2 Peter 3:10

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with a fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming day of God? Because of this, the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with a fervent heat.

Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found in Him in peace, without spot and blameless. Consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you. In all his letters, he speaks of these things, in which are some things hard to understand. Untaught and unstable people twist them to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

You, therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked. Instead, grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.

Father, would You give us wisdom and understanding as we look into Your Word? As we think on these words today, I pray, God, that we would not only gain knowledge and understanding, but that we would see how these things apply to our lives and how to apply them in our lives this week. God, continue the work of transformation, whereby You, by the work of Your Spirit and the power of Your Word, are making us more like You in our conduct. Lord, help me. I pray that this would be the outcome as we think on these things. Speak to us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agree said, Amen.

You can be seated. This last week in Mexico City, Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of Space Exploration Technologies...

Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, stood before a very large group of people at a conference, discussing space initiatives. For about 90 minutes, he talked about his goal and the goal of his company, SpaceX, to begin the work of colonizing Mars by the end of this next decade. He showed computer animations depicting a huge spaceship designed to send 100 people at a time to Mars. He outlined their plans to build a colony of more than a million people on the red planet over the course of the next half century to a century.

It's a pretty far-out concept, and Musk intrigues me, so I follow some of the things he has to say because he is an interesting character. One of the things you learn if you listen to him speak is that he is wholly and completely committed to the mission of getting people to Mars. This mission extends beyond just SpaceX; it also includes moving everyone away from fossil fuels with Tesla Motors. Additionally, he is the founder and chairman of SolarCity, a company aimed at encouraging a shift from current energy sources to renewable resources.

Musk is committed to this mission because, as you hear him speak, you find that he has a vision. He is 100% convinced that the world we now experience will not always be as it is. He believes there will be some sort of cataclysmic event that will take place on this planet. As he often states, there have been extinction events in the past, and there is certain to be one in the future. This belief drives his commitment to the things he is trying to accomplish. He is absolutely certain that either through our own actions, such as climate change, we will destroy this planet, or some other event will occur that will lead to its destruction.

In one sense, you can say what you will about Elon Musk—there are many crazy things you could say about him—but he shares a belief similar to that presented by Peter in this passage of Scripture. Point number one on your sermon guide, which is in your bulletin, is that the world as we know it will end.

That's what he's convinced of: the world as we know it will end. Now, he's basing that conviction on different things than Peter was, but Peter was thoroughly convinced of this as well. So were the Apostle Paul, the Apostle James, and John. The church has believed this for 2,000 years, and many of you here in this room today believe this truth: that the world as we know it will end.

Peter says it like this: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with a fervent heat, and both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." He goes on to say in verse 12, "the coming day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with a fervent heat." Peter was convinced 2,000 years ago that there would one day be a sudden cataclysmic event wherein the world as we know it would cease to exist, which he referred to as the day of the Lord.

He was not the only person to refer to it as the day of the Lord. If you go back into the Old Testament and read through the works of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Amos, you will find that these different prophets of old spoke of the coming day of God, just as Peter does here in this passage. Paul speaks of it as well. Jesus prophesied about the very same thing: the world as we know it will end. It will not be as it has been. It has not been in the past as it is right now. There were times in the past when cataclysmic events took place that could also be referred to as a day of the Lord. Things have not always been as they are, and they will not always be as they currently are because the day of the Lord will come.

What exactly is the day of the Lord? Well, as the Scriptures describe it, it is that day in which God intervenes in the realm of humanity for judgment. It is a day long prophesied about, a day that has been looked forward to for many centuries, many millennia, by many different people inspired by God to anticipate these things. But the day of the Lord, he says, will come. It is that day in which the Lord steps into the realm of humanity for judgment. He did so thousands of years ago, as Peter even referred to in the previous passage we looked at last week. He did so back in Genesis chapters 6, 7, and 8, where we read about the flood of Noah.

God, surveying all the things that were happening in the world, determined that there was to be a judgment, a punishment. So, God brought that punishment by sending a global flood, through which only Noah and his family were spared, along with all those who were on the ark with him. However, God did promise a covenant at that point, stating that He would never again destroy the world with a flood. This is good news, as we see in Genesis chapter 9. The waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh was God's covenant. He also gave us a sign of that covenant: the rainbow in the sky, serving as a reminder to us and to Him that He would never again destroy the world with a flood.

But this day of the Lord will come. When will it come? That's always the question, isn't it? When will the day of the Lord arrive? Peter says here that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, meaning it will come suddenly and without warning. We don't know exactly when it will be. Anyone who tells you that they know, who has pinpointed the timing through some sort of Bible code or intricate algorithm, is either self-deceived or selling something, and perhaps a little bit of both.

Certainly, there have been people, even in the last 20 to 40 years, who have sold all kinds of books claiming to have pinpointed the time of the day of the Lord. Even at this moment, there are people saying it will be on this date or that date, making projections for the future. But what do the Scriptures say? What did Jesus say?

In Acts chapter 1, Jesus' early followers were also interested in the timing of the day of the Lord. Two thousand years ago, they were not so different from many people today; they wanted to know when this would happen. So, they asked Him in Acts chapter 1, verse 6, "Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Will you bring about your kingdom and your reign and the end of all things as we know it?"

Jesus replied to His disciples, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put under His own authority." This was not just His teaching at that moment in Acts chapter 1; it was His consistent view, going back to Matthew chapter 24. If you are in 2 Peter, you can turn to the left about a third of the way through the Bible, and you will find yourself...

In Matthew's Gospel, specifically in Matthew chapter 24, we find one of the largest sections of Scripture where Jesus dedicates significant time to speaking about the end times and the end of the age. He states in Matthew 24:35, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away."

He continues in verse 36, emphasizing the uncertainty of the timing of these events: "But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, but my Father only." It is crucial to highlight and underline this verse, as it serves as a reminder when someone claims to have pinpointed the exact day of the end. Jesus clearly states that no one knows the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven.

He draws a parallel to the days of Noah, saying, "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark." Life continued as usual until the flood came and took them all away. This is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Jesus illustrates this further: "Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and the other left." He urges us to watch, for we do not know the hour the Lord is coming. He adds, "If the master of the house had known the hour that the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into." Therefore, we must also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour we do not expect.

At this point, a skeptic might ask, "Why would you even believe such a thing?" The reason we believe, and the reason Peter believed, is that the same person who taught these truths would, just a week later, be crucified on a Roman cross. Three days after that, He would rise from the dead. One would assume that someone who has died on a cross, risen from the dead, and then ascended into heaven would have some authoritative position to declare that the end will come. This is why Peter believed these things.

This is why the church teaches these things. It sounds far out when Elon Musk says it, and it sounds far out when I say it or when Peter says it. But listen, the reason they believed and taught these things is because Jesus, the one who preached it, was crucified, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. They said, "Well, I think he probably has some authority on these things."

The authoritative teacher on these topics says, "You will not know the day or the hour." You won't know the specifics of when these things will come to pass. However, he did say that heaven and earth will pass away. Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, stated that though many attempts have been made to form a consistent scheme of prophecy, not one has been even moderately successful. There are many clear testimonies in the Word of God regarding distinct events in the future, but these cannot easily be arranged in order to harmonize with other events.

Neither will the most accurate observer, as I believe, ever make a consistent series of them to map them down. They are perfectly consistent, and their order is divine. However, we shall need to actually see the fulfillment to make clear the plan. The architecture of future history is so intricate that only the architect himself knows where this stone and that stone are to be ordained. Only God alone knows when these things shall come to pass. But He did tell us this: the end will one day come.

What is the nature of that day? The Lord said the day of the Lord will come. It will come suddenly. We won't know all the specifics about when it will come, but what will it be like? What is its nature? Again, look at what Peter says in 2 Peter chapter 3. He states in verse 10 that the day of the Lord will come in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise. The elements will melt with fervent heat, and both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

In verse 12, he continues that the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. So here's the forecast: it's going to be hot—like really, really, really hot—and there will be no rain because that already happened. He said, "I'm not going to do that again." So it's going to be really hot; it will melt, as he says, with fervent heat. The elements will be dissolved, being on fire in this fervent heat.

Now, there is considerable debate among scholars, Bible teachers, and commentators as to whether...

This event, the Day of the Lord, will bring about the total annihilation of the earth and the cosmos, with all things being completely consumed and destroyed. There is debate among scholars on this issue. There have been books written on either side because there are other prophetic passages that seem to allude to things continuing to go on. This fire that comes through is like a purifying, refining fire that purges all sin and wickedness from the cosmos and the earth.

So, which is it? Will everything be completely destroyed and annihilated, or will everything just be purged and completely purified? As I said, there are different views. In my humble opinion, I tend to side with the view that says this will be a purifying fire that comes through and refines and purges out all sin. Ultimately, God comes and renews and makes all things new. However, there are arguments on both sides.

We do not understand all the specifics of the timing, nor do we fully comprehend every detail of how it is going to come to pass. But we do know that Jesus, who died on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, said it will come to pass. This is why Peter, Paul, James, John, and all these individuals were so passionate about preaching these things and believed in them.

While we do not understand all the details of this God-ordained cataclysm that will one day come, there are quite a few passages in the Scriptures that speak about it. The prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 2, verse 12, said that this day will come on everything that is proud and lofty, everything that is exalted against God. Also, in Isaiah chapter 13 and again in Joel chapter 1, we read that this day will come as destruction from the Almighty.

The prophet Joel said again in Joel chapter 2, verse 31, that this is the great and awesome Day of the Lord. Malachi, the prophet, said in Malachi 4, verse 5, that it is called the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. It is also referred to in Scripture as the Day of Christ, the Day of God, the Day of the Lord, the Day of Judgment, the Day of Calamity, the Day of Wrath, the Day of His Fierce Anger, the Day of His Great Slaughter, the Day of the Lord's Vengeance, the Day of Doom, and the Day of Indignation. None of those sound good. None of them. They are sobering and frightening, really. The Day of Doom? These sound more like Hollywood titles than they do scriptural references.

Of indignation, it is the great and terrible day that will bring darkness, distress, and wrath from God that He will pour out upon a sinful, fallen world. It's not a good day for the wicked. What shall become of those who have put their faith in Christ? Well, such an important question. I think we should look at the answer.

If you're back in 2 Peter, then turn to the left to 1 Thessalonians. If you're still over in Matthew 24, you can turn to the right. 1 Thessalonians is right after the books of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. Now, turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I actually want to read the last words of chapter 4, verse 18. The Apostle Paul says this: "Therefore, comfort one another with these words."

But concerning the times and seasons, 1 Thessalonians 5:1 states, "But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord, there it is, so comes as a thief in the night." These are the same exact words that Peter spoke. Why did they both say these things? Well, this is what Jesus taught. The one who died on the cross rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.

Notice the "they" and "them" versus the "us" and "we" that Paul uses here in this passage. The day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, "Peace and safety," then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons and daughters of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath. Amen. Praise God. God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, whether we're alive or dead, we should live together with Him.

Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. Notice that these words are bookended by 1 Thessalonians 4:18, which says to comfort one another with these words, and 1 Thessalonians 5:11, which also instructs us to comfort one another with these words. In the midst of these two words of comfort, it is stated that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, bringing sudden destruction upon those who have not put their faith in Christ for righteousness. However, you who have put your faith in Christ are not appointed to wrath.

How does that work? When Jesus died on the cross, He took upon Himself all sin and absorbed the wrath of God upon sin. Because of this, those who have put their trust and faith in Him will not be appointed to wrath, even though one day wrath will come. There is a day of wrath, a day of reckoning, and it will certainly come, suddenly, upon those who are not aware and not watching. But you are not of the night; you are of the day. You are awake and have been enlightened by the Spirit of God, the Spirit of grace. Therefore, you are aware that these things will one day come, and they will not overtake you as a thief because you are children of the light.

Notice the "therefore" in the middle of these words in 1 Thessalonians 5:6. We know that the day of the Lord will come as a thief upon those who are not ready. But you, who have put your faith in Christ Jesus, have obtained salvation, and it will not come upon you. Therefore, because of this, 1 Thessalonians 5:6 instructs us to not sleep as others do, but to watch and be sober. Knowing this should have an effect; it should transform our lives.

Look back again at 2 Peter, specifically chapter 3, verse 11. The same word opens this verse: "Therefore, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night," as stated in verse 10, "in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in them will be burned up." Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?

Point number two on your outline: Our knowledge of the future should alter our present behavior.

The J.B. Phillips translation of verse 11 states, "In view of the fact that all these things will be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be?" Surely, men of good and holy character, who are expecting and earnestly longing for the coming day of God, should embody this. This was the teaching of the Apostle Paul: be ready, be waiting for the coming day of God, and live a life marked with sobriety, righteousness, and godliness. Peter echoes this sentiment, urging us to live a life characterized by sobriety.

Where did they get this teaching? It goes back to the one who died on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. In Matthew 24, verse 42, Jesus said, "Watch therefore, for you do not know the hour that your Lord is coming." Again, in verse 44 of Matthew 24, He states, "Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect." Then, in the next chapter, Matthew 25, verse 13, He reminds us, "Watch therefore, for you neither know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

He emphasizes the need to watch, be ready, and be actively engaged in the work that He has commissioned us to do. We must be awake and circumspect. The wise follower of Jesus is a vigilant servant. The Lord will return, and when He comes, He will pour out wrath upon a fallen and sinful world.

Peter continues in 2 Peter 3, verse 13, stating, "Nevertheless, even so, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."

Point number three: Christians look forward to the end of all things. This is a somewhat touchy point, and I actually went back and forth on it quite a bit this week. It needs to be parsed and worked through carefully. What we should never look forward to with excitement and anticipation is the day of wrath. Even the Old Testament prophets warned, "Woe to him who looks forward to the day of wrath."

That's not something we are anticipating. Nobody should be excited about the coming day of God's wrath. However, what comes on the other side of the day of wrath is what we look forward to. When God's purifying, refining fire goes and purges all sin from the face of the earth, there will be something new that He will create. He makes all things new. Whether it is a completely new creation or a renewed creation after He purges all sin, whatever the case, it is new.

What exactly does this new heaven and earth look like? Well, turn to the book of Revelation. I know many people are always excited about the book of Revelation, so we are finally going there. Let's look at the next to last chapter, Revelation 21. The book of Revelation is a vision, a revelation that the apostle John had of what is coming in the future. He writes in Revelation chapter 21, verse 1: "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth," the same thing that Peter has been speaking about. "For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea."

Then I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be their God." God is going to dwell in the midst of His people.

God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. No death, no pain, no sorrow, no illness. I don't know about you, but that sounds really, really good.

He said to me, "Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write these things, for the words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, 'It is done.'"

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give the fountain of water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. I make all things new. That's what we look forward to.

When the purging fire of God purges all sin from the face of this cosmos, everything that has come as a result of sin—death, sickness, suffering, sorrow, and pain—all because of sin, will be removed. The Scriptures teach this. This is what the risen Jesus says: all of that will be purged by fire. After sin is gone, God can dwell with His people, and He will wipe away all tears. There will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more death, and no more suffering.

I long for this because I see the same news that you do. When we see children getting shot at school, people being bombed in Syria, or people being beheaded in northern Iraq, there is a part in every single one of us that says, "That needs to stop." We long for the day when that stops. The Bible proclaims there will be a day when that will be no more. Therefore, we have an optimistic vision of the future, a future that comes after this purging fire.

Point number four: God has promised a glorious future. That's the promise we have. God has promised a glorious future. Therefore, because of this, in verse 14 of 2 Peter chapter 3, it says, "Beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless." Because of the great promise of God of a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells—because sin has been removed, and there is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more suffering, and no more death—He says to be diligent to be found by the Lord in peace, without spot and blameless. The New International Version says...

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him. Make every effort. Peter liked this phrase, "make every effort." He uses it four times in this short letter. The first time we see it is in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 10: "Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent. Make every effort to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things, you will never stumble."

Then, in chapter 1, verse 15, he says, "Moreover, I will make every effort. I will be even more diligent. I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my death." So, make every effort. Now he says it again here: "Make every effort to be found by Him in peace, without spot, blameless."

What does it mean to make every effort? Well, I pretty regularly go to the gym. This last week, I was at the gym running on the treadmill, and right in front of the treadmill I was using was a weightlifting machine, a pull-up assist machine. Has anyone ever seen a pull-up assist machine? You set the weight, and then you stand on this bar to do your pull-ups. The weight you set reduces your weight, making it easier for you to do pull-ups.

As I was running on the treadmill, a person came in and started using this pull-up assist machine. They were doing pull-ups, and I thought, "Man, this person is really going off on the pull-ups." Then I noticed they had set the weight to about 150 pounds, and they could not have weighed more than 170 pounds. They could do pull-ups all day long, and from a distance, it might look like they were awesome at pull-ups. But in reality, they were not making every effort.

I'm sure you remember this: a few years ago, you might have flipped through TV channels late at night and come across an infomercial for the ab belt. Does anyone remember the ab belt? Somebody here must have bought one. What was the ab belt? Oh, you remember the tagline: "You want firm and toned abs but don't have the time to work out?" And everyone would respond, "Yeah?" Just get the ab belt! What is it? You just put it on and push the button, and it will shock you. You don't have to work out; you'll get firm. Then they would show these pictures of someone like Atlas, you know, ripped, using the ab belt.

For sure, right after he does his four-hour workout, they hand him a check for a whole bunch of money. But the ab belt? That's not making every effort. You don't have time to work out; you just put on the ab belt for five easy payments of $29.95 or something. That makes sense to me.

How do we make every effort? Let's go over just two pages to the first chapter of 2 Peter. You're in 2 Peter chapter 3, but look at 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 5. He says, "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence." There's the same verb again: making every effort. Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent. There it is again: to make your call and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. Notice this: for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

He says to make every effort to add to your faith knowledge, and to your knowledge self-control, or to add to your faith virtue and to your virtue knowledge, to your knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. Add to your faith all of these things.

The Apostle Paul, in 1 Timothy chapter 4, writing to a younger man in the faith, says, "Listen, Timothy, exercise yourself in godliness." This is exactly what Peter is saying here: exercise yourself in godliness. For bodily exercise profits little, right? This is little. But godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of what now is and that which is to come.

What Paul is saying is that bodily exercise is good for this world, but it won't go on into eternity. This body will not last forever, but if you exercise yourself...

Towards godliness, it will have rewards in this life and that which is to come. So, add to your faith virtue, to your virtue knowledge, to your knowledge self-control, to your self-control perseverance, to your perseverance godliness, to your godliness brotherly kindness, and to your brotherly kindness love. Be even more diligent to do these things.

Point number five on your outline: God's glorious promise should prompt our diligent pursuit of godliness. Peter continues in 2 Peter, chapter 3, verse 15, and considers that the long-suffering, or the patience, of our Lord is salvation. Earlier in this chapter, the critic, the skeptic, the mocker, the scoffer says, "Where is the sign of His coming? I thought you said Jesus was coming back. He hasn't come back. How come He's delaying? How come He's taking so long?"

The Lord delays because He is gracious. We saw in verse 9 of 2 Peter, chapter 3, that He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance. Why has Jesus not returned yet? Because He does not delight in the death of the wicked. He does not want to see people destroyed. In 2 Timothy, chapter 2, Paul tells Timothy that we are to pray for all men that they would come to faith. Why? Because God desires that all would be saved.

God's desire is not that anyone would see His wrath, judgment, and punishment because Jesus took the punishing wrath of God on the cross. He desires that we would be able to share the good news of the gospel with those people so that they would turn to the Lord in repentance. Understand that God's long-suffering and His patience are because He wants to save more people.

So, Peter says, "Consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation," as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as in all of his epistles, speaking in them these things. In these letters, some things are hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

One quick sideline here.

Peter, the apostle and the writer of this letter, lived around the year 66 AD. Two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul and the church already regarded the letters of the apostle Paul as scripture. He states this clearly: "Even as Paul has written to you in his letters, scriptures."

In verse 17, he continues, "You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked." Instead, we are called to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory forever.

What should we be doing? We should be exercising ourselves in godliness, growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory forever.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer?

Father God, I thank you for your word. It is a challenging word, dealing with subjects that are not things we like to think about or ponder, such as the coming day of wrath. But Lord, I thank you that you have not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through your Son.

Jesus, we thank you that you, on the cross 2,000 years ago, took our sin, our transgression, our iniquity, and you were the one who absorbed wrath for us so that we might receive grace and righteousness.

Lord, I pray that the message of grace would so impact our lives that we would not be able to hold it back, but we would be compelled to share it. Freely we have received; may we freely give.

Until the day you come and call us home, would you give us the same passion and desire that you have to see people come to the knowledge of the truth and to repentance? May we not desire that any would perish either. Stir our hearts.

Lord, stir our hearts.