What Manner of Person Are You?

II Peter 1
5) And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6) and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7) and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity, 8) For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 9) But he that lacketh those things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sin.
II Peter 3:1
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of person ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.

Did you know that our King James Authorized Version of 1611 has a built in dictionary? According to New Age Bible Versions, by G. A. Riplinger, this is a fact. Most of the time you can read further down from a verse in the chapter and get the meaning of the previous word that you may have had trouble understanding. But, if you still don't understand what certain words in the text mean, it is a good idea to get an old dictionary and look up specific words to get a clearer meaning. Many times we think we know what a word means and we find out later after looking it up in a dictionary that its meaning is different than what we thought. Do not try to find a clear meaning of a word that was written back in the 1600's by looking it up in a new dictionary. Some of the definitions have changed.
But, for all you folks out there who don't want to take the time to look up some of the words used in the previous scripture, I have taken the liberty to do it for you.  Just in case you get the wrong meaning!

diligence-constant, careful effort; persevering hard work

virtue-general moral excellence; goodness of character; good quality

temperance-self restraint in conduct, expression, moderation

patience-the will or ability to endure without complaint, endurance

charity-an act of good will; kindness toward others

I certainly need to be a little more charitable and I especially fall short on the patience (enduring without complaint). Many years ago when my second child was about 2 years old, I asked the Lord to give me patience and during that time it seemed like everything went wrong. She got sick a lot and during a time of having a high fever, she had a convulsion and let me tell you, it was an extremely hard time in my life. From that point on, I was wary of asking the Lord to give me patience.  Later, I realized that most of that problem stemmed from a lack of nutrition and the fact that the doctor that I took her to had her on a never ending bout of antibiotics, coupled with the fact that my lifestyle was not healthy, I ran into all kinds of difficulty. But, it was a learning experience, one that I would not want to repeat. In all due respect, I did learn to have more patience than I had in the past!
 

Dishonest Prophets (Pastors and Preachers)

Jeremiah 23
14) I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing:  they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
16) Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain:  they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
17) They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
19) Is not my word like as a fire; saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
30) Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour
31) Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
32) Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord.
39) Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence.
40) And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

Whew!  That's some hard stuff!

Guess what? I decided to look up some more definitions for you. 

reproach-to accuse of a fault, rebuke, reprove. To bring disgrace upon; shame, disgrace.

perpetual-continuing indefinitely; constant

At the time of writing this, I have been a born again child of God for 36 years. In these years, I have had the opportunity to sit under some very good preachers, but at the same time I have also been able to hear some bad ones like those mentioned above. Many times the preachers are afraid of the people and what they will think or they are just plain afraid of losing their congregation. At other times, I have found that the pastors or preachers themselves have in their lifestyles become careless and non-commital to the separated life that the Lord wants them to have in order to be in the position they are in. Many people have stumbled due to a pastor or preacher who in his own life is no better in behavior than the "man on the street". Pastors and preachers are supposed to be the example to those they are preaching to and should spend time finding out just what the Lord wants them to preach. Because of these pastors and preachers, the Christian has a hard time truly  separating in his or her lifestyle because it seems like God is allowing them to behave the way they do and even blessing them for the way they are living. Children, teenagers, and young adults especially are drawn to an easier way, so it is hard for parents of these children to persuade their children that this lifestyle is not what the Lord wants for them.

II Peter 2
1) But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2) And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3)  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

pernicious-causing injury, destruction; fatal

feigned-to make up (a story, excuse, etc.), to fabricate, to imagine, pretend

Hopefully, I have given you something to really think about and something that will edify and strengthen your days ahead.