Make Sure You Make Sure

A Sermon by Jim Hammond from 2 Peter 1:10-11

“Make Every Effort” 2 Peter Series

  

Social Security

I learned recently what the oldest form of social security is.   Do you know what the oldest form of social security is?  Suspenders!

Today we are not talking about social security but spiritual security.  We need to make sure that our faith holds up to scrutiny on the Day of Judgment.

Lamb’s Book

   As we returned from Vacation Bible School one summer day, my young daughter Melissa asked if we could stop at the library. When I asked her why, she explained, "This morning my teacher told me that the only way we get to heaven is if our name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. I just want to make sure that my name is in there!" [i]

 

Today’s message is “make sure you make sure”, today we are learning about how to remove Spiritual insecurity.  Speaking of security…

 

Before we get further into this, it is important to note that some people are spiritually insecure and know it, and some people are spiritually insecure and don’t know it.  You could actually be spiritually secure but feeling insecure, or the opposite can be true, one could feel secure but be in grave danger. 

The Post Card

It’s like the insecure fellow who sent a Postcard to his psychiatrist when he was on vacation.  The postcard read, “Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here -- to tell me why."

 

Whether you are actually spiritually secure but feeling insecure, or feeling secure but actually in grave spiritual danger, the good news is the same answer works for either scenario.  Spiritual security is found on the solid foundation of faith in Jesus Christ. 

 

Focus:  Jesus secured citizenship in heaven for all true believers; therefore, each believer needs to make every effort to make sure he is a citizen of heaven. 

 

2 Peter 1:10-11 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

Her Last Prayer

She was only 16 or 17 years old.  The place was Asia, the time was the 1970s.  The Communist soldiers had discovered their illegal Bible study.

 

As the pastor was reading from the Bible, men with guns suddenly broke into the home, terrorizing the believers who had gathered there to worship.  The Communists shouted insults and threatened to kill the Christians.  The leading officer pointed his gun at the pastor's head.  "Hand me your Bible," he demanded.

 

Reluctantly, the pastor handed over his Bible, his prized possession.  With a sneer on his face, the guard threw the Word of God on the floor at his feet.

 

He glared at the small congregation.  "We will let you go," he growled, "but first, you must spit on this book of lies.  Anyone who refuses will be shot."  The believers had no choice but to obey the officer’s order.

 

A soldier pointed his gun at one of the men.  "You first."

 

The man slowly got up and knelt down by the Bible.  Reluctantly, he spit on it, praying, "Father, please forgive me."  He stood up and walked to the door.  The soldiers stood back and allowed him to leave.

 

"OK, you!"  The soldiers said, nudging a woman forward.  In tears, she could barely do what the soldier demanded.  She spat only a little, but it was enough.  She too was allowed to leave.

 

Quietly, a young girl came forward.  Overcome with love for Lord, she knelt down and picked up the Bible.  She wiped off the spit with her dress.  "What have they done to your word, please forgive them," she prayed.

 

The Communists soldier put his pistol to her head.  Then he pulled the trigger.[ii]

 

Peter knew what it felt like to be one of those who spit on the Bible to save his skin.

 

She was sure…

The context of 2 Peter is very similar to the context I’ve just described, a hostile government, exterminating and intimidating Christians, and in the middle of all that, some Christians crumbling with excuses for their compromises.  Some perhaps teaching that outward behavior doesn’t really change anything before God.

 

I.      How To Remove Spiritual Insecurity

There are two primary sources for spiritual insecurity, 1) the lack of spiritual understanding on which to place your faith, or 2) the lack of obedience. 

A.      Make Sure You Believe

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.

KNOW FIRST OF ALL THAT IT IS BY FAITH, YOU ARE SAVED.  PLACING YOUR FAITH IN THE SAVING TRUTH IS WHAT MAKES YOU SECURE.

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:…

MAKE SURE YOU BELIEVE JESUS, AND PUT YOUR TRUST IN JESUS:

How does he say we received this precious faith?  Not by our effort, but by the righteousness of Christ (who by the way he equates with God himself, which was Jesus’ claim).  He is writing To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:…

CHRISTIANITY IS A GIFT YOU RECEIVE, NOT SOMETHING YOU TRY TO ACHIEVE.  Righteousness is received, not achieved.  But that doesn’t mean you don’t work at it.  I know that sounds like a contradiction but it isn’t.  Without Christ, we have no righteousness of our own.  Once we receive Christ, we receive his Spirit, and everything we need for life and godliness, Peter says (1:3).  It’s a gift.  But then we have to put that gift to work.  We have to work it; receive it and work it. 

BUT WHAT IF…you are struggling with your faith?  What then.  How do you make sure you believe?

Here’s what I would do.  I would study.  I would ask all the questions and study the best information.  I would seek help from people who say they know the answers to your questions.  And since your questions are about life and death, heaven and hell, make sure you look to the source of information about these questions, the Bible.  Faith doesn’t just happen in a vacuum.  Faith comes by hearing the word of God.  Faith is not blind faith.  Faith is objective faith, it is faith in something.  Knowledge and faith are related.  You might have to address the questions you have as a skeptic.  God is not afraid of honest skeptics.  Children have faith in their parents when there is reason to trust them demonstrated.  Faith is not totally blind.  But there will come a point when you will have to act in faith before you can prove all the evidence. 

Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

If you are not sure you believe.  Make sure you believe.  If there are honest doubts, then seek the answers.  But in most cases it is more than honest doubting.  Most skeptics do not want to believe, so they do not want to look into their own questions because they are afraid of what they might find.

 

Are you spiritually insecure because you don’t yet know about the good news?  And it is great news.

Set Free

   In a 3rd-century debate on Christianity, Celsus said to Origen, "When most teachers go forth to teach, they cry, 'Come to me, you who are clean and worthy,' and they are followed by the highest caliber of people available. But your silly master cries, 'Come to me, you who are down and beaten by life,' and so he accumulates around him the rag, tag and bobtail of humanity."

   And Origen replied: "Yes, they are the rag, tag and bobtail of humanity. But Jesus does not leave them that way. Out of material you would have thrown away as useless, he fashions men, giving them back their self-respect, enabling them to stand on their feet and look God in the eyes. They were cowed, cringing, broken things. But the Son has set them free."

 

Now we are ready to move to Peter’s main point.

B.      Make Sure You Live Like You Believe

Same Word (verb--be diligent, noun--diligence)

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.

Do you see the phrase “be all the more eager” in 1:10?  Now, do you see the phrase “Make Every Effort” in 1:5?  Both of those phrases come from the same root word.  One used as a verb and one used as a noun.  This one in 1:10 says BE diligent (the verb) to make sure…, and the other is saying apply all diligence (the noun) to add to faith…  What verse 10 does is complete the sandwich that was begun in verse 5!  Making every effort to add to faith the other virtues is the point he began in 5, and if you do, you will be “making every effort” to “make sure” your calling and reward. 

We already saw the two sides at work.  God gives us “everything we need for life and godliness” (1:3), our side is to make every effort to put what he has given us into action (1:5f). Again here in 1:10 the two sides are emphasized.  God’s side is the calling, our side is the responding.  And when we are “diligent” with our side, we will be “making sure” we will have a rich welcome.

It really doesn’t matter whether you work this through an Arminian or Calvinistic theological framework, and if you have no idea what those frameworks are, don’t worry about it, just study God’s Word. Peter had never heard of those theological frameworks either.  Whatever theological construct you were taught, you still have to do justice to Peter’s words emphasizing both sides, God’s side and our diligence.  The reason for Peter’s point is the circumstances Peter is attempting to address. 

Peter was warning those who were feeling too secure because of some false teaching that put them in grave danger.  The danger included a lack of concern for growth, or service, or love, or knowledge, or discipline.  Peter was shaking them out of their complacency.  He wanted to rouse the complacent believers who had listened to the false teachers and believed that because salvation is not based on good deeds they could live any way they wanted.  If you truly belong to the Lord, Peter wrote, your hard work will prove it.  If you’re not working to develop the qualities listed in 1:5-7, you may not belong to him.  If you are the Lord’s –and your hard work backs up your claim to be chosen by God—you will be able to resist the lure of false teaching and the complacent lifestyle of sin that comes with such false ideas about grace. 

I wonder if some of these false teachers promoted the false ideas at funerals?  They certainly do today.  I often hear false ideas at funerals.  People often tell about how someone is in a better place after they die.  The only time this is true, is if they have entered into the saving faith of Christ, having their sins washed away by the righteousness of Christ.

I wonder if some of the false teachers were excusing acts of denial, like spitting on a bible, saying, God knows you didn’t mean it.  It really doesn’t change anything.  Doesn’t it?  How did Peter view his own denial.  All he was trying to do was save his skin long enough to see what could be done.  NO.  Peter is trying to help Christians keep from such a disastrous fall.   Peter was strengthened and forgiven by the Lord, so that he could strengthen others and keep them from such a destructive fall!  We dare not deny our Lord in the face of persecution and self preservation.

He comes back to this theme again as a conclusion to his letter.

2 Peter 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.

He is saying, sure your position is secure--there was some dangerous teaching going on about their security--but don’t think that your position is so secure that it doesn’t matter how you live.  The way you live reflects your beliefs.  What does your life say about your faith?  Willfully sinning is a denial.  Peter warns us to keep growing in our love of Christ in every way so that we may be strong when the crisis hits!

More than Fire Insurance

Don’t buy fire insurance and then set fire to your own house, instead quit lighting the matches to the gasoline filled rags. 

This isn’t fire insurance; this is a life giving blue print for building a house that is indestructible.  We need to start building that house, not insure the one that is burning already.

More than Feelings

Another mistake we can make about our own security in Christ is to base the reality of our salvation on our feelings. Our emotions are affected by so many different things that it is misleading to base our security on them. Each of us grows up in an environment that leaves us with emotional scars. Some people feel anxious and tense because of events in their past. Even imbalances in body chemistry can create anxious feelings of insecurity.

Since salvation is based on belief in Christ and a choice to trust His death on our behalf, the road to assurance is not found in our feelings but in acknowledging and trusting what God has done.

As we voluntarily place ourselves under the influence of Christ and trust His Spirit to guide us toward behavior that is consistent with our confession of faith, we will experience spiritual healing—healing that will extend even to our feelings and emotions. This, however, is a gradual process, and one that may involve many setbacks.

I often use this illustration in CLASS 101.  Now imagine the day I got married if this would have happened.  Just imagine if I based my assurance on my feelings.  What if I looked over at Gina and said, “I don’t feel married.”  She’d say, “That doesn’t matter one bit, buddy, you are married!”  Don’t base your security on feelings.  Base it on God’s Word.  The good news is that if you do, and you live by God’s Word whether you feel like it or not, soon you will feel more confident also.   Soon you will feel more secure.

For if you do these things, you will never fall,

Some translations translate this, “you will never stumble”.  Though the word can be translated that way, it gives off  the wrong idea that as long as you keep adding all these virtues you will not sin.  That isn’t what he’s saying.  That’s like saying, as long as you keep breathing you will not die.  Maybe it makes a point, but not the point he’s trying to make.  The point he’s trying to make is that we need to match our calling and election with holy living that confirms our calling and election!  The word “fall” rather than “stumble”, has the right idea.  If we keep growing by adding to our faith these 7 virtues we have been studying, then we will not fall.  We will not come to ruin on the judgment day.

THE POINT:  If you practice what Peter describes in 1:5-7 you will not fall off the track.  We will not come to ruin on the judgment day.  If you concern yourself with NO COMPROMISES over the little tests, you will be able to stand when the big test comes.  That was a lesson Peter had to learn, and a lesson Peter was urged to pass along to strengthen others who were facing tests like the one he faced and failed.

 

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