His Majesty alone. But the very fullness of the prophetic word is like a light shining in a dark place. And may I say we live in the darkest place we could ever live in right now. This world. That shining in the darkness. To the heart of the children of God is the prophetic word. Pointing to the coming again of our Lord Jesus. Not only for his bride. But to be the king of kings. And the Lord of lords. His kingdom. My beloved may I suggest to you. Look beyond the rapture. Look beyond that glorious marriage of the land. Look beyond even the millennial kingdom. And that will be wonderful to realize. My everlasting kingdom. Now go back to our verses in Ten and Eleven. Let me look at them with you briefly before going further. Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and your election sure. Be spiritually diligent to prove that you'll have an entrance into that kingdom. But I want you to note something in verse eleven. Peter longs. I want you to have an abundant entrance. I think it is Weymouth's translation, all paraphrasing puts it, that you may have a triumphant admission into the everlasting kingdom. Meaning, you have a place of honor in the glory of the kingdom. May I suggest to you, you know well, you have it in Daniel seven again to which we revert. Daniel in that prophetic chapter says, He speaks of the coming glory of the king in his kingdom. And he says, The saints shall take the kingdom. Now, beloved, the saints today don't have a kingdom to reign over. But through everlasting nature, or may I put the words in your heart that you know so well, from Revelation chapter five, where John speaks of the great throng in heaven, the Lord Jesus in the midst of the little land that was slain for us, Remember the song we shall sing, and give him the worthiness. Thou art worthy, as he takes the book that gives him the right to take the kingdom of the world for himself. Thou art worthy, for thou art slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood, out of every kindred tribe and tongue and people. And thou art made as a kingdom of priests, and we shall reign on and over the earth. My beloved, let me say, the raining day is coming. The day when the saints will rain. I want to assure you, you're not going to the White House in Washington either, or any other of the kingdom. But over the kingdom, whether the millennial and beyond it, the eternal ages of the everlasting kingdom, it's going to be a time of rain. Sharing together the glory of the kingdom. May I suggest that's a far greater kingdom. Daniel again speaks of it as being. The great kingdom, the greatest of the kingdom. And what a joy to know of that eternal kingdom. You know what Peter says? It's an everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now let me give you the thought. We have the joy this morning of realizing how precious to be a member of the bride of Christ. How precious to know he will take the church, having loved it, redeemed it, and nourished it, and taken care of it, and then cleaning it completely to be the perfect bride to present to himself. What a joy that's going to be. But may I say that's not the end of the joy. That's not the end of the glory. The glory is going to be ours forever and ever to share with him. And may I suggest to you, the Lord Jesus in that glorious eternal reign will have his own dear saint, whether old and New Testament saints, sharing the glory of that new creation, the new heavens and the new earth, of that eternal everlasting kingdom. Now may I give you the suggested thought? consider I know we're going to the father's house and we know that the bride will be married to the Lord Jesus forever he'll be the eternal lover of that blessed bride never failing her but remember we're going to share the kingdom with him and we can ask our hearts the question well let me give you the suggestion thought from the scripture remember on one occasion James and John On one occasion he wanted the gospel. Then another gospel. It says their mother came. And that's the Lord Jesus the request. And he said what is it that you want? And the answer was given. She wanted Jimmy and Johnny. Her Jimmy to be on one side of the Lord Jesus and the Johnny on the other side when he was in the kingdom. Meaning the most prominent place. I don't know why John didn't say Moses and Elijah got there first. But he didn't. But selfishly, and if God made me remind it, when the other disciples heard about it, oh boy, they could have smashed Jimmy and Johnny in the face on the face, or a bag. Listen, and the Lord Jesus said, if not for me to give, but for my father. And you have the suggestive thought. There will be places of honor. There will be places of special glory. When Peter and others in this Bible said, When Peter said, Lord, we let's all to follow thee. What shall we have? Remember the Lord Jesus told them, you twelve apostles, you'll sin on twelve thrones, judging the tribes of Israel. Such special position of blessing and honor will be given to them. And the Lord Jesus stated it. And may I be reminded with you, when you read Revelation chapter four, when John sees the glory of heaven, he sees the saints sitting on what? Throne. My beloved, may I give you the thought? The crowning day is not only for the Lord Jesus. Praise his name. But that crowning day is going to share with his people. The honor and the glory. He wants to share with us. Now go back to our verses, verses ten and eleven, and look, particularly in verse ten, I want you to know what he says, wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence. Look, the kingdom's coming, and be diligent. Make sure you're calling an election. It's certain. For now what follows? He says this. If you do these things, now note that expression. If you do these things. And note the result. If you do these things, first of all, you'll never fall. You'll be a steadfast Christian. You'll never fall. And I wonder, I'm sure perhaps Peter remembered his own fall. As you may well remember, he denied his blessed Lord whom he loved three times as the Lord told him Satan was sleeping in. as we but Peter is saying if you do these things you'll never fall but second thing it results as we suggested in verse eleven the eternal result you'll have an abundant a triumphant entrance into the kingdom you'll have a place of honor now may I raise the question what are these things what are these things that a believer should be doing for his and her place in that everlasting kingdom. Well, I think Peter speaks about them in the preceding part of the chapter. Look very quickly with me. I want you to know this and go very quickly down the chapter from verse one, down through verse nine. And here is what Peter says, the things we should be doing. First of all, let me read verse one, two, three, and four, which is the introduction of those things. For what you find in the introductory portion of the chapter, the foundation of spiritual diligence is to be saved. Is to be saved. Can I say frankly, as well as joyfully, and truthfully, I never had any spiritual diligence to deny the Lord saved me. I want to tell you, if you're not saved, you'll never be spiritually diligent. You've got to get faithless. For you never want to be spiritually diligent. But to be saved is the foundation of it. Let me read it quickly. Simon Peter a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. To then develop faith like precious faith. You belong to the Savior. You have the same faith that Peter had. We have our faith in our blessed Lord. And through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. And that was the beginning of spiritual diligence. When you and I, my fellow believers, have found the Lord Jesus. And may I suggest, if you're not saved, listen, you will not be spiritually diligent until your soul receives salvation from the Lord. You won't have any desire to be. And I do recall the night the Lord saved me. The first thing I did as soon as I could. I bought the biggest Bible I could get for my money. And I got a good big Bible for five dollars back then in nineteen hundred and fourteen. But the church... I want to be diligent. I want to know more about my Savior. More about his word. And as you find Peter saying, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. According to his divine power, have given unto us, and notice all things that pertain unto life and godliness. May I suggest, oh how many need it? If you hesitate about becoming a Christian, if you do what I recall one man years ago in Sumter at the close of the meeting at the door, I said, are you a Christian? He said, no, I'm not. I said, why not? Well, he said, I want to be sure I can live a Christian life before I become one. I look kind of at a friend. You put in the car before the horse, aren't you? How can you live a Christian life before you become one? Well, I never thought of that. My friend, listen. The moment you become one, please take verse three in. God has all the provision you need to go on. Can I repeat that again? Well, good God, more young Christians saw it. God has all the provision you need from the time he saves you to carry you through, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue, whereby you notice our given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that blessed book from cover to cover, that by these you share that new nature with him. partake, share with each other, abandon. I'm glad when God saved me, he didn't patch up my own nature, because my own nature hadn't changed yet. He gave me a new nature. A new life! Oh, may I quote C.H. H. McIntosh wrote these words, I've never forgotten. Christianity is the life of Christ, imparted to a believer and dwelling in a believer, and flowing through a believer. May I repeat it? Christianity is the life of Christ. This is what Paul said in Galatians two twenty. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, that Christ liveth in me. And the light that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. And all the promises of God are available to encourage that new life, which you now have. And as the Apostle writes, you have escaped the corruption that is in the world through us. I thank God when the Lord saved me. He not only saved my soul from hell, he saved my soul from this world around. Oh, the joy of knowing. Please, Christian, may I suggest to you, when the Lord saved you and me, he didn't save us for the world, he saved us for heaven. He saved us to be used in the world yet. But his sage is for heaven. As we saw in the morning one of the morning readings, remember, in Galatians one, three, and four, our Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sin that he might deliver us out of this present evil world according to the will of God our Father. And that foundation, please let me ask the question. Make sure you're on the right foundation. Faith in the Lord Jesus. Salvation through faith in his blood. His righteousness profited by God's grace to all who believe on the Savior. And the divine provision to go on till we reach him in glory. But that's not all. That's only the beginning of those things. Now please note in verse five, six, and seven. Peter writes, beside this. Now here's where we need the diligence. And you've noticed, he says it. Giving all diligence. After you're sure of your salvation, you still need to be diligent. And this is what he says to do. Add or supply. And I think the translation could be. Supply in your faith. You begin by faith. Your foundation is faith. In the blessed Lord Jesus and his finished work. And the supply in that faith. Go on with that faith. And produce what? Virtue. Meaning courage. And to courage. Knowledge. Now think very quickly with me of those two things. Virtue could be translated, courage, and knowledge, meaning acquired knowledge. In other words, actively, make it known that you're a believer. Make it known by your courage, whether it be by life or word. You belong to him. And what a joy to know when he saves us. I thank God. For the joy of saying, as soon as the Lord Jesus saved me, I got home that night. I wrote a postcard to my favorite cousin in the old country of England and told him, I've been saved. I never got an answer. That didn't bother me, though. But he never answered. The next morning, as I entered work, I said, joy to my first companion. Joy to my slave last night. Go ahead and hear it, John. The rest of me when he was in jail in a little while. He wasn't a Christian, but he said, I'm glad to hear it. But the joy was to tell him. And I must confess I must have made amuses with myself. When one old maid in the place where I worked got me on one side. And she was a prim old maid. She was not a Christian, but she was a very immoral person. And said, Johnny, there's such a thing as getting too much religion. I'd scratch my head. I said, I don't know much about religion. But can I tell you how I feel? You know, I started bubbling over again. I feel I never get too much of Christ. And isn't that true? that I may know him, not only have courage, but go on knowing him better. Peter at the end of the epistle says, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And Paul wrote even toward the end of his day, Oh, that I may know it. Paul, don't you know it? Oh, I love, I want to know it better. That's one of these things. One of the things that contribute to what will be your place in the kingdom. Then next, note in verse six, to knowledge temperance, meaning self-control, and to temperance, patience, or endurance. Now the first two things, virtue and knowledge, very active elements. But here, self-control and patience, one can realize more passive in character. But self-control means my body's under control, my passions are controlled. And may I lovingly say with a heavy heart, two or three of my dearly early companions, when I knew the Lord, wrecked their testimony by their passions getting out of control. How sad. And please may I say, though we may have knowledge, we have to do what Paul said in First Corinthians nine, keep the body under, in subjection. It's one of those things. his house toward the glory of the kingdom to share with him. And then, as you have it, not only controlling the man within, but also putting up with the circumstances outside. Patience. You know, when I was first laid, in those early days, they told me about an old lady that had her favorite verse when she got into trouble that comforted her. And they said the old lady's verse was grin. and bear it. Well, I did my best to find it in the Bible, and I couldn't find it until many years later, I recall going down the Greek lexicon on this scripture, and I looked at the word patience in the Greek text and looked at the meaning of it in the Greek lexicon, and I found what it said. Patience meant endurance, and then it also added cheerful and hopeful endurance. And I thought, oh, I found the old lady's words at length. It's not what you go through it, how you go through it. With patience, with endurance, putting up with it. One of my grandsons, now this goes back, I guess they must go back for over two or thirty-five years, something like that. I used to call him the Great Tribulation when he came around the house. And he's gone through the Great Tribulation, I'm glad to say he's gone better. But, you know, I want to tell you, even if you're grandparents, you sometimes have a hard time putting up with grandchildren. One dear brother, I remember August Van Wright said, the reason they call him grand is grand to see him come, it's grand to see him go. But one realized, we have circumstances, outward circumstances. How do you go through them? Oh, please, may I say, here is one of the things, one of these things that contribute to your place of honor and glory in the kingdom. How you bear the circumstances of life. My. Doesn't it speak to your heart and conscience? How you go through it. Now what you go through. How you go through it. Enduring. Now please. May I be reminded with you what it says in Hebrews twelve. The Lord Jesus. He endured the cross. And the despising of the shame. He endured it. Well, let me give you this story when I lived in Sunday years ago. I had a neighbor across the street. She was dying with cancer of the throat. And I used to go over and visit with her. And one day as I sat by her bedside, I said, Mrs. Hill, she must be very painful for you at times. And that's over fifty years ago. And they didn't have the medication provision that you have today to alleviate pain in that day. I said, Mrs. Hills, it must be painful for your times, is it not? She said, Mr. Bramall, it is. Well, what do you do when it gets so painful? How do you bear it? She said, Mr. Bramall, when the pain gets so hard to bear, I think of what my Lord bore on the cross. I think of what he suffered for me. You get the truth. How thus in patience she just reflected upon what he suffered. and an elder up to bear what she suffered. And what a joy to know. She gave us more grace. And thank God there is grace in us for every trial. And the joy of knowing how we go through things. May not be sickness. You can name many things. You know well. And there's a lot of it going on today that makes the circumstances difficult in life and in home and in school and in the world. How do you bear it? Do you bear it for his glory and willing to suffer? Remember Peter writes at the end of his first epistle, after you suffered a while, then you get in the glory. And Peter in his first epistle from beginning to the end, the whole thing is suffering, the glory, suffering, the glory. And did not the Lord Jesus on the road to Emmaus, Peter, the disciples, the two that he walked with? Or not Christ who was suffered before he ended into his glory and beginning of the scriptures? The prophets from Moses and God who were the prophets and the sons? He told them that Christ had to suffer. And Peter took up the refrain in his epistle from sufferings to glory. And my beloved, let me say, please let me say, It's not merely what you do. It's what you are. Your character. Your conduct. And thus being willing to bear patiently whatever circumstance may surround you. But now go further. And to patience. God bless. And I'm sure you will confess. There's a degree of improvement. Beginning with faith. Going on with virtue. To knowledge. And to self-control. And to patience. It's going to produce God-likeness. God-likeness. To be like the Savior. In word and deed and action. Oh my beloved Lord. I thank God Peter does not mention doing great things. He mentions being faithful to the Lord. And being like him. Godliness. Now then to Godliness. He had grumbly affection. The word Philadelphia. Brotherly love, a brotherly kindness, a brotherly affection. Love to all the same. And may I say, sometimes it's hard to get along with some things. But the responsibility is to love them just the same. One dear brother, which I have to tell the dear brother, as he tried to indoctrinate me with something that I knew was not scriptural. I told him I hardly disagree with you. Well, he was shocked that I said such a word, but I had to. He wasn't right. The book didn't teach what he was teaching. And he looked at me with surprise. Well, can we be friends? I said, friend. I looked at him with a smile and said, I've got to love you. But I do want to tell you, when the rapture comes, I hope I go off alongside of you. And I'll tell you all the way up. I told you so. Well, I said, I've got to love you. Yes, it is. Yes, I'm telling you, very frankly, you can find some disagreeable questions. For those who disagree in love, And there you can recognize brotherly affection. Just may I say, Lord, aren't you surprised the Lord loves you? I'm surprised he loves me. Wonderful things in the Bible I say. This is the dearest that Jesus loves me. But the joy of real life. Look, Peter says that you have love to all of God's people. And may I say, you may not agree. You may not even be pleased with some of the Lord's people. What they're doing, how they're living. Can you love them? we love and please may I say from first John four nineteen let me quote it what it is in the Greek text in our version it says we love him because he first loved us so leave that word him out it's not in the original text and John in the context is talking about loving one another and he said we love because he first loved us I want to tell you it's not just loving Christ it's loving your father brother and sister though you don't like what they're doing and you may not like what they said. That's a spiritual mark toward glory, if you can love them. Oh, may the Lord help us to love one another. No wonder the Lord said, love one another, even as I have loved you. God help us to do it. I will say, frankly, it's greatly needed amongst God's people everywhere. Now look at the last and his brotherly kindness, charity, or love. The Greek word agape, the highest form of love. God so loved, and his love was so great, he had to do something about it. For the object that he loved was so dear to him, he gave his only begotten son. That's love. And it's not human love. It's divine love. It's divine love. The flow of God's love in the heart. Now those that spiritual characteristics. They comprise what Peter said in verse ten. If you do these things. Now note in verse eight and nine. You have the proof. Whether you do it or whether you don't do it. First of all the proof of doing it. For if these things beware in you. Will you please know something? Dear brother that led me to the Lord. When writing to me many times he would encourage me. on one occasion said in his letter, Johnny, God is concerned about what he can do in you more than what he can do through you. And I've often thought of this man. He can no more do through me than what he's done in me. Right. And may I say frankly, I can't help you anymore if he's helped me. It's out of the experience of the heart. Along with God what he means to me. And to you, we are not able to do for others. But nobody goes on to say, if these things begin, and please note this, they make you. Underscore it. They make you. You want to be a better Christian? Here's the reason. Here's the way you can. If these things begin you, and abound, they make you. You'll never be idle. That's the meaning of what follows. Neither be barren or untruthful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And beloved, then you've got the proof of spiritual diligence. But then on the other hand, in verse nine, let me say frankly, Peter's writing to Christians. But he that lacketh these things is blind, cannot see afar off, have forgotten.