2 Peter 3:11-18 - Grace and Knowledge
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11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,
16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.
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.
There are a lot of places that we spend time waiting...
What’s your favorite place to wait? Where do you most enjoy waiting?
How do you wait in those places?
The question our text asks of us today is “How are we waiting on the Lord?”
The Bible has a lot to of encouragement for our waiting...
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
22 Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Last week we saw Peter argue against the false teachers that the Day of the Lord IS in fact coming. He argued this according to what what the prophets have said in Scripture, what God has done in human history and what Jesus has said of his return.
As Peter wraps up his letter to the churches, he speaks to how they ought to wait on the Day of the Lord.
What are we waiting for?
What are we waiting for?
We’re waiting for the final end of this world...
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
We’re waiting for the coming of a NEW heavens and earth...
13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
As mentioned last week, the coming NEW heavens and earth are well attested throughout Scripture...
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Peter calls this new heavens and earth a place in which righteousness dwells.
I think it is sufficient to say that righteousness does not dwell in our cities.
It is a perfected state, Revelation goes on to describe it in 21:3-4
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
1, 2 Peter, Jude 3. Living Righteously because of the Future Day (3:11–18)
Godly lives are related to and grounded in eschatology. Those who disregard the future cosmos will not live well in the present one
How are we to wait?
How are we to wait?
1) Wait In holiness and godliness
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
11 - Since this heaven/earth will be destroyed (& all it’s works) what sort of people ought you be...
- WE ought to live in holiness and godliness
15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
This instruction is in stark contrast to the false teachers who would say while
2) Wait with hastening (speed up it’s coming)
12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
12 - WE ought to wait expectantly for and hasten the day of God
Set our treasure in heaven...
Share Jesus with those around us...
Give your life to Kingdom work
Because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved & the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn
1, 2 Peter, Jude 3. Living Righteously because of the Future Day (3:11–18)
We must not fall prey to rationalism that either squeezes out divine sovereignty or ignores human responsibility. Both of these must be held in tension, and here the accent falls on what human beings can do to hasten the day of God.
3) Wait With diligence
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
[14 - Therefore, beloved, since you ware waiting for these]
be diligent to be found by him
without spot or blemish
I was reminded of the parable of the talents…in this parable Jesus describes the Kingdom of God saying that a master went away on a journey and gave three servants some money to invest while he was gone, he gave them 5, 2 and 1 talent. The equivalent of these values could be as much as saying he gave, $500,000 / $200,000 / $100,000. Whatever the case, he was saying he gave a significant amount of money to each the servants.
All that said, the first two servants, doubled their money.
The third…didn’t lose the money, but he buried it.
24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,
25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’
26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?
27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.
28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.
29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The third servant did not receive the assignment.
4) Wait With Peace
and at peace
You do not have to wait for the Day of the Lord in fear or uncertainty…when you are in Christ, you have a sure hope…as Peter said in his first letter...
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
5) With Patience
15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,
15 - And count the patience of our Lord as salvation
Just as our brother Paul wrote concerning the wisdom given to him
16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
16 - As he does in all his letters
When he speaks in them of these matters
There are some things in them that are hard to understand
which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction
as they do the other Scriptures
We are waiting on the Lord…but how?
Are we waiting in busyness
Are we waiting in pleasure
Or Are we waiting with diligent preparation for His return?
In Conclusion to his letter, Peter sums up the whole in vs 17-18
17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.
17 - You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand
take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people
and lose your own stability
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.
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.
Go with this...
Wait for the Lord
with holiness, hastening, diligence, peace and patience
Grow in Grace
[ Don’t be carried away by lawless ]
Grow in Knowledge
[ don’t twist difficult doctrine / Scripture to your own benefit/destruction ]
On this day in history...
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. - Mark Twain