Author Archives: Gary Davenport

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through  them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world  caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:4)

         Great and precious promises refers to the numerous offers of divine provision found in Scripture. These promises offer us the glory and virtue of Christ as the basis for our growing participation in the divine nature. We have Christ within us, as He promised (see John 14:23), to enable us to become increasingly Christlike (see 2 Cor. 3:18).

Because we have become new creatures in Christ, we have already escaped the corruption (the moral ruin) that is in the world through lust (perverted desire). We should make our escape from this world evident to all by our godly behavior and the renewing of our mind (see Rom. 12:2). These promises are the fourth resource (vv. 1, 3) upon which believers may draw for sustaining help.

I have heard some incredible promises in my lifetime, just as you probably have also. Most often advertising promises far more than it delivers. But the promises of our text are completely reliable. Indeed, the benefits of heeding Peter’s words, and the consequences of neglecting them, are great.

Listen to his words: “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:8-11)

Peter calls for diligent, disciplined, life-long effort on the part of the Christian. This is a discipleship text which requires discipline and self-denial. It is a challenge to every Christian for all the days of their lives. No Christian ever works his way through this text to move on to other pursuits.

Heeding Peter’s words keep us from being useless and unfruitful in our relationship with Jesus Christ and enables us to live in the present in light of our past conversion and our hope for the future. Doing as Peter instructs can keep us from stumbling and assure us a triumphant entry into the kingdom of our Lord. Conversely, neglecting Peter’s instruction diminishes our perception and confidence in the salvation God has provided and sets us up for a fall.

Peter’s own words should convince us to pay careful attention, for the benefits pertain to our past, our present walk, and our future hope. May we approach our text with a deep sense of its importance and an open and willing heart eager to hear and heed what God’s Spirit has revealed.

Scripture affirms that “Jesus is the yes to every promise of God.” These promises are the offers of divine provision found in the scriptures. They offer the glory and virtue of Christ to us as the basis for a growing participation in the divine nature. We have Him within us, as he promised, (John 14:23), to enable us to become increasingly Christlike (2 Corinthians. 3:18).

Because we have become new creatures in Christ we have already escaped, by new birth, the corruption (moral ruin) that is in the world through lust (perverted desire). There only remains that we shall make this escape evident to all by our changing behavior.

This expression (“divine nature”) is not different from the concepts of being born again, born from above (cf. John 3:3; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23), being in Christ (cf. Rom. 8:1), or being the home of the Trinity (John 14:17–23). The precious promises of salvation result in becoming God’s children in the present age (John 1:12; Rom. 8:9; Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:27), and thereby sharing in God’s nature by the possession of His eternal life.

Christians do not become little gods, but they are “new creations” (2 Cor. 5:17) and have the Holy Spirit living in them (1 Cor. 6:19,20). Moreover, believers will partake of the divine nature in a greater way when they bear a glorified body like Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20,21; 1 John 3:1–3)[1]

It is clear from this verse that participation in the divine nature is the starting point of Christian living, and not its goal. This participation becomes more and more evident as we allow our thinking to be renewed (Romans. 12:2) by understanding and appropriating the great and precious promises found in the scriptures. These promises are the fourth resource upon which believers may continually draw for sustaining help.

In verses 3 and 4 there is a tremendous and comprehensive picture of Jesus Christ. (i)  He is the Christ of power.  In him there is the divine power which cannot be ultimately defeated or frustrated.  In this world one of the tragedies of life is that love is so often frustrated because it cannot give what it wants to give, cannot do what it wants to do and must so often stand helpless while the loved one meets disaster.  But always Christ’s love is backed by his power and is, therefore, a victorious love.

He is the Christ of generosity.  He bestows on us all things necessary for true life and true religion.  The word Peter uses for religion is eusebeia, the characteristic meaning of which is practical religion.  Peter is saying that Jesus Christ tells us what life is and then enables us to live it as it ought to be lived.  He gives us a religion which is not withdrawal from life but triumphant involvement in it.

He is the Christ of the precious and great promises.  That does not so much mean that he brings us the great and precious promises as that in him these promises come true.  Paul put the same thing in a different way when he said that all the promises of God are Yes and Amen in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).  That is to say Christ says, “Yes.  So let it be,” to these promises; he confirms and guarantees them.  It has been put this way-once we know Jesus Christ, every time we meet a promise in Scripture which begins with the word “Whosoever,” we can immediately say to ourselves, “That means me.

He is the Christ by whom we escape the world’s corruption.  Peter had to meet the antinomians, the people who used the grace of God as an excuse for sin.  They declared that grace was wide enough to cover every sin; therefore, sin does not matter any more, the grace of Christ will win forgiveness for it.  For any man to speak like that is simply to show that he wants to sin.  But Jesus Christ is the person who can help us overcome the fascination of the world’s lust and cleanse us by his presence and his power.  So long as we live in this world sin will never completely lose its fascination for us; but in the presence of Christ we have our defence against that fascination

The word “corruption” has the idea of something decomposing or decaying. “Escaped” depicts a successful flight from danger. At the time of salvation, the believer escapes from the power which the rottenness in the world has over him through his fallen, sinful nature.

He is the Christ who makes us sharers in the divine nature.  Here again Peter is using an expression which the pagan thinkers well knew.  They spoke much about sharing in the divine nature.  But there was this difference-they believed that man had a share in the divine nature by virtue of being man.  All men had to do was to live in accordance with the divine nature already in them.  The trouble about that is that life flatly contradicts it.  On every side we see bitterness, hatred, lust, crime; on every side we see moral failure, helplessness and frustration.  Christianity says that men are capable of becoming sharers in the divine nature.  It realistically faces man’s actuality but at the same time sets no limit to his potentiality.  “I am come,” said Jesus, “that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).  As one of the great early fathers said, “He became what we are to make us what he is.”  Man has it in him to share the nature of God-but only in Jesus Christ can that potentiality be realized.

Jesus Christ is the Messiah of the divine nature or new man. Exceeding great and precious promises have been given to us. The promises are those that have to do with the divine nature of God, the divine nature that is planted within the heart of a person who believes in Jesus Christ.

When a person believes in Jesus Christ, God sends His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to indwell the heart of the believer. God places within the heart of the believer His own divine nature and makes him a new creature and a new man. The believer is actually born again spiritually. He actually partakes of the divine nature of God through the presence of God’s Holy Spirit.

And note what happens: the believer escapes the corruption that is in the world. He lives eternally, for the divine nature of God can never die. When it is time for the believer to depart this life, quicker than the blink of an eye, his spirit is transferred into heaven, into the very presence of God Himself. Why? Because of the divine presence of God: the believer is a new creature, a new man, a person in whom the very Spirit of God Himself dwells; and the Spirit of God cannot die. The person thereby escapes the corruption of this world.

These promises are great because they come from a great God and they lead to a great life. They are precious because their value is beyond calculation.

God makes a promise; faith believes it, hope anticipates it, patience quietly awaits it. He is the God of promise. He keeps his word, even when that seems impossible; even when the circumstances seem to point to the opposite.

His promises are, virtually, obligations that he imposes upon himself. God’s promises are like the stars; the darker the night the brighter they shine. We know this because God cannot lie. “When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, {14} saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” {15} And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. {16} Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. {17} Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. {18} God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.” (Hebrews 6:13-18)

The Revised Standard Version puts it this way, “His precious and magnificent Promises.”  There are so many of God’s promises. I am told that there are over 30,000 promises that God has made His people as recorded in the Bible.

God will keep His promises.  God is faithful. He is not whimsical, capricious, or flippant. He cannot violate His own integrity nor fail to keep His promise. We would have no gospel without God’s faithfulness, no good news unless God could be counted on. Our gospel begins with the claim: Our God is faithful!

Paul tells us that God works in and through all things for the good of those who love Him. (Rom. 8:28).

Professor E. C. Caldwell ended his lecture. “Tomorrow,” he said to his class of students, “I will be teaching on Romans 8. So tonight, as you study, pay special attention to verse 28. Notice what this verse truly says, and what it doesn’t say.” Then he added, “One final word before I dismiss you — whatever happens in all the years to come, remember: Romans 8:28 will always hold true.”

That same day Dr. Caldwell and his wife met with a tragic car-train accident. She was killed instantly and he was crippled permanently. Months later, Professor Caldwell returned to his students, who clearly remembered his last words. The room was hushed as he began his lecture. “Romans 8:28,” he said, “still holds true. One day we shall see God’s good, even in this.”

Notice that his emphasis is on God’s good, not our temporary health, happiness, or prosperity. That perspective allows us to see our suffering and pain as bad in themselves, yet to be reassured that He is working in and through them to fulfill His good purposes.

When we can say, “Lord, use me any way You can to advance Your plan, ” we will have begun to understand the meaning of Romans 8:28. And, as the professor said, this verse will hold true — even through tragedy.

Yes, God is a faithful God, meaning He will keep His promises.

David Livingston, missionary to Africa went to Glasgow University to receive the honorary Doctor of Law Degree. He said, “Would you like for me to tell you what supported me through all the years of exile among people whose language I could not understand and whose attitude toward me was always uncertain and often hostile? It was this promise God had made me, “Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world.” “It is the Word of a Gentleman of the most strict and sacred honor.”

When David Livingston was found in the jungles down on his knees, he was cold in death. His Bible was opened to that text upon which he had placed his finger a thousand times.

We are saved by hope according to the Word of the Lord.

(Rom 8:24)  “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” 

(Rom 8:25)  “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” 

New Testament hope means “certain expectation.” We are assured that what we hope for will be ours.

Two little girls were counting their pennies. One said, “I have five pennies.” The other said, “I have ten.” “No,” said the first little girl “You have just five cents, the same as I.” “But,” the second child quickly replied, “My father said that when he comes home tonight he would give me five cents, and so I have ten cents.” Trustfully, she counted what her father had promised as though she already had possession of it.

We need to appropriate these promises, believe them, and rest upon them.  A man called upon a needy widow in Scotland. She complained of her condition and remarked that her son was in Australia and doing well. “But doesn’t he help you?” he asked. “No, nothing,” she said, “He writes me once a seek but only sends little pictures.”

He asked to see them and found each of them to be a draft for ten pounds. That is the condition of God’s children. God has given us many “exceeding and precious promises” which we either are ignorant of or fail to appropriate. Many of them seem to be pretty pictures of an ideal peace and rest but are not appropriated as practical helps in daily life.

The promises of God are like keys that unlock doors of difficulty, despair, and doubt.  A scene from Pilgrim’s Progress illustrates the point.  The author John Bunyan portrays Christian, the main character in his allegory, as temporarily at a standstill on his journey to heaven. He finds himself locked in a dungeon beneath Doubting Castle. Then one morning Christian says in amazement, “What a fool am I, to lie in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk with liberty! I have a key in my bosom called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.” To which Hopeful, his traveling companion, exclaims, “That is good news, good brother; pluck it out of your bosom and try!”

So Christian pulls out the key and tries it in the dungeon door. The bolt opens with ease, and Christian and Hopeful hurry out. They then proceed to the outside door that leads into the castle yard, and the key opens it too. One last barrier stands between them and freedom — an iron gate. At first the lock resists. Christian keeps working the key of promise, and finally the heavy gate swings open.

Do you find yourself locked in doubting Castle, held prisoner by despair? Choose to trust one of God’s promises and act upon it today.

Someone has give us some good advice, if we’ll only take it.  “Life is so stressful, so crowded with work and battle and burden that we need all along to fortify ourselves with the promises from God’s Book. One does not even know how to pray like he ought, if he cannot take these promises, and fill his mouth with them, and plead them before God, saying, as did one of old: “Do as thou hast said.” These promises are designed to inspirit us, and rest us, and fortify us. We do not make enough of these promises from God’s Book. They fit every condition in human life. If we will only find it, there is no condition that is not met by a promise out of God’s Book, and these promises give us a grip on spiritual realities.

I summon you today, my busy men and women, to search out these promises from God’s Book constantly and appropriate them, and make them your own, and plead them before Him. One promise from God’s Book has, times without count, anchored a human soul and kept it going in the right way.”

One has said, “No matter how dark, the promises of God all shine brightly.” God’s promises are so precious to us now while we live and they’ll be precious to us when we come to the end of life here. The promises of God will light up the death bed for the Christian.

A young preacher was called on to visit a dying saint, eighty seven years of age, who was a devout Christian. The preacher asked God to give him a message for the time. When he entered the room the old man said to him, “Sir, I am dying. For years I have been feasting upon the promises of God, but this morning I can’t remember a single one of them.” The preacher said, “Dear friend, do you think that God has forgotten any of His promises?” the old man answered, “Praise God, He will remember, won’t He?”

God helps us to stand on His promises.  We live in changing times.  It seems like our society in which we live today is jazzed up and sex drenched. Liberty has become license to sin.  I believe we have some very sad days ahead,  unless we as a nation wake up.

Moral decay is rampant. Man has taken deity out of religion.  Some today are facetious enough to tell us that Jesus Christ was only a good man. We live in an age today where men have taken the supernatural out of christianity, and say the Bible is uninspired.

Morality has been taken out of our preaching in America. So many have become hard and soured on God. Art has been changed on the cinema screen to base sex. Art for art sake can be re-phrased as Art for sex sake.  Nudity has become the subject for a lot of things. Ethics have been taken out of business.  A man’s word and handshake used to be enough, but not anymore.

Our age has taken fidelity out of marriage.  Marriage was designed to be a lifetime commitment but now people view it as temporary. Some make marriage a 90 day option.  Many try out the marriage bed before they try out marriage! We live in a day of pantomime church, pantomime christianity, a see saw theology.

Man is trying to sabotage the Bible, humanize God, deify man, minimize sin, glorify science, secularize religion, glamorize sex and neutralize our society.

On many fronts our nation is in grave danger. With all these terrible things going on in the world, I ask this question today.  Is there anything we can really depend on?

I know we can’t depend on military might, Financial institutions, religious organizations.

We conclude the only thing we can depend on anymore, is that which was always dependable.

The word of God is dependable and true.  “In the beginning God”,  is the first statement in the Bible (Genesis 1:1). The next to last statement is, “Even so come Lord Jesus”.  (Revelation 22:20 ). There is the alpha and the omega of divine revelation. The beginning and end of Gods message to man.

The God of the Bible is a covenant God.  he can be depended and relied upon. Psalms 119:89   reminds us that Forever O Lord thy word is settled in heaven.  Thy faithfulness is unto all generation. This passage tells us that whatever God has spoken is settled both on earth and in heaven.

When God speaks that settles a matter.  There is no room for debate.  Whether I believe it or not it is settled.  What God said about the church is settled.  What God has said about church attendance is settled.  What God says about the Lord supper is settled.  What God has said about forgiveness and love is settled. There is no room for argumentation

And when we might be prone to think God has forgotten, Peter remind us that “The Lord is not slack concerning his promises as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  The writer to the Hebrews also said, Let us hold fast to the profession of our faith, for he is faithful who promised. (Hebrews 10:23).

God is dependable, trustworthy and reliable!  God can produce with all the promises he has made.  God never commits himself to something he cannot do!  In fact God can do all that he said. We can count on all the Lord has said and told us about.

Several years ago a man had a gospel meeting in a southern town.  The preacher was to stay with an elderly couple of the congregation.   The home was modest and small but filled with lots of love.  The preacher had a small room prepared for him the whole week.  The preacher and the couple had tremendous devotionals together.  This older couple was sweet and loving.  They read and prayed together that week.  The bible was worn and well marked. The preacher noticed several passages that were marked and beside the verse there was a TP beside of the passages.  The preacher asked what the markings were far.

The man said the passages that are marked , those are promises of God.  He said and the TP written beside of the verse means they have been tried and proved in my life.

He said when two of my sons were in the service our older boy died in the war.  He said I took mama to the table and held her hand and said we still have the promises of God though I son is gone.  The second boy came home from the war and the second day he was home he was killed by an automobile accident, he said that was devastating.  We lost our second son but we still have the promises of God.

My third child was a daughter.  She came home one day and her marriage was destroyed.  Her husband had become a sexual pervert.  The man took his wife and daughter and said this is terrible but we still have the promises of God.

The man said preacher after this meeting, mama will go in the hospital for some tests and the doctors told us to expect the worst. Even if she goes home to the Lord we will still have the promises of God.

A few weeks after the meeting the preacher wrote the couple and the woman had passed away from the surgery.  The note was answered and said mama’s gone but we still have the promises of God. The promises of God can help us and see us through the most difficult times of life.

Sometimes we feel short changed and cheat in life. We try to be the best person possible but things just does not turn our for us. We need to hear the promise of God.  In the by and by God will make things right for his children.  If we love and serve God, he will make things right.

Life is a tapestry of many colors and hues.  Sometimes in our lives we have dark moments.  Every life has hills and valleys. In the end of all things, our lives will look like a beautiful picture and tapestry. All things will work together for our good. Sometimes things go great, then suddenly something knocks us down into the valley of depression. God says,  keep loving and serving me, and things will work out for your good.

A crippled blacksmith was a Christian.  He had a bedridden wife and a child with polio.  The blacksmith was very happy and cheerful even in the midst of one problem after another.  A man asked him why he was so happy with all his problems.  The blacksmith took a piece of metal and placed the metal in the fire.  The blacksmith then took the metal and placed it on an anvil.  He threw it back in the fire and said it doesn’t have the right temper.  Finally after doing this several times he threw the metal on the scrap heap.   The blacksmith said, everyday I pray to God and tell him to go ahead and put me in the fire, but God, please don’t ever throw me on the scrap heap.

Sometimes in the valley of life, in the fires of life the difficult times remember God can use that experience to make us better and stronger.

I have seen people through the year that have obeyed and been changed by the word of God. Some harlots have been made holy, the doomed and the damned have become redeemed.  The lord can change the life of the most defiled and giove hope and help.

There is a land of new beginnings and that is the kingdom of God, the church.  I am glad to tell you no matter who you have been, what you have done through Christ you can me made new and clean again. The Lord offers a new beginning. That is the promise of the Lord also.

When the sinner believes on Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to impart the life and nature of God within. A baby shares the nature of its parents, and a person born of God shares the divine nature of God. The lost sinner is dead, but the Christian is alive because he shares the divine nature. The lost sinner is decaying because of his corrupt nature, but the Christian can experience a dynamic life of godliness because he has God’s divine nature within. Mankind is under the bondage of corruption (Rom. 8:21), but the believer shares the freedom and growth that is a part of possessing the divine nature.

Nature determines appetite. The pig wants slop and the dog will even eat its own vomit (2 Peter 2:22), but the sheep desires green pastures. Nature also determines behavior. An eagle flies because it has an eagle’s nature and a dolphin swims because that is the nature of the dolphin. Nature determines environment: squirrels climb trees, moles burrow underground, and trout swim in the water. Nature also determines association: lions travel in prides, sheep in flocks, and fish in schools.

If nature determines appetite, and we have God’s nature within, then we ought to have an appetite for that which is pure and holy. Our behavior ought to be like that of the Father, and we ought to live in the kind of “spiritual environment” that is suited to our nature. We ought to associate with that which is true to our nature (see 2 Cor. 6:14ff). The only normal, fruit-bearing life for the child of God is a godly life.

Because we possess this divine nature, we have “completely escaped” the defilement and decay in this present evil world. If we feed the new nature the nourishment of the Word, then we will have little interest in the garbage of the world. But if we “make provision for the flesh” (Rom. 13:14), our sinful nature will lust after the “old sins” (2 Peter 1:9) and we will disobey God. Godly living is the result of cultivating the new nature within.

[1]MacArthur, J. J. 1997, c1997. The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) . Word Pub.: Nashville.

 

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3)

At some point in our life, we must realize and then admit that God’s calling the shots. He’s running the show. Either He’s in full control or He’s off His throne.

Why would we want it any other way? Deity means power. It’s guided by His glory and goodness.  At some point we’re forced to pray a simple reality: Dear God, be good to me; The sea is so wide, And my boat is so small.[1]

The apostle Paul identifies the divine power referred to here as “the power of His resurrection” (see Phil. 3:10; 4:13). This power is the third resource for godly living that Peter lists in this letter (v. 1). by glory and virtue: These words suggest the qualities of Jesus that attract believers to Him. The glory that John saw in Jesus (see John 1:14) was His authority and power. The glory that Peter saw probably was manifested at the Transfiguration (vv. 16–18). Jesus’ virtue is His moral excellence that continually awed His disciples.

These are unique expressions in the New Testament. The divine power is the power God used in raising Christ from the dead and is that same power is available to the church (Eph. 1:19, 20). This divine power has provided us with the spiritual ability to live a godly life. The divine nature is the nature that characterizes God, the nature that is expressed in holiness, virtue, righteousness, love, and grace (see 1:5–7). By being regenerated with the divine nature, believers can exhibit the same characteristics.

The genuine Christian is eternally secure in his salvation and will persevere and grow because he has received everything necessary to sustain eternal life through Christ’s power. godliness. To be godly is to live reverently, loyally, and obediently toward God. Peter means that the genuine believer ought not to ask God for something more (as if something necessary to sustain his growth, strength, and perseverance was missing) to become godly, because he already has every spiritual resource to manifest, sustain, and perfect godly living.

“Knowledge” is a key word in 2 Peter (vv. 2,5,6,8; 2:20; 3:18). Throughout Scripture, it implies an intimate knowledge (Amos 3:2), and is even used for sexual intercourse (Gen. 4:1) The knowledge of Christ emphasized here is not a superficial knowledge, or a mere surface awareness of the facts about Christ, but a genuine, personal sharing of life with Christ, based on repentance from sin and personal faith in Him (cf. Matt. 7:21).

This call, as always when mentioned in the NT epistles, is the effectual call to salvation (cf. 1 Pet. 1:15; 2:21; 5:10; see note on Rom. 8:30). This saving call is based on the sinner’s understanding of Christ’s revealed majesty and moral excellence evidencing that He is Lord and Savior. This implies that there must be a clear presentation of Christ’s person and work as the God-Man in evangelism, which attracts men to salvation (cf. 1 Cor. 2:1,2). The cross and resurrection most clearly reveal His “glory and virtue.”[2]

Peter is describing the process by which a relationship with Jesus Christ is communicated to the world at large. He says four things. First of all, he says it is His divine power that has accomplished all this. Everyone in the world wants to tap into divine power, to find within himself, in some sense, the divine life, and to tap into that. Or he wants to find it somewhere else, so that he may share in that life. That is the great concern because every man knows that somehow he has the potential to be godlike. That is his desire, if only he had the power to do it. Somehow he senses, think intuitively, that only God can be godlike, and therefore he has to find that godlike spark or life or however it is described either within himself or somewhere else. By so doing, he can then fulfill his destiny.

The second thing Paul tells us is that this divine power has to do with life and godliness. That is, it relates to every area of life. Not only life in the sense of the observable, the visible, the mundane–but also piety (the word Peter uses), godliness, the realm of the Spirit. This divine power, he says, has relevance not only for the here and now, but it has to do with spiritual things as well. That is, it touches all of life.

It concerns the use of our resources now. It concerns the problems that you face right now. This power has to do with issues just like that, not merely things that happen when you are gathered together as a body of believers here, or when you are doing something that is obviously spiritual. Paul is saying that this power has to do with all of life.

Paul identifies this power as “the power of his resurrection” (Philippians. 3:10). It is a power which all true believers possess which enables them, if they choose to count on it, to do “all things through Christ who strengthens” (Philippians. 4:13). Thus any failure to live a godly life is due to our weakness or folly and not to God’s lack of supply. As has been suggested, this power is meted to us as our knowledge of God and Jesus increases.

The Christian life begins with saving faith, faith in the person of Jesus Christ. But when you know Jesus Christ personally, you also experience God’s power, and this power produces “life and godliness.” 

When you are born into the family of God by faith in Christ, you are born complete. God gives you everything you will ever need “for life and godliness.” Nothing has to be added! God never has to call back any of His “models” because something is lacking or faulty.

Jesus Christ is the Messiah of life and godliness. What is meant by life and godliness? It means all things that are necessary for life.

First, life is the energy, the force, and the power of being. The life which Jesus Christ gives is a life of energy, force, and power.  Whatever is necessary for life is given by Christ. He longs for man to live, to have an abundance of life; therefore He gives all things that will make a person overflow with life.

Second, godliness is living like God and being a godly person. It is living life like it should be lived. God gave man life; therefore, God knows what life should be, and above all things life should be godly just like God.

The word “godliness” (eusebeian) actually means to live in the reverence and awe of God; to be so conscious of God’s presence that one lives just as God would live if He were walking upon earth. It means to live seeking to be like God; to seek to possess the very character, nature, and behavior of God. The man of God follows and runs after godliness. He seeks to gain a consciousness of God’s presence—a consciousness so intense that he actually lives as God would live if He were on earth.

It is impossible for that man to despair who remembers that his Helper is omnipotent. What God expects us to attempt, He also enables us to achieve.

Recently while reading J. Sidlow Baxter, I came across this statement. “Far too many Christians live their life on the battery system.” He went on to explain that as a boy he had ridden on battery driven street cars. When the battery was charged all was well; but when it went dead, so was the street car. Baxter goes on to make this comparison: There are Christian believers who seem to run their spiritual life and service on that system. They go to a convention on the deeper life and when they return they are altogether different, for three weeks. Or they read some powerful Christian biography and as they close the book they say, “Now my life will never be the same.” Nor is it, for three weeks. Some Christians go from crisis to crisis, convention to convention, seminar to seminar, book to book, but have a lot of dead spots in between. They seem to rely on these experiences rather than on Christ.

History tells us that when Crowfoot, the chief of the Blackfoot nation in southern Alberta, gave the Canadian Pacific Railway permission to lay track from Medicine Hat to Calgary, he was given in exchange a lifetime railroad pass.  Reportedly, Crowfoot put the pass in a leather pouch and wore it around his neck for the rest of his life — but he never once availed himself of the rights and privileges it spelled out.  What a tragedy it is when Christians do the same thing with the Word of God, using it as a decorative badge of Christianity, but never availing themselves of the wealth of access to God’s thoughts it affords.

Waste of power is a tragedy. God does not waste the great power of his Spirit on those who want it simply for their own sake, to be more holy, or good, or gifted. His great task is to carry on the work for which Jesus sacrificed his throne and his life–the redemption of fallen humanity.[3]

Martin Luther King, Jr.  offered this encouragement, “So I say to you, seek God and discover Him and make Him a power in your life. Without Him all of our efforts turn to ashes and our sunrises into darkest nights. Without Him life is a meaningless drama with the decisive scenes missing. But with Him we are able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope. With Him we are able to rise from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy. St. Augustine was right–we were made for God and we will be restless until we find rest in Him.”

Over lunch, British writer G.K. Chesterton once expounded to fellow writer Alexander Woollcott on the relationship between power and authority.  “If a rhinoceros were to enter this restaurant now, there is no denying he would have great power here.  But I should be the first to rise and assure him that he had no authority whatever.” Chesterton’s vivid example is right.  There is a profound difference between power and authority — and Jesus possessed both.

In his book Forever Triumphant, F.J. Huegel told a story that came out of World War II. After General Jonathan Wainwright was captured by the Japanese, he was held prisoner in a Manchurian concentration camp. Cruelly treated, he became “a broken, crushed, hopeless, starving man.” Finally the Japanese surrendered and the war ended. A United States army colonel was sent to the camp to announce personally to the general that Japan had been defeated and that he was free and in command. After Wainwright heard the news, he returned to his quarters and was confronted by some guards who began to mistreat him as they had done in the past. Wainwright, however, with the news of the allied victory still fresh in his mind, declared with authority, “No, I am in command here! These are my orders.” Huegel observed that from that moment on, General Wainwright was in control.

Huegel made this application: “Have you been informed of the victory of your Savior in the greatest conflict of the ages? Then rise up to assert your rights. Never again go under when the enemy comes to oppress. Claim the victory in Jesus’ Name.” Huegel observed, “We must learn to stand on resurrection ground, reckoning dead the old-creation life over which Satan has power, and living in the new creation over which Satan has no power whatever.

Hudson Taylor said, “Many Christians estimate difficulty in the light of their own resources, and thus they attempt very little, and they always fail. All giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and His presence to be with them.” Like David, who said, “The battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam 17:47), we also need to understand that Jesus is our source, and we can be directly connected to Him.

How’s your power source?  Are you plugged in?  In his book Spiritual Stamina, Stuart Briscoe tells the story of a man who bought a new computer.  Bringing his new prize home, he carefully opened the box, gingerly took the machine out, studied its manual, and connected the wires.  Eagerly he flipped on the power switch — but nothing happened.  Puzzled, the man switched the computer off and rechecked all the connections. He rounded up a screwdriver and fastened the wires more securely.  He read again the relevant portion of the manual.  Satisfied that he’d followed directions, he flipped the computer on — and again nothing happened.  As his anger rose the man’s little girl walked into the room.

“Hi, Daddy!” her cheery voice rang out.  “What a pretty computer! Can I plug it in?”

We are not told that Jesus ever taught His disciples how to preach, but He taught them how to pray. He wanted them to have power with God; then He knew they would have power with man.[4]

Two significant points are made, points that are absolutely essential for us to heed if we wish to have real life. Note where life comes from. It does not come from man himself; life is not in and of man himself. Man dies. He is a dying creature, always in the process of dying, always moving onward toward the grave. Man is as good as dead. And in the process of dying, he experiences all kinds of trials and sufferings such as sickness, disease, accident, emptiness, loneliness, corruption, evil, shortcomings, failures, lies, thefts, killings, wars, and death after death of friends and loved ones.

Man has anything but life; at best he only exists for a few years that are ever so short and frail. Where then can man find life? Who has the power to stop the process of death and to deliver us from death? No man has such power. But note this verse: there is “divine power,” the very power of Christ Himself that can stop death and give us life—life abundant, life now and life eternally. This is the power of Christ, the power to save us from death and to give us life and godliness.

Note how we receive life and godliness: by the knowledge of Christ. We must know Christ personally. We must know Him as our Savior and Lord, surrendering all that we are and have to him. We must be willing to walk and share with Him all day every day, serving Him as the Lord of our lives. We must be willing to know Him by living a godly life, by actually experiencing the life of God as we walk day by day.

Christ has called us to glory and virtue. This is the very life to which He has called us: a life of glory and moral excellence both here on this earth and in heaven. We are to live pure and righteous lives, glorious lives; and when we do, He promises to give us a place in the glory and perfection of heaven. Note that this may read in the Greek: “Christ has called us by His glory and virtue.” That is, it is His glory and virtue (moral excellence) that attracts man and pulls man to seek life and godliness in Him.

Allen Gardiner experienced many physical difficulties and hardships throughout his life. Despite his troubles, he said, “While God gives me strength, failure will not daunt me.” In 1851, at the age of 57, he died of disease and starvation while serving on Picton Island at the southern tip of South America. When his body was found, his diary lay nearby. It bore the record of hunger, thirst, wounds, and loneliness. The last entry in his little book showed the struggle of his shaking hand as he tried to write legibly. It read, “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God.” Think of that! No word of complaint, no childish whining, no grumbling at the circumstances — just praise for God’s goodness.

God knows what is good for us better than we ourselves. Let us not make the mistake of judging God’s overall plan for our lives by that portion which happened to be revealed today. God has all eternity in which to bring His plans to fulfillment for our lives. Think not in terms of today, but in terms of eternity. After all, that’s where we’ll spend most of our life.

One of the things that impresses me is that when Abraham Lincoln went off to the Black Hawk War he was a captain and, through no fault of his own, when he returned he was a private. That brought an end to his military career. Then his little shop in a country village “winked out” as he used to say, marking his failure as a businessman. As a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, he was too impractical, too unpolished, too temperamental to be a success.

Turning to politics he was defeated in his campaign for the legislature, defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for Congress, defeated in his application to be Commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in the Senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his aspirations for the Vice Presidency in 1856, defeated again in the Senatorial election of 1858.

Then 1861, over 100 years ago, found him in the White House as President of the United States. How did Lincoln interpret this strange succession of failures and frustrations which finally culminated in terrific personal victory? He said, “That the Almighty directly intervenes in human affairs is one of the plainest statements in the Bible. I have had so many evidences of His direction, so many instances when I have been controlled by some other power than my own will that I have no doubt that what this power comes from above.”

If we look for it, we can see the goodness of God no matter what our circumstances.

Baseball pitcher Dan Quisenberry was a three-time All-Star reliever in the 1980s. In the winter of ’96-’97 an aggressive form of brain cancer brought him low. Even so, he always emphasized the goodness of God. Following surgery to remove a tumor, Mr. Quisenberry spoke of his gratitude: “Every day I find things to be thankful for. … Sometimes it’s just seeing a little boy on a bicycle. Sometimes it’s the taste of water. It’s hard to explain.” He died in the fall of 1997 at age 45. Mr. Quisenberry’s minister, Ted Nissen, recalled a post-surgery visit. “He was on such a high, talking about how good God had been to him,” he told the Kansas City Star. “He blessed me on that visit.”

I have been shocked by the number of Christian men and women who come to their deathbeds knowing nothing about the God of love and mercy. They have known instead the Judge of impossible standards, and they have been, naturally enough, afraid to meet that God.

When we seek to win others to Christ, we must never think we possess any power in ourselves, or lead others to believe we do, through any air of superiority or lightness as we proclaim the gospel.  We would do well to heed the advice of Dr. Payson, who said,  “Paint Jesus Christ upon your canvas, and then hold Him up to the people, but hold Him up so that not even your little finger can be seen.

A party of pioneers on the Oregon Trail had suffered for weeks from a scarcity of water and grass for their animals. Most of the wagons had broken down, causing endless delays in the stifling heat. A feeling of fretfulness and futility prevailed. Optimism and cheer were gone. Courage was in limited supply.

One night the leaders called a meeting to air complaints. When they had gathered around the campfire, one man stood up and said, “Before we commence our grief session, don’t you think we should at least first thank God that he has brought us this far with no loss of life, with no serious trouble from the Indians, and that we have enough strength left to finish our journey?

The other settlers agreed. After the brief prayer, all that could be heard was the cries of a distant pack of wolves. There was otherwise stone silence around the campfire, because no one had any grievances they felt were important enough to voice. They suddenly realized if they couldn’t be satisfied with what they’d received, they could at least be thankful for what they’d escaped. Thankfulness enabled them to see the mercies of God they had been overlooking.[5]

A teacher asked the pupils to tell the meaning of loving-kindness.  A little boy jumped up and said, “Well, if I was hungry and someone gave me a piece of bread that would be kindness.  But if they put a little jam on it, that would be loving-kindness.”

God provides for us the bread…and the jam!

[1] Breton fisherman’s prayer, quoted in Celtic Blessings and Prayers, edited by Brendan O’Malley, quoted in “Reflections,” Christianity Today, Vol. 44, No. 13.

[2]MacArthur, J. J. 1997, c1997. The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) . Word Pub.: Nashville

[3] Alan Redpath in The Life of Victory. Christianity Today, Vol. 43, no. 6.

[4] Dwight L. Moody in D. L. Moody’s Little Instruction Book. Christianity Today, Vol. 43, no. 2.

[5] Gregory L. Jantz, Becoming Strong Again (Baker, 1998), quoted in Men of Integrity, Vol. 2, no. 4.

“Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours…” (2 Peter 1:1)

This is a great passage of Scripture. It is one of the greatest in all of Scripture. It is a passage that takes Jesus Christ and lifts Him up as the great Messiah, the Savior of the world who can meet the desperate needs of man. Here is Christ and here is the great gift of Christ the Messiah, the great gift of salvation.

The letter opens with a very subtle and beautiful allusion for those who have eyes to see it and knowledge enough of the New Testament to grasp it.

Peter identifies himself with a balance of humility and dignity. As a servant, he was on equal basis with other Christians—an obedient slave of Christ. As an apostle, he was unique, divinely called, and commissioned as an eyewitness to the resurrection of Christ

In these verses, Peter distills for us the essence of the gospel. He indicates this is not just “his” gospel, but the gospel revealed through Christ, attested to by the Father, and consistent with the teaching of the apostles.

When the Lord Jesus left His disciples to ascend and be with His Heavenly Father, He left the apostles in charge. It was to them and through them that His Word was to be conveyed to others (see Matthew 16:19; John 14:26; 16:12-15; Hebrews 1:1-2; 2:1-4; 2 Peter 1:12-19; 1 John 1:1-4).

He emphasizes that salvation was not attained by personal effort, skill, or worthiness, but came purely from God’s grace. Faith is the capacity to believe (Eph. 2:8,9). Even though faith and belief express the human side of salvation, God still must grant that faith. God initiates faith when the Holy Spirit awakens the dead soul in response to hearing the Word of God.

Nowhere is these verses does Peter speak of what we do to merit God’s salvation. He speaks of God’s grace and of His sufficient provision for our salvation in Christ. This passage has nothing to say about man’s contribution and everything to say about God’s perfection, power, and provision. The righteousness of which we partake is the righteousness of God in Christ which was bestowed upon us (verse 1). It was not that we sought after God (see Romans 3:11), but that God chose us, sought us, and “called us by His own glory and excellence” (verse 3).

I have always been fascinated with the lives of the twelve apostles. Who isn’t? The personality types of these men are familiar to us. They are just like us, and they are like other people we know. They are approachable. They are real and living characters we can identify with. Their faults and foibles, as well as their triumphs and endearing features, are chronicled in some of the most fascinating accounts of the Bible. These are men we want to know.

That’s because they were perfectly ordinary men in every way. Not one of them was renowned for scholarship or great erudition. They had no track record as orators or theologians. In fact, they were outsiders as far as the religious establishment of Jesus’ day was concerned. They were not outstanding because of any natural talents or intellectual abilities.

On the contrary, they were all too prone to mistakes, misstatements, wrong attitudes, lapses of faith, and bitter failure—no one more so than the leader of the group, Peter. Even Jesus remarked that they were slow learners and somewhat spiritually dense (Luke 24:25).

Yet with all their faults and character flaws—as remarkably ordinary as they were—these men carried on a ministry after Jesus’ ascension that left an indelible impact on the world. Their ministry continues to influence us even today. God graciously empowered and used these men to inaugurate the spread of the gospel message and to turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6). Ordinary men—people like you and me—became the instruments by which Christ’s message was carried to the ends of the earth. No wonder they are such fascinating characters.2

We especially identify with Peter, but not when he walked on water or stated his willingness to die for His Lord. That would be too easy for us to claim; our lives just don’t live up to such expressions. The times most common for us to associate with him are the “foot in mouth” situations, when we ‘talk before we think’ and speak on impulse rather than after careful thought. But look at the boldness on his lips (because it was in his heart) when he speaks of this precious faith! It is something he possessed and knew others could, too!

If anybody in the early church knew the importance of being alert, it was the Apostle Peter. He had a tendency in his early years to feel overconfident when danger was near and to overlook the Master’s warnings. He rushed ahead when he should have waited; he slept when he should have prayed; he talked when he should have listened. He was a courageous, but careless, Christian.

A fisherman by trade before he would ‘fish for men,’ Peter knew the value of something previous and of value. His livelihood depended upon that instinct. He was also quite willing for the transformation to take place that would move him from the physical to the spiritual.

Nature reveals that life can be transformed by taking something unattractive and converting it into something of beauty. By its chemical magic a tree or plant can take the dark soil and the waste carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and combine them with the aid of the healing warmth of the sun to produce green leaves, colored flowers, red roses, yellow tulips, blue larkspur, or a million other designs. By means of chemical processes we can take black coal and convert it into red dyes or synthetic rubber or nylon cloth.

Faith gives life a similar transforming power; the power to take trouble or adversity and make it into something lovely and inspiring.3

It reveals a needed reminder: people who stand still may avoid stubbing their toes, but they won’t make much progress. Every church needs people with the courage to try new ideas and run the risk of making mistakes. Otherwise progress never happens. “The better a man is, the more mistakes he will make, for the more new things he will try,” says management consultant Peter Drucker. “I would never promote into a top-level job a man who was not making mistakes — otherwise he is sure to be mediocre.”

A young man who was disconcerted about the uncertainty of his future and in a quandary as to which direction to take with his life, sat in a park, watching squirrels scamper among the trees. Suddenly, a squirrel jumped from one high tree to another. It appeared to be aiming for a limb so far out of reach that the leap looked like suicide. As the young man had anticipated, the squirrel missed its mark, but, it landed, safe and unconcerned, on a branch several feet lower. Then it climbed to its goal and all was well.

An old man sitting on the other end of the bench occupied by the young man, remarked, “Funny, I’ve seen hundreds of ’em jump like that, especially when there are dogs around and they can’t come down to the ground. A lot of ’em miss, but I’ve never seen any hurt in trying.” Then he chuckled and added, “I guess they’ve got to risk it if they don’t want to spend their lives in one tree.”

The young man thought, A squirrel takes a chance. Have I less nerve than a squirrel? He made up his mind in that moment to take the risk he had been thinking about and sure enough, he landed safely, in a position higher than he had even dared to imagine.

Dramatic and significant is the story of the Pilgrims. On December 21, 1620, the voyaging Mayflower dropped anchor in Plymouth Bay, with Captain Christopher Jones at her helm. It had been a grueling voyage, taking the one-hundred-twenty-ton-capacity ship sixty-six days to make the perilous crossing. There had been disease, anxiety, and childbirth among the 102 courageous passengers. Furthermore, they arrived on the black New England shore during a hard winter which ultimately claimed half of their number. However, when spring came and the captain of the Mayflower offered free passage to anyone desiring to return, not a single person accepted.

The fidelity of the forty-one men, who while still aboard the Mayflower had signed the famous Compact beginning with the words, “In ye name of God Amen,” was taking on visible meaning, these chivalrous souls had dedicated themselves to the total causes of freedom. They had come to a wilderness to carve out a better way of life. Faith prompted the voyage; faith sustained the Pilgrims and their religious convictions constrained them to raise their voices in praise. Their hardship, sacrifice, devotion, concept of government, and vigorous religion all remind us of those who sought a country.

The only thing that can defeat the faith God has given you … is you. You must use your faith, exercise your faith, engage your faith. Until it is pressed into service, faith is only potential. To use the old exercise cliche, you must “use it or lose it!”4

Some Christians are so afraid of failure that they become reserved, overly cautious, and uninvolved in life. They follow a policy of guarded living, holding back time, talents, and treasure from God’s service. Their motto is: To keep from failing — don’t try! On the other hand, those who are willing to make mistakes and risk failure are the ones who ultimately achieve great things. Instead of being filled with fear, they go forward in faith. Problems are challenges. While they may not all be solved, these courageous people would rather live with that reality than have a clean record of no

failures and no accomplishments. Benjamin Franklin said one time, “The man who does things makes many mistakes, but he never makes the biggest mistake of all — doing nothing.

I like the poem from Charles Chigna: Try to think of all the words that you could live without; make a list of all those words and throw the worst word out. It’s not a very easy task, you might just rave and rant; but don’t give up before you find the worst bad word is “Can’t.”

God has no more precious gift to a church or an age than a man who lives as an embodiment of his will, and inspires those around him with the faith of what grace can do.

In a recent sermon, Joe Stowell said, “In 1980, America’s economy was in the ditch. The Cold War was in its fury. Russia seemed bigger, more powerful than us, and America entertained the world at the Olympics in Lake Placid. I remember coming home from church the Sunday that America was playing Russia in hockey. It was in the end of the first period, and we were beating the Russians. All of a sudden I realized my stomach was in a knot. My knuckles were white, and I had this anxiety about the game. All through the second period we were ahead. Going into the third period, I knew what would happen. The Russians would score five goals at the end of the game, beat us, and we would be embarrassed again. But we won! It was such a big deal that the national networks played it again. My wife and I watched the whole thing Sunday night. Only this time I didn’t have a knot in my stomach. I leaned back on the couch and put my feet up.

“What made the difference? I could relax because I knew the outcome. When we have faith that God is working for our eternal good, we can have amazing peace even when we don’t know the outcome.”5

J. G. Stipe wrote, “Faith is like a toothbrush. Every man should have one and use it regularly, but he shouldn’t try to use someone else’s.”

Harold Sherman wrote a book entitled, How To Turn Failure Into Success. In it he gives a code of persistence. He says:

1) I will never give up so long as I know I am right.

2) I will believe that all things will work out for me if I hang on to the end.

3) I will be courageous and undismayed in the face of odds.

4) I will not permit anyone to intimidate or deter me from my goals.

5) I will fight to overcome all physical handicaps and setbacks.

6) I will try again and again and yet again to accomplish what I desire.

7) I will take new faith and resolution from the knowledge that all successful men and women have had to fight defeat and adversity.

8) I will never surrender to discouragement or despair no matter what seeming obstacles may confront me.

We have a hard time valuing old age because we misunderstand what life — either young or old — really is. We were created to glorify God. Life is prayer. Life is loving. Life is graciously accepting our circumstances with joy and reflecting God’s goodness through it all. An elderly person, who, in spite of suffering and disability, is more concerned about loving others is the best demonstration of this truth. Allowing people to grow old is not a mistake on God’s part. He intends for that to happen to us so we can learn what life is — and is not.

The faith of Christ is a most precious faith. The word “precious” (time) means of great honor and price; of great value and privilege. The faith of Jesus Christ is precious because it makes us acceptable to God. It ushers us into the very presence of God Himself.

It also means that our standing with the Lord today is the same as that of the Apostles centuries ago. They had no special advantage over us simply because they were privileged to walk with Christ, see Him with their own eyes, and share in His miracles. It is not necessary to see the Lord with our human eyes in order to love Him, trust Him, and share His glory

Peter uses a word which would at once strike an answering chord in the minds of those who heard it. Their faith is equal in honor and privilege. The Greek is isotimos; isos means equal and time means honor. This word was particularly used in connection with foreigners who were given equal citizenship in a city with the natives.

Josephus, for instance, says that in Antioch the Jews were made isotimoi, equal in honor and privilege, with the Macedonians and the Greeks who lived there. So Peter addresses his letter to those who had once been despised Gentiles but who had been given equal rights of citizenship with the Jews and even with the apostles themselves in the kingdom of God.

The faith of Jesus Christ is obtained not earned. The word “obtained” (lachousin) means to secure by lot; to receive by allotment; to be given a share or a portion. No person deserves the precious faith of Jesus Christ. No person can work and earn it. It is a gift of God, a free gift that is given to every person who believes in Jesus Christ through baptism for remission of sins.

A Christian who walks by faith accepts all circumstances from God. He thanks God when everything goes good, when everything goes bad, and for the “blues” somewhere in-between. He thanks God whether he feels like it or not. A faith that hasn’t been tested can’t be trusted.

A man can accept what Christ has done without knowing how it works; indeed, he certainly won’t know how it works until he’s accepted it.

Gerald Yann told us “By faith we are led, not against reason but beyond reason, to the knowledge of God in himself and therefore of ourselves. By hope we are kept young of heart; for it teaches us to trust in God, to work with all our energy but to leave the future to him; it gives us poverty of spirit and so saves us from solicitude. And by love we are not told about God, we are brought to him.”

God does not expect us to submit our faith to him without reason, but the very limits of reason make faith a necessity. Faith and sight are set in opposition to each other in Scripture, but not faith and reason.

True faith is essentially reasonable because it trusts in the character and the promises of God. A believing Christian is one whose mind reflects and rests on these certitudes.6

[1] John MacArthur, Twelve Ordinary Men..

[2] Albert P. Stauderman, Let Me Illustrate, (Augsburg, 1983), p. 12.

[3] Andrew Merritt in My Faith Is Taking Me Someplace. Christianity Today, Vol. 43, no. 7.

[4] Leadership, Vol. 19, no. 2.

[5] John R. W. Stott (1921– )