Furthering Your Faith-6

FURTHERING Your FAITH-VI—2Peter 1:10-11(:5-11)

Attention:

The Secret Of Life:

A father used to say to his children when they were young: —When you all get older, I will tell you the secret of life.

For many years the oldest had been pondering what ‘the secret’ could possibly be. So whenever his birthday would arrive, he would anxiously ask his Dad what was the secret of life.

Finally, one birthday, the father replied that he was going to tell his son, but that he was not to reveal the secret to his siblings, as they were still too young.

Dad told him, The secret of life is this: ‘The cow does not give milk.’

The son didn’t quite get where his Dad was coming from, so he asked, “What do you mean, Daddy?”

“Hear it, son: ‘The cow does not give milk, you have to milk it.’”.....

You have to get up at 4 in the morning, go to the field, walk through the corral full of manure, tie the tail, hobble the legs of the cow, sit on the stool, place the bucket, & do the work yourself. That is the secret of life, the cow does not give milk. You milk her or you don't get milk.

Many people expect cows to GIVE their milk....

BUT what a person receives, is directly tied to the effort that that person is willing to put forth toward the needed product. Usefulness & Happiness in Christ, is the result of diligence on the part of the believing person. Usefulness & Happiness in Christ does not come to a lazy Christians. Lack of diligence in spiritual matters creates spiritual confusion, frustration, & division.

Remember: God provides the cow, but cows don't just give milk; you have to put your hands to the task as well.

—Author Unknown

And so it is with FURTHERING Your FAITH.....

*Likewise, some of you are taking liberties with the wrong things, & putting forth way too little effort in those things that matter to God!...And & it’s destroying your own Christian faith, as well as the the Christian faith of others.

You & I are urged, thru God’s word, to ensure & maintain, the FULLNESS of our “faith” in Christ, so that our experience, & the world’s experience with Christianity, will be Christ-honoring, positive, & beneficial to all!

Need:

?Are you satisfied with your walk with Jesus?

There is a very real sense in which every committed believer is indeed ‘satisfied’ with their Christian walk. Yet there is another sense in which to be fully ‘satisfied’ with your ‘Jesus walk’ could only be a statement of personal arrogance!

?Do you enjoy your relationship with the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit?

?To What in particular, has God called you?

Furthering Your Faith eases the struggle of how to apply your calling & your giftedness.

The apostle Peter encouraged the Churches to bolster/strengthen/further support their initial faith in Christ, in order to obtain an ‘abundant entrance’ to the Kingdom of God.

So, God’s people are obligated to further their faith.

In our text, Peter answers the question:

?What does ‘Furthering Your Faith’ involve or entail?

We are continuing to examine:

4 Factors For Furthering Your Faith.

In the last weeks we have examined the fact that,

Furthering Your Faith involves...

1. DUE DILIGENCE DONE(:5-7)?•[Part 1--:5a-d]?•[Part 2--:5e-6a]?•[Part 3--:6b-7]

2. FRUITFULNESS(:8)

3. AWARENESS/ATTENTIVENESS(:9)

Today, we’ll find that:

4—Furthering Your Faith ALSO involves...

ASSURANCE/SURE-FOOTEDNESS(:10-11)

Explanation:(:10-11)

:10—“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call & election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;”

:10a—“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call & election sure,...”

We know, as God’s people, that we are never to be satisfied with salvation ONLY, as if there is nothing more to the Christian faith than being saved.

DO NOT suppose that I’m saying ‘being saved’ is unimportant! In fact, salvation is key/indispensable! Without salvation you do not have a beginning point from which to grow!

Knowing what we know as God’s people—our personal labor/effort/diligence WILL be put forth toward ensuring that our Christian faith will exhibit those specific ‘qualities’ Peter mentions in verses :5-7.

Therefore, God’s people are compelled of the Spirit of God to apply all personal “diligence” toward confirming their personal “call & election.”

You can be ‘duped’ into believing that you are a Christian, simply because you enjoy some of the ministries that the church supports. But IF you involve yourself in those ministries, while being uncertain of your “call & election”, THEN your ‘ministering’ is being done solely by the weakness of the flesh!

Something to consider from the apostle Peter’s urging--that each of us is to be “sure” of our “call & election”—is the fact that Peter would not have cautioned us, if there was not the distinct possibility that a person’s ‘supposed’ “call” from God, as well as their ‘supposed’ “election”, might actually arise from a source other than God, & so NOT actually being from Him at all!