Bible, Bros & Brew
Bible, Bros, & Brew is all about helping you navigate your relationship with God in practical, real-life ways. Hosts David and Phil dig into scripture—'chopping up the word'—and bring it to life with insights you can actually use every day. And while they’re at it, they share their favorite 'brews'—don’t worry, it’s not booze! Just a solid lineup of classic coffees and teas to keep the conversations flowing.
Bible, Bros & Brew
How to Keep From Falling (Part 3) | Knowing God: The Key to Spiritual Strength | Bible, Bros & Brew
With so many prominent and formerly reputable Christian figures getting entangled in various scandals, it's easy to feel like living a godly lifestyle is too difficult, or simply out of reach. Thankfully, the Bible has a solution for believers to help fend off worldly influences and develop spiritual strength. In this latest installment of our series titled "How to Keep From Falling", David & Phil dig into 2 Peter 1:3-4, which contains a prescription for building spiritual strength through cultivating a vital fellowship with God. So brew up some coffee, grab your favorite mug and join us as we explore key scriptures that will help set your spiritual walk on solid ground.
gotbrew@biblebros.net
It seems like every day there's some new scandal breaking out in the body of Christ, whether it's with a preacher who's fallen into sin or some musician who's come out and done some shady stuff that came to light. Over and over again. We've been seeing all kinds of stuff pop off here and there that just seems to be moral failure left, right, front and center, all over the place. Left right, front and center, all over the place. And of course, you know, anytime these things come to light and we look at what's going on, we go man, how in the world did someone get to that point? You know, because one thing we know for sure it didn't happen all of a sudden Nine times out of 10, it's something that happened kind of gradually over time that eventually just hit a wall. So we want to talk about how to prevent this type of thing from happening.
Phillip Rich:The Bible does have a prescription for it. We can't do it without God's help. So we're going to find out more about what the scripture says on how to keep from falling Up. Next, welcome everybody to Bible Bros and Brew. To Bible Bros and Brew. My name is Philip and with me, of course, is the magnanimous David McIntyre to my.
Phillip Rich:Uh, oh, this way I'm gonna get it right one day. To my left, right, um, and on the far end, where you can't see my finger pointing all the way to him, but it's John over there on the far end, our DJ producer. Uh, behind the wheels of steel, making everything happen.
David McIntyre:Yes, yes scratching with all the fervor of a 1980s block party.
Phillip Rich:Anyway, we're smack dab in the middle of a new series. We've been talking about this concept of how to keep from falling and where we got the idea from just, uh, honestly, just looking at what's been going on lately in the body of christ especially, um what I've come to to term the evangelical industrial complex, there seems to be a lot of things happening, um, with famous ministries, famous preachers, famous famous Christian musicians, left right. Everywhere you look, it seems like there's a new scandal breaking out here, there and everywhere. It could be something dealing with moral failure or something dealing with some dude sleeping around. We didn't know he was doing that and all of a sudden it comes to light.
Phillip Rich:All kinds of stuff's been popping off left and right and, of course, you know, when you see this stuff happen, especially to people that you never suspected would be in those types of situations, it's like, man, what in the world happened? You know how did they end up in this kind of quandary? And sometimes there, as we've seen, sometimes there's people, there's people. When they get found out, they come to repentance and they go. Man, I missed it, I was wrong, you know, I have no excuse. I screwed up. Then, on the other end, you got people who refuse to admit they've done wrong and double down on what they've done and, you know, swear up and down, they're innocent and haven't done anything wrong. What in the world could cause that too? You know, it's like one person has a heart that seems pliable and is willing to change, another one has a heart that seems hard and is refusing accountability. So the biggest question, though, out of all this stuff that goes on, it's like how in the world did it come to this? How in the world did someone get from born again on fire for God, loving the Lord Jesus, walking with him every day, to all of a sudden now harboring a secret sin that just now gets found out, or in some type of degenerate lifestyle that nobody knew was happening? How in the world did somebody get to that place and, as I was saying in the intro earlier, we know that it's not something that happens instantaneously, or something that happens overnight, or the things of this world is something to where, more than likely, something that happened under the surface, behind the scenes, that began to chip away at that person's moral life, that person's spiritual life, to the point where now, they're willing to get into things that for a while they would never touch with a 10-foot pole, but all of a sudden they've slipped into something that they didn't even. Maybe they feel like for themselves, like how in the world did I get here? You know that kind of thing.
Phillip Rich:So we want to talk about what we can do as believers to not even open the door for that type of thing. There is a biblical prescription for it and thank God that it's there and we're going to get into the scriptures to that. But before we do that's just kind of the warm up Before we do, let's talk about our famous question here on Bible Bros and Brew. Which is what is in the cup. So let's see, john, could you elucidate on your current coffee offering?
Jon Dzyuba:Elucidate can that's what has a half dollar word it's an eight and a half dollars I have in my pocket right now what has been fueling our conversation live and if you haven't been live, please check us out live.
Jon Dzyuba:If you have been here live, you've been you know that we were caught up in some crazy conversation before we even got started. The reason is this uh, cold brew. Um, it's hot outside. It's it's I'd stay hot and I need some cold brew to keep me cool. I can't do hot coffee when I'm already hot. Uh, this is like a dark roast cold brew with a little bit of a little bit of creamer in there and something that's been kind of just getting me really excited for some reason. I don't know why.
Jon Dzyuba:It's not actually that crazy, but this past week my wife and I have found chocolate-coated espresso beans which is a cool little snack to pop every now and then just to you, just to get that little coffee flavor and a little bit of a kick in. It's really cool. I've been pairing this with my coffee.
Phillip Rich:It's really good actually I've never tried that, john, like I've heard of these espresso beans with coffee, but like, is it? Is it chewy or is it like a crunchy kind of thing with the bean?
Jon Dzyuba:it's crunchy, it's I mean, it's chocolate coated, so it's like a if you know, I I thought, going into it I thought it'd be like a chocolate covered, you know, blueberry or cranberry or whatever very similar. It's just a little crunchy, that's all, but it's heavily like. I'm already a fan of the the coffee flavor, so this is just gold for me personally, nice it should be.
David McIntyre:It should be a little more heavily chocolate covered to accommodate for the acidity in the coffee.
Phillip Rich:The potency of the beans, shall we say.
David McIntyre:Yeah, you'd like it, phil, I think you'd like it.
Phillip Rich:Good stuff, man.
David McIntyre:Since you have a problem.
Phillip Rich:Speaking of problem dude, there's actually a coffee shop near where we live. They do like, when they do ice coffee, they'll ask you if you want regular ice or coffee ice cubes. You can actually get coffee ice cubes in your coffee. It's pretty dope, dude.
David McIntyre:That's nice.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, it's pretty neat, so it doesn't water it down, it keeps it nice and strong oh, that gives your iced coffee a nice little glow up yeah, yeah.
Jon Dzyuba:The question, though how do they make it? Do they just actually go make coffee, go out of the way and freeze it, or do they just take what was left of your melted ice coffee and then put that in the freezer?
Phillip Rich:and serve it. Hey, I wish I knew the secret sauce man. I I know the cubes are like little, little cubicle situations, so, um, it's pretty, it's pretty awesome yeah shout out to uh bloom organics. By the way, that's the name of the show.
David McIntyre:That's a's a nice touch.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, man, but David, how about you, sir? What are you drinking?
David McIntyre:Tonight I'm back to an old favorite. I am drinking the Kahawa tonight. The Kahawa 1893.
David McIntyre:This is the African spice, with the real spices of cinnamon and cardamom. However, I am going to confess that I did do something, and that was I did in the mix of this, as I was measuring out my grind for this. I also put some of my double chocolate coffee in here as well, so I added a nice little hint of double chocolate to that african spice. I don't recommend that you try that at home without help. And uh, then I'm about to, here, in just a moment, drop a little bit of vanilla and a little cinnamon on top to take me home the rest of the way nice conversation enhan Conversation enhancers yes.
Phillip Rich:A little bit of alchemy happening with the coffee here.
David McIntyre:Yes, indeed, not mad at you man, how about you Philip?
Phillip Rich:Well, this should come as no surprise. I am featuring Peregrine once again. This is their Costa Rica offering here, with notes of brown sugar, churro and oatmeal cookie, and it is quite nice, man. Yeah, I'm finding it pairs well with a nice chocolate bar, preferably dark chocolate. If you take it with those kind of things combined, it's just like a flavor explosion that'll bless your life. Shout out to the peeps at Peregrine once again. Sooner or later I'll be featuring some other coffees too. I know it's hard to get me off Peregrine.
Jon Dzyuba:You've got to finish your lifetime supply of Peregrine first, and then you can start dressing up Exactly.
David McIntyre:And just a reminder we owe Peregrine a mighty shout out.
Phillip Rich:Yes.
David McIntyre:Our next episode or two. We owe them a great shout out because they've blessed our lives, so we want to be a blessing back to, because they've blessed our lives, so we will be a blessing back to them.
Phillip Rich:True indeed, man. True indeed, and a shout out to that, to the prize they gave me as well. I appreciate that.
David McIntyre:We'll bring you a little video clip and we'll share it all out with you.
Phillip Rich:It's an amazing coffee maker, for sure. So I was going to say say y'all want to find out.
Jon Dzyuba:Don't forget, subscribe, you know, hit that little notification little bit. You want to, you want to see what's happening.
David McIntyre:I promise you yeah, yeah click the bell, all will be well, yeah, you're going to want to subscribe, whether you're watching on on instagram, whether you're watching on uh rumble or youtube live, or whether you're watching this afterwards and you're being notified about it. You're going to want to subscribe because we're going to start giving you a couple of things, uh, in our time now. So don't, don't, don't go nuts.
David McIntyre:But, we want to help enhance your study time and encourage you to dig in and walk closer with Jesus and to learn more about him. You'll see as we dig in Scripture again tonight. It's the master key.
Jon Dzyuba:You want to learn how?
David McIntyre:to not fall. Walk with Jesus, dig in with him, and we'll talk more about it later, I'm sure.
Phillip Rich:Absolutely, absolutely. So, speaking of digging into scripture, I want us to start off with 2 Peter, chapter 1. That's going to be what? Yeah, can you believe it? We're actually doing it. We're actually getting to the verse we've been trying to get to for two weeks.
David McIntyre:I don't know that we're ready.
Phillip Rich:I know I'm like you know it's almost like we need to cut a ribbon or something to kind of commemorate this. But in 2 Peter, chapter one, this is the what we call like our foundational verse for this series, about how to keep from falling, and interestingly enough, there is a scripture in Jude that actually says that phrase. It says unto him who's able to keep you from falling, and I'm sure we'll look at that sooner or later, but it's pretty cool because it gives the idea that God is actually able to do that, which I'm thankful for, and that it is possible to keep from falling Just because we're living in this world and it's not easy sometimes to be a Christian. We can all kind of agree on that. I'm sure that if you're trying to live according to how the Bible prescribes to live and how God has set out for Christians to live, it's not easy, you know. A lot of it contradicts the very natural tendencies that we all have, you know, and so we have to learn how to depend on the Holy Spirit, depend on the Word of God, to renew our minds so that we don't respond and act and think the same way that current culture would have you do. Because, as we know, most of current culture maybe not all, but most of current culture goes completely contrary to what to God's prescribed way of living. It's not uncommon. So, okay, sorry I got spammed while I'm on the podcast.
Phillip Rich:But in 2 Peter, chapter 1, we're going to look at this passage because, Peter, he's writing this letter. He's talking to what it says to those in verse two. Well, actually, let's go ahead and start it. He said Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, and in verse two, to those who, through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have received a faith as precious as ours. So he's writing this letter. It's not addressed to a specific church or anything like that. It's addressed to anybody who has received the faith as precious as what he had, which we know that's faith in Jesus. He's basically writing this to anyone who names the name of Christ. That's who this letter is for.
David McIntyre:Can I just say something real quick, just a little nugget that may be beneficial to somebody. So this is a little different, right? Because by the time we get here to Peter, we have spent most of our time in the New Testament reading Paul.
Phillip Rich:Right.
David McIntyre:And we've been specifically reading what Paul has written to different churches or, in a couple of cases, to an individual or individuals, and it's been Paul communicating and it's got a specific audience. So there's kind of a way that you read that but, then we get here to Peter who, very similar to James, is really communicating something to everybody yeah and and so you would read this just a little bit differently. Would you agree with that, Philip?
Phillip Rich:Yeah, 100%, and that's a good point, David. It's like you have to think about the audience to whom these letters are written when you read some of it, Because some of it, as we know, like in Paul's letters, he was dealing with very specific situations that happened in those churches at the time. Now we can derive lessons from those things, you know, and we should, because even Paul said in first Corinthians 10, he said whatever was written beforehand was written for our learning. So I take it to assume that could also be his letters, that these letters are written for our learning. Even if they seem to apply to a certain church at a certain time, there's still things we can glean from it. For sure.
David McIntyre:Here we are with Peter giving a general kind of knowledge thing, something for everybody to take a bite out of and eat.
Phillip Rich:That's right, absolutely. And many Bibles. When you read James and Peter, like first and second Peter and then John, well I think with John yeah, with John too it says the general epistle of James, the general epistle of Peter, making the point that this was written to everybody you know who is in the body of Christ, and so I'm glad you pointed that out, David. Good little nugget there. And in verse three he said grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord.
David McIntyre:And in verse three don't let that, don't let that slip. I know, Just remember what he said in grace and in verse three, because it's the first of many similar repetitions of that where he's communicating a desire for you. Now it's more than just. It's a greeting, yes, but the greeting communicates a desire.
Phillip Rich:That's good, david, and you know what. I'm glad you mentioned that, because that phrase, the knowledge of God you're going to see that several times, and he was saying grace and peace in verse three grace and peace will be multiplied to you through knowing God. That's right Through knowing God.
David McIntyre:And the more we. Say it again, david, I'm just a little excited, that's all.
Phillip Rich:Okay, no, you're good man, I love it. And of Jesus, our Lord. In verse three he says his divine power, talking about God, has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him. There it is again. Through the knowledge of him meaning, through knowing him who has called us by his own glory and excellence. Now, david, we could really camp out right here. I don't know how much you want to camp on this one, because I know we got to get somewhere.
David McIntyre:Yeah, I think we need to camp here because, you know, one of the first things that stands out to me is that his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. But again, it's well, let's just, let's just. Can we just stick with? We have everything we need for life and godliness.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:Just for a minute.
Jon Dzyuba:Yes.
David McIntyre:When you dig into that word godliness, you know this is really referring to. If you I forget which translation, but it says he's given you everything you need for the godly life.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, yep, that's right.
David McIntyre:I think that's such an important statement because he's given you everything you need in order to live a certain way that's pleasing unto you. A godly life refers to a way of living that reflects the character, the values and the will of God.
Phillip Rich:That's good, david, that's good.
David McIntyre:Character, the values and the will of God, and what Peter is saying here is that God has already he's given you everything you need to do that.
Phillip Rich:Come on, come on, and you know, david, now you read it, how I read it, and I think it's the accurate way, david, now you read it, how I read it, and I think it's the accurate way, is that word or that phrase has given unto us, is past tense right?
Phillip Rich:Already done it Already done, already done. Go with this. I submit that the reason why it's past tense is because when he gave us the Holy Spirit, he gave us that empowerment to live and have everything that pertains to life and godliness. I think that the Holy Spirit living in us gives us and empowers us with that ability.
David McIntyre:You hadn't said nothing, but a word. Yes, sir, I think you're absolutely right, philip praise god, praise god.
Phillip Rich:I mean and and the thing is because we, you know, sometimes and I know this because I've been through it sometimes, when you're walking out this christian life, you may run into some tough things, you may run into some temptations and some other stuff that makes you feel like I don't know if I can even do this. You know what I mean Like you might find it hard to give up certain things that you're used to doing or that you enjoy in a sinful way or whatever, and you think to yourself how in the world can I overcome this and start living how God wants me to live? Listen, man, it's in verse three. He has already given you everything you need, everything that pertains to life and godliness, meaning it is possible. He would not have said that if you couldn't do it.
David McIntyre:And the fact that he's given it to you, I don't know. Know, philip, I'm just thinking this thought. It kind of implies that he's not even depending on you to do it on your own come on absolutely that he's given you, he's equipped you. He's provided this for you. Now there's a caveat that's coming up in just a minute, but he's equipped you with everything that you need for life and godliness, to live a godly life.
Phillip Rich:Yep, yep, absolutely. And when you think about what David said earlier, about a life that reflects the Lord in your character, in your, what were the things you said, the values, the character, and what was that third one I forgot?
Phillip Rich:The character, the values and the will of God and the will of God, it is possible. Otherwise he would not have told you that you could do it or that he's already given it to you. It will be no different than me telling you hey, I want you to vacuum the living room, and then I cut the power off and don't allow you to do it. You know, God is not unjust when he says you know, be holy, for I'm holy. He's not unjust to tell you to be a certain way or to tell you to walk a certain way and then not give you the equipment to be able to do that thing.
Jon Dzyuba:Whatever?
Phillip Rich:he's asking of you, or has laid out for you, prescribed for you. He has already empowered you to do that thing. It's just a matter of taking what he said at face value and going. I do believe that. I believe that I do have what it takes to live a life of godliness, to live a life of righteousness and all those things, um, because we have the Holy spirit in us and we have his word, uh, as as the food to help us and empower us to do that. So, um well, what's interesting is in verse three. Well, david, did you have something else you wanted to?
David McIntyre:Nope, keep going, buddy.
Phillip Rich:In verse three. Notice here. He's given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him, who called us by his own glory and excellence. So this doesn't come independent of a relationship with God. It can't, it can't, it can't. You have to do it through knowing him. There's no other way. You have to get to know him in order to have that empowerment for life and godliness. There's no other way.
David McIntyre:You know I made some notes earlier. I made some notes earlier and you know the first part of this is that number one, it's powered by God, not ourselves. We talked about that. It's his divine power, has given us everything. It's about relying on God. But the second part is that it's rooted in relationship.
Phillip Rich:Yes, but the second part is that it's rooted in relationship.
David McIntyre:Yes, this verse talks about how the power comes through our knowledge of him, meaning, the more we know Jesus not just facts about him, but an ongoing relationship the more equipped we are to live a godly life.
Phillip Rich:Come on, man, and may I submit this to you, I'll tell you what can we go to? 1 John 4? If you don't mind, john, a little detour real quick. To me, this is one of the biggest keys because it's right there in scripture. It is laid out plain as day. We just read in 2 Peter that he's given us everything that pertains to life and godliness through knowing him. And now in 1 John 4, let's see around verse oh goodness, verse 7, there we go. It says beloved. Let us love one another because love comes from God. Love one another because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God. And look at this knows God.
Phillip Rich:Walking a life of love, which means a life of selflessness, a life where you're more concerned about being a giver than a receiver, a life where you reflect the compassion and the love of Jesus to people around you, and things like that. It says when you do that, you know. It says you know God. That's part of it, that's part of knowing who he is, is walking in the same manner that Jesus walked. That helps you to understand him and who he is even better. And I think to me I know there's other ingredients, because prayer is important, studying the word is important and they help you to come to know who God is. But also acting out in love is one of the biggest ways to come to know who God is and you kind of put these things together and you truly can begin to have a knowledge of him. A knowledge of him comes through doing these things.
David McIntyre:You know Philip, though that's why we are obligated to start with his word. Yep, when Philip and I first met, we didn't um, we, when we first met, we got to know one another. Right now, the first little bit of time Now, we both we both were kind of in the world when we first met. Yeah, very much, so you know so we weren't trying to get to know one another. There was nothing compelling about us knowing one another.
Phillip Rich:Right.
David McIntyre:But then, once I got born again and Philip's sister bought Philip on this trip with her, then there was a reason for us to begin to get to know one another.
Phillip Rich:Right.
David McIntyre:Because I had the same mission for Philip that I had for his sister, which was get them knowing Jesus, get them to move to Atlanta and start following Jesus.
Phillip Rich:There you go.
David McIntyre:And so as Philip and I got to know one another, we exchanged information about ourselves. We found that we shared some common ground on certain thought processes and things. Uh, we at the time, because of the way certain things were moving, we ended up working at the same place. I was in position to help get Philip and Holland work and, uh, because he worked down front and I typically hung out down front, he and I would talk and we'd have exchanges. We were going to the same church.
David McIntyre:Philip got born again and after he got born again, we shared this common passion for the word and digging in and that began an exchange between us. That built relationship and over time now we've gone some 20 plus years as friends Absolutely, and over those 20 years he's gotten to know me, I know him, I understand some ways about how he thinks, he understands some of the ways I think and why I think the way that I do. We make common decisions sometimes. Sometimes we go completely different ways, but we give each other room to do that. We could go time without spending time together and come back together and pick up where we left off. That's right. We've moved from just acquaintances to friends, from friends to brothers, and from brothers to brothers in Christ, and we've grown on like that.
David McIntyre:And so Philip and I are well acquainted with one another. Through that time Philip has gotten married, had children. I'm well acquainted with his wife, I know his kids, he knows my kids. He's well acquainted with my wife and now we've exchanged life and relationship with one another and we are interconnected and intertwined.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:That is the exact same thing the Father desires of us in our relationship with him.
Phillip Rich:Come on man.
David McIntyre:He desires for us to begin to talk, to exchange. And how do we exchange? We begin to read His Word and see things about Him Some things we'll understand, some things we don't. And we begin to pray and we ask God why did you do that? Why did that happen, and as we read more, we begin to understand more why that happened, and there's an exchange that begins to happen between you and the Father through the reading of His Word.
David McIntyre:And then you begin to see stuff like oh, I'm not supposed to be doing that. Oh, I now see why this idolatry thing is wild and why I should never be a part of idolatry. And you begin to see all of these things. You begin not only that, but God even takes you so far as to show you outcomes of why you don't do certain things and shows you what happens when people do do those things. And you go through this whole experience and, before you know it, you've developed a relationship with the Lord and now you start talking to him in prayer.
David McIntyre:Relationship with the Lord, and now you start talking to him in prayer. And then you begin to see things happen in your world and you have an idea already of what the godly answer for that thing is, the godly way you should approach it. And he is beginning to shape you as you're beginning to learn him. And now you see that through your knowledge of him, you're able to live a godly life, because the more you know about him, the more you spend time with him, the more that that time is quality time, the more that God is not a second class citizen in your life, but he sits up front with you and you exchange, and then you even give him the driver's seat and let him drive while you take notes as he's talking and going through. You begin to be able to more strongly live a godly life. That absolutely changes everything.
Phillip Rich:Come on, that's good David, that's good man. It's the classic thing of like, you are who you hang out with. You know it's it's. It applies even with the Lord. You know it's like um, I've picked up things from different people like that I hung out with. For you know, like, let's say, I worked with somebody and I'd see him every day. We spent eight hours a day together. I'm going to part of it. Part of that person is going to rub off on me and I'll probably rub off on them a little bit. That's just kind of how it is when you have exchange and fellowship. The same thing happens with God, y'all.
Phillip Rich:Everything David just talked about just spending time in his word, spending time getting to understand or learning about who he is, how he responds to things. It's all through the Bible. It shows you some of the things that happen and God's response to those things. Bible it shows you some of the things that happened and God's response to those things, even when Jesus was walking on the earth during the four gospels. It's documented some of the stuff that happened and the way he responded was so fascinating sometimes. And so you start learning these different things about the Lord just from that and also even from Paul's letters and things like that.
Phillip Rich:Just understanding the mind of God on things is powerful, because after a while, enough time spent in his word, enough time spent in prayer and then also just living this thing out as best as you can, you're beginning to, you're exchanging with him, and that fellowship with him, part of him, is going to rub off on you, dude.
Phillip Rich:All of a sudden it's got to. That's where the fruit of the spirit comes from. You know, we had a whole teaching of the fruit of the spirit a while back on Bible Bros and Brew, the, the, the fruits in Galatians five love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, those things, they all come as characteristics of who he is and they begin to rub off on you as you hang out with him, man, and all of a sudden you're beginning to walk in a way that reflects who he is. And if you really want to see what it means in the mind of God, what his ideal is for human beings of God, what his ideal is for human beings, it is to be conformed to the image of his son. That's the whole point of it and it talks about it in Romans 8, talks about it in Colossians 3.
Phillip Rich:It's everywhere in the Bible, in the New Testament, that this was his purpose and his point for saving us, for filling us with the Holy Spirit. It was to eventually begin to reflect and express who he is in our lives and through our lives.
David McIntyre:So then, Philip, I submit to you what we can take away from just this little part right here is that if you have no knowledge of God, then you do not have access to a godly life. No knowledge of God, no godly life. How can you have a godly life if you don't even know what it is Right?
Phillip Rich:You need something to frame that thing, something to define it.
David McIntyre:And if you don't?
Phillip Rich:have. That're you're you're you're pulling, you're grasping at straws. Dude, you have nothing to kind of.
David McIntyre:There's no compass and no guide for you no, and I'll, and I'll tell you, philip, this the worldly life, the ungodly life, is being framed for you daily. Come on, man.
Phillip Rich:Come on.
David McIntyre:It's being framed for you in the music you're listening to and the stuff that you're watch, in the things that you believe and buy into. So it's like there is a way to interrupt the framing and programming that is naturally occurring and that is through the knowledge of God. Come on, man.
Phillip Rich:That's good, David.
David McIntyre:And we've got. You know, we talk about conspiracy theories in this world a lot and this kind of programming and that kind of programming and this kind of programming and that kind of programming. Well, here's a spiritual conspiracy theory that this earth, in this life, when you come out of the womb, eventually you have to make a decision to choose Jesus. Yeah, you cannot just wander through your entire life and never make a decision that you will choose and walk with.
Phillip Rich:God, that decision has to be made.
David McIntyre:What this world is good at and what Satan knows is that from the womb, I am going to start programming. And so he starts dialing in all kinds of stuff, from lifelong fears to how you believe about things, the traumas and tragedies that people go through in their lives, all of that he's using it as programming. And God's over here, like look y'all, look, I got knowledge that will change everything for you. Just receive me, accept me, Take me in and let me make a change in your life. And we've got to choose Jesus, We've got to choose the knowledge of God so that we can begin to live this godly life and see things change.
David McIntyre:I'm telling you, Philip has seen it. I've seen it Satan is such a liar and he does roam around like a lion seeking whom he can devour. He is a destroyer, lion seeking whom he can devour. He is a destroyer, he is a liar and a thief. And all of those things that you hear about him, that the Bible lines out about him, are all true. He's up to no good and he's looking to destroy everywhere he goes. And you just look at our world today families destroyed, people struggling to hang in there, people having mental health issues, people in unhealthy relationships, people addicted to drugs, people addicted to pornography and sexual issues, and all of this other stuff other stuff he's got you in a bad program, and God is inviting you to download new information that will help you to change everything that's going on around you.
Phillip Rich:Wow, that's good, david. It is so true, man. It's the programming of this world, the programming of current culture. All of it is designed to be honest with you. All of it is designed to drive you away from God.
David McIntyre:Yes, it is.
Phillip Rich:It's for the purpose of you becoming your own God. Bro. We don't have it in ourselves to govern ourselves properly no, let's just be honest about it.
Phillip Rich:If we really look at the way life works, all of us tend to have uh, we have a tendency towards the very things that'll that'll produce self-destruction. I don't know many people that, given the option to not have a moral framework, that they'll choose a moral framework. Most of the time, people will rather do whatever it takes to get ahead, whatever it takes to please self. You know, it ends up being something that eventually leads to self-destruction. It's fascinating to see that, man, a lot of times we are our own undoing when we don't have some compass guiding us, some spiritual compass to guide us.
Phillip Rich:And God's word offers that. God himself offers that. He's saying here's the prescribed way to live. I've already got it figured out. All you got to do is follow it. But the problem is we're convinced that we know better. We're convinced that we've got life figured out and everything's going to be fine. If I do it my way, man, as David mentioned, that's when you end up with drug addiction, you know, sexual promiscuity producing all kinds of problems, economic crap going on, you know, with people not able to afford anything because they're overspending and all the things like that. Eventually these things catch up in a bad way for 99.99% of people, who are left to their own devices.
David McIntyre:Yeah, yeah. And you know what, philip, when you're left to your own devices, you know it brings me to think about the screw tape letters, a great book by CS Lewis. I recommend it. But it's this concept when left to your own devices, you know, uncle screw tape had a way of coaching up his nephew Wormwood and he was teaching him how to get man off track. And when you're left to your own devices, you are subject to be led off track.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:Don't think that the enemy isn't working against you every day and every minute and every opportunity and you just have. You have to give. You have to give this godly life a chance, godly life a chance. You have to give it a chance because you'll see here down, when we get around verse 10, you'll see that this godly life is part of the key to you not falling. It's just one of the keys. If we can't get this part down if we can't, at least can we all at least agree to this simple fact God has given unto me everything that pertains to life and godliness through the knowledge of him, and we'll read the next part of that verse in just a second. If we could just acknowledge that, that I have everything I need for a godly life through the knowledge of him, and I'm going to start working on that. That is a banner day in your life, that's right.
Phillip Rich:That's right, that's good stuff, man. Good stuff In verse. What was that? Verse 3, I think it is. Oh, we're back. We're in the first chapter. Let's go back to 2 Peter 1. Yeah, it says in verse 3, we covered that.
David McIntyre:And then in verse four it says Well, get that last part of three, Philip. We stopped at the knowledge of him.
Phillip Rich:I'm glad you pointed that out. For sure. It says through the knowledge of him, who called us by his own glory and excellence, man, we could get into a whole thing about those, those words, and what it means for the glory and the excellence. There's a lot, there's a lot to that, but basically it's his own character and his own nature that's called him to, or that's caused him to call us to him, and he's looking for us to reflect that same glory and excellence in our lives as well.
David McIntyre:And then in verse four, Let me just throw one other thing at you. Yeah, yeah, that means through his, through his own glory and excellence means that none of that is based on your worthiness.
Phillip Rich:Come on man, come on man.
David McIntyre:So it's his, it's not yours. So, as you can see, all that he's calling us to here in verse 3 has everything to do with his power working, and the only thing he asks you is to grow in your knowledge of him.
David McIntyre:That's your responsibility. In the midst of the rest of this stuff, he's saying I've empowered you already. You grow in your knowledge of me and I've again. I've done this through my glory and excellence, so it's not any of your own. He's not asking you to all of a sudden become Billy Graham as you read the word and you become a new spiritual giant instantly. That's not what he's asking of us. To the best of your ability, take opportunities to grow in your knowledge of the word, get in a good church stuff like that that will help you to understand what you're reading. And he puts all of the onus, all of the transformational power of it in his own hands.
Phillip Rich:Yes, sir, absolutely. Through his own glory and excellence, through his just being who he is and through his character. That's how he's called us man. That's good stuff. I love that. I love that.
Phillip Rich:And then in verse four, it says through these, referring back to his glory and excellence, through these he has given us his precious and magnificent promises. So here we are talking about what God has promised and the fact that those promises are found in his word. So what he's saying here is he's given us his word, and it's right. Here in the Bible, he's given us his precious and magnificent promises. I think the King James says his exceeding great and precious promises.
Phillip Rich:And if you study out that word magnificent or exceedingly great it's like super abundant, beyond what you could even imagine. Amazing is what it really boils down to. These promises are far more than we could ever even need or desire. They're there for us and he's given them to us. And so it says there in verse four he's given us his exceeding great and precious promises, or magnificent promises, so that through them oh boy, again David, I feel like we need to stop at every two or three words but through them, what's the them there? The them is his precious and magnificent promises. Right Through those promises, you may become partakers of the divine nature. I'm going to stop right there, man. This might be where we end up stopping for the whole episode.
David McIntyre:Right.
Phillip Rich:But think about what he just said. He said that he's because of his glory and excellence he's given us his great and magnificent promises, and then, through his great and magnificent promises, we can become partakers of his own divine nature. So there's something about his promises, ie his word, that produces his nature in us. So that makes sense, go ahead Dan go ahead.
David McIntyre:I was going to say can we just read the last part of that verse and you finish what you were going to say?
Phillip Rich:then no, it's good, it's good. It says verse 4,. I'll read the whole thing, verse 4, through these he has given us his precious and magnificent promises so that, through them, you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. Oh my goodness, go at it, david.
David McIntyre:No, you go, you go, I'm hyped up. I got to settle down first.
Phillip Rich:Dude, he's saying that partaking of his divine nature, through his word, through the promises he's given us, is the very thing that empowers us to escape the corruption that's in the world caused by evil desires.
Phillip Rich:And so, number one, he identifies what causes all the corruption and problems in the world it is evil desire. The King James says it's lust. It's called lust. It means a strong appetite for something, because we do make that mistake of thinking lust just refers to sex. But it's way beyond just sex. It's talking about any type of uh, excessive appetite for something, or a strong appetite for something, that that tends towards evil. But he says here that the corruption in the world is caused by those evil desires. But through partaking of his divine nature, which comes through getting into his word, his exceeding great and precious promises, you will, by default, you escape that corruption, because the divine nature that begins to be implanted in you ends up overpowering those evil desires that were once governing you. Dude, he's already baked it into the cake. All we got to do is use what he's given us, man, which is his word uh and the help of the holy spirit.
Phillip Rich:So, and I know we might have jumped ahead a little bit, but, um, I think, david, you know this, this is such a powerful thing, a powerful concept. It's like, okay, I use his word and soak it into my life and I become a partaker of his divine nature. Now his nature in me begins to be stronger and begins to speak louder in my conscience than all the evil desires I used to yield to all the time.
David McIntyre:Correct, correct, and not only. Oh boy, not only that. I. I tell you there's something powerful about the word, and maybe it's just me and how I kind of grew up in the word. But you know, as I began to understand, some stuff was jacked up, and it was jacked up by the word. That stuff was no longer a desire for me come on on, man Come on.
David McIntyre:Even though I have found, for example, when you read through Isaiah and you see how them jokers had those idols up on the hills and they would go up and worship and God was like cricket hell, Not in my house. Satan like cricket hell, not in my house, tatum, you know, and he, just God, did not accept idolatry. And when I read that and looked at it and I saw how well you see, you go back to Genesis and you looked at how quick they were to make that golden calf just because some days had passed, and the number of times while they were to make that golden calf just because some days had passed.
David McIntyre:and the number of times while they were in the wilderness that they were looking for to create an idol yeah you walk through the old testament and you realize, because it's all through, it's through the greater prophets, through the lesser prophets, all throughout, idolatry, idolatry, idolatry.
Jon Dzyuba:Over and over again.
David McIntyre:You see it over and over again, to the point where you're like you know what? I'm not going to be worshiping any trees and doing all of that. And you think you've got that right, you think you've got it locked down. But then you've got this attachment to your hand and you can't live without it, and if it's not in your hand, you sometimes you know, have you ever lost your wallet? Right lately freak out yes, how about we? Now. We now freak out like that, if our phone is missing.
David McIntyre:Come on, man and so we still have idolatry issues. But do you know how we're able to discern that's an issue? It's because we've spent time understanding and growing in our knowledge of him.
Phillip Rich:Yes.
David McIntyre:And I say that to say you can see things in the scripture and they will teach you things and kill those desires, and then God will give you a heart that desires the fruit of the spirit. And so there's some things you just won't do, because you want that fruit in your life, you want it in there, so you won't get involved with the works of the flesh which we went over a couple of weeks ago. And so I just want you to realize one other thing that it says through these great and precious promises, you became partakers. This word partakers really means partners. You are a partner. It goes on the word study on. It goes on to say that you are a joint participant. Wow, it says that this word is the word. It's another version of kononia. It comes from kononos. It's the masculine version of kononia. There's Kononos and Kononia and you are a joint participant. It restresses the relational aspect of the fellowship, so that there is you're not just a partner, you have fellowship in these great and precious promises and the benefits of his divine nature.
Phillip Rich:Yeah.
David McIntyre:But you only have those things because you've escaped the corruption in the world. How did you escape the corruption that's in the world? Through the knowledge of him. Yes, he has called us.
Phillip Rich:Yes.
David McIntyre:You cannot escape the corruption of the world without knowledge of him, that's right, that's right, and so you've got to connect these dots here, because in just these two verses Peter has unleashed really the answers to everything.
Phillip Rich:But then he goes on.
Phillip Rich:Yeah, and one thing I wanted to say about that I think sometimes people get the cart before the horse and they may not know it. They think that I have to escape the corruption in the world first before I can get to know him. No, such, all you need to focus on as a believer whether you're a new believer or been saved for years focus on getting to know him, that's all. Just focus on your fellowship with God. Start getting into the word more, start praying more. All those things will begin to impart that divine nature even more into your mind and heart. Because it says, like david said, you're a joint participant.
Phillip Rich:Uh, one translation said you become a sharer of divine nature, you begin to share in that thing and so those desires in you begin to change you, then it becomes easier and easier to say no to the things of the world. Don't think for a second that, okay, if I just, you know, push everything that's sinful out of my life first, then I can really come to know God. That is the cart before the horse. Come to know God. He knows how to deal with you. He knows how to work with you. He's very patient and very loving in how he will help you get out of those things that may be harmful habits in your life. He knows how to deal with all that and to and to walk with you through those things to help you conquer that stuff, you know.
David McIntyre:Phillip, there's no, I don't think there's any such. There's no such thing as cleaning yourself up first.
Phillip Rich:No, no, you got to catch the fish before you clean it.
David McIntyre:It is forget it's not cleaning yourself up, then you'll be ready. It's giving yourself up so you can be made clean.
Phillip Rich:Come on, man Come on.
David McIntyre:That's what it is.
Phillip Rich:That's right, that's good stuff, man. And it's the same principle as in Galatians 5, which we studied, you know, weeks ago Walk in the spirit and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. It's like no, it doesn't say stop lusting after the flesh and then you'll walk in the spirit. That's the cart before the horse that's good, philip, that's good praise god, man. Uh, it's a very go ahead, we. We don't hit the zone, man. I feel like when old JP Morgan struck gold.
David McIntyre:You know, bro, goodness man and we gotta put a bookmark in it right here.
Phillip Rich:This is that moment dude, but at least we got to verse four.
David McIntyre:We're working our way down. Thank you, Jesus.
Phillip Rich:Yes, yes, so we will go ahead and just put a little pin here and we'll pick up with it in our next episode, but we want to say thank you for watching and for those of us who joined us live. We appreciate you guys. Shout out to everybody who's watching us live. Joins us live. We appreciate you guys. Shout out to everybody who's watching us live. And, of course, if you have not yet looked at the other videos that are part of this series about how to keep from falling, we encourage you to go back and check those out. It's been the past couple of weeks. We've done those videos.
Phillip Rich:But if there's anything you want to see us cover on this podcast, or just any kind of topic, subject matter, whatever it is, or if you have any comments or thoughts or suggestions, definitely leave a comment for us if you're comfortable with it that way. If you'd rather do it kind of in a more private way, we have an email address for that. It's called gotbrewatbiblebrosnet. Once again, gotbrewatbiblebrosnet, so feel free to drop us a line, and we have seen some comments come in and we appreciate that. It means a lot to us to get feedback from people about what we're talking about on the show here, but also please feel free to like, subscribe, share, do all the cool stuff that people tell you to do with social media and so forth, david. Any final thoughts before we wrap up in the episode here.
David McIntyre:Yeah, actually I do, and I just wanted to pull it up real quick. It's Proverbs 25.2, and it says it is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter. In other words, it's our honor to dig into the things of god and find the treasure, to find all the beautiful things, to find wait, what is that back here, that little thing that's hidden back here and to begin to search and dig into the word and begin to allow ourselves to know the Father.
David McIntyre:Yep, that's good I encourage you to become excited about your role as kings and queens, as sons and daughters, to search out the Father and to get to know him intimately and discover all of these secret, beautiful, hidden things that he has in store for those who want to get to know him and who want to shed the cares of well, not the cares, but the evil desires of this world, so that they can partake in his divine nature.
Phillip Rich:Yes.
David McIntyre:And so I just encourage you, and then I just want to pray for you as well, just really quickly. Father, we love you and we thank you for your word. Once again, you prove that it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Your word shows us the way to go, and we just simply love you. Lord, we thank you for what we've seen tonight, we thank you for the light. You'll continue to shine, and we just want to give you praise and thanks for it. We love you In Jesus' name.
Phillip Rich:Amen, amen, amen. All right, guys, thanks again for joining us. We will see you next time. Until then, dig into the word. Get to know the Father. All right, we'll catch you on the flip side Peace.
