Today's sermon passage is coming from 2nd Peter chapter 1 verses 5 through 11. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the Word of the Lord. Growing up, one of my favorite, if not favorite musical artists, was the musical genius himself, Stevie Wonder. And one of Stevie's greatest hits is a song entitled Living for the City. How many of you remember that? I know Bob does. There's a few of us who familiar with the words of boy. It's born in a hard time, Mississippi, surrounded by four walls that ain't so pretty. His parents give him love and affection to keep him strong and moving in the right direction, living just enough. Just enough for the City. Did I do Stevie just as well? You may not realize that this morning, I love it, but this is in one sense the anthem of the Christian life. We are living for City. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 10, we find that Abraham was doing just that. Abraham was confidently, the Bible says, looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. In Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 14, we are again reminded for here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Like Christian, in the pilgrim's progress, we are living and longing for the celestial city. Or Stevie Wonder would say, living just enough for the celestial city. Unfortunately, most people, however, are not living for the celestial city. Most people are just living for the weekend. But we are called to live for more than they're here and now. We are called to live for the here and now, however, but we are also called to live for that which is to come. And living for the city, beloved, is living in light of the future revelation of Jesus Christ. This is what we mean when we say living while saved. Living while saved means living for the city, for the celestial city, for the coming kingdom of God. And those who are living saved are those who are living in light of tomorrow, in light of the return of Christ, in light of the full revelation of His kingdom. Over the past couple of weeks, a few weeks, we've preached two messages on living while saved. Chapter 1, verses 3 through 4, we talked about living while saved God's power and promises. And verses 5 through 8, we talked about living while saved our faith and fruitfulness. This week we pick up in verse 9 through 11, living while saved, our past, present, and our future, living in light of tomorrow. If you were here last week, you remember that we spoke of the spiritual supplements needed for a faithful and fruitful Christian life, you remember? We were told in verse 5 of chapter 1 and second Peter that we are to make every effort to add these things to our faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, rudely love, and affection. These, the Bible says in verse 8, right, are the things that keep us fruitful, these are the things that keep us effective for our Lord. But if we honest this morning, unfortunately, many of us fail. Many of us are negligent in adding these elements to our faith and why? Why are we negligent? Why do we often fail to add these things to our faith? Well, I think the Bible tells us one of the reasons why in our text this morning, one of the reasons why we fail to add over negligent and adding these elements to our faith is because we fail to remember our past. Notice what verse 9 says, whoever lacks these qualities is so near-sided that he is blind, having what? Forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Now, I won't you understand something this morning that Christians are not those who live in the past. Okay, we don't wallow in our past sins and thus become bondage to the guilt of them. But nevertheless, we need to understand that our past, while we don't live in it, our past should be pushing us forward. Our past should point us to God's grace. When we remember who we were, then it calls us to rejoice in who we are. We remember who we were before Christ, and that can cause us to rejoice in who we are in Christ. First Timothy, chapter 1, in verse 13, the Bible reminds us that Paul wasn't crippled by his past, but he never forgot it either beloved. He remembered that he had been forgiven, that he didn't deserve grace, that he had received mercy, that he had been washed from his sin.
And our text this morning tells us in verse 9, that those who don't remember are short-sighted or blind. We're short-sighted because we only see what we see today. We are blind because we don't see where the Lord has brought us from. And we take grace for granted. And this blindness is forgetfulness. We're blind, and we're blind. We forget what God has done. And when we forget what God has done, what does that do? That causes us to fail to add goodness to our faith because we forget how good God has been in washing away our sins. In chapter 43, in verse 25, the Bible says, God says, I even I am He who blocks out your transgressions for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. We forget that. And when we forget that, we fail to add goodness to our faith. We fail to add knowledge because we are too easily, we too easily forget who Jesus really is. And what He means to our salvation. The Bible says in Colossians 3 and verse 11 that Christ is all, all and all of this world to me. The reason you and I don't add knowledge to our faith is because we forget that Christ is everything. Of Christ where everything, if He was all and in all, we would be seeking to add Him daily to our faith. So we forget, we forget, and we fail to add knowledge. We fail to add self-control because we forget all that Christ has suffered in saving us from our sins. We forget. We fail to add endurance because we forget how God has graciously endured and put up with our sin and our rebellion and our unbelief. We fail to add godliness because we forget that Christ is always with us, that He has promised never to leave us or forsake us, that He is a very present help. And because we forget, we fail to add godliness to our faith. We fail to add brotherly affection because we forget, as Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 11 said that Jesus Christ is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters, though He has every right to be ashamed of. And when we forget that, He calls us brothers and sisters. We fail to add brotherly affection to our faith. I love it. I want you to understand something this morning. I don't want you to wallow in your past sins. I don't want you to be held captive to any guilt that the Lord has removed. But I also don't want you to be near sighted or blind. No, we never plunge the depths of God's love in the forgiveness of our sins. But love it. Let us never stop trying. Trying to understand, trying to get more of Jesus building upon the faith that He has granted to us. Let us remember, pray, Lord, lead me to Calvary. Let's I forget, get simile. Let's I forget, dinagony. Let's I forget, I love for me. Lord, lead me, lead me, lead me to Calvary. But that's how we preach the gospel to ourselves. You just ask the Lord, Lord, take me to the cross again. Let me see Jesus. Let me see Him there. All that He has done for me. Let's I forget, lead me again. Live and save. I'm forgetting our past. Live and save is also living in present. But the Bible says rather than forget, the Bible says in verse 10, right? Rather than forget, what are you to do? You are to be all the more diligent or make every effort. There it is again. Make every effort be the all the more diligent, rather than forgetting, make every effort to make your calling an election sure. For if you practice these qualities, those elements, those supplements to your faith, if you practice these qualities you will never fail. You basically remember your past. I love it. If you do, if you do that, then it should impact your present. It should impact the way that you are living your life. For then you will understand that not only are you new, but others will see the difference and you will notice it too. You will notice it too. God desires His people to have hope. God desires His people to be assured of His grace. And beloved, this is the hope and this is the assurance with which you began the Christian life. If you are Christian this morning, you began the Christian life in the confession of your faith and baptism. But your confession of your faith and your baptism, they were not just your beginnings, but they were also God assurance to you and confidence that you belonged to Him. And having confessed your sins and having received baptism, God now wants you to continue in them. Continue in your confession, continue walking in light of your baptism because when you do this, when you continue to walk in the confession that you made and when you continue to walk in light of your baptism, then you are making your election and your calling sure, your hope and your assurance, then is rooted in this election and calling. These two important theological elements and understandings go together. In fact, beloved in the scriptures, they are virtually synonymous. No one is called who is also not elect. And no one is elect who is not eventually called. Those chosen, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 4, chosen, before the creation of the world, those also called according to God's grace and timing. In chapter 8 and verse 30, the Bible says, in those whom He predestined He also called, in those whom He called, He also justified in those whom He justified, He also glorified. Election and the calling go hand in the hand. An election, beloved, so that we understand currently this morning, is the free sovereign will of God to choose whom He will to be saved. In other words, salvation is the prerogative of God. Romans chapter 9, the verse 15 and 16 God says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion but on God who has mercy. Understand this truth this morning. If you haven't before, if you get it down in your soul, it can change your life. If you are saved this morning, it is not because you so desired it. It is because God desired it for you. Beloved, the first time that I read that in the Spirit of the Lord, pressed that into my soul, I cried like a baby. This is the love and the mercy of God to His people this morning. You didn't choose Him, He chose you. And the election and the calling of God is God planting you in the vineyard of His kingdom. He plants you in the vineyard of His kingdom and then He says, now you bear fruit, giving evidence that I have in fact indeed planted you. You are calling an election sure. Therefore, by adding to your faith, by building on that faith in Romans chapter 8, verse 16, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is in your life to assure you that you belong to Jesus. And Beloved, when you grieve the Holy Spirit, you know what you do. You short circuit your assurance when you don't yield to the Holy Spirit. When you buck at the Spirit of God, you short circuit your assurance. You say you trust in Jesus and the Holy Spirit is in your life to make sure that you show it. You say you love Jesus and the Holy Spirit is in your life to make sure that you demonstrate that. So assurance beloved, assurance comes to those who are seeking to live assured lives. Bible Beloved doesn't promise assurance to people who are not seeking to live assured lives. What the Bible says in verse 10, listen, if you practice these things, you will never fall away. But assurance comes for those who are seeking to live assured lives. Now listen, don't get me wrong. Don't misunderstand this morning. The elect do not become unelected. Okay, God doesn't impeach those whom he elects. Doesn't happen. Okay, those called don't become uncalled. But those who are called and those who are elect are seeking to give evidence of that truth. And therein is the assurance. Therein is the confidence. If I might illustrate this before you, beloved, and I realize this is a flawed illustration, but it's the best I could come up with on a week's notice. My wife and I, did you think that was, did I tickle you? I tickled myself too. My wife and I have been married now for over 26 years. Wow. No, it's not Mother Mary, where's Mother Mary? It was just like yesterday. Kind of. My wife and I have been married for over 26 years now. And on our wedding day, we exchange vows. And we exchange rings. And in one sense, beloved, that was our election and calling. And ever since that day, we have been seeking to make that election and calling sure. In other words, I am married to my wife, but I shouldn't take that for granted. I need every day to be given her the assurance that I am married to her. And we assure each other and everyone around us that we are married by seeking every day in every way to make our marriage sure. When you were saved, beloved, the Lord gave you a vow. And then when you were saved, He gave you His Holy Spirit as a ring, a commitment, a down payment, or eternal life. And if it is your responsibilities every day from that to be making sure that you give evidence, the fact that you are in covenant relationship with Him. It is your responsibility every day to make that calling an election sure. So that not only you know it, but others know that you have been chosen by God. You belong to Him. You're married to Christ every day to make that calling. This love is the guarantee of your future. See that in verse 11. For in this way, the biosex. For in this way, there will be there, for there will be richly provided for you and entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In other words, you make your calling an election sure by not living for the weekend, but you live for the city. You're living for a future city. You're living for a future eternal kingdom. We live our lives today, looking for our and longing for our place in the kingdom of Christ tomorrow. Now, I want you to understand something that the Bible teaches. And that is that in one sense, the kingdom of God is now. The kingdom of God has come when the king came, so did his kingdom. That's what Jesus said right in Mark chapter 1 and verse 15. Jesus said that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Where the king is, there is the kingdom. But even as the kingdom has come, the promise of the scriptures and even the promise of Christ, is that the fullness of the kingdom of Christ is still yet coming. It's coming. And we live in light of that. We live in light of the full revelation of the coming of the kingdom of Christ. Now, I don't want you to get me wrong that we don't have a pie in the sky by environmentalism. Yes, yes, we live today. And today, right now, we live kingdom lives. There are kingdom promises that we are to be realizing now. And yet we know that whatever kingdom promises and kingdom realities that we walk in today, there is yet so much more to come for those who are faithful and endure to the end. This is what Jesus said on several occasions. And one is Luke chapter 18, verse 30. It says, truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left houses or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God. He's talking about right now. Right now. Right now, living, seeking to live kingdom lives. There's no one who is seeking to live a kingdom life right now and therefore has to have to leave house and wife and brothers and parents and children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times more in this time. But guess what? There is still much more to come in the age when the kingdom is realized. But notice the kingdom of God that is to come is the kingdom that is assured for saints, for the saints, for the saints, for love it. The assurance, the assurance, then, notice is not for saints acting like sinners but the assurance is for saints acting like saints. And this should become your motivation. A lot of this should become a motivation for living the Christian life, for being faithful and fruitful to live in light of the fact that there is a coming kingdom and you want to be richly welcomed into it. Grace is a biblical motivation for Christian living. You know that. Grace, our past, as we saw before, what God has done for us in Christ Jesus, the second Corinthians, chapter seven, in verse one. Therefore, Paul says, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting, holding this out of the reverence of God. There is a motivation when you understand what God has done for you in the past and he has given you his mercy and his grace that he has renewed you and brought you into the kingdom of his dear son. This becomes a motivation whereby we purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit. But that is not the only motivation so our text this morning gives us another motivation and that is the receiving of a rich welcome into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Future in mind in which I want to be welcomed into Christ's presence. I want to reach the gates of the celestial city and the gates are thrown wide open. This is where this is where Christian was going and filled with progress. He always had the city in view so that when he got there, the gates would be flung open and he would be welcomed. I was born and raised in the country and you know what most young people do in the country? Always trying to figure out a way to get to the city. That is what we did. Every day, trying to figure a way, how are we going to get to the city? We wanted to see the city lights. We wanted to experience the city nights and then I got to the city. And when I finally got to the city, I realized there wasn't all that. There was city lights but there was some crowded streets and there was city nights but there was some loud and rude people. But like many young people, I was living for the city. But you do understand that there is nothing wrong with living for the city. You just have to make sure that you live in for the right one. The right city. Live for the city of Abraham. Again in Hebrew, chapter 11 and verse 10. The Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with the eternal foundations of the city, design and built by God. Look for Abraham, the city. Look for the eternal city and Hebrews, chapter 13 and verse 14. For we have no lasting city here but we seek a city that is yet to come. Look for the city of God. The one God is preparing for the saints of God and Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 16. But as it is, they desire a better country. That is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for He has prepared for them a city. It is an eternal city. It is the city of God. It is a city that God has promised that He would richly welcome His saints into it. Or as another translation says, God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal kingdom of the Lord, your savior Jesus Christ. I want you to understand something. No matter what life looks like now for you or for any saints now or the saints don't sneak into the eternal kingdom of God. The saints don't sneak into the back door. The saints don't go into the kingdom of God on crisis. The saints don't go into the eternal kingdom of God in wheelchairs. The saints don't go into the kingdom of God leaning on kings. Brother Stephen Biden or the saints go marching in. The saints go marching in. The faithful pilgrims will be astonished beloved at the lavish provisions that God has provided for them when they come and to enter into the next world. They don't go leaning on kings. They don't go on crutches. When the saints go marching in. I don't know about you but I want to be in that number. When the saints go marching in. If you were to die today, say, you're going to go marching in. Would you receive a lavish welcome with the gates of the city. Be flung wide open and the king of the city say to you, come, come my good and faithful servant, come and enter into the joy of the Lord and his kingdom. Will that be you this morning? It can be but it is not a person here. You should leave this place. I've been assured that they are going to be entering into the kingdom of Christ when he comes. The Lord is here this morning. He desires that you would trust in him, that you would turn your gaze from looking for the cities of this world and that you would behold the glory. The city that is to come and that you would turn your heart and your mind and all your attention to that city and he says to you, come, there's anyone here this morning and the sound of my voice was not confident and assured that Jesus Christ is your Savior. Oh, I want to pray for you this morning. Right where you are. Right where you are. Right now, let the Spirit of God is here this morning according to this word. Call upon the name of Jesus and be assured that you belong to Him. The Holy Spirit will come to you and bear witness with your Spirit that you belong to Jesus. All of you would just pray and call upon the name of the Lord this morning. I want to pray for us. Indeed, I want to pray for you. If you're here, then bow our head and trust the Lord Jesus together.