Strength # 2 - Knowledge (7 Divine Strengths That Makes US)

II Peter 2v5 “…add to your faith virtue; and to your virtue knowledge” With our brief explanation on virtue added to our faith we have learned that in order to obtain our need, (which I prefer to call a gift instead) weak faith will produce weak results, but faith with good and righteous moral, truth and principle will glorify God and we will have a perfect need or gift supplied. Now the next step once you have added to your faith virtue is to add to your Virtue Knowledge. Step 2 is KNOWLEDGE So having virtue is not good enough we also need knowledge. What does the apostle Peter mean with knowledge? – Knowledge in the (Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary) defines it as; a) information, truths, principle b) clear awareness or explicit information or fact c) comprehension, skill, experience. So that means you must have information about what you want to be or need. In other words God will not give you the management promotion if you will not have information or skill, or principle, or clear awareness of what is going on. He has to protect His interest and His Name. His Name is above every other name. Let me make an example. The centurion in Matt. 8v9 shared with Jesus his knowledge concerning the power of spoken word, and this my friend, I call information or knowledge. This man knew what he wanted and he knew that it had to work. In other words he said, “It works for me every time”. That is experience. Now the Bible also teaches us, we ask and receive not because we ask amiss. Now why amiss or incorrectly, inappropriately, that’s because our requests lacks information. As a father, when my children ask me for money or things without reason, I always ask them –“what for?” So is it with our heavenly Father. The lady whose daughter was possessed said to Jesus “truth Lord, but the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their masters tables” – information. So what ever your need is get information about it. You might pray for someone who is sick and rebuke the devil because you might think that that person is possessed, but it could just be a side effect. Sometimes certain sicknesses have side effects. The side effects could even be the medication that the sick might be taking. God spoke through Hosea and said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” In a simpler interpretation it might sound like this, “My people are ruin, put out of existence, because of poor or no information”. Now for a clearer understanding, let us look at the Israel’s pursue to possess the Promised Land. Moses through God asked Joshua and Caleb to spy the land first. They first had to get information / knowledge about the land that they will possess. David asked, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?” – I Samuel 17v26 He needed information. But he also had experience and skill in destroying something greater then him. He said, “I killed a bear and a lion” – I Samuel 17v34. So we saw his victory. Need I to say more? Great reward comes with great responsibility. Great power comes with great responsibility and if you lack knowledge you will perish. Virtuous faith with acquired knowledge will produce a strong testimony. “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” which is information. So now that your have added to your faith Virtue and you have Knowledge / explicit information on your need or gift the next step is to add Temperance (self restraint in the face of temptation or desire)