Preacher- Dave Evans
Audio
sermon 20th October 2002 Venue Jubilee Church More
Sermons |
Sovereignty and Responsibility
2Tim 2:19
Nevertheless,
the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those
who are His,"
and,
"Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from
wickedness."
Let us imagine the doorway or the
gateposts of heaven. (No bad jokes involving some angel as doorkeeper this
morning).
Now, many gateways or doorways have
inscriptions on them — the gate into one Nazi concentration camp infamously had
the sign “Arbeit macht frei” - “Work brings freedom”.
Many places of worship have foundation
stones which you read as you approach the doorway.
Paul pictures the household of God (or if you will, the gates of heaven) as having these two inscriptions — like foundation stones — perhaps one on either side of the entrance:
1.
"The Lord knows those who are His,"
and,
2.
"Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from
wickedness."
Context:
Why does Paul say this? He has just
mentioned two false brothers… “Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have gone astray
from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they
upset the faith of some.”
Hymenaeus had already a
dishonorable mention in Paul’s earlier letter to Timothy:
1Tim
1:18-20 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the
prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good
fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and
suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.. Among these are Hymenaeus and
Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to
blaspheme.
Now, his name comes up again with
another — Philetus — and they are recorded in Scripture for all church history
as men who went astray from the truth.
These were men who had walked in
the truth for a while, but now were gone seriously astray. They were now
teaching false doctrine. We might perhaps identify them as “good men gone bad”
or even "believers who did not last”. What can we say about such people?
Paul’s answer is that despite such
“good men going bad” the foundation of God’s house stands firm, but we need to
read and remember these two inscriptions or seals before us. I believe that the
instruction contained in these two foundational statements is particularly
helpful for us just now.
The first “seal” gives God’s
perspective upon such “good men going bad”. Paul had been hurt and disappointed
by the turning away of these men — were they believers after all? The first
part of the answer is that it is really the Lord’s business who is saved, who
enters through the door to His eternal dwelling place. Salvation belongs to the
Lord.
The second shows our part. Everyone
who claims to be a Christian must live as a Christian. We are responsible for
our way of life. It is our business in this life to forsake sin and to live for
God.
These two statements are two tracks
or perspectives that run throughout Scripture. We see them right at the outset
in Genesis 1 and 2:
Genesis 1
- Creation from the heavenly perspective
Genesis 2
- Creation from the earthly perspective
Theologically, these two strands of
truth in 2tim 2:19 are called “divine sovereignty and human responsibility”.
We might put them very simply as
stating on the one hand what is God’s part, and on the other what is our part.
What is God responsible for, and
what am I?
One set or track of Scriptures
teach us that God is sovereign in power, wisdom and holiness, acting with
eternal purpose in grace and power towards helpless and hopeless sinners.
Another track emphasises our duty and response to the good news of His grace.
Here (rather rarely) in this
Scripture those two tracks of truth are brought together, and pictured as being
twin inscriptions on the doorway to God’s household.
Both are “foundational”. Both must
be received and believed, and built upon in our lives.
We must understand what is God’s
part, and what is ours. What He undertakes, and what we must undertake.
Now we’ll look further at each of
these two statements…
"The Lord knows those who are His"[1]
He is the all-knowing God. He knows
all things, and the end from the beginning. He is the Eternal One, not like a
creature of time like me. How could He not know those who are His?
We have the assurances of the Lord
Jesus that He does indeed know those who are His:
Joh 10:14* "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know
Me,
Joh
10:27-30* "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. I and the Father are one."
This “knowing” signifies love and
intimacy.
This “knowing” is “chosen” and
“elect”, not just “foreseen”:
Rom
8:29-30* For those whom He foreknew, He
also predestined to become conformed
to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He
also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Compare with:
1Pe 1:20* For He [the Lord Jesus] was foreknown before the foundation of
the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you…
Was the Lord Christ only foreseen by the Father, or chosen and
appointed “before the foundation of the world”? What is said of Him in 1Pet 1
is said of us in Rom 8, and agrees with other such statements as…
Eph 1:4-5* …just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself
God has chosen a people for Himself from before the foundation of the
world:
In fact, the names of those who are
His were written in “the book of life” “from the foundation of the world”.[2]
Practical application:
The Lord
knows those that are His. Our faith rests in the great God, who has called us
by His grace, according to His own eternal purpose, and for His own glory. His
calling out a people for Himself springs out of His own wisdom and love, and is
to the end (goal) of His own glory. My favourite analogy in Scripture which
summarizes His great purpose in saving lost people is that of the Father giving
a Bride to His Son.
He truly
and only knows those who are His. He knows those who are called a Christian but
are not. He knows those who are false, He knows those who belong to Him and
those who do not. He knows the difference between one of His sheep, which has
wondered astray, and a wolf which has put on a sheepskin and learned to say
“baah”.
The Lord
knows… and we may not know. We cannot infallibly say who is “saved”. Paul could
not.
(See 2Tim 2:24-25 “…if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the
knowledge of the truth…”)is in the end God’s business. It is a glorious and
wonderful and fearful business. He knows exactly what He is doing out of His
own wisdom and mercy and for His own glory.’s turn now to our business…
"Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from
wickedness."
Some Greek versions have “Lord” but
others have “Christ”, but the meaning and application is not affected by this.
If you call yourself a “Christian”
you are naming the name of the Lord Christ, and if you do so you have
undertaken this lifelong task — to abstain from wickedness. To do no wrong.
Paul: “Now I pray to God that you
do no wrong.”
More than that, to do good, to be
holy (set apart for God) and to live for the glory of the Lord Christ.
In other words. those who call
themselves a Christian should live as a Christian - a follower of the Lord
Jesus. Their life should be characterised by forsaking sin and pursuing a life
of love, faith, and obedience towards the Lord Christ.[3]
Let me ask some hard questions.
What sense is there:
in
someone saying that they “gave their life to the Lord” when they are not living
for the Lord?
in
claiming to be “born again” (which means born of God), when they do not behave
as a child of God?
in
claiming to have eternal life, yet showing no evidence of that life?
as James
puts it… in claiming to have faith, but showing no evidence of that faith?
in
wishing to go heaven to be with the Holy One, but not now pursuing holiness in
preparation?
"The
Lord knows those who are His,"
and,
"Everyone
who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness."
One
famous preacher of a past century was told “Sir, I saw one of your converts out
in the street, dead drunk”, to which he replied “Ah, then the poor man was
perhaps one of mine as you say, and not the Lord’s”.
Faith,
thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone
instrument of justification: yet is it not alone in the person justified, but
is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but
worketh by love. [Westminster Confession of Faith]
Here is a helpful summary:
THE
LORD’S BUSINESS OUR
BUSINESS
Calling Preaching
Redemption & Regeneration (Whom He buys and births) Repentance & Conversion
(Changed lives)
Destiny (Arriving) Discipleship
(Walking)
Fate Faith
& Fruit
Preservation Perseverance
(Patience)
Heaven Hope
& Holiness
Security (Keeps
us…) Purity
(Keep ourselves…)
Do you see what is the Lord’s
business and what is ours? (We could make an even longer list).
What is my part? What am I
responsible for? (Why does Paul not say “sanctification” in Rom 8:29-30?
Because it is our responsibility.)
Yet it is still all by grace:
“By grace
we are what we are in justification, and work what we work in sanctification”.
[Richard Sibbes]
Let’s apply this to mission and
outreach:
Our goal is not even decisions for
Christ, but disciples of the Lord Jesus.
It is in our concern for
faithfulness and fruitfulness that we work out the issue of our fate.
It is in addressing the issues of
repentance and conversion that we may discern (though not infallibly) whether
someone has been born of God.
We need to be clear about and to
set about what is our business.
The grace of God is seen to be at work in that which is our business
— Barnabas was sent to investigate reports of believers in Antioch, and saw the grace of God [Acts 11:23].
We need to “make our calling and
election sure”, to live as children of God, as His saints (holy ones). Our
lives and characters demonstrating His grace towards us, His life and power in
us.
2Pe 1:1-11* Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To
those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness
of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
Grace and
peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life
and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory
and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent
promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world by lust.
Now for
this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral
excellence, and in your moral
excellence, knowledge, and in your
knowledge, self-control, and in your
self-control, perseverance, and in your
perseverance, godliness, and in your
godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your
brotherly kindness, love. 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. 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.
See what Peter is saying? See to
your part in living as a Christian. Your entrance into the eternal Kingdom of
the Lord Jesus is assured when you do this.
Who will share in His glory? Those who glorify
Him in this life.
Who (according to the Lord Jesus)
will see God? The pure in heart.
We are called to… “Pursue peace
with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”
[Heb 12:14]
“Everyone
is just as holy as he wants to be”. [AW Tozer]
Now, it is God who is at work in us
by His own grace and power. That grace appears in us, teaching us and bringing
us to honour Him. Our getting on with “our business” is still entirely by the
grace of God, yet we must awake, we must act. Both the “inscriptions” are true.
The life of a Christian is a path,
a journey:
Prov
4:18-19* But the path of the righteous is
like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they
stumble.
Mat
7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate;
for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there
are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that
leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
You start upon this journey with a
view of the gates of heaven as your destination, and this morning we have been
considering these two inscriptions as pictured for us there.
One gives great comfort: "The Lord knows
those who are His"
The other is a great challenge: "Everyone who names the name
of the Lord
is
to abstain from wickedness."
With both comfort and challenge
before us we start on our journey.
There are first steps on this path
- important steps. How you start affects how you go on.
The first steps of being a disciple
of the Lord Jesus are:
·
Repent
·
Believe
·
Be baptised in water
·
Receive the Holy Spirit
·
Be added to the church
Yet these are just the beginning of
the path that leads upward to life. God calls you to walk it, confident in the
fact that at the end your name was already written in His book from the
beginning of time, yet walk you must - forsaking evil, forsaking all other Gods
and names but the Lord, trusting in and obeying only Him.
The gateposts of glory have before
us these two inscriptions. The God who saves, and a people who evidence that
salvation rather than just lay claim it. Their lives speak of the grace and
glory of God, and not just their mouths.
Application:
The God who seeks, and calls, and
makes alive, and brings to share His own glory has been here with us now. How
has He been speaking to you? Has He been challenging you about your way of
life? Has He been speaking the words “Wake up. Get up. Live!” to you? Shouldn’t
you now be saying “Yes. I hear Your voice, Lord, and I respond, believing and
obeying You”? Have you turned to and trusted the Lord Jesus to save you?
If you already heard His call to
awake and to live for Him, and have recently responded — what next? Well, what
about the practical first steps of being a disciple of the Lord Christ? Where
is repentance and conversion to be worked through? In what ways do you need to
learn to trust and obey Him? What about preparing to be baptised in water. to
receive the Holy Spirit. to be added to a local church?
Christian, (whether you have been
such for many years or for just a few days), you are called to walk a pathway
to life. You are presented with both comfort and challenge. Do not think that
you may have heaven without holiness. Keep on seeking the kingdom of God and
His righteousness. It is impossible to be born again again and you can’t be
baptised again in water or in the Holy Spirit, but you can keep on living a
life of repentance, of believing, of being filled with the Holy Spirit, and you
can choose to stay close and involved with God’s people, His church.
Live for the glory of the God who
has called us to share His own glory!
CELL GROUPS
2Tim 2:19 - “The gateposts of heaven”
[Divine sovereignty and human responsibility]
Read 2Tim 2
Two statements stand like
foundation stones for our attention:
"The
Lord knows those who are His,"
and,
"Everyone
who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness."
·
What assurance (comfort) do you get
from the fact that: “"The Lord knows those who are His,"
·
What challenge do you personally
find in the fact that: "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to
abstain from wickedness."
·
Consider 2Pe 1:1-11 — how are you
making “certain about His calling and choosing you”? are you adding to your
faith?