ES2PEJ08 2 Peter 1:8-15 Make your calling and election sure

2 Peter 1:5–15 NKJV

5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. 13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, 14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.

Intro

We have added to our faith and we are ensuring that we are diligent about this, right? After all there is no point in hearing what Peter is saying if we are not going to follow through. And it is only if we do these things that we will be fruitful for God and gain a better understanding of our Lord Jesus.

So, I ask, do we really want to produce more fruit for God’s glory? Then we must give greater diligence to prayer and the study of God’s Word. In the parable of the sower Jesus spoke about the things that choke growth in spiritual life. He says that stunted growth is caused by the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth (Matthew 13:22). Are we consumed by worry about the things going on around us? If that is a problem that we have then we must hand over those worries to the Lord. We must confess that he has met every one of our real needs up until now. And because that is true, is it not inconceivable that he will fail to uphold us in the future? Do we want to know our Lord Jesus Christ better?

Not only that but we have to drive Satan from our thoughts for He will tell you there is no need but as we shall see the kind of entrance we receive when we arrive at Heaven depends upon, at least in part, on this. It is never a waste if time even if you think you will never make it. We are called upon time and again in Scripture to not give up and we shall reap a reward if we keep on keeping on.

9

And here we find that if we do not then the opposite will happen - and we become almost blinded for we are forgetful of what we have been told and of all that Jesus did for us on the cross. We are to keep as far as we have attained and go further. Indeed we are told we could lose our full reward to us if we don’t. A person who claims to be saved while remaining unchanged does not understand faith or what God has done for him or her.

God’s people may not be completely spiritually blind however, it is possible for them to close their eyes deliberately to spiritual truth. Some Christians live only for this world. They cannot see into the future. They are not like the faithful people written about in Hebrews 11. Those people of faith ‘were longing for a better country—a heavenly one’ (Hebrews 11:16).

Such short-sighted Christians fail to look forward to what is in store for them. But that is not all that Peter says about them. He tells us that they have also forgotten to look backwards. Blinded Christians forget what they have been saved from.

They have forgotten that before they were converted they were sinners;

they have forgotten that there was a time when they were bound for hell;

they have forgotten that they were convicted of the awfulness of their sin by the Holy Spirit’s intervention in their lives;

they have forgotten that they have been brought to confess their sin and have received the Lord’s forgiveness;

they have forgotten that they have been given the gift of faith and been enabled to testify of their conversion to Christ;

they have forgotten that they were able to declare their faith in Christ by being baptised, so signifying that their sins had been cleansed through the precious shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Short-sighted and blind Christians have forgotten all that God has done for them and have slid back into their old ways—the ways of the world and maybe worse than they were before. Their lives are so bound up in themselves, what they want, and that no one is able any longer to detect that their declared intention had been to follow Christ until the end. But God wants His people to open their eyes and their memories and be restored to living a holy life for His glory.

We have already looked at the first seven verses whereby we learned about Divine Power, Divine Promises and partaking in the Divine Nature. Because we are His we are new creations and have His nature and we have the power of the Holy Spirit in us for all things that are life and godliness. Because this is true we can add to our faith those seven qualities of virtue, of knowledge, of self-control, of perseverance, of godliness, of brotherly kindness and of love. We will be fruitful in Christ if we have these things in every increasing way. The only reason why we would lack these things is if we have forgotten that we have been forgiven.

The proper result of knowing we are forgiven is one of love to our Saviour and a willingness to let Him take more and more control over our lives. We have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and we have a new purpose in life. Perhaps, we have got waylaid; perhaps we have fallen short but there is no time like the present to get back on course - and we start by adding to our faith.

10

If that is not enough, now again, in verse ten, we are called to be diligent, well, actually, even more diligent. We are to be even more zealous.

In this story…

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 1882 Priority Claim in Invitations

Someone asked Emily Post, “What is the correct procedure when one is invited to the White House and has a previous engagement?” She answered, “An invitation to lunch or dine at the White House is a command, and automatically cancels any other engagement.”

We have been given an invitation to Heaven and to do His work. This takes priority over any other engagement.

As God has called and chosen us for salvation then He is also calling us to grow in Christ. The growth confirms that we were called and chosen by God. We also gain confidence that we are His as we add the qualities that show we are His.

If we are very diligent in these things then we will never stumble. How is that? Because we are giving attention to those things that need attention. It is only when we are preoccupied with other things that we stumble. If our focus is upon Jesus who gave His all for us then we cannot go astray.

11

Then, because of our fruitfulness to Him we will be lavished with so many rewards in Heaven. We can only miss out on these rewards if we are focused upon ourselves and the world.

Robert Manry sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1965. That was not a great achievement you might think. But actually he sailed from Falmouth, Massachusetts to Falmouth, England in the smallest boat ever designed for this purpose. The boat was 13ft/4m long and named Tinkerbelle. The journey was thwart with dangers. The rudder broke 3 times. He was thrown overboard a lot and if it hadn’t been for a rope tied to him and the boat he would have been washed away. The journey took 78 days and he was looking forward to getting to a hotel and sleeping. But as he approached the harbour 300 boats came out to meet him and 40,000 people lined the dock cheering him on and in. He received a welcome he could not have imagined. I am sure he still look forward to his rest.

The faithful Christian who weathers the storms despite being thrown overboard and having added virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love will be given a welcome into the safe harbour of heaven beyond imagination led by the King of kings Himself enters into His Saviour’s joy and rest. The gains of Heaven will always outweigh the losses of earth.

What wonders await us in yonder fair land!

The face of our Saviour, the touch of His hand,

No tears and no crying, no sighs or despair,

For Jesus is waiting to welcome us there. —Kerr

12

Peter then goes on to say that he will keep on reminding them of these things as if he hasn’t already. He knows his hearers already knows them but repeating them often will keep them straight and narrow if they hear and obey. Not only that it is safe for them to re-hear and thereby for us to re-hear for it will increase our reward in Heaven.

13

He knows how easy it is for us to lose our attention. There was a time when he was told to watch and pray but whilst the spirit is willing his flesh was weak for he fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. So he says he will stir them up, or wake up them to these truths. It goes without saying sometimes we need to be re-awoken. It may be that we are awake but just sitting and watching but we need to be stirred to action. We who are called are also called to grow – one of the main things that will stir us to action is remembering what Jesus has done for us.

But our memories of what Jesus has done is appalling. You wouldn’t think that we would be this way but we need to be reminded again and again. But our memories are not great. Many studies have been done about our memories. When a group of people witness the same event they recall it in different ways. This is evident in the four accounts of Jesus in the Gospels: Matthew talks of Jesus as King of the Jews, Mark, Jesus as Servant, Luke, Jesus as Son of Man, and John Jesus as Son of God. Witnesses of the same event may not even seem like they are seeing the same thing.

Associated Press correlated many of these studies on memory and discovered that human memory: Far from being a fixed recording, human memory is fragile, incomplete, and malleable and highly subject to suggestion.

Memories can change with time. In some cases, people may slightly alter their version of an event with each retelling. I remember how often I have told my testimony but it was only after 20 odd years I went back and found a typed testimony from the early 90’s which had some differences that I had completely forgotten about and things I was saying happened that were not accurate without even realising it. Such is memory.

And of course this is one of the main reasons for coming around the Lord’s Table. Reminding us again and again of the wonders of His love. How do we forget so quickly? Our memories are fragile and need constant reminding and refreshing through the unchanging Word of God. Even if we have great memories it is easily dulled if we are not constant in God’s Word. Worldly voices are constant, the lure of the TV, the computer, books, entertainment and fun. These are always present with us through the visible world. But it is the invisible that needs to take more of my attention and yours. We can only know more about this by being in the Word of God.

14

Peter is urgent to remind them of what they need to do as he knows his time is short for the Lord had showed him how he would die. We find this in:

John 21:18–19 NKJV

18 Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” 19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”

For Peter, he knew his time was short but is this not also true for us? It may not be a grisly death that we will face but the fact is we will face it soon enough; we have to face realities. The present one is passing away and there is an eternal future ahead which has nothing to do with the world we are now in but is a Kingdom that will not pass away.

15

Then in verse 15 he is talking of a legacy being left behind. In saying that they will have a reminder after his death it may be that he is talking about this letter he has written or it may be that because John Mark was his disciple that he would leave a form of Jesus’ teachings and works through the Gospel that would be written. Thereby they would always have available what Peter wanted them to know.

The word translated ‘decease’ here is really departure or the word from which we get the word ‘exodus’. So he is talking about going out and then, of course, coming into Heaven. He was leaving for the Promised Land. But Peter even after his leaving wanted to make sure that people were reminded accurately of Jesus and His teaching. And so we have two of his letters and a Gospel that had his influence in Mark.

This portion of his letter is to stir us up to action, to awake out of sleep.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 1884 Paging Device

A Christian doctor who presided at a Bible Conference where I was speaking was seated on the front row. I was well into my message when suddenly a voice said, “Doctor 22, please check with the hospital at once!” It came from a paging device attached to his belt. The physician got up and left immediately. Although he had told me this might happen, I confess I was momentarily distracted. When God calls, it is time for action.

Two things especially should jump out at us today: the first is our departure. This world is soon to be a forgotten memory and so we should hold it with a very light touch. The other is our entrance. How will we arrive at Heaven? Will we arrive having been transformed by His Word? Will we turn up bearing gifts of fruit because we constantly stirred ourselves and others up? To arrive without fanfare would be a great shame.

I don’t want any of us to arrive just by the skin of our teeth. Heaven and eternal life are a gift as we heard this morning but the rewards are payments for our deeds done in Christ. It is time to lay up treasure for ourselves in Heaven. Jesus taught that we should do this and actively pursue the rewards that will come with it. We work hard in this life to get the things we want but we should also be hard at work in gaining a great reward when we die. We have been called to be in Christ and we are also called to grow in Christ and not remain babies.

The Scripture says;

Psalm 116:15 NKJV

15 Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.

There are many recorded last words of great Christian people but one of my favourites is of Dwight L. Moody:

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Earth Recedes—Heaven Opens

Shortly before Dwight L. Moody died, he spoke these words: “Earth recedes; heaven opens before me.” This statement has become famous around the world.

Moody’s son, William L. who was with his father, testified that the evangelist continued: “No, this is no dream, Will. It is beautiful. It is like a trance. If this is death, it is sweet. There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go.” Soon the rest of the family was assembled. Only recently, the evangelist and the family had lost two of the grandchildren, Dwight and Irene.

Moody’s face suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed: “Dwight! Irene! I see the children’s faces!” There is a blessedness of meeting our loved ones over there!

Benediction

Romans 8:38–39 NKJV

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Bibliography

Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.

Bentley, M. (1990). Living for Christ in a Pagan World: 1 and 2 Peter Simply Explained. Darlington, England: Evangelical Press.

Gardner, P. (1998). 2 Peter & Jude. Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.

Helm, D. R. (2008). 1 & 2 Peter and Jude: sharing christ’s sufferings. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Jones, G. C. (1986). 1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (1996). 1 Peter–Jude. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

Simeon, C. (1833). Horae Homileticae: James to Jude (Vol. 20). London: Holdsworth and Ball.

Spurgeon, C. (2014). Spurgeon Commentary: 2 Peter. (E. Ritzema & C. S. Wolcott, Eds.). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 09:35 01 June 2019.