that I did you Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Mattawar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyvert. I want to read a verse of scripture
from 2 Peter 1, verse 10. Peter says, Wherefore, the rather
brethren, give diligence to make your calling and your election
sure. For if you do these things, you
shall never fall. I have entitled this message,
Make Your Calling and Your Election Sure. This verse of scripture
tells us that these things can be made sure. You can know that
God himself has called you. And you can know that God has
elected or chosen you unto salvation. And this is something that we
are to give diligence toward. He says, wherefore the rather
brethren give diligence, give earnest care, give every effort
to make your calling and your election sure. What a valuable
thing it is to know that God has called you. What a valuable
thing it is to know that God has elected you or chosen you. Such confidence to know that
God has called me, to know that God has chosen me, to have that
kind of confidence would enable me to some measure rise above
any difficult circumstances or the fear of man. Why would I
fear men? Why would I fear circumstances
if God has called me, and if God has chosen me. Now, while these two things,
calling and election, are different, they are always together. Wherever you have God electing
someone and choosing them to be saved, you have him calling
them. And whenever he calls, he calls
those whom he has elected or chosen. Now, for me to be able
to make my calling and election sure, I'm going to have to have
some understanding of what the Bible means by calling and what
the Bible means by election. So, first of all, what does the
Bible mean by election? Peter says, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure. That word is in the Bible
numerous times. That doctrine is in the Bible.
But what does it mean? I have to understand what election
is before I can make my calling and election sure. What is election? Well, let me give you some scriptural
illustrations before we look at the scriptural definition.
Do you believe in angels? Well, the Bible tells us there
are angels. And the Bible also tells us there
are demons. Now, the angels are called in
1 Timothy 5, verse 21, the elect angels. The reason they have
not fallen with the other, the demons are fallen angels. There
was a time when Satan and all these demons fell. We don't know
when it was, but it's taught in the scripture. The fall of
Satan, the fall of Lucifer. And the angels that didn't fall
were called elect angels. The reason they didn't fall is
because God chose them not to fall. God made a difference,
and thus they did not fall. They're the elect angels, the
ones God chose. And here is another obvious example. If you read the Old Testament,
it is obvious that God chose Israel, the nation of Israel,
over all the other nations of the world. He elected Israel,
and He did not elect the Jebusites and the Hittites and the Canaanites
and the Hivites and so on, all those different nations. They
were passed by in judgment, but God chose Israel to be saved. Election is God's choice. And then we have taught very
clearly in the Scripture the election of individuals in Christ
to be saved before time began. In Ephesians 1, verse 4, we read,
According as He, God, hath chosen us, the elect, in Him, in the
Lord Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world. Election is God's choice of His
people before time began. Now, this choice, first of all,
is in Christ. I don't understand this, I believe
it, I can't understand it, no one can understand this, but
somehow the elect have always been in the Lord Jesus Christ. They've always been united to
Him. And the reason God chooses the elect is because they're
in His first elect, the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember in Isaiah
chapter 42, where God the Father refers to God the Son, behold
mine elect. He calls his son, my elect, my
chosen, and all of God's people are chosen in him. Now, this
choice of God's people and eternal election is absolute. By that,
I mean there are no works you can do that would mar your election.
There's nothing you can do to gain your election. You're chosen
in Christ and it's absolute. It doesn't have anything to do
with works. There's nothing you can do to lose your election
if you're elect. There's nothing you can do to
make yourself elect, not that you'd even want to. If you're
not elect, you won't even care about really knowing the living
God. But listen to this scripture,
Romans 9, verse 11. This choice was absolute. Talking
about Jacob and Esau, for the children, being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God, according to election, might stand. Not of works, but of him
that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it's written, Jacob have I
loved, and Esau have I hated. You see, this choice that God
made of Jacob didn't have anything to do with their works, because
when the choice was made, they didn't have any works. They were
non-existent. This choice was made before the time began. This
choice is eternal. God said to Jeremiah, Before
I form thee in the belly, I knew thee." And then in Jeremiah 31.3,
God says to all his people, behold, I have loved you with an everlasting
love. This choice is eternal and this
choice is personal. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians
2.13, but we're bound to give thanks always for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord. We're bound to thank God always
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. This choice of God is absolute,
it's eternal, and it's personal. God chose who would be saved
before time began. Now, election speaks of a God
who is God indeed, who controls everything. Now, if somebody
says, I don't believe in election, then you don't believe in the
God of the Bible, because the God of the Bible is the God of
election, the God who has complete control over everything, including
who he saves. 2 Timothy 1.9 says, He saved
us, and He called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which were
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Election, God's
choice of His people, explains to us in some measure what Christ
was doing on the cross. When he was dying on the cross,
he wasn't simply making salvation available. It's up to you what
you do with what he did as to whether or not you'll be saved.
No, he was actually dying for the elect and making their salvation
sure. And it's a valuable thing. It demonstrates to us how much
of salvation is by grace. It's all of grace. And Peter
tells us, Make your election sure. This is something you can
know. You can know whether or not your name is actually recorded
in the Lamb's Book of Life. Make your election sure. But notice, we cannot make our
election sure until we first make our calling sure. Notice the order. He says, make
your calling and your election sure. If you make your calling
sure, If you can be sure that God has called you, you can also
make your election sure. Now, in our experience, calling
comes first. I don't first find out I'm elect.
In my experience, calling comes first. The scripture says, moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And this calling
is a call of irresistible, invincible grace. Those he elects, he calls. Now, I'm going to quote another
scripture that I quoted previously, just a few minutes before this,
but listen again. Romans 9, 11. For the children,
being not yet born, talking about Jacob and Esau, neither having
done good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election,
might stand not of works, but of him that God did not call Esau, but He
called Jacob. And this call of God is a most
gracious call. The Lord Jesus said, I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Oh, thank God. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous. If you're righteous in your own
eyes, you cut your own throat as far as salvation goes. He
said, I didn't come to save righteous people. He didn't come for good
people. He came to save sinners. He came to call sinners to repentance. What is repentance? It's a change
of mind. Here's an example. There was
a time when I didn't believe in election. I do now because
God's changed my mind. There was a time when I didn't
really believe I was completely evil, but I do now because God
has changed my mind. That's what repentance is. I
didn't used to understand that salvation is all of grace. I
do now because God has changed my mind. This call of God is
not to the righteous, but to sinners. It's a gracious call.
Sinners to repentance. And this call is an effectual
call. Lazarus, come forth. and either was dead, came forth. When God calls somebody, they
respond. And if I don't respond, it simply
means God never called me. And when you, when God calls
you, there's something you hear. Paul put it this way in Ephesians
chapter one, he called you by our gospel. You hear the gospel,
you hear the true gospel of God's grace. And if you don't hear
the true gospel, God's never called you. Now, how can I make
my calling sure? He said, give diligence, give
every effort to make your calling and election sure. And if I can
make my calling sure, I can make my election sure. Now, how can
I make my personal calling sure? Now, I see three evidences of
the call of God in the Scriptures. Three evidences. Now, the first
one is found in First Corinthians Chapter 1, Paul was talking about
the message he preached. And he said in 1 Corinthians
1, verse 23, we preach Christ crucified. That's our message. Now, unto the Jews, a stumbling
block. They stumble over this message.
Unto the Greeks, this message is foolishness. They see no wisdom
in it. But in verse 24, Paul says, but
unto them which are called, not everybody is called, but unto
them which are called Christ, the power of God, and Christ,
the wisdom of God. Those who are called see Christ
as the very power of God and Christ as the very wisdom of
God. Now, when we talk about the power
of God, We're talking about, first of all, His creative power.
He has the power to make something from nothing. It was Christ who
spake this world into existence, and He can make me to be what
I was not through His mighty power. We see the power of God
in Providence, how He controls every event. Christ controls
every event, but most especially we see the power of God in salvation. When God became flesh, what mighty
power. When God in flesh kept the law
perfectly and never sinned, what mighty power. What mighty power
was exerted in Christ dying on the cross, the God-man dying.
What mighty power was exerted in putting away the sins of everybody
He died for so they're non-existent. What mighty power is demonstrated
in His resurrection when He raised Himself from the dead, and even
now He sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding and
representing His people, and everybody He prays for must be
saved. What mighty power. He said, all power is given unto
Me. And every believer sees Jesus
Christ as nothing less than the power of God, omnipotence displayed. And they also see Christ as the
wisdom of God. God, in His wisdom, has made
a way to be just and yet to justify someone who is not just and make
it to the way they really are just and deserve to be justified
because they're just. It's called the gospel. Justification.
He's made a way for God to be just and yet justify the ungodly. What wisdom that God can do something
like that. So here's the first evidence
that God has called you. If God has called you, you see
Jesus Christ the Lord as the very power of God and as the
very wisdom of God. Now, here's the second evidence
that God has called you. It's also found in 1 Corinthians
1. Paul said to the church of Corinth
in verse 2, unto the church of God which is Corinth, to them
that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints with
all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ
our Lord both theirs and ours. Now here's the point. These people
who were called to be saints call upon the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Here's the second evidence that
God has called me the called call. I'm calling on him right
now. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, the name of the Lord is
not just using His proper name and knowing how to pronounce
it and so on. It's the person behind the name. I call upon
His sovereignty. Lord, save me as an act of Your
sovereign will. Will my salvation. I say, save
me by Your righteousness. Save me by Your power. Save me
by Your grace. Save me by Your holiness. All
that God is, we call on Him. Lord, save me by who You are,
by an act of Your will, by Your justice, by Your grace, on and
on. We call upon His name. Now, if
God has called you, here's what you'll do even right now. You'll
be calling upon Him. The called call. And thirdly,
the called receive. We read this scripture in Hebrews
9, verse 15. And for this cause, he is the
mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament,
they which are called, not everybody's called, but they which are called
might receive the promise of eternal inheritance, the called
receive. If God gives you something, you
receive it. And if you don't receive it,
he never gave it. Now, there's no merit in receiving.
Human religion makes the act of receiving Christ meritorious. The message that I hear by most
preachers in our day is God wants to save everybody. Christ died
for everybody. But if you're going to be saved,
it's up to you to receive what he did. He may have died for
your sins, but if you don't receive it, you'll go to hell anyway.
That makes the act of reception what saves and not the blood
of Christ. That's a message of salvation by works. There's no
merit in receiving. But understand this, when God
gives something, men receive it. He never has unreceived gifts. When he gives, we receive. Paul said, who makes you to differ
from another and what do you have that you didn't receive? We're said in the Scriptures
to receive, and that means to welcome, to embrace. When you
give me something I want, I take it. That's what it is to receive
it. You take it thankfully, joyfully, but you receive it. We're said
in the Scriptures to receive the Holy Spirit, the remission
of sins, His fullness, grace, mercy, the gift of righteousness,
the adoption of sons, the atonement, power, knowledge of the things
freely given to us of God, anointing, a kingdom that cannot be moved,
the salvation of our souls. And I repeat, if we don't receive
these things, God never gave them. Those that he calls receive
what he gives them. Now, Peter says, wherefore the
rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election
sure. Now what does he mean when he
says wherefore the rather brethren? He's saying don't be like this
man I mentioned in verse 9. Now let's read verse 9 of 2 Peter
chapter 1. It says he that lacketh these
things is blind and cannot see afar off and has forgotten that
he was purged from his old sins. Now don't be like this man. But
rather, you make your calling and election sure. Well, what
about this man that he's describing? Well, in this passage of Scripture,
Paul said, you add this to your faith. He said, beside this,
giving all diligence. I mean, Peter said this. He said
in verse five, beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith
virtue. And to your virtue, knowledge. And to your knowledge, temperance,
control from within, the gift of the Holy Spirit. To your temperance,
patience, believing God's in control. And to your patience,
godliness, true devotion to God. And to godliness, brotherly kindness,
the kindness between brethren who love one another. And to
brotherly love, charity, the fruit of God and the Holy Spirit.
For these things be in you and abound. They make you that you
shall be neither barren, nor unfruitful in the knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ." And that's something I don't want to be.
I do not want to be barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of
Christ. And Peter goes on to say, regarding
these people in verse 9, "...but he that lacketh these things
is blind, and he cannot see afar off, and he hath forgotten that
he was purged from his old sins." Now, the word lack, when he says,
he that lacketh these things, means not near at hand. It does not mean that this man
does not possess these things, but he's acting like an unbeliever.
And believers can act like unbelievers. I think of what Paul said to
the church of Corinth. He said, you're carnal. You act
like natural men, you act like unbelievers. And a believer can
act like an unbeliever, and a believer will act like an unbeliever apart
from the grace of God. But when we act like unbelievers,
we're going to lose our assurance that we're saved. That's what
he's talking about when he says, he that lacks these things is
blind, and he can't see afar off, he's nearsighted. He can't
see back to the cross where sin was put away. He can't look to
judgment where he'll stand complete in Christ. He loses his assurance
of his own salvation. Now, my assurance of my salvation,
and I do have assurance, but my assurance of my salvation,
my assurance that he's called me and that I'm one of his elect,
is not because of my conduct. It's not because of the way I
act as a believer should act. No, the only ground of assurance
is this. Who is he that can condemn? It's
God that justifies. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
that's risen again. Who's even at the right hand
of God who also makes intercession for us. Now, the assurance that
I possess is because Christ died for me. No other reason. I don't
get assurance because I'm a preacher. I don't get assurance because
of my conduct or the way I treat people or how much I pray or
how much I witness or how much I give. The assurance that I
have comes solely from what Christ my Lord did for me. Now, if you
gain assurance that you're saved because of something you do,
it's a false assurance. That being said, if I act and
conduct myself as an unbeliever would. And we don't see these,
and I can't see these graces that Peter mentions like knowledge
and temperance and patience and godliness and brotherly kindness
and charity and so on. If these things are to where
I can't see them, I'm going to question whether or not the Lord
has done anything for me. I'm going to lack assurance. Now, understand Peter doesn't
say, give diligence to make your fruit sure, does he? He says,
give diligence to make your calling and election sure. Now, in doing
this, there are two great benefits. First, he says, in making your
calling and your election sure, he says, you shall never fall. There's the first great benefit.
What a benefit that is. And here's the second benefit.
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now,
he's talking about death when we enter glory. In First Corinthians,
Chapter 3, you read about some people who will be saved so as
by fire. All their works are going to
be burned up. And they're going to be saved so as by fire, not
an abundant entrance. When they're dying, they're not
going to have any assurance. They're going to be scared to
death. And then you have these people here who are going to
be given this abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, these two people.
They're not going to have different positions in heaven. It's not
like the fellow who is saved by fire will have a lower position
than that one who gains the abundant entrance. They're not degrees
of glory and they're not different rewards in heaven. Christ is
my reward. His righteousness is my righteousness.
We're saved the same way. Saved by grace. Saved by the
righteousness of Christ. Saved by what God does for us.
But that one who makes his calling and election sure, His deathbed
is going to be in much more peace and joy than that one who built
his life around wood, hay, and stubble, and thus saw everything
burned up. Now, I want to be this fellow
that has this abundant inference into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, Peter says, you
give diligence to make your calling and your election sure. Now remember,
the called see Christ as the power and wisdom of God, the
called call, and the called receive. Well, Lord, I believe Christ
is the wisdom and the power of God, and I'm calling on your
name, and I receive what you say in your word. Well, if you
make your calling sure, you can make your election sure. Also,
you can be sure you're one of God's elect, and we're to give
diligence in this. You know, people give diligence
to make their bank account sure, and they give diligence to make
their relationship sure, but here's something far more important. Peter says, you give diligence,
you give all effort, you give earnest care to make your calling
and election sure. For if you do these things, you'll
never fall. For so an inference should be
ministered unto you abundantly in the everlasting kingdom of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now we have this message on DVD,
CD, or cassette. You call the church, write, or
email. We'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God would be pleased to make himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.