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!
•Even our own religiously moved & motivated hearts, our humanisticly sympathizing hearts, can mislead us into believing Satan’s lie--that we’re ‘good enough’, that we’re ‘deserving’, or that we have ‘earned God’s respect’ by something we’ve done.
*Jer. 17:9-10—“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”
:10b—“...for if you do these things you will never stumble;”
However, the fact is, “if you do these things”(:5-7), “if you practice these things” the growing believer will “never” be made to “stumble.”
That is, a person who fully dedicates him/herself to God thru Christ, will “NEVER” ‘trip’ over, or fall victim to, those worldly, demonic things that tease our world AWAY from Christ.
•Christ is the ever-constant, ever-trustworthy, ever-dependable means to the fullness of life! The truly faithful will NOT walk away from Christ! Yet, they need to be ‘reminded’ of these things constantly!
•On-the-other-hand, the ‘dependencies of the world’ are ever-changing...They are always in a state of flux. The world’s opinions, trusts, dependencies...What the world sees as beautiful, beneficial, worthwhile changes with the wind! Every generation grapples with reality & the author of it.
Those who “never stumble” describes those people who, thru their intimate “knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”(:8), will NOT be made party to sinfulness. He/She will NOT be a practitioner or practicer of sin(Ps. 1:1-3; 1Jn. 2:4-11; 3:2-3, 4-11 below). And so, “if” such a faithful believer & follower of Christ, will “do these things” then they will persevere thru both hardship & ease, with a joy that only Christ can give them, in their being obedient to & thru Him.
•Ps. 1:1-3—“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day & night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”
•1Jn. 2:4-11—“He who says, “I know Him,” & does not keep His commandments, is a liar, & the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him & in you, because the darkness is passing away, & the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, & hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, & there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness & walks in darkness, & does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
•1Jn. 3:2-11—“Beloved, now we are children of God; & it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, & sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, & in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; & he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God & the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,”
So, ‘once you are saved, you are indeed truly saved.’’ Because in the ‘abstract’ reality of God’s acceptance of those saved by grace, Christians in fact, do not sin!
“Stumble/Fall”—ptaiw—1Aorist Active Subjunctive 2nd Plural—1)To cause to stumble or fall; 2)To stumble—2a) To err, make a mistake, to sin, 2b) To fall into misery, become wretched. Strong—To trip, i.e. figuratively--To err, sin, fail(of salvation); a form of piptw. Used 5X--Rom. 11:11; Js. 2:10; Js. 3:2; 2Pet. 1:10.
:11—“for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.”
A lavish “abundance” ‘makes up’, surrounds, & encompasses every believer’s “entrance” to heaven(“the everlasting kingdom”). God Himself has “supplied” that “abundant” “entrance” to those who are numbered as His people.
With your “call & election sure”(:10), & your Christ-honoring faith in action, every child of God is guaranteed “an entrance” “into” that which is “the everlasting kingdom” of “Christ.”
•Christian, keep in mind that “the everlasting kingdom” is indeed “everlasting.” And as such, it will absolutely never end! As opposed to this world in which we currently live, which is destined to be replaced by a new world where God’s righteousness reigns!(Ps. 45:6; Jer. 23:5; Heb. 1:8; 1Cor. 15:25-26).....
•Ps. 45:6—“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.”
?Are you destined to be there?
And that “everlasting kingdom” is the “kingdom” specifically “of” “our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ”!
So for a Christian to MISMANAGE that lavish “abundance” that God has seen fit to provide for you, is to live your Christian life in uncertainty & without God’s power.
•And in that weakness of that mismanagement, you will be continuously weighed down by your own limited attempts to ‘please’ or ‘impress’ God.’ You will be continuously weighed down by your own FLESHLY attempts to maintain a ‘happiness all the time’ attitude.
•However, thru your PROPER management of what God grants you--God’s “abundant” “entrance” “into the everlasting kingdom”—you will experience the peace & freedom of ACTUALLY pleasing God, in your daily life, by the direction of His Holy Spirit! And by continuously honoring His direction, you will attain the real purpose of your life—personal holiness.
Thru an abounding & growing faith, that is consistently & continuously dependent upon God, an “abundant” “entrance” “into the everlasting kingdom” “of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ”...IS YOURS!
So to NOT have an abounding faith, REMOVES the testimony of an “abundant” “entrance” “into the everlasting kingdom.”...Even though that “entrance” IS in reality, “abundant”, due to God’s living presence & provision.
•Sadly, having become ‘satisfied’ with your faith being unfurnished & unfinished, you will NOT be able to live-out your life here on this earth, with any assurance or sure-footedness that God wishes to supply for you....
And you will then, in turn, place so much emphasis & dependence on your ‘experience in this world’, so that the Kingdom of God becomes diminished.
And when God’s Kingdom is diminished, you will be fearful of sharing it with others, & you will be fearful of leaving this world behind when your time to die arrives.
Sadly then, you will be an ‘unwitting’ partner in feeding, nurturing, & promoting the desires of this world, the flesh, & the devil, rather than the desires of God!
HOWEVER, putting in the time, diligence, & labor to “add to your faith virtue”, ETCETERA(:5-7), you can then look forward to, & look expectantly to receiving God’s “abundant” “entrance” “into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ”.....
And with the apostle Paul you will be able to joyfully say,
2Tim. 4:7-8—“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, & not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
And as a result, all God’s people are aliens in an alien land...
•Ps. 39:12—“Hear my prayer, O LORD, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
•Heb. 11:13—“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them & confessed that they were strangers & pilgrims on the earth.”
Argumentation:
*Ps. 18:33, 36[2Sam. 22:37]—“He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places.”.....“You enlarged my path under me, So my feet did not slip.”
*Prov. 4:10-12—“Hear, my son, & receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble.”
1Jn. 3:2-3—“Beloved, now we are children of God; & it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
Js. 2:10—“For whoever shall keep the whole law, & yet stumble[ptaiw] in one point, he is guilty of all.”
*Js. 3:2—“For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble[ptaiw] in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.”
Js. 3:13-16—“Who is wise & understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy & self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast & lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy & self-seeking exist, confusion & every evil thing are there.”
*1Cor. 14:33—“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”
Illustration:
*Suppose you are planning to hike on an unfamilar trail. You will be sure to wear proven shoes that support your ankles, & to take a trustworthy walking stick. You will tread slowly but surely. And a well placed walking stick’ will keep you from twisting your ankle or breaking your leg, or throwing your back out. Your multi-layered faith is pictured in those necessary items. And in them you gain ASSURANCE & SURE-FOOTEDNESS
*Not too many weeks ago we had heavy rain that caused a lot of flooding. mNot long after the rains things some areas were still waterlogged. My wife & I took a day-trip to ‘Wood’s Bay’ State Park, near Olanta. It was a beautiful day. We planned to walk the short board-walk into the heart of the park, & to walk around the open swamp of ‘Wood’s Bay.’ We had never been there before, & found that it was a small but very nice park. It was a Monday morning & we were the only ones there! Before we started our walk, we thought it best to use the restroom. We noticed a few mosquitoes were buzzing around. We headed for the trail entrance about 50ft away. Immediately we were swarmed with more mosquitoes that we’ve ever been attacked by(& we’ve lived in Florida!)! We lost all ASSURANCE about finishing the trail! We had NO ASSURANCE or SURE-FOOTEDNESS to continue into the swamp....BUT we sure were ASSURED & SURE-FOOTED leaving it!
Application:
?Is YOUR ‘ASSURANCE/SURE-FOOTEDNESS’ born of FURTHERING YOUR FAITH in Christ?
?Are YOU actually FURTHERING YOUR Christian FAITH?
*?Does Christ-honoring ‘ASSURANCE/SURE-FOOTEDNESS’ accent/characterize the way you live the life that God has granted to you?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Remember, cows don't just give milk; You have to put your hands to the task as well.
*Do Not take liberties with the wrong things, so that your own Christian faith, as well as the Christian faith of others is wrecked & ruined.
Be diligent to maintain, the Furthering & fullness of our “faith” in Christ, so that your experience, & the world’s experience with Christianity, will be Christ-honoring, positive, & beneficial to all!
Action:
Furthering Your Faith involves...
4. ASSURANCE/SURE-FOOTEDNESS(:10-11)
1. DUE DILIGENCE DONE(:5-7)[Parts 1-3]
2. FRUITFULNESS(:8)
3. AWARENESS/ATTENTIVENESS(:9)
Pt# 4 only!-presented 09/15/2024am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Road
Bennettsville, SC 29512
