"14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."
When I presented my life and my body to God, I declared myself and my life as being
set apart for Him, I yielded my rights to pursue my own desires and I began to
pursue God instead. At that time, God was able to take my life and use me to make
an instrument for the eternal impact of His kingdom by His power. When your mind is focused on Christ, sin is not terribly appealing. God makes me holy when I present myself
as a holy vessel that no longer belongs to me, but belongs solely to Him. Holiness is the result of a close walk with God. You can’t have a close walk with God without holiness and you can’t have
holiness without a close walk with God. One always leads to the other. In other words, we cannot know God apart form His Word. God’s coming day of judgment should motivate us to be diligent in our walk with God.
In Matthew 16:25, Jesus said "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
As I stated previously, our behavior is directly linked to our expectation of the Lord’s return. Our motivation toward hard work and godly living with and for Christ is
our expectation of Jesus return and our eternal life in the new heaven
and the new earth. Therefore, our priority must be to make every effort to be found at peace with Christ and to be found spotless and blameless when He returns.
One day soon, from the perspective of eternity, we will look back on these brief 2,000 or so years , and the relative conditions of human life, and it will be insignificant in comparison. The only history of any eternal significance will be sound doctrine and holy living, those who knew that these days were the time for salvation.
The worldly approach to sin, is to either ignore it or to justify ourselves by rationalizing that we are as good or even better than others. However, you need to understand, that God does not rationalize sin, in fact, He deals with it truthfully. So, I remind you today, that you have a choice; you can receive His righteous judgment or you can enjoy His forgiveness by
repenting of your sin and turning to Christ for His forgiveness. He will then honor your decision.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You as always for Your Word. Thank You for bringing these incredible truths before us, bind them to our hearts, that we might never forget. We are so grateful that we shall never be condemned, but only know eternal glory. We know that we are unworthy of such a precious gift. Thank You for loving us enough, to sacrifice Your only Son for us, so that we could receive the wonderful offer of salvation freely. Help us Lord, that we might live in expectation, because we know that the best is yet to come.
Father, we pray that You would touch the hearts of those who do not yet know Christ as Lord and Savior, that today would be the day they would turn from their sin, repent and turn to Christ. For His sake and Your glory.
In Christ's name we pray
Amen
Today's Message: Living For The End
God has infinite ability to contain His wrath until His purposes are
accomplished. He endures countless debaucheries, defiance, challenges to
His holiness. He endures the loose lips of the profane swearer. He
endures uncountable adulteries, murders, lies, fornications, thefts,
deceptions, perversions, heresies, and we are astounded at His patience. Our high tolerance for sin testifies of our failure to prepare for Heaven.
We someone sins against us, we are often quick to respond, more often than not, we blow up. If that is our reaction, we should certainly understand that God is offended by sin. He has every right to let His anger go, yet, He contains it. Because His patience is connected to salvation. Even in the days of Noah, God was patient. Noah preached righteousness for 120 years, and no one listened.
I need to remind you that when the Lord comes, everything will be brought to light on that day, there will be nothing hidden, there will be nothing overlooked. You will be found on that day. You need to be very much aware of that.
Paul tell us in I Corinthians 4:5, "Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God."
Open your Bibles with me to II Peter chapter 3. In our continuing study of this wonderful epistle, we are closing in now on the end, verses 14 through 18. However, I am not going to try to push too hard, to finish it today, because these are very significant truths. I trust that we all subscribe to the truth that Christ is coming again in power and glory to judge the world. However, I suspect that many of you don't give it much thought. If we were to keep in view the fact that He is coming and that we will stand before Him to give an account to Him, how would it effect our lives?
Would we waste our time? Would we bother to argue over petty disagreements? Would we forgive people a little more? Would love others more? Would we continue to spend our money on all of the stuff that we think we need? Or would we lend a hand to help our brother and sister who is in need? If we knew we would answer to Christ tomorrow, for what we're doing today, how much would it effect our decisions?
I invite you to follow along with me as I read Peter's last words, to set the text in our
minds, as we prepare our hearts for a Word from our Lord. Listen for
what the Spirit of God is saying to each of us. II Peter 3:11-18.
"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
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 new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved,
since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in
peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as
salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his
letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things
hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You
therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that
you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from
your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."
The promise of Christ’s return should serve as a powerful incentive for
believers to live with a spotless character and a blameless reputation. Unfortunately, there are some who attend church whose lives are neither blameless nor spotless. In fact, beyond Sunday morning, you'd be hard put to know they were even a Christian at all. Yet, Scripture clearly teaches that those who are characterized by ongoing sinful lifestyles will not inherit eternal life.
Jesus said in Matthew 7, "Not
everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."
It's a sad day when the church has become so much like the world that we cannot differentiate between the two. If we really believe what we claim, it will be reflected in the way we live. I would imagine that's why many believers are not necessarily anticipating the day of the Lord, the time of severe judgment, the time of damnation on sinners. We are however, anticipating the day of God, the day when we shall enter into the glorious eternal creation of the new heavens and the new earth.
Verse 14, "Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless."
The real challenge of Christian living is not to attempt to eliminate every uncomfortable issue in your life. It's not to create a perfect world so you’ll be happy, while you continue to live as a sinful person, in a fallen world. If you knew for certain Jesus would be returning sometime today, would you be comforted in knowing your account is settled up with God? If you knew that God’s judgment were to break loose in twenty-four hours, would all be well with your soul? Because that is the peace and tranquility of one who knows that all is well with God and fears no shame at the appearing of Christ.
Because if we are confident of our good standing with Christ, we should be very confident that the day of judgement will pass us by. "To be found by Him spotless and blameless," it's highly likely that Peter is contrasting this to the false teachers. If you will remember, in chapter 2, he said they were stains and blemishes.
By the way, I know I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating, these two terms, "spotless and blameless," speak of character and reputation. Not only what we are in reality, but what others think we are. Spotless is what I really am, and blameless is my reputation. Pure in reality and pure in reputation, that's how the Lord wants to find us.
It is possible that you could be spotless, but at least in one sense not blameless. I mean you could live a spotless life and not be seen in the eyes of the world as not blameless. In that situation, its typically something from your past, something that stained your reputation, sometimes people don't easily forget. Even though you may be spotless now, they remember the stain.
It is also possible to be blameless but not spotless, because people don't know the truth. In other words, you're not what people think you are. Though your reputation is blameless, in reality you’re not spotless. Perhaps you live a double life, one in public view and a completely different life in private. We see a lot of that being brought out over the past several decades. Jimmy Swaggert, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and Carl Lentz, to name a few. That's a hypocrite.
Dr. J. Vernon McGee, who has a way of putting things so simply says,
"Today we see a lot of careless, slipshod living, but also a great
emphasis on prophecy. I hear people say, “Oh, I’m waiting for the Lord
to come!” Brother, my question is not whether you are looking for the
Lord to come, but how are you living down here? How you live down here
determines whether or not you are really looking for the Lord to come."
Verse 15-16, "and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction." The Lord is patiently waiting for all His chosen family to have time to come to salvation in Christ through repentance." Verse 15 connects us back to verse 9, which says "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."
In verse 15, Peter takes it a step further. Not only should you be joyful that God was patient and waited for you to be born, and then, reborn, he doesn't want you to be so consumed with thoughts of the future, that you forget about your
spiritual responsibility to share the Gospel with the lost in
the present. While there was still time to proclaim the good news to the lost, to reach others with the life-giving truth of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul was convinced that the same gospel that had changed his life would change others lives, too. To Paul, the gospel was so much more than just words. We should all be living for the faithful proclamation of the gospel every day.
In verse 16, Peter is saying that " Our beloved brother Paul warned about people coming along trying to confuse you, even as I have been warning you." Peter calls Paul our beloved brother Paul. They shared a ministry together in the Jerusalem Council. They also shared a ministry partner, they shared the same assistant, a man by the name of Silas. The shared their love of the same Lord, they believed the same gospel truths.
It wasn't always that way, however, if you go back to Galatians chapter 2, Peter and Paul had a conflict. A very overt sin on Peter’s part really. Peter knew it was a sin, obviously, he didn't take it personally. I believe that he knew the true spirit of Paul and loved him for it. You can read and study that on your own.
However, there's more to those words than meets the eye, he's actually looking to Paul for some support for the next point he wants to make. By the time Peter wrote II Peter, Paul had written all his New Testament letters and was martyred. Therefore, it's likely that Paul’s letters were already collected together and distributed to first century churches. We know that those letters were shared with other churches. So, Peter was using Paul as a support for his teaching.
Paul was educated as a Pharisee and even studied under Gamaliel in Tarsus. Because Paul is so detailed, some verses were difficult to interpret, so the false teachers purposely distorted them to make them say what they wanted, rather than what God intended. By distorting the Scriptures, the false teachers were simultaneously securing their own destruction, as well as others who followed them.
That’s why in verse 17, Peter warns his beloved readers to guard themselves. "You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness." Because we know there will be false teachers who will twist and distort the Scriptures,we should be on guard all the more. I believe that this warning needs to be spoken today.
The word "guard," is the Greek verb "phulassó," its the middle voice present meaning continually be guarding yourself. Continually be on guard against false teachers and their destructive heresies. Peter’s readers knew the truth, just like many of you. He warns them anyway, because their knowledge alone was not sufficient enough protection. You need to keep alert, "so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness."
It is easy for believers who have a knowledge of the Bible to become overconfident. In I Corinthians 10, Paul said "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall."
Anytime you listen to lawless false teachers who distort the Scripture, you run the risk of being led astray. You can’t sit in a church where somebody is distorting God's Word, twisting the Scriptures and not be lead astray. Because only truth brings righteousness.
In verse 18, Peter says "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."
Peter ends II Peter the same way he began, to grow and mature. Because pursuing Christian maturity and a deepening knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ will keep any Christian from being lead astray. Pursue Christ-likeness and spiritual growth, thereby increasing in your knowledge of Him.
In Ephesians 4:14-16, Paul wrote "As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
I'd like to point out that in verse 18, Peter said "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." I know I've mentioned this numerous times, but that because it's vitally important. Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior. Not just Savior. If I’m going to live in the light of my eternal glory, especially at this particular point and time in my life, I will pursue God's compassion, mercy and grace and a deeper knowledge of the fullness of the person of Christ, in both His Lordship and His saving work. As Christians, we grow from the inside out.
Peter closes this wonderful epistle calling believers to worship and adoration of Christ. "To Him be the glory." This is a great affirmation of the deity of Jesus Christ. Give Him the glory both now, in the present, and in eternity. We are to live to His glory. Glory belongs to God and God alone. To deny the deity of Jesus Christ, sends people to hell. To deny salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone sends people to hell. That's why sound doctrine on major issues really does matter!
In Closing..
Jesus Christ has given us the way to live in peace, to be without spot and blameless.
If none of these truths from these verses convicted you, then you need to cry out to Christ to change your heart, forgive your sins, and give you new life, salvation, in Jesus Christ. The longer God delays His return, the greater the opportunity for people to be saved.
God gave us His Word as a light to guide our steps. If we obey it each
day, we will find it to be an unfailing source of strength and truth.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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