Thursday after Populus Sion, the Second Sunday in Advent
Posted on December 10, 2020 by under
Scripture: 2 Peter 1:2-9 (NKJV)
1:2 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.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Devotion
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
Grace and peace be multiplied to you. Especially for non-church people, that is odd English. We often hear these words as our Pastor begins preaching, but even for us, it is “Church English.” No one at Walmart talks like that.
There is a reason for the awkwardness. The Word of God does what it says! This is not just a pious wish: “May grace and peace be yours…, I hope grace and peace will be yours…, it sure would be nice if grace and peace were yours.” No. “Grace and peace to you.” The words do what they say. They put grace and peace to you. And what better place to gain the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord than in a solid, orthodox sermon!
We ought not turn God’s gifts into something iffy. Where the Lord has used His mouthpiece Pastor to speak these words to you, believe them. And as you grow in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, the words that impart that knowledge to you will impart still more grace and peace to you; the grace of faith, and the peace of sins forgiven.
Prayer: Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Thine Only-Begotten Son, so that by His coming we may be enabled to serve Thee with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
