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The Book of Second Peter: Message Seven
By Dr. Michael Guido, D.D.
A visitor
called at the home of a friend, and asked the little boy, "What
became of your little kitten?" "Haven't you heard?"
asked the boy. "No," he answered, "is he lost?"
No." "Poisoned?" "No." "Run
over?" "No." "What happened?" asked the
bewildered friend. "It grew into a cat," said the boy. Has
anything happened to you since you've been born again? Have you
grown into a Christlike Christian? To become a Christian you had to
have faith. The Bible says, "By grace are ye saved through
faith." But that's just the beginning. To faith you're to do
your utmost to add to it. And what's to be added?
"Temperance," says 2nd
Peter 1:6, and that means self-control. If you mount a high-spirited
horse, it's essential that you be able to control him, or you may be
dashed to pieces. If you get behind the wheel of a high-powered
racing car, it's essential that you be able to control it, or you
may be killed. But it's still more essential that your appetites and
aspirations, your passions and pangs be controlled. How can this be
done? By surrendering yourself to the Holy Spirit to guide and guard
you, and to give you victory. In your struggle against Satan and
sin, you're either the victor or the victim. But if you get into the
habit of surrendering to the Spirit, you'll be the victor. He had
been gripped by godlessness and bossed by booze. But he went to a
revival, and got converted. As he went to town the next day he was
singing softly a gospel song he had heard in the meeting, when all
at once he smelled the fumes coming out of a saloon. The odors came
out strong, and gripped him. The temptation was tremendous. He began
to wonder how he'd win over this wickedness. Always before he had
gone in. "Just then," he said, "I happened to think
on the sermon, and I said, 'Now Jesus, I'm yoked to You, and You
must help me go by.'" And he testified, "He did, and we
went by, and we've been going by ever since."
"To temperance," says
the Bible, add "patience." That's the "queen of the
virtues," said one of old. It tenders the temper and triumphs
over the tongue, it extinguishes envy and exasperation, it puts down
pride and passion, it bridles badness and bitterness. Irritations,
then, no longer hurt, they help. Consider the oyster. Irritations
get into his shell. When he can't banish them, he makes of them the
most beautiful things in the world. He turns his trouble into a
pearl. There are irritations that get into your life. Add patience
to your faith, and out will come a pearl. The word
"patience" in this verse could also be translated
"endurance." It's written of Jesus in Hebrews 12:2,
"who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame." A young man started a class of boys in a
mission Sunday School. It was awfully hard, but because of his labor
and love he won them to Christ and to his class. But after a while
he became discouraged, and he decided to quit. He went to the
mission for his last session, and he overheard a conversation
between two of the boys. One said, "Our teacher isn't coming
anymore. He's going to quit." "Why?" asked the other
boy. "He's discouraged," he answered. "But," he
protested, "he dare not quit. Why, I was the first boy in the
class, and one Sunday he told us boys that God sent him to teach us,
and he said that God was his Master, and he had to do what He said.
He's God's man, and he dare not quit." And that young teacher
added patience to his faith, and he didn't quit, and God did great
and mighty things through him.
"When things go wrong, as
they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging
seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the
debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you
have to sigh,
Rest if you must, but never quit.
"Life is queer, with its
twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes
learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won if he'd
stuck it out;
Stick to your task, though the
pace seems slow -
You may succeed with one more
blow.
"Success is failure turned
inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of
doubt -
And you never can tell how near
you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're
hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that
you must not quit."
To patience, says 2nd
Peter 1:6, add "godliness." You've been photographed,
haven't you? And when the proof has arrived, haven't your friends
exclaimed, "It's just like you!" or, "that's not a
bit like you. You must have your photograph taken all over
again." Christian, you're to be God's likeness, or God's
photograph. Men can't see Him. They don't take the time to read
about Him. But they'll look at you. Will they see Him in you, or
will they say, "If I hadn't been told that you were a
Christian, I wouldn't have known by your character and conduct.
You're not like God at all."
copyright 2000 Guido
Evangelistic Association
All Scripture
verses are quoted from the New King James Version..
Click here to go to the next message in this Sower
Scripture Study on the book of Second Peter.
This series of
messages on the books of the Bible were originally
written for broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program,
"The Sower." They are collected and
reprinted here for your enjoyment and spiritual
edification.
