Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kernersville, North Carolina.
Now you'll never add these seven things by accident. Every one of them requires a decision. And he says, if you will do that, These seven things will make you what God wants you to be. And he gives you the seven things. But then he says, if you don't do these seven things, You're going to be a blind Christian.
You're not going to be able to see your path. And it doesn't matter where I go in America, I meet wonderful people who are saved. But right now they're ambling. They're blind. And boy, I don't want to be a blind Christian.
Yeah yeah. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 1. Simon Peter. a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. To them that have obtained like precious faith with us, through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Okay. Always catch us. This is addressed to believers. If my friend you're here and you don't know Jesus personally, It is the passionate prayer of our house. that you find him this morning.
and trust him for your salvation. But this is addressed to those who know Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you. through the knowledge of God. And of Jesus our Lord.
Now, I want you to undercircle the word knowledge. He's gonna use this word four times in this passage. And it's a critical word in the life of the believer. But it's not the word we most commonly use today. according as his divine power.
Hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Through the knowledge, there it is again, of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Now verse 5 is where he starts the seven things. And beside this, and underline these next words, giving. All Diligence.
Now note he didn't say some diligence. He didn't say much diligence. He said Yeah. Diligence. If, with every focus I can muster.
If with every zeal I can harness. If I did not do these seven things, I broke God's heart this week. Because he said, I want you to do this with everything you have. giving All Diligence. Wow.
Then he gives you the first one, and beside this, giving all diligence. Add to your faith.
Now remember, you're saved by faith, for by grace are ye saved. through faith. Doing these seven things does not save you. This is added to the faith by which you were saved. That's why Charles had in Spurgeon.
required every convert in England. to memorize these seven things. D.L. Moody required all of his converts to memorize these seven things.
Now that you're saved, Here's God's priority list for your life. And beside this giving all diligence, add to your faith. Number one, virtue. Virtue. That's a strong word.
Virtue is an inner integrity. It's an inner strength. You can't hide it. If it's there, it will evidence itself. That strength.
that integrity. You can trust that man, you can trust that lady. Because she's a woman or a man of virtue. They have an inner strength, an inner honor. that they've added to their faith.
And God will help you do it because He commands you to do it. Did this last week, you add? Virtue. to everything you did, that inner integrity. I was with a pastor in Texas for a lawsuit.
And he picked me up at the airport. And he said, David, the church is way, way, way across town, some 30 miles away. And he said, I have a lady in the hospital here. A young mother. And unless God does something divine, she's only got a few more days to live.
And I'd like to stop and see her. The hospital's on this side of town. I said, great. And he said, how about you come up and we'll pray with her together? And I said, preacher.
I'll be glad to go in with you. I'll be glad to sit outside the room. But I'm just a little uneasy seeing women in the hospital that I don't know. Oh, he said, I understand. But he said, let me tell you her story.
Brother Gibbs, she and her husband are two of the best members of our church. She sings in the choir and teaches a Sunday school class. Her husband's a deacon and an usher. And when the church doors are open, they're there, dedicated, fervent, great people. He said a year ago they were in church like they are every Sunday.
I remember seeing them Sunday morning sit there, they have three children. the oldest of whom is six. And Sunday night, I watched them get in their car and drive away. not realizing I'd never see him again. He drove a semi-truck.
delivering building materials to construction sites. And at seven in the morning, he drove his semi to a construction site. And he parked his semi in line, waiting its turn to unload. and they were transferring steel I-beams overhead. And he's in his cab drinking some coffee and reading his Bible.
It was on his lap. And a cable snapped. and a beam that weighed over 40 tons. start its deadly but very silent journey back to Earth. That hit.
right over the top of the cab of his truck. It took his body and drove it through the bottom of his semi. and buried him almost six feet in the concrete underneath it. Sunday morning there like every Sunday. But 7 a.m.
Monday morning, he was in eternity. Can I remind you Every one of us has an appointment with eternity. Brother Gibbs? We did his funeral. And she sat there and wept with those three children.
But she stayed totally faithful to God. Thirty days to the day after we buried her husband. Her mom and dad were coming across the state of Georgia. They're her only family on either side. And a drunkard got on the interstate on the wrong side of the road and hit him head-on in the dark.
and killed her mom and dad.
So she lost her only family, her husband. And now we're mom and dad, and we did their funeral. But she stayed faithful to the Lord in everything. And when she would sing in the choir, Brother Gibbs, the tears would just roll down her cheeks. Because heaven got real dear to her, very personal.
Well, one day she came to me. And she said, Preacher, I don't know what to say, but I'm having trouble seeing you while you're preaching. My eyes are blurring up. And I told her, listen, Mary, I think it's all the. stress you're under.
But let's take you to the big clinic and get it checked.
So they went to Houston and Had her checked. For the Gibbs, what they found is she has cancer of the lining of the brain. And it's metastasized and spread everywhere. Brother Gibbs. She only has a little bit to live.
And she has nobody to take care of those three kids. How about coming and praying with her? I said, you bet. I got out of that car and Had my Bible and I thought, Lord. I don't know what to say to her.
First her husband. Then her parents.
Now her and three children. God, give me something. We found her room. When we walked in, Boy, was she sick. Her eyes were black.
They weren't dark. You couldn't take paint and make them any darker. And she was wheezing trying to breathe. They had tubes in her everywhere. And she's fighting to breathe.
We walked up by her and the preacher touched her leg just a little bit to let her know we were there. And when she opened her eyes and saw her pastor, She lit up. She said, oh pastor, I'm so glad you're here. I have something I have to tell you. And it's important.
He said, what, Mary? What do you have to tell me? She said, Pastor, I don't know who's going to take care of my children. But God has promised me that He loves them more than I do. And he's promised me he will take care of them.
And she turned to me and she said, Brother Gibbs, Isn't God good? Oh, yeah. Let me have my wish list. Let me have everything go the way I want it to go. Let all my problems be banished from my life.
But what happens when life closes in? Isn't God good? We could hardly hear her because she had such a hoarse whisper with all the tubes in her. And so we're leaning over her like this. And for the next five to seven minutes, All she did was tell me how good God is.
and how God was taking care of her. Whoa. Finally, she said, I can't talk much anymore, Brother Gibbs. But before you leave, I'd like to pray for you. No, I haven't said a word yet.
Yeah. But I went up there to pray for her.
Now she wants to pray for me. And I said, ma'am, I came to pray for you. You know what she said? My needs are met. God's met my needs.
Let me pray for you. And for the next couple of minutes, she prayed for me. And she said I'm tired now. I'm sorry. The pastor and I walked out.
And I said, preacher. She has something. that I want. There's something in her. that you can't explain.
It's of God. He said, Brother Gibbs, it's called Virtue. It's that inner strength. That inner integrity, that inner honor. When's the last time you said God?
with every diligence I have. I want to add that virtue, that strength. that integrity to my life. Wow. Now please note, it's the first thing he commands.
And the seven things, the six that follow it, are all going to start with virtue. Note what he says here. Add to your faith virtue. And then to virtue, add knowledge. And there's that word again.
First you got to get that inner strength, that inner integrity. Trials are going to come. Disappointments in life are going to come. I hope you're getting your wish list. But if you live long enough.
People are going to disappoint you. Trials will come, hurts will come. And the only thing that holds up is that inner virtue. That inner integrity. And remember, when God commands it, God will enable it.
That's why he said there's a divine power. that hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. God will help you do that. But you have to make the decision to do it. Add to your faith virtue.
And then to virtue, add knowledge. Now please circle this word. The word knowledge here was not the word for knowing something. We say somebody's a knowledgeable lawyer. They know a lot about the law.
They're a knowledgeable mechanic. They know a lot about fixing things. No, no, that's not this word. The word knowledge used here was the word for intimacy. It was the word for getting close, for knowing someone.
My wife and I are about to celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary. And when I married her 60 years ago, I knew her. But nothing like I know her today. know her. And she knows me.
That closeness. There's a knowledge there. I came home off the road from a trial once. And my son Matthew, who's now a pastor in Southern California. He was about eight, maybe nine years old.
And when I came walking in the house, I sat down in a chair. And he came flying across the room and ran and jumped on me. and gave me one of those all-over hugs. I love how kids hug you. Adults use their neck, their arms.
Kids use their toes, their knees. They hug you with everything they have. It's wonderful. And he said, Dad, dad, dad. I want to talk to you.
I want to talk to you, Dad. I said, what do you want, Matt? What do you want? And what he did next changed my life. Dad, I want to talk to you.
What do you want, Matt? I don't want anything bad. I just want to hug you and be with you. I just want to talk to you. When's the last time you went to the Lord?
and said, I just want to be with you. I just want to hug your neck, Father. I want to know you. and get close. Oh, he wants to know you.
That's why he commands it. For the next hour and a half I talked with my son. And it wasn't about anything. Except he wanted me. There's nothing more painful in a parent's or grandparent's life.
when your kids or grandchildren don't want to spend time with you. Yeah. But we're doing it to the Lord. And God says, What I want you to do is get close to me.
Now it starts with virtue. and then add knowledge. And then technology says, Temperance. Verse six.
Now maybe this one's easy for you, but this is a challenge to me. Temperance is self-control. Yeah. How many of you got a mouth on you? Hold your hand up, please.
I'm one of these people, Pastor, when I get upset. I don't have to think about what to say. I just open my mouth. The words will be there. Yeah.
And I say stuff and I don't even know where I got it from. But there's no control. You know what God says? I'm commanding you. Get it under control.
Uh your life. Whoa. I listened to a great preacher say, Every morning when he wakes up, he recites this list of seven things. And he says the one on Temperance, self-control challenges him. Because the devil knows that day there's going to be challenges.
That's right. with virtue. Then that intimacy. Then temperance. and to temperance patience.
Patience is letting God do what he wants when he wants. Ah, that I have to confess, I want God to do my schedule. Lord, here's what I want and I want it now. And God I want my enemies to have trouble and don't stop. And all of a sudden God says, I want you to want.
What I want. when I want it. Wow. I was in Pennsylvania. on a Sunday night.
And a young man came forward to get saved. Rough, rough, rough looking guy. I don't know that I've ever seen anybody with more body piercings or tattoos than this young man. And when he came forward, the church went crazy. They started shouting and praising God.
And I said, boy, this uh serious conversion, I take it. He said, yeah, it is. He said, we've been trying to witness to him forever when our soul winners would go out, he'd shoot at us. He said, I got bullet holes in my car from him. He was terrible.
I said, well, no wonder you're praising the Lord. He said, no, that's not what we're excited about. He said, you see this woman sitting over here on the third row? I said, yeah. That's his mother.
And for 22 years, She's not missed one service going to the altar. to pray for her boy to get saved. For 22 years. And I kept saying, you don't need to come forward like that. And she said no.
God's going to do it in his time. But I'm gonna stay praying. What's on your prayer list for who? What are you asking God for? Patience.
Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue, knowledge. and to knowledge temperance. and to temperance patience. and to patience godliness. godliness.
No one is godly by accident.
Well And someone says, well, what does that mean? The problem with godliness is we know what it means. It means we're living our life by God's blueprint. to be godly. By the way, the hope of America is not what's in Washington.
Or in a state capitol, the hope of America is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the Holy Bible and the church, that's the hope of America. And we're to be a people who are godly. I tell people when we go into our trials, They're going to start questioning your godliness. Because they want to say that you're just like everybody else.
You're a good talk. But you don't have the life to back it up. And if they can prove that in the courtroom. We lose our case. The bottom line is We're to be the people who don't just talk it, we walk it.
And that's what godliness is about. Ah. I have kids that come up to me all across America that have grown up. And they come and say, Oh, we just came to hear you preach, Brother Gibbs. I said, Tremendous.
And I always ask him, how's your walk with God?
Well, I don't go to church too much anymore. Oh, no, I told him, you're breaking my heart. What happened? They said, Brother Gibbs, we went to church. And then we went home.
And what was at home didn't match what was at church. And all we talked about was doing stuff God's way until we got home. How many of you know kids are God's little spies? How many of you are aware of that? Oh yeah.
And there is no perfect parent. But boy, by the grace of God, I want my children and my grandchildren and my staff. To see a godly man doing the best he can to be godly with every diligence I have. Nothing can take the place of that. And to godliness.
He says, I want you to add brotherly kindness.
Now would you underscore that? Brotherly kindness means We're to be kind to the brethren. That's right. And some of the brethren are hard to like. Let alone be kind to.
Um I know some people. And bless their heart. Boy, and and by the way When they're irritated, they all want to talk to me. And the bottom line is... We're to be brotherly kind.
Uh my wife. When we go to church together. She always does this. We get there in time to pray in the parking lot before we go in. And she always prays this prayer.
There's somebody in there. that needs me to be kind to him. And I don't know who they are, Father. But please show them to me. Because I don't want to leave here.
without obeying your command to be brotherly kind. Yeah. And it amazes me how God leads her to people. And they come to her. Would that be you?
Would you say, God, use me to be brotherly kind? Oh, it'll change everything. And then to brotherly kindness, he says, add charity. There's the seventh thing.
Now, charity means love. This is the love that only the Holy Spirit can manufacture. Remember what the fruit of the Spirit is? Love. Joy, peace.
Do you radiate God's love? Would anybody around you, friend or foe, say I'm telling you, that's a loving man. That's a loving woman. You can't hide it. And God says, with every diligence you have.
I want you to start with virtue. But I want you to end with this love. I was in the midst of a trial. For Lester Roloff, how many of you remember the name Lester Roloff? Any of you?
Mm. I did 14 jury trials for that man. We're in a trial and the lawyer on the other side hates him. Would say it in open court, I hate this man, I hate him, I want to destroy him. He would say it out loud.
Yeah. We got to court one morning. And there was this lawyer standing there. And Brother Roloff walked up by him and said, I know you hate me, but I love you. And he said, could I give your neck a hug?
And he said, nobody loves me. He said, My God loves me. And by his power I love you. And he said, I want to see you get saved.
Now I'm standing over here watching all of this. And you know what I'm thinking? I'm not sure I want him in heaven. This is one wicked critter. But before he was done hugging his neck.
That lawyer was in tears. Who did you love on last week? Who felt it radiate from you? The love of God so rich and pure.
So measureless.
So strong. That's the seven things we're to add to our faith.
Now look at the next two verses. Verse 8, for these things be in you and abound. They make you. Would you underline that? These are God's building blocks.
There's no way to go grow in the faith without these seven things. They make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful. And here's the word knowledge: in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. God said, these are the seven things that are going to be the benchmarks of your growth. and the benchmarks of what I'm looking for in you.
But verse 9 is a terrifying verse. And we're almost stunned. Remember, this is addressed to believers. But he that lacketh these things Now, the word lacketh there doesn't mean you don't have it at all, but you just don't have it. with all diligence.
And this is God talking to me. God talked to me, but he that lacketh these things is blind. and cannot see afar off. and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. A blind Christian.
Because he doesn't say God. I want to do these seven things. I was in Thailand. representing some missionaries. And if you ever get to go to Thailand, you want to go.
Because there's nowhere on the planet that they drive more crazy. than in Thailand. Uh Signs mean nothing. Lines on the road mean nothing. Stoplights mean nothing.
I don't even know why they have them. And they bump into each other. Uh I'm coming out of the airport and my cab driver. Smacked the car in front of us. I said, hey, we just hit him.
He said, I know, he no moved, boss. We Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192.
or via the web. at Kerwin Baptist Church.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin Broadcast today. God bless you.
