Epistles of Peter

Okay, 2 Peter. We, of course, covered a little background, and then the first chapter. And we want to go ahead and jump right into chapter 2 here tonight. In this chapter, as was mentioned in the introduction, we're going to be looking primarily at a warning against false prophets and false teachings. And so, actually, we have a lot of similarities to the subject matter of the little short epistle that Jude wrote. And so, you might want to look at that a little bit. So, apparently, both Peter and Jude, wherever they were working, were battling some of the same heresies, some of the same issues. Now, there is a handout that you have. And as it mentions at the top, I thought this would save us a bit of time to give you something in writing. But I took this from the letters of James and Peter written by William Barclay. You've got the page numbers there, 283, 284.

Excuse me. And Barclay identifies 15 different characteristics of these false teachers. So, you can just refer to this and kind of file it away. And then we'll have this because he starts actually...we saw in chapter 1. He ended toward the end of that chapter with the fact that some are going to twist scriptures. They're going to use scripture in a way to support their thinking. And then, as we get to chapter 2, we have one characteristic after another. So, we will see these as we go through, but they bring the Christian faith into disrepute. They're covetous of gain and exploit others.

So, anyhow, we'll see that as we get started. So, let's just pick it up in 2 Peter 2, in verse 1. And here he says, But there were also false teachers among the people. Even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them and bring on themselves swift destruction. So, that's quite an opening statement on this topic. There have always been those who bring falsehood. There always will be. There are the cronies, the agents, working on behalf of Satan the Devil. Satan is never going to give up. And he will continue trying to the door to our mind.

And if the door is locked, he'll try the window, and he will try and continue trying to wear out the saints and get us to give up on the calling that we have been given. In verse 2, it says, And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

So, as we see in the book of Acts, and we see here, this Christian way of life is referred to by different means, and using the word, the way, those of the way. And here it's called the way of truth. And they will blaspheme God and the Bible. They will blaspheme those who seek to try to follow in the steps of God.

You will have those who claim to love the commandments of God. They'll have plaques on the wall of the Ten Commandments. But there's one of those commandments, as we know, that they hate, because of the fact that they will not, they might agree, give lip service to the others, but they will not agree with that Sabbath. Now, a couple of verses to make a note of, and just to tie in here, 2 Timothy 3 verse 5 refers to those who have a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.

So just an outer shell appearing to be Christian, appearing to live in a godly manner, but it's just the outer veneer. And on the inside, it's like Jesus said, you shall know them by their fruits. Another one is Titus 1 verse 16. Titus 1 verse 16. And in that verse it talks about denying Him, denying God, by their works. So you can say, Lord, Lord, all you want, but unless you follow that up with the works, the way you live your life, it is just simply lip service at best.

There are those who will proclaim to love Jesus, and they want to talk all about the resurrection, and yet then they're observing Easter. And Easter has roots in the most disgusting pagan practices. Verse 3, by covetousness, they will exploit you with deceptive words. So as we go through, you're going to see some of these characteristics on your hand out there. For a long time, their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

So, deceitful words, deceptive words, Satan is the master of deception. He is the great deceiver, and those who deceive are working on behalf of Satan the devil. Now, in verse 4, he shifts into a listing here of the fact that those who are these false teachers will ultimately share the same fate as angels that sinned, and then human beings at the time of the flood, and then he's going to go specifically to those who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. So, we've got three different examples that he will use.

But in verse 4, for if God did not spare the angels who sinned, so we realize that there were angels who followed Lucifer in his rebellion. And we're familiar with the rest of the story, at least the pieces of the puzzle that we're given. We have in Isaiah 14, where we have an insight into the thinking of Satan, of Lucifer. You know, I will this, I will, you've got the five I wills, culminating with the one I will be like the most high, which I think in intent is, I want God's job. Then we have the bulk of Ezekiel 28, where it looks at the king of Tyre, kind of as a type, a parallel four, Satan the devil, Lucifer.

Once upon a time, he was perfect, and the day was created, until a nickwoody was found in you, and it talks about how he was lifted up, and then it says that he sinned. So we've got those chapters, and then we have a number of verses in Revelation 12. Revelation 12, verse 4, for instance, specifically mentions this great red dragon, and his tail drew one-third of the stars of heaven.

And Revelation 1, verse 20, says that the stars represent angels. So there was a time, long before there were human beings, but there was a time when this great archangel, whose name would indicate that he was created to take the light of God's way wherever he was sent. But he turned to the way of darkness. And then his attitude, it's amazing how ungodly, rebellious attitudes, how contagious they are, and how the grumbling and the attitudes spread and infected so many.

So one-third followed him. Now, it says, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment. Now, in this latest Good News magazine that you probably got within the last two or three weeks, there are a number of articles on this topic.

In fact, the lead article, Darris McNeely, wrote, If a Man Dies, Shall He Live Again? And then Steve Myers has one, where he goes through these three different words, Greek words. Of course, there's the Hebrew sheol also. But one of the Greek words translated to hell in the King James and the New King James is this word here, and it's the only place it appears in the Bible, and that's Tartarus, or Tartarus, and it refers to a place of restraint.

Now, in Steve Myers' article on that topic, he said, I was reading that just yesterday, I think, and he mentioned that they were cast down to the earth, and they are restrained here. Now, remember when Jesus walked the earth at one point, there in, I think it's Luke 10, verse 18, he said, but Jesus said, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. So he saw him cast down. There was war in heaven before. Revelation 12 tells us it's going to happen again, and Michael and the righteous angels are going to fight against Satan and his followers.

But they were cast down here to the earth. Now, there are times, we know the book of Job, the first two chapters, there are times when Satan is allowed to go and appear before God. I don't know of any scripture that indicates any of the demons in general are allowed to do that. But it is a matter that they are basically restrained here, and yet there are places in the Bible that indicate that maybe some of the very worst of the worst are even further restrained, such as when we get into Revelation with trumpet plagues and then final plagues, and so and so has the key to the bottomless pit, and then these demonic spirits are unleashed, as if some of the very worst are reserved until that precise time.

So they may be even more restrained than the average one. But, you know, they recognize a time of judgment ahead when Christ was on the earth, different times, a demon from within somebody would cry out, What do we have to do with you, you son of man or son of David? Are you here to torment us ahead of our time? And so they recognize there is a time of judgment.

It's not quite yet, but they will completely, totally be removed from access to the family of God. Well, so that's his first example as far as the coming destruction of the false teachers. It will be like the sinful angels. Then in verse 5, he goes to the time of the flood. Verse 5, And did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, because Noah, his wife, three sons of their wives, equals eight, a preacher of righteousness.

So we do find in the few pieces of the puzzle that we are given in that pre-flood age that you did have certain ones like Seth, you had Enoch who walked with God, some of the others we don't know much about, but here is Noah, and he was of that righteous line who represented those who would perpetuate the truth of God.

Bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly. So all of those who denied God, all of those who rebelled against God, who would not hear the long, long preaching and ministry of Noah, they ultimately were destroyed. And then his third example, the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah. Verse 6, And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly, and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked. And let's go on through verse 8.

Well, here we have, again, the situation of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot and his family were spared. And yet again, Lot is an interesting study. Lot chose the well-watered plains when Abraham gave him the choice. And then when he chose that, kind of tacked on at the end of that story in Genesis, I think it's 13, it says the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked. And he chose to live down there. And then the next thing we know in chapter 18, he's living there. And then we find he's got a home there. And so Lot is an example of the fact that you get close to sin, you get close to this society of Satan, and some of it's likely going to splash on you, too. And we see that when the mob came to his house that night wanting the men, which were actually angels, we find some of the things he said in offering his daughters, we realize something had affected his thinking. Yet, God brought him out. The angels had to lay hands on Lot and his daughters and lead them out of there. His wife went so far, and as we know, she aborted. Her life was back in Sodom. But anyhow, these examples, and yet Lot found himself in a situation, a lot of it was his own doing. He lived right there in Sodom, but at least, as it says, he was oppressed by the conduct of the wicked around him. And as it says, he was tormented. And I think the old King James says something about, he vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their ungodly deeds. So, something close to that. And so, he was in that horrible society, and yet he did what he could. He cried out to God continually, and you know there's a lesson there for us, because we live in this society that is ever increasingly moving toward being the same type of a society in time Sodom. Alright. Of course, when Jesus was asked to teach us how to pray, one of the things he says is to deliver us from evil. And one translation says deliver us from the evil one. And we need to do that a great deal. Well, let's continue in verse 9.

So, God has lots of experience. For the righteous, those who want to live in a godly manner, God can deliver them out of the most unbelievable situations. We can ask Daniel about that someday in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and we can ask Esther about that. And God knew how to deliver them, and he knows how to deliver us. But he also knows how to reserve those who won't live his way. There will be a time when they'll be judged according to their works. Verse 10, So, here it speaks of those who go the way of lust. They are presumptuous. I believe that's another one on your list. They are self-willed. They don't want to be told. They don't want to go to the Scripture to see what it says and then pattern their life after that. They are self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries. And, you know, we have the... Well, Jude refers to the time way back when, when Moses died, and Michael the Archangel went to dispute with Satan over the remains. I mean, look at what mankind has made gods out of to worship. If they had the bones, the remains of Moses, you talk about an idol for people to worship waiting to happen. But God had Michael there, and yet Michael, just simply as it says, says the Lord rebuked you. You know, he didn't cuss out the devil. He didn't do it on his own power. He just reminded Satan that by the power of God, you must obey. And he got the remains and hid them. So, in verse... Let's go down to verse... Where were we? Okay. You know, whereas angels who are greater in power might do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. All right, verse 12. But these like natural, brute beasts. So these false teachers are like brute animals. They speak of things they know nothing about. Speak evil of the things they do not understand and will utterly perish in their own corruption. And will receive the wages of unrighteousness. Well, we know what Romans 6, verse 23 says. Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death. But then the Scripture also goes on to remind us that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. But these are walking the way of unrighteousness, lawlessness. They're walking the path of sin, and they're going to be paid their just rewards. As those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. Marginal note, to revel in the daytime. Because a lot of things that human beings do, it at least seems that they tend to do it under the cloak of darkness. But he's talking about those where society reaches a certain point. It's just done out in the open. Just think of where Israel was in the days there in number 25 with Phineas and was it the Midianite or no, the Moabite women? And the open adultery and all that was taking place until Phineas took the sword and ran a couple of them through and stopped the plague. Well, then it says, they are spots and blemishes carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you. So, feast days. There are times back through the past when it seems like some of the strangest situations would come out of the woodwork and come out of the woods. There have been people years ago rode up on to the beach there at Jekyll Island and wanted everyone to know they're the two witnesses.

Well, anyhow, demons, Satan, like to come and seek to disrupt us, especially on these feast occasions, which can include the weekly Sabbath and annual Sabbath, or any time we get together. They want to come among us and disrupt and destroy. Verse 14, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, adultery destroys families. It's not just the couple, the marriage, that destroys families. And there are those whose eyes are always wandering, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices and are accursed children.

A heart trained. You know, you can train the conscience. And hopefully we're tender-hearted and we're eager to want to do what we find written in the God's Word. But there are those who have their heart trained the wrong way. Verse 15, they have forsaken the right way and gone astray following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. You know, Balaam loved the idea of selling out his office to be paid for it. God, as it goes on here, God used donkey to straighten him out.

Verse 16, but he was rebuked for his iniquity, a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. So you can go back to Numbers 22 through 24 to find that story where Balak, the king of Moab, wanted him to pronounce a curse upon Israel. And he didn't do so, but he sure seemed to want to do so.

But he truly wanted to sell out. He wanted the reward. So he was covetous. And the chapter that even follows that, as I referred to a minute ago, back to Numbers 25 and the open hortom, and the action taken by Phineas, Josephus, I believe it is, that adds the instruction that Balaam was the one who was instrumental in teaching Israel to do those things.

Okay, verse 17. There are wells without water. Now, we've had a lot of rain around here, but there are places out west. Places out west. In fact, I saw over here somewhere a draft chart. Looks like New Mexico, West Texas, part of Kansas, Oklahoma. And then up the west coast there through the bulk of California. Even though, of late, they've gotten some rains. But it takes a long time when they've had years of being under. But there are wildfires that were in California, wildfires in Oklahoma and in Texas. And sometimes you have clouds that come over and they're all promising and they puff up and build up and maybe even look black.

You might even hear little thunder from them, but if they don't drop any water, how disappointing it is. And if you go, if you're traveling, the old pioneers in the westward expansion of this country, and they knew there was a stream ahead, and they go and get there and it's dry. Wow! What a disappointment! Now that's the example that Peter uses. They're like wells and clouds that don't have any water. In other words, they promise blessing, they promise freedom, but in reality lead people into captivity. They're fakes. They're plastic. So clouds carried by a tempest for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Now let's pause with that one. You might look forward to the little book of Jude, because we've got just a few clues that we are given with respect to the final judgment of the fallen angels. And that last phrase seems to go back and tie it in with what we read up in verse 4, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Or here in Jude, verse 6, And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, they did not remain faithful to God, but left their own abode. So if they were the ones who were here under Satan preparing the earth for the coming phases of God's plan, they left that assignment, and they rebelled to go take over the throne of God. Left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. So these would tend to also, verse 13 of Jude, Raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame, wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

And so those are just a few of the keys that we have. When Jesus walked the earth, and one number of times, He said something about a lake of fire, and that Satan and his angels are reserved for that. Now we realize that's going to be symbolic, because the fire is not going to burn up spirit. But the blackness of darkness forever, we just have to puzzle over that. I kind of like the old Superman series that came out with Christopher Reeve years ago, and I think it was the second one.

You had these three super awful criminals that had been banished, and it was like they were on this pane of glass, just kind of floating out through the darkness of the universe, away from everybody else, until... I forget the whole story, but there was Superman saved the Eiffel Tower, and then the nuclear bomb that was on it. He threw it way out into space, and the nuclear explosion out there freed the criminals. So, really good stuff there. But anyhow, even Hollywood, they look at this, I think, and a lot of themes get built around this.

What is God going to ultimately do? I heard one man say, with your demons, they are sex perverts. They are thieves, cheats, liars, and for that bunch to be removed, wherever God sends them, and they do all the above to each other for eternity. I mean, no wonder they cried out to Jesus, are you here to torment us ahead of our time. Just a horrible fear that we find of their impending judgment.

Alright, verse 18. When they speak great swelling words of emptiness, I like the way that's written. Sounds so erudite, so learned, but they're empty. Their words are meaningless. They allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. And so, speaks here of their actions, their attitudes, their words, possibly tripping up the very elect, those who have been forgiven, those who have escaped a life in error. In, let me see here, I'll find it real fast, just to give you the reference, Matthew 24.

Verse 24. It says, For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. And so, of course, the warning there is, stay close to God, so that you cannot be deceived. Now, verse 19. It goes down here to a couple of rather graphic examples.

Verse 19, While they promise them liberty. It's interesting how sin, you know, if we could personify sin, whatever that sin is trying to get you to do. For some it's adultery, for some it's abuse of a substance, for some it's putting all kinds of things before God. They promise things they can't deliver. You know, obedience to the law can deliver every marvelous blessing that God has for us. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption. You know, in reality, those that want to lead down that path supposedly to freedom, they are in chains and bondage. For by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. Verse 20, 4 if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. And here's his two examples. But it has happened to them, according to the true proverb, and here he quotes from back in the Proverbs, a dog returns to his own vomit. And we don't have to elaborate on that. We've all seen it. It's just something that happens. And a sow, having washed to her wallowing in the mire. Now, in an earlier life, I grew up on a farm, and it was the old traditional family farm, and we had about a hundred head of hogs a lot of times. And by the time I was about ten, they lost their welcome on our farm. But I have a lot of memories, those early years. And I was old enough, we're in 4-H, you go to the local show, the county show, and you might take that Yorkshire gilt or boar or barrel, and you take them to the fair, you wash them up, clean them up, maybe trim some hair, different things you could do to make them look better, train them as far as walking around to show them to the judge. And every last time, we'd load them up and take them back home. Where'd they go? They went straight to the mud hole. That beautiful white Yorkshire pig was caked in mud in no time. And so, that's, you know, in reality, he's talking about those who become enslaved back to that which they'd been called out of. And, you know, as he says here, it would have been better to have never lived than to go down that route. Alright, any comments, questions, observations that we didn't cover there in Chapter 2? About the false teachings of the rapture, the great false teachings that led people. Right. Rapture was mentioned and the false teaching in leading people away.

Okay, well, Chapter 3, let's survey this, and then we'll have this book wrapped up. In Chapter 3, he shifts to the fact that Christians must prepare for the day of the Lord. Christ is going to come back, and there will be different phases of God's plan after Christ returns. We have to be prepared. We have to make our part of the bride ready and remain ready. We are all sobered to read the parable of the ten virgins. Every one of them fell asleep, but five had enough of God's Spirit they could recover, and for five it was too late. For Chapter 3, verse 1, Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle. So again, this was something we mentioned in the introduction that demonstrates, even though we had a more refined Greek used in the first one, it was probably through a pen writer. And then here, probably more the work directly of Peter himself. But this second epistle, they're both his epistles, even though someone else helped write the first one. In both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder. So here he reminds, here he repeats, nothing like an ongoing, never-ending repetition of what we find to be biblically true and sound. We must stir up pure minds to remember as he goes on and talks about the words of the holy prophets and of the apostles. Verse 2, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, Peter writing here, as one of the original, one who was around from the beginning, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. We must be reminded of what God had taught them through these human agents. Verse 3, knowing this verse, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. And it seems like scoffers have always been around, and there will be scoffers in the last days. The motive is based on lust. They scoff at the existence of God. They scoff at the authority of the Bible. They scoff at the law of God because they want to be free to do as they good and well please. They scoff at the idea of Christ coming back to earth one day. They scoff at the idea of Christ's feet standing on the Mount of Olives and the saints coming with him. They say, Everything is the same. We've always had natural disasters. Well, yes, we have. It's just part and parcel of living here on this earth where we have these various tectonic plates that kind of float on a molten core. And once in a while, the pressure builds, and there are earthquakes, there are volcanoes, and we have storm patterns. And I suppose always. There was a whirlwind back in the days of Job. And we have tornadoes, we have hurricanes, typhoons, whatever you want to call them to this very day.

Alright, verse 5. For this they willingly forget that by the word of God the heavens were of old.

They forget the creative power of God. The word spoke and said, Let there be light. The word gave one command after another until on day 6 he said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness.

And the world was created through the word, through Jesus Christ. They willingly forget that the word of God, the heavens were of old, the earth standing out of water and in the water. One of the days of creation a separation of the land from the waters. By which the world that then existed, referring back to the pre-flood world, perished being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. So from the very creation, the heavens, the earth, all that is, is sustained by the same word, Creator God. And there is a time, it won't be destroyed by water again, but there is a time when it will be purified by fire. Verse 8, But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Now, this would hearken back to the Psalm of Moses, Psalm 90, verse 4 refers to a thousand years as a day. And in the church, we've talked about a seven thousand year plan. I think the longer time goes on, the more we have to just honestly say, we don't really have all the pieces. We don't have all the pieces of the puzzle that go back in time. There was once upon a time in the 70s, I think Dr. Ernest Martin somehow determined it was creation, it was 4024 B.C. Well, that was helpful because we were looking at about 1975 Christ returning. And you add the pieces up there, six thousand years. Then, well, the old Archbishop Ussher, he traced it back, he says 4004 B.C. 4004 B.C. was creation. But if you look at the Jewish reckoning, the Jewish reckoning, this is like year 3890 something. Excuse me, I'm just saying they're wrong. 58 something. So it's like a couple hundred years until six thousand years would be up. And I sure don't want to believe that we're going to go another 200 years. So we don't have all the pieces of the puzzle to trace from the day of the creation of Adam and Eve all the way through the ages. And so I think that we have to be careful, although we still look to a 1000 year. We've got so many scriptures that speak of saints living and reigning with Christ for a thousand years. That's something we can sink our hope into.

So what verse was that? Verse 8. Verse 9, the Lord is not slight concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us. Thank God He is. He has been so patient with me, with all of us. And I know a man, he said that when he was decades ago when he was counsel for baptism, the minister said, well, you know, the things you're struggling with right now, you'll probably still be struggling with those, you know, whenever it's toward the end of your life. Well, I'd have to agree to that. You know, some of the things I just, I let down and there's this temptation that starts getting a foothold, and I suspect we're all that way. But God is long, He suffers long with us. Why? Well, He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And you could tie in there 1 Timothy 2 verse 4. 1 Timothy 2 verse 4 talks about He wants all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2 verse 4. Alright, verse 10.

And the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. There's the fire, right. Now, Peter is not really focusing on giving us a listing chronologically of events. He's just kind of looking at when God begins intervening. You know, this age of God, this day of the Lord and forward. Ultimately, there will be a time as God's plan comes to realization. Everyone, all humans, well, there won't be humans. They will either have been destroyed or the vast, we pray, the vast, vast majority will be members spiritually of the family of God. Then there is a purging of the surface of the earth. The fire would cleanse the fingerprints of Satan and man and sin from the earth.

Verse 11. Therefore, OK, so since you know everything is going to happen, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? You know, it should prod us to live in a godly manner, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Now, William Barkley suggested some ways that we can hasten the coming of the day of God. What, any of you have an idea on what some of those things could be?

Praying. OK. All right, praying, yes. Pray thy kingdom come as the sample prayer. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Pray, too, that we'll be worthy. Escape these things and stand before the Son of Man. Yes. Pray that we'll be the kind of worthy to escape and to stand before the Son of Man.

I think that we should also remember Matthew 24, 14. This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world. So, we can be about our Father's business doing the work He's given the first fruits to do, the church to do today. And then another one that Barkley suggested, which is an outstanding one, is that Revelation 19, verse 7 says that His bride will have made herself ready. And so, the bride of Christ is an emblem for the overall body of Jesus Christ, the church. And we have our own little part. We can't change the next person in the congregation. We can't change our spouse. But we can, before God, work on ourselves. So, I think praying in those ways and being involved in the work of the church and then working on our own lives. Those are ways that we can hasten that at least time won't be held up because we're not ready. So, then verse 13, Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. So, again, keep your eyes on the ultimate coming. If we get to the end of the Bible, Revelation 21, 22, John in that vision, he's seeing the new Jerusalem, new heavens, new earth. And he speaks of a time when all things become new. I think Peter's saying, keep your eyes on the ultimate. That's about as far as God allows us to see. Surely, the family of God will have so much to do throughout eternity, but that's about as far as we see. After that, it gets pretty fuzzy. But we see through a dark sea to a glass dark. We see through a glass darkly. Yes, very good. So, verse 14, once again, Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace without spot and blameless. So, since you know the prophetic framework of what lies ahead, live in a peaceful, godly, obedient manner. Verse 15, notice in the next two verses what he says about the Apostle Paul. And consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation. Oh, I think we can all relate to that. Thank God that, you know, once upon a time, he didn't just draw a line and then he called it for us. We're in the kingdom of wrath. God waits. God is patient. God never gives up hope in us. He wants all to be saved, we read. As also our beloved brother Paul. Now, I think we need to realize there's more to the relationship of Peter and Paul than the little story there in, what was it, Galatians 1 or 2? Where Peter, you had these representatives from Jerusalem that came, and you had the church, the Jewish members of the church eating with the Gentile members of the church, and then some came from Jerusalem, and Peter and even Barnabas got involved in separating away from them. And Paul, you know, of course, he's the one who wrote that scripture that says, as far as elders that sin, rebuke before all that others may fear. And he told Peter the way it was. You know, you're wrong. And yet Peter was converted. He took it. And he calls him his beloved brother Paul. And of course, that's not the only story. When Paul was called, and then he was in Arabia, and then there was a time when he went up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before him. He went up to Peter and John and James. At that time, it would have been the half-brother of Christ. So he went to them, at least the way I understand it, probably to see is what I am teaching on track, the same as what Christ gave to you.

So, according to the wisdom given to him, as written to you, verse 16, As also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand. Well, we probably all, from the epistles of Paul, have our own areas that we would refer to. I would say Romans, and I would say Galatians, that there are things there, maybe a little bit of Ephesians, but there are things in those books that are oftentimes twisted, misapplied, read into Colossians 2, some of those areas as well. Which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures? Interesting. He's talking about Paul's epistles, and then he says, as they do in the rest of the Scriptures, so Peter was saying Paul's epistles are a part of the sacred canon. They are a part of the Bible. Now, verse 17, you therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware, lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away by the error of the wicked. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory, both now and forever. Amen. So here he kind of wraps it up. Be on guard. Be aware. Don't fall from your steadfastness into error. Continue to climb the ladder of virtues mentioned in Chapter 1. Always grow. Go forward. We can't sit down and stagnate and let moss grow on the north side. We've got to be going forward. Got to be moving. So these two chapters, Chapter 2, basically, warning about false teachers, and then this Chapter 3, largely looking at essentially the day of the Lord's coming. Be ready. Be prepared. Be on guard. Alright, any observations, questions, comments there about Chapter 3? Good. Always glad to know that we've answered all possible questions.

Well, you know, in Proverbs 26 it talks about answer a fool according to the folly and then answer not a fool. And sometimes we have to discern if they really ask and they want to know.

But if you're right, if they try to lead you into an argument, it's just a waste of your time and their time. Mr. Winter said, dust your feet off. Dust your feet off. You know, you can know just like you say it, but if they're sincere about it, they want to make you look like an idiot or they want to, you know, they want to twist around and tell you that you don't know, let me tell you. Yes. I know. Well?