2 Peter

[0:00] As the Lord should be pleased to help me, I shall call your attention for a little while to a subject you will find in the second epistle of Peter and chapter 1 and the first sentence in the fourth verse, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.

[0:40] Chapter 1, the second epistle of Peter and the first sentence in the fourth verse.

[0:58] Chapter 1, the third sentence in the fourth verse.

[1:28] Although I want to remember in speaking at all times to you, dear young people, not to be preaching a sermon such as we do to the grown-ups, but to remember you are in life's mourning.

[1:44] And it is not always easy to keep that in mind or to find out the acceptable words that will make the subject simple and one that you can somewhat understand.

[2:03] And now, in the word of God, as you search it through, there have been attempts by many people, people thought of God to reckon of how many promises there are in the sacred pages, but strictly speaking, no one has ever yet arrived at what the total really is, and they never will.

[2:49] Because these precious promises, which God in his great mercy, are scattered throughout the sacred pages, they are a number which no man can number.

[3:07] And what I want, first of all, to emphasize is this, that you, dear young people, as you journey on through life, and you come into difficulties and feel that you are brought to your wit's end, margin reading, all your wisdom, is swallowed up.

[3:35] If then you can find it in your heart to wait upon God and look in the word of his grace, you will find he has recorded there one of these exceeding great and precious promises to help you in your time of felt need.

[4:01] Hence you read, in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.

[4:15] And do remember, as I have told you sometimes, that the knocker on mercy's door is low enough for a child to reach.

[4:29] And many children have known what it is to be taught to pray, and to pray in beautiful and blessed simplicity, and they have found what the Savior declared, suffer little children, little children, to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

[5:00] And now, in giving you somewhat a faint outline of what are termed by the Apostle Peter, exceeding great and precious promises, great and precious promises, I want to do it from this viewpoint.

[5:25] I am taking the letter P, and I will show you somewhat of the characteristics of some of these exceeding great and precious promises.

[5:43] The word precious set me thinking along the line of thought with words beginning with the letter P. But there is another thought I want to put into words, and that is, these exceeding great and precious promises are made so in their number.

[6:11] I have told you, no man can know what the number really is. But I can tell you this, there is no case that you can be the subject of as a sinner taught to pray, and there is no circumstance, however complicated it may be, but what in the word of God you will find a promise to encourage you to hope in God regarding that circumstance, and that he will not fail to fulfill his promise, if you will help to plead it, remember thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope.

[7:07] But I must just emphasize one viewpoint of that. When the apostle Peter was inspired of God to pen this beautiful epistle, when he put down these words, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, he did not mean that you just had so many promises written down or printed on pieces of card, on pieces of card, and shut up in a box called a promise box, so that you would take one out promiscuously, and think that that was applicable to you in your circumstances.

[7:53] Dear young people and children, the things of God are not learned like that. The things of God are a very solemn reality, and these exceeding great and just promises are not handed about to all and sundry, and given out also promiscuously.

[8:20] No, no. So you find the apostle Peter, in the introduction to this epistle, says, Simon Peter, do listen, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith.

[8:47] And now that is what you need. You need, first of all, to be taught to pray. And if you are helped to do that, with faith only as a grain of mustard seed, you will find, God will make known to you, these exceeding great and precious promises.

[9:13] But everything hinges on this. And without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek him.

[9:32] There is a word in Ezekiel, which I do like, and I want to have it more manifest in the dealings of God with me.

[9:44] I hope I do know what it is for the manifestation of it to be real in my soul's experience. But I want to know more.

[9:57] And now Ezekiel said, and the word of the Lord came expressly to me. When there is a letter delivered at your door, it comes to where you dwell with your name and address on the outside of the envelope and what is inside is for you.

[10:24] It is an epistle, someone who wishes you well, as sent to you. It is for no one else to open that letter to read what is inside, because your name is on the outside and the address where you live.

[10:47] And now it is like that in the things of God. Hence Ezekiel said, the word of the Lord came expressly to me.

[11:03] God delivered his word direct to Ezekiel. And it was a word to help him in that great work which God had ordained that he should do.

[11:19] And now, coming to this subject, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, I might just add, they are not only exceeding great as regards their number, when you look into the word of God.

[11:41] When you look into the word of God, you can search out hundreds. But then, there are hundreds of what we may term, and rightly term, direct promises.

[11:56] But there are many more which are promises, but they are made indirectly. And yet they are exceeding great and precious promises.

[12:11] And God has guaranteed that not one jot or tittle of any promise he has made to any poor sinner, taught of God, whatever his age or her age may be, shall fall to the ground unfulfilled.

[12:31] There is not known an unfulfilled promise when God has lodged it in a poor sinner's rest and enabled him to hope in God and plead it before the throne of grace.

[12:54] Sooner or later, it will be fulfilled in every jot and tittle of what it declares.

[13:05] So that they are exceeding great and precious promises in their certainty. Oh, they are not just paper promises.

[13:16] Sometimes, in the commercial world, people may make promises, and they may put down what they promise to do.

[13:30] But sometimes, they prove to be such characters that what they have promised to do is not even worth the paper that the promise is written on.

[13:41] But these promises, who is the promiser? He who is the author of the word of God.

[13:52] The Holy Spirit is his name. God, who cannot lie, of whom it is said in the word of his grace, He is faithful that promise.

[14:09] And now, let us begin afresh. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. The first P stands for peculiar.

[14:24] All these promises, in the word of God, are peculiar. Because you will not find one, but what it is made to a specific character.

[14:40] Such as when the Savior pronounces beautiful and blessed the attitudes. Blessed are they that mourn.

[14:52] For they shall be comforted. And now, that promise, in its blessedness, which means heaped up happiness, is made to they that mourn.

[15:04] And they are the characters referred to. And you will find there is no such a thing as a promise, an exceeding great and precious promise in the sacred pages, but what it is made, in its peculiar nature, to a specific character.

[15:27] And that character is a sinner, born again. One whom God has remembered with the favor that he bears unto his people.

[15:41] And now, dear young friends and children, this is the great thing that you should really be living for.

[15:54] I know you have got your ordinary, everyday lives to live, and some of you are still at school, and some at college, and some of you going forth to earn the bread which perisheth.

[16:09] But all that is in the category of time things. When all is said and done, the great thing is to be made manifest as one of those peculiar people to whom these peculiar promises are made.

[16:33] Then, come what will, it shall be well in time and eternity too. And I would like to hope that many of you do think on these things, and that such a concern is found within your heart.

[16:56] Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people. O visit me with thy salvation, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.

[17:18] Mark that little word, us. And I have told you, the apostle Peter was addressing, and he means right down through the ages, even in this age in which you and I are living, them that have obtained like precious faith.

[17:40] In other words, it means them that believe in Jesus Christ, who can say, as did the apostle Peter, we believe and assure thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

[18:03] Lord, to whom can we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. O to be numbered with these peculiar people should be your aim.

[18:18] Because you do not need the preacher to tell you. You know it inside. And you feel it sometimes when you go by the churchyard.

[18:31] And when you see a funeral going along the street, and something tells you inside, such a thing will be happening to you. One day, you may think that day is far off because you are in life's mourning.

[18:49] But it could be applicable even to you in life's mourning. For many graves have been digged for those who are in life's mourning.

[19:01] And it will be a great mercy if you should find in your heart a concern like this. Prepare me, gracious God, to stand before thy face.

[19:16] Thy spirit must the work perform, for it is all of grace. And so, the first P stands for peculiar.

[19:29] And you remember, this same Peter says in his first epistle, ye are a peculiar people.

[19:40] and, oh, that you might find in your hearts a prayer that some of us have tried to pray hundreds of times.

[19:51] With them numbered, may we be now and in eternity. And now, the second P stands for powerful.

[20:03] powerful. You see, you might have a friend, an earthly friend, who wishes you well, who loves you, who desires to do you good.

[20:16] And when you might be in deep need, he might be willing to help you, but he is powerless to do so. Because he is not the wherewithal that you need to be helped at such a time.

[20:35] Oh, but these promises, exceeding great and precious promises, they are indeed powerful promises. Because they are promises that God has made.

[20:53] So that, as you read elsewhere in the sacred pages, it pleases the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.

[21:07] And now, for all who are taught of God, young or old, whatever their age, the fullness resides in Jesus our head and ever abides to answer our need.

[21:25] Do remember that. And if God should lodge in your heart a promise, you will find, he will not fail to fulfill it in every jot and tittle of what it promises.

[21:42] The dear Savior said when he rose from the dead, all power in heaven and in earth is given unto me. And his dear people prove it as they journey on through life so that he makes a way where there seems to be no way and he can overturn mountains by the roots in our circumstances as it were.

[22:15] Yes, he can make darkness light and he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or even think.

[22:28] And now to illustrate one of these exceeding great and precious promises, I was very impressed in reading a little while ago about a little lad belonging to a Sunday school in a Baptist chapel in Gloucester who was dying.

[22:55] But he was very unhappy concerning his drunken father. The little lad was a sinner born again and he did believe that he would see Jesus when he died.

[23:12] But he was so unhappy because his home life was not what it should be and his father was one who was so often drunk and the little lad did desire that God would bless his father and make him to be a changed character.

[23:36] And now in the Sunday school where that little lad belonged there was a pastor over that Baptist chapel and very late at night he had it suddenly impressed upon his mind he must go out to see someone in need but he did not know where to go or who it might be but he felt he must go and he started out and went so far then he turned back thinking he must be deceived but he was constrained to go out again and directed to a road to which he was a stranger and he was led to a certain house and when he knocked upon the door he was given admittance and he found it was where this little

[24:38] Sunday school scholar lived who was dying and he learned how grieved he was because of his ungodly father and so after praying for the little lad the minister spoke to the father very solemnly and God owned it to his being convinced of his sin and later on he was brought to hope in God and he became one of our preachers in the Wiltshire villages and his little son was gladden to know that his father was now no longer ungodly but that God had blessed him and it helped him to die in the Lord and to die in peace and now there you see where these exceeding great and precious promises are indeed powerful in how they were this little lad who was dying he knew what the word of

[25:59] God declared call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee thou should glorify me and he tried to pray concerning his father whom he loved and then when God constrained a pastor to search out where he lived and owned and blessed his testimony to the ungodly fathers being called by grace born again and then to become one of our preachers in the Wiltshire villages and he was preaching still not so long ago and left on record what I have just given you a little outline of and now that is only one instance but then there are tens of thousands of instances whereby these exceeding great and precious promises are powerful whatever your need may be the promise of God will not fail to meet it in every jot and tittle of it but do remember this go back a moment to what

[27:18] I told you them that have obtained like precious faith I will be inquired of by you all house of Israel to do these things and so the second P is powerful and now the third P is prove and there are some under Union Chapel Rue who have grown up who have journeyed on in life's way quite a good way being in life's afternoon or life's even in time and they could tell you of exceeding great and precious promises which they have proved to be a reality and in answer to their petitions God has made those promises a reality and fulfilled what the promise set forth and that reminds me of a godly woman who one of our godly ministers visited and in her hymn book and in her Bible she often had the letters

[28:35] T and P and the godly minister asked her what the meaning was and she said wherever you see the letters T and P it means in the dealings of God with me along life's way I have tried and proved wherever you find those letters are recorded and many of them were in the word of God against exceeding great and precious promises and if the time allowed I could tell you even in my own life of some exceeding great and precious promises that I have proved for long long years and do still prove them especially regarding my being Union Chapel pastor where as you know

[29:38] I have now labored so long among you I go back to one of the earliest words that God lodged in my heart concerning what my work would be and how he would own and bless it when he lodged this word in my heart that I should become the pastor and this would be the blessing of God that would follow it although it would take many years to see it somewhat fulfilled for the seed shall be prosperous the vine shall give her fruit and the ground shall give her increase and the heavens shall give their dew and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things there were very few people in the congregation in Union

[30:45] Chapel in those far back days and the church membership was very small and it became smaller before God began to fulfill his promise to enlarge it and bring it along to the numbers that it stands at nowadays in our Union Chapel life and so I must take it on the third P then is prove and now the fourth P is providing whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises and now there is one name that is given to the Lord Jehovah Jireh which is a beautiful name to contemplate the Lord will provide and everyone who is taught of

[31:51] God is favored at times to see the Lord making manifest his name as Jehovah Jireh and they do know beyond all questions the Lord will provide and now to illustrate that I was reading of a godly woman who desired to save up whatever she could to be given to the Lord for the advancement of whatever work he directed her to give the money to and when she had saved one hundred pounds she tried to wait upon God to know what was his will what was she to do with the hundred pounds which she wanted to give unto the treasury of

[33:00] God and something made her understand that she was to send the money to Mueller's orphanage and now at the time when that godly woman was sending that hundred pounds to Mueller's orphanage George Mueller who was a very godly man a man who was great in faith who carried on his homes by prayer and never never advertised what their needs were or asked for any help by advertisement but simply laid it before god and now at that very time that this godly woman was sending the hundred pounds

[34:01] George Mueller was asking god to send him one hundred pounds for that was the need that he had to meet the outstanding liabilities so that you see this works in every way for the glory of god and the encouragement of his people that they shall live like i have often said trust in the lord and do good so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed so that many of these great and precious promises are what we may call providing promises they that seek the lord shall not want any good thing i will make all my goodness to pass before thee and such like declarations which are indeed exceeding great and precious promises promises and there is one more incident under this heading of providing promises i want to tell you little people more than the young people and now you remember there used to be a very great minister named charles purgeon you have read about him and in his day he was a man who was much used of god to do great good in preaching the gospel and one evening when he had been preaching the gospel when he retired into his vestry there was a poor woman in deep distress because her ungodly husband had left her to go to another country and she was in deep distress with the children still to care for and no income and she worshipped at the metropolitan tabernacle where Mr.

[36:21] Spurgeon was the pastor and preached so long and now Mr. Spurgeon heard what the poor woman had to say and he said to her there is just one avenue of hope for you and that we will try to make a right use of let us kneel down and I will ask God to deal with your husband wherever he is and so good Mr.

[36:59] Spurgeon try to pray that God whose eyes ran to and fro throughout the whole earth he could discern where this poor woman's husband was and he was a wicked man but he reminded God of some exceeding great and precious promises and that he could if it was his will make that man to be godly instead of being as he was ungodly and now at that very time that Mr.

[37:43] Spurgeon was trying to pray like that the man was on board a ship far across the ocean going to another country but at that very time even the same day that Mr.

[37:59] Spurgeon was praying on his behalf although the man did not realize it a sermon printed sermon preached by Mr.

[38:10] Spurgeon was given to that man and he was constrained to read it and it was the means of his eyes being opened to his ungodly state his guiltiness before God and he was taught to pray and he found what I have told you sometimes the vilest sinner out of hell who lives to feel his need he's welcomed to the throne of grace the saviour's blood to please and he was indeed born again and he was later on raised up to hope in God and when he had reached his journey's end he set to work to earn enough that he could return to his wife as speedily as possible a new man and he was enabled to do so and he and his wife went to see good

[39:18] Mr. Spurgeon to tell him of how God ever fulfilled his exceeding great and precious promises call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me and so the fourth fee is providing the fifth is protecting there is a word you read in the book of Daniel and keep it in your mind there is no other God that can deliver after this sort you remember the three godly Hebrews who because they would worship God and not worship any other little G God they were put into the party furnace and it was heated seven times hotter than it was wont to be but they found the exceeding great and precious promised them to honor me

[40:34] I will honor and although they were plunged in that fiery furnace yet the dear son of God went down and walked with them therein and all that was burned was the bonds which bound them so that the heathen king could look on and said did we not cast three men bound into the fiery furnace lo I see four men walking there and the form of the fourth is like unto the son of God so it was with Daniel in the lion's den he found the promises to be protecting promises my God hath sent his angel he hath shut thee lion's mouth and it was a time that

[41:35] Daniel never forgot as long as he lived when he was in the lion's den and his God was with him too so that this fifth piece is for protecting much might be said about that but I must not take up too much time as I have one or two more piece I want to refer to before I reach the amen but the word of God tells us he dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty and sometimes you sing a hymn a sovereign protector I have unseen yet forever at hand fulfilling his exceeding great and precious promises to protect his people wherever they may be and sometimes you sing this they that in the

[42:48] Lord confide and shelter in his wounded side shall see all dangers over past stand every storm and live at last 18 nation and all to the 6 p and- that will sound a little different the p is prophetic there are in the word of God exceeding great and precious promises that in their nature are prophetic that is they foretell of what is coming on the earth and when it comes what God has promised he will be to his people and what he will do for them you remember the Saviour said upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and now regarding these prophetic promises dear young people and children you are living in such times as none of us who are old ever dreamed would be known in the world at large and especially in the land that you and I live in and they are said to be perilous times and they are indeed perilous and before these promises that God has made are fulfilled they may be even worse times and you dear young people growing up into manhood and womanhood and others going on into life even in time may yet live to see not England as a welfare state but as a bankrupt state which is what she really is the people in our land are living in the crater of a volcano which at any time may be in eruption and bring a mighty crisis in the land then you will know hard times such as you have never known hitherto it will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time and at that time thy people the people of God should be delivered every one that shall be found written in the book does that make any of you dear young people think of the hymn writer's petition in thy fair book of life and grace oh may I find my name recorded in some humble place beneath my Lord the Lamb then you will live inside these exceeding great and precious promises prophetic promises and whatever is happening in the world at large you will realize in every state secure kept as

[46:48] Jehovah's eyes is well with them while life endure and well when called to die and now here is a prophecy that is now being fulfilled there is the evidence in the world at large and in England as a nation that this prophecy is now being fulfilled and it will open up and unfold and it was given unto him this is an evil power who God declares will rise up to fight against God and the godly and it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world if any man have an ear let him hear and it tells you how this evil power will work he calls it all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive a mark in their right hands or in their forehead and that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name and now some of that may be too deep for you dear young people to understand but it is coming to pass before our eyes so that you see the evils that are apparent in England as a nation and it is affecting the godly so that you do indeed need to remember the Saviour's word and seek his divine aid that you may profit by it endure hardness as good soldiers of

[49:09] Jesus Christ when it says here it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them it does not mean necessarily that they may be put to death does not mean the stage is going to be set up or the hedge means flock not necessarily but it means that the influence of the saints and their power is overcome so that this evil power is so mighty that the influence the saints can exercise is of no avail against it that is to be seen in England as a nation at the present time but I said one of these exceeding great and precious promises is found in the book of Revelation and I like to read this these shall make war with the land that is the bottom of it as you read in the second psalm why do the heathen raise and the people to multiple assemble margin reading it is against the Lord and against his anointed and it says these shall make war with the lamb and the lamb shall overcome them for he is lord of lords and king of kings and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful and now dear young people this is what

[50:59] I want you to be concerned about and God help you to be concerned too that you may be found amongst them that are with him who is lord of lords king of kings and it is said they are called and chosen and faithful what you need to especially remember is to be faithful unto death in what you believe God has made known to you that which you have already what God has made known do not give it up do not let it go the word of the Lord is all past till I come and now the last piece is for pardoning whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises and oh you must look it up for yourself for I must come to the amen and now regarding these promises which speak of pardon forgiveness of sins it speaks like this all manner of sins to be forgiven it speaks of sins being put away as far as the east is from the west so far as he removed their transgressions promise us and it tells of sin being lotted out to be no more remembered against us and it speaks of sin being covered and there is a wonderful word in

[52:53] Jeremiah which tells of forgiveness of sins and it is one of the outstanding words in the word of God and it says that in those days and in that time said the Lord the iniquity of Israel shall be sought forth and there shall be none and the sins of Judah and they shall not be found for I will pardon them whom I reserve and Hezekiah said thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back and Isaiah says come now let us reason together says the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool and good

[53:57] Micah says in his prophecy thou will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea and now these are indeed great and precious promises regarding the forgiveness of sins and oh that you might ponder these sins and be helped to wait upon God that you might realize some of these exceeding great and precious promises given unto you given unto you in your own soul experience wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart wait I say on the Lord the Lord bless you dear young people and children and little ones then come what will all will be well amen