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We're here in 2 Peter chapter 1 and we're starting a new book and we finished 1 Peter. Here we are in 2 Peter now and the name of the sermon is The Importance of Knowledge. The Importance of Knowledge and I believe that's the main focus that you see in 2 Peter chapter 1 is it talks about knowledge quite a bit. So let's start there in verse number 1. Bob reads, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that obtain like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. So it talks about the righteousness of God. It talks about the precious faith there in verse number 1 and when we get saved it's not because of our righteousness, it's because of the righteousness of God. It's because Jesus Christ was perfect. It's because He was sinless and so we put our faith in what He did. We don't put our faith in what we do, right? So we put our faith in what He did. It's the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Verse 2, grace and peace be multiplied on you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. And so when we talk about being saved, we say that we're saved by grace, right? And that comes by having knowledge of God. You cannot get saved if you do not know how to get saved. You cannot get saved if you don't understand what Jesus Christ did for you. And so you think of the gospel of peace, you think of being saved by grace through faith and that comes when we have the proper knowledge of God, we understand what He did for us and we make that free will choice to believe in Him. So point number one is this, when it comes to the importance of knowledge, point one, knowledge is important because that's how you get saved. You have to have knowledge about what Jesus Christ did for you. It is impossible to get saved unless you understand exactly what Jesus Christ did for you. You have to have the proper knowledge of God as it mentions in verse 2. Go to Romans chapter 10 and I'll show this to you. Romans 10. Romans 10. I see many people, you know, are adults and, you know, I think they've always just assumed their whole life that they had the proper knowledge that I've always believed in Jesus. I've always believed that He was my Savior, but they don't have the proper knowledge of what salvation is and until they actually hear the gospel, they cannot actually get saved and they may understand that Jesus died, they may understand that Jesus is God, but unless somebody opens up this book and explains exactly what Jesus Christ did for them and what salvation is very clearly, they cannot get saved without having that knowledge taught to them. Romans chapter 10, verse 1. The Bible reads, Reverend, my heart's desire to prepare to God for Israel is that they might be saved, for I bear the record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. Not according to knowledge. And so what Paul is saying is those that were Israelites by their ethnicity, you know, generally they would have that same religion. By and large, if they had a zeal of God, however, not according to knowledge. They're very zealous of the truth, but they believe the wrong thing and, you know, people have this assumption that if somebody is religious, that automatically means that they're a good person or a godly person or a holy person. Reality is most countries that are very religious are actually pretty ungodly and most people that are very religious usually have the wrong beliefs and it doesn't mean that they're living a godly life. I mean, you look at the most religious countries in the world, you look at India, India is not the godliest country in the world. I mean, you look at any statistics of things that are a disgrace for a country of rape and all kinds. I mean, they're near the top of the list, but wouldn't anybody tell you that India is one of the most religious countries? They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. When you think of Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia is probably the most religious and zealous country of any Muslim country because Mecca is in Saudi Arabia and they're considered extremely zealous. That doesn't mean that they're godly though, just because they're very zealous because they have the wrong belief system. Our country is a very zealous country. It is a very spiritual country. That does not mean that it's a godly country though. People consider the Philippines a godly country because of all the Christian countries, they probably have the most idolatry. And people assume, well, they must be really godly because look at all their idolatry. Or they look at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at that massive statue of Jesus. Look how spiritual they are. Actually, Rio de Janeiro is one of the top five cities last to check on being the most pro-LGBT. Just because they're religious doesn't mean that they're godly. In fact, the most religious province you would say in the Philippines is Pampanga. The most religious city you'd probably say is San Fernando. And if you read that book, I think it was the Order of Secrets, the stuff based in the Philippines, Pampanga has the highest percentage of sexual assault cases against priests or Catholic clergy. Over one third of the Catholic priests have an actual case against them. And that's just the ones that have been reported. And how many get reported, they just kind of hush it off. So just because somebody is zealous, that does not mean that they're godly. And what Paul said is they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. He said, but weren't they godly? They killed the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't really get much more ungodly than that. Not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves under the righteousness of God. And see, people that are trying to work their way to heaven, they are ignorant of what Jesus Christ did for them, and they go about to establish their own righteousness. And they're trusting in themselves in their works to get to heaven. And the reality is, if that is what someone's trusting, God will let them try to get to heaven by their own works. And they're not going to make it. And he died for them. He paid for their sins. But they don't have the proper knowledge. They're ignorant. They have zeal but not according to knowledge, the Bible says. Go down to verse 13. Verse 13, we start getting into, you know, obviously this is, it talks about soul winning and preaching the Gospel to someone and unbelieving and then calling on the Lord. Verse 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call in him in whom they have not believed? And how should they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? So verse 14 is just very clear that a person cannot call unless they believed first. And they can't believe unless they've heard. And they can't hear unless there's a preacher that actually tells them. Now when it's saying a preacher, it's not saying a preacher as in someone who preaches sermons. It's saying somebody who preaches the Gospel. And so you could be a little boy or a little girl. If you're saved, you could preach the Gospel to someone and win them to the Lord. Okay? But somebody cannot be saved unless they have a preacher preaching them the Gospel. That is how they get the knowledge. Now this should be very basic, but there's a famous Baptist pastor here in the Philippines, and I listened to a sermon and he talked about how you can be saved without even knowing what salvation is. And it's like, how do you even respond to a statement like that? You get saved when you believe in your heart and there's all that belief as you call on the Lord. And that's what gets you saved. You have to actually believe what you're doing. You can't trick somebody into saying your prayer and, oh, we got it. We got them to say those words. No, they have to actually believe the right thing. And it says here they're not going to believe unless there's a preacher. And how shall they preach except they be sent? And so here's the thing. When it comes to people going out and preaching the Gospel, the reality is people are not going to be zealous to preach the Gospel unless there's someone sending them out to preach the Gospel. And that's why it's so important that you have a church where you're bonded together and then we just go out and preach the Gospel. I mean, today was a very tiring day, right? We had 27 salvations and, you know, you get done with round number two of so many. It's like, ah, round number three. It's like, is it worth going down to the park? But then when you're done with it, now that we're a church, we're like, amen, it was worth it. We got 16 salvations in the park. It's like, praise the Lord for that. It's exciting. It's great. But here's the reality. Do you think this is what you would have been doing if you didn't have a church sending you to preach the Gospel? And look, I'm not above this either because of the fact if I didn't have other people that were going out so many, I wouldn't have been spending my day out so many nights because it's just very hard to be self-motivated to do the work of God. It's not going to work. Once one person makes fun of you, you get discouraged and you quit. But when you have a group of people, no big deal. You just keep going, right? And so you need a church that's going to send you out to preach the Gospel. And so how should they preach except they be sent as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. And so God says the people that are preaching the Gospel, how beautiful are their feet? Now generally you wouldn't consider your feet to be the most beautiful part of your body, right? But the way God looks at it is your feet serve a purpose. And if you're using those feet to go preach the Gospel, regardless of how they look, regardless of how many bruises or blisters from all the work that's being done, it's like how beautiful are those feet because they're serving the purpose that God actually gave for them. Verse 16, but they have not all obeyed the Gospel for Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed their report. And so many people hear the Gospel, they don't believe. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So people can believe on Jesus when from the word of God, they get the knowledge of what Jesus did. And when they get that knowledge, they have that freedom of choice to believe on Jesus or not. But here's the thing without that knowledge, they can't get saved. I mean, I got saved when I was 18 years old. And I can tell you for two years before I got saved, I was scared where I would go if I die. I thought about it all the time, almost probably every day, but every single week for sure. I thought about it when I went to bed at night. I said, God, forgive me. I hope you'll forgive me. And I hope I'm going to heaven. But the problem was I didn't have that knowledge of salvation. Nobody had explained it to me. And once it was explained, I believed it, I got saved. But as much as somebody might want to get saved, and I wanted to get saved before I was saved, I wanted to go to heaven, right? But I did not have the proper knowledge. And people can only get saved with that knowledge. And you know what? It doesn't come by them reading the Bible, because the Bible says they need a preacher to actually preach it to them, okay? Go to 1 Timothy chapter 2. It's a big responsibility we have. I mean, we've been given the ministry of reconciliation. I mean, our ultimate purpose is to win souls of the Lord. Now, I'm not saying we forsake things like raising godly children and other things that we need to do, because obviously in the end, that's going to result in many souls being saved as well as we raise them to become soul owners. But we have a big responsibility to win souls of the Lord, because if there are people right over there in those neighborhoods that want to get saved, and nobody preaches the gospel, they have no hope. No hope. They cannot open up this book and get saved on their own. God's not going to send an angel to go down and preach the gospel to them. It's going to be us. And honestly, in Pampanga, it's probably going to be us, right? I mean, I don't think. I mean, I hope there's other people that are soul owners out there in Pampanga, but there's very few soul owners in this world. And so if people are going to get saved there, or eventually the surrounding areas outside of Antilles as we spread to other areas, perhaps one day get church plants started, or do soul-winning marathons, go soul-winning in the parks as they open up and stuff, it's probably going to be our group that gets people saved, which is why we also want to bring more people to church, train them to be soul owners and do the work, because how else is that word of God going to get out there? First Timothy 2, verse 4, who will have all men to be saved and then come on in the knowledge of the truth. And so in verse 4, we see the will of God is that all men get saved. And then Calvinists, I don't know what it is that they don't get. It just goes completely over the set. Well, I mean, if God wants everybody to save, get saved, why don't they get saved? Because they have free will. It's like, we have an answer to that. You don't. So what are you talking about? Because they say, well, you know, God's will automatically happen no matter what, you cannot stop it. Everything's going to take place exactly how God wants it. Well, then why does it say God wants everybody to be saved? And yet most people end up in hell because we have free will. They have free will to listen. We have free will to go out and preach the gospel. And so although God wants everybody to be saved, of course, the vast minority, few people end up being saved. And to be saved, what do you have to do? To come onto the knowledge of the truth. You have to have the right knowledge of the truth, which I don't think is directly referring to Jesus Christ there, but Jesus is truth. And so they have to understand what salvation is. And once they come to that understanding, once someone explains it, they have the choice to believe it and to come out of that knowledge or not. So being saved is coming out of the knowledge of the truth. Somebody explains the gospel, they understand it, they believe it. And once they have that knowledge, then they can be saved. But without that knowledge, without someone explaining it, they cannot be saved. Verse five says there's one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Now in verse five, it's kind of speaks about the character of Jesus Christ. And as I said on Saturday, I believe there's two things we have to believe to be saved. We have to believe that Jesus is who he says he was, which is kind of what it's talking about in verse five, that Jesus Christ is the mediator. And we have to believe that he do what he said he do. And in verse six, it tells us what he did, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. So in verse four, when we're seeing about salvation, we're seeing in verses five and six, we believe on the true Jesus and we understand what he did. And once we do that, we get saved. But what is it? Well, it's coming on to the knowledge of the truth. Go to second Timothy three, second Timothy chapter three, second Timothy three, second Timothy chapter three, verse seven, second Timothy chapter three, verse seven. It says ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now in second Timothy three, I don't have time to prove it to you, but this is in reference to someone that is a reprobate or a psychopath and they cannot be saved. And the reason why is they're not able to come to the knowledge of the truth. So you see that when it comes to knowledge, why is it so important? Well, I mean, because knowledge is the way that a person gets saved. They cannot be saved without the knowledge of what Jesus Christ did for them. Okay, now go back to second Peter chapter one, second Peter chapter one. So knowledge is the method for how someone can get saved. And that can only come when someone who has that knowledge passes on that knowledge, which, you know, honestly, that's not really all that confusing because think about this. If you're trying to learn how to do calculus, you're probably going to learn because someone who knows how is going to explain to you and then once you understand, you explain to somebody else. So doesn't that just make common sense that God works the same way? You know, once somebody has knowledge, they can pass that down. So point number one, knowledge is important because that's the way that a person can be saved. Number two is important because it's also the way that somebody can be holy. It's the way that somebody can be holy and live a godly life. Second Peter one verse three, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. And see, when it comes to somebody being godly, it actually comes by having the knowledge of God. Now being saved is when you have the knowledge of what Jesus Christ did for you. However, the Bible is about a lot more than just salvation. And sometimes when you talk to people that are unsaved or you listen to them, they try to make everything in the Bible about salvation. But when you get saved, you realize actually there's a million things. This teaches me how to dress, this teaches me, you know, I mean everything in life, right? And so all the answers are found in this book. And so it's not just, hey, you get the knowledge to be saved. Knowledge is the method for how somebody becomes holy. And if they do not have knowledge, then they're just not going to live that godly life. Think about this. If somebody doesn't know what God's commandments are, how are they going to be able to follow them? Right? Somebody told me out so many today that I asked him, what do you think it takes to get to heaven? And he said, well, to follow the Ten Commandments. I said, what are the Ten Commandments? And he's like, that's a good question, right? How can you follow them if you don't know what they are? Right? And here's the thing, he probably doesn't realize that, but there's a lot more than this. There's hundreds and hundreds and people have supposedly done studies, I don't know, 600 some. I really have absolutely no idea. Maybe one day I'll do a study or something, but there's a lot of commands. There's a lot of rules. And you know, honestly, when a person first gets saved, they're doing a lot of things that are wrong, but they do not know that some of those things are wrong. There's many things after I got saved, I started listening to preaching and reading the Bible, and it's like, whoa, I didn't know I was committing that sin, right? You start realizing, man, you know, just, I mean, covetousness, that's wrong. They're just thinking, or envious, where you wish you were someone else or had with it. It's like, is that a sin? Yeah, that's actually a sin. And these are the things you don't necessarily realize. But then once you start hearing it preached and you see the Bible, a multitude of things that after you get saved, you start realizing, man, that's wrong as well. How do you come to that understanding? By knowledge. Without that knowledge, you're not going to know what's right and what's wrong. Verse four, whereby are given unto a succeeding great and precious promises, that by these he might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And so when a person gets saved, they're involved with the Holy Spirit of God, and you basically have the new man, and you have the old man, and you can choose to walk in the new man, and you're gonna be living a godly life, being a partaker of the divine nature. But you also have the ability every day to choose to walk in the old man. Now, the reality is, every single one of us at least at least walks in the old man a little bit each day. Now, unfortunately, it's probably not true that some people walk in the new man, that everybody walks in the new man every day, because I think there's a lot of safe people that don't walk in the new man at all. There's nothing different about how they're living their lives. But all of us make mistakes every single day, obviously. Verse five, and beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, thinking of virtuous people, and to virtue knowledge, add more knowledge of God, knowledge of things in the Bible, and to knowledge temperance. Temperance is referring to basically controlling your temper, and temperance into temperance, patience. So add to that patience into patience godliness. Into godliness, brotherly kindness. Into brotherly kindness, charity. And so it's not just salvation that God wants you to know. There's a moment to the things he wants you to learn and grow. Grow in grace and knowledge, the Bible says. Sometimes you talk to people, and you try to explain to them that salvation is forever, and you can't lose it. It's like, well, what's the purpose of living then if I can just be saved now, and nothing will ever change that? I mean a million things, because God has a lot he wants you to do. And it starts with just coming to the knowledge of the truth, and then he wants you to learn about all of these other things. And as you're reading the Bible, that is how you find the will of God by reading his word. Go to Galatians chapter five. Galatians five. Galatians five. Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five. And in verse 16, you know, we start this comparison between the flesh, walking in the flesh, and the spirit. Okay, it says in verse 16, this I say then, walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. So the Bible says, if you walk in the spirit, is what it's saying, if you walk in the spirit, then you're not going to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. So there's a comparison between the spirit and the flesh that's given to a saved person. Okay, now here's the thing. I still have my flesh, so it's still possible to walk in the flesh, because there's these people like Calvinists who say, well, if you're really saved, you're just going to walk in the new man, walk in the spirit. I still have my flesh. I'm not dead yet. Okay, so verse 17, for the flesh lusted against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one to the other, so that he cannot do the things that he would. And see, what's taking place is this, if you choose to walk in the flesh, it will prevent you from doing the things that you actually want to do. Because think about this, when you're in church and you're hearing the word of God preached, you're thinking of so many things in your life that you want to do, so many things that you need to do. Right now, you're thinking, man, knowledge, that sounds important. I should wake up tomorrow morning and read the Bible. But what will stop that is if you choose to walk in the flesh, because if you choose to walk in the flesh in the morning, all of a sudden, the things that you would do, walking in the spirit, reading the Bible, praying, everything else that you would do, you know what, you're not going to do it if you're walking in the flesh. And these fight against one another, and it's just not possible to walk in the flesh and walk in the spirit. There's going to be this battle, and eventually, if you're feeding the flesh toward the spirit, the spirit's going to be very weak. And you're going to be doing the same sins and not making any changes in your life whatsoever. The changes take place once you start walking in the spirit. Once you start walking in the new man. I mean, some things in life, you can't just do this and this at the same time and be successful. Think about somebody who's trying to become a long distance runner, but their biggest hobby is smoking cigarettes. They're probably not going to be a good long distance runner. Those things fight against one another. It's just not possible, right? And so when it comes to trying to serve God, if we're walking in the flesh and fulfilling the lust of the flesh, that is going to fight against our desire to want to do right. And though you did have a desire to read the Bible, if you're committing sins, that desire is just going to fade out. That's the way it works. But if you be led of the spirit, you're not under the law. Go to verse 22. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such, there is no law. Now in verses 22 and 23, it's important to know that this is the fruit of the spirit. This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It's not the fruit of the Christian, because sometimes people look at this and say, well, you know, if somebody's saved, they're going to have love and joy and peace. It's not the fruit of the Christian. It's the fruit of the Spirit. Okay. And so this is what the Holy Spirit will result. When it talks about the fruit of the Christian, it's talking about winning souls to the Lord. Because some people say, well, if you're really saved, you're going to produce fruit. Meaning you're going to have love and joy and peace. But that's the fruit of the Spirit. Okay. The fruit of the Christian is actually winning souls to the Lord, the Bible says. And that's not a guarantee. And fulfilling the fruit of the Spirit is not a guarantee either, because it determines whether you're walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh. Okay. Turn back to second Peter chapter one. Second Peter chapter one. So point one, knowledge is the way to be saved. Point two, knowledge is the way to be holy. And if you're going to be holy, that's when you're fulfilling the fruit of the Spirit. When you're living a holy life, you're going to have love and joy and peace. And it comes not just by being saved, but once you actually learn what's right and wrong, that gives you the ability to actually live a godly life because you're learning God's commandments and his rules. But not only that, not only is it the way to be saved and the way to be holy, it's also the way to produce fruit. And when I'm saying the way to produce fruit, I'm saying winning souls for the Lord. Now it is the way to have the fruit of the Spirit in your life, because that's being holy. Okay. But in terms of winning souls to the Lord, it actually comes by having knowledge. You say, how does it work that way? Well, second Peter one verse eight. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, knowledge is important because number one, it can get you saved. Number two, having knowledge can cause you to be godly and have love and charity and kindness and all those things that were mentioned. And here's the thing. If you're not living a holy life, you're not going to produce fruit and win souls to the Lord. And so it's knowledge that gives you the ability to get saved and be holy, but also to produce fruit. Because when it says that he shall neither be barren nor unfruitful, what it's saying is if you have these characteristics in your life, it's going to cause you to be a solar. You're not going to be barren. You're not going to be unfruitful if you have love and joy and kindness and charity and all of these things. See, it's not good enough just to know what it takes to be saved. You have to actually live a godly life, and if you don't live a godly life, it is going to greatly hinder you from winning souls in the Lord. I'll show this to you in Luke eight. Go to Luke chapter eight, the parable of the sower. Luke chapter eight. Luke eight. I mean, I think this is probably the first lesson, or one of the first lessons a soul winner learns is going out soul winning. You come to that realization where basically, you know, once you start going soul winning, it causes you to start making major, major changes in your life. I know for me, I had a desire to win people in the Lord when I first got saved in terms of I wanted my family to get saved, but I was very shy to talk to people. But when I started going soul winning, I had a lot of areas in my life I needed to change. Now, of course, you know, I have many areas now. I'm not claiming to be perfect, but I'm just saying I have many things. I mean, I was worldly as could be all the things I watched, all the things I listened to and everything. But once you start going soul winning, it kind of forces you to make a decision, right? All of a sudden I started feeling really, really guilty about the things I was watching and listening to. And once I started going soul winning, the result was, man, I'm going to have to make a change. And if I don't change my lifestyle, I'm not going to be successful as a sower. And it wasn't really a person talking that I just somehow intuitively knew that. And it's true, though. I mean, if you're living a worldly life, if you're not living a godly life, you're not going to be fruitful. That's what the Bible teaches. Luke 8, verse 11. Now the parable is this. The sea is the word of God. Now this parable is a soul winning parable. It is not a salvation parable. It is a parable to people that are saved and are soul learners. And it's giving you an example of four types of people that you might talk to when you're out soul winning. And this doesn't mean it's comprehensive. It's just giving you a list of four different types of people that we run into as work brings in the gospel. And so the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Verse 12. Those by the wayside are they that hear, then come with the devil and take the way the word out of our hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. And so in verse 12, it talks about a group of people that hear the word of God. They hear the gospel, but the word is taken out of their hearts. And so basically, before they believe in God, get saved. The word is actually taken out. And so that seed is basically destroyed by the devil. So it's referring to people that hear the gospel, but don't get saved. And of course, many people we talk to, many people we give the gospel to, do not end up getting saved. That is certainly something we run into when we're out soul winning. You preach the gospel to people, and it seems so easy and so obvious to us. And then you listen to people tell you, I still think you have to live a good life. It's like I just showed you 20 verses that you can't be good. Like, what aren't you understanding? Right? But many people, and it doesn't necessarily mean that they're rejecting what you say. They might just, you know, it's hard to fully comprehend this. Once you are saved, it's like the point of no return. It makes perfect sense, and it always will. But before someone's saved, I remember hearing the gospel and just thinking, man, this is too easy. It's too good to be true. It's one of those math questions. It's so obvious that you're afraid to put the answer like two plus three equals letter a nine letter B five letter C zero. It's like it's too obvious to be fine. It's and that's the way people feel. They hear the gospel. It sounds too good to be true. It just seems too odd, but you know, that's how easy it is. It's a pretty gift. Verse 12 is referring to people we talked to that don't get saved, and that happens all the time. There's many people we counted. What was it? Did I say 27 salvation's today? But how many others heard the gospel that didn't get saved? Verse 13. They on the rock are they which, when they hear, receive the word with joy. Now receiving the word with joy is important because here's the thing. Receiving the word equals salvation. As many as received him to them gave him power to become the sons of God, even them that believe in his name. So in verse 12 13, these are clearly saved people because they received the word and they received it with joy. And the indication there is like receiving the word of God with gladness, meaning they didn't just get saved and do nothing. They got saved and actually did something with their Christianity, which means that they come to church. They I mean, those that gladly received his word in Acts two got baptized. So gladness and joy are pretty similar. So kind of the indication is these are the sorts of people that come to church and get baptized. But then notice this and these have no roots, so they're not rooted in the things that they believe, which for a while believe in a time of temptation fall away. Now I want you to realize this. It says they received the word with joy, and then you see a semicolon after the word joy. Before the semicolon is the salvation. They received the word with joy. But then it says these have no root, indicating they're not rooted in grounding in church. They come to church, they get baptized and hear the word of God preached. They like the preaching, but they never really get rooted in the things they believe. They don't develop their personal walk. And then what happens? Which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away. Now here's the thing. It does not say in verse 13, which for a while believe the gospel. It just says which for a while believe. I do not think that the believe there is referring to believing the gospel because before the semicolon, it says very clearly they received the word with joy. I think what it's saying is they're not rooted in that church. And when you get saved and come to a good church, you're learning all of these doctrines and all of these new things, and they believe these things for a while. Why would they stop believing them? Time of temptation. They get persecuted. They get mocked by their family. They get mocked by their friends. And the reality is that when people are part of a church like this and they hear this kind of preaching, they love this kind of preaching. But if somebody backsides and quits a church like this and is gone for a year, they're not going to believe the same doctrines and the same standards that they believe before that they're going to believe different things. Then once they fade out on the things of God, their beliefs are going to change. When you see people that backside and quit church, which it's something you're going to see, right? When we've been in our church in Manila, we've had people are part of our church when so many every week just kind of stopped coming and just faded out. I promise you, if you talk to them now, they feel like our preaching is too extreme now, even though they didn't feel like that when they were here. They think that it's a little bit over the top. You're too harsh on the sermons and everything. And you say, why is that? Well, because once people fade out, they're getting brainwashed by the world and then they're going to believe what the world says. And so when you come to a church like this, if you don't get rooted in what you believe, you could be someone that when persecution comes, you end up leaving. When very Baptist got persecuted in Sacramento, when it got protested by all the homos, there are people that quit the church. And I'll tell you what, it wasn't really too hard to see from Facebook that they changed a lot of their beliefs. Now, they still believe the gospel because you don't lose that. You're involved with the spirit of truth. However, not all the same doctrines anymore, not all the same standards that they used to have. A lot of things change actually in their lives. And so if I was saying there's certain people that we get saved, they come to church, they're excited, but they never get rooted and then they fade out. And that's going to be a sad thing for us to see because the reality is we're going to have new people come to this church and some are going to get excited. We're thinking, man, we've got a new family here that's soul winning, that loves God. Praise the Lord for that. And then some of those people you're going to see fade out. It's reality. It says in verse 14, and that which Philemon forms are they which when they have heard go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection. Now verse 13, they fade out due to persecution. Verse 14, they fade out due to worldliness. It says the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. So they get too focused on things that don't matter, too focused on entertainment, too focused on things that are not related to the work of God. And the Bible says they basically get choked by these things and they bring no fruit to perfection. Now bringing no fruit to perfection is referring to winning souls to the Lord because people try to look at this and say, well, if you're saved, you bring forth fruit. And if you don't have any fruit, that means you're not saved. But these people are clearly saved. They're just not winning souls to the Lord. Okay. It's very possible for people to be saved and not win souls to the Lord. Most people that get saved never want anyone to die. Verse 15, but that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. So in verse 15, it talks about people on the good ground, which they get saved and they have an honest and a good heart. And so basically, every time they hear the word, not just when they get saved, but every time they hear the word of God preached, whether it's a sermon, whether it's the morning Bible reading, they have an honest and a good heart. What does it mean by an honest heart? It means that they don't lie against the truth. If they're guilty, they're just honest about it. Like, yeah, I need to make changes. I'm wrong in this area. They don't make excuses for their sin. They have an honest heart and they have a good heart, meaning they actually do the right actions, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. So the person that's the soul winner and wins souls to the Lord is the person who, when they get saved and come to church, just every time they hear the word of God preached, every time they read the Bible, they're just honest about it and they make necessary changes. And if somebody does that, they're not going to fade out. And so when it comes to producing fruits, this comes by having knowledge because you hear the word, having heard the word, and that's not referring to salvation. You hear the word and hear the gospel and get saved. But every time you hear the word, every time you're getting this knowledge, you apply it to your life. And the result is you bring forth fruit with patience. But what about if you're at a church and you don't learn anything at that church? You never get any knowledge. They don't use any verses. I mean, according to the Bible, are you going to be a fruit bearing tree? Probably not, because knowledge is the way you learn things and you can have an honest and good heart to the message from God's word, whether it's when you're reading the Bible or whether or not it's you hear a sermon. If there is no knowledge being brought forth, it's not going to result in you winning the souls of the Lord. Go back to second Peter one, second Peter one, second Peter one. So what it said, verse eight is for if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And so it's not good enough just to understand salvation. You need to grow in your character. And this comes by having knowledge of God's word and knowledge of his commandments and knowledge of how to live a godly life. Verse nine is comparing verse eight and nine, because it starts with the word, but in verse nine, there's a comparison between verses eight and nine. But he that lack of these things is blind and cannot see a far off and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. And so there's a comparison in verse eight between the person who wins souls of the Lord and the person who does not win souls. Right. You see that comparison in verses eight, nine, verse eight is the one who is fruitful. If you have these things in you, you're going to be fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, meaning you're going to win souls of the Lord. Verse nine, though, if you do not have these things, then you're blind and cannot see a far off and have forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Now, look, I've heard people say this before, and I don't believe this is right at all, where they say in verse nine. Well, you know what? It's possible to completely forget that you're saved. You've forgotten that you're saved. You know, if you don't have these things in your life, why do you think it's possible for someone who is saved to forget their sins? Because you dwell with the spirit of truth. Okay. But what I think it's saying is this. Think about the comparison we saw earlier and think about, you know, walking in life versus walking in darkness. God has all these comparisons. Okay. Now, if you're saved, that's sort of the opening of the door where you can walk in the light of God's word, but you still have the option to walk in darkness. If you're walking in the light of God's word by verse eight, then you're seeing, you know, the things in life that you're seeing everything that's taking place. But what about if it was pitch black and you're walking in darkness? You're basically blind, right? I mean, even though you might have vision, if it's completely black and I'm saying black to the point where your eyes never adjust, you're basically as good as being blind because you can't see anything and you're looking and everything. And see, that's the sort of person that basically they could be saved. But because they're not walking in the light, they're not walking in God's word. They're not walking in the spirit. They're not walking in the new man, but they're walking in the flesh and the old man. They're walking in darkness and what they're living their life as if they're not saved. And what I mean by that is being saved teaches you certain things. It teaches you, you know what? Hey, I should live godly. The Bible says the grace of God teaches those that are saved that we should live godly. It doesn't mean you will live godly, but it does teach you should live godly. There's definitely a change that takes place in salvation. There's no guarantee you're gonna start living a good life, but there's definitely a monumental change that takes place when you get saved because you're now involved with the spirit of God. I remember when I got saved and I thought to myself, I now understand the purpose of life because I thought the purpose of life was to get to heaven pretty much, right? But then once you know you're on your way to heaven, you're thinking, man, my purpose is to bring other people to heaven. I didn't know what I needed to do, but I just realized that's the purpose, right? I didn't understand that before I was saved though. And here's the thing, though. People, if they're backsliding and not serving God and just walking in darkness, they're living their life like they're not even safe. They're living their life just like a normal unbeliever would, and it's like they've forgotten that they got saved. It's like, don't you realize that when you got saved, you should realize your body does not belong to you. Your life does not belong to you. Since Jesus died for you, you should realize that you should live a godly life. But then many people just get caught up in the things of this world, and then they forgot that they are purged from their old sins. They're walking in darkness, they're walking blind, and you know what? They will be untruthful. They will never win anyone. There are people that are saved out there that honestly, they couldn't even get somebody saved if somebody was there asking how to be saved. Right? Like in Acts 16 situation, what must I do to be saved? Now, you know, if you're a soul winner, you can just open up the Bible and say, hey, this is how you win someone. I mean, this is what you need. Just talk to them and everything. But no, I believe there's people out there that are saved and they could have somebody bowed out before them and say, what must I do to be saved? And then they wouldn't know what to say, even though they believe they wouldn't know the words to say. And so if you're walking in darkness, you're basically going to be blind and you will be unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have the knowledge of salvation, but you're going to be completely unfruitful. You're not going to win anyone in the world. Verse 10. Wherefore, rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things, he shall never fall. People try to take verse 10 and say, make sure you're saved. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. That's not saying to make sure that you're saved. If you believe you're saved. I mean, there's nothing to make sure in terms of how godly you're living. What is saying, though, is, hey, make sure that you're actually living a godly life. Make sure that you have the things of God abiding in you and you're serving God and doing right. And if these things are in you, he shall never fall. OK, meaning you're never going to fall and backslide and just fade out of the things of God. If you're reading the Bible every day and you're obeying what God says in his word, you're not going to fall. You're going to be fruitful. You're going to be walking in the light and you're not going to stumble over things because you see where you're going. OK, verse 11. For so an entrance shall be ministered on you abundantly in the everlasting kingdom of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. And so the Bible saying, if you are living a godly life, then an entrance is ministered on you abundantly. OK, and what it's saying is, if you are living a godly life, you can have the abundant Christian life. I think that was the name of the sermon series Pastor Menace had, living the abundant Christian life or something like that. But what it's talking about is basically you don't just get to heaven and then you look at the works that you did that you get rewards for and it's like this much or something. It's like, all right, souls led to the lord, zero. OK, no rewards for that. It's like times you've read through the Bible cover to cover, zero. OK, no rewards for that. But you actually have a minister. You have an entrance ministered on you abundantly. Basically, you're doing a lot of great things for God. You've accomplished a lot and you can end your life and say, you know what? I did something for God. Now, of course, none of us are going to end our lives and feel like we were perfect because none of us are. However, I would hope that when I die, I can look back on my life and say, you know what? I accomplished some things for God. I mean, I wasn't perfect, but I don't want to end my life and just be like, man, I just wasted my whole life. Right. Verse number twelve. Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them and be established in the present truth. And so Paul talks about it or not Paul, but, you know, it's usually Paul when you're reading the New Testament, not Paul. But Peter says, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things. He said, Brother Stuckey, your sermon is about living a godly life and winning souls of the Lord. And you need a soul winner to get saved. Well, I'll put you always in remembrance of these things. We need to hear the same things. And, you know, the Bible teaches the same things over and over again. Kind of packages them a little bit differently. We need to be reminded of the same things. Part of it is because we're always going to have new people at our church. And you know what? You might know certain things, but if people are new, they might not know all those things. But the Bible is really about repetition. It's the same things over and over and over and over again. And Peter says, I just want to keep reminding of you of these things. That way you're going to actually accomplish something. It's important that the Word of God being preached is teaching you and motivating you to serve Him. Otherwise, you're probably not going to be self-motivated. We need this sort of preaching. Verse 13. Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. Now, when he says, in this tabernacle, he's referring to his body. Okay. And so what we realize is God dwells inside of us. The Holy Spirit dwells inside of us because this is our tabernacle as a saved person. Okay. Verse 14. Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me. What he's saying here in verse 14 is, I'm going to be dying soon. My tabernacle, I'm going to die. Verse 15. Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able after my deceased. So think about somebody being deceased or dead. To have these things always in remembrance. And so Peter says, I have a goal that when I pass away, I have a goal that I preach this so much that it's just firmly in your head. And you know what you're supposed to do. And you know what the Bible says. And you're not going to be led astray by some false teacher. You know, you're not going to backside because these things are fully inside of you and inside of your heart. And you know what the Bible teaches. Peter says, I'm going to remind you again and again and again so you're established in this truth. Okay. Point one, knowledge is the way to be saved. Point two, knowledge is the way to be holy. Point three, knowledge is the way to produce fruit, meaning winning souls of the Lord. And point four, knowledge is found in God's word. That's right. Knowledge is found in God's word. Second Peter 1 verse 16. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. For eyewitnesses of his majesty. And Peter says, when I talk about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, it's not some fable like, I don't know, the preacher of rapture, you know, that we're following, but we're actually eyewitnesses of his majesty. We're actually aware of this stuff. It's like I was there when he said, you know, immediately after the tribulation. So it's not some fable, but someone's teaching me. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. We know what the Lord told us. Verse 17. For he 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. Referring to the mount of transfiguration when there's Moses and Elijah and the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the famous thing where Peter, I'm sure Peter never is going to forget this because he puts his foot in the mouth where he's like, hey, shall we build three tabernacles? One for Moses, one for Elijah. And then all of a sudden there's this voice from heaven. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Right? And then they're kind of afraid. So Peter kind of puts his foot in his mouth. Verse 18. And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount. So realize this, that Peter actually saw the mount of transfiguration. He was there for that. That is something you will never forget in your life. I mean, that's such a powerful thing where it's just like, you see that and you know, hey, the things I believe, I know these are true. I've seen with my own eyes. I'm not going to forget it. And it's like I was eyewitnesses of his majesty. But then he says in verse 19, we have also a more sure word of prophecy, a more sure word of prophecy. Where until you do well that you take heed as unto a light that is shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star rise in your hearts. Knowing this verse that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So what Peter says is this, that above the mount of transfiguration, above what I saw with my own eyes in that miraculous event, a more sure word of prophecy is the scripture. He said, this is a stronger proof of the things I believe than me seeing the mount of transfiguration. And what this shows you is you can't just go off the testimony of someone where this happened in my life. It's like, well, what does the Bible say? Because the Bible says this trumps anything you saw or heard. This is above anything. This is how we know what's right. This is how we know what's wrong. This is about anything. And it says we have a more sure word of prophecy and it's referring to the scripture. And it's like everybody's waiting for these miraculous events to take place in their life. Seeing is believing. If I saw those things, I would be zealous serving God. And yet we in the 21st century have the completed word of God right here at our fingertips. And this is the source to living a Godly life. This is a source to producing fruits. This is the source of all knowledge that we need. And yet as Christians, oftentimes we're too busy, too busy in our lives just to open up the word of God. And yet this is a more sure word of prophecy. The prophecy came not an old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. This is not just a book of compiled stories by people where it's entertaining as you're reading about the history of Christianity. This is actually the word of God. And yes, these stories took place. Yes, these events are real, but this is literally the word of God. And it's a spiritual book that can change your life. And as Christians, you say, How am I going to be successful? Well, comes through knowledge. And here's the thing I preach and teach a lot in three sermons a week. However, you can learn more on your own. There's nothing stopping you as a safe person from waking up tomorrow morning and just reading your Bible, just spending 30 minutes in the Bible. And you're not going to understand everything. But you know what? You're gonna learn a lot and you're gonna be motivated to serve God. And what you're gonna find if you start reading the Bible is that this is actually an exciting book. You'll start having questions. You'll start coming to church and asking people, Hey, what's this first meeting here? And then people that have read the Bible, you know, and maybe heard more sermons, they'll teach you that. Oh, man, that's great. And that's always an exciting thing as a Christian. When other people are asking you questions and you're showing them things that you want stopped. Anyway, as our church grows, we're gonna have a lot of people that are new and especially if they just got saved and they don't even know what the new IFP is, then all this stuff's gonna be new for them. And we're gonna be able to teach them not just me preaching sermons, but you're gonna be able to teach them the doctrine we believe in, the doctrine the Bible says. And here's the thing, though, that's gonna come when you're reading the Bible for yourself and you have knowledge of God's Word. Quickly go to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. We're just gonna look at this one last verse here. And it says in 1 Peter 2, verse 2, as newborn babes. 1 Peter 2, verse 2. 1 Peter 2, verse 2. As newborn babes, desire the sincere melt of the Word, that ye may grow thereby. So in 1 Peter 2, 2, we talked about as newborn babes, desire the sincere melt of the Word. That is your method for growing. That is your method for learning things, is desiring God's Word, reading God's Word. And look, there's nothing that I preach up here, nothing in the Bible that I preach that you could not learn on your own by reading God's Word. I don't have some hidden knowledge where it's just like, man, Brother Stuckey is just divinely given this gift. Actually, if you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, you can actually read and learn for yourself. And that's an exciting thing, one thing I've noticed is this. Sometimes you're reading the Bible, and you see something in the Word of God, and you know for sure that this is what God's saying, but it's something new that you just learned. You're reading, and you make some sort of connection. You're like, man, this is what God's saying. And nobody taught it to you. And it's so exciting to you when you learn it on your own. And I remember one of the things that I still remember this is when I was reading John chapter 3, and it talks about even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, and I had never heard a preach, and I made the connection, oh, that's from the Old Testament. It's not really a deep reading, but I just remember reading it, and I was like, man, this is amazing, because I knew exactly what God was saying, but I hadn't heard a preach. I just read it for myself, and I was like, wow, you know, and the Bible will come alive to you when you're reading it for yourself when you're learning these things. Now, one thing I want to say in closing is this. This sermon is all about knowledge, and let me say this. Our church is set up for knowledge. Churches have different sorts of themes and different sorts of ways they try to reach people. Many churches, it's the music ministry. And look, of course, we want our music ministry to be as good as possible. I love it. We're having instruments and song leading, but I don't think any of us would say that the number one most important thing about our church is the music ministry, and nor would it ever be. Even if we had the greatest, you know, musicians and the greatest song leaders in the world, it still would be a minor focus compared to the word of God being preached. It's not like we increase the number of songs, and we got such great music, let's just make it 15-minute sermons and 15 songs. It's like, it's never going to happen. It doesn't matter if we have the greatest musicians in the entire world, because church should be about knowledge. You say, why? Church is the pillar and ground of the truth. Now, of course, there is knowledge we can find from our handles. There are certain things that are taught, and I think it's great to sing hymns. There's many reasons why the Bible speaks about them. However, our church is really focused on the word of God being preached and learning during the sermons and truth being poured out. And I would say that's the reason why people like this church, because they want to learn. Now, here's the thing. A lot of people do not like this church because that's not really what they're interested in. But that is always what our church is going to be about, is knowledge, learning. Even when you look at the challenges we do, we do a Bible reading challenge in January, we do Bible memorization challenges. You say, what's the purpose? We want you to learn. And here's the thing. I'm preaching through 1 John right now, which is where we have a memorization challenge. And 1 John's a deep and confusing book, but I want you to memorize it. And you know what? You can test me, and you might disagree with me on interpretations, that's perfectly fine. But I'm not afraid of you reading the Bible and memorizing it. In fact, the more you read it, the more you memorize it, it's just going to make you a better Christian and a better church member and a great blessing to our church. So I want you to read the book of God. And look, knowledge is extremely important because we are being brainwashed 24-7 by this world. And they're censoring knowledge. And you have one thing though, at least in today's world, that they cannot censor, at least here in the Philippines, is the word of God. And they can censor every source of knowledge out there, but you know what? You can still understand the events that are taking place in this world just by reading God's word. It's all found in this book. Let's go to the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your word of this topic. Help us to realize the importance of knowledge in our lives, God. Help us to...