This sermon by Mr. Lindsay Stephens is titled "Do We Value Our Calling?" Part One discusses the importance of recognizing and valuing the calling from God. It emphasizes that while mankind was created in the image of God, spiritual development is necessary to fully reflect God's likeness. The sermon explores the story of Ruth as an example of someone who chose to leave her past life and follow God's path. It highlights the significance of our own decisions and the redemption offered by Jesus Christ. The sermon also discusses the process of salvation and the simplicity of the gospel message. Lindsay concludes by emphasizing that our calling goes beyond worldly agendas and that God's wisdom surpasses human understanding.
And this sermon is going to be, it's titled, Do We Value Our Calling? We know in Genesis 1-26 that mankind was created in the image of God after his likeness. Unlike God the Father and the one who became Jesus Christ, there was a beginning for man from the creation of Adam and Eve. However, the job was only half done because man was only created as a physical being. To be made fully in the image and likeness of God, mankind would need to develop perfect spiritual character.
This means that there has to come a time when there is a calling from God to each individual, either in this life or in a future resurrection. In this message, brethren, I want to focus on our calling by God the Father, the great opportunity it has given us for our eyes to be enlightened to God's truth, his plan and purpose revealed through his Sabbath and Holy Days, the sacrifice it took for Jesus Christ to redeem us by his shed blood and enable us to have open communication with the Father in the Holy of Holies through Jesus Christ.
With this and so much more revealed in the Word of God, do we really value a calling God has given us? There are many aspects or components to our calling by God. I intend to list just five of them in this message and continue on with more of them in part two in a later message. At this point, I would like to turn to the Book of Ruth. Now, this book is often associated with the Feast of Pentecost because of the association with the barley harvest.
However, in this message, I intend to look at it in terms of our calling. And while the Book of Ruth is only a short story of some four chapters, it carries a big message in the context of where it leads. I just want to pick out a few key verses in this book. So we begin in chapter one. The background to it involves a man named Elimelech with his wife Naomi and sons Marlon and Chilion who migrated from Bethlehem to Moab because of a famine.
Naomi's sons both married Moabite women, Ruth and Alta. However, within ten years, Elimelech died as well as Marlon and Chilion. This left Naomi and her daughters-in-law in a precarious condition for them to eke out a living. So from this dire circumstance, Naomi made the decision to return to Bethlehem in Judah. Now, while Naomi was fond of her daughters-in-law and vice versa, she knew it was the right thing to do to give them both the option to remain in Moab, return to its people, worship its gods and have the freedom to marry Moabite men.
So let's go to chapter one of Ruth, of the book of Ruth. And we begin here in verse 14. And they lifted up their voices and wept again. So it was a very emotional experience here. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And Orpah's name actually means one who turns away. So she did turn away and return back to Moab. Continuing verse 15. And she said, Naomi said to Ruth, Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods.
Return back with your sister-in-law. The next couple of verses can be among the most profound in scripture when we apply it to ourselves and indeed any human being sooner or later. When applying this in spiritual terms, everyone will have to make this decision before conversion when being called by God. And to the majority it will be in the second resurrection. In verse 16. And Ruth said, Do not beg me to leave you, to return from following after you.
For where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die. Where I will be buried, may the Lord do so to me. And more also, if anything but death parts you and me. From this point on, the young widow's life would never be the same. And by leaving her homeland and going with Naomi, Ruth renounced her citizenship in Moab with the words, Wherever you go, I will go.
Where you stay, I will stay. Ruth separated herself from her country of origin. She abandoned one kingdom to be joined to another. She renounced her people and claimed Naomi's people, the nation of Israel and its God, as her own. And previously living in paganism in Moab, she would have worshipped many gods. But by her confession, Naomi's God, the God of Israel, became Ruth's God. There are similarities with us when we respond to God's calling. We made a choice to separate from a kingdom of darkness under Satan the devil, to be transferred into a kingdom of light under Jesus Christ.
Matthew 13, verse 43 and Colossians 1, verse 13. Many of us, no doubt, can remember the specific time in our lives when we resolved in our minds that we were going to go in a direction from which we will never turn back. Digest of the tree of life and live by the word of God. I can remember in my own life, the point when I decided to choose to attend services each Sabbath during the seventies and not look back at my past, such as being in a Protestant church on Sundays and playing cricket on Saturdays.
Anyway, as I mentioned in Deuteronomy 14, 24, verse 19, Ruth was doubly qualified to glean in the barley fields because she was a widow and because she was poor. Something had to be done to put food on the table. So in chapter 2, we carry on the story. So in chapter 2, verse 2, And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find grace.
And she, Naomi, said to her, Go, my daughter. And this could be likened to newcomers coming into the church, being called into the body of Christ and being welcomed in the church. In verse 3, And she went and came and gleaned in the field after in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come upon a field, part of a field of boas, it was of the kindred of Elimelech. God obviously had a hand in which field Ruth was going to be gleaning in.
It just doesn't happen by chance. Once boas discovered who Ruth was and of her devotion, he dealt kindly during the next few verses. So let's go to verse 11. And boas answered and said to her, It has been fully shown to me that all that you have done to your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people whom you did not know before now.
Well, verse 12 was a prophecy from boas that was largely fulfilled by boas himself, who married Ruth and redeemed the house of Elimelech, having carried out Naomi's instruction of lying down on the threshing floor at the feet of boas, who acknowledged her character in chapter 3. So let's look at verse 12 of chapter 3. I'm carrying on the story here. And now it is true that I am your kinsman-redeemer, but there is also a kinsman nearer than I.
The kinsman nearer than boas did not take up the offer. The indication is that boas was considerably older than Ruth. We won't go through the elaborate obligation mentioned in Deuteronomy 25 verses 5 to 10, but because boas and Ruth loved each other and boas performed this obligation and redeemed the family of Elimelech, boas was a type of Christ in this redemption. We also know that the genealogies of boas and Ruth extend through King David and down to Jesus Christ.
With our calling and repentance to conversion, baptism, the laying on of hands, and our receiving of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is our redeemer by his great sacrifice for us. Like Ruth, when we were called by God the Father, we made the choice to leave the world, its false values and agendas, to choose to follow God's way of life. Why has God called us and what is his purpose? When we were called, when we were first called, we tended to ask a lot of questions such as this.
But once called, we came to understand that salvation is a process over time which involves much learning and overcoming. Let's have a look at what Paul has to say about those whom God has called. In 1 Corinthians, we go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, where Paul has quite a bit to say about those who are being called who are new. In verse 17, we pick it up in verse 17. For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel, and with the wisdom, not with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made void.
So the gospel is to be made simple and easy to understand, not requiring words and language difficult to understand. For to those who are perishing, the preaching of the cross is foolishness, but those who are being saved, it is the power of God. So those who are foolishness, those who don't believe in the word of God. And it is a process. We are in the process of salvation. Continuing verse 19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will nullify the understanding of those who understand.
So he was quoting from Isaiah 29 verse 14, where the educated and the elite will not understand God's plan of salvation. And continuing in verse 20. For where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age or the debater? Did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world? The sense in your wisdom, in the wisdom of God, the world, through its own wisdom, did not know God. It pleased God to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching.
God allowed the world to follow in its own wisdom. It has the choice to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. The Jews wanted a messiah to come and free them from the Roman rule. The Greeks sought after wisdom from philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and Pythagoras. And continuing on in verse 23. But we proclaim Christ crucified. To the Jews it is a cause of offense and to the Greeks it is foolishness.
But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom. Our calling goes far beyond the agendas of the Jews and Greeks. Far beyond anything physical. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that there are not many who are wise according to the flesh. Not many who are powerful and not many who are high-born among you.
So God works the opposite to the way people think. Certainly the way people think in this world. Rather God has chosen the foolish things of the world so that he might put the shame on those who are wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world so that he might put the shame on the strong things. So we are nothing in this world and society. And the low-born of the world and the despised has God chosen.
Even the things that are counted as nothing in order that he might bring to nothing the things that are. So all the people that are today in high esteem all the rich, the powerful, the elites in the world today will be brought to nothing. Why is that? So that no flesh might glory in his presence. So here is the reason why God called the weak of the world. But you are of him, in Christ Jesus, who was made to us in wisdom from God even righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
So the redemption of Jesus Christ is ultimately for all mankind far more than the redemption of Boaz for the family of Elimelech. So that as it is written, the one who glories, let him glory in the Lord. So all glory goes to God. So there are many components or aspects to our calling. I just want to briefly mention a few of them here. In fact, in this message, five of them. And the first one that I'll mention is that because of our calling we are subject to God because we are owned by him and Jesus Christ being his property.
Therefore, we are not to be subject to this world under its God, Satan the devil. Why? Well, look at what Jesus said to his apostles at his last Passover on the earth. This is in John chapter 15. We go to John chapter 15. John chapter 15 and verse 18. This is John talking to his disciples here. If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you are of the world, the world would love its own.
However, because you are not of the world, I have personally chosen you out of the world. The world hates you for this. And we can't take this casually, brethren. For what we will do for eternity depends on how we deal with it. How we deal with our calling. And let's look at a verse in chapter 17 of John. Chapter 17. Chapter 17 and verse 16. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
So he repeated it here. The principle here is that we are not to be accepted by this world, its values, nor its agendas. And Paul also emphasised this in Romans. And it's a scripture we all know very well. Romans 12, chapter 12, verse 2. Romans 12, verse 2. Do not conform yourself to this world, but be transformed. In other words, changed. Changed from the way we were. By the renewing of your mind in order that you may prove what is well-pleasing and good, and the perfect will of God.
And we had a sermon recently on thoughts, the way we think, and our thoughts towards God's thoughts. People with human nature want to be accepted by the world and have recognition to the wrong standards. But we are to test and prove all things. When we do this, we'll be able to test and approve what God's will is. Galatians 5, verse 16 tells us now, This I say, walk ye by the Spirit, and ye will not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
The fruits of the Spirit being love, joy, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control, are mentioned in verses 22 and 23 of Galatians 5. We do not belong to ourselves when we are not part of this world. Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians, and Corinth was an immoral society. And it's even more so than the rest of Greece. Premarital and extramarital sex was part of that culture in Corinth. So we go to 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians 6.
We have a look at this, what Paul's addressing here in verse 18. Please sexual immorality. Every sin that a man may commit is outside the body. But the one who commits sexual immorality is sinning against his own body. What? Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, which you have within you from God, and you are not your own. This is referring to looking after ourselves in body and in mind. And continuing verse 20.
For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. So the sacrifice of Christ's blood, we were bought with that. And because we belong to the Father and to Christ, we don't credit anything to our own abilities. We follow up in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 5. There's no need to turn there. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 5. Not that we are competent of ourselves or credit anything of our own abilities.
Rather, our competency is from God. The second component of our calling is to testify to the light. Jesus had a purpose to bear witness to himself as the light comes into the world from heaven so that those who follow him in faith may share in his light. In John 1, verse 5, it says, And the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness does not comprehend But the darkness does not comprehend or overcome it. And in 1 John 1, verse 5, it says, And this is the message that we have heard from him.
And I'm declaring to you that God is light and there is no darkness at all in him. Now let us turn to Matthew 5. Matthew 5 is where, what is called the Sermon on the Mount. And Jesus is talking to his disciples. And we'll pick this up in verse 14. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do they light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket, but on the lampstand and it shines for all who are in the house.
So what comes out from us bears the fruit of the Spirit. Our light is what comes out by the Spirit. In verse 16, In the same way also you are to let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and may glorify your Father who is in heaven. So all glory goes back to God. In the Gospel of John, there is a lot mentioned about light. We pick up a passage where Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, a leader of the Pharisees.
And unlike a lot of the other Pharisees, Nicodemus wanted to know a bit about what Jesus was about. So at least he took the effort to go to Jesus and ask some questions. We pick it up in verse 19. And this is the judgment that the light has come into the world. But men loved darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil. For everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his works may not be exposed.
So people do not want to be exposed nor criticize for their evil works. It's human nature for people never wanting to admit that they are wrong. Continuing verse 21. But the one who practices the truth, so it's a way of life, comes to the light so that his works may be manifest that they have been accomplished by the power of God. Satan, who is the God of this world, and is deceiving the whole world, has put this world in almost total darkness.
And Jesus said in John 8 verse 12, I am the light of the world. The one who follows me shall never walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. This light of life is the enlightenment of our mind with the truth of God. In God's word, life has always been a symbol of holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom, grace, hope, and God's revelation. Another component of our calling is to be humble servants of our owner, king, and saviour.
So this is point three. An example of how we should be found is in Luke 14. So in Luke chapter 14, it's how to react when we're in company or when we're at a gathering. Luke 14 in verse 8. Where Jesus says, When you're invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit in the chief place, lest someone more honorable than you has been invited by him. So, in Proverbs 29 verse 23, it says that pride comes before all.
For the one who invited you and him shall come to you and say, Give place to this one, and then shall you begin with shame to take the last place. But when you're invited, go and sit down in the last place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he may say to you, Friend, come up higher. Then shall you have honor in the presence of those who are sitting at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and the one who humbles himself shall be exalted.
And while we're in the book of Luke, let's turn to chapter 22. And this was said at Jesus' last Passover before his crucifixion. And it was also said immediately after an argument among the disciples as to who would be the greatest among them. So, in Luke 22, and he said to them in verse 25 of Luke 22, and he said to them, And continuing verse 26, Rather let the one who is greatest among you be as the younger, and the one who is leading as the one who is serving.
For who is greater, the one who is sitting at the table or the one who is serving? Is not the one who sits at the table, but I am among you as one who is serving. And Jesus certainly provided many examples of serving during his ministry of teaching, healing and encouragement. He came from being co-creator of the universe to be made in the likeness of men and took the form of a servant. Philippians 2, verse 6 and 7.
Humility and righteousness does have its rewards. And I have some quick scriptures to back this up and there's no time to turn there. Matthew 5, verse 3. James 4, verse 10. 1 Peter 5, verse 5. Proverbs 22, verse 4. And Proverbs 15, verse 33. So humility is not just an inherent virtue, but a way of life as part of our calling and is the way the converted should relate to one another. Look at the way God views it in Isaiah 66.
Well known to us, so Isaiah 66. And we go to verse 1. The last chapter in Isaiah. Where then is the house that you build for me? And where is the place of my rest? So he starts off here. And God is the great creator of all these things. But now he comes to the point in verse 2. For all these things my hand has made, and these things came to be, says the Lord. But to this one I will look.
To him who is a poor and contrite spirit who trembles at my word. Well, this is the sort of person that God is looking to. Number 4, as part of our calling. We are to be the sheep of the good shepherd, Jesus Christ. And there are many verses in scripture referring to sheep in God's plan. Perhaps the most familiar is Psalm 23, which I will turn to here. Psalm 23, which is very familiar to all of us.
And we go through the whole psalm. So beginning in verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. If we rely on our shepherd, we will not be in want or lack anything spiritually. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leaves me beside the still waters. And being fully, this is being fully nourished with the word of God. He restores my soul by the resurrection. He leads me in the path of righteousness.
By the resurrection. By the resurrection. He leads me in the path of righteousness. For his name's sake. And we are to walk on the narrow path. And that's referring to the crucifixion. They comfort me. So that is living, eating and digesting the word of God. You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over. So the table is laid out for us, providing us with strength to deal with our enemies or trials that we encounter.
In this life we do encounter trials. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So this goes on into the ages of eternity. This is what our good shepherd is prepared to do for each one of us. In Psalm 100 verse 3 it says, We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. In John chapter 10, Jesus has a fair amount to say about the shepherd and his flock of sheep.
So let's go there to John chapter 10. John chapter 10 and beginning with verse 1. Verse 1. So this is referring to counterfeit and false religion. And continuing verse 2. And Jesus says in Revelation 3 verse 20, As the flock that belongs to the true shepherd, we will open the door for him to come in. His sheep know him. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
So our shepherd knows us all by name. He leads them by the Holy Spirit. When he brings the sheep out, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. We follow the scriptures. If we follow the scriptures line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, rightly dividing the word of God, and proving all things, then we will know God's voice all through his word, and by his word.
In verse 5. Of strangers. Strangers bring false doctrine. I can remember when Worldwide went off the track. But they were still keeping the feast, the feast days, and at many feast sites, they invited guest speakers from Protestant, Pentecostal, or even Catholic churches. Now how much, how much of God's plan would these guest speakers know? Therefore Jesus said again to them, Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
They will not listen or recognize those whom they do not know. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he shall be saved, and you shall go in and out, and find pasture. The pasture is the word of God, and the truth that God's ministers preach to them from God's word. In verse 10. The thief does not come, except to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. And this is what Jesus Christ did for each one of us, and ultimately for all mankind. In verse 12. But the one who is a highling, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leads the sheep, and flees. And the wolf seizes the sheep, and scatters them. Now the highling flees, because he is a highling, and has no concern for the sheep.
Perhaps we can define that as corporate minister paid by the organization, providing that he adheres to the doctrine of that organization, and self-preservation is his agenda. Jesus says again in verse 14. I am the good shepherd, and I know those who are mine, and am known of those who are mine. I refer here to 1 John 4 verse 2. By this test, that is testing the spirits, you can know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come into flesh is from God.
And just as the Father knows me, I also know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Without the Holy Spirit, we as sheep are very vulnerable to the evil of this world. Sheep do not have good eyesight, and they need to be led. We need our good shepherd to lead us in our calling. In the book of Matthew, twelve apostles were given a warning with a task that Jesus gave them to do.
So in Matthew chapter 10, in Matthew chapter 10 in verse 16, we have this warning from Jesus to his disciples, to the apostles. Behold, I am sending you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as ducks. It means to have discernment and sound judgment. While we do not have to deal with the dark spiritual wilderness, while we do have to deal with the dark spiritual wilderness of this world, we are given encouragement throughout God's word.
And let's look at Isaiah. Isaiah gives us a lot of stark warnings in prophecy, but there is a bit of encouragement as well in this book. In Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 11. In verse 11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather his lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those with young. So with the limitations and frailties that we have, it takes time for us to overcome our faults.
And for many of us, it takes a lifetime. So this leads us into the next aspect, number five. Next aspect of our calling that I want to mention. We are called to overcome. What are we to overcome? Some things instantly come to mind. We are to overcome sin, our human nature, our doubts and negative attitudes, obstacles and opposition under Satan's influence. We all know that we can't do any of this on our own or by our own effort.
But with God's Spirit, we can overcome. And we see here in 1 John chapter 5. So in the epistle of 1 John chapter 5. In 1 John chapter 5. In 1 John chapter 5. And it's verses 4 and 5. Now then, everyone who is begotten by God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world. Our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world? Even the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
So it takes faith and belief to achieve all that we need to overcome in this life. So please turn to Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12 is just after the faith chapter of Hebrews 11. And this is where we have so many fine examples of people of faith who had to overcome and had to endure difficult trials and obstacles. So Hebrews 12. And verse 1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great throng of witnesses referring to those who do it, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entraps us and let us run the race set before us with endurance.
Now what is the sin that Paul's referring to here? It's the sin of drawing back, of slipping away. And that would include longing for the past before we were called. We can't be like Lot's wife who looked back, longingly I suspect, and was changed into a pillar of salt. Don't let anything get in the way of us and God. We can't overcome unless we have God's spirit. 1 John 4 verse 4 says You are of God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is He who is in you than the one who is in the world.
Let's turn to Revelation chapter 2 to look further on overcoming. Revelation chapter 2 and this is part of the letters to the churches, to the seven churches. In this one, verse 26, where it says And to the one who overcomes and keeps my work unto the end, I will give authority over the nations. There are rewards for overcoming that encourages us to continue in God's way. And he shall shepherd them with an iron rod as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces as I have also received from my Father.
Now except the Ravine, it doesn't mean cruelty but of unbroken rulership. So we don't have to worry about elections or anything. In verse 28 And I will give him the morning star. The morning star is eternal life. We will shine as the stars and what we need to do is lay it out for us in God's word. In Romans 12 verse 21 it says Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. Also in Romans it says in chapter 8 verse 37 But in all these things we are more than conquerors or overcomers through him who loved us is made possible for us to overcome through the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 12 verse 11 The same promise that God gave to Jeremiah applies to us today. So in Jeremiah chapter 1 God gives him some encouragement and Jeremiah is in many ways a hard book because of what Jeremiah had to endure knowing that the house of Judah was going to fall to Babylon. But in chapter 1 verse 19 it says this And they shall fight against you but they shall not overcome you for I am with you says the Lord to deliver you.
And this applies to any enemy of God. We have the promise of deliverance. Here is another promise that God makes for one who overcomes according to God's will. We go back to Revelation in chapter 3 which is still part of the letters to the churches and in this case it's to Philadelphia. In verse 12 The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall not go out anymore and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God and the new Jerusalem which will come down out of heaven from my God and I will write upon him my new name When we think of a pillar we picture a support structure as part of a building In this case it is one who is part of the very fabric of truth teaching and righteous authority To be able to endure we need to be able to overcome trials that we will encounter sooner or later Let's turn to James and see what it says in his general epistle In James chapter 1 James 1 and verse 2 Consider in all joy my brethren when you are beset by various trials and this is one of the fruits of the spirit to have joy and part of overcoming is to have a positive attitude towards trials In verse 3 Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and this is why we have trials it strengthens our character But let endurance have its perfect work so that you may be perfect and complete not lacking in anything and this is talking spiritually where we gain substance in faith that God will follow through with his plan for us and ultimately for mankind Romans 5 verse 4 states Endurance brings forth character and character brings forth hope With the emphasis on our calling and thinking of how much value we need to place this one special privilege God has given us I have one more scripture to mention on this aspect of overcoming and there are so many other components to our calling that I will need to do part 2 on this another time But here we come to 2 Peter The second book of Peter In chapter 1 and in verse 5 and this is let's see and we have here the reason for being partaking of the divine nature in verse 5 For this very reason also having applied all diligence so it takes a lot of diligence besides add to your faith virtue so right values doing what God says and to virtue knowledge and that's not the carnal knowledge of this world but the knowledge of God's word in verse 6 and to knowledge self-control and that is moderation in all areas of life controlled thought of appetite and in everything we do and okay and to self-control endurance and this includes being courageous steadfast and patient towards other people and to endurance godliness one definition of godliness is the quality or practice of conforming to the laws and will of God devoutness and moral uprightness and to godliness brotherly love so in John 15 12 it says this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you and to brotherly love the love of God and that is the God they love and in verse 8 we have the condition if and if if is applied in any sentence then will be the actual result of it if it's applied so in verse 8 it says if these things exist and abound with you the word then might apply here then they will cause you to be neither lacking effort nor lacking fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ so this is this is the result of doing these things these aspects are just a few of the many reasons why the many reasons why our calling should be valued above anything else in our physical lives on the earth I plan to provide part 2 next time with more of these reasons why of what a great opportunity God has given us with our calling so thank you brethren
