What Sort Of People Should We Be? - part 1
Notes
Transcript
PASTORAL PRAYER
PASTORAL PRAYER
Gracious and Almighty God,
We come before You today in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son,
and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We lift our hearts in reverence, gratitude, and humility.
Heavenly Father, You are the Creator and Sustainer of all things.
In Your mercy, You formed us in Your image and did not forsake us in our sin.
You are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
We thank You for Your fatherly care, Your righteous ways, and Your perfect justice that never fails.
Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer,
We praise You for humbling Yourself to bear our sins on the cross.
In Your mercy, You became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in You.
Your justice was satisfied through Your sacrifice, and now we live by grace.
Help us to walk in Your truth, love our neighbors, and proclaim the hope of the gospel without fear.
Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Guide,
We thank You for Your presence in our lives.
You convict us of sin, lead us in righteousness, and empower us to live holy lives.
Fill our hearts today with Your wisdom and strength.
Teach us to love what is just, to act with mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.
Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—
We ask that You would work in our congregation to reflect Your glory.
May our worship be pure, our hearts united, and our witness faithful.
Where there is brokenness, bring healing.
Where there is injustice, bring truth.
Where there is weariness, bring rest.
We pray all these things in the powerful name of Jesus,
Amen.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The epistle of 2 Peter has been a letter of warning for the church.
A warning to evaluate your life and to be sure of your salvation
A warning to be confident in the Word of God because of the prophetic word that has been made sure
A warning to not be duped by false teachers who introduce destructive heresies and deny the Master who bought them
A warning to not be willfully ignorant of God’s creative activity, past judgment, and the judgment to come
We have spent a spectacular 16 weeks examining this little epistle… mining the truths of the Word of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to convict and guide us… and we have 2 more to go.
Today, Peter begins to bring his letter to a close and give clear instructions to his readers as to what their mindset and lives should look like in light of what he has written.
We will be spending the next two weeks answering the question: What Sort Of People Should We Be?
Read 2 Peter 3:11-18
What sort of people ought you to be…
What sort of people ought you to be…
This is a bit rhetorical… and it’s not a question.
It is an exclamation of astonishment.
It is a good way to have people evaluate their lives in light of judgment.
It could be rendered, “how astonishingly excellent you ought to be”
This phrase shows that Peter sees the coming judgment as a strong motivational expectation which should provoke holy living.
Believers recognize, or ought to recognize, that we are to live differently in this world because we are not of this world.
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Since we are not of the world, we should not live like the world.
Instead, Peter mentions that we are to conduct ourselves…
…in lives of holiness and godliness…
…in lives of holiness and godliness…
Holiness points to the separation and sanctification of the believer.
Separation from the world system that has blinded the willfully ignorant and encourages them to continue in unbelief
Sanctification… the process of being continuously conformed to the image of Christ and being made more holy
It is because of sanctification that we can live in godliness.
Godliness refers to our piety before God
The more we are being conformed to the image of Christ, the more that we are going to live in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord.
And we do this because of the judgment to come
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
With the judgment in mind, we strive in our obedience.
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
What are some areas of godliness that we can do to please and honor God?
Matthew 7:24 - act on the Word of God
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
1 Timothy 2:1, 3-4 - pray for the salvation of all men
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men...this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Matthew 28:19a - be Great Commission minded
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…
…waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God…
…waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God…
waiting for
προσ - to, toward, with
δοκάω - to expect, think, suppose, imagine
προσδοκάω - to think toward; to look with expectation
We are not passively waiting for something to happen…
We are looking with intent and anticipation for something to happen.
Namely, we are looking with the anticipation that Jesus is coming back
The godly lives of God’s people…
their obedience
their praying
their witnessing to bring others to repentance…
is hastening the coming of the day of God.
the day of God is not the day of the Lord
the day of the Lord is the time of the final events in history that lead to the final judgment (cf. Revelation)
the day of God refers to the eternal state when God will have permanently subdued all of His enemies.
When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
As we live lives in holiness and godliness, we anticipate the Lord’s coming and show our eagerness for the eternal state.
The eternal state is the time after the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved
Through this fire, God will not just bring a purification of all things, but will bring a new heavens and earth which will endure forever.
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain.
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.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The day of judgment is coming sooner than we realize.
And when Christ returns, it will be too late to “get right with God.”
Hear the Word of the Lord:
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins”
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
Repent!
Call on the name of the Lord Jesus and be saved.
Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.
