What Kind of People Should We Be?

Introduction

Good evening and welcome back!

If you will, tonight start turning in your Bibles to .

Tonight we are going to look at a passage of Scripture that I know I have touched on many times in many different sermons.

But I do not believe I have ever had a sermon tied directly to this passage as a whole.

Tonight we are going to be looking at Peter’s writing about the “Day of the Lord” and some of the events that will be surrounding those times.

And we already know that we can make many comparisons to what Peter is writing about here with the way the world looks and works today.

However, I do want us to also bear in mind that we can make these same comparisons throughout human history from the time Peter wrote this onward.

It seems that as soon as the Church came into being, there were things and people coming against the Church.

When the Church was born, Satan went into overdrive attacking the Church.

And as time has went by, people have become more and more complacent about the different aspects of the “Day of the Lord,” which amazingly started taking place that very first generation of the Church.

Which is what prompts Peter to write this letter in the first place.

And his goal is to cut through that complacent attitude that bogs us down and have us focus on God and what God speaks to our heart.

And through all of this Peter asks one key question, “what kind of people ought you to be?”

Which is the same question I want us to think about and ask ourselves tonight.

Knowing what we know about God, God’s Word, God’s will, “what kind of people ought we be?”

How should we be conducting ourselves?

How should we, as Christians be living our lives?

What should be our motivation?

What should be our focus?

All these things we should be considering as we ourselves are preparing for the Day of the Lord.

So, let’s get right into it.

If you have found in your Bibles, I’d invite you to stand with me.

I will be reading verses 10-13, but we will be covering most of that chapter.

Again, this is . Peter writes this . . . .

Scripture Focus

2 Peter 3:10–13 NIV - Anglicised

10 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 in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 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. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

Scoffers Will Come (vs 3-7)

So before we get into the specifics of our focal passage, I do want to back up a bit and look at the context in which Peter writes this text.

So, backing all the way up to verse 3, Peter writes this . . .

2 Peter 3:3–4 NIV - Anglicised

3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

:3-

And this is where we get into the complacency issue.

What was going on then and now is that people had grown used to people like Peter, Paul, John, and the other disciples preaching about Christ and the importance of accepting Christ and following Christ.

They had also grown accustomed to these same disciples warning them about the Day of the Lord coming and coming quickly.

But what happened was that in the beginning these people looked and looked and looked, but Jesus never came back.

He never showed back up, never destroyed all of the Roman oppressors, never took them back home to Heaven.

So, they began to sort of tune out the preaching and the warnings.

They went back to the same old way of life and the same old way of doing things.

The newness of it all wore off and they got back to business as usual.

But also at the same time these “scoffers” came along.

These people who saw how popular the message of Jesus was and they saw it as an opportunity to make some money, gain some fame for themselves.

However, they had to have an angle.

And that angle was to provide the opposite message than the message of Jesus Christ.

They figured out that since Jesus had not come yet, they could exploit that situation and make up a story of their own.

But before they could get the people to buy into their “gospel,” they had to convince them that the disciples were frauds.

So, they began to scoff at and mock the message, calling it into question.

Pointing out what really was the long history of God warning His people, trying to give them a chance to repent.

But they spun it as it all being lies and not the gracious mercy of God.

But to this Peter offers them an explanation that really shuts them up in many ways.

He continues in his letter . . . .

2 Peter 3:5–7 NIV - Anglicised

5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

:5-

And what Peter is really doing is pointing out their inconsistency and their inability to recall the truth of what history told.

These scoffers were arguing that God has been warning since the beginning of time but never did anything.

However, they conveniently forgot the flood and the complete destruction of the world by God in that flood.

They forgot all of the warnings time and time again that eventually ended up in a world-wide flood.

They also have conveniently forgotten about all the times that God warned the nation of Israel, only to have them reject God and do things like wander in the desert for 40 years, be carried into captivity many times.

In fact they were currently under the rule of the Roman government .

But they conveniently forgot all of that.

Which also brings up a good point for us to remember as well.

Many times we have situations in which people speak against God and against God’s people.

And their argument is 100% one sided.

Well, there is always two sides to every story.

And if someone is only presenting one side, be careful.

Do your homework and figure out what facts they are leaving out.

Because we have a bad habit of conveniently leaving out the facts when they don’t suit our desires.

The Truth About Christ’s Coming (vs 8-10)

Which is really what Peter is pointing out here.

And he goes on to remind them of this fact as well . . .

2 Peter 3:8 NIV - Anglicised

8 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.

2 Peter 3:8-

Another point we need to remember.

God’s concept of time is not like our concept of time.

God invented time.

God is not bound by time like we are.

God is timeless in that God transcends all time.

And we cannot really understand and comprehend how God interacts with time.

And God’s timetable is really dictated by the heart of the people.

God may spend centuries warning people.

Peter goes on . . .

2 Peter 3:9 NIV - Anglicised

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:

Which is exactly the point.

God is patient to the point that God, who knows everything, past, present, and future, is patiently waiting until the point that the person, the nation, the people are beyond redemption.

When the people have reach the point of no return.

When there is no hope of them getting it together.

It is not a situation where the message is a lie.

It is a situation where God is extending the full measure of his mercy and his grace onto creation.

However, that will not always be the case.

2 Peter 3:10 NIV - Anglicised

10 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 in it will be laid bare.

2 Peter 3:10

And we can take this truth to the bank

The day will come when all the chances will be up.

All who are going to repent have repented.

And the day of the Lord will come, and when it comes it will come like a thief.

Meaning quickly and suddenly.

Without warning.

And even though Peter is talking here about that great day of the Lord.

We can also rest assured that even if the Lord tarries for the world, there is a day coming for us all.

A day when we will all draw our last breath here and wake up on the other side.

And on that day we will all stand before the Lord.

We will all give an account of our lives.

What will that account be?

How Should We Respond (vs 11-15)

How Should We Respond (vs 11-15)

Well, it is all really determined by the choices we make here and how we live our lives here.

Peter poses this question to the people . . .

2 Peter 3:11–12 NIV - Anglicised

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 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.

2 Peter 3:11–13 NIV - Anglicised

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 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. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

2 Peter 3:11-

Do we hear that?

Do we hear that?

Do we understand that?

The day is most certainly coming and if we want to be ready for that day we need to be living holy and godly lives.

Lives dedicated and given over to God.

Lives that are sanctified by God and sanctified for God’s use.

Our entire being should be given to God.

Our entire focus should be God and God’s will.

God should be the center of all things.

God should be the one that motivates and informs all of our actions and all of our decisions in life.

Because the reality is that day will bring about destruction of the heavens by fire, the elements will melt in the heat.

Don’t sound like anything we want to be part of.

And we don’t.

If we belong to God.

If we are living those holy and godly lives then . . .

2 Peter 3:13 NIV - Anglicised

13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

That is what God has promised us.

That is what we have in store.

But only if we are living right and living for God.

And the practical way of doing this is . . .

2 Peter 3:14–15 NIV - Anglicised

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him.

2 Peter 3:14-

Altar Call

Spotless

Blameless

At peace with.

Does that describe us?

Not what we say about ourselves, but would that be what others would say?

Would that be what God would say when we stand before Him?

Would we be found spotless?

Would we be found blameless?

Would He say that our lives were lived in a way where we sought to be at peace with Him?

Because those are the things that are important here.

That last verse I ready says this . . .

2 Peter 3:15 NIV - Anglicised

15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him.

And I wanted to point that out again because many times Satan tries to convince us it is too late.

That we have made too many mistakes.

We have messed up too many times to be at peace with God.

Well, the truth is that is just not true.

The Lord is patient because he wants us to come to Him.

He waits because He loves.

And there are many things in our lives that the Lord is patiently waiting on us to give to Him.

But the question is, do we trust Him enough to give it to Him?

Only we can answer that question.

But know this, even though God is patient, the end will come.

And we don’t know when.

But it will come.

Why don’t we do something tonight to make sure we are ready when it does.

Will you do that tonight?

Our altars are available, will we use them?