Securing the Sheep - part 3
003 Securing the Sheep – Part 3
The Diligent Excellence that is Sought
2 Peter 1:1-11
September 5, 2010
You will remember that 2nd Peter is written from the heart of a pastor.
God has shown Peter that the time for his earthly departure is imminent.
Therefore Peter is writing to prepare the flock for his departure.
He knows that wolves are on the way,
And so Peter wants to make sure that the sheep are secure.
And without a doubt the main (and really only) way to make sure that a wolf does not devour one of the sheep
Is to make sure that the sheep are truly sheep.
As you and I know true salvation is absolutely secure.
And the main reason for that is the high priestly role of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Because Christ paid our entire sin debt,
And because He now lives to intercede, our salvation is absolutely secure.
That is precisely what our Lord meant when He said:
John 10:27-29 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”
Since true salvation is secure,
We know that Peter is not writing about how to stay saved.
Instead Peter wants the flock to make sure that their salvation is genuine.
For one who is not truly saved, or does not truly know God,
Is extremely susceptible to stumbling.
Our Lord spoke of this reality in His Olivet Discourse.
Matthew 24:9-13 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”
Jesus revealed a great apostasy that will occur in the end.
This apostasy will be the result of a great tribulation.
And it will be a tribulation so great that only the saved will survive.
Jesus even says it another way later in the discourse.
Matthew 24:21-22 "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
And the point to all this is simple.
The only people who are truly secure are those who are truly saved.
Everyone else (regardless of how hard they try)
Is in extreme danger of falling away from the truth.
So when Peter is concerned about the security of the sheep,
He writes telling them to make sure they are indeed saved.
2 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;”
Peter wants everyone associated with the flock of God
To examine themselves and make certain that they
Do indeed have a true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,
For then and only then will they be kept from stumbling.
In the first 4 verses he shows the benefits that true Christians receive.
THE DIVINE EQUIPPING THAT IS SUPPLIED
And we saw the things that God gives to all those who are truly His.
1) FAITH (1) “To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours”
People who genuinely trust in God
Do so because God granted them the faith to genuinely trust in Him
2) GRACE AND PEACE (2) “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of our God and of Jesus our Lord”
Not only does God grant us the faith to respond,
But He grants us the grace to help us through all the difficult times in this life.
3) EVERYTHING TO BE GODLY (3) “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness”
Not only does He grant us faith to believe and grace to endure,
But God also gives us everything we need to live a sanctified and holy life.
4) GUIDANCE (4) “He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature”
God also guides our every step through His word so that we will know how to live this life in a way that is pleasing to Him.
And that is how Peter opened the letter.
The next portion of the letter falls into line.
Peter told you what God gives a Christian,
Now Peter says that true Christians are those
Who take advantage of those benefits.
And so now Peter tells us to look at our lives
And see if we can recognize God at work in us.
We know the type of work Christ does in the life of an individual,
The evaluation is simply to see if that work has been done in me.
And that is where Peter takes us next.
First we saw:
The Divine Equipping that is Supplied
#2 THE DILIGENT EXCELLENCE THAT IS SOUGHT
2 Peter 1:5-7
You will notice that Peter begins by saying, “Now for this very reason also”
If God has truly granted us faith, grace, holiness and promises to guide
Then that should have made a change in our life.
Here Peter outlines what that change should look like.
And in order to do that Peter gives 7 directives that should be present in the life of someone who has been truly saved by God.
And if at the end of this list you can say, “Yes, that is me”,
Then rejoice that God has done a saving work in you.
If at the end of this list you must say, “I don’t see that in my life”,
Then run to God and ask Him to do this work in you.”
These qualities are that important.
(8-9) “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
You can see how important they are,
So let’s see how a true Christian should be living.
Peter opens this list of 7 attributes
By revealing the manner in which all 7 attributes should be approached.
“applying all diligence”
In other words, give it everything you’ve got.
All of these directives are intended to be the passion of a true Christian.
1) DILIGENTLY LIVE YOUR FAITH (5a)
“Now for this reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence,”
Now obviously we had to have a starting point.
And the starting point that Peter picks is “your faith”
WHY?
Because according to verse 1, this is what God has given you.
We are not those who gave faith to God,
We are those “who have received a faith”
That is what makes this list impossible
For those who have not been truly redeemed.
They don’t have the foundation piece
And therefore they have nothing to build upon.
But a true believer has been granted faith by God
And now Peter is asking him to build on it.
“in your faith supply moral excellence”
In other words, diligently live your faith.
Don’t just let your faith be some theoretical belief system
That does not affect your life.
Instead let your faith change the way you live.
We would do well to ask the question, what good is faith if it does not have moral excellence?
That was the same question James asked.
James 2:14-17 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
If you keep on in that chapter you will hear James justify
Abraham and Rahab, not by their faith, but by their works.
Ending the section by saying:
James 2:26 “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
James is of the thought that if a person truly has faith
It ought to be evident in how they live their life.
WHERE WOULD HE GET A CRAZY THOUGHT LIKE THAT?
Perhaps from his older brother
John 8:31 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;”
It was evident to Jesus that true faith ought to cause you to live different.
Someone who trusts God with his finances ought to live financially different from someone who does not.
Someone who trusts God with his eternity ought to live spiritually different from someone who does not.
Peter, James, and Jesus all knew that
True faith ought to be measurable by works.
And so the first attribute Peter mentions is “moral excellence”
Don’t just walk around with some sort of silent, “do-nothing” faith.
If you have faith, then by all means live it!
Diligently Live Your Faith
2) DILIGENTLY LEARN THE TRUTH (5b)
“and in your moral excellence, knowledge”
We know that moral excellence is necessary for our faith to be validated, but exactly what does moral excellence look like?
That is why Peter includes the importance of “knowledge”
In the world “morality” has always been a fuzzy term.
If you interview enough people you will find out that
All over this world there is a different view of what is moral.
And so drastic is the difference that some think it is moral to kill unborn babies while some think it is immoral to kill and eat a wild animal.
So I think you understand where Peter is coming from.
While it is important that you live your faith,
It is equally important that you find out how faith wants you to live.
God didn’t leave Christian living up to your best hunch.
God got specific.
God gave us His word so that we would know
What true “moral excellence” looks like.
That is why Paul told Timothy:
2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
You must live your faith, but in order to do that correctly,
You must learn the truth.
You can’t just guess at holy living,
It is carefully described, and therefore you must study to find it.
This is why I firmly believe that true believers love the word of God.
They want to know how to live pleasing to God.
Diligently live your faith
Diligently learn the truth
3) DILIGENLY LIMIT YOUR SELF (6a)
“and in your knowledge, self-control”
Here again we see the building blocks of a true Christian.
Let me ask you a question.
Have you ever read a command in the Bible that you did not at first want to obey?
Maybe something about forgiving someone
Maybe something about giving something to someone
Maybe something about stopping something you were doing
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Well, you are hit with a decision to make.
You can either do what you want to do,
Or you can do what the Bible wants you to do.
One requires you to listen to self, the other requires you to control self.
WHAT DOES A TRUE CHRISTIAN DO?
“self-control”
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
A true Christian must determine that when he learns God’s truth
That he will obey God’s truth.
I suppose we could ask the question:
WHAT GOOD IS KNOWING THE TRUTH IF YOU AREN’T GOING TO OBEY IT?
That is precisely Peter’s point here.
If you have faith then live it.
To live the faith, then learn the truth to know how.
But if you are going to learn the truth, then you had better determine to push yourself aside and obey it.
Otherwise you won’t be correctly living the faith you claim to possess.
We must possess self-control as Christians.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
Paul knew that in order to live like God desired,
He was going to have to get control of his flesh.
Diligently Live your Faith
Diligently Learn the Truth
Diligently Limit your Self
4) DILIGENTLY LABOR IN YOUR SELF-CONTROL (6b)
“and in your self-control, perseverance”
Again, it obviously builds upon itself.
WHAT GOOD IS SELF-CONTROL IF IT ONLY LASTS FOR A LITTLE WHILE?
Suppose your flesh really wanted to look at pornography.
Can we call it a success if you control yourself for 23 hours a day?
Self-control without “perseverance”
Isn’t really much to write home about.
The Christian life is not the life that lives for God most of the time.
The Christian life is one that lives for God all the time.
Galatians 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
One old preacher once said, “You knew one thing about a man walking with a cross out of the city. You knew he wasn’t coming back.”
IT WAS PERMANENT
But how is it that so many Christians seem to have survived their crucifixion?
They claim to have been crucified with Christ,
Yet strangely the old man is still here with us.
The admonition of Peter is not to let your obedience
Be a random thing, but for it to be a constant thing.
Colossians 3:5-10 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him”
Literally there Paul says “Put to death the members of your earthly body”
Let’s make this decision to deny self
And live for God a permanent decision.
A true Christian lives with perseverance.
Diligently Live your Faith Diligently Learn the Truth
Diligently Limit your Self Diligently Labor in your Self-Control
5) DILIGENTLY LIKEN YOURSELF TO GOD (6c)
“and in your perseverance, godliness”
And so we might as well ask this question as well.
WHAT GOOD IS PERSEVERANCE WITHOUT GODLINESS?
A person who has perseverance but not godliness
Is simply a committed sinner.
Perseverance is good, but only if you persevere in the right thing.
Ephesians 5:1 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;”
The Christian life is about perseverance,
But not perseverance in church ritual, or religion or routine.
The Christian life is about perseverance in godliness.
We strive to live godly in every way all the time.
After all, God didn’t supply us the power to go to church,
Peter said “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness”
God equipped us to make us godly,
And it is in godliness that we should persevere.
And you see how this is working for Peter.
If you have truly have faith, then live it.
But you had better know how to live it.
And you had better be willing to live it.
And you had better keep living it.
And you had better keep living it in the right way.
6) DILIGENTLY LEGITIMIZE YOUR GODLINESS (7a)
“and in your godliness, brother kindness”
And just like Peter has been doing in this list,
He is not taking any chances here
That you misunderstand what true godliness is.
This was the main problem Jesus continually had with the Pharisees.
Their definition of godliness was not accurate.
They thought godliness had to do with
Their pious attitudes and their long robes and ritualistic prayers.
But Jesus said NO
Matthew 9:13 "But go and learn what this means: ' I DESIRE COMPASSION,AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Matthew 5:43-45 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Luke 6:35
"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
GOD IS KIND
And if you are not kind to others,
You can bet that your godliness is not correct.
7) DILIGENTLY LOVE YOUR BROTHER (7b)
“and in your brotherly kindness, love.”
And here once again Peter goes one step further.
He explains what it truly means to exhibit brotherly kindness,
And that is to show him love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
In other words, don’t treat your brother however you want
And then try to declare that you were being kind.
IF YOU DON’T LOVE YOUR BROTHER,
THEN YOU DON’T HAVE BROTHERLY KINDNESS,
AND YOU DON’T KNOW GOD.
1 John 4:7-11 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
1 John 4:20-21 “If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”
1 John 5:1 “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.”
Does it get any clearer than that?
In other words, don’t just claim to have brotherly kindness,
Evaluate your life and see if you have self-sacrificing love for him.
And this is how you evaluate the validity of your Christianity.
This is how you validate your faith.
Do you truly love others?
· Then your brotherly kindness is real.
· And if your brotherly kindness is real, your godliness is also real.
· And if your godliness is real, then you are persevering in the right thing.
· And if you are persevering in the right thing, then you will always control self.
· And if you always control self then knowing the truth will benefit you.
· And if knowing the truth benefits you then you will live true morality.
· And if you are living true morality then your faith is legitimate.
Peter just wanted you to take that test tonight.
Do I see Faith, Moral Excellence, Knowledge, Self-Control, Perseverance, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness, and Love?
(8-9) “For if these qualities are your and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
In short, if God has truly granted you faith,
Then that faith should be evident in your life.
If it is, then you will never stumble.
If it is not, then you need to come to Christ because the wolves are on their way.
2 Peter 1:10-11 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”