The Prayers of the Apostles - Booklet Five - 2 Peter 1,2, 3

Extract

The Prayers of the Apostles – Booklet Five
A. W. Pink

2 Peter 1:2, 3

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” 2 Peter 1:2, 3.

This lengthy series of articles on prayer would be lacking in completeness if we took no notice of the benedictions with which the apostles (James excepted) prefaced their epistles. Those opening salutations were very different from a mere act of politeness, as when the chief captain of the Roman soldiers at Jerusalem wrote a letter after this manner: “Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting” (Acts 23:26). Far more than a courteous formality were their introductory addresses, yea, even than the expressions of a kindly wish. Their “Grace be [to] you…and peace” (2 John 1:3) was a prayer, an act of worship, in which Christ was always addressed in union with the Father. It signifies that a request for these blessings had been made before the Throne. Such evinced the warm affection in which the apostle held those to whom he wrote, and breathed forth his spiritual desires in their behalf. By putting this at the forefront, it made manifest how powerfully his own heart was affected by the goodness of God unto them. That which is now to engage our attention may be considered under the following heads: First, the matter of the prayer: “Grace and peace”—those were the blessings besought of God. Second, the measure of their bestowment: “be multiplied unto you.” Third, the medium of their conveyance: “through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” Fourth, the motive …