Living While Waiting for Christ’s Return

Transcript

GRM 886
Living While Waiting for Christ’s Return
II Peter 3:1-15
02-01-04


II Peter chapter 3, and Peter here is talking about the believer’s destiny, heaven itself, the glory of God’s presence. It is Peter’s second and last letter, it’s a letter written in the shadow of his impending execution. He knows that he will soon leave this life, the Lord has made that known to him. He knows that he is not going to see the return of the Lord before he dies. In fact in chapter 1 verse 15 he tells his readers that he is writing and reminding them of these things so that “after his departure they can call it to mind.” Here is a man who has taught and preached the coming of Jesus Christ and now he is about to give his life a martyr to testimony for his faith in Christ. Yet he is unshakably convinced that Jesus Christ is coming again, and everything will unfold exactly as God has promised in His Word.

In chapter 1 of this letter Peter talked about the wonder of our salvation. We became partakers of the divine nature and participants in precious and magnificent promises, he talked about in verse 4. Verse 3 he talked about “his divine power granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” He is concerned that the believers be unshakably grounded in the truth of what God has done. In chapter 2 he gave a very strong warning about false teachers. He described their character and it is as strong a condemnation of false teachers as you can find anywhere in scripture. Men will come and distort the Word of God, corrupt God’s truth, attempt to lead people away from the truth, attempt to bring confusion to God’s people. That chapter concluded with a proverb that is very striking, a dog returns to its own vomit. These false teachers who have been exposed to the truth of God and now have twisted and distorted and abandoned it, they are like the dog that returns to its own vomit. Nothing worse than having been exposed to the truth and then to turn away from the truth; to have professed the truth and now to deny and reject the truth.

Now as he comes to the third chapter of this little letter he’s ready to wrap up his comments and he has some further words of reminder. He starts chapter 3 by saying “this is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the word spoken by the prophets and by the apostles.” In chapter 1 of this letter verse 12 Peter had said, “therefore I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and have been established in the truth which is present with you.” I know I am telling you things you already know, I’m telling you things that you’re already putting into practice. “I consider it right as long as I am in this earthly dwelling to stir you up by way of reminder.” As long as I have breath, and I know I don’t have many breaths left, because verse 14 he says So what I’m going to do is reinforce to you the truth you have already known, you have already learned, you are already practicing.

So you come to chapter 3, that’s what he want to do. And you’ll note he calls them beloved. Four times in chapter 3 he’s going to address them as beloved, those that he deeply loves. He’s reminded them of their salvation and the need to be diligent and to continue to persevere in chapter 1. He’s warned them of the false teachers, and now let me remind you again of how you are to live in light of what lies before us.

His first letter was I Peter as we know it, so this is his second letter as he refers in verse 1. And their mind is pure. Peter is confident he’s writing to believers, believing Jews, primarily, who have been scattered in various parts of the world. Your pure mind. He’s said some harsh things about false teachers, but he is confident that their mind and devotion to Christ has remained pure. They have maintained a purity of devotion to Christ, as Paul referred to it in II Corinthians 11. But I want to stir up your pure mind by way if reminder. You’ve not been defiled by the false teachers and the false teaching, and I just want to be sure you stay on the path. Be reminded. You know much of our Christian life, after the early period and the early years is reminder. We’re always learning more, growing, getting deeper in our knowledge, we might say. But you know the newness does wear off, something like a courtship and a marriage. You know in those early days you’re getting to know one another and there is an emotional height and a sensationalism to it because our senses are heightened. But you know you get married, the years go by, the love deepens, it may not be the emotional thrill every day that it was when you were initially dating, but the love has settled into maturity. It’s not less, it has just grown. That’s the way it is in our Christian lives. You know initially there is the enthusiasm and the thrill of being made new in Christ and everything we’re learning in the Word is new and fresh. You know after 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years, however long you’ve known the Lord, much of what we’re doing in the Word now is what? Repeating what we’ve been through.

You know I’m amazed as I move through the Word. Usually I listen to it when I walk in the mornings if I’m not listening to another tape. I’m amazed at how many times I get to a portion of the Word and I have to stop where I want to stop and make a note. I have to go back and look through this again. I had forgotten that’s there, or I had forgotten how pertinent that is. I say boy that really is a rich portion of the Word. I say well you were just through that not that long ago. But you know I’m reminded, I need to be reminded. Some of you remind me what I preached on a portion. I say that was good, I ought to go back and listen to that tape. Because the Word of God is alive, it is fresh, it’s real. That’s what Peter is doing here.

What’s he want them to do? He wants them to remember the Word spoken beforehand by the holy prophets, the commandment of our Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. I want you to remember the Word of God, the Old Testament as we know it and the New Testament. The Word spoken beforehand by the prophets. This is in a perfect tense there, denotes something that happened in the past but is ongoing in its impact. There is a permanence to it. So that Word is still the Word of God. Don’t want you to forget what the prophets said, I don’t want you to forget what the apostles of Jesus Christ have taught, which is what we have now as our New Testament. The anchor of your life, what you need to continue to be reminded of is the truth of the Word of God. And as he prepares to depart this physical life, he knows that the anchor for their lives as God’s people will be the Word of God. Peter will be gone, they won’t be able to write Peter a letter, to have a personal conversation with him. Paul will be gone, the other apostles will pass off the scene. But the Word of our God stands forever. So I want you to remember the Word of God given to the prophets in the Old Testament, given to the apostles as we have the New Testament.

Knowing this first of all. Here is something of prime importance that you must be aware of and remember. That in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts and saying where is the promise of His coming? We’re going to be highlighting a broader section so we’re not going to do all the details here. Last days refer really to the days of the Messiah, encompasses everything from the first coming to the second coming of Christ. But an awareness that the world is not going to get better and better. He’s talked about the false teachers, a warning to God’s people that the prophets in the Old Testament and the apostles in our New Testament have reminded us that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking. A mocker is someone who scorns the Word of God, who denies it, either openly rejecting it or by his attitude and practice. He’s had some, might I call them extreme examples, in chapter 2, blatant examples. But there are people who just aren’t interested in the Word of God, and when you present the truth of the Word of God, the truth of the coming of Christ, to them it is something of scorn, of mocking. You Christians have been talking about Christ is coming, Christ is coming, Christ is coming for a couple thousand years. Do you understand everything is going on just like it has for generations? How can you believe such silliness? You want me to stop and give attention to the fact that Christ is coming. Well you know people 100 years ago were saying Christ is coming, 200 years ago, 500 years ago, 1,000 years ago. I mean, this is just silliness. And one way or another that’s the attitude of the unbelieving world, because if they did believe He was coming then they would be moved to prepare themselves for such coming.

The last days mockers will come with their mocking. What do mockers do? They mock. Remember Psalm 1:1, the first Psalm and the first verse? Refers to those who sit in the seat of the scornful, those who have no time in their lives for the Word of God, the truth that He has made known. It’s not going to get better, we can expect it to get worse. Mockers will come with their mocking, their scorn. He gives two participles, phrases here that describe these mockers. They are following their own lusts, they follow their own lusts, they are driven by their lusts, their own selfish pursuits. Their life is built around them. They’re not interested in talking about the future, in talking about Christ’s coming and heaven. They’re interested in what can satisfy them now. That’s the way our world is built, that’s the way things appeal to us, that’s the way our commercials sell things. You deserve it, you’ve earned it, we want you to have what you deserve. And self reaches out to grab it. That’s the way the mockers live.

That’s not all. Since that’s their lust, the second participle describes them in verse 4, they are saying where is the promise of His coming. All things continue as they were from the creation. You know out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So they say this regarding the coming of Christ because they are driven by their lusts, selfish ends, selfish fulfillment. For the mockers come. You try to share with them, you know, Jesus Christ is coming again, you need to prepare. Oh my, all I can see in my mind is that old-fashioned picture of the guy with the sandwich board advertisement walking on the sidewalk, the end of the world is near. It becomes an object of ridicule. Went down to the university or other public place and said I want to talk to you about the fact that Jesus is coming again. What do you think the attitude would be? Here is another one of these people who are living in the past and haven’t caught up to date and so on. They’re saying, where is the promise of His coming. It’s a sarcastic, it’s not a question, show me. It’s sarcasm, and it follows up with their response.

For ever since the fathers fell asleep all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. You understand, we think evolution is new. Well maybe the concept, particularly described credited to Darwin and back in that time. But you know people’s attitude has always been the same in the way they live. They don’t recognize a sovereign creator, so they think the world just runs and you have to get all you can while you can, and live your life with gusto, and take every opportunity to enjoy yourself. When young people get to college what do they want to do? Party, party, party. People want to drink and have a good time. Why? Because you have to enjoy life. What is behind that? Because this is all there is and if you don’t do it now what will you have? That’s the thinking of the world, and there’s no thought of Jesus Christ is coming. We ought to live our life expecting that Christ is going to come and with that coming there will be judgment. No the mockers live with their mocking and they want to know where is the promise of His coming? What evidence do you have? You understand as far back as we can go this is the way people lived, people either enjoyed life and got what they could out of life while they could, or they ended up just nothing. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. And if we don’t die we’ll get too old to eat, drink and be merry. Lead the way, let’s do it while we can. That’s the thinking of the world. We act like my what’s happened to our world. People are so short-sighted in the way they live. You understand it was that way in Peter’s day. Peter is writing to believers because he doesn’t want them to get infected and affected by the thinking of the world. So he’s reminding them, be prepared and be ready for the kind of thinking you will confront.

When they maintain this, that things have always been the way they are, that there’s no God who’s behind it all, above it all and in control of it all. Certain things escape their notice. This escapes their notice, that by the Word of God—I want you to underline or highlight, however you mark your Bible, verse 5, “by the Word of God.” Then down in verse 7, “by His Word.” Remember up in verse 2 he told them “remember the words,” that’s what God has said. Now down here, “it escapes their notice,” verse 5, “by the Word of God the heavens existed long ago. The earth was formed out of water and by water.” He takes you back to Genesis 1. He says you know what these mockers are overlooking? That God sovereignly created the world by His Word. He spoke the Word and it came into existence. When he says it escapes their notice, that’s sarcasm he picks up on. Where they’ve asked where is the promise of His coming, he says it escapes their notice. They choose to overlook the proof.

We won’t go back to Genesis 1, but you’re familiar in Genesis 1, “and God said let there be light, there was light.” And God said, and there was. And God said, and there was. He spoke the word and the world was called into existence. And He separated the waters above the firmament from the waters below the firmament, the world was created out of the water and by the water. He picks up that emphasis on the water because he’s going to move to the second thing God did with His word, and that was bring judgment on His creation with the flood in the days of Noah.

Through which, verse 6, the Word of God is that which is operating. The Word of God is alive and powerful, God’s Word never returns to Him empty, failing to accomplish His purposes. Through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. So God created the world out of the water, the He had brought into existence, and then He destroyed the world with the water. You can read in Genesis 7 the great flood in the days of Noah. “The fountains of the great deep,” verse 2, “opened, the floodgates of the sky were opened. Water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so all the high mountains were covered. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the land.” Quotes from Genesis 7.

They choose not to face reality, they choose not to confront the fact that this world came into existence through the Word of the sovereign God. Great scientific minds that plumb the marvels of our creation, something of its complexity, how it all works together, and you’d think these minds would be falling on their face saying there must be an awesome God who has brought this magnificent creation into existence. But they are the very ones that lead the opposition, mocking those who would believe in a creating God. They choose not to face reality. It escapes their notice. Well I don’t believe in coming judgment. Well it escapes your notice that this sovereign God wiped out the humanity that lived in the days of Noah, with a few exceptions, Noah and his family. The judgment of God can be frighteningly fierce. They choose not to face reality. When God speaks, what He says comes about. He called the world into existence, He destroyed the world. How did He do it? He did it by His Word.

You can see where Peter is going, and then we’ll go there with him. God created the world in the beginning, Genesis 1. Then He destroyed the world with the flood. Now He is going to destroy the world again with fire, then He’s going to recreate the world again. So you have creation, judgment, judgment, creation. The way Peter is going to develop it. All by what? The Word of God, reminding them as he said in verse 2, don’t forget what the prophets said. Don’t forget what the apostles said. The point being, God’s Word is effective. Heaven and earth will pass away, my Word will not pass away, Jesus said. The prophets spoke of the durability of the Word of God with the passing of the heavens and earth. And they all get rolled up as a scroll, but God’s Word is eternal.

So these believers, as Peter is passing off the scene, are to have their lives anchored in the Word of God. Understand the problem here that relates to what we’ve been studying in Timothy is the church, the pillar and support of truth. Where churches are trying to build their ministry to appeal to the mockers. They call them seekers, but those who do not want the Word of God are not seekers. And those that are open to the Word of God respond to truth. So we delude ourselves into thinking we water down the truth, make it less offensive. I’ve been invited to speak at a conference I’m going to speak at in May, and they want me to speak on some of these matters relating to what is going on in these kind of movements. And you know I was reading in one of the books as I was preparing in my mind of how you get a crowd, and the importance of drawing a crowd, and how Jesus built the crowds. You know if I was going to write something about Christ I would write how He drove the crowds away. The crowds came to Him because they were attracted by the miracles and were amazed at His teaching as one who had authority, but it didn’t take Him long to disperse the crowds, offend the people. And 3 years of His ministry was all they could take, and then they took Him and crucified Him. Somehow we’ve lost our way.

What Peter’s writing is to draw a line. You, the people of God, must keep focused on the truth, and you will be doing that in the context of people who treat the Word of God with scorn and mockery, choose not to believe what God says. He’s the one who created the world, He’s the one who brought the world to judgment. He’s the one who will bring the world to judgment again, not with water but with fire. And He is the one who will create a new heavens and a new earth.

By His Word, verse 7, verses 5-6 remind us of the past. Verse 7 carries us to the future, and it’s the same Word of God that’s operating. By His Word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men. So the same Word that was effective in creating the world, in destroying the world has spoken to coming judgment. I don’t know all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. There is a certain element of truth in that. Let’s drop the flood out of it because I don’t want to face that judgment. But I mean watch the history channel or read the history books and they take you back to the civilizations before Christ. And they were having wars and battles and building houses and working jobs and learning trades and living and dying. So basically life just follows its patterns. But we do have the Word of God on the subject. All things are not going to continue as they are today. They weren’t that way all the way back, there was a beginning when God brought everything into existence by His Word. And there was a judgment, when He dealt with it, and we have His Word on the subject. This present heavens and earth, the earth and heavens that surround it, are being reserved for fire, kept for the Day of Judgment and the destruction of ungodly men. Couldn’t be any clearer, reserved for fire.

We don’t have time to go back and look at some of the other passages, we won’t take the time to do it. But we have the Word of God, judgment is coming. And we have an example from the past of the judgment God brought on the world. People do the study and hear about the flood. Well you know that’s just part of mythology of that day and if there was a flood it was probably somebody writing an account of a local flood that happened in their area that seemed to them to be so overwhelming. And they wanted to make the point it was an overwhelming flood so they just made it a flood over the whole world instead of their area. And it escapes their notice, they just choose to reject it. They are mockers, they treat the Word of God with scorn.
But understand what is happening with the present heavens and earth. They are being kept for a coming day, a Day of Judgment and destruction. Well what do you say about the length of time? Well Peter draws here from Psalm chapter 90 verse 4. Listen to Psalm 90 verse 4, we won’t turn there, you can jot it down and look at it later. “For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night.” Peter says in verse 8, “do not let this one fact escape your notice beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.” Peter is concerned. Note what he says in verse 8, “do not let this escape your notice.” For the mockers, verse 5, “some things escape their notice.” Now don’t let this kind of thinking begin to corrupt your thinking. We all know what it’s like when people perhaps of position, influence, degrees present their challenges. Like we rock back on our heels and say well you know maybe we’ve gone too hard or put too much stock in this idea of the coming of the Lord.

So you hear churches, you hear people saying you know I’m sure whatever the Lord is going to do in the future, He’ll do. But I’m concerned, how can I live my life today, we have to be practical. Look at our families are falling apart and you want to talk about the coming of the Lord. Don’t you think we ought to be talking about how we ought to have families that are living the way they should. We have all this kind of trouble and turmoil and you want to talk about Jesus Christ is coming. We think oh I’m bringing people to church today, hope we’re going to talk about something practical that they’re going to relate to. And they come and we say we’re going to talk about Jesus Christ and His coming. Well at least I hope it’s exciting prophecy. And you know we get intimidated by what’s going on in the world. Pretty soon our thinking is shaped by it, pretty soon we don’t want to talk to people about the Lord’s coming and judgment is coming because they think that’s foolishness. Remember when Jesus got done teaching, you know what the disciples said to Him? Do you know that the Pharisees were offended by what you said, as though Jesus ought to be structuring His teaching to not be offensive. Do you think Jesus didn’t know He offended the Pharisees with His teaching? I mean He knew what was in the hearts of men and the disciples are telling Him you know you offended the Pharisees. I mean the very fact they would even say it, that we would say to the Lord of glory did you know you offended them.

We don’t say it exactly that way, we just help God out. But in the back of our mind you know what we’re saying? God, do you know what you said here is offensive to these unbelievers? We’re thinking it is better not said. We don’t disagree, it’s Biblical, it’s true, and it ought to be taught, but I don’t think we ought to teach it here, not in this service, not in this setting, not at this time. Which is another way of saying what? God can be offensive and so we’re cleaning Him up. You say I don’t like you to talk like that, that almost sounds like blasphemy. It does, doesn’t it? But what are we saying? We’re embarrassed for God. You know what He said here is offensive, it’s not acceptable to educated people. So we’re going to help Him out by, if you will, sealing His lips on certain things.

What Peter says, don’t let this one fact escape your notice. Before you’re overwhelmed with all the scientific evidence and what the great minds of our day think, not much time has gone by as God looks at it. One day with the Lord is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. Now we want to be careful when we’re reading scripture. It doesn’t say one day is a thousand years, it’s like a thousand years. It’s what the psalmist was writing in Psalm 90. He compared the brevity of our life with God, with eternity. You know what’s yesterday going to seem like to you, what do you think about yesterday? Today it’s gone, I mean, it’s gone. Well you know that’s like a thousand years with the Lord. So we think for 2,000 years the church has been preaching the coming of Christ, but it’s nothing. It’s like yesterday when it’s past. That’s not that much time. Think about it, when we have been in the glory of God’s presence for 974 million years, I just made that number up. It’ll happen, we’ll have been there for 974 million years and maybe you’ll remember and you’ll come up to me in glory and say remember when you gave that example 974 million years? That’s how long I’ve been in eternity. What will a thousand years seem like?

You know I think $1,000 is a lot of money. We have certain individuals in our country who are worth billions. You know they think of $1,000—nothing. I mean they’re making that much in a minute or so. We’re thinking boy I wouldn’t want to waste $1,000. You know I’m watching the travel channel and they’re showing rooms that cost $7,500 per night, a night! Who would sleep in that room? You’d have to stay awake and look at it, look at it, look at it, look at it, don’t close your eyes, look. And you know what they said? You have to make your reservation for that room far in advance, it’s booked ahead. I’d like to just walk through, not be charged, just walk through. You know it’s nothing. We have to think our God is in control of all this. He’s preparing us for eternal, eternal glory. It’s nothing. A thousand years, Lord we’ve just been toiling and laboring so long. It’s nothing, it’s nothing.

Why is he telling them that? So that the attitude and mocking of the world doesn’t being to wear them down. You know they’re right, it’s been a long time. When I started the ministry 40 years ago you know what I was telling people? The Lord is coming. You know what? He hasn’t come. That’s a long time, that’s only 40 years. You know what, I read books and writings of men from hundreds of years ago and you know what they were telling the people of their day? The Lord is coming. You know maybe the mockers are right. Doesn’t seem He is in any hurry. He’s right on time, He’s never slow, He’s never late. He’s always right on time.

So he’s writing, verse 8, for our encouragement. Are we winding down? Shouldn’t. The Lord is not slow about His promise as some count slowness. He is patient toward you. Why didn’t the Lord come. Well He doesn’t want anybody to perish, but He wants everyone to come to repentance. Listen to Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 3, for the vision, the revelation God has given to Habakkuk, “the vision is yet for the appointed time. It hastens toward the goal, it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it, for it will certainly come, it will not delay.” God is always on time, not a half second early, not a half second late. Why didn’t God come yesterday? Because there were some people He wanted to save today. Don’t you have dual feelings about the coming of the Lord. Oh Lord I wish you’d come now, I’m ready for glory. But then as you think of loved ones and friends that don’t know the Lord you think what? Well Lord I want you to come quickly now, but Lord don’t come before they get saved. What you’re really saying is what? You’d like Him to give more time, another day, another week, whatever, Lord. Oh, Lord, I want them to be saved before you come. The Lord is not slow, He’s not dragging His feet. He wants to save more people.

But the Day of Judgment will come, the day of the Lord. I’ve got a list of things of the day of the Lord, but we’re not going to take time to go through it. But part of what is involved in the day of the Lord is the final destruction of this heavens and this earth, prefigured with the destruction of the world in the flood. But that was not a complete destruction. Noah and his family came through that and the world revived, if you will, in the plan of God. So there was a destruction there. And the world on this side of the flood.

There is coming a day, a day like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, the earth and its works will be burned up. You can take it to the bank, we say, you can bet your life on it. It is as settled as if it had happened yesterday. God has spoken. The God who cannot lie has put it down in black and white. The earth and the heavens around the earth are going to suffer a meltdown, and everything involved with this world will be destroyed. That’s coming. Everything associated with this world will be burned up. I believe it.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening or speeding toward the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat. But according to His promise we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. As God’s people we are not a people rushing toward judgment. We are rushing toward glory. And the ultimate destiny and residence that we will enjoy is in a new heaven and a new earth. So you see we had the creation of the original heavens and earth, then their destruction by flood, then the final destruction by fire, and then the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. That’s what we’re looking forward to.

Therefore, beloved, he’s going to repeat what he said in verse 11. ”Since you look for these things be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.” Now there’s my personal goal and pursuit. It’s no wonder the world doesn’t believe, they’re mockers and then they look at us and do they see us living lives that are consumed with the passion for the glory of God, His holiness, blameless in this life.

Note verse 15, “and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” Two things should consume us as God’s people. We ought to be consumed with the passion for holiness, lives that are blameless before a holy God, because they are lived and honoring to Him, lived in a way that is honoring to Him. And we understand God has given us another day because He desires the salvation of men, women and young people. He’s not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. We must regard the patience of the Lord as salvation. Why do we have today? Lord, take me to glory and I will be perfected immediately. But I have friends, family who are not saved. Regard the patience of the Lord as salvation. Why has God given another day to this sin-cursed world? You know sometimes we despair and say oh, when will the Lord come. Things are getting so wretched and vile and awful. But thank you, Lord, there is another day of salvation been provided.

But you know what? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. How are these people going to be saved? God has placed the treasure of the gospel in these earthen vessels, given us the privilege of sharing the message of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ with men, women and young people so that they might be saved. You know we plod along like this is another day of drudgery, hopelessness, I just can’t stand this world and all the vile people around me. You know we have the beautiful white snow being whitened up with fresh snow, and you think of Isaiah chapter 1, that “we can be white like snow.” Our sins red like crimson, white like snow. Do we really believe the truths of the Word of God that Christ is coming again? That there is going to be a judgment brought upon the unregenerate person, that judgment will include destruction and the awful torment of hell forever? And there is no hope but Christ, but that is a hope for everyone, because anyone and everyone who believes in Him can be saved. You know if I really believe this, how is it possible for me to rub shoulders with the lost and not talk to them about Christ, to remain dumb in their presence, speechless, to say nothing. Do I really believe what God has said? Do I really believe that Christ is the only hope? How can I not be consumed with the passion to manifest the beauty of His holiness in the midst of a sin-cursed world? How can I be shamed into silence in the presence of mockers who scorn the Word of God?

Tremendous closing message from Peter, isn’t it? And the closing verses of this chapter warn them, don’t be deluded by false teachers who would corrupt the truth that God has revealed through His apostles. This is truth, so we take hold of it and say Lord, this is the day I want to grow in my character to be more like you, manifest the beauty of your holiness. Lord, this is a day you have added, if you will, as we look at it, a day you have given because you desire not that men perish, but they be saved. Ezekiel, the prophet said, the Lord said through Ezekiel, “I take no pleasure, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” God is not delighting to destroy and condemn people to hell. So every day is a day of His grace, every day is a day of opportunity for you and me, a day for people to hear they are sinners. They are under condemnation, they are doomed to an eternal hell. But there is a savior. He suffered and died on the cross, He was raised from the dead and if you believe in Him you will be cleansed and forgiven. Your destiny will be a new heavens and a new earth, not the destruction of hell. I trust we not only declare we believe this truth, but it is evident in the way we live and the gospel we share.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace in saving us. Thank you, Lord, for time given. Thank you that we have become partakers of the divine nature, even as you revealed through Peter. Thank you for the opportunity to grow. May we be reminded that all these things that press in upon us in this life, things that we worry about, that we work for, they will all be consumed and destroyed. Lord, may we have a passion for holiness, purity of life. Lord may we see every day as a day of your grace, when the message of your Son can be shared with others, another opportunity for men and women and young people to hear and believe and be saved. Thank you, Lord, for the portion of this day that we have had. May we use every day until Christ calls us into the glory of your presence as those living for that very day. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.