THE SAINTS REALITY
Regardless of whether we like it or not, the reality is that there’s a lot of false teaching out there today. These false teachers refuse to heed the word of God, repent and trust Christ. Peter describes these false teachers and their followers as last days scoffers ... (2 Peter 3:3) who willingly are ignorant ... (2 Peter 3:5) They have made a choice to be ignorant of the things of God go about scoffing the truth instead. Peter begins this chapter with instruction for the believer.
There Must Be Revival
Peter writes, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds ... (2 Peter 3:1a) The words stir up comes from “diegeiro” carries the idea of “awaken,” “rouse from sleep.” The analogy of sleep is often used in the sense of spiritual apathy. The term awake is often used of revival. The believer of days gone called revival a Spiritual awakening. Paul uses this terminology often. Writing to the Romans Paul said:
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. (Romans 13:11)
To the Thessalonians:
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:6)
And to the Ephesians as well:
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. (Ephesians 5:14)
The call to awake is the need of the hour. We have never experienced such an indifference toward spiritual matters as we see today. Leonard Ravenhill said that the tragedy of day is that “Hell is burning while the Church sleeps.”
While God’s people sleep the enemy works. The parable of the Sower says, But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. (Matthew 13:25) That pretty much describes what is going on in our day. The devil is gaining a lot of ground while God’s people slumber.
There Must Be Righteousness
Peter further speaks of stirring up our pure minds (2 Peter 3:1b) Only God’s people can have pure minds. Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. (Titus 1:15) Salvation cleans us up, but there must be a continual cleansing of the heart and mind through the study of God’s Word. Jesus said, Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (John 15:3) God intends that we believers be a people of purity.
The word pure comes from the compound word “eilikrines.” The word “eile” means “sunlight” and “krino” means “to judge.” The idea is to be judged or tested by the sunlight. It is a word that comes from the pottery profession of Bible times. Pottery often developed cracks while being fired. Crooked merchants would fill the cracks with wax and paint over it. An soon as something hot was put in the pottery the wax would melt. In order to determine if a piece of pottery had been filled with wax the buyer would hold it up to the sunlight to examine it. If the piece had been cracked and filled, the sunlight would show it. The term “eilikrines” came to mean “without wax.” The same word is translated sincere in Philippians. That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; (Philippians 1:10) Some pottery dealers would stamp their products “sine cera” (“without wax”) as a pledge of quality. The Christian ought to be sincere. Peter is telling us that we need an unmixed, sincere, pure mind that will stand the test of the light of God’s word.
There Must Be Remembrance
... by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: (2 Peter 3:1c-2) We notice a great emphasis on remembering in this second epistle (2 Peter 1:12, 13, 15) One of the avenues of revival is the word of God. If we are not careful, even as God’s people, we can forget and lose sight of the fact that our hope is in God rather than surrounding circumstances. Peter uses two words to describe our relationship to the word of God.
First, we see the word remembrance which simply means to “recollect what you have heard.” Second, we are to be mindful. The word mindful carries the idea of setting the heart upon something. It is used here of fixing our heart upon the Word and applying it to our life. Paul said, For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5) Those who mind the things of the flesh are controlled and directed by the corrupt fallen nature. Their thoughts and affection are upon their own selfish interests. They seek their own gratification. They live for self. However, those who walk after the Spirit set their mind upon the word of God. They are concerned with His will for their lives. The priorities and principles of God are important to them. They are faithful in their Bible study, prayer, giving, attending Church, soul-winning, etc.
Notice that Peter uses the term holy prophets. He draws a sharp contrast between God’s holy prophets and Satan’s unholy false prophets. Next he says ... of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour. Peter is speaking here of the word of God—he is drawing our attention to truth. He is calling upon believers to wake up to the truth of God’s word. Though we live in uncertain times and apostasy surrounds us. Truth is under attack, wickedness is rampant and scoffers are bold to speak out. We nevertheless look to the Word of God for it never changes, it is never wrong and it always offers hope for the child of God. Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it. (Psalm 119:140) If we want a pure mind we must spend time in the pure word.
THE SCOFFER’S RIDICULE
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers... (2 Peter 3:3a) It’s important that we keep the context in mind. In chapter 2 Peter dealt with the awful judgment that awaits the unbeliever with special emphasis on the false teachers. Notice that Peter prefaces his warning with words, Knowing this first... Peter is saying, “Before we go any further you might as well get a hold of the fact they you are going to run into opposition. Accept the fact that there are going to be some people who reject your message.” In fact, he warns that they will not only reject our message, but some will make a sport out of ridiculing the message. He defines them as scoffers. Throughout the Bible, scoffers are those who ridicule and mock the things of God. Noah Webster says, “... one who scoffs at religion, its ordinances and teachers, and who makes a mock of sin and the judgments and threatenings of God against sinners.” A scorner is one of the most dangerous men of Scripture.
Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath. (Proverbs 21:24)
These scoffers are prideful people who hate the truth. They boil with rage and will do anything to discredit God’s word. Solomon warned …
He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. (Proverbs 9:7-8 )
Trying to help a scorner is just inviting insult and shame. He is going to hate you for what you believe, and he is going to come back at you with every kind of insult and mockery that he can muster up. Most of the time our attempts to help a scorner will be wasted. Our admonition and concern will only add to his scorning. It will give him more fuel for his fire. The scorner delights in ridiculing all who try to turn him from his folly. A wise son heareth his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke. (Proverbs 13:1) A scorner refuses correction and help. Anyone who is dedicated to living for the Lord knows about scoffers and their ridicule. Peter tells us to expect such opposition.
The Scoffer’s Conduct
... walking after their own lusts, (2 Peter 3:3b) The term walk is often used in Scripture to denote lifestyle. A man walks one course if he is a Pilgrim and another course if he is a settler. Peter ties their scoffing to their sinful desires. Because of their sin they hate the gospel. They want to live without any restraint.
Notice that these scoffers walk after their own lusts. They are traveling a course or a road that will get them to the desires of their flesh. All they are interested in is getting a little further down the road of pleasure. We live in a pleasure drunk society with all the partying, carousing, drunkenness, promiscuity and every kind of wickedness imaginable. Man has given in to his depravity and become a creature of the dark. Man is spiritually nocturnal. He loves the darkness. A lot of sinful activity takes place under the cover of darkness. There is something about the dark that gives sinners boldness. It seems to give a false sense of secrecy and security. You wonder why they scoff at us? It is because they have a lifestyle that they don’t want to give up. They love their wickedness And they hate our light. The Bible says, men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:19 A person who is in love with sin will not receive the word of God. The Bible is a book of light—it sheds light on men’s dark deeds and they hate it. May we as God’s people in these last days stand as Moses did, Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; (Hebrews 11:25)
The Scoffer’s Contempt
And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Peter 3:4) Notice how they scornfully attack God’s word. They say, Where is the promise of his coming? Notice their approach. They subtly question the word of God. They especially attack the doctrine of the Second Coming. They say, ... for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. In other words, “We have been hearing about the Second Coming and God’s judgment all of our lives. Our fathers heard it all of their lives. Now they are dead and buried and everything just continues on as it always has.” Not only do they question the word of God, but the offer an argument against it. There is a great hatred of the Bible in our day. Their attack focuses foremost on trying to discredit the word of God. They are very subtle in their approach. They learned this from their father, the Devil.
Satan said to o Adam and Eve, Yea, hath God said ...? (Genesis 3:1) The men of Malachi's day asked, ...Where is the God of judgment? (Malachi 2:17) David's enemies asked, ...Where is thy God? (Psalm 42:3) Jeremiah enemies asked, ... Where is the Word of the Lord? (Jeremiah 17:15)
The Devil is a master deceiver and those who follow him know his tricks. They love to cast a shadow over God and His word. The implication in such questions is that God does not exist and the Bible is not true. They say, Where is the promise of his coming? Scoffers make the argument that since the promise of His coming has not been fulfilled, God does not keep His Word. The implication is that God’s word can’t be trusted. There is no hope for the Christian, no Heaven and God. Child of God! Learn your Bible! Don’t let scoffers cast doubt on the Word of God.
The Scoffer’s Creed
For this they willingly are ignorant of. (2 Peter 3:5a) Here is a simple fact. These scoffers are willingly ignorant. The issue is not that the scoffers are not simply uniformed, but they have purposefully shut their eyes to the truth. They willing ignore the evidence. It is interesting that Peter says creation is one of the things that ... they willing are ignorant of. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: (2 Peter 3:5) The scoffers hate the Biblical account of creation. This is one of the reasons they worked so hard to kick the Bible out of schools and are working even harder to keep it out. By getting rid of creation their humanistic philosophy would be easier to peddle. Now the theory of evolution has infiltrated our schools, high-jacked our education, produced a generation of fools and saturated our land with a humanistic culture. Paul wrote …
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. (Romans 1:22-23)
While rejecting revelation and denying God they profess themselves to be wise. They reject the fact of the Creator while all along they worship His creation. Divine revelation declares that …
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. (Psalms 33:6)
Creation was according to the word of God. God spoke it and it came into existence. Ten times in Genesis chapter one we read the words, God said. No wonder Paul wrote,
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:3)
God created the world by His word. Pseudo-Academia peddles all kinds of theories, but the bottom line is that God Almighty spoke the worlds into existence. He didn’t use evolution! He didn’t use the Big Bang! We are told that the things ...which are seen [creation] were not made of things which do appear. There was nothing visible when God created the world. The word for created in Genesis 1:1 is “bara” and means to create something out of nothing. Notice that they also choose to be ignorant of God’s judgment in Noah’s day.
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: (2 Peter 3:6) In Noah’s day the scorners scorned, and the mockers mocked at God’s extended mercy. Day after day for 120 years the Spirit of God convicted them as Noah and his family prepared the ark. The Bible describes it as a time when …
.. once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing. (1 Peter 3:20)
Just imagine the patience of God. But once the ark was finished God put Noah and his family inside and unleashed His judgment on the wickedness of man. There is sufficient evidence to believe in God, but the infidel intelligentsia of our day hates God and His word so they ignore the facts and choose to be ignorant of the truth.
THE SAVIOUR’S RETRIBUTION
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:7) What a warning! Under inspiration of the Spirit of God Peter warns that the heavens and the earth that we now see are ...by the same word are kept in store. The world exists today because God created it and His word keeps it.
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)
Peter makes it clear that the same word that brought creation into existence and the same word that brought the world-wide flood of Noah’s day will be the same word that brings judgment in the last days. It is a Prophesied Word, a Proven Word and a Punishing Word. Jesus said …
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. (John 12:48)
