01/23/2011 Knowledge of the Holy

Knowledge of the Holy
2 Peter 1:2-4
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
NKJV

Missionary and preacher Paul Washer says that one of the most divisive topics that he ever preaches on are the attributes of God. He says when people invite him to their church and ask him to preach on this topic he usually warns them. He warns them of the divisiveness of the subject matter. And people will generally ask him why, how can preaching on the attributes of God be divisive? He will tell them that almost invariably someone, often time an elder or deacon, after the service will come up to him and say, “I could never love a God like that?” Because they have made a God in their own image, one who winks at their sin and doesn’t require much of them. When confronted with the real God of the Bible they are terribly offended by this deity.

AW Tozer wrote one of the best books on the subject of the attribute of God. It is titled “The Knowledge of the Holy”. He makes one of the best and strongest cases I’ve read as to why it’s important to have a correct biblical theology of God.

This is what Tozer says in chapter one of His book.
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
…The gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God…
Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, “What comes into your mind when you think about God?” we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. Were we able to know exactly what our most influential religious leaders think today, we might be able with some precision to foretell where the church will stand tomorrow…

That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true God is of immense importance to us…

A right concept of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical living as well… I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God…

Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry, for idolatry is at bottom a libel on his character. The idolatrous heart assumes that god is other than He is—in itself a monstrous sin—and substitutes for the true God one made after its own likeness…

Before the Christian Church goes into eclipse anywhere there must first be a corrupting of her simple basic theology. She simply gets a wrong answer to the question, “What is God like?” and goes on from there.”

Our text this morning twice mentions the knowledge of God and ascribes spiritual blessing that we can gain through the knowledge of God. “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” The grace of God and the peace of God is multiplied in our lives as we grow in our knowledge of the Holy one.

Verse three says, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” All things that pertain to life and godliness come through the knowledge of Him, Jesus. All things that pertain to life, the natural. This is our natural gifts and talents; it is our life itself, breath, our food, drink, shelter, clothing, all come from His divine power.

I think it’s interesting that he created us needy. We can live only about three minutes with out air, maybe three days with out water, up to about 40 days without food. We need clothing, we need shelter, we need companionship, we need love. We are needy. The other part of creation, the angels don’t seem to need any of these things.

Why did God do this? I think it was so that it would cause us to look to Him. Every time we are hungry, we are reminded to look to him. Every time we are thirsty, we are to look to Him. These are to be reminders that we are dependant on His grace for everything that pertains to life. This is why in the Lord’s Prayer we pray “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Do we look to Him? Do we thank Him, regularly? Sometimes I forget, not often, but sometimes I do. We should never forget, he made us this way so that we would be prompted to think of Him, look to Him and thank Him for his provision and goodness. But as a whole, mankind fails to thank him. Israel failed in the wilderness. They were miraculously delivered from Egypt by God and as soon as they are in the wilderness and they get hungryand thirsty, rather than looking to God, and trust in Him for their needs they complained. They should have trusted God, they should have looked to God and known because what He had just done for them in Egypt, he was able to give them food and water in the wilderness. But instead they doubted and grumbled. I hope we never do that.

We look to God because by His divine power he has given us all things that pertain to life, but more, also to all things that pertain to godliness. We cannot be godly without Him. By His divine power he gives us all things that pertain to godliness. Without His divine power we are wretched sinners that only deserve His wrath. The scriptures are clear. Eph 2:3 “Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” NKJV

Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." NKJV

No one has ever done all the things which are written in the book of the Law, except Jesus. We are all under the curse. Paul makes this clear in Romans 3:9 “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

10 As it is written:
"There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one."
NKJV

Then Paul summarizes the matter a few verses latter.
Rom 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
NKJV

His divine power has given us all things that pertain to godliness. We are totally powerless when it comes to godliness, but He gives us all things. He has given us the scriptures which are profitable for (2 Tim 3:16-17)
“For doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” NKJV

He has given us the gift of prayer and the right to come boldly into His presence. Heb 10:19 “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” NKJV

He has given us His righteousness as a gift. Rom 5:17 “For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” NKJV

He has given us faith. Eph 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.” NKJV
He has given us the gift of repentance. Acts 5:31 “Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” NKJV

His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. They are all gifts from his hand, and they come to us through the knowledge of Him. Two times in Peter’s introduction to this letter he emphasizes the knowledge of God. The more true knowledge of God we have, the more of God’s Grace and God’s peace will be active in our lives. The knowledge of the true God enables his divine power to give us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

If you don’t think that God is sovereign, you will worry a lot about the future. If you don’t believe that God is good, you will worry a lot about his wrath. If you don’t believe that God is love, you will not have any love for God in your heart. If you don’t believe that God is just, you will think that you can sin and get away with it. If you don’t think that God is all knowing, you will think you can hide your sin from God. Every false concept you have of God, will lead you away from God. As Tozer said; “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
…The gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God”

It is important for us to have a right concept of God. In Tozer’s book he identified 21 attributes. Spurgeon lists 25 attributes, and AW Pink had 17 attributes in his book titled “The Attributes of God”. I don’t think that there ever will be an exhaustive list of attributes. How many attributes does God have? I don’t know. How many stars are there?

Even in the question, how many attributes does God have? We can answer that question by listing four Attributes.

He is infinite. 1 Kings 8:27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. NKJV

Ps 145:3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable. NKJV

He is transcendent, He is above creation. He exists totally apart from His creation. Isa 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord.
9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
NKJV

Isa 40:22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
NKJV

He is incomprehensible. He is beyond our understanding. Job 11:7 "Can you search out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?
8 They are higher than heaven — what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol — what can you know? NKJV

Job 26:14 "Behold, these are the fringes of His ways;
And how faint a word we hear of Him!
But His mighty thunder, who can understand?"NASU

That’s the issue, we only see the fringes, we only scratch the surface. That’s why eternity will be eternal and not boring. We will through out all eternity be captivated by the glory of God and will continually be in a quest to search out the deep things of God.

Paul said; Rom 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?” NASU

God is eternal, He has no beginning and no end and he is not a prisoner of time. Isa 57:15 For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
"I dwell in the high and holy place, NKJV


Isa 40:28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable. NKJV

Ps 90:1-2
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. NKJV

How many attributes does God have? More than we’ll ever be able to count. Tozer, Spurgeon and Pink only scratched the surface with their lists; they only touched the fringe as Job said.

Do you know this God? Have you searched out His depths? This God is Holy; He is morally excellent and perfect. Ex 15:11 "Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders? NKJV

God is righteous. Deut 32:4 “He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.” NKJV

God is Just. Ps 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face. NKJV

God is Wrathful. He hates all unrighteousness. Rom 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” NKJV

What hope do we have? If we study this God, and know about Him, he is so otherly, so Holy, what hope do we have? Fortunate for us He has other attributes. He’s Longsuffering, and loving, and faithful, and good, and merciful, and he has revealed all these attributes and more in Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Through Jesus we see God in ways that Job could never have imagined.

John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. NKJV Some of the other translations say, He has made Him known, He has revealed Him, He has explained Him. The greatest knowledge of God we can ever hope to have is to understand the Gospel. How this God who is holy, righteous, transcendent, could stoop so low as to become a man, that he might demonstrate his love by taking the very punishment that his righteousness and justice demands.

Knowledge is necessary, there is something we need to know to be saved, we need to know we are sinners who need a savior, and we need to know that there is a savior who is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a message that is so simple that a child can understand. It is a message that is so simple that even the mentally challenged can understand it and be saved. But since it is such a simple and profound message many miss it because of their pride. They refuse to admit that they have a need that only Jesus can meet. They refuse to acknowledge the provision God has given them for life and godliness. They think that by their own hand they have acquired these things.

1 Cor 1:23 “But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” NKJV

The world in their pride would rather try to work their way to heaven, than to humble themselves and in obedience trust in the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus paid it all.

Verse three says, “Through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. For clarity it could and should read, By His Glory and virtue. Again it is all about Jesus, who He was, His virtue, His righteousness, His perfection under the law, His glory.

Verse 4, “by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

More stuff given to us. God does it all; we can take credit for none of it. He has given us exceedingly great and precious promises. And through these promises we become partakers of the divine nature. The Holy Spirit dwells in us and gives us strength to resist Evil and all the devils wicked ways. The Holy Spirit helps us to grow in holiness. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand scripture. The Holy Spirit prays for us, and with us, and through us. The Holy Spirit assures us that we are Children of God. The Holy Spirit comforts us in our afflictions. The Holy Spirit helps us to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. The Holy Spirit strengthens our inner man so we have the power to resist the evil one.

What is the source for all this? The knowledge of Him. And we receive this knowledge through the book He has given us. We need to read this book, we need to meditate and memorize this book. We need to read it every day. Our hearts are deceitful. We are no different than Israel; we are capable of forgetting who God is, and what He requires of us. If we anchor our lives in the God’s Word we will not be easily shaken. We will have what His Word promises, Grace and peace and all things that pertain to life and godliness. Amen.
Go in peace, Serve the Lord.