So, you call me Lord, how did you do the will of my Father? (Mt 7:21) Ahhh well I went to church most Sundays, I read some parts of my Bible once in a while, I prayed, gave 2 or 3 percent of my income to the church when times were good.
How did you love your enemies? (Mt 6:44) “I didn’t kill any of them”.
Did you ever put people down in anger? (Mt 5:22) Yeah about that one, you didn’t really mean that if I call someone a moron I am actually in danger of going to hell did you?
Were you a humble person putting others above yourself? I didn’t hang out with street people or anything like that, but yeah as long as I had extra and got something out of it for myself, I helped people.
Were you gentle – merciful – pure in heart - a peacemaker? Jesus are we done? Where’s Peter and those beautiful gates with the pearls and stuff.
Just a little more, I like hanging out with you, I have been looking forward to this for over 2000 years, can you give a few more minutes?
Were you ever made fun of or persecuted because of me? Well once in a while people made fun of my singing in church. Somebody even stole the fish off my car once.
Did you try to make disciples? I don’t really have the gift for evangelism, and I really don’t like telling people what to do.
Did you forgive others when they sinned against you? Well sure I did, I remember when my wife came in and turned the TV off right before the end of that overtime game in the playoffs a couple years ago. I don’t have to forgive that guy who ripped me off for 500 bucks though do I?
OK, one last question. If you hadn’t said a prayer that asked me to save you, how would I know you? Well Jesus, to be honest I really wanted to live according to your commands, but there were too many things competing for my attention and efforts. I put you on the back pages of my life and only really brought you to the front when I really needed you. I guess I really don’t deserve to go to heaven”.
Oh my child, of course you don’t, no one does. When you called on me, I made you worthy, but I also wanted you to have a taste of my Kingdom while you lived on the earth, and I wanted you to be a part of speeding up my return.
Maybe just keep in mind how you want that interview to go as I continue through our text today, and that’s really what your action plan is about. So let’s get to Peter’s letter and the third and final chapter. The first thing to look at is:
I. Why Peter is Writing the Letter (vv 1-6) READ
A. For Understanding (v 1)
He says I am stirring up your sincere mind, another translation says developing understanding. Knowledge is not necessarily understanding. You can sit here and listen to me, and hear my words and not necessarily have understanding of what I’m saying. That was also true for many of the words Jesus spoke. It might be good to read this as awakening a sincere understanding, which includes a desire to understand.
B. As a Reminder (vv 1-6)
He says he is stirring this up as a reminder of what? That you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles.
Two things. First of all if you think prophecy isn’t worth paying attention to, than you’re wrong and will have less understanding of God and his plan. Yes there are many whackos who come up with their own weird interpretations of Biblical prophecy, but he doesn’t say to pay attention to them. Rather we are to pay attention to the holy prophets. And the truth is that no prediction in the prophecy books of the Old Testament has ever been false, they have all occurred just as spoken.
Now are the apostles and writers of the New Testament prophets as well. Yes they are. Jesus predicted many things that have happened and haven’t happened yet. Peter and John also bring many predictions from God that haven’t happened yet. Peter says pay attention to these prophecies, but also to the commandment of the Lord and Saviour Jesus.
Here’s how I understand what Peter’s saying here. Take the prophecies at face value, keep them in your memory so that when you see things happen in the world, you understand what’s going on. Also remember the commandment to love God and love each other as Christ loved you, no matter what is happening in the world.
Because, there will be scoffers and the false teachers that he talked about last week, who will come in the last days following their own sinful desires. Remember that when this happens you need to continue to love God and love other people, including your enemies.
He says that one of their major strategies will be to convince you that Jesus is not coming back, because they don’t want to think about the possibility that they will be judged for their sinful behaviour and false teaching. Their rational will be that nothing’s happened yet. This was 50 years after Jesus death and resurrection, how are we doing 2000 years after? Do we doubt, do we wonder about His return?
I talk to some Christians who are convinced that Jesus will not come back in their lifetime. And if we’re honest, even if we say that it’s possible, are we living as though it is?
And we are all fooled Peter says, by overlooking the fact that God is eternal, the universe was created by Him, he has already brought one judgment and destruction upon the whole world in the flood, which if you heard that creation speaker last weekend, explains everything including evolution and dinosaurs perfectly.
Now God did promise never to destroy the earth by a flood again. But he did promise that he would destroy the earth again by fire in order to restore it to its original perfection. And this is where we see:
II. The Importance of Jesus’ Return (vv 7-13)
How were the heavens and earth created? By the word of God. How now in verse 7 will the earth be judged by fire? By that same word. Who is that word? Jesus according to the book of John, “In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing that was made.”
Why is Jesus’ second coming so important? Because it marks the end of the age of grace. The heavens and the earth are being stored up for fire and the destruction of the ungodly. Notice it doesn’t say unsaved, but ungodly, I think we should pay attention to that. Are there ungodly professing Christians?
He is giving adequate time for the gospel to be spread and people to repent and accept his grace. But there will come a time, and only the Father knows that time, when every person will have been given the opportunity to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. It will be too late to repent when he makes his final appearance. That’s why it’s so important, and why we must live as though it could happen any time.
A. Delay Does Not Mean Never (vv 7-9) READ
We have to understand that God is a timeless being living in a timeless realm. Time is an earthbound phenomena. So while we have days, Peter says a day could be a thousand years in God’s realm. There is no other way he could be all knowing.
So Peter says in verse 9, this is not slowness, its all an instant in eternity, but God is being patient so that all people have a chance to reach repentance. Now that phrase is very important. Notice it doesn’t say reach salvation. What is God looking for from people of the earth? Repentance. And in case you haven’t heard or I haven’t made it clear, this is what repentance means:
It is not confession, though confession can be a part of salvation. It is not accepting Jesus into your heart, though that can also be a part of salvation. It is not believing in Jesus, though that is certainly a part of salvation.
The word is “meta noyah” Now if you know what meta means, it is to be complete, or covering everything (ie metanarrative, metamorphosis). It is also ongoing, or “again and again”. But what is the “oyah”. Well the English word used most often is compunction, which is a deep complete feeling of regret. But as usual it doesn’t cover the complete meaning of the Greek word, which in addition to feelings of guilt and regret, includes thinking differently and reversing or going the other way. A complete change of thinking and living based on the guilt and regret that has been awakened in us. That is biblical repentance.
Have you ever done something to someone else, and you felt so bad about it, that you in your mind were willing to do anything to make up for it? Repentance is that thought and feeling along with the action that comes from it. Remember Peter’s sermon in Acts chapter 2, when he convicts his listeners of murdering the Saviour, and the crowd, cut to the heart, says what shall we do. They have come to the feelings and thoughts of repentance, and they ask what shall we do with every intention of doing whatever it takes. And Peter responds, repent and be baptised for the forgiveness of your sins. And 3000 of them did.
Why didn’t he say come up here and I will pray a prayer with you, or raise your hand if you accept Jesus as Saviour. Because there is no salvation without repentance. You have to be convicted of and agree with your guilt before you can receive your pardon. Jesus says unless you repent you will also be destroyed. The Great Commission says to baptise people and teach them to obey everything I have commanded them rather than their own desires. It doesn’t say get them to make a decision for Christ.
Why am I harping on this? Because Jesus is coming back, and if you haven’t repented, and notice both in Acts and the Great Commission baptism is included in the requirements, if you haven’t done these things, you are included in the destruction whether he comes back in your lifetime or after you die.
And, the:
B. Judgment and Cleansing Will Be Complete (vv 10-13) READ
First of all again, it will come like a thief. Do you know the thief’s schedule before he comes to rob you? And then the heavens and the earth will pass away with a roar, very quickly. Poof, burned up and dissolved.
He made it with a word, he can destroy and rebuild it with a word. And the works done on it will be exposed. Everyone will in that moment know the truth of right and wrong, everyone including the unsaved, will realize that God was right and they were wrong.
Now the phrase I want us to be conscious of here is “because all these things will be dissolved, what sort of people ought we the believers be in lives of holiness and godliness”.
God is a consuming fire who can only be in the presence of complete holiness, that’s why we can’t look at him and live. Jesus said in Luke 12 that he had come to bring fire on the earth, and earlier in Luke 3, John the Baptist says Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire. Jesus didn’t just save us to go to heaven, he also wants to burn the crud out of us, that is sanctification. And if in this life all the crud has not been burned off, we will have to go through a refining furnace before we can get into heaven to be with God.
Look at what Paul says in 1 Cor 3 vv 12-15… READ
“He will suffer loss”. Now we can’t know what these rewards and losses are, but I have to believe that the burning off process will be very unpleasant, maybe we shouldn’t minimize that. We think its tough obeying him and becoming more pure and godly in this life. I don’t think it will be anything compared to this burning off process. Yes we will be saved, that fire will stop and will not destroy us, but I think it will be very unpleasant.
So Peter here in his letter is just saying, that because of all this, why don’t you work on being godly and holy now, so that the burning process after Jesus comes is not so intense. He’ll probably still need to take the torch to a few spots, but that’s better that having to sit in the furnace for a couple hours.
The other thing he says, which is very interesting in verse 12 is that not only do we wait, but we can actually hasten the day of his return. That makes sense doesn’t it, the more we can repent and become holy, and the more we can bring others to repentance, the quicker he will be able to come and fulfill his promise of the new heaven and earth where God and only righteousness dwells. Think about that.
Finally he talks about:
III. The Importance of Our Beliefs and Actions (vv 14-18)
A. We Must Make an Effort (v. 14) READ
He says be diligent to be found without spot or blemish because these will have to get burned off at the judgment. Remember in chapter one he said to make every effort to supplement your faith with that list of virtues and qualities, and to be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure.
We don’t work our way into heaven but we do have to make an effort to be godly through the power he has given us. That is part of our witness, and part of what will help others get saved, and give the church credibility and power, something we have totally lost to outsiders in our culture. Plus it will make meeting Jesus much more pleasant for us.
Then he goes on to say that:
B. We Must Believe All God Says (vv 15-18) READ
“Understand that the patience of the Lord is for salvation just like Paul said”. Here Peter validates Paul’s authority as an apostle. I read what Paul said a moment ago. And yeah some of it is hard to understand, but when you don’t understand, take it by faith. Don’t try to twist it to your own understanding or desire like the unstable do. Don’t get carried away by their error and deception. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. We are not to check our brains at the door as many outside of the church think we do, but make your faith based on reason and your knowledge of our God and Saviour.
Now, quickly to close. When we read this book we have to ask, can we lose our salvation? Is that what Peter is saying. He is talking about people who sound like they were once believers, certainly they heard the truth and had escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus (2 Pe 2:20). Then Peter says their last state is worse than their first. How can it be worse than their first state which was destined for hell?
In the 3rd chapter today we see what we saw briefly in the second chapter, that these false teachers focussed much of their teaching on denying that Jesus is going to come back and judge the world. And if he isn’t coming back to judge, than we really don’t need a saviour, therefore they are denying the Saviour. And I believe that that is the unforgiveable sin that brings death spoken of in the next book, 1 John chapter 5:16. I also believe that it applies to both saved and unsaved people because he is talking about brothers in that verse.
So we’re talking about two things here I believe. One is that in order for our calling and election to be sure, to know that we actually are saved, we should be seeing an increased purity and distance from living the ways the world does, as the Lord sanctifies us. If we are not being sanctified, have we been justified or saved? So there are those who think they are saved and never really were. So they didn’t lose their salvation, they never had it.
And it seems like John and Peter, and even Jesus talk about believers falling away into destruction. This doesn’t happen through our sin and disobedience, though again if we consciously choose to continue in any sin without fear and trembling, we must wonder if we were ever saved at all. But this death after being saved comes from a total and complete rejection of the work of Jesus Christ.
His authority to judge, his status as the son of God, his redeeming work on the cross, his resurrection, and his coming back to rule. Those are the basic beliefs of salvation and if we once believe but at some time down the road throw away those beliefs, we will have to repent again or head for destruction.
I know this happens, complete apostasy, and even anti-Christian behaviour and beliefs. I even know of pastors who have renounced their beliefs and become militant atheists. I can’t believe someone could get to the position of pastor without having been saved initially.
Obviously the context of the letters in the New Testament are written at a time when there was quite a bit of serious persecution, and so the Christians needed a lot of encouragement to stick with the faith. Today though it may look like we have it easy as Christians, I think the subtle pull from our comfortable lifestyle, there being little cost to being a Christian unless you really live like one outside of church, and all the subtle, not terribly evil things that take our attention away from Jesus, are just as dangerous and have lulled us to sleep.
Perhaps to the point that we don’t really have a tested faith, and if persecution were to come like it was back then, and the Bible says it will, I think many of us would be vulnerable to renouncing our faith when it got really serious. So this warning and reminder is as much for us in our context as it was for the believers back then.
Christians like to use Romans 8 to prove that we cannot lose our salvation. But that passage, “Who can separate us from the love of Christ”, is not referring to salvation, but to Christ’s love. He goes on to list a bunch of things that cannot separate us from Jesus love, but one “who” that is not mentioned in that list is ourselves.
Ok now I am closing, I promise, but I want to close by directing you to the book of Hebrews. For part of your action plan this week, I want you to read Hebrews chapters 2 and 3 and also chapter 6 verses 4-6. These passages help us to know Jesus and the work he did, and are also a warning against neglecting our salvation. I’ll just give you a head start by closing with verses 4-6 from Hebrews chapter 6:
“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt”.
It is impossible once you truly fall away to be restored to repentance. Hence the warnings of Jesus and the apostles, and Peter who we read today.
