First Baptist Church
November 23rd
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  • Welcome

    Good morning! Today we are wrapping up our study on 2 Peter. Peter has been writing to a group of churches with this epistle, as well as 1 Peter, and it is the last letter that he sends to them. So how does Peter close out his letter? Let’s find out today.

    Prayer

    The Mistake of the Scoffers

    2 Peter 3:1–7 NIV
    Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
    Peter’s tone changes here as he moves on to his closing remarks. He uses the phrase “dear friends,” another way that this can be translated is beloved. He explains that he has written these letters to prompt the churches to wholesome thinking and to be reminded of the words God had spoke through the old prophets as well as the words of Jesus. Earlier Peter had said he wanted the churches to be reminded of the gospel and once again he wants the people to recall what scripture says. Peter brings up this reminder in this section because he mentions these “scoffers” who are going to show up. These scoffers are going to begin to say, “When is this second coming of Jesus? It’s been so long and he isn’t here, so what's the deal? Everything on earth has been going on since the start of creation, so nothing has changed, nothing is happening. God must not be involved with the world.”
    Peter’s response to this is that these scoffers are forgetting what God has done on purpose. They have an unwillingness to believe what God has done in the past as spoken about by the prophets. To demonstrate that Jesus will return and that there will be judgement against evil, Peter brings up up hows how the earth was created. God’s word came into being and everything was formed by it and through it. Peter says that creation was formed by water out of water. And it was with these same things that God created, that he pronounced judgement on the world during the days of Noah. These waters that were formed by his words was also the same water that brought destruction to the evil in the world. Peter is bringing this up because these scoffers have forgotten this. They don’t pay attention to what God has done in the past. Peter is then saying, “God has brought judgement in the past, be assured that when he says judgement will come, it will happen.”
    Some people today might say the same thing. After all, we are 2,000 years after Jesus and they were only around 30 years. If Jesus was going to come back, wouldn’t he have done it already? Why wait? Peter answers this in the next few verses.

    The Timing of God

    2 Peter 3:8–10 NIV
    But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
    The way time operates for God is completely different from how we see and experience time. When we talk about God and time, we have to recognize that we aren’t even able to comprehend how God and time relate to one another. God is all powerful, all knowing, he is the one who created and established time in the first place. He made the planets that determine the length of time that we call a day. How on earth can we even begin to understand how God views a “day”? Peter says that a thousand years to us is a day for God and a day to us is a thousand years to God. Psalm 90:4 “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” Consider this for a moment. Because of how God is in control of time and how he is eternal, the events of Jesus’ resurrection happened two days ago. God is not bound by time like we are. He is not stuck watching a clock to make sure that he does things in time. He is the author of time, everything happens at his specific timing because he is the one who created time itself. So we have this reminder that we experience time completely different from God. Peter goes on and says that God is not slow in keeping his promise. The promise here being Jesus’ return. God isn’t being slow as we think about being slow. When I think about being slow I tend to think about waiting in the drive thru for Mcdonald’s. Waiting 2-3 minutes is totally fine, sure, they are cooking food after all. But when we start getting above 5 minutes I’m thinking, holy smokes, what is taking so long. Lets get going here. (Which is still insane right? It doesn’t kill us to wait a little while) Or maybe we order something from Amazon and it takes longer than two days to reach us. We can get annoyed that we are waiting that long. It should have been here, why isn’t it? What is going on? I think we can also project those same thoughts and feelings towards God. We look at our world and see the brokenness within in, terrible things that happen, and we think, “God if you’re going to fix all of this, why don’t you just do it already?” Why should the Lord tarry when it comes to Jesus’ return? Why should we be waiting? Peter says it’s not because God is slow or that he has to get his ducks in a row. God waits for Jesus’ second coming out of mercy for us. God is being patient with his creation, he desires everyone to come to repentance and faith in Jesus. God doesn’t desire for anyone to perish in the coming judgement and so he gives us more and more time to come to Jesus.
    (Student at school who was late on a project, teacher can absolutely say, turn it in now and get what you get. But the teacher also has the chance to say, I’ll give you another day or two. Out of mercy for the student, so that the student can still pass the assignment, more time is given.)
    This is God’s heart in delaying the return of Christ. Each day is an opportunity for people to hear the gospel and come to repentance through Jesus. Each day is an extension to the world of delaying that final judgement. This means that each time we get a chance to visit with someone who doesn’t know Jesus, God is giving us an opportunity to share with them the mercy of God that is known through Jesus. This is how great God’s love is. That he would be patient with us, that he desires for all people to be saved.
    Peter also says though, don’t be fooled into thinking that this patience means that the day of the Lord will never come. It will arrive and it will arrive without warning, like a thief in the night. So we must be prepared and take each opportunity to share the Gospel seriously.

    The Ethics of Eternity

    2 Peter 3:11–18 NIV
    Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
    The question Peter poses in this final section is, “Since this is going to happen, since the day of the Lord will in fact arrive at some point and we will have a new heaven and a new earth, what sort of people should you be right now?”

    The Answer:

    Lives of Holiness (v. 11):
    First, we should strive to live holy and godly lives as we await the day of the Lord. If this earth is temporary, we have to reflect on what we are spending the majority of our time on. Are we spending it on things that are just going to turn to dust? Or are we seeking God and growing in Holiness?
    Lives of Peace (v. 14): Be diligent to be found by Him "without spot or blemish, and at peace."
    In verse 14 we are told that we should make every effort or be spotless, blameless, and at peace with him. Him being God here. This is the process of sanctification. We listen to the holy spirit and our lives change as a result. I love how Peter mentions the peace that we can have with God as well. We don’t have to constantly question if we are good enough or if we have done enough. When we have the righteousness of Jesus, we can absolutely have peace with God.
    We are then reminded that God’s patience means salvation. This is something that Paul has also written about. Peter then adds a little bit about Paul which I find comforting. We sometimes read Paul’s letters and think, man, this stuff is confusing. I don’t quite get what Paul is saying here. And Peter says, “same.” It can be hard to understand. But at the same time, people will take those words and distort them.
    Lives of Growth (v. 18):
    The book ends with a command to grow in the "grace and knowledge" of Jesus.

    Conclusion

    God is patient, but He is not asleep.
    Let us use this time of "waiting" not to be lazy, but to be diligent. (Reminder as we head into Advent season, which is a season of waiting. We wait for Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we also wait for Jesus’ return)
    Let us grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

    Prayer

      • Luke 2:21–35NIV2011

      • Lamentations 3:25–26NIV2011

      • Psalm 130:5–6NIV2011

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