WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.640 How do we make sure we don't fall away from our Christian faith? 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:17.179 ! It might not be a question you've given much thought to you before, but the Bible is full of warnings to professing Christians not to fall away. 00:00:18.059 --> 00:00:25.800 The Bible doesn't just warn people outside the church, it repeatedly warns people inside the church not to fall away. 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:31.900 And that's not surprising, is it? Because professing Christians fall away all the time. 00:00:32.820 --> 00:00:36.020 We keep hearing stories of deconversion, don't we? 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:41.200 Well-known people posting on social media saying that they've left the faith. 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:48.380 And for every celebrity deconversion, there are hundreds of ordinary people leaving the faith. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:54.140 I don't think stats are always helpful, but I heard one estimate, this is in the US, 00:00:54.140 --> 00:00:59.039 that for every individual who becomes a Christian, fall, leave. 00:01:00.259 --> 00:01:04.460 Another survey say similar things about our country at the moment too. 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:08.180 People are falling away in our churches in huge numbers. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:16.719 Even in strong churches, even in churches like this one, the devastating truth is that it's almost certain that some of us in here 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:21.159 will fall away and prove that we were never truly saved. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:25.219 How do we make sure that we don't fall away? 00:01:26.620 --> 00:01:32.719 I think one of the reasons we don't often ask that question is because we know that the Bible also teaches 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:35.759 that those who are truly in Christ will never fall away. 00:01:36.759 --> 00:01:38.640 For true Christians, Jesus says, 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:41.060 No one will snatch them out of my hand. 00:01:41.900 --> 00:01:44.000 The calling of God is irrevocable. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:49.460 You can't be truly joined to Christ and then be ripped apart from him. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:52.760 True Christians persevere until the end. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:58.859 But the Bible has this category of person who's in the covenant, 00:01:58.859 --> 00:02:03.480 in the community of God's people, in the church, externally, 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:08.280 but they're not actually one of God's elects, one of God's chosen people. 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:13.700 And they turn out to be covenant breakers and fall away, just like in Israel. 00:02:14.140 --> 00:02:20.060 There were the people of Israel, but not all of them were the true Israel, true believers. 00:02:20.980 --> 00:02:22.960 It's the same in the church today. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:29.080 And the fact that they fall away proves that they were never truly united to Christ. 00:02:29.140 --> 00:02:31.159 They were never truly a Christian. 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:35.819 As John says in 1 John 2, verse 19, 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:40.859 They went out that it might be plain that they all are not of us. 00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:46.460 So the danger is real that some of us in the church will fall away 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:49.219 and prove we weren't ever truly in Christ. 00:02:49.319 --> 00:02:51.259 These warnings aren't hypothetical. 00:02:51.900 --> 00:02:55.120 They are real warnings to make sure that we don't fall away. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:59.920 Because the means that God uses to keep us going until the end 00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:01.659 is that he warns us. 00:03:02.259 --> 00:03:04.180 And then he works in us by his spirit. 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:09.360 So we hear these warnings and we make every effort to keep on growing in Godliness. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:15.860 You know, sometimes we think that falling away is an intellectual issue. 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:16.940 It's all in your brain. 00:03:17.640 --> 00:03:22.580 I stopped believing because I realised that the evidence for the Christian faith didn't stack up. 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:25.980 Well, the Bible is much more realistic. 00:03:26.380 --> 00:03:29.320 Falling away isn't primarily an intellectual issue. 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:30.639 It's a moral issue. 00:03:31.519 --> 00:03:33.280 It isn't mainly about what you think. 00:03:33.819 --> 00:03:35.039 It's about your heart. 00:03:36.019 --> 00:03:38.699 Sin is what causes people to fall away. 00:03:39.739 --> 00:03:44.060 Listen to how Peter describes falling away in chapter 2, verse 20. 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:48.960 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world, 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:51.800 through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:55.060 they are again entangled in them and overcome, 00:03:55.900 --> 00:03:59.500 the last state has become worse for them than the first. 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:04.920 People fall away because they get entangled with sin and overcome. 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:09.980 We've been reading the Pilgrim's Progress in our evening services 00:04:09.979 --> 00:04:15.459 and it's so helpful because it shows that the Christian life isn't a case of praying a prayer one time, 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:19.920 asking Jesus into your life and then just sitting back and waiting to go to heaven. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.980 No, it's more like a journey with dangers and battles 00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:28.740 where we have to make every effort for godliness if we're going to make it to the end. 00:04:30.019 --> 00:04:32.500 When Peter wrote this letter, there were false teachers saying, 00:04:32.860 --> 00:04:34.759 it doesn't matter how you live. 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:36.139 You can live however you want. 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:42.919 That's an incredibly dangerous teaching because being casual about sin is the road to falling away. 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:47.899 Despite the scariness of this issue, 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:50.180 Peter is writing to believers with great confidence. 00:04:51.180 --> 00:04:53.819 He has a reassuring message for us this evening. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:58.620 He says, if X happens, you will never fall. 00:04:59.419 --> 00:05:01.759 There's a key to persevering in the faith 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:04.240 and Peter is confident that we will grasp hold of it. 00:05:04.659 --> 00:05:09.899 Not because of our ability, but because of Christ's divine power. 00:05:11.099 --> 00:05:12.079 So what is this key? 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:14.719 Well, have a look at verse 10. 00:05:16.379 --> 00:05:20.819 If you practice these qualities, you will never fall. 00:05:21.819 --> 00:05:24.639 If you practice godliness, you will never fall. 00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:26.740 Peter's big message is this. 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:30.980 Growing godliness will keep us from falling away. 00:05:32.180 --> 00:05:36.500 And we're going to see that our efforts for godliness are based on Christ's power. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:38.780 So let's take a look. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:44.420 We're starting in the middle of Peter's speech that goes from verse 3 to verse 11. 00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:47.000 We're going to be looking at verses 5 onwards. 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:48.759 But just a quick recap. 00:05:48.900 --> 00:05:53.319 This morning we saw in verses 3 to 4 that godliness is the goal of the gospel. 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:59.560 Verse 3, Christ's divine power has granted us all things for a godly life. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:02.319 That's the goal of the gospel, our godliness. 00:06:03.019 --> 00:06:06.800 And as verse 4 describes it, it's sharing in the divine nature, 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:10.279 which means to become morally good like God. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:15.219 So godliness is the goal and it's Christ's power that secures that goal. 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:18.800 And that's very clear in verse 3, his divine power. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:25.300 And it's really important for us to start there because Peter's going to talk a lot about our efforts. 00:06:26.060 --> 00:06:29.980 And we need to understand the basis for all of that is Christ's power. 00:06:30.939 --> 00:06:32.420 In fact, Peter couldn't make that clearer. 00:06:32.520 --> 00:06:33.759 Look what he says in verse 5. 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:36.439 For this very reason. 00:06:37.780 --> 00:06:40.220 What do you expect him to say next? 00:06:40.220 --> 00:06:44.660 He's just said his power has given us everything we need for godliness. 00:06:44.900 --> 00:06:48.040 So for this reason, let go and let God. 00:06:48.960 --> 00:06:50.700 Sit back and enjoy the ride. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:53.300 No, it's the exact opposite. 00:06:54.320 --> 00:06:57.420 Because the power of Christ is at working you for godliness, 00:06:58.000 --> 00:06:59.680 make every effort. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:01.660 That's our first point. 00:07:01.780 --> 00:07:04.860 Make every effort to grow in godliness. 00:07:04.860 --> 00:07:09.879 It's easy to mishear what Peter's saying. 00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:12.900 Especially when he starts talking about falling away and we're thinking, 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:18.860 oh my goodness, this sounds like the only thing that's stopping me from falling away is my effort. 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:22.020 That is not what Peter is saying. 00:07:22.139 --> 00:07:27.360 The reason for our effort is that God has secured our godliness by his mighty power. 00:07:27.860 --> 00:07:31.259 In other words, our effort is the result of God's grace, 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:33.580 not the way to earn God's grace. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:34.660 And that's really important. 00:07:34.660 --> 00:07:35.520 Let me say that again. 00:07:36.300 --> 00:07:38.700 Our effort is the result of God's grace, 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:41.800 not the way to earn God's grace. 00:07:42.340 --> 00:07:46.280 So this is not an anxiously working to earn God's favour. 00:07:46.400 --> 00:07:48.760 It's working based on the confident assurance 00:07:48.760 --> 00:07:51.800 that Christ's power is at work in us. 00:07:52.500 --> 00:07:55.100 For this reason, make every effort. 00:07:56.220 --> 00:07:57.080 Let me ask you this. 00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:00.360 Does this fit with your conception of the Christian life? 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:01.940 Effort. 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:06.639 Straining, sweating, strenuous pursuit of a goal. 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:10.620 Peter says Christians must put in effort. 00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:14.199 The result of grace, the result of our union with Christ, 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:21.319 is that we become athletes, workers, those who sweat in order to gain godliness. 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:24.199 So are you putting in effort? 00:08:24.199 --> 00:08:28.139 Is godliness your goal? 00:08:28.659 --> 00:08:30.279 What are you doing to grow? 00:08:30.379 --> 00:08:31.259 What is your game plan? 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:33.879 Well, Peter wants to help us with that. 00:08:33.939 --> 00:08:35.159 He gets practical. 00:08:35.319 --> 00:08:37.319 What does this actually look like on the ground? 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:42.500 What is meant by this godliness, this divine nature that we share as Christians? 00:08:43.700 --> 00:08:47.020 Well, we saw this morning that it's the moral excellence of God. 00:08:47.100 --> 00:08:49.540 But now Peter gets into the nitty-gritty. 00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:56.440 Godliness isn't an abstract, up-in-the-clouds type of thing that doesn't touch reality. 00:08:56.440 --> 00:08:57.440 It's earthy. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:08:58.440 It's earthy. 00:08:58.440 --> 00:08:59.440 It's practical. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:01.440 There are concrete things to aim for. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:03.440 It's a bit like the gym. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:07.440 During the pandemic, I got into powerlifting. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:10.820 I had a basic home gym. 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:15.220 And when I'd go and train, I didn't just go and pick some random exercises. 00:09:15.540 --> 00:09:18.460 Do a bit of squats and then some pull-ups. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:20.040 I had a plan. 00:09:20.160 --> 00:09:24.800 I had goals and a plan and a list of exercises that I was going to do that day. 00:09:25.300 --> 00:09:28.620 I knew what weight I was going to put on the bar and how many reps I was going for. 00:09:29.340 --> 00:09:32.200 When you've got a goal, you make a plan. 00:09:33.040 --> 00:09:37.120 So here's Peter's plan for our growth in godliness. 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:39.260 Have a look at verse 5. 00:09:40.680 --> 00:09:45.500 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, 00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:48.660 and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, 00:09:49.180 --> 00:09:53.020 and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 00:09:53.660 --> 00:09:58.100 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 00:09:59.420 --> 00:10:03.080 Now Peter isn't saying that you need to add these qualities in this order, 00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:06.840 as if you can't add self-control until you've added knowledge, 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:09.480 or you can't add knowledge until you've added virtue. 00:10:10.460 --> 00:10:15.180 No, this language of adding is to show us that this should always be increasing. 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:17.340 Add this and add this. 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:20.440 Keep adding and growing and gaining more and more. 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:26.280 But it is significant that the list starts with faith and ends with love. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:31.020 Faith is the first one because it's the root of all the rest. 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:36.220 You can't grow in godliness, you can't even begin in godliness without faith. 00:10:37.180 --> 00:10:41.000 Faith is the way we access Christ's power for godly living. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:45.220 It's the starting point of the Christian life which leads to godliness. 00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:48.540 Faith hears the word of Christ. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:53.480 It hears that Jesus is Lord, the Christ, the Son of God, who came to save sinners. 00:10:54.460 --> 00:10:58.019 And faith believes and calls on the name of the Lord to be saved. 00:10:58.740 --> 00:11:01.700 It receives Christ as he is offered in the gospel. 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:05.500 And that forces us to ask, is that you? 00:11:06.620 --> 00:11:08.800 Have you received Christ? 00:11:09.040 --> 00:11:15.340 Have you heard the gospel and believed the incredible news that God offers you reconciliation with him? 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:21.240 That even though you've been a rebel against God, he offers you in Christ a way back. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.320 Because of Christ's finished work, you can be embraced by God today. 00:11:26.540 --> 00:11:28.620 Have you received Christ? 00:11:28.620 --> 00:11:37.299 All that we've been saying about godliness is utterly impossible until you've been joined with Christ through faith. 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:41.820 You can try all you want to add virtue and self-control and love. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:43.500 I can tell you now it won't work. 00:11:45.179 --> 00:11:49.580 It's only Christ's divine power that can make sinners godly. 00:11:50.179 --> 00:11:52.220 So faith is the starting point. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:56.899 Secondly, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue. 00:11:56.899 --> 00:12:01.299 Virtue is an old word that we don't really use much anymore. 00:12:01.419 --> 00:12:04.240 But what it really means is moral excellence. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:06.519 Excellence of character. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:11.899 In fact, it's the same word used in verse 3 about Christ's glory and excellence. 00:12:13.620 --> 00:12:17.939 And moral excellence means obeying God's law, the perfect moral standard. 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:24.480 So when you meet a virtuous man or woman, they stand out, don't they? 00:12:25.180 --> 00:12:29.500 We want to be with God's help, those who stand out in our communities. 00:12:30.180 --> 00:12:35.380 That our friends and our family can genuinely say, he or she has excellent character. 00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:40.040 Think of Jesus, our perfect model of virtue. 00:12:40.260 --> 00:12:42.680 He always does what is morally right. 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:46.679 In his days on earth, he always chose the good path. 00:12:47.359 --> 00:12:48.559 He obeyed God's law fully. 00:12:49.539 --> 00:12:53.399 He said to his fiercest opponents, which one of you convicts me of sin? 00:12:54.299 --> 00:12:55.299 And there was silence. 00:12:57.099 --> 00:13:00.239 Now we will never reach his perfect ideal in this life. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:05.000 But in our union with him, we can increase in virtue. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:12.779 I don't know most of you very well yet, but I've already seen in my short time here, examples of virtue. 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:15.779 So let's be keen for God's law. 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:21.820 Like the psalmist in Psalm 119, who meditates on it when he wakes up and when he goes to bed at night. 00:13:22.460 --> 00:13:27.139 He loves God's ways and his rules and his laws more than a stash of gold. 00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:32.120 If we're asking God to earnestly, teach me your law. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:37.759 If we're hungry to grow in virtue and we're meditating deeply on God's law, we will grow. 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:41.419 Thirdly, knowledge. 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:45.580 Supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge. 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:49.919 Knowledge here is a different word to the one in verse 3. 00:13:50.699 --> 00:13:56.299 Verse 3 was talking about the decisive knowledge of Christ that every believer receives when they're converted. 00:13:56.299 --> 00:14:00.059 But this knowledge in verse 5 is something we're to grow in. 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:03.240 It's a good question to ask yourself. 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:06.719 How much have I grown in knowledge since I became a Christian? 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:09.719 Do I know Christ better now? 00:14:10.259 --> 00:14:12.740 Do I understand the gospel more deeply? 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.019 Do I have more wisdom and discernment in the Christian life? 00:14:17.299 --> 00:14:21.000 That's one of the reasons why we're people of God's word. 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:28.679 Do I spend a lot of time listening to God speaking to us through his word read and preached and Bible studies and all of that? 00:14:29.659 --> 00:14:35.059 We do that partly because we want to fill our minds with more knowledge of Christ. 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:44.659 It's easy to think it doesn't really matter too much if I understand the book of Ezekiel or if I understand the doctrines of the faith. 00:14:44.659 --> 00:14:47.679 I have a relationship with Jesus and that's all that matters, isn't it? 00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:49.500 I love him, he loves me. 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:53.679 Why do the hard work of knowing and understanding stuff? 00:14:54.839 --> 00:14:57.259 Well because we're getting to know Christ. 00:14:57.959 --> 00:15:00.439 That's how we get to know him relationally. 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:06.019 Through his work, through our minds, learning and grasping his revelation of himself. 00:15:07.139 --> 00:15:08.819 Grow in knowledge. 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:11.740 Fourthly, self-control. 00:15:11.740 --> 00:15:17.919 Here we're talking about restraint of our emotions, our impulses, our desires. 00:15:18.779 --> 00:15:24.320 Are there desires in your life that control you rather than you controlling them? 00:15:25.299 --> 00:15:29.240 Maybe it's food or sexual desires or shopping. 00:15:29.860 --> 00:15:32.519 Or you consistently fail to control your emotions. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.620 Anger rises up quickly. 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:40.240 Some of you younger ones, maybe self-control might be something you need to work on. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:42.139 It could be laziness. 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:48.779 It could be staying in bed too long, playing too many computer games or watching TV shows late at night. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:55.600 Whatever it is, Peter wants us to sit down and think, what is it that takes control over my life? 00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:58.340 Where do I want to grow in self-control? 00:15:58.340 --> 00:16:05.580 So we've had faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control and now steadfastness. 00:16:05.580 --> 00:16:10.540 This is talking about holding out in the face of difficulty. 00:16:11.340 --> 00:16:13.300 Life is tough sometimes. 00:16:13.379 --> 00:16:21.440 I don't know what's going on in your life at the moment, but I know that we're all facing some kind of suffering as we live in a fallen world. 00:16:22.620 --> 00:16:26.320 But the Christian has a different reaction to suffering than the number neither. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:33.940 It hurts the same amount, but there's a steadfast endurance that comes from a deep trust in God. 00:16:34.540 --> 00:16:37.520 And that's not saying just tough it out. 00:16:38.180 --> 00:16:44.379 This means hoping in God for the fulfilment of his promises when things look like a disaster. 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:52.100 It means clinging on to the fact that not a hair can fall from our heads without the will of our Father in heaven. 00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:57.779 That means every bit of suffering that the Christian goes through is on purpose. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:01.360 It's working for our ultimate salvation. 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:04.180 Small things and big things. 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:08.539 Failing an exam or getting a bad diagnosis. 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:12.360 Suffering that seems to go on and on. 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:13.319 It's no mistake. 00:17:14.180 --> 00:17:16.660 It's from the hand of a loving and wise Father. 00:17:17.299 --> 00:17:20.579 Working for our ultimate salvation and good. 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:25.199 That is why the Christian can grow in steadfastness through suffering. 00:17:27.139 --> 00:17:28.960 Next is godliness. 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:33.699 Peter's been using godliness as this kind of umbrella term. 00:17:33.879 --> 00:17:36.259 The ultimate goal that we're heading towards. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:37.879 And he started in verse 3 saying, 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:43.799 Christ's power has given us everything we need for life and godliness or for godly lives. 00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:46.519 So it means all of these qualities. 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:48.980 But Peter also uses it here more specifically. 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:53.619 He's describing our attitude and behaviour towards God. 00:17:54.379 --> 00:17:58.460 And that word can mean piety or devoutness. 00:17:59.019 --> 00:18:04.859 It's an awesome respect towards God demonstrated by a life of devotion to him. 00:18:04.859 --> 00:18:11.219 And when you meet someone who reveres God, it affects their whole life, doesn't it? 00:18:12.019 --> 00:18:18.519 We can be earthy, real people and still be captivated with God and with the life to come. 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:22.039 Next is brotherly affection. 00:18:23.180 --> 00:18:26.779 When you become a Christian, you're immediately part of a new family. 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:30.099 An isolated Christian is an oxymoron. 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:35.099 Because God doesn't save individuals to be Christians on their own. 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:38.700 He's making a society, a body, a family. 00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:44.000 And Peter says here we should grow in family affection for other believers. 00:18:44.900 --> 00:18:46.819 We should love the church. 00:18:47.840 --> 00:18:50.160 Church is messy, isn't it? 00:18:51.380 --> 00:18:54.920 And we get on each other's nerves sometimes and we let each other down. 00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:56.120 But we're family. 00:18:57.299 --> 00:19:01.240 And the affection that we have for each other is supposed to grow more and more. 00:19:01.940 --> 00:19:04.759 And that means let's be involved in each other's lives. 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:06.420 Having each other round. 00:19:06.620 --> 00:19:07.279 Eating together. 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:08.580 Being a family. 00:19:08.700 --> 00:19:11.880 Finally, love. 00:19:13.360 --> 00:19:15.779 Love is the crowning virtue. 00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:18.319 It's the one that encompasses all the others. 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:23.480 The whole of God's law is summed up in love for God and love for others. 00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:25.519 We must grow in love. 00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:29.580 Do you remember what Jesus did before he was betrayed? 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:35.960 It says in John 13, having loved his own, he loved them to the end. 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:39.400 The king of the universe took a towel. 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:43.000 He got on his knees and washed the dirty feet of his disciples. 00:19:43.220 --> 00:19:48.660 A job that even an adult slave wouldn't have been asked to do. 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:50.019 It was too humiliating. 00:19:50.019 --> 00:19:53.960 And this was a picture of what he was about to do. 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:55.500 The greatest act of love. 00:19:56.139 --> 00:20:01.339 To lower himself to a degrading, humiliating death in order to wash us. 00:20:01.339 --> 00:20:02.339 That is what love does. 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:04.639 That is what love does. 00:20:04.639 --> 00:20:07.199 And he calls us to do the same. 00:20:07.199 --> 00:20:11.220 To lay down our lives, our desires, our selfishness. 00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:13.559 To serve the brothers and sisters just like he did. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:17.279 Supplement your faith with love. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:24.279 So we've been seeing that we need to make every effort to grow in godliness. 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:28.299 And so far, Peter's been looking at it from the perspective of God's power. 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:33.220 Saying, grow in godliness because Christ's power has secured that God. 00:20:34.220 --> 00:20:36.299 But now he looks at it from the other perspective. 00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:38.139 The other side of the coin. 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:43.139 He says, grow in godliness because it will keep you from falling. 00:20:43.140 --> 00:20:50.320 Now before we get into this, it's helpful to see that Peter isn't just contradicting himself. 00:20:51.080 --> 00:20:55.560 He's not saying, on the one hand your perseverance depends fully on God. 00:20:57.300 --> 00:21:00.140 And on the other hand it depends on your own efforts. 00:21:01.060 --> 00:21:03.240 No, it depends completely on God. 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:11.240 But the means that God uses to keep us persevering is not that he zaps you and makes you automatically godly. 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:17.099 No, he works in us so that we keep on making the effort to grow in godliness. 00:21:18.039 --> 00:21:24.359 And he uses these warnings and these encouragements to stir his people to grow in godliness until the end. 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:27.319 Have a look at verse 8. 00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:45.159 Now I used to think that that meant throwing godliness so you won't be one of those Christians who is a genuine Christian, 00:21:45.659 --> 00:21:48.460 but they're not as fruitful as they could be. 00:21:48.460 --> 00:21:53.680 But actually the danger here is not being less fruitful than you could. 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:55.900 The danger is not being saved at all. 00:21:57.019 --> 00:22:02.920 And this will come out more in the next verses, but this fruit metaphor is one that Scripture uses repeatedly 00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:07.500 to talk about who is a true child of God and who isn't. 00:22:08.299 --> 00:22:09.360 How will you know them? 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:11.160 By their fruit. 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:14.500 This is the way Jesus talks about fruit. 00:22:14.620 --> 00:22:15.259 John 15. 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:19.060 I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. 00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:23.040 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. 00:22:24.300 --> 00:22:26.080 I am the vine, you are the branches. 00:22:26.220 --> 00:22:30.180 Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. 00:22:30.900 --> 00:22:32.540 For apart from me you can do nothing. 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:38.139 If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. 00:22:38.740 --> 00:22:42.839 And the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:49.799 Jesus says you can be in the church, in the vine and yet not bear fruit. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:54.539 And these fruitless branches demonstrate that they were never truly Christ's. 00:22:55.259 --> 00:22:59.259 And so instead of remaining in him and growing in godliness, they fall away. 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:02.440 They're chopped off and thrown into the fire. 00:23:03.539 --> 00:23:07.059 And that's what Peter's talking about with his fruit metaphor. 00:23:07.299 --> 00:23:08.259 So he says in verse 8, 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:11.960 If all these qualities we've listed are yours and are increasing, 00:23:12.859 --> 00:23:16.019 that growth in godliness keeps you from being a fruitless branch, 00:23:16.379 --> 00:23:20.700 which gets chopped off because it's not united to Christ spiritually. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.019 Growing in godliness keeps you from falling. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:30.299 Now again, we need to be really careful to not get this the wrong way round. 00:23:30.299 --> 00:23:34.399 It's not that we earn our place in god's church by being fruitful. 00:23:35.399 --> 00:23:37.079 It's a bit like an apple tree. 00:23:37.819 --> 00:23:41.460 How do you know that the tree in your garden is an apple tree? 00:23:42.539 --> 00:23:44.159 Well, because it produces apples. 00:23:44.899 --> 00:23:47.559 Not figs, not bananas, but apples. 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:51.720 Apples demonstrate and prove that it's an apple tree. 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:56.259 But it doesn't become an apple tree because it produces apples. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:58.299 It's the other way round, isn't it? 00:23:58.299 --> 00:24:02.240 It produces apples because it is already an apple tree. 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:07.839 We produce fruit because we are saved, not to get saved. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:12.359 But Peter's point is, don't stop growing in godliness. 00:24:12.500 --> 00:24:14.400 Don't fall away from Christ. 00:24:14.460 --> 00:24:18.180 If you keep growing in godliness, that will keep you from falling away. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:19.480 Look at verse 9. 00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:34.640 Peter says the whole point of your salvation was to wash you from your sins. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:39.560 So if after a while you say, I can't be bothered anymore with growing in godliness. 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:41.360 It's too difficult. 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:43.620 Sin doesn't matter that much anyway. 00:24:44.380 --> 00:24:50.400 Peter says that's like a pig who's had a wash and decides to go and roll in the mud again. 00:24:51.259 --> 00:24:52.700 That's what he says in chapter 2. 00:24:52.780 --> 00:24:55.960 He says people who fall away, chapter 2 verse 20, 00:24:55.960 --> 00:25:21.259 We have been cleansed from our sins by the precious blood of Christ. 00:25:22.019 --> 00:25:24.819 How can we turn back to live in sin again? 00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:31.180 Verse 10 is the key summary verse of this passage. 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:33.160 Look down with me to chapter 1 verse 10. 00:25:35.620 --> 00:25:39.940 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. 00:25:40.579 --> 00:25:44.539 For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. 00:25:46.120 --> 00:25:47.920 Confirm your election. 00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:53.840 Again, we're getting that strange combination of God's action and our action. 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:59.659 If God is the one who elects, he chooses, he calls us who he saves. 00:26:00.039 --> 00:26:05.159 None of us would ever be saved unless God chose to pour his mercy out on us. 00:26:05.659 --> 00:26:08.500 Unless he called us irresistibly to himself. 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:12.639 And yet Peter says, confirm your calling and election. 00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:15.920 Peter's basically saying there, prove. 00:26:16.660 --> 00:26:20.100 If you're an apple tree, prove it by producing apples. 00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:23.140 You don't earn your election. 00:26:23.280 --> 00:26:26.920 If you're in Christ, God chose you before you did anything, good or bad. 00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:28.620 But here's the thing. 00:26:28.660 --> 00:26:30.860 How do we demonstrate our election? 00:26:31.580 --> 00:26:33.820 By the fruit of a growing volume. 00:26:33.819 --> 00:26:36.559 That's the result of salvation. 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:41.460 So Peter can say in verse 10, if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:49.579 For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:53.460 It's a bit like a marathon. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:27:00.579 I don't know if any of you have taken part in a marathon before, but in a marathon there's something called a sweet bus. 00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:06.279 And a sweet bus is the bus that collects the runners who are unable to finish the race. 00:27:06.980 --> 00:27:10.980 Because every single marathon there are those who decide to give up along the way. 00:27:12.019 --> 00:27:20.199 And when you're slowing down and struggling and looking like you're about to stop, the sweet bus creeps up next to you and asks you if you want to continue. 00:27:21.500 --> 00:27:24.579 The thing is, with a marathon, you have to keep running. 00:27:24.579 --> 00:27:30.699 You can't stop and take a rest and say, I'll just recover my energy and keep going in a minute. 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:33.399 That strategy almost never works. 00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:36.519 If you stop, you'll never get going again. 00:27:36.639 --> 00:27:40.359 You lose your momentum and you end up on the sweet bus. 00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:43.480 Do you know what happens to those runners? 00:27:44.500 --> 00:27:47.480 Their record gets stamped as E-N-F. 00:27:48.399 --> 00:27:49.579 Did not finish. 00:27:49.579 --> 00:27:50.339 Did not finish. 00:27:52.139 --> 00:27:54.019 Christian life is a marathon. 00:27:54.379 --> 00:27:57.480 We can't stop and take a rest when it gets hard. 00:27:57.559 --> 00:27:59.799 We have to keep growing in godliness. 00:27:59.939 --> 00:28:04.159 We have to keep pressing forwards and moving onwards or we'll end up the same way. 00:28:04.879 --> 00:28:06.019 Did not finish. 00:28:07.799 --> 00:28:10.539 But by God's grace, that will not be us. 00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:15.899 Christian, Christ's divine power is at work for your godliness. 00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:18.420 So make every effort. 00:28:19.380 --> 00:28:25.140 As he works in and through our efforts, as we practice these qualities, we will never fall away. 00:28:25.280 --> 00:28:28.380 He will present us blameless on that last day. 00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:33.920 Growing in godliness by Christ's power will keep us from falling. 00:28:35.100 --> 00:28:38.040 Let's finish with these words ringing in our ears. 00:28:38.940 --> 00:28:43.560 His divine power has given us all things for a godly life. 00:28:43.559 --> 00:28:48.279 So make every effort to grow in godliness. 00:28:50.039 --> 00:28:51.339 Let's pray.