Sermon Tone Analysis

Last time we spoke of adding to our faith virtue which has to do with becoming like Jesus, to do those things which are honourable and praise-worthy.

God has done His part in bringing us back into reconciliation, back into fellowship with God that we are to give all our effort, all diligence into supplementing our faith.

Today, we are going to look at more additions and supplementation:

Knowledge

To our faith we add virtue, to our virtue we are to add knowledge.

Knowledge is one of the main themes of Peter’s letter.

What is knowledge?

It is insight and understanding.

Here Peter assumes we have come to the point of knowledge regarding Jesus being our Saviour.

We know this because knowledge has come after faith and virtue.

We need true knowledge in order to come to faith.

If we do not have faith then having virtue before true knowledge is religion, a working towards being accepted by God.

What is true knowledge?

It is that Jesus came to earth, died for our sins, and rose again in the flesh.

We have to know these things to be saved in the first place.

If we deny this we have definitely not yet come to faith in Christ; we are not Christians but if we acknowledge these things yet this knowledge has not become reality, that is, if we have not put our trust in Christ to save us then we are in the same predicament as we find in:

There has to be a movement from the head to the heart, from knowing mentally to knowing experimentally.

Otherwise we are those who have knowledge but lack wisdom about the right course of action; we know but we refuse to allow this knowledge to make a real-life difference.

This is the problem for those who accept that Jesus did rise from the dead for the evidence is overwhelming but decide they like their lives the way they are and do not assimilate Jesus’ commands to repent and be baptised.

For me this is the stupidest thing to do because it is not only this life that is affected by such decision of the will but the next:

The word believed has to be more than the devils’ believing - it means to put our trust, our lives on the line for the One who put His life on the line for us.

Otherwise it is as Paul writes:

So, we have established Peter is not talking about saving knowledge in today’s passage though it is clear that God is He

So, if Peter is not talking about the knowledge that brings us to faith in the first place then it is a different kind of knowledge.

We have the initial knowledge but now we need to know more.

We need to learn about God and His ways.

We need to learn more about the salvation that was bought for us and all that Jesus achieved and the assurance He gives us of eternal life.

We need to learn about the Bible, about the Trinity, about angels and demons, about creation and people, about God’s view of the Church, about last things and its consummation, to know about God and who He is, to know about Christ and who He is, to know about the Holy Spirit and who He is.

Then we need to learn about God’s will and purpose: what does He require of us?

How do we go about this except by listening to sermons, reading the bible, studying the bible, reading books and in our day-to-day relationship with God and with each other.

There is an expectation on Peter’s part that this adding to is a continual adding to and adding to and adding to.

Of course, knowledge is responsibility.

We are to grow in knowledge and use it wisely and to teach others.

We do not gain knowledge for the sake of knowledge because this will simply puff us up and make us proud.

There is a reason why knowledge is added to virtue, to becoming like Christ because knowledge has to be seated in good works, a practical outworking of this knowledge.

The more we know the more we should be virtuous.

Knowledge without wisdom simply makes us encyclopedias.

We need to hear what Scripture says about adding knowledge:

We are in life-long learning centres.

We are never to stop learning, always gaining knowledge of Christ and His ways.

Part of this is to discern evil and sin and how to avoid it.

It is wisdom and discernment for living according to the will of God.

But even then this is not enough.

Yes, we are to gain knowledge but the end point is that we know God.

Knowing about God and knowing Him are not the same.

The story is told of a religious gathering where a famous actor and an elderly minister were both present.

The actor, while not on the program, was nevertheless asked by the emcee to come forward and give a word.

At a loss as to what to say, he turned to the elderly minister and whispered, “I don’t really know what to do.”

The seasoned pastor shoved his Bible into the hands of the actor and replied, “Just read Psalm 23.”

The actor stood and with his eloquent voice read the psalm.

When finished, he wasn’t quite sure what to do, so he turned to the minister and announced, “Well, I’d like the minister to come up and say a few words on this.”

The minister surprised everyone by merely reciting the psalm again and then sitting down.

The actor leaned over to him and said, “You did much better than I, and now I understand why.

I knew the psalm, but you knew the Shepherd.”

That’s the kind of knowledge we should be after.

Peter isn’t interested in anything less.7 Knowing God personally, intimately, is the most important kind of knowledge we should strive to possess.

There is an old hymn by Eliza Hewitt which expresses this desire:

More about Jesus would I know,

More of his grace to others show;

More of his saving fulness see,

More of his love who died for me.

Indeed adding knowledge is so important to Peter he ends his letter in this way:

Self-control/Temperance

To our faith we have added virtue, to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge we are to add self-control.

Self control is part of the fruit of the Spirit that we looked at 18 months ago in Galatians 5 but there is no reason why we should not revisit it as way of a reminder.

Self control also has an old fashioned word attached to it and that is ‘temperance’.

So, what is temperance?

It is to be strong, robust, have power over, master, control, to curb, to restrain, to control one’s self.

It is the virtue of one who masters their desires and passions.

It is the denial of our evil desires and the ability to lead oneself.

Self-control is one part of the fruit of the Spirit but it means more than simply us being in control of self but is actually someone who is controlled by God.

This happens when we are more yielded to the Spirit, walking in the Spirit and not the flesh.

Note the order in this verse:

The order again is to submit or yield to God.

Without this we will not overcome.

And then we can resist and win.

What things do we need to be temperate in?

This, of course, is not an exclusive list: To control one’s anger; the amount of TV we watch; the amount of sleep we have; the amount of food we eat; it is to have complete control over the tongue.

Peter speaks of the tongue in his first letter:

and James is even more forthright:

So, who here can claim we have full self-control?

It is all the more important then that we take note of this one in particular and increase in our control of our tongues.

To be temperate is also active in the sense we put our lives in order and add to it spiritual devotions of prayer and Scripture.

It calls for a self-disciplined life following Christ’s example of being in the world but not of the world.

It is to knowledge that we add temperance so knowledge has responsibility.

That responsibility is the knowledge of what is right and wrong.

Therefore practise self-control.

We are warned don't become entangled in the pollution of the world again by both Peter and Paul:

So self-control us also part of the good news.

This sounds weird to our ears today for I do not remember anyone ever preaching on this

Self-control relates to repentance.

It is our lack of self-control that is going to put us before the Judgement Seat to answer for it.

How do we exercise self control?

The more knowledge we have it of God’s word the more we are aware of those things which please or displease God.

We will hear the voice of God’s Word coming through when there are times of temptations and then we need the self-control to ensure we act upon God’s Word rather than the temptation.

We are told in no uncertain terms that sin shall not have the mastery over you for we are a slave to whatever has control over us.

Most temptations come through the eye into the mind.

This is why we find that old saint, Job, in the Old Testament had got it right when he said:

Why, because

We see, we desire, we think, we lust, we sin.