If you will turn back with me
now to 2 Peter chapter 1. My message this morning is titled,
A Diligent Matter. A Diligent Matter. We're told
in verse 10 of our text, to give diligence. Diligence. To make your calling and election
sure. Now you can believe in election
and not be among God's elect. That's obvious from what he tells
us here. The Jews believed that they were
the elect of God. And I read to you in Matthew
chapter 8 where he said the children of the kingdom shall be cast
out into outer darkness. They believed in election, but
they weren't among God's elect. believe in elections who are
not elect of God. It's just so. And so Peter here
tells us to give diligence to this matter. Give diligence to
this, to make your calling and your election sure. Not to make
elections sure, to make your election sure. You see the difference? That
is, to examine your faith, because faith is how God's election is
made known. In I Peter chapter 1 and verse
2, he tells us that we are elect, now listen to this, according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood
of Jesus Christ. That is, that atonement of Christ
was sprinkled upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God. and
purged us, purged that conscience, purged that guilty conscience,
and made that conscience to understand how his sins, or her sins, were
taken away in Christ. And then again, in 2 Thessalonians
2, in verse 13, having told us of the dangers of the Antichrist
and how in those end times that the whole world will just be
swallowed up with his lies and his lying wonders. And they'll
all follow after the beast. They'll all follow after that
man of sin. He's talking about that spirit
of Antichrist. Religious Antichrist. That's
what it is. And the world follows after it.
They're all drawn to it. But he said, I thank God for
you, brethren. Beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you unto salvation. But that's not all He says. Through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Examine
your faith because faith is how God's election is made known. This is how God's eternal election
is known. And there's two great doctrines.
that I'm going to have to deal with here before I get into this.
There are two great doctrines that must be established before
any sinner can ever hope to find any comfort or assurance before
the God of glory. The first is the doctrine of
original sin. Original sin. He's going to have
to be pressed on by the Spirit of God,
convinced, convicted, whatever word you want to use, and revealed
to him this doctrine of original sin. He's going to have to take
his place before God and see himself as he actually is, a
sinner. He's a sinner. But he's not a
sinner like he thinks he's a sinner. He's a sinner as God declares
he's a sinner. And the second is this doctrine
of eternal election. Eternal election. God's sovereign
election of grace. I preach what I preach and I
preach the way I preach because I know and believe in the total
depravity of man and the sovereign immutable grace of God. That's why I preach that way.
Man's not in a vacuum. He's not in a dispensation to
determine if he's worth saving. He's not on trial, and he's not
free, as some proclaim, that men are free to choose their
own destinies. The trial's over. There was a big fuss that went
on about 25 or 30 years ago over the age of accountability. And
I love what Brother Mahan said. He said the age of accountability
was way back yonder now. God held him accountable. And
in him, this whole race fell. This whole race fell. There's
no need to try every man. Why should we try every man?
God put a perfect man here. We're filled with sin. This man
had no sin. We're filled with ignorance.
He had no ignorance. This was a man created in the
image of God. And he failed. He sinned. He
sins. So there's no point in trying
all his sons. His sons now are under sin. What's
the point to that? So what the Scripture teaches
is that in Adam, all die. All die. He's not in a vacuum. He's not in some kind of a dispensation. I don't understand dispensationalism
at all, but he's not in this so-called dispensation to determine
if he's worth saving or not. And he's not on trial, and he's
not free. Man's dead. He's dead. He's not dead physically, though
he is dying. All you have to do to know that
is wake up and look in the mirror. Boy, I didn't know my hair was
that white. You're dying. You're dying. And he's not dead
mentally. But his mind is biased by sin. His mind is enmity against God,
hostility toward God. But man is dead spiritually.
He's dead spiritually. And I'm not talking to you this
morning about your traditional understanding. I'm not talking
about what these prime time babbling pretenders get up and teach.
And I'm not talking to you about how you feel or what seems right
or don't seem right. I'm talking to you about God's
declaration. of the condition of man. That's
what counts. Let God be true and every man
a liar. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
2. It never dawns on the natural
man that they're surrounded by false religion and blind leaders
of the blind. It never dawns on them that they
could have been taught and influenced by false religion their whole
lives. Never enters into their thinking
when they hear what you had to say. That this whole world has
had an influence on them. Not just the religion that they
were raised in, but the people they work with, and the people
in the community, and the people they buy from. By television, and all that's
on it, and the commercials, and the movies, and everything. It's
all their influence. Never dawns on them. Never enters
into their thinking. It never enters into their thinking
to look in the Word of God and see if what he is hearing and
what this man is preaching is according to the Word of God. No, he would rather rest his
soul on a gut feeling. Isn't that right? Sure it is. Listen now as God testifies of
the condition of this world out of which his elect are saved.
Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1. And you hath he quickened who
were what? What's that say? Dead. Isn't that what God said? You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sin. Well, what in the world is this
death about? Is this a judicial death? Is this something on paper? But we're not really dead. But
yet we are dead if we don't do something about it, if we don't
decide for Jesus or whatever it is that men preach. What's
this talk about? What kind of death is he talking
about? Well, he don't stop there. Listen as he describes this death.
Wherein in time past, that is before God saved you, wherein
in time past you walked according to the course of this world,
under its condemnation, Under its ignorance, in its darkness,
walking according to the vanity of your mind. Aliens. We walked according to the course
of this world. Now watch this, according to
the prince of the power of the air. That's what it means to
be dead. Under his influence, swallowing his lies, hearing
his lies and rejoicing in them. Rejoicing in them, bowing to
them, singing, waving your hands. According to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience. Verse 3. Among whom also we all
had our behavior in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others." Now that's God's testimony
concerning the condition of natural man. All God's saints understand
that. They all understand that. Job
said that man drinks iniquity like water. That's what Job said. That's the oldest book in the
Bible. And here it is from his own lips. Man drinks iniquity
like water. David said he comes forth from
the womb, speaking lies. Solomon said madness is in his
heart all the days of his life. Isaiah said he is altogether
as an unclean thing. All his righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. At his best state, David said
in Psalm 39.5, he is altogether vanity. And God said, every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart is only evil continually. That's what God said. And no, he don't know that. You
have to tell him. He don't know it. Did you know
it before God opened your eyes? Did you? You didn't know it.
God had to open your eyes to see it. He had to press that
sin upon your heart. He had to make you to understand
it and taste it and know what it is. No, he don't know that. And no, he don't feel it. And
no, he don't believe it. He don't believe it. I just don't
believe I'm as bad as you say I am. I was coming here one night. From the time he arrived outside
until the time I got up to preach, he told me what a vile, horrible
sinner he was. When he got done, he stomped
out mad, and he told some of the fellas the next day where
he worked, he said, I know I'm a sinner, but I ain't all that.
I'm not that bad. You see what I'm saying? This is the condemnation. Light
has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light
because their deeds are evil. If mankind were not totally depraved,
he would not have crucified the Lord of glory. There was nothing
in him to despise. He was pure goodness. Every deed
he did, every thought he thought, it was nothing but goodness,
pure goodness, pure righteousness, justice in every matter. just
and right in all that he did and all that he said. And men
hated him. They despised him. They plot
and planned his death. They spit in his face and they
slapped him. They mocked him. Boy, we're not
depraved. You're not? If you weren't depraved, we wouldn't
have crucified the Lord of Glory. And men still manifest that condemnation
the same way. The natural man received not
the things of the Spirit of God. Why? Why not? Why when you read them to him
from the Word of God and the plain testimony of God, why won't
he bow to it? Why won't he listen to it? Why
won't he submit to it? Why won't he receive it? Why
do you reject it and treat it as though it was foolish? Because
you're depraved in your nature, and by nature the children of
wrath, even as others. The truth is God's law is spiritual,
and we're carnal, sold under sin. That's what Paul taught
in Romans 7, 14. The truth is destruction and
misery are in His ways, Romans 3, 16. To be carnally minded
is death. And John said, we know that we
are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. That's what
the believer knows. He knows what original sin is. And like it or not, believe it
or not, by the offense of one, Paul said, judgment came upon
all men to condemnation. They're under the judgment of
God right now. Right now. If you're here today
and you don't know Christ, And you've never believed on Him.
You've never rested in Him or rejoiced in Him. I'm telling
you this, if this is the last breath you take today, you're
going to meet Him in judgment. You're going to meet Him in judgment. There's no other way out of this
thing except in Him. Except in Him. In Adam, the Scripture said,
all die. And dead he is, and dead he shall
remain, except the God of glory intervene on his behalf. And
that's where the second great doctrine of God comes into play.
Before God ever created the earth and put mankind on a conditional
footing, he chose a people to redeem for his glory. And he
chose them in Jesus Christ his Son. I don't have time to read to
you all the Scriptures this morning, but I'll give you just a few
to think about. Over in Ephesians 1, verses 3
and 4, he tells us that God the Father blessed a people with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as
He chose them in Him before the foundation of the world. That's
pretty clear, isn't it? In Romans chapter 11, in talking
about the Jews, Paul said, we've been like Sodom and Gomorrah,
except God had reserved a remnant for Himself according to the
election of grace. Pretty clear, isn't it? Election, my friend, is not a
closed door. It's an open door. It shuts no
man out who desires to come in. The problem is that apart from
election, nobody wants to come in. That's the problem. The door's there. The door's
wide open. It doesn't bar out anybody who's willing to come,
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Where
is that water? It's in him. It's right there
in that open door. Problem is, we won't come. He
said, you will not come unto me that you might have life.
He said, that natural man, he receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God. They're foolishness to us. He
won't come to it. It tells us in Romans chapter
3, there's none that seeketh after God. But everybody who
does, the door is open. You see what I'm saying? Election
is not a closed door. It's not shutting anybody out.
If it wasn't for election, nobody would go in. Nobody would go
in. It's not election that shuts you out.
of the Kingdom of God, it's your own rebellious heart and mind.
Election stops no man. Stops no man. Election says come. Huh? Sure it does. And in that
great wall that separates fallen man from his God, there is a
door, an open door, and that door is Christ. All that God
chose in Christ were made righteous in Christ, redeemed in Christ,
preserved in Christ, And God made for them the provisions
of His grace. All the provisions, all the blessings,
He made for them by His grace. Listen to this. Whom He did foreknow,
when did He foreknow? He foreknew them in that election
of grace. Whom He did foreknow, He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. And
whom He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called,
them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. All the provisions of grace.
So what shall we say to these things? Well, I know what this
world says to them. They want to accuse God of being
unjust. They want to accuse God of not
being fair. And Paul said, who art thou,
O man, that replies against God? But I tell you what the saints
say, if God be for us, who can be against us? Huh? That's what they say. Are you
willing to submit to Christ? Are you willing to take your
place as you are, as He tells you you are, as a sinner? Are
you willing to receive the things of the Spirit of God? Then come
to Christ. Come to Christ. For election
has opened the door for you. In 2 Peter 1, verse 2, He said,
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge
of God. and of Jesus our Lord, according, now listen, as His
divine power hath given, that's grace, isn't it, hath given unto
us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the
knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by
these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through love. Because of
our eternal election of God, the redeeming work of Christ
and His sovereign gift of faith, we have by His grace escaped
the doom and damnation of this world. That is what Peter is
telling us here. And while other men and women go on in their
ignorance and go on in their madness and go on in their religious
blindness and their self-righteousness, God has intervened. by His sovereign
power and authority, given us everything required to escape
it. Made us meet, Paul said, to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints and light. There's
nothing here to anger a seeking sinner, is there? There's nothing
here to anger that man who has nothing, who's hopeless and helpless.
taking his place with the rest of this world under the condemnation
of God, there's no way out. He's not going to be angry about
this. There's nothing here to anger-seeking sinners, and there's
nothing here to discourage lost sinners. The only person that's
going to be upset with this is a self-righteous religionist.
That's right. He's going to be upset. He's
going to be angry. Now, this is where this passage
gets a little tricky. 2 Peter 1, verse 5. And beside this, giving all diligence,
add to your faith. Now, this is where everything
goes sour if you are not careful. We are told in Colossians 2,
verse 6, As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk ye in him. rooted, built up in Him, established
in the faith, as you've been taught, abounding therein with
thanksgiving. But there in Peter, he seems
to suggest that there's some things to be added. You see that? Now, you can't add anything to
Christ, Paul. We know that. Anybody who's studied
the Scriptures knows that. In Him, we're complete. In Him
is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We're complete in Him. So what's Peter talking about
in this passage? Well, I believe what he's talking
about is men and women who have a form of godliness. They have
a profession of faith, but they have no inward work of grace.
And a man's election is through, now listen to me, sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. So when he talks about
adding to your faith, he's simply saying make sure your faith is
inclusive of these things. Be sure that your concept of
faith is not just an empty concept, not just a mental concept, but
a concept that understands that this faith arises from a new
nature, from a new creation, a man who's born of God, who's
been given by divine power all things that he needs. to make
him meet all things. That in these promises, he not
only has hope of eternal life, but in these promises, he's made
a partaker of the divine nature. Be sure your faith is accompanied
with virtue. Be sure your concept of faith,
your idea of faith, you say, well, I have faith. James said
a lot of people say that. I have faith. A lot of people have professions
of faith. He said, show me your faith and I'll show you mine.
There's a difference. Because faith without works is
alone. Isn't that what James teaches?
It's alone. It's by itself. There's nothing
there. There's no evidence of God's power. There's no evidence
of God's presence. There's no evidence of God, period.
It's alone. It's dead. So be sure your faith
is accompanied with some things. And first of all, virtue. Virtue. Everything Peter is about to
say from verse 5 through verse 9 has to do with making your
calling and election sure. It has to do with an examination
of your faith, comparing it with the faith of God's elect. Election
is made known by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but this faith
arises from a new nature. Faith is the gift of God. It's
not of works, lest any man should boast. For, we never hear that
next verse, do we? For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Peter writes by the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit and tells us that according to God's divine
power, He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness,
and this by faith, or through the knowledge of Him that hath
called us to glory and virtue." Now let's look at some of these
things and see what he says needs to accompany our faith, this
saving faith of God. And the first thing he mentions
here is virtue. Anybody here know what that means?
Virtue. First time I heard it, I was
shocked. I didn't think. Some of the translators interject
this term, nobility. That's pretty close. That's pretty
close to what virtue means. It actually means manliness. Manliness. We're sons of God
and heirs of promise. We bear His name and we're beneficiaries
of His blessing. So now He says, walk that way.
Walk that way. Have you got a faith that's a
virtuous faith? A virtuous faith? Walk in love
and thankfulness. Walk as believers walk. Walk
as those alive from the dead. And then he says this, add to
your virtue knowledge. Let this accompany your faith
too. Knowledge. What's faith without knowledge
but just a baseless emotional profession? Faith without knowledge. What is that? Well, I believe.
Well, what do you believe? Well, I believe what our church
believes. Well, what do they believe? Oh, they believe the
same thing. So you really don't know what
you believe. Is that it? Well, that's not the faith of
God's elect. God's elect knows. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I know him. Know Him. Know Him. Know who I have believed. And I am persuaded that He's
able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that
day. So be sure your faith is accompanied with knowledge, and
then to knowledge temperance. Believers are temperate in their
lives. They use this world, but they don't abuse it. Temperance
speaks to me of a balance, a balance. They have jobs and careers and
so on, but they don't live for them. They don't live for them.
They're tempered in their lifestyles. And other translations use this
term. I like it too, self-control. A believer is a man of self-control. Not that it generates from that
old man, but it generates from that new man within him. You
see, for a man to be saved, that strong man who had that house,
who ruled that house, who owned that house, has to be taken down. The only way that he can be taken
down, our Lord said, is for one stronger than him to enter the
house and take him down. And then he'll spoil his good.
Now, if that stronger than he rules the house, you'll have
self-control. You see what I'm saying? I'm
telling you, that's a good term there, self-control, self-control. The believer is a man who now
has power to control things. There's things in his life that
can be controlled. If he couldn't, God wouldn't
tell him to do it, would he? Flee these things. Why can't
you? Yes, you can. If the Holy Spirit of God abides
in your heart, you can. Come you out from amongst them.
Come out of her, talking about that old religion. Get out of
her. Why can't you? Well, you can
if God abides in you. And that's what he's talking
about here. This is a serious matter. We're talking about calling
an election. and the faith by which it's made
known. And this faith arises from a
new nature. And it has virtue and it has
knowledge. And now, he said, it has temperance.
Temperance. It has power to resist. He still has moments of doubt
and unbelief, but the tenor of his life is temperate. Temperate. John said, he that is begotten
of God, listen to this, keepeth himself. Isn't that something? He keepeth
himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. Paul said,
but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest
that by any means, when I preach to others, I myself should be
found a castaway. Be sure your faith is accompanied
with temperance, and then patience. Patience arises from a heart
delivered time and again out of trouble. time and again, out
of trouble, out of sins and trials and troubles. Tribulation, he
tells us in Romans 5, verse 3, worketh patience. Worketh patience. Because God demonstrates His
power and wisdom in overcoming whatever obstacle that interferes. And then to patience, he said,
godliness. What is godliness? So that's
another term most people don't understand. Turn with me to Ephesians
chapter 4. Godliness is the new man. That's
the new man. That's the new nature. And while
it may have reference to what we do, it has primarily to do
with what we are. What makes you so sure that's
what that means? Because he told Timothy, he said,
great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifested in the flesh. And this new birth, we become
partakers of the divine nature. We are like our Lord in that
new nature, in that new man. We're like Him. That's what godliness
is, the new man. Now listen here in Ephesians
4, verse 22. He talks up above here about
the Gentiles, these unbelieving Gentiles, these heathens walking
in the vanity of their mind and so on. Walking in darkness, blindness
in their hearts. But he tells him here in verse
22, he said that you put off concerning the former conversation
the old man, which is corrupt according to his deceitful lust,
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put
on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
through holiness. Holiness is another word for
godliness. It's not so much what you do
as it is what you are. And what you are dictates what
you do. Our Lord tells us that in Romans.
Whoever we serve, He said, that's your master. That's your master. In 2 Peter 1, verse 7, and to
godliness, brotherly kindness. It's almost unthinkable to me
that any believer should be unkind to another believer. I don't
get that. I don't get that. I mean, I know
we're capable of it. We're capable of anything. But
it just, it sounds so contrary, don't it? That's so contrary
to my experience of grace, for one believer to be unkind to
another. Listen to what the Scripture
said, he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother
is in darkness even to now. That's how contrary it is. So be sure your faith is accompanied
with brotherly kindness. Think about his welfare. Think
about his financial standing. Does he have plenty to eat? Does
He have plenty of blankets? Think about Him. Kindness. Be kind to Him. And to brotherly kindness, charity. What in the world is charity?
Somebody says, well, that's love. No, not exactly. Not exactly. Charity is manifested love. That's what charity is. God loved
us from everlasting, but He manifested His love on the cross. You see
the difference? Well, I love my brother. Manifest
it. Manifest it. Be charitable. Be
sure this faith that you're calling the faith of God's elect, be
sure this faith is accompanied with charity. Charity. Don't just think on him. Go see
him. Don't just say, well, I hope
things get better for you. Help him so they will get better.
You see the difference? Charity. Husbands, love your
wives as Christ loved the church. Now listen, and gave Himself
for it. That's charity. Now let me read
this and I'll quit. 2 Peter 1 beginning with verse
8. For if these things be in you,
what things? Virtues. Knowledge, patience,
brotherly kindness, charity. If these things be in you and
abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful,
now watch this, in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. These
things have a lot to do with knowing Him. This is how this
thing of grace becomes experiential in us. This is how this grace
is known. But he that lacketh these things,
verse 9, is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten
that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore, the rather,
brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you'll
never fall. Never fall. For so an entrance
shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Do you see how
that passage reads? Isn't that beautiful? I'm telling
you that's as clear as a crystal to me. He tells you right here,
examine your faith. Oh, I tell you how far short
when I look at these things in my own life. But I'm not telling
you that these things must be in you to a perfection. I'm just
saying they have to be in you. They have to be in you. They
have to accompany this faith or it's not the faith of God.
The faith of God arises from a new creation. We're new creatures
in Christ Jesus. And by divine power, He's given
us everything we need. Everything that pertains to life
and godliness. Isn't that what He said? Given
to us. So be sure they're there, or
else it's not given to you of God. Can you see what he's saying
here? Examine yourself. Examine yourself. Give diligence to this thing,
and look at these things, and compare your faith to the faith
of God's religion, and see if it's the same.