MAKING YOUR ELECTION A SURE THING
II Pet. 1:5-11
INTRO.- ILL.- Two political candidates were having a hot debate. Finally one of them jumped up and yelled at the other, “What about the powerful interests that control you?”
The other guy screamed back, “YOU LEAVE MY WIFE OUT OF THIS.”
What’s that old saying? “Behind every good man is a good woman.” Probably true.
At least, every good male leader should have the backing and support of his wife. And that also means
he ought to listen to what she is saying.
ILL.- Most of us loved the American Humorist, Will Rogers. And he always had a lot to say when it came to politics and politicians. Here are a few of his quotes:
“I love a dog. He does nothing for political reasons.”
“Congress is so strange. A man gets up to speak and says nothing, nobody listens to him and then
everybody disagrees.”
“Never blame a legislative body for not doing something. When they do nothing, they don’t hurt
anybody. When they do something is when they become dangerous.”
“Our government is the only people that just love to spend money without being compelled to. But the
government is the only people that don’t have to worry where it is coming from.”
“This inflation was brought on by the actions of many people of the whole world, and its weight will be
lifted by the actions of many peoples of the world, and not by a Republican or a Democrat.”
“It looks to me like any man who wants to be President in times like these lacks something.” Could be.
Brethren, whether we agree with Will Rogers or not, we must agree that he had a good sense of humor about our country. And sometimes that may be the best way to deal with politics in our country.
I think it always pays to have a good sense of humor. If nothing else it helps us to swallow many of life’s negative things. Besides, it’s good medicine. Prov. 17:22
Brethren, not everyone gets elected to an office, a political office or otherwise. And it’s a good thing,
because not everyone is cut out to be a leader, nor is leadership as great as it appears to be! Not in every realm.
However, overall it should be considered an honor and a privilege to get elected to any position of leadership. Of course, a position of leadership demands leading. Leadership is a responsible role and
should be taken seriously.
A LEADER SHOULD LEAD. And he or she will lead, whether they realize it or not. And they had better
lead in the right direction!
ILL.- One time we were in the process of installing new fluorescent lights in the fellowship hall at the
First Christian Church of Anna. One of the elders, Brother Harvey Ligon, told me that those lights were
on sale at K-Mart in Carbondale, IL. SO WHAT DID BROTHER HARVEY DO? He said to me, “Preacher, you go up to Carbondale at K-Mart in the next day or so and get those lights.”
No, no, that’s not what he said! Brother Harvey Ligon went to K-Mart himself and picked up those lights. THAT’S LEADERSHIP!
ILL.- Again, Will Rogers once said, “People’s minds are changed through observation and not through
argument.” And that’s what good leadership is all about.
Good elected leaders lead their people! They give them a good example to observe and follow.
PROP.- In this message, I want to talk about the different elections that may be on our minds or
should be on our minds. And I want to encourage you to make these elections a sure thing.
1- Your political election
2- Your church election
3- Your spiritual election
I. YOUR POLITICAL ELECTION
I said something in my sermon last Sunday which I want to repeat. “America will never be saved by anyone who sits in the White House.”
The hope of America is not in the White House, but in Heaven! Amen?!
Brethren, I don’t care how you voted during this election. I just think there is something far more
important about the Presidency than electing one. What is it? It’s our support of the President.
No matter who gets in office they need our support and prayers! If they are ever going to do a good job or do the best they can then we must support them as best we can and pray for them!
ILL.- One time Abraham Lincoln told this interesting story. Abe said, “A traveler on the frontier found
himself, as night came on, in a wild region. A terrible thunderstorm added to his troubles. He
floundered along until his horse gave out and then he had to get off and lead him. Occasional flashes of lightning afforded the only clue to the path, and the crashes of thunder were frightening. One bolt, which seemed to crush the earth beneath him, made him stagger and brought him to his knees. Since he was not much of a praying man, his prayer was short but to the point. He prayed, “OH, LORD, IF IT’S ALL THE SAME TO YOU, GIVE US A LITTLE MORE LIGHT AND A LITTLE LESS NOISE!”
Brethren, Abraham Lincoln was one of our greatest Presidents and yet he was still criticized severely in
his day.
It doesn’t make any difference who our President is, he will need more light and less noise! By noise,
I’m talking about criticism.
It’s easy to criticize anybody, especially, those who are above us and are supposed to be our leaders. BUT IT TAKES A REAL SPIRITUAL-MINDED PERSON TO GIVE OUR ELECTED LEADERS SUPPORT AND LIGHT INSTEAD OF NOISE AND CRITICISM!
I Tim. 2:1-4 “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all goodness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
Paul is admonishing us to pray for all who are in authority and obviously, that should include the
President and any other elected officials that we want to pray for.
ILL.- A. C. Dixon said, “When we rely on organization, we get what organization can do. When we rely on education, we get what education can do. When we rely on eloquence, we get what eloquence can do. But when we rely on prayer, we get what God can do.”
ILL.- E. M. Bounds said, “What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use - men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.”
And God said in James 5:16b “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Brethren, one of the best things we can do for our President and the thing that will do the most good is
to pray for Him! God can do things that we will never be able to do. And we need to learn to commit the President and others to Him in prayer!
II. YOUR CHURCH ELECTION
The last Sunday of this month we are going to elect some new church leaders or additional leaders and we need to make their election a sure thing!
ILL.- At 3 a.m. one cold morning a missionary candidate walked into an office for a scheduled interview with the examiner of a mission board. He waited until 8 a.m. when the examiner finally arrived.
The examiner said, “Let us begin. First, please spell the name baker.” “B-a-k-e-r,” said the young man.
“Very good. Now let’s see what you know about figures. How much is two times two?” “Four,” replied
the missionary applicant.
“Very good,” the examiner said. “I’ll recommend to the board tomorrow that you be appointed. YOU HAVE PASSED THE TEST.”
The next day at the board meeting, the examiner spoke highly of the applicant and said, “He has all the
qualifications of a missionary. Let me explain.
“First, I tested him on self-discipline. I told him to be at my house at 3 in the morning. He left a warm
bed and came out in the cold without a word of
complaint.
“Second, I tested him out on punctuality. HE APPEARED ON TIME.
“Third, I tested him on patience. I made him wait 5 hours to see me, after telling him to come at 3 in
the morning.
“Fourth, I tested him on temper. He failed to show any sign of a temper. He didn’t even question my
delay.
“Fifth, I tested his humility. I asked him questions that a small child could answer, and he showed no
offense. He meets the qualifications and will make the missionary we need.”
INTERESTING STORY. Now, for all of you who are interested in becoming elders, deacons, trustees,
and other leaders of the church, I WANT YOU TO MEET ME TOMORROW AT MY OFFICE AT 3 A.M.! JUST KIDDING!
Brothers and sisters, when it comes to being a leader in the Lord’s church there are definitely some
qualifications that need to be met! And some of these are: self-discipline, faithfulness, love,
commitment, patience, humility, etc.
Serving the Lord requires our best and that we give it our best shot!
ILL.- The poet wrote:
I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,
Real service is what I desire;
I’ll help with the songs any time, dear Lord
But don’t ask me to sing in the choir.
I’ll do what you ask me to do, dear Lord,
I’d like to see things come to pass,
But don’t ask me to teach girls or boys, dear Lord
I’d rather just sit in my class.
The attitude that some people have is: I want to do as little as possible! But that’s the wrong attitude!
Brethren, we all need to commit ourselves to the Lord and His church as best we can, not the least we can!
What we do for the Lord in the church and even outside the church carries eternal value! Some things that we do in life carry no eternal value whatsoever!
ILL.- It’s like all that running I did for nearly 10 years. I ran 14 marathons and thousands upon
thousands of miles. Some years I ran over 3000 miles. I probably ran 20,000 to 25,000 miles in those
10 years. What good did it do? It did make me heart healthy, gave me a tremendous amount of energy for life and for my work as a minister. IN THAT SENSE, IT CARRIED ETERNAL VALUE. But beyond that, it had no eternal value.
Running just for the sake running meant nothing to me. But it meant something to me and to the Lord,
because it gave me an opportunity to witness to some other people and it gave me energy for the work of the ministry!
Brethren, we need to commit ourselves to the work of the ministry whether we are a minister or not! Or elder or deacon or whatever! Amen?!
How can we make our church elections a sure thing?
ILL.- Someone wrote these words about preachers.
- If he speaks from notes, he has canned sermons and is dry. If he speaks extemporaneously, he is too
shallow.
- If he spends too much time in his study, he neglects his people. If he visits all the time, he’s a
gadabout.
- If he uses too man illustrations in his sermons, he neglects the Bible. If not enough illustrations, he’s
not very clear.
- If he condemns wrong, he’s cranky. If not, he’s a yellow-livered compromiser.
- If he preaches an hour, he’s windy. If less, he’s lazy.
Brethren, by telling you these things I am not trying to give some ammunition with which to shoot at me!
The point is simply this: Any person in some position of leadership is an easy target for criticism. And
no matter what some people do, no matter how they good and effective they are in their leadership role, somebody, some time is going to find something wrong with them.
This holds true not only for preachers but also for all other church leaders as well. BUT IT SHOULDN’T
BE THIS WAY!
If we want our church elections to be a sure thing and our leaders to be a sure thing in their leadership
roles then we must be supportive of them!
Rom. 14:19 “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”
Gal. 5:13 “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”
I Thess. 5:12-13 “Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each another.”
ILL.- When J. Wilbur Chapman was in his first ministry in Philadelphia, he was visited by a church member who frankly said to him, “You are not a strong preacher. In the usual order of things you will fail here, but a little group of men have agreed to gather every Sunday morning and pray for you.”
Some years later, Chapman said, “I saw that group of men grow to one thousand and they gathered weekly to pray for this preacher.”
AND CHAPMAN GREW TO BECOME A STRONG MINISTER AND HAD A SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY.
Brethren, if we want a strong, sure leadership and ministry in this church then we must be supportive in
prayer and in every other way possible! We must help whenever we can! We must give encouragement and support them in prayer.
1- Make your political election a sure thing
2- Make your church election a sure thing
III. YOUR SPIRITUAL ELECTION
You need to do everything you can to make your spiritual election a sure thing! What am I talking?
II Pet. 5:10 “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.”
Make your election in Christ a sure thing!
ILL.- For many years I was involved in the Union County Ministerial Alliance. I would go to the
meetings, listen and do whatever I could to help out. Finally, one year they elected me to be the President of the Ministerial Alliance. The position sounded good, but some time later I found out that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
I soon had people calling me all the time wanting something, generally money. I even had them calling
me at home and some even came to my home. I even had one person stop me one day while I was out running! They wanted money and they were bound and determined to stop me and talk to me!
Brethren, when you are elected to some positions you some times find out that they are not all that
great. EVER HAVE THAT HAPPEN TO YOU?
The Bible says that we have been “elected.” But it’s a very good kind of elected position!
Eph. 1:4-5 “For He chose us in Him (Christ) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ.”
We were chosen in Christ before the world was created to be God’s elect!
ILL.- One day preacher Lyman Beecher agreed to exchange pulpits with a minister who believed strongly in predestination. As the ministers passed each other on the road on the designated Sunday, Beecher’s friend said, “I wish to call your attention to the fact that before the creation of the world God arranged that you were to preach in my pulpit and I in yours on this particular Sunday.”
“Is that so?” Beecher exclaimed. “Then I won’t do it,” Beecher said. And he turned his horse and
headed back for his own church.
Brethren, apparently some people have the idea that predestination in Christ means that God has
predestined some people to be saved and some to go to hell. NO WAY!
II Pet. 3:9 “He (God) is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
God wants all people to be saved, not just certain people! But, of course, He knows that some people
won’t be saved because they won’t accept His Son Jesus as their Savior.
When Paul said in Eph. that we were chosen before the creation of the world and predestined to be His
children, he meant that “in Christ” we have been predestined.
It was as though God said, “Those who accept my son Jesus will be my chosen ones. They will be my
elected ones. They are my predestined ones.”
Brothers and sisters, you are elect of God! You have been elected in Christ and it’s a very good election!
You are special people in God’s eyes because you have accepted His Son Jesus who is the Savior. And Peter says in our text, Be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.”
Make your election in Christ a sure thing! Have you done that? Are you doing that? In other words,
are you working at your Christian faith? Are you making it a sure, solid thing in your life?
Phil. 2:12 “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
Paul is saying that we must work out our salvation to completion.
ILL.- As one preacher put it, “We have been saved, we are being saved and we shall be saved.” Our salvation is a continual process. We must continue to work at it.
If we don’t work at our salvation or our Christian faith then there is something wrong with us. In fact,
Peter says in 8 and 9 these words, “For it you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind...”
Peter is saying that if we are not working at our faith then we are blind, ineffective, unproductive.
Wow! That doesn’t sound good to me! I WANT TO SEE! I WANT TO BE EFFECTIVE! I WANT TO BE PRODUCTIVE!
Peter said, “Make your election sure.”
How do we do that? V. 5 “Make every effort to add to your faith...” Then Peter goes on to list the things that we need to add to our lives: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.
Are we adding these things to our lives? And are we growing in these things? Are we getting better at
them? IF SO, THEN WE ARE MAKING OUR ELECTION A SURE THING!
We all know that we are “getting older,” but are we “getting better”? Are we making our election in
Christ, our salvation in Christ a sure, solid thing in life?
There is only way for that to happen: KEEP ON, KEEPING ON! Keep working at your faith. Keep going
to church. Keep reading God’s Word. Keep on praying. Keep on serving. Keep on witnessing.
Keep on doing Christian things and you will make your election a sure thing!
CONCLUSION--------------------------------------------
ILL.- One time a manager and a sale rep stood looking at a map on which colored pins indicated the company representative in each area. The manager said to his sales rep, “I’m not going to fire you, but I’m loosening your pin a bit just to emphasize the insecurity of your situation.”
Brethren, sometimes we act and live like we are “loose pins” in our relationship to Christ. And it isn’t
the manager, the Lord, who has done the loosening of that pin. We have done it to ourselves by failing
to work at our faith!
There is security in Christ! He alone offers security in this world and for the next, but we need to keep
working at our faith to make it a “sure thing.”
Make your elections a sure thing. Make the political election and our church election a sure thing. Make your election in a Christ a sure thing. Let’s keep working at them, doing what we know is right.
