Picture a little boy who is dying of a rare neurological disease called adreno-leuko-dystrophy (ALD). We’ll give this boy name – Lorenzo Odone. When he begins showing symptoms, his parents take him to various experts who eventually are able to diagnose the problem, but they offer no hope of a cure. At that point Odones, out of their love, they give up everything to find a cure for their son’s disease. Mr. Odone quits his job in order to spend all his time studying his son and his disease. The parents read everything written on the subject. They travel to visit and talk to experts in ALD and related diseases. They completely empty themselves to find help for their rapidly deteriorating son – without success. Then they bring together a group of international neurological scientists to discuss ALD. When one man, mentions his studies in oleic acid, the Odones pepper him with questions, and the answers drive them to the conclusion that their son simply needs a certain oil in his diet. But there is no product or drug in the world that contains what they think is the right formula. After contacting over 100 firms around the world, they find an elderly British chemist, who is willing to take on the challenge of distilling the proper formula.
Eventually, as their son is nearing death, the Odones finally obtain a vial of the precious oil, containing two specific long-chain fatty acids, isolated from rapeseed and olive oil. When they add it to their son’s diet, it begins to work – albeit very slowly. Lorenzo, at the age of 14, begins to show some improvement – He swallows for himself and answers “yes” or “no” questions by blinking; He regains his sight, can move his head, vocalize simple sounds and learns to use a computer. This treatment halts the progression of his disease, and is dubbed “Lorenzo’s Oil.”
Not satisfied with Lorenzo’s slow progress, Mr. Odone dedicates himself to finding more treatments to repair the myelin sheath around the nerves which causes the ALD. And what he learns is eventually applied to other children, who when they are given Lorenzo’s oil early enough are spared from falling into the abyss to which his son had fallen. Augustus Odone sacrificed everything to learn one thing – how to treat or cure ALD.
ALD is rare today. In a city the size of Post Falls, statistically there are only two children suffering with it. So the knowledge necessary to cure or treat it is not as great as other areas of darkness and disease.
After that long introduction, I’ll just be blunt, and say with Peter – the greatest, highest and most important knowledge possible is “the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” – verse 8. And, as I have said several times recently, every blessing you and I will ever enjoy will come only through the grace of the Lord. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights” – James 1:17. However, for many of those blessings WE must apply ourselves, seeking God’s face, and utilizing what He gives us in order to grasp His next blessing. And it is that which Peter reminds us as he continues in this letter.
Verse 5 – “Beside all this:”
In addition to the grace and peace we have through knowing the sovereign God and Saviour, Jesus Christ… Along with those things which pertain to life and godliness… Besides the deliverance we have been given from the corruption that is in the world through lust… Beyond the exceeding great and precious promises He has placed in your hands… Building on the precious faith we have obtained through the ministry of the Holy Spirit … Peter exhorts us – give all diligence to add to your faith the important things I’m sharing with you.
If you want to cure your son, you’re going to have to do the leg work and study your brains out. Because in some ways, you are not going to get much help from anyone else. It is up to you. The answers are out there, but they aren’t going to be thrown into your laps or into your heads. You are going to have to work, adding this piece of knowledge to that piece of knowledge. And you are going to have to add these things in practical ways; it is not just a matter of the intellect.
For us, what is the prize? It is infinitely more important that a cure for a rare human disease – as important as that might be. It is “the KNOWLEDGE of our Lord Jesus Christ” – verse 8.
If you read through this chapter looking for it, you’ll find various forms of the word “to know” nine times. And “knowledge” itself is mentioned five times up to verse 8. Some of that knowledge has already been given to us, and some of it we are exhorted to learn. But still the ultimate goal is “the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And this is where a little study of Greek is helpful. Verse 8 – “if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the (SPECIAL, PERFECT, ABUNDANT) knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In verses 5 and 6 the Greek word for knowledge is “gnosis,” but the conclusion and goal is “EPIGNOSIS.”
In addition to what babes in Christ already possess in their Saviour, be diligent to make some additions.
“And beside this, GIVING ALL DILIGENCE, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge…” “Giving all DILIGENCE.” The Greek word “diligence” is used a dozen times in the New Testament. It is most common translation is “diligence,” but its other translations reveal its depth. It is also rendered “haste,” “business,” earnest care,” and “carefulness.” In other words, “make it your immediate, earnest business,” to add these things to your spiritual foundation. Be as careful about adding these things as you are to caring for your sick and dying child.
THAT is how important as these additions are. Individually, they may sound insignificant; they may sound inconsequential, but they are not. Peter says, we need to hurry ourselves, push ourselves, and be diligent about adding these to our lives.
And WHAT are we adding? Seven specific items.
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith VIRTUE; and to virtue knowledge…” By the way, these additions are being made to our faith, which is the gift of God. We are building upon a foundation which the Lord has created; we are building on the rock, not the sand. Upon the foundation of our faith we are to diligently add “VIRTUE.” Someone might say, “Oh that; certainly. Everyone knows that Christians ought to be morally upright. But it is not really THAT important is it?” Remember – Peter has already mentioned “virtue” in verse 3, where he points out its importance. God has given us His divine power in all things pertaining to life and godliness, because He has saved us and called us to glory and virtue. We have been saved to be virtuous. It is not an option for the Christian. It is to be diligently sought. And remember, as I pointed out in an earlier message, the word isn’t confined to “moral correctness,” because the word is also translated “praise.” What Peter is talking about is a Christian character which causes observers to praise God. I Peter 2:9 – “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the PRAISES of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”
Perhaps this might make a good TEST of our outward Christianity: By the grace of God, are YOU worthy of PRAISE? Christianity is not simply about being a good person; a non-offensive person; a gracious person. Are you a praise-worthy person, because the grace of God is actually and really flowing through you?
Going on – to your manly, praise-worthy character keep adding spiritual and Biblical KNOWLEDGE. None of us know the Word of God as well as we should know it. We don’t read it as much as we should; we don’t listen to it as often as we could. We rarely study it. And we’ve forgotten how to memorize scriptures, storing them up in our hearts. It amazes me that some churches cater to the laziness of their people by offering less and less opportunity to hear and learn the Word of God – fewer and fewer services. Our purpose should not be simply to learn more doctrine; more Biblical history; more religious details. Our ultimate purpose is “EPI-gnosis” of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“And to knowledge (add) TEMPERANCE; and to temperance PATIENCE; and to patience GODLINESS.” Speaking from experience, “temperance” is a problem for most us. How much genuine self control do we have? How often do we need to say “no” to ourselves? And more importantly, how often do we listen? Wouldn’t it be a good exercise to memorize Paul’s description of the fruit of the Spirit and their application? Galatians 5:22-24 – “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, pace longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, TEMPERANCE, against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the (fruit) of the Spirit.” Temperance is a part of the fruit of the Spirit, reminding us once again, that these things Peter is telling us to add to our lives, do not come through the strength of the flesh. They come from the Holy Spirit.
And then there is PATIENCE. Is there anyone among us who is as praise worthy in patience as we ought to be? I don’t think there anything I can say which illustrates this need any more than we already know from experience.
Add to your patience GODLINESS. Which I suppose means: Christlikeness. How do we become more like our Saviour? Do you remember in math class, when the teacher wasn’t satisfied with the correct answer; she wanted you to show how you arrived with the correct answer? I wonder if Peter is telling us that the best way to godliness is through, virtue, knowlege temperance, and patience? For example, can we be as godly as we should be if, aren’t also full of self control in our bodies and hearts?
“And to godliness (add) BROTHERLY KINDNESS; and to brotherly kindness CHARITY.” For you Greek experts, “brotherly kindness” is the common word “phileo” and “charity” is “agape.” There may be others, but there is no verse in the Bible which more clearly compares brotherly love and spiritual or divine love. We need to be, and we can be, more kind and helpful to our brothers and sisters in Christ, AND to our neighbors – other human beings. This kindness is something we can control – something we must control, and we must add to our resumes. The more proficient we are in this, the more we will find our love moving to a higher level – more like the love which God shed on us when He saved us. Agape love is one of those communicable divine attributes.
When these seven things are added to your faith, and when they abound…
“They make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the (perfect) knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We might come back to this in our next message, but for the moment understand that “barren” and “unfruitful” are not the synonyms they appear to be. “Barren” is translated “idle” six times more often than it is “barren” and “slow.” Do you remember in the pre-politically-correct days when we could get away with describing people who were mentally challenged as being “slow.” I should hope that Peter would never look at my life and think to himself, “Oldfield is one of the slow ones.” Laziness, whether in the secular world or the spiritual, should be a shameful charge against the Christian. “Get to work,” Peter says, “Add to everything else, diligence busyness.”
And make sure you are not among the unfruitful. May we never forget or ignore our Saviour’s lessons from John 15 – “I am the vine, and my Father is the husbandman. “I am the vine, ye are the branches, He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit …” “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit…” Brethren, fruit is the purpose for being grafted into the vine. I won’t try to tell you what fruit you are supposed to produce – beyond of course, the fruit of the Spirit. But I will say that we expected to be fruitful.
And if we are NOT fruitful, I’ll simply close with Peter’s words in verse 9 – “But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins,” in order to be a fruit producer.
We have a choice in regard to adding these seven things to our resume and our character. And they are important enough that we need to “give all diligence” to make that addition.