Escaping The Corruption In The World

[0:00] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to this Spirit-filled Word by David Inshree. When you catch a Word, you have caught God. May you catch a Word today that will cause God to change your story.

[0:13] Be blessed. 2 Peter 1, verse 1-4 Simon Peter, our servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

[0:31] Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

[1:09] Here ends the reading of God's Holy Word. Shall we please pray? Father, we thank you and thank you and thank you again for giving us the opportunity and the chance and the privilege and the ability to come together around your Word.

[1:26] We pray that as we get into your Word, get into us by your Word. As we hear your Word, let us hear from you. I submit myself unto the influence of your Spirit.

[1:41] That carry me, O Holy Spirit, as I communicate these timeless and eternal words to your precious people. We're all around the world in this particular moment.

[1:53] In Jesus' name, as your Word is taught, heal the sick, deliver the captives, bring direction to the confused, save the lost, and let your name be glorified so your people will be edified and our generation will be notified.

[2:06] Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Hallelujah. What a powerful text. In our previous teaching, I made, if you remember, I made you, I mean, when it comes to stuff like this, like these, it's always important to have your Bibles with you where possible.

[2:30] And so in the verse 3 and the verse 4, I said there are some statements there that are worth taking notice of. One, I spoke about five statements that we should give attention to, or they are interrelated and interconnected.

[2:50] The first one is, according as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. That's one statement.

[3:02] Through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue. That's two. And the third statement is in the verse 4, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.

[3:13] That is three. Four, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature. Four. And then five, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

[3:30] So these are very powerful statements, and I think it would be good to take it from the reverse order. It says that having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

[3:44] We live in a generation, or we live in the human flesh, which is fraught with lust.

[3:57] There is so much lust in the world. It didn't start today. It started from the beginning. It started from the beginning. And the heart of man, after the fall, its first impact is on the human spirit.

[4:13] Okay? And the human spirit is a part of the human heart. So its first impact was upon the human heart. The fall, it hit the human heart so bad, our hearts became, according to Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9, the heart is wicked above all.

[4:34] The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The heart of man. In Genesis chapter 6, verse 5, Bible talks about how God said that the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent, watch this, intent of the thought of his heart was only evil, not temporarily, not once in a while.

[4:58] Continually, permanently evil. The thought of his heart was only evil. Only evil. You were born naturally with a natural proclivity for evil.

[5:13] You don't have to teach a child how to lie. You don't have to teach a child how to be naughty. You don't have to. You don't teach the child that don't do that.

[5:24] Stop it. No, stop it. You don't. It comes naturally. It's a reflection of the condition of the fallen man. In Genesis chapter 8, verse 21, God said, I will not spoil.

[5:37] He made a vow, a covenant that I will not. The Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in his heart, I will never again cast the ground for man's sake. Although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.

[5:54] Education doesn't take care of that thing. That is why you can be highly educated and yet an educated devil. A clever devil. And listen, education is good.

[6:05] Please don't get me wrong. But I'm talking about mental exercise, group training does not eliminate the condition of the falling heart. Nothing can change the condition of the falling heart except one.

[6:17] Nothing except one thing. And so the heart of man is evil from his youth. And when you read the book of Proverbs chapter 6, verse 14, it's an interesting text.

[6:34] It says that perversity is in the heart. He devises evil continually. He sows discord. Perversity is in the heart.

[6:45] It's there. It's there. It's the condition of the falling humanity. In Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 3, the Bible tells us that this is an evil in all that is done under the sun.

[6:59] That one thing happens to all. Truly, the heart of the sons of men are full of what evil. Madness is in their heart while they live. Madness is in your heart.

[7:18] Madness is in your heart. You can be a lawmaker and be making mad and crazy laws to enhance the wickedness or to create the platform for perpetuation of the wicked condition of the heart.

[7:33] Does that mean that man can do good? Oh, man can do good. Man can do good. Sometimes, by virtue of our exposure, societal norms, it can help us to do good.

[7:46] But listen, listen. Deep in the heart, the heart of man is deceitful above all things. It's continually evil. One way or the other, some way, somehow, you would have even assumed that civilization will reduce the level of evil and crime.

[8:02] Rather, the higher we look civilized, the more sophisticated the crime is. Yes, yes, yes. Our crimes are. Yes. Laws are being made every day.

[8:15] New laws. New laws. You can imagine. New laws. New laws are being made every day. And yet, new ways of breaking them are. You see, I was talking to somebody who is a professional who is into crime prevention.

[8:29] And that he says that criminals are always a step ahead of the law. So the law have to be made to catch up with them. Criminals are always ahead.

[8:41] Something comes. By the time you realize a new software has been developed. And before you could say, Jack, someone has found a way to hack into the software to download all your money.

[8:52] So later on, they say, ah, no, no. See, criminals, crime. Because the heart of man is desperately wicked. You might look very good and very holy.

[9:02] But the condition of your heart. In fact, Matthew chapter 15, verse 19. This is Jesus. Jesus' own words. This is right. He says that out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts. That thing is inside you.

[9:14] Out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts. Murder, adultery, fornications. Fornication. Fornication.

[9:25] Theft. False witness. Blasphemies. Out. Where is it coming from? Their heart. Their law can only catch your hands. Their law cannot catch your.

[9:36] Human law cannot catch your heart. So then man has a condition. We are born skewed.

[9:47] We are born with a deformity. And it's a condition of the heart. The heart is not perfect. But God is a good God. And it's a perfect God.

[9:58] God said, you know what? The only way to fix the problem of man is just give them a new heart. So in Ezekiel 36, 26, it says that I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you.

[10:12] Hey! I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. You see, we look soft on the outside, but inside there's a different condition.

[10:24] And God said, I will perform a heart surgery. A heart surgery. Because the core of a man, Bible says in Proverbs chapter 4, said, Guard your heart with all diligence.

[10:36] For out of it are the issues of life. The issues of life, issues out of your heart. Who you are stems out from your heart.

[10:48] That is why you cannot love outside of your heart. The core of you is from your heart. The core of you is inside.

[10:58] Your heart is the center of your being. The center. That's why when you are born again, God gives you a new heart. By letting his spirit come into your heart. And his son dwells in your heart.

[11:10] Dwells in you. Your heart. Your heart. And God said in Proverbs, give me your heart. Now, watch this. And because of the condition of man's heart, we have the tendency and we are inclined and have the proclivity to be under the control of lust.

[11:28] Right. What's lust? Lust is evil desires. Lust is evil desire. Evil desire. And everybody has some kind of lust.

[11:42] Why? Because of the evil incline of the heart. The evil incline of the heart makes us have an evil desire. Evil desire.

[11:53] Every human being has got a problem, a heart problem, which makes us be under the control. Our desires are tuned and bent.

[12:03] Watch this. Watch this. Our natural instincts, by default, our desires are bent away from the nature of God. Our desires are bent away from God.

[12:14] We don't have it in us to just desire God unilaterally. No man has in himself to desire God and to desire the things of God.

[12:25] That is why the Bible clearly says that it is God who is at work in you. Philippians chapter 2 verse 13. It's God who is at work in you, both to will and to do.

[12:39] There are two aspects of working with God or doing anything for God. It's the willing and doing. It starts with a will. That desire to do something for God. That desire to read your Bible.

[12:50] That desire to be a nice person. That desire to obey God. That desire to please God didn't start from you. Because no human being has got it in him to please God.

[13:01] By default, we have got it in us to disobey God. That's why the Bible says we are children of wrath. We are children of disobedience. We were children of disobedience.

[13:12] We were born with a condition of disobedience. In Ephesians chapter 2, we are sons of disobedience like others. All right. So it's important to understand that by nature, we are inclined.

[13:24] We are skewed. Skewed. We are, our defaults by, human default by nature is moving and migrating away from God. We move away from God.

[13:35] And when I say from God, that means that the pleasure of God, the nature of God, the godliness, what God will do. You see, the writer says that, that I may love what you love and do what you will do.

[13:48] Doesn't come naturally. It must be born. Jesus puts it in this way. John chapter 6, verse 44. It says that you cannot come to me except the father draws you.

[13:59] You can by your own will decide that no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. Draws him. God himself. So those of us who are born again and are in church, don't think it's because you are so good, because I'm so intelligent, I'm so kind.

[14:14] No, no, no. God initiated it. It was God who drew you nearer to him. No, somebody preached to me. Yeah, he orchestrated the preaching. I was feeling down. He orchestrated the situation that led to you feeling down and then made it coincide with the one preaching to you.

[14:30] And you believe God is the mastermind behind your salvation. That is why we cannot cease. We cannot cease praising him. We always are because whatever we are is purely because of his goodness and his grace.

[14:44] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And so we are skewed away from God, the nature of God. Everyone who is born, we are going away from God. We grow away. Can you imagine? We grow away from God.

[14:57] We grow away from God. As you are growing, you are growing away from God. You are born away from God and you grow further away from God. That is why those who will be in hell will not stop hating God.

[15:11] When you are in hell, you will even hate God more and more, not because of hell, but because you are now, the restrictions that stop you from going far are removed. And so you hate him so much that it makes you qualify for more punishment and more punishment.

[15:25] And so the punishment in hell escalates eternally. It's increasing and increasing because we will keep hating God and hating God and not liking God and not liking God.

[15:37] And the punishment and the repercussion of not liking God is his judgment will be increasing and increasing. So it's not like one sin sending you to hell. When you are in hell, you even become full-blown proper enemy and sinner.

[15:51] No, without restrictions. It's not your actions, your intent, your call. I'm talking about the heart. Your call will become worse. Praise God.

[16:03] So when we are alive, we don't have, we have the, watch this, don't get me wrong. I don't say we don't have the ability to behave right. We have it. We have the ability to be civic.

[16:14] We have the ability to be moral. We have the ability. Everyone has got a certain dimension of ability. It's just basic human abilities. Human abilities. To do good.

[16:25] To be nice. To be kind. So we, that's why societies try to instill this in children and we tell them to be, be nice, be fair. All those. It does not, please don't confuse fairness to Christianity.

[16:35] The fact that you are such a nice person doesn't mean you are a God person. That's, there are two different things. Let's not confuse that. Because as I read last week, it spoke about how, um, for verse three, according to us, the Bible has given to us the things that pertain to life and godliness.

[16:53] There is something about godliness that we don't have it in ourselves to, to carry out. So it's, there's something else. Something Latin is estranos.

[17:03] Outside of yourself. It's a foreign ability. It's an alien ability. It's not intrinsic. It's synthetic. Outside of yourself. An ability that is outside of you.

[17:15] It's implanted. That's the key word I used last week. It's implanted. It's infused. It's granted by his power. That is in you. To be able to do everything that pertains to life and godliness.

[17:29] I'm talking about Zoe, the life of God and godliness. So human beings are naturally skilled. And so guess what? We are all in a big atmosphere being controlled by the devil who is using the last of the world, which has a major ally in us, which is the condition of our heart.

[17:52] Because of the condition of our heart, we are susceptible to the last of the world. And we can't say, no, watch this. We develop appetites, nature. Watch this. I'm about to say something. Every nature comes with an appetite.

[18:05] So if you have the dog nature, you develop the dog appetite. If you have the monkey nature, you develop monkey appetites.

[18:17] It's bananas you like. No bones. No bones. But the goat and the sheep and the cattle. Because they have the goat life, the sheep life, the cattle life.

[18:29] That's what makes them like grass. The rabbit has the rabbit life. So it likes carrots. Now you have the human life, so you like sinning.

[18:43] Lustful. Lust. Evil lust. They are just weird. We are born and you are like, sometimes, why do I have these feelings? Why do I feel so bitter? Why do I feel so vengeful? Why do I feel so angry?

[18:55] Why do I feel so wicked? You know, harmful. I just want to do something. Why do I sometimes feel angry? Why? Why? Sometimes I just don't want to even react in a certain way. But I find myself keeping doing it, keeping doing it, keeping doing it.

[19:07] Because of the inclines of your heart. It makes you come under the control of the lust that is in this world. That's what the scripture says. Having escaped the corruption.

[19:19] There is corruption in the world. Okay. That corruption operates through your lust. Your desires. So then we need a certain type, another desire.

[19:32] The divine nature also brings, watch this, divine appetites. Mm-hmm. So I was saying that by nature, human beings are not inclined. By default, we are not inclined towards God.

[19:45] But guess what? By adoption, by the second birth, by regeneration, we have the divine nature that produces the divine appetite, the things of God.

[19:58] It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do. God. There are appetites that are born in you. Galatians chapter 4 says, because ye are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his sons into your heart.

[20:15] Verse 6. Because ye are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into where? Your heart. You see, the problem was the heart. The problem. God has sent forth the spirit of his son.

[20:25] I told you this thing, to produce godly traits, is not from you. It's not unilaterally from you. It must be outsourced from Abab, from the divine life.

[20:38] Are you getting it? And so it says that God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Abba. So there is a cry when you are born again, when you are regenerated, when you know Christ, there is a cry from your inner man.

[20:56] Abba, Father. He cries towards God. He moves towards. Why do babies like milk like that? Because of the human nature they've got. The human nature makes them like milk.

[21:07] They will do anything for milk. They will torture you for milk. They will terrorize you for milk. They will cry. Give them the milk and they are okay. Why?

[21:18] The human nature, the nature, the life, it's called life. When you put the feeding bottle or the tip of the bottle in their mouth, they begin to suck.

[21:29] You don't have to teach a child how to suck. Life, life, it's called life. The appetite of life, nature. In the same way, when you have God, God has sent the spirit of sonship.

[21:40] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. The problem where the problem is, new hearts. The son has come in with Christ. Abba, Father.

[21:50] Abba, Father. He cries out to God. The divine nature. Now watch this. So going back to the text, it said the last statement there in the verse 4. Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through life.

[22:04] There is an escape. There's an escape from the corruption in this world. There is an escape. You can escape. Not everyone will come under the control and domination of worldly lust.

[22:21] There's an escape. You can escape the corruption, my brother. You can escape the corruption, my sister. How do I do that? It says that. So now, going back to the text, verse 4. I'll read it down again and look at the three statements.

[22:33] Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. Okay? That these promises are given to us. That's why. So that we, by these, by the promises, we or ye might be partakers.

[22:50] Oh, oh. All right. All right. Now, it talks about being partakers of the divine nature. The divine nature is not, doesn't mean we have deity.

[23:02] We don't have deity. But we have the nature of God. When you are born again. I show you the scripture in Galatians 4, 6. How God has sent forth the spirit of his son.

[23:13] So in our hearts, inside us, we are carriers of the divine life. Jesus puts it this way. That if you love me, John 14, verse 23. My father and I will come and make our abode in you.

[23:27] We will come and live in our home with you. You see? So there is this divine life. When you become born again. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 3. It talks about how we have been born again or regenerated us.

[23:41] According to who abundant message has begotten us again unto a livelihood through the resurrection. We have been begotten. He has born us. That is what it means to be born again.

[23:51] A new life has been generated in you. And the control of the old life has been terminated. And a new life of God has been germinated inside you when you are born again.

[24:06] That is what is a new birth. New birth. Listen. Excuse me. Excuse me. That's what Christianity is about. The life of God. Having expression in the human living.

[24:17] That's where Christianity starts from. And it doesn't start from us. God wills it. God plans it. And God implants it into us. God. That's his nature into us.

[24:28] That's what makes us born again. Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. I'm crucified. I no longer either live. But Christ. Watch this. Christ lives in me. There is another life inside.

[24:39] There is a different life inside. Which is different from the human nature. It has the divine nature. Hallelujah. Christ lives in me. Christ lives in me.

[24:50] Christ lives in me. In Romans chapter 8, verse 11. If Christ lives in you. Or if the spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you. Something is living inside us.

[25:02] When you are born again. There is something in you. Something in you. In Colossians chapter 1, verse 27. It puts it this way. Christ in you.

[25:12] Hallelujah. Christ in you. The hope of glory. Christ in you. The hope of glory. Christ in you. That is the essence of the new birth.

[25:24] He has begotten us unto a living hope. Or unto a lively hope. That's what makes us a new creation. That's what makes us a new creation.

[25:35] It is not the reformation of our habits. Or the perfection of our life. That makes us the new creation. But the implanting. The implant of the nature of God.

[25:46] Which begins to radically affect the direction of our life. No. It does not consist in the perfection of your life. But the direction of your life. A new appetite.

[25:57] By virtue of the nature of God. Has been born. It makes you inclined. You move in a certain direction. The answer to the pollution of this world. Is the nature of God.

[26:08] The nature of Christ. The life of God. Inside human beings. I'm talking about the life. The people in church are different people man. I'm not talking about everybody who goes to church. I'm talking about those in Christ.

[26:18] Okay. Let me describe. Those in Christ. Once we are in Christ. We are very unique people. No wonder the Bible says that we are a peculiar people. You are a chosen generation. A royal priesthood. A holy nation.

[26:29] We are a peculiar people. Called for. We are chosen out of the many. We are unique. We are different. Exteriorly and externally. We might look like everybody. But boy. In the spirit.

[26:40] And inside us. Inside us. We are carriers of God. So human beings. As ordinary as we are. With our human nature. And human flaws. Yet there is another nature in us.

[26:50] And that is where you the believer. Can choose. To operate by which nature. You are. Uh oh. I feel like preaching. If you are not born again. If you are not born again. You don't have a choice.

[27:01] As to what nature to operate from. But if you are born again. It's like someone who has two cars. You can choose. Okay. Am I going to travel by this car. Or that one. How am I. You have options.

[27:12] You have options. Yeah. You have got options. When you are born again. You have options. So long as. Which direction. Your appetite. Or the direction of your desires. You are going to follow. You are going to follow.

[27:23] Wow. And it says that. We are partakers of the divine nature. Having escaped. Ha ha ha. It's like we have escaped. We have escaped. We have not just overcome. We have also escaped. What everybody is acceptable to.

[27:35] We have escaped it. We have escaped it. We have escaped it. We are. It's not just dealing with demons. That is even lower. It's lower. Being born again. It's not just the power to deal with demons.

[27:47] Jesus said. The Bible says in the book of Luke. Chapter 10. The disciples returned with joy. Because they said from verse 17. Demons were subject to us. Jesus said.

[27:57] Oh. Is that why you are happy? He said. Don't rejoice because demons are subject to you. Because I saw Satan fall like lightning. So Satan is not a problem.

[28:08] Believer. Satan is not a problem. Satan is our inability to activate and work by our new nature. That is the problem.

[28:18] And lust and flesh is raining. In the life of the believer. That is the problem. Because the believer has now the installation. The implant. The ability.

[28:29] The enablement. The empowerment. To be able to live by a different nature. Even though we are still living in the human nature. Human nature by expressing divine nature.

[28:40] Hallelujah. It's a soul Satan fall like lightning. And don't rejoice because demons are subject to you. But rejoice because of your connection in heaven.

[28:51] That your names are registered. Your names are written. You are a new creation. Heaven is operating through you. There is a human. There is a life. Life. Satellites. Let me use this just for explanation.

[29:03] Right? There is like a satellite in heaven. That beams life. And it's beaming the nature and the life of God through human beings here. And it's a be happy that now you have what it takes to receive the heavenly transmission.

[29:17] Life. Oh. The life transmission from above. You a believer. You the born again Christian. You the one who are in Christ. You have the ability to receive the life transmission from heaven.

[29:30] And replicate. And reflect it. And shine it. And live it on earth. So you can escape the corruption that is in this world through lust. So now let's go back to the text.

[29:43] It's interesting. Whereby. I'll jump back to the verse 3. And then flow down. According to us, his divine power has given. Last week I said has planted.

[29:53] Has granted. Has infused. You understand that. Has given unto us all things. Not some things. All things.

[30:03] Whatever it takes to live a godly life. His divine power has given to us. Wow. Wow. You don't have an excuse. You can stop the messing up.

[30:15] You can stop. See. You can overcome the pornography. Yes. You. You can overcome the lying. You can overcome the stealing.

[30:26] You can overcome the bitterness. Yes. You can overcome it. Yes. You have what it takes if you are in Christ. You have what it takes. You can overcome it. You can stop the smoking.

[30:37] You can stop the things that make you susceptible to the corruption of this world. You can stop it. You can stop it. Yes. You can. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

[30:49] You. Yes. You can. Yes. You can. Yes. You can. Bro. That's Christianity I'm talking about. Yes. Yes. You can. Yes. You are a Christian. And so the life of God is being beamed. It's being transmitted from above through you having an expression on this earth.

[31:04] How did God do it? By implanting his power. So he says that according as his divine power has granted, has planted in us, given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

[31:19] How? Watch this. The source is the power. The goal is life and godliness. What's that means? Through the knowledge of him. So watch.

[31:31] This is very important. When you get born again, power is planted in you. But the power can't be operative or operational in the absence of knowing Christ, experiential knowledge of him.

[31:45] Here he didn't say who. He said him. Not them. In the verse 1 and the verse 2, it mentions God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 1 talks about God and our Savior Jesus Christ.

[31:58] Verse 2 talks God and Jesus our Lord and of Jesus our Lord. So God and Jesus. God and Jesus. Verse 3 says through him, the knowledge of him.

[32:10] The him is not them. It's talking about this same knowledge of God and Jesus is the knowledge of him. Not knowledge of them. He's a him. He's a him. No, he's a them.

[32:22] He's a him. The knowledge of him. The knowledge of him. Through the knowledge. As you know, this is our God and our Savior. The God and our Savior.

[32:32] The knowledge of our God and our Savior. Guess what? Guess what? Guess what? The power begins to have effect inside you. So that tends to imply that our inability to grow in knowledge is the reason for our frustrations in our Christian journey.

[32:55] Our inability to grow in the knowledge of God. All right? It was clear. It didn't say knowledge of everything. It said knowledge of God and Christ.

[33:08] Knowledge of him. Our inability to grow in knowledge. And this, as I said, is full knowledge. It's experiential knowledge. Epiginosku.

[33:19] Epiginosku. Okay? Or epignosis, better. Epignosis. The epignosis is the full knowledge. Growing knowledge. You are increasing knowledge.

[33:31] All right? So, uh-oh. The more you are increasing in your knowledge of Jesus, the more the power. Ah! The power that gives us all things that pertain to life and godliness, oppress and works through your growing knowledge.

[33:49] Experiential knowledge. Real knowledge. You are knowing. You tell a child, Daddy, what is this? He said, it's hot. It's hot. It's hot. And then the child goes this way. It's hot?

[34:00] He said, yeah, it's hot. Then he touches. Ah! Daddy, it's hot. That's an experiential knowledge. Next time, Daddy, what is that? It's hot. Ah! It's hot. He has an experiential knowledge of it. He doesn't have to touch it. It's not just head knowledge.

[34:12] Experiential knowledge. You have practiced Christ. You have learned. He said, if so, you have learned Christ. You will learn Christ. He said, learn of me.

[34:23] Matthew chapter 11. Learn of me. And they said, if so, you have learned Christ. In Ephesians chapter 4. So we learn of Christ.

[34:33] As you grow in your knowledge of God, in your knowledge of him, as you grow, guess what? The power is being given the opportunity to manifest. As you grow in your knowledge of him, now the power is taking effect.

[34:47] Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

[35:24] is also can be translated by and both is right so the new american standard version uses he has called us by glory and virtue by his own glory and his excellence the virtue there is excellence virtue um the the greek word virtue i wrote it i wrote you that arete which means moral excellence now remember i said that he has given us to all things that pertain to life and godliness i said no morality does that mean morality doesn't matter oh it does yes it does but that is not what that's not what determines anything okay when it talk about our work with god is the life of god and which is expressed through godliness that matters now when you begin watch this when you begin to know god you will begin to understand that he has called us to glory and virtue virtue is moral excellence so the more you are growing in god the more you have value for moral excellence the more you are getting closer to god by default automatically even the evil heart that every man has doesn't influence you because you are beginning to understand that you have been called to virtue and glory so much that it's it's preoccupied and it takes major part of your direction the direction of your life now the virtue there you can also render it sanctification purity moral purity sanctification cleanliness sanctification jesus said watch this this is very important brothers and sisters the chief agent of sanctification is the word of god jesus said in john chapter 17 verse 19 he said i sanctified myself yeah for their sakes after their sakes i sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified how by the truth so what did jesus used to sanctify himself by the truth the truth is the word of god the 17th sanctify them by your word your word is truth sanctify them by what your truth your word is truth so the chief agent of sanctification that's why you cannot afford not to grow in your knowledge of god's word you can know god lower than you know his word that your knowledge of god is in direct proportion to the word of god you know you understand which you practice that's why sanctification starts sanctification takes place when you know god's word understand it okay is the knowing and the understanding and practicing of the word you know and understand that generates sanctification that causes the power that pertains to life and godliness to kick kick into place which makes you escape the corruption that is the world in the world and be partaker and be partaker of the divine nature you can't afford not to know get familiar with your bible christian your spiritual growth is in direct proportion to your biblical pursuit it's very important because sanctification is by the truth of god's word all scripture is the main sanctifying agent yeah all scripture oh i mean all scripture is the source of all sanctification scripture is the source of all sanctification and so obedience to the truth obedience so as you obey what you have seen in scripture guess what you are on a journey of sanctification that's as simple as that so it's not like you have become a nice person no no don't start from there please you are making a mistake don't hold the stick at the wrong end don't start from as soon as you start from morals and good works you are making a mistake you are getting to legalism i do this i don't do this i do that i don't do that that don't start from there start

[39:28] from the life of god your love for god your appreciation as you get to know him who has called us by virtue by by his glory and virtue into to his glory and virtue as you know him you begin to actually appreciate this virtue appreciate this glory so much that it begins to become the direction of your life it begins to influence the direction of your life so you obey god not because there is a lot to obey you obey god because he has saved you and given you his nature and the more you are fellowshipping and knowing him you are operating you are inclined to be doing his thing you are swimming against that natural human tide the tides of the flesh you are swimming against it because you know god and the more you are knowing him and you are practicing his word whether more epignostic takes place or epignosis takes place the more sanctification is happening the more the power is supplying all that pertains to life and godliness the more you become a partaker hallelujah the more you partake partake in the divine nature jesus that's how jesus did it for information that jesus was obeying the father john chapter 5 verse 19 john chapter 5 verse 30 john chapter 6 verse 38 john chapter 7 verse 38 john chapter 7 verse 39 john chapter 8 all through verse 29 verse 30 jesus was obeying the father as he obeyed the father he was practicing he says that i obey the one who sent me i obey the one who sent me john chapter 14 verse 31 i obey the father who sent me i obey the father who sent me it's my delight in john chapter 4 verse 34 he said my delight my food is to do the one who the work of the one who sent me that is how jesus said i sanctify myself the sanctification is through the word the word of god is what makes you sanctified the word of god exposure to the truth exposure to the truth of god's word that is why in church the central aspect of every christian fellowship should be the opening of god's word the word of god must be taught the word the word of god must be taught the word the more the word of god is taught the more people get to find god the more people no even christian music the ones that cuts deep and the ones that last is not the the musicality of the song but is the word content the word content christian singer gets get when you are composing song stop trying to say things that people are suffering and they want to hear get the word get the word load the word in your mouth speak the word and when you speak the word the people of god automatically gravitate oh oh if you are genuine christian the direction of your word your life is towards the word of god wherever you find the word of god you like it's like ah you can't help it you can you are addicted to a certain you are skilled in a certain direction unbelievers may not understand you but the word at martin luther put this way my conscience is held captive the word most deep cutting deep soul touching christian songs are songs that are based on the word sometimes take just the word and sing the word it will do the job sing the word it will do the job so every christian gathering and every christian relationship should be built on the word of god i'm tired of people who keep saying as for you every time bible bible what else what else i'm a product of a book we are product of the book every time every time bible bible every time bible what else excuse me what else talk about business talk about politics i'm not saying those things are not important they might be important but at the foundation of our life is the word you find a letter it's that up to your faith faith is a foundation faith comes by hearing yeah come on christian brother christian sister start celebrating god's word again maybe it's a sign of backsliding when the word doesn't attract you you have actually backslidden i have loved your law more than my i've loved your

[43:34] law more than my necessary food job chapter 12 i think verse 23 more than my necessary food david said some 119 verse 97 oh how love i die law they are my meditation i'm preoccupied with your law your word or that's why his impact has not uh the the world has not forgotten it heaven has not recovered from the impact of david why because he loved god and it was evidence in the word of god and especially for god's word so blessed is the man who does not work in the counsel of the ungodly someone this one not stand in the way of sinners not sit in the seat of the scornful for but watch this verse two it's important you can't but his delight delight what's your way where is the direction of your desire his delight is in the law of the lord and in his lord does he meditate there come on come on jesus said you are not of god that's why you don't love the word of god in john chapter 8 he said he who is of god here at the word of i mean the word of god is the hallmark of the christian a desire desire insatiable desire for the word of god is the hallmark of a well-doing christian a christian who is doing well is the one whose heart is hungry and wants more of god's word wants more of god's word to practice because we grow in knowledge as you grow in knowledge as you grow in the word that's the only platform upon which you can grow in your knowledge of god which will make you glow in your journey in your christian journey glow to shine the glory he's called us to shine glory and virtue but that cannot happen outside of the knowledge of god jesus said the word of god obeying the word of god is the chief ingredients for sanctification obedience obedience to the word you know so it talks about that will be particles of the divine nature um and before it's forgot okay the power is given to us all the things that pertain to life and god through the knowledge of him who has called us to virtue and watch this as i i'm getting ready to end watch this this this text is so packed he has called us to watch he has called us to glory and virtue he has called us by his glory and by his virtue okay he has called us by it to it he has called us why on the premise of that whereby whereby is given unto us whereby are given are given unto us exceeding all exceeding i think let me just quickly go through this because exceeding great and precious promises watch watch wait wait wait wait wait this is so strong why did they give us the promises so that that by these by these promises we might be partakers of the divine the word partaker the greek word is is it means a sharer like a shareholder a sharer an associate a partner a comrade okay the greek word is koinonos koinonia like siamese twins they share same blood they share same shoulder or they share same head or something it's share and so we are we we can partake we can share in this divine nature how how through these precious and exceedingly great promises wow the the the promises are exceedingly great i like the way the amplify pussy by means of this he has bestowed on us his his precious and exceedingly great promises so that through them you may escape by flight from the moral decay you see what i say that is in the world because of covetous and become what shares or partakers of the divine nature and so then if god watch this watch this if god wants you to escape from the corruption that is in the world he is not going to come like a chinese ninja and say corruption stop in this life i block corruption i

[47:38] block i block corruption corruption because no god doesn't do that but instead god what was that what god does he gives us promises hey he give us promises these promises are so great and excellent they are magnificent new american standard version puts it this way let's see said for by this he has granted us his precious and magnificent promises magnificent promises so these promises are grandiose they are magnificent and you can't look at it and ignore it you can't look at the promises and ignore them in second corinthians chapter 7 verse 1 the bible talks about having therefore these great or precious promises christianity is a lifetime full of promises hallelujah having these promises having these promises christianity when you are with god you are exposed to the promises of god promises of god promises of god promises of god we have these promises we can't afford to live anyhow we have these promises we can't afford to live less we have these promises we can't afford to live anyhow in second peter chapter 3 verse 13 second peter chapter 3 verse 13 nevertheless we according to his promises look for new heavens and see a lot of things are going to change thank god for cop 26 and governments doing something to try and all that to save our world and all that but things will still not get best and get better right it's good to do as much as we can do to slow the process but it's on its way down everything is on it is godlessness moves everything down down the whole creation was subjected to corruption because of sin so it's on its way down but guess what we have this promise nevertheless we according to his promise we look for a new heaven we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells we have christianity is full of promises in fact there's a place the bible calls us watch this i want you to get this before i end there's a place the bible calls we christians the heirs of promise can you imagine hebrews let me show you something hebrews chapter 6 verse 13 this is i found this very interesting bible talks about how abraham what's it for when god made a promise to abraham listen listen watch the the grammatical construction very carefully okay the grammar there he said when god made a promise to abraham because he could swear by that starts to imply that promises go with swearing how do you make a promise without swearing but then when you are swearing you have to swear by someone higher but fortunately there's no one higher than god but when god made promise to abraham in human terms and anthropomorphic terminologies and relationships you don't make promise without adding an oath or swearing you can't you can't say that i'll marry you i'll marry you no even when people say will you marry me they have to add a ring promise ring it's it's like i swear does that when they see the ring they know that is someone someone has a good so when you when you marry then you say i'm from today i take it with my wife you have to sign so you when you when you make a promise you have to sign it by an oath and so when god also appear to abraham to make a promise to abraham god god sir you can't in in in human terms you don't just make promise and walk away you have to swear an oath there might be something greater to pack your promise and so god so so now let's go back to the test when god made a promise to abraham because he could swear by no one

[51:39] greater he had to swear by himself saying in blessing i'll bless you in multiply i multiply you that's why he had to do that and then look at verse 16 look at verse 16 for men swear by greater and an oath of confirmation is to them the end of all dispute once someone signs a letter it means that signs the contract he has accepted it he doesn't have to he has signed so there's no dispute so when god makes a promise he also has to add something that removes disputes even though his promise is good enough he's willing to back it with an oath because he's dealing with human beings that's very important brothers and sisters don't miss what i'll be saying so when when so when god was about to make a promise because god is so god of promise the more you get to him the more you discover promises oh oh the more you get closer to god in the bible there are seven thousand four hundred and seventy four promises someone sat down and did a research seven thousand four hundred and seventy four promises in the bible because the closer you get to god the more you you see promises he and his promises are glorious great exceeding precious promises now so when god made the promise to abraham he had to seal it with us with an oath an oath he swore he said i'll bless you just so that abraham can know that he gave abraham two things the promise is good enough and he had to swear as well so his word back in the promise two things they are so powerful one of them is good enough but god combined the two he gave it to man watch this now go to the the verse 17 that's god determining to show more abundantly towards the heirs of promise no this is not abraham anyone who comes to god for promise we are as we are not as of cars we are not as of shoes we are not as of blessing we are as of promise more abundantly to show that to the ass of promises the immutability of that means his counsel his plan doesn't change he also confirmed it by an oath so now we have two things the promise that doesn't change and the oath okay so he have swept by an oath so that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for god to lie we might have what we might have what we might have strong encouragement hallelujah we might have strong encouragement so when god promises you he promises in such a way that the promise become your basis for encouragement to face the future what is strong encouragement to lay hold of the hope set before us yeah we have run to god from the corruption of this earth but we are laying hold hold of the hope sister there's hope set before you bro there is hope set before you but if you are not careful you'll be discouraged you only look up to the hope but what god has done is that he has given us promises so that by them we will be have able to have strong in fact when you read the new american standard version if swaps it's in a better way so that by two unchangeable things in which it's impossible for god to lie we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope you see that so we will have strong encouragement to do what take hold of the hope the promises now what am i saying we are heirs of promise so god gives us promise and his oath just so that we can be encouraged to keep going now in first in second peter it talks about how he has given us precious promises so that by this oh so that by these promises does that by there's something promises do for us when you work with god and the more you begin to know god who has called us into virtue and and and and into glory and virtue as you know him who has called us into glory and virtue you begin to discover watch this you begin to discover that god is full of promises there are great great promises and those promises become your

[55:41] platform for becoming or partaking and sharing in his divine nature so that you invariably escape the corruption that is in the world through last hallelujah i told you there's a lot packing in this but my time is up so it means that he has given us power watch this i think let me just try it power has come and by the power we are able to partake okay it gives us all things giving us all things that pertain to life and godliness the power that has been planted in us okay now now the power only works as we begin to know god and experience god the more we are knowing god the more the power is working but watch this the more we are knowing god the more we find out that god is this god who has called us to virtue and glory has promises so the more you are knowing god the more you are discovering the promises and the more you are discovering the promises the more you are able to partake of the divine nature and the more you partake in the divine nature the more you escape from the corruption that is in the world and so knowing god it's all premise on knowing god knowing god makes the power work and then knowing god makes us see the promises which make us partake in divine nature to escape the cop so knowing god etc that's why you cannot grow your knowledge of god you cannot escape you cannot escape the corruption because christ is in you and you are in christ in jesus name thank you for listening to this message by david entry when god speaks works show and the works will surely show in your life to hear more from david entry follow him on facebook instagram twitter linkedin and subscribe to caris church on youtube don't forget to share and subscribe to our podcast so you're always up to date be blessed