As a preacher, you never want the sermon to be about you. You want it to be about Jesus Christ. And you do not want to make your experience universal if it's not. When a preacher says, we all feel this way, and he gives an example, and you're sitting there and you're thinking, I have never felt this way, that's a big mistake. But in this case, I believe that we all share this common concern. We confess that Jesus Christ is our only hope and righteousness, but to different degrees, we're anxious. We worry. We're anxious about life. Some of us have passing moments of worry. Others of us are tied up in knots with worry. We worry and then we know what scripture says, that we're not to worry. There is that great text In Philippians chapter 4, where the apostle declares to us that we'll be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplications with thanksgiving to let our requests be made known to God. And then there's that great gospel promise that as we do that, as we come to the Lord, that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds. in Christ Jesus. And that's a text we should continually turn to. But I'd like to share with you this morning another text that I believe is so helpful when we're struggling with anxiety and worry, and that is the text that we have just read from 2 Peter chapter 1. In the verses that we have just read, the apostle Peter declares to us that God has given to us everything we need. He has given to us everything that we need in this life. Everything we need now to commune with our God and everything that we will need for eternity. Listen again to what Peter declares, verse 3. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who has called us to His own glory and excellence. Now that's a life-changing promise. We're told here We have everything we need for life and godliness. We have everything we need. The Lord has given us everything we need to live for Him now and also that we might live with Him forever. And it's all gift. It's all gift from the living God, Father, Son, and Spirit. And it had to be that way. It had to be gift because our own We cannot live in a way that's pleasing to our God. We're sinners. We have fallen short of the goal. You see, the goal set before Adam and Eve in the garden was to commune with God forever, to fellowship with God forever in an environment in which there was no sin and no possibility of sin. But our first parents transgressed. Adam sinned. And when he fell, we fell on him. And so in order to commune with God now and forevermore, we need the forgiveness of our sins. In order to live for God, we need a perfect righteousness. But we're not righteous. All our righteousness is but filthy rags. And we cannot remove our spots. But what we did not do, obey God's Word perfectly. And what we could not do, remove our guilt and pollution before the living God, Jesus Christ has done for us. And that's the good news. And that's why we're here this morning, worshiping our Lord and Savior. He has done for us that which we could not do. And it is a perfect salvation. He has obeyed the will of God at every point. He is holy. And yet he has taken our sins and he has nailed them to the tree. And by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ is the one declared to be the Son of God in power. and join to Him, join to the resurrected Christ by faith, we have all that we need in this life and the life to come. Joined to Jesus Christ by faith, we have all that pertains to life and godliness. For in Jesus Christ, we're justified. That is, we're accepted in the sight of God. His righteousness is imputed to us and received by faith alone. In Jesus Christ, we're sanctified. In Jesus Christ, we are adopted. In Jesus Christ, we are glorified. So friends, do you understand What we have in Christ, those blessings, those gifts, it makes that which we're constantly worried about, it pales in comparison. If we worry about what we're lacking in this life, we might not have enough money. We are often worried about what we think is going to fall apart. I am the worst homeowner. I am always worried about what's going to fall apart in my home. But what we have in Christ, what we have in Christ is of greatest value. And it should bring a peace to our souls, even as we do struggle at times with lacking certain things in an earthly sense. But Scripture is telling us, declaring to us, we have all that we need in Christ. We have that which is of the greatest value. We're told in our text this morning, that in and through Jesus Christ, we have been made partakers of the divine nature. Now, please don't misunderstand. He's not saying that we're God. He's not saying that we have a divine nature, but he's saying that we are partakers of a divine nature. Now, how is that the case? It's because in Jesus Christ, we have a different mode of existence. We have been changed. You might remember what the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians. He says in Ephesians 2, that we are by nature children of wrath. Do you know what's happened? Because of Jesus Christ, and because we're joined to Him by faith, and His righteousness is ours, we're no longer those children of wrath. We've escaped the corruption, as Peter tells us here. We've escaped the corruption in this world. You see, the power of reigning sin in our lives has been broken. And as the Spirit is at work in our hearts, we're able to renounce sin. through our union with the risen Christ in the indwelling of his spirit. You see, we've been renewed in the image of God. We bear the image of God in the form of the crucified and resurrected Christ. And we look forward to that day when we'll be raised bodily with Christ and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God's all eternity. So that's what Peter is doing here with this strong language. He's getting to the reality of our situation. We have all that we need in Christ. We have the power, friends, to live for God's glory. We have the power to love Him with all of our heart, soul, strength, and might through the gift of the Spirit, and to love one another as ourselves. And that's what we're called to do. Now, this becomes all very concrete in verse 5. Now, we see in our text this morning, it says, for this very reason. Okay. For this very reason, you who have been granted all that pertains to life and godliness, for this very reason, you who have been made partakers through Christ of the divine nature, for this very reason, you who have escaped the corruption that's in this world, for this very reason, we're told, make every effort to add to your faith goodness, and to goodness knowledge, and to knowledge self-control, and to self-control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. Now, this list here stands at the heart of the Christian life, but it has confused theologians over the centuries. Many believe you need to treat this list like a staircase. That is, as a Christian, you proceed from one virtue on this list to the next as you pursue spiritual maturity. Now, undoubtedly, The items here are related on this list, but I find myself agreeing with John Calvin when he says, no, that's not the way to go with this. Because Calvin says that if you overemphasize the ordering here, or you maintain that each virtue proceeds from the one before it, you could get in trouble. because he says you could get stuck. In other words, if you're going up this staircase, you could get stuck at one level and not proceed to the next. And he's saying, no, that's not how we understand this list. All of these are to characterize the Christian, not just some of them. So it starts off, we're told, that faith here is the foundation stone. That's where we start with. In faith as we know, faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel. And Peter tells us then to supplement that faith which is foundational with virtue. Now I want you to think about this. He doesn't say to supplement that faith with values. Values are a great buzzword in our modern culture. And with those of you who were at Sunday school, you heard me talk about, I do get the opportunity to preach at many OPC congregations. And there are times when I'll preach in congregations that are meeting in elementary schools. and you'll be preaching in their cafeteria and you'll see all these signs up around and most of them have to do with values. You know, I go in and I take a look and I say, oh yeah, there it is again. They're talking about values. Now why is that? Values are individual. Values are subjective. Values are what you personally esteem. It's what you, oh, I think this is important. You know, patience, I like that one. Self-control, well, you know, I know I should be more self, but particularly in those public school settings. You know, you don't see some things there and you say, what's going on? Well, here's the difference between a value and a virtue. Value is subjective, individual. A virtue is that which God declares excellent. And you know what God declares excellent? It's from His Word. A virtue has to do with a standard. A virtue has to do with God telling you, this is excellent and this is not. And so Peter here is telling you, you are to make every effort to add to your faith that moral excellence that God proclaims in his word. That's what's before you. We're to be a people of the word. So that we're told here, make every effort then to supplement your faith with virtue and your virtue with knowledge. We're to be people of the word. You know what the prophet says, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. We're to love the word. We're to meditate upon the word. We're to store the word in our hearts that we would not sin before the Lord. And then we are to add to that knowledge self-control. We're not to have our passions run wild. We have control when it comes to the moral decisions of this life. And then we're to add to that self-control steadfastness. endurance, doing the right thing even when it's tough. Or to add to that steadfastness, godliness. And here the godliness has in view our devotion to God, our piety. We're to be directed towards our God in this life first and foremost. And then we're told in our text we're to add to that godliness, brotherly love or affection. You know, the Philadelphia, a brotherly love, the love you have in members of your family, the love you have among blood relations. And then next on the list, the love of Sagape, the love where you might, the other person might not love you at all, might even hate you. and you're called to, in other words, you don't share anything with this person and you're to love that person still in a Romans 5-8 manner. This is the love, agape, that God has shown to us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This is what we're to add to our faith. And if I was, I could be with you all summer and I could preach a sermon about each one of those virtues being with you this morning, I want you to realize here, they go together. They're a package. You can't separate them. Now, the best example I ever heard came from a preacher, a former OPC preacher, where he said, this list is like the list of dance steps. In other words, the foxtrot has a certain amount of steps and the tango, and there's certain steps that go to certain dances. And that if you are not doing those steps, it's not the dance. There's a choreography involved. So I come from country roads and hills in Eastern Ohio. so that you're not doing the hokey pokey unless you put your right arm in and your right arm out and you shake it all about. So there are certain steps that go into the choreography and it's the same way with the Christian life. There's a choreography present in the Christian life. Now I want you to go to your English translations and look at that fifth verse. in what we've read this morning, for this very reason, make every effort to add, or some of you might have, to supplement. That word in the Greek is epichorigen. It's literally the word where you get choreography from. So, do you understand what's going on here, what Peter is doing? He's laying out for you a list where the steps are choreographed. They go together. This is the dance of the Christian life. And why is that the case? It's because they go together with the ultimate choreographer, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Faith binds us to Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the only one who is not corrupt. Faith binds us to Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the only one who is not filled with sinful desires. Faith binds us to Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the one who is virtuous, bound to the will of his Father above all else. Who is Jesus Christ? That one we're bound to by faith. He is the one who is all knowledgeable. He is the one who is self-controlled. He is the one who is steadfast. He is the one that is godly. And He is the one, friends, He is the one who loves. Do you know how great His love is for you? His love is so great for you that He laid down His life for you. Do you know how great His love is for you? You know what we're told in Scripture? That our God has loved us from all eternity. And He promises to love us for all eternity. This is the one to whom you are bound to by faith. You see, you're joined to Christ. And as you're joined to Christ, this is your life. His divine power is at work in us. And as His work in us, we're being directed to become what we already are in Him. He's the one who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, but He's also given us His Spirit, the Spirit of the risen Christ, that we might live for Him in this life. That which has been granted by God, that which you possess through faith in Jesus Christ, friends, that's what you're to practice in your life. So verse 8, if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So to go back where we started, if you find yourself struggling with worry, anxiety, so concerned about the things of this life that you know you're being ineffectual or unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, then these are places that you should look. Self-control. Self-control. Self-control should be It should be mine when I'm surfing the internet. Where is it? Brotherly kindness. Am I preferring this other person in love? Am I exalting them? Or am I only thinking about myself? Where is my kindness? Steadfastness. Where's my commitment when it comes to Jesus Christ? Where's my commitment when it comes to his word? Why am I not serving more? What has happened to my desire to grow in the knowledge of the word of God? And why am I not in church? Friends, these are not matters of indifference. This is your life as Christ is your life. And dare I say that the increase of these virtues in your life will match the increase of Christ in your life. Now look at verse 9. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. So you see what Peter's saying. If you're indifferent to these things, if you're indifferent to what has happened through Jesus Christ, if you're so caught up with earthly things, if that is what motivates you, if that is where your heart is, then you're going to be blind. You'll be blind to true treasure, you'll be blind to God himself. It will be as if you willingly have shut your eyes to the kingdom of God and you have forgotten what you were redeemed from. Recall how this passage started. Peter declares to us that his divine power, God's divine power has provided all that pertains to life and godliness. for we have, even preceding that, for we have attained the faith by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so he's now taking us through what the Christian life looks like, and then he comes to this warning in verse nine. And you're to pause, and you're to realize, there cannot be anything more important than Jesus Christ in my life. This has to be that which I value above all else, the pearl of greatest price. For Jesus Christ has done it all for me. You see, to put it in other words, those things that we worry about, would we trade them if they were fixed, if I could actually fix something in my house for the relationship I have with Jesus Christ? Good health. Earthly riches? I mean, all the things we worry about? Now, I'm not saying that we should be indifferent to any of paying our bills, providing, being faithful in regard to that which is necessary. But what is ultimate? And what is of most value? You do recall the episode in the Old Testament, Genesis chapter 25? Two brothers, Jacob and Esau. Esau's out hunting. He's famished. He's starving. His brother Jacob has some stew. Now Jacob's a deceiver. He should have given his brother the stew, but he doesn't. He says, I'll give you the stew. If you give me your birthright, exchange me your birthright as the firstborn, that's what had spiritual significance in the old covenant. And what's Esau's reaction? That's all you want? You gotta be kidding me. What is that birthright compared to the things of life? What is that birthright compared to that stew? Unless I have that food, I cannot go on. And so he gladly made that trade. This is what we read in Genesis 25, 34. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went on his way. And then we're told, thus Esau despised his birthright. You get that impression that he ate and drank and left, went on his way because this is what life is about. This is what matters. And my brother's a fool. Friends, that's the wisdom of this world. That's the wisdom of the rulers of this age. We have been freed from that. Our faith does not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Our faith rests upon Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It's what we embrace. It's what we believe. It is the foolishness of the cross. This is what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2. He says, now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. That's what's going on. You see, to put it back to what Peter's saying, when we have been given everything that pertains to life and godliness, friends, We have not only been redeemed through the work of Jesus Christ for us, but the work of Jesus Christ now in us. We have the mind of Christ and we can follow after our God and we can seek to glorify and enjoy him in all that we do. And we don't need to be enslaved to that tyranny, to that tyranny of this life. that is blind to the kingdom of God. And I tell you, and I ask you, are not the best moments of your life when you're falling after Jesus Christ in faith and obedience? Isn't that what you look back to? As you might have helped someone, prayed for someone, the blessings that flow from that, don't they trump all these things that are passing away before us? You see, we are so blessed. We are so blessed in Christ. That's why we gather together week by week to hear the word proclaimed, that we might be reminded what is ours in Jesus Christ, and that we would live for his glory. And so we have this encouragement, therefore, at the end of our passage, verse 10. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, For you practice these qualities, you will never fall. For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's pretty good news, is it not? Good news for sinners. We deserve God's wrath and curse. But these are the blessings that have poured out upon us, upon Jesus Christ. Let us endeavor to love him with all of our heart, to follow after him according to his word, and to lay down our life for others. Let's pray. Our Lord and our God, we do come before you knowing that we do not follow after you as we should. We fail you, O Lord. We are so selfish, so impatient, O Lord. We know that We stand condemned before you But we're so thankful Lord that you have drawn us to yourself And through the gift of Jesus Christ, we now have life. We're so thankful Lord that you have loved us You have loved us when we did not love you I And so we do pray, O Lord, knowing that you have gone before us at every point and you provided such a rich salvation. We do pray, O Lord, that we would come to an end of ourselves, that we would die more and more to sin and live more and more to righteousness. O Lord, help us to do this. Help us to live in a way that is pleasing to you. Help us who are parents. Help us, O Lord, never to tire of teaching our children the word. Help us, O Lord, never to tire of praying for others. Help us, O Lord, never to tire of seeking to grow in the knowledge of your word and of sound doctrine. Do thank you, O Lord, for Tyler Church, and we do thank you so much for John and his ministry here over the decades. We do pray, Lord, that you would give him strength and wisdom. Thank you, O Lord, for the giftedness that you have given to him. Our dear brother, may we pray for him as he prays for us. And we thank you so much, Lord, for the elders here who rule. Thank you, O Lord, as they watch over our souls. Thank you so much for the deacons, O Lord, as they give of themselves in the ministry of mercy and love. But it's not just our officers, O Lord, that we give thanks for. We thank you, O Lord, from youngest to oldest. We thank you, Lord, that you have gathered us together here as the body of Christ. Help us, O Lord, to grow in our love for you and our love for one another. And as we grow in our love for you and our love for one another, may we grow in our love for our neighbors in this community. Help us to reach out to them, to show them the richness and the glory that is found only in Jesus Christ. We do thank you again and pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.