Amen. Well, thank you very much to Fiona and the band and to Katie for reading that passage.
Let's turn to God in prayer before we begin. Let's pray together.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege it is to be able to openly and freely read your word.
Lord, now as we come to meditate on it, we pray that the meditations of all of our hearts
and that the words of my mouth would be pleasing to you.
Father, would I decrease and would you increase?
And we pray that everything that is done in this service would be for your glory and fame.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
In the 1940s, there was a 65-year-old man living in Kentucky.
He drove a beat-up car and was living on minimal benefits.
Now, he'd known success in his life. He had previously owned a restaurant but had lost it all.
But he hadn't given up yet. He wasn't done.
See, he decided to make a change in his life.
So at the ripe young age of 65, this man looked at his life and asked himself,
what would he have to offer others?
And his answer was fried chicken.
He took to the road with his fried chicken recipe that all of his family and friends loved.
He drove for miles and miles all over the US trying to sell his recipe to different restaurants.
He was so desperate that he was basically giving it away, simply asking for a little bit of the profit.
But still, many, in fact most, restaurants declined.
1,009 restaurants rejected this man.
But he kept on going.
He made every effort to achieve what he wanted.
And eventually, restaurant number 1,010 said yes.
Now, do you know who I'm talking about?
Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder and face of KFC.
He made every effort to achieve his goal despite over 1,000 setbacks.
He kept on fighting and eventually achieved what he wanted and more.
KFC is now third in the world's top 25 most lucrative restaurant chains.
Colonel Sanders made every effort.
Now, we've seen that language of making every effort in 2 Peter already, haven't we?
Look back at chapter 1, verse 10.
Peter says, make every effort to confirm your calling and election.
Meaning that a Christian's life should be a living example of the calling they have received,
which is to live godly lives.
And then Peter says of himself in chapter 1, verse 15,
Meaning that as Peter knew his death was imminent,
he would diligently work to make sure that the Christians he was writing to
would always remember what growth in godliness,
which is rooted in the gospel, looks like.
And this letter is part of that reminder.
And then this evening, at the very end of the letter,
we get the final make every effort in verse 14.
Read it with me.
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this,
make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him.
This is the main point of our passage tonight.
So if you're looking for a sentence that summarizes exactly what Peter wants you to walk away with,
that is it.
If you're a Christian here this evening,
Peter is speaking directly to you,
and he is saying,
Now, if 2 Peter were to end there, it would be great, wouldn't it?
But we'd still have questions.
We would want to know, well, how exactly do we make every effort?
Peter isn't holding up a sign that says,
Jesus is coming back soon, look busy.
He isn't saying, do more or work harder.
He isn't saying, be better.
But instead, he's giving us two practical things in these verses
that we can do in our daily lives
to make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him.
Peter says, Christians, bear in mind and be on God.
So the first thing we see in this passage is bear in mind.
In verses 14 to 16, bear in mind.
See, the goal of our diligence, of our making every effort,
is that on that final day when Jesus returns,
as we thought about last week,
we will be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him.
The Christian, the person who trusts in Jesus,
is made spotless and blameless and is at peace with God.
But we are called to become more like Jesus.
We're called to grow in moral purity.
We're called to grow in our identity as people who are spotless and blameless.
That's what verse 14 says.
So that on that final day when all of our actions are laid bare before God,
as verse 10 says, we will be found without fault.
Now that is impossible by ourselves.
Maybe you're here and you're not a Christian.
Maybe you think that you're good enough.
You're a good enough person to get into heaven,
that you do good things.
You don't hurt people.
So surely you must be in God's good books.
Well, the Bible is clear that every person is naturally an enemy of God.
Naturally at odds with him.
Naturally deserving of his wrath.
Unable to be good enough or to do enough to be right with him on our own.
So what hope is there for anyone who stands before God on that final day on their own merit?
To put it bluntly, there is no hope.
Nobody can stand before the almighty creator and judge of the world based on their own works
and be accepted into the presence of God forever.
Because the only hope to be found on that day is that when you stand before God,
and everyone will,
as your thoughts, your actions, your attitudes and imagination are all put on display,
your only hope is that Jesus stands beside you and says,
I have paid for that person.
The only hope that exists when it comes to someone spending eternity in the presence of God
and the peace and not under judgment,
is the already completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross,
where he died in our place,
bearing God's wrath,
and securing salvation and a perfect relationship with God for all those who trust in him.
He died so that you can live.
Jesus died so that we can be spotless,
blameless,
and at peace with God.
Now those two descriptions put together,
blameless and spotless,
should make us think of Jesus,
the perfect lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
And it is through Jesus' sacrifice
that we're able to have that relationship with God.
Naturally, we are born enemies of God,
dead in our sin,
slaves to the passions of our sin-stained hearts,
living in darkness.
But when we put our trust in Jesus,
when we come before him in repentance and believe,
we are transformed.
We become children of light.
We are given power to live the life that we are called to live,
that we were created to live,
no longer enemies of God,
but children of God.
We are at peace with him.
And Peter says,
brothers and sisters,
bear your salvation in mind.
Remember that you are saved,
not by what you do,
but by what Jesus has already done.
And then in verse 15,
he says,
read it with me.
Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation.
Just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you
with the wisdom that God gave him.
He writes the same way in all his letters,
speaking in them of these matters.
His letters contain some things that are hard to understand,
which ignorant and unstable people distort
as they do other scriptures to their own destruction.
Peter says,
remember that Jesus hasn't come back yet
because God is patient,
allowing time for others to come to faith.
And we thought about that a little bit last week in verse nine.
And Peter brings in Paul at this point,
I think to bolster his argument.
He mentions Paul's other letters in verse 15
as a way of saying,
look,
I'm not the only one teaching this.
Another apostle is teaching the same thing.
And then Peter goes even further in verse 16
and mentions Paul's letters alongside scripture,
putting them both on the same level of authority.
Peter is saying what Paul writes
is also the authoritative word of God.
Now at this point,
most of Paul's letters were written
and some of them would have been circulating quite widely.
So Peter's using Paul's letters
to bolster his own argument,
using them as evidence,
maybe because the false teachers and scoffers
were twisting Peter's words
to support their own evil desires and schemes.
Peter says,
not a chance.
Me and Paul are on the same page.
And it's comforting to know,
at least I think it is,
that I'm not the only one
who has struggled at times
to understand Paul's letters.
Peter says in verse 16,
referring to Paul,
that his letters contain some things
that are hard to understand.
But the issue was that these false teachers
were distorting Paul's words
and the rest of the Old Testament
to their own destruction,
showing their ignorance and instability.
So Peter says,
bear that in mind.
Remember the gospel.
Remember the salvation that you have in Jesus.
Remember truth.
And do not let yourself be distracted
by distorted lies and unstable people.
But instead,
verse 14,
make every effort to be found spotless,
blameless and at peace with him.
J.C. Ryle,
a minister and bishop from many years ago,
put it this way in his great book on holiness,
which I highly recommend you grab a copy of.
He says,
the child of God has two great marks about him.
He may be known for his inward warfare
as well as his inward peace.
As a Christian,
you are a soldier who is constantly at war
because a battle is raging
and you are to make every effort in it.
We can't sit back and relax
if we are to be found spotless and blameless.
Yes, we have been made those things by Jesus,
but we are called to continue to grow in them
every single day.
We are to grow in our moral purity
for the glory of God.
So ask yourselves,
what are the sins that you are struggling with?
What are the temptations that you face every day
that you need to wage war against?
See, we're called to be like Jesus,
who is spotless and blameless.
He is untainted in character
and without defect.
He is perfect.
We cannot do that whilst lust
has any part to play in our lives.
We cannot let pride,
adultery,
lying,
coveting,
gossip,
anger,
boastfulness,
be part of our lives
if we are to make every effort
to be found spotless and blameless
on that day.
Christians are made at peace with Christ
and so we are to wage war
against our sinful nature.
As John Owen,
a theologian from years ago,
famously said,
be killing sin
or sin will be killing you.
Bear in mind,
Peter says,
remember the salvation
that you have in Jesus
and live it out.
Remember that God's patience
means salvation.
So how should these,
remembering these two things
help us?
Well,
by remembering the gospel,
we remember the price
that was paid
to make peace
between us and God possible.
We remember the sacrifice
that Jesus was
to make us spotless
and blameless before God
and so out of a thankfulness
and love for him,
we should live holy lives.
The lives we were created
to live.
How do we do that?
We gather with the Lord's people
on a Sunday.
We celebrate communion
as we remember Jesus' sacrifice.
We study the Bible together,
both corporately,
in smaller groups together
and individually.
And we die to ourselves
and we live for him.
Rejecting our old nature and sin
and instead living lives
of holiness.
And we remember
that God's patience
means salvation
and that should impact
how we live
because we're called
to go into this world
and share the message
of hope.
The only message
that can give true hope
and true life,
the message of Jesus.
That's what we're to take
into the world.
Friends,
we cannot simply have
an intellectual understanding
of these things.
all theology
should lead
to changed lives.
We need to know
and live out the truth.
Peter says,
bear in mind,
remember the salvation
that you have in Jesus
and remember
that God's patience
means salvation.
And the second thing
we see in this passage
is be on God.
in verses 17 to 18,
be on God.
Now I don't know about you
but growing up
I loved watching movies
with my grandparents.
With my gran
it was always
cowboy and Indian movies
and with my grandpa
it was normally
World War II movies.
Two completely
different times
but one consistent
thing happened
and still happens
in almost every movie
where there's
something to do
with a war
or a battle.
When night time comes
there is always
someone
who watches
God.
Read verse 17
with me.
Peter says this,
therefore dear friends
since you have
been forewarned
be on your guard
so that you may
not be carried away
by the error
of the lawless
and fall
from your secure
position.
Now in any war movie
or in any real life
situation
if you receive
a warning
you watch for it
don't you?
You're not going to
see a warning signs
on a beach
about a particularly
dangerous undercurrent
and decide
that now's the time
to go for a swim.
You aren't going to
hear warnings
of a shark
in the water
and decide
to paddle around
for fun
in the hot
summer's day.
No.
You've been warned
and so you stay
alert
you are on
God.
The same is true
for the Christian
life.
If you want to do
what verse 14
says to be found
spotless,
blameless
and at peace
with God
then we need
to be on
God.
Peter has warned us
throughout this letter
hasn't he?
Of the dangers
associated with
false teaching
and false teachers.
So out of love
for these Christians
Peter is saying
be careful
don't be carried
away
by the error
of the lawless
and fall.
Now the word
translated as
fall
means apostasy
walking away
from the faith
renouncing what
you believe
and following
a different path.
That happens
when someone
lets their God
down.
they get caught
and when they
get caught up
in false teaching
they get swept
away by error.
Peter is using
the imagery
of a river
that carries
someone downstream
and they can do
nothing about it.
I wonder if you've
seen videos
of a flood
and you see
these massive cars
that weigh a ton
being thrown
around by the
rushing water
like they were
a little toy car
in a bathtub.
That's the kind
of thing we should
be imagining here.
You see
false teaching
isn't harmless
it is not
something to be
messed with.
So often
I hear Christians
who are listening
to and reading
material from
well-known
false teachers
and they say
things like
well I just
take the good
and I leave
the bad.
I eat the meat
and I spit out
the bones
that kind of thing.
But do you see
how unwise it is?
Because if you know
you had a life
threatening disease
you would go
to a good doctor.
You'd get the
treatment that you
need.
You would seek
out the truth.
You wouldn't go
to a doctor who
will just reassure
you with a smile
that everything
will be fine.
It may be
comforting initially.
It may be what
you want to hear.
But it won't last
long and it will
only bring damage.
and in terms of
faith and theology
that has eternal
consequences.
So often Christians
are tempted to
listen to voices
that only offer
encouragement.
People who think
and say that the
Christian life should
only be one of
goodness and
happiness.
That's not what the
Bible tells us.
The diagnosis that
the Bible gives us
that we were
thinking about this
morning is that
every single day in
the Christian life
is a battle.
Don't go to the
teacher who will
tickle your ears.
Go to those who
faithfully and
consistently point you
to Jesus and who
preach the Bible.
Not personal opinion.
The New Testament
warns us again and
again do not play
with false teaching
and Peter is
warning you.
Whilst at the
minute that false
teaching may seem
like a nice little
stream to dip your
toe into, it will
become a raging
river that will
carry you off and
away from Christ.
You have been
warned, Peter says.
So be on guard.
Do not be carried
away by error.
But simply avoiding
false teaching isn't
enough, is it?
It is absolutely a
wise and necessary
thing to do but by
avoiding false
teaching are we
really making every
effort to be found
spotless and blameless
and at peace with
God?
Peter doesn't think
so.
And he gives us one
final aspect of this
command to be on
God in verse 18
where he says,
but grow in the
grace and knowledge
of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.
See this is where we
come full circle in
the book of 2 Peter.
Because this book
opens in chapter 1
verse 2 with Peter's
prayer that grace
would grow in
abundance in these
Christians lives
through the knowledge
of Jesus.
And he ends this
letter with a call
to grow in that
grace.
And throughout this
whole letter Peter
has been building
an argument of the
necessity of every
single Christian to
know and live out
the truth.
That is only possible
if we are rooted in
Christ.
If we find our
salvation in him and
then make every effort
to grow in him.
To have a faithful,
healthy, established,
vibrant faith.
faith.
We need to do what
Peter said right at
the beginning of this
letter in chapter 1
verses 3 to 11.
We need to depend on
God's power and on
God's promises which
requires us to properly
know him.
In 2019 a survey was
done in the UK which
showed that most
Christian millennials,
51% in the UK,
engage with the Bible
a few times a year
or less.
Only 9% of Christian
millennials read the
Bible every day and
about 13% look at the
Bible a few times a
week.
Now these studies are
never super accurate but
it shows a decline in
the reading of God's
word and I don't think
it is only a problem for
millennials.
In fact I know it's not.
See friends if we want to
take our faith seriously.
If we want to be able to
stand spotless and
blameless and at peace
with God on that final
day then we need to
know the truth and live
it out.
We must be on our guard.
We must be careful of
the teaching we take in
and be diligent in
growing and becoming
more and more like
Jesus.
Read your Bibles.
Get to know the
promises of God.
Memorise Bible verses.
Pray regularly.
Gather with God's
people.
Start reading the Bible
with other people.
If you're older here
please invest in the
younger generation.
We want to learn from
you.
If you're younger sit
under the teaching of
these older saints who
have journeyed with
Jesus for years and
learn.
It was said of John
Bunyan the author of
The Pilgrim's Progress
that if you would have
cut him he would have
bled scripture.
That should be our
desire.
To be so submerged in
God's word that it
becomes so dear to us
that we keep returning
to it every day because
that is how we grow in
the knowledge of Jesus
and the more we know
him the more we will
become like him.
Be on guard Peter says
do not get carried away
by false teaching but
grow in grace and the
knowledge of Jesus.
Jesus.
And all of this Jesus
says all of this Peter
says is for Jesus.
Do you see that at the
end of verse 18?
To him be glory both now
and forevermore.
Amen.
The ultimate goal of a
Christian who knows and
lives out the truth the
ultimate goal of making
every effort is for the
display of God's glory his
power his majesty his
beauty.
We glorify God by being
grounded in the gospel
by understanding the
grace that God has shown
us through the death and
resurrection of Jesus and
from that we make every
effort to grow in him and
to and to be like him
whilst giving him all the
glory and honor.
The KFC is arguably a
restaurant empire that was
started by one man in a
beat up truck who loved
fried chicken.
He made every attempt every
effort to achieve his goal
and the kingdom of God is
far far far bigger than
anything that could be built
by human hands in this life
and the kingdom of God will
last forever and Jesus will
get all of the glory that is
the goal that we should be
striving to make every
effort to achieve.
So then dear friends since
you are looking forward to
the second coming of Jesus
make every effort to be found
spotless and blameless and
at peace with him.
Let's pray together.
Heavenly Father we thank you
for your word and the
warnings that it gives us.
we thank you for the
challenge that it brings us
of the necessity to know
the truth and to have that
truth impact the way we live
our lives.
Father forgive us for the
times where we have flirted
with false teaching, where we
flirted with the things of this
world and thought that it would
be harmless.
And Lord by your spirit we ask
that you would give us strength
love and the ability to
discern what is true and what
is false.
Help us to follow you with all
of our hearts, with our minds,
with our souls and to depend on
you for our everything.
And Jesus we pray that as we live
this life as individuals, as we
live this life as a church here at
Brunsfield Evangelical Church,
we pray that you would get all the
glory as we eagerly await the
second coming of Jesus.
In his holy and precious name we
pray.
Amen.