God is right and true Heaven
and earth are full of the Lord's love There are places of love that
I've never known that I've lost but never seen We'll be there for you, we'll
be there for you. There'll be love in the water, there'll be love in the sky. We'll be there for you,
there'll be love in the land that's free and wide. All right. Remember those words,
I have heard thy voice, I am thine. And another line says, there
are heights of joy that I cannot reach until I cross the other
side. Those things apply to this message. All right. Beginning with verse
ten. This should be a message of real
comfort after Sunday's message of sobering message on repentance. All right. Verse 10 says, rather
give diligence. That is, rather than be lacking
in these things, give diligence. to make your calling and election
sure. Diligence means real effort. Give diligence, he says, to make
your calling and election sure. Now, God Almighty elected a people,
a certain person, before they were ever born, yea, before the world began. And only the elect will be saved. I don't apologize for that. I'm
not ashamed to say that. It's of God's wonderful mercy
that one person is elected. And only the elect will be saved.
And only the elect were given to Jesus Christ and represented
by Him, justified by Him, His righteousness imputed to them,
His blood made atonement for their sins. The elect. The elect
will be saved. That's a fact. To the glory of
God's electing grace and to the glory of Christ's effectual work
for the elect. Nobody has any problem with that,
do they? All right, now how does one know he or she is elect? I want the righteousness of Christ. I want his blood. I want this
salvation. Well, how does one know if it's
only for the elect? How does one know? How can we find out? None of us are going to see the
Lamb's book of life, are we? Those names were written in that
book before the foundation of the world. Isn't that what Scripture
says? Nobody's seen that book with Christ and the Father and
the Spirit. How can you know? He tells us,
give diligence. Well, look at it. Look at it
again. Now, you remember my pastor dealing with this. He said, give
diligence to make your, what does he say, first? Calling an
election. How do you know your election
is by your calling? By your calling, all right? If
you're interested in knowing if you're one of the elect, then
you'll look at these scriptures with me, okay? What is this calling? John chapter 10. John chapter
10. I'm going to have you turn about
four or five different passages, and then we'll go back to 2 Peter
and say that. John chapter 10. What is this
called? Those of you familiar with John
10 know that this is the chapter that deals with the Good Shepherd,
Christ, who said, I am the Good Shepherd. All right, look at
verses 3 through 5. It says, To him the porter openeth,
And the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep
by name. and leadeth them out. And when
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him." They know his voice. A stranger will they
not follow? Let's believe I'm a stranger.
They don't know the voice of a stranger. Verse 16, "'Other
sheep,' he said, I have which are not of this foal," speaking
of that immediate time and people, them also I must bring." He's
talking about people in the future. They shall hear my voice. Look at verses 26 and 27. He
said to some fellows there, he said, you believe not because
you're not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. So this calling is none other
than the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ calling
his people personally. He said, I call them by name.
You know what he said? It's the shepherd's call. If you have animals, do you call
them? Even cats can learn their names. Well, he calls them by name.
All right, Romans chapter 1. Look at Romans, we'll just go
through chronologically. Romans chapter 1, Paul said about
himself, in verse 1, he said, I'm called to be an apostle.
Called to be an apostle. And in verse 6 it says, among
whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ. So this calling
is truly a personal calling. Men get it backwards today. Have
you received the Lord as your personal Savior? That's not the
way it's done. He's the one that does the calling
and the receiving and so forth. Right? The deciding and the acting
and the willing. All right? You're the call of
Jesus Christ. True, we call on Him, but not
until He first calls us. Romans 8. Romans 8. You know this, you can quote
it. Romans 8, verse 28. Now, we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
on the call, according to His purpose. What purpose? His purpose
was electing grace, saving grace in Christ. Ephesians 1. This
is your favorite chapter I know. Ephesians 1. Ephesians chapter 1. I started
reading down through here and I thought, where do you start
and where do you stop? Because this is our covenant.
This is how he called me. Well, all the way down through
here, it talks about us being chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world, predestinated to the praise of God's grace, swearing
He's made us accepted in the blood, in whom we have redemption
through His blood, forgiveness of sin, riches of His grace,
the boundary toward us in wisdom, made known under His will, that
He might gather together in one all things in Christ. Verse 13. He says, in whom in Christ you
trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. All right, so this call is a
gospel. It's a gospel call. One more, all right? 2 Thessalonians 2. You knew I
was going to go there, didn't you? 2 Thessalonians 2. This
is my favorite part. I love this. 2 Thessalonians
2. It's the gospel call, but it's
not just some... Well, he said it's the shepherd's
voice. It's Christ himself. Those who've heard his voice
have heard him speak just as personally as I'm speaking to
you now. Even more so, because I can't
speak to your heart. Right? You hear my audible voice,
and it may just be whatever. But when you heard and hear Christ
speak, He speaks to hearts. Very real, very personal. Verse
13. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of spirit and belief in the truth, whereunto, that is, unto salvation,
he calls you by our gospel. He calls you by our gospel. Have you heard the gospel? Well, Peter, now back to 2 Peter
2, or 1. Peter says, Give diligence to
make that calling sure. Give diligence to make that calling
sure. How does one give diligence to
make sure you've heard a call? I'll give you an illustration.
I was waiting on a call. One time, a very important call. And the phone rang. And I didn't get to it. And this
was before Star 69 and the caller ID and the answer machine and
all that stuff, you know. Well, this was when I worked
on a railroad station. I was on the call all the time. And you just didn't miss one.
At any rate, I missed a call. I was waiting on a call. And
I missed a call. So what did I do? I called on
him. I called. Did you call me? Did you call me? Well, yes, we
did. You're wanted for such and such
thing. That's how you give diligence to make your calling, Sheriff.
David said in Psalm 35, Stay unto my soul. Lord, say unto myself, I want
to hear you tell me this. Our Lord said this, Call on the
name of the Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord. That means to keep calling. That's
what giving diligence means. Keep calling until he calls. And to give diligence, to make
your calling sure, Christ said that. He said, where
two or three are gathered in my name, that's where I am. Well, what's he doing? Calling
on people. The whole time I'm at the door,
knocking. And he made an open house, come in and suffer. So
to give diligence is to be where he's calling people. To be there. You know, Steve, I had to be
near a phone. I had to be near a phone if I
was going to receive the call. And so it is. Christ calls through
this gospel. So how do we give diligence?
And, Bart, we never quit. We never quit calling on Him. We never cease needing the call. We need Him to call us. Right? And so I'll tell you what Eli
told Samuel. He said, you go lie down and
say, speak, Lord, that I serve in here. You remember Samuel
kept coming back, and you called him? No. Finally, he said, you
go lie down and you call on the Lord and say, speak, Lord, that
I serve in here. All right. And we never ceased. You know, he tells us it's like
repentance. We looked at repentance. That's
a never-ceasing thing. You never quit repenting. It's
not a one-time thing. And we could have dwelled on
repentance for a long time. It's not a one-time thing. It's a state of being for the
rest of your day's honor. It's a state of repentance. God
bless our Lord that neither have not repented of. And we never
ceased praying. Didn't He say, pray without ceasing?
And He never quit calling. Never quit calling. We need Him. I need Thee every
hour. Temptations lose their power
when Thou art not. I need Thee. Oh, I need Thee. He never quit calling. Say unto my soul. And there's
going to come a time maybe when you're lying on a hospital bed. And you're down in the dumps,
or some heavy trial comes your way, and you're really going
to say, say unto my soul, Lord, I am thy servant. And you're
going to need him to really say something to you. So we never quit calling. So
that's how you give diligence to make your calling an election
show. All right? If you find out you're
calling, find out whether or not you're elected. Paul said in another place to
the Thessalonians, he said, I know you're election to the love of
the Lord because God has from the beginning, or I know you're
one of the elect because our gospel can't do it. Our gospel
is not a word on the plane. All right, now, Peter says this
in verse 10. If you do these things, you shall
never fall. Well, I'm interested in this.
Aren't you? I don't want to fall away. I don't want to fall away. I really don't believe he's talking
about falling away finally. Because I believe that all that
the Father gives Christ shall come to him, and he that cometh
to him he'll no wise cast out. And I believe that he gives unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish. He that shall any
man plucked him out of his hand. He said that. I believe we're kept by his power. But nevertheless, we have a responsibility
to keep calling, keep seeking, especially those who do not have
assurance of their salvation. Well, but I believe he's talking
about falling, as in stumbling and falling. Boy, we're prone
to those, aren't we? There's a lot of pitfalls. There's
a lot of nets. There's a lot of nets spread
at the feet of God's people. A lot of things we're apt to
fall into, a lot of sins. And you remember how this whole
thing started? Do you remember how He started?
It starts with faith. We take our eyes off Christ at
times, don't we? And we fall into time. We shut our ears. We quiet our
consciences. The Word of God speaks to us
just as really through our consciences? Doesn't it? It sure does. It
comes to mind. It's written on the heart of
the believer, and it comes up, and there are times when we He stopped them. Any guilty? Well, he says, you do these things,
you'll never fall. Add to your faith, virtue, and
so forth. Give diligence, diligence. All
right, verse 11. He says, so an entrance shall
be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. An abundant entrance. Oh my. A dear lady down in Crossfield,
Tennessee just lost her husband. One of the lovely members of
the church there. And I gave this verse to her, spoke
with her about it. about this abundant entrance
into the kingdom that her husband enjoyed. And he was diligent. He was a
faithful, called, chosen, and faithful. All who are called,
chosen, and faithful. They're not going to be faithful
unless they're called and chosen. But all who are called, chosen,
and faithful and die in the faith, like Hebrews 11 talks about,
these die in the faith. are going to be part of a great
abundant entrance into the eternal, he says, everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Savior. It's going to be a great processional
called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The king's sons and
daughters are going to be clothed in glorious apparel and needlework,
Psalm 45 says. brought into the king's palace,
a place that was prepared for them by the king himself. They're going to have a setting,
a place setting at the king's table, where they will be seated
and be served by a greater than Solomon, with a table more lavish
than Solomon. They will be served by the King
of kings himself, and they will live with him, be joint heirs
with him, having all that they could ever want or even ask for
all they can. No more tears, no more sorrow,
no more pain, only joy without ceasing. Abundant entrance. We're not going to get into heaven
by the skin of our teeth. There's going to be an absolute,
positive, glorious, abundant entrance into the kingdom based
upon pure apostasy and a covenant and bloodshed. Abundant entrance
into abundant life. That's what our Lord called it.
Life more abundant. True life. True life. That's what's called chosen faithful,
so give diligence, he says, to make your calling and election
sure. All right, now this giving diligence. Have you ever heard of hardshellism?
Hardshellism, hyper-Calvinism? There's some people who believe
that, well, if you're one of the elect, it doesn't matter. Nothing matters, as long as you're
one of the elect. You don't have to hear the gospel.
You don't have to repent. You don't have to call. You don't
have to speak. You don't have to do anything.
Well, that's no different than the Muslims believe. Well, that's
worse. They call. They get killed. This giving divinity studs the
way of hard-shelled fatalism. He tells us to ask and we'll
receive. Seek and we'll find. Knock and it'll be open. Give
divinity. He says repent. We don't repent,
we give you paradise. He says believe. Though it's
a gift of God, we're going to have to believe it. And, but
it says, can you turn one more? This will, this will sum it up.
Hebrews 4, Hebrews chapter 4, just a few pages back. Hebrews
4. This will sum it up. Hebrews
4. He said, Peter says, give him
a chance. to make your calling and election
sure. What women? No, God does the
calling, God does the election, God does the saving, because
you give them. Say that's a contradiction? No,
it's not. No, it's not. Look at this. Someone thinks that's a contradiction.
You know what verse I'm going to look at? Verse 11. Let us
labor, therefore, to enter into that dress. Labor to enter into that dress. Lest any man fall at the same
example of unbelief, or as the children of Israel, who had all
those promises, yet came short. Well, he tells us to give him
labor, but it's a simple thing. Really. Come to Christ. Just come to
Christ. I believe it. That's it. All right. Now these commandments
are not grievous. Go back to 2 Peter. They're not
grievous. Don't you want to give, don't
you want to be virtuous? You want to be manly or have
some valor, be a woman, a godly woman, don't you? What about
knowledge? Don't you want increase in knowledge?
Sure you do. Have the eyes wide open. So as
not to fall into things? Sure you do. What about temperance? Temperance. I don't want anything
that's happening in your life, do you? Except Christ. These
are not great, this commandment? What about patience? Want some
of that? Oh my God, don't you want to
live? Wouldn't you like to live above
this sinful world? And nothing, you remember this,
let me bring this up. I know we've already dealt with
that. But it's always something I leave
out, I wish I said. You remember, I think it was
my pastor gave this illustration. We talk about Godliness. And we talked about that being
not enticed by the world, not bothered by the world, Christ,
the God man. He didn't seek the praise of
the world. The approval of the world, the
things of the world. He wasn't tempted by anything
in the world or bothered by anyone in the world. That's God. Wouldn't he like
to have more of that, huh? Paul said, from henceforth, let
no man bother man. Well, my pastor gave this illustration.
When Paul said, I'm crucified in the world, in the world today. He said, that means being dead
to the world, and you're dead to the world, the world is dead
to you. He said, go down to a graveyard. Go down to a graveyard and dig
up somebody. And stand there over them. and curse them for everything
he does. Curse them. You dirty, dog-yellow,
bellied, no-good, low-down, worthless, shitless, no-good snake. You
violate him. Just curse him. What's he gonna
do? Nothing. He's not gonna bother him. He's dead.
Well, praise him. Now praise him. Aren't you wonderful?
You're just so wonderful. Oh, everybody loves you. You're
so great. Oh, you look so good. What's
he gonna do? That doesn't faze him either.
Doesn't buzz him up. He's dead. That's what it means.
He's buzzed. Okay. All right, so those commandments
aren't grievous. I want these things. Good point. Good point. So he says to us, get them. All right, verse 12. Peter says,
Wherefore I will not be negligent, but ye are always in remembrance
of these things, though ye know them. There's not a person in
here that doesn't, at least in their
head, know these things. All right? How many times have
we all heard these same things over and over and over? You know
these things don't you? But have you got them taken care
of? Anybody? I haven't. I haven't. And so he says, I'm
going to always remind you of these things. We would not be,
it would not be bad if we would take this up again Sunday morning.
And if I don't hurry, we might have to. All right, he said,
I'm what you always remember of these things, though you know
them, and you're established in the present truth. You're
established in the gospel. Yes, you are. You know the gospel. Yes, you do. You've heard it.
And the gospel you know, the gospel you've heard, the gospel
you believe, the gospel you know, is faith, Ephesians 2.8. By grace do you say, through
faith. And that thought of yourself
is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast, for his work is workmanship. created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before was named for them that love
him." Right? For them that love him. That's
what it's all about. That's what salvation's all about.
Praise of his glory and to predestinate or conform us to him as your
son. The glory of God. You know that. That's the truth. And you're
established in it. Yes, you are. But we're going
to keep telling it. All right, Peter says this, look
at this, verse 13, I think it's me you're fitting as long as
I'm in this body to stir you up by putting you in her mirror.
Peter knows us because Peter is a man of like patience. He'd
stir it up, don't he? No, he'd stir it up, especially
on Wednesday night. Need to stir it up. We've been
out in Vanity Fair for a couple of days, three days. Need to
stir it up. Need to be brought back to this
present reality. Right? Need to feed one. Need to stir it up. Need a little
meat, too long to go and shrink that. All right? He says, knowing shortly, verse
14, Knowing that shortly I must put off this, my tabernacle,
even as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. He just casually
mentions that he's going to be crucified. That's what we're talking about. He just casually, Jimmy, he just
said, knowing that shortly I'm going to put off this body. I
want you, just like tomorrow I'm going to the store. You didn't know that? He's going
to the cross to be brutally murdered for preaching and believing the
gospel. These are truly the last words
of this dying prophet. And he talks about leaving his
body by putting on the suit clothes. How? Well, the Lord must have
enabled him to have it in his faith. What about patience? Sam, do you know you're going
to die real soon? How is he happy? He's alright. I bet he went to sleep that night. Oh my, I need this. I'm poor
and need this. Sure am. Well, he said, I'm going
to put off just my tabernacle. As if it's just putting off a
suit of clothes, because that's what it is. That's exactly what
it is. The Lord did it, didn't he? Why
did the Lord fold that, his garments and that head, that can be wrapped
around his head when he rose from the grave? Why did he take
time to do that? To show us it's just like taking
off clothes? Now, men, you don't know anything about it. Some
may, hopefully. Folding gloves, hang them up,
take your time, don't worry, it's all on schedule. Don't wear
them again, ladies. That's what this is. It's what
the chef is going to be like. I'm going to taste it. And it's
going to be just as... Abundant interest, huh? Birthday, it's going to be your
birthday, and there's not going to be a surprise. All right,
he says here, after I die, verse 15, moreover, I will endeavor
that you may be able after my decease to have these things
always in remembrance. Well, how's he going to do that? What's he going to do that we'll
remember after he's gone? Well, Paul told young Timothy,
he said, these things commit now unto faithful men who will
teach them to others. And that's what Peter did. Sure
did. You see, Moses had Joshua living. Moses had a gospel that he taught. Elijah had a lecture. Paul had an atonement. And Roth, Barnard, how many did
he have? young fellows that went out,
and on and on it goes. So that's how God wrote a book,
or led Peter to write a book, which he's going to talk about
tomorrow. All right? Now, again, these are Peter's
last words. He's about to be crucified. He's about to It seems so shallow talking about
it. He's about to be taken and has his body nailed to a tree. He's stripped naked, nailed to
a tree, and hung up before a shocking world, a jeering world. And these are his last words,
all right? Now tell us, Peter. It's always
worth dying for. Huh? Come on, Peter. And you
know, Peter was about in his, I don't know how old he was here,
50, maybe a little older. And he'd spent a great part of
his life wandering around. Well, on purpose, but preaching. declaring the same, talking about,
talking to anyone that would hear him, about this man named
Jesus, called the Christ, who became this God in human flesh,
who came to this world, and did what he did for his people. He
spent the greatest part of his life, and now he's about to be
crucified for that. Now tell us, Peter. When you're dying for it, is it true? Is all this true? Is it worth living for, spending
most of your life searching, studying, seeking, preaching,
hearing, reading? Is it giving up prosperity and
fame and fortune and all? Is it worth giving up all your
life? Is it really worth that? Is it true? Is it really true,
Peter? Is it worth giving your life
for? I mean, are you actually going
to be killed for this? Is it true, Peter? Tell us, because
you're dying words now. Peter says this, verse 16. Oh,
we have not followed the concept of God's faith. This is no place for it. What is the proverb that says
we spend our lives as a tale that's been told? Huh? Our lives are going to be forgotten
like a tale that's been told. The Proverbs tells that over
and over again. We're going to be long forgotten. How many in
here know... See, I can't even think of his
name. My own relative. John Carey Mayhem. Anybody? He just lived about twenty-thirty
years ago. A lot of people know it now. Forgotten. Forgotten. That's
the way it's been with everybody. That's the way it will be with
everybody. But Christ and those that follow Him and are remembered
by Him will be remembered by Him. when we come into his kingdom. Peter says, this is no cunning,
look at it, verse 16. And this is, it's no cunning
to buy his table. You remember when the soldiers
that were watching at Christ's tomb, they were paid by the Roman
government under penalty of death if they didn't watch. to watch that tune, because they
heard, they heard, yes they did, everybody heard, that him saying
in three days, he's going to rise. And so they put a watch on it.
He did. He rose and rolled the stone
back. And some of them, they saw all these things. And they
went back and reported it to the Roman government, to the
chief priests, the Jewish leaders and all, reported it to all that's
said in Hebrew and all. They reported it, saying this
is how depraved these men were. And the world laughed. And in
spite of all these witnesses, they said, they paid them large
sums of money and said, we'll speak to Caesar and Pilate and
all of them so that you won't get in trouble and get your head
cut off. But say this, they paid great
sums of money, bribed them to say that his disciples came and
stole his body away. And to this day that's reported.
That's what the church says. Peter said, no, no, no, no, this
is not, this is no country where the Bible is faithful here. This
is no fairytale here. He said, we were there. Peter
said, we were there. Look at it. He said, we were
there in that holy mountain. When there came, when he received
from God, Well, verse 16, we've made known
to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were
eyewitnesses of His magic. We saw Him with our eyes. You
remember John saying that? John said, we've seen, we've
heard, and we've handled it. That. Which was from the beginning.
And verse 17, Peter says, He received from God the Father
honor and glory. There came a voice to him from
excellent glory out of heaven, saying, This is my beloved son,
if I'm well, please. And this voice that came from
heaven, we heard it. We went with it. We heard. You know, old fishermen are known
for their blunt honesty, except when it comes to talking about
the fish. But they usually tell it like it is. They don't tell
a man his fate. They're generally pretty brave. Men that have braved
the elements, you know, gone out and faced death, stood in
the face of death, you know, what have they got to lose? You know, they're usually willing
to stand up and fight for what they And Peter, and James, and
John, and Philip, and Andrew, and all these fishermen said,
hey, we were there. We heard this fact. And they
weren't paid large sums of money to say this. They were killed
for saying it. Peter. John Lundin. You know John Lundin wrote Pilgrim's
Proverbs and others. He went to prison. He was put
in prison for preaching the gospel. He had several children that
were dependent, totally dependent on him. I mean, they didn't have
welfare. They didn't have, you know, assistance after he
lost his job. And they generally put Children in poor houses,
you know, to pay for debts owed, and his father couldn't. Well,
they told Bunyan, if you just quit preaching, you can be punished. Bunyan said, no. And they found
him on the street the next day preaching. They put him in prison. See, he stayed in prison 12 years.
And they said to him, and every time, they said, we'll let you
go any day if you just promise to preach. That's what Peter said. He said, we were eyewitnesses. We were there. We heard the voice. How about you? I would like to
think that if our lives were on the line, And we wouldn't
renounce, we wouldn't recant. And we'd say with Martin Luther,
I hear us saying, I can't. No, I've heard it all. I really
have. How do you know? How do you know? You know, a lot of people say
that, and I'll quit in just a minute. I think I'm going to make it.
A lot of people claim to have heard the voice of the Lord.
The Lord told me last night. Right? A lot of people say that.
A lot of people claimed to have seen him before salvation. And Oral Roberts said he saw
him nine hundred feet down. How do you know? How do you know? Who's seen him
who's really hurt? How? Isaiah 8.20. Got it wrong, Sunday. Isaiah 8.20 says, "...to the
law and to the testimony." Well, that's Old Testament and New
Testament, right? That's the what? The Word of
God. "...to the law and to the testimony,
if they speak not according to this word." If their testimony, if what they
say about Jesus doesn't fit the Jesus of this book, they've not
seen Jesus. If what they say Jesus said to
them, He didn't say to everybody in this book, they didn't hear
it coming. He doesn't say anything more.
Christ said, didn't He say in the Revelation, if any man add
anything to these words, I'll add to pleasure. Did He? Take
away from it. Add anything to? New Revelation? Anybody who says that belongs
to the testimony. There's nobody in there. They
haven't heard him, they haven't seen him. Any man who comes in his
own name, any man who seeks his own glory, any person who talks
about, I believe, my, my, my, my, they've never heard him,
never seen him. People won't hear John or any of them that
saw him or heard him say that, but it's under him, under him. Who are you, John? All who seek after signs, miracles,
and wonders haven't heard it, haven't seen it. In Christ's day, an evil and
adulterous generation seeketh after signs. Isn't that right?
Anybody who seeks after signs, miracles, and wonders. But now
wait a minute. If somebody says, the Lord has said to me from
His Word, The Lord spoke to me from his
word. He said, I am thy servant. The
Lord said unto me, Come unto me, and you'll have rest. The
Lord said unto me, I have chosen thee, that ye might know me. Him, I said, I see him. I see
his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. I see him. I see his excellency, his power.
I see him. Now that person, this is how
to reveal something. All right, and that's what Peter
says now, verse 19. We have a more sure word of prophecy. Peter says, even though we were
up on the mountain, wouldn't you like to do that? Be honest,
wouldn't you? The Lord knows you're fine. I have my friends. He knows that. Remember, he was leaving, and
he said to his disciples in compassion, let not your heart be troubled. I've got to go. It's exceedingly
urgent that I go. If I don't go, the company won't come. And they were enjoying
his company and didn't want to leave him. They were exceedingly
sorrowful. They said, I'll come. I'm going
to come again this evening with my staff, and we're going to
be actually being together for heaven. And it won't be long. It won't be long. But you've
got to write a book. You've got to write a book. Now
that's just a more sure word of prophecy. Peter said, whereunto
you do well that you take heed, as under a light shineth in a
dark place. Boy, this place we're living
in is darkening, and it's getting darker, darker, darker. It perils
time. These times we're living in are
getting more and more perilous, and more and more wicked, and
more and more vile, aren't they? Darker and darker and darker.
Keep the superstition, the ignorance, the perversion, the wickedness,
the sin, exceeding sinfulness of sin. It's getting more and
more exceedingly sinful, isn't it? The darkness of ignorance
of man. Why? Why is it so dark? Because it's the day of the man,
of the snowy bar, yes. There's no light in them, so they're
not declaring the light, bearing witness of the light. The people that walk in darkness,
the people, whose people? God's people, have seen a great
light. As a light is shining in a dark
place. The day has dawned. The day starts,
the day starts. The Son of Righteousness has
dawned on us. Hasn't it? Arisen in our heart.
Hasn't it? And then Peter says this in conclusion. He said, know this first. In
other words, he says, now keep this first in your mind. Keep this first and foremost
in your mind at all times, okay? Peter said to them, look, we
haven't made this up. We didn't all get together. Isaiah
and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, they didn't even live at the same
time of prayer. Daniel and all of them, they
didn't consult on that. You'd think they did. What it
is, they heard it from the same source, right? Peter, James,
and John, you know, most of the time they would split up. They didn't consult one another
to write this book. No covenant device, faith. And he said, and you know this
part, you keep this in mind, that no scripture, none, no scripture,
not one scripture from Genesis to Revelation is of any private
or personal interpretation. No man has ever decided one day,
I think I'll write me a book. Not only were fishermen known
for their, their, you know, their honesty and so forth, they were
also known for their illiteracy. Right? Remember when the boys,
Peter and the boys, went out preaching and the scholars and
all those fellows in the robes and the hats and all that said,
they were taken aback. Peter was standing up and preaching
with power and eloquence, not words of wisdom, not persuasive
words of man's wisdom. That'd take away the defense
of the cross. But rather, from the heart, as those having authority,
as oracles of God, and those scribes, you know. Did these men get this wisdom?
Have you never learned letters? I've never been to school. That's not a very personal interpretation. You know, I've never had a speech
class in school. Not one. You may be sitting there saying,
you should have had one. Maybe, but people, you think
you're scared to stand up in front of people? I never had
a speech class. I never took a speech class. I didn't go to college and go
take a speech class. I remember the first time my
father asked me to stand up. Well, you've experienced a little
bit of that, haven't you? It's not a very personal or private
call. There's no personal call, no
personal decision. If you don't equip yourself,
at least better than me. I didn't write this book. Peter
said, Sam Peter standing back saying, hey, I didn't write this
book. I can't write like that. I can't
write like that. I'm sure David, after he wrote
a song, said, did I write that? Did I write that? No. No. Prophecy verse 21. You keep that in mind now. Don't
let any man deceive you. Don't try to take away your hope.
The prophecy came not in old time, but by the will of man,
and the holy men of God spoke faith as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Amen. And the more we study,
you see, we're convinced of it. Aren't you convinced? Are you
persuaded that this is God's Word? Every time you study, you're
more persuaded of that, you're more convinced of that, aren't
you? This is how we become more and more grounded and settled
in the Word, and more and more persuaded that this is not man's
Word. This is God's Word. It's too
marvelous. It's too glorious. It's too perfect. It's too perfect. Keep that in mind, Peter said,
this is not a cunningly devised fable. But this is a sure word
sent by God Himself to His people who have been called by His grace,
by His government, who will be administered unto them a abundant
interest in the glorious everlasting Kingdom of His Son. Have you
heard about it? All right, stand with me. Our Father, we thank You so much
for Your Word. We do believe You've called us,
and we thank You. Left to ourselves, we be even
as others, children of wrath, even as others, having pleasure
in unrighteousness, as we did before. God, rich in mercy, with
great love, will have And when we were dead and trespassed in
sin, He acquitted us. Oh, it's by grace we're saved,
and we thank Him. Thank you for this gospel. Let
us not grow tired of it. Let us not to miss this promise and this
labor to enter into this rest. Let's give diligence. I'm going
to take your power to give us diligence to make our calling
and election sure. So we call upon you. Lord, grant
this glorious calling. Call out your sheep. Call out
more of your sheep from our midst. To the praise of the glory of
your grace, in Christ Jesus we have met. Amen.