Stirred, Not Shaken

Well, thank you very much to the choir. Appreciate the song. It's one of my favorites. I absolutely love the stuff that Mr. Komodris puts together, but I always enjoyed performing that one. Most songs that you sing, they don't always have such a fun bass part. That one's got a really fun bass part. That is a really fun bass part. It's just a lot of movement, a lot of...it's really good. Fun song. Well, very much appreciate it to the choir.

Once again, welcome, everyone. It is good to have all of you here with us. It's good to have the opportunity to be together on God's Sabbath, to have the chance to be able to come together in fellowship and in worship of Him. As I mentioned earlier, I brought you greetings from the Cincinnati brethren as well. It was such a wonderful opportunity to be able to go back and to spend a little bit of time seeing the work of God in progress.

My office, when I'm there, they have a little office for the visiting faculty, and it's just down the way from Tanya's desk. Tanya's the receptionist now. And so all day long, while you're in the office grading papers and, you know, getting up to shenanigans in the office with other people, you can listen to the phone calls coming in. You can hear all the questions that Tanya is answering.

They used to do a thing at ABC called Stump the Receptionist, and what they would do is they would take some of the questions that the receptionist gets on the phone, and they'd put the ABC kids in the hot seat, and they'd ask them the questions that they get on the phone every now and again. So you get to hear Tanya talk to people and kind of go through the process of some of that. You get to hear the literature requests. You know, you're right on down the hallway from the mailroom. You can see the buzz of work that's going on in there all the time as booklets are being prepared and sent out as people are requesting things.

Quite frankly, brethren, it's really encouraging. It's really encouraging to see the work of God being done, and it gets you very excited and fired up about what it is that God is doing at this time in history. Well, we wrapped the second semester of General Epistles at ABC on Friday morning, February 9th, just a little over a week ago, with the epistle of 3rd John. I'm not going to make you turn there today. We're not going to be in 3rd John today. But I wanted to bring to you a couple of things, just as we build in the direction of where we're going today, that involve some of the things that were being written by these authors of the General Epistles in the end of the first century.

In the epistle of 3rd John, John was dealing with a man by the name of Diatrophys, a man who was overseeing the congregation that he was writing to, ultimately, or the congregation where the gentleman he was writing to resided. And in that case, he was contrasting the attitude and the behavior of this man, Diatrophys, with a man named Demetrius, an itinerant teacher who was going around, and ultimately the same attitude and personality and behavior of the author or the recipient of the letter, a man by the name of Gaius.

And as we talked with the kids about this particular epistle, and as we talked about any of the General Epistles, one of the things that we discussed was how each of these General Epistles was written at a specific point in time to a specific group of people, or at least in the case of 3rd John, a specific person, and they were written for very specific reasons that the author addresses in his writing. John wrote his epistles in the 90s AD.

John wrote in the 90s AD, and by that point in time, the church was 60 years out from the death of Christ. They were 60 years out from the death of Christ. Three to four generations had passed. A generation was a little shorter in those days based on the marriage age, but of three to four generations had passed. You look around this room today, we have individuals at this point in this room that are third and fourth generation Christians. Might even have a couple of fifth.

Do we have any fifth in here? A couple? Maybe? I don't see any hands. If they were hands, they'd be little hands at this point. But ultimately, by this point in time in history, as John is writing, you might have some of that first generation still alive. I mean, John was. But by and large, many of those in that first generation were probably gone.

Based on the median age at that point in time, based on life expectancies, they were probably gone.

But you've got at that point second and third and fourth generation Christians that were there. So these first generation individuals were going to be rare. People like John. People like John, who had learned from Jesus Christ directly, who had spoken to him, who had handled him, they were rare. Put it into a little more direct perspective for us today, just to give us an idea. 60 years ago, ladies and gentlemen, was 1964.

Sixty-four. 1964, 60 years ago. A number of those who were baptized in the early 60s.

They're in their 80s, their 90s today. Many in that first couple of generations of the church have fallen asleep. And with their deaths, we lose practical wisdom. We lose tribal knowledge, so to speak, of the application of the way of God. And so, as often happens as time marches on, well, we experience the same challenges that the early church faced. While many endure faithfully, many endure faithfully, false teachings do find their way into the faith. The church bleeds, wow. The church bleeds, brethren, little by little by little as time goes on over this doctrine or that doctrine. Sometimes people begin to kind of question whether or not things are going to happen the way that they thought they were going to happen. Perhaps wondering about the return of Jesus Christ. It's not happening in that anticipated timeline. And so, as a result, begin to let the foot off the gas pedal a little bit. Begin to lose some of that momentum. Apathy can set in. And for some, even the best of intentions can't overcome that loss of momentum that comes from lethargy. And as these things take place on the whole, as these things begin to take place, it can become very easy to lose sight of the fundamental building blocks of the gospel message. So, what we see in John's writings, he addresses the fundamentals. He addresses the importance of the love which, brethren, need to have for one another. They need to have that love for God. They need to have that love for one another. He addresses the character of God, who and what God is. He addresses the importance of putting on that character. He also addresses the false teachings of Gnosticism that were coming in at that point in time in the church and their impact as individuals were denying Jesus Christ as a result of those Gnostic teachings.

So, John, in the 90s AD, 60 years out from the death of Christ, is dealing with these issues.

30 years before John wrote his epistle—his epistles, I should say—Peter and James addressed a different set of circumstances, but a similar challenge to what John was facing in the 90s AD. Peter and James, writing in the 60s, were only 30 years out from the death of Jesus Christ.

And at this point in time, as you look through Peter and James's writings, as you even read some of the epistles of the Apostle Paul, what you begin to see is that that fire that was in the church initially in Acts 2, what we see in the latter chapters of Acts 2, this fire that was in the church, had begun to wane. People had begun to settle into the routine of their faith.

Generations passed. There were similar challenges with false doctrine. There were similar issues interpersonally with personalities and difficulties, conflicts that caused rifts and schisms.

And we can see that as we read through the epistles of James and Peter, ultimately of Paul.

But in the 60s AD, there was another threat that began to arise that would shake the brethren to their core. Nero ascended the throne in 54 AD after an incredibly suspicious death of Claudius.

Christianity, which no longer taught a physical circumcision, a number of the Pharisaical laws that had defined Jewish practice had begun to be relaxed and had been distanced. The faith itself distanced itself from Jewish teachings and became its own faith. It became its own thing.

And with that distinction came external persecution. After the great fire of Rome, Nero needed a scapegoat, and this new sect of Christians proved the perfect target.

They were already viewed with suspicion. They were already viewed with distaste by Romans and Jews alike. And with the right accusation, the right situation, and the right opportunity, Nero's goals could be achieved. He blamed the fire on the Christians and then proceeded to persecute and kill the Christians in Rome. The people of God in Rome and in the surrounding areas were now dealing with something significant. It's in this environment that Peter writes his first epistle. And as those conditions continue to deteriorate on the ground, threats start to not just come from outside, they start to come from within as well.

And the church begins to be impacted by false teachers, by heresy, and then we see that he writes his second epistle. Let's turn over to 2 Peter 3. We want to see the reason why Peter wrote what he wrote. Let's turn over to 2 Peter 3. We're going to spend quite a bit of time today here in 2 Peter 3. You can put a bookmark in it if you'd like. We're going to bounce around, but we're going to ultimately come back to it. 2 Peter 3. And just like John, what we see is Peter addresses the fundamentals. Peter addresses the fundamentals. Not just in the sense of reminding them of what it was that Jesus Christ taught, but as they were shaken by the events that they were witnessing, both from outside and also from within, he wrote this set of epistles, both the first and second epistle of Peter, for a very specific purpose.

He wrote these epistles to stir the brethren up. He wrote them to stir the brethren up.

2 Peter 3 and verse 1, he states it himself. 2 Peter 3 and verse 1, he says, Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle, in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior.

Peter states the specific goal of this epistle and his first epistle. He was desiring to stir up their pure minds by way of reminder. It was his goal, his own stated goal.

The word stir in this passage is the Greek word diairo, which means to awaken, to arouse, to stir, but in the sense and context of waking someone up. That is what this word means.

Peter saw them slowly over a 30-year period being lulled into sleep. And now, with these threats upon them, he didn't want them to be shaken by the things which they were seeing in the world around them. The threats that were against their very existence, the existential threats against the truth within their midst, he didn't want them to be reeling from these things up against the rope, so to speak. Instead, he wanted them to be stirred up. He wanted them to be awake. He wanted them to be eyes open and ready, ready to confront the things which were coming.

Remembering the words that were spoken by the prophets and by Christ and his apostles. Some of you probably have a very cursory familiarity with the character James Bond, written by Sir Ian Fleming.

Mr. Bond has a very characteristic drink order. It's a dry martini, and then how does he order it?

Shaken, not stirred, right? Now, I could not, for the moment, tell you the benefit of one over the other. I don't know. I have no idea. But Peter did not desire the brethren to be shaken by the things that they were experiencing. Instead, he desired them to be stirred up. He desired them to be stirred, to recognize that these things were all a part of God's plan. And instead of being so overly concerned with the events taking place in that moment, he wanted them to expect it.

He wanted them to recognize these things were coming, and instead, to keep a focus and a remembrance on what is coming, on what God said is going to be taking place.

For those of you that appreciate titles, the title of the sermon today is the reverse of James Bond's drink preparation. It is stirred, not shaken. Stirred, not shaken.

With the time that I've left today, what I'd like to do is examine this concept with consideration of Peter's goals as he's written his epistle, but also to consider what it means for us in this modern era as we consider this common calling that we all share. Particularly as we begin to enter this upcoming spring holy day season. Passover is just nine weeks away. Just nine weeks away now. We're entering this season of self-examination. We're entering this season, season, season of tough questions. Difficult questions that we ask ourselves. Difficult questions. Today is going to be a sermon with some difficult questions.

We need to ask ourselves as we examine our own lives. Let's go a few passages forward here in 2 Peter to chapter one, and we're going to pick it up in verse 12. Chapter one and verse 12 of 2 Peter. Again, put a bookmark in 2 Peter 3 at some point, a piece of paper, something. We're going to come back to it periodically. But Peter said very specifically that his goal in writing his epistles, both the first and the second epistle, was to stir up his readers, to rouse them from sleep, to awaken them, so to speak, to bring them to be ready. And here we see Peter use the exact same word in the exact same sense. Verse 12. He says, for this reason, 2 Peter 1, verse 12, for this reason, he says, I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, verse 13, he says, I think it's right, as long as I'm in this tent, to stir you up. That's that same word, D-E-E-R-O. To stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.

Moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my disease. Peter knew his time was short. He knew his time was short. He'd been instructed by Christ that he would be martyred. John actually records that account in John 21. John 21 tells him that in his old age, he would be taken where he didn't want to go. His hands would be bound, and he would die a martyr's death. John 21 records that account. And quite frankly, Brethren, Peter wasn't blind. He wasn't blind. As the situation in Rome began to deteriorate, as the situation in the region began to deteriorate, as he grew older, he knew that dying of old age was not his end. And so, of course, it's got to be coming soon. It's got to be coming soon.

The end was drawing near, and he says, while I am here in this tent, he felt it was right while he was physically present, while he was in this physical body, to remind them of these things, even though notice what he says, even though they were established in the present truth. They knew their stuff. They weren't ignorant, not in any way, shape, or form. There was no ignorance here.

They were established in the present truth. But there was still a need for a reminder.

There was still a need for a reminder. Why is that? Well, because we, as humans, we are forgetful. We're forgetful. I'm forgetful. I don't know if you want to admit it or not, but I am. I'm forgetful. We just are. If we don't do something for a while, we forget how to do it. I was joking with the guys yesterday as I was packing the drum kit up for tonight. I told them, it's been so long since I've taken this thing apart, I don't remember how to do it.

I'm pulling all the pieces off of it, trying to figure it out. It's been long enough. I didn't have the system down anymore. I had to knock the rust off, so to speak. If you don't do something for a while, you forget how to do it. If we don't rehearse, we don't read things for a while, we forget the details. I think that's why God has us, one of the reasons that He has us keep the Sabbath each week. That's why we go through this weekly. That's why we go through the Holy Days annually, is to make sure that we remember what it is that He has called us to, and that we remember and do not lose track of the details. That we don't lose track of the reasons and the importance of the days. Barkley writes in his daily study Bible series, Letters of James and Peter, on page 336, he says, there is something of significance here. It may well be that often we're too desirous of novelty. We're too eager to see new things, when what is really needed is a repetition of the eternal truths which men so quickly forget, and whose significance they so often refuse to see.

He says, there are certain foods of which a man does not get tired. He's clearly not speaking of squash. But there are certain foods of which a man does not get tired. Necessary, it says, for his daily sustenance, they are set before him each day. We speak about a man's daily bread. And there are certainly great Christian truths that have to be repeated again and again, and which must never be pushed into the background for the desire of novelty. I love that quote. I love that concept. The importance of some of these things that are just eternal truths, and the importance of the repetition of these things, ensuring that we never forget. That we never push it aside or forget why it is we don't do this, or why it is that we do this. Because as time goes on, as the slow march of time takes place, time acts on our memory. It acts on our remembrance of things. And pretty soon we start asking the question of, well, this isn't that big of a deal, is it? I mean, really. When it really is. I want you to think about this. Peter tells his readers that he must shortly put off his tent. He knew he was going to die. He wanted to make sure that there would be a reminder of all of these things after his death. I want you to put yourself in Peter's shoes for a moment. Sandals. I want you to put yourself in Peter's sandals for a moment. If you knew that this would be your last letter, or would likely be your last letter, what would you include? What would you write to absolutely ensure that those individuals remained faithful for the rest of their days?

I've thought about it before. It's kind of morbid, but I've thought about it before.

If I knew this was my last sermon, what would I say?

What would I find that was so incredibly important that I would absolutely say, that's the thing that I need to leave with you? What aspect of our calling is so incredibly critical to cover that if I knew that was it and this was the last opportunity that I had to share the Word of God with any of you, what would it be? You know, he doesn't say you already know this. He doesn't say, you know, there's no need to talk about this because we've already covered it. He says you're established in the present truth. You understand the calling. You understand the way of God. But he says, even then, he said it's right with the short time that I have remaining to wake you up by reminder of these things and to ensure that you will be reminded of them long after I am gone.

So what was he reminding them of? What was it that Peter felt was so important and so critical and so foundational that he wrote an epistle, ultimately, that would outlive him? Let's go to verses 5 through 11 because this is part of it. The front end of this and the back end of this statement is part of it. Verse 5 of 2 Peter 1, it says, but also for this very reason, giving all diligence, 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. Verse 8, he goes on, for if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things, it says, is short-sighted, is myopic, even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, verse 10, therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. For if you do these things, it says, you will never stumble. It says, for an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ. So Peter writes, with all diligence, with all diligence, add to your faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. The word diligence here is spudae. It's an eagerness. It's a zealousness.

Peter is essentially saying, with every effort, grow in these things. With every fiber of your being, grow in these things. Add this to this. Add this to this. Sort of working your way up this staircase, so to speak. If you want to picture it like a ladder, that's fine, too. Rung by rung by rung as he works his way to this pinnacle, so to speak. This truest and this purest expression of the very character of God, which John would go on to describe 30 years later. God's agape. His love, ultimately, for his creation and ultimately the love that we have for one another. He says, if these things abound, they won't be barren. They won't be unfruitful. But then in verse 10, what he says is, be even more zealous. He says, be even more zealous. Be even more eager. Be even more diligent. Be even more diligent to make your calling and your election sure. He says, these things will not cause us to stumble. He says, no, instead an entrance abundantly will be supplied into the kingdom. And it's because of that coming kingdom. It's because of the importance of growing in godly character that Peter is going to remind them of those things, that he's going to bring those to bear, that he's going to arouse them from sleep. He goes on to write in verse 16, that this stands in contrast to the cunningly devised fables that were luring brethren away into false teachings at this point in time in history. Unfortunately, this was happening quite a bit in the 60s AD and in the years between Peter and James and Paul, ultimately, and John.

But he said his testimony, Peter said his testimony, is an eyewitness of the power of God.

An eyewitness of the power of God and what would come, a vision that he and James and John shared on a mountainside 30 years earlier. That it would be a vision of what the coming of the Lord would be like. You know, when it comes to being stirred up, at least in the sense that Peter's using it, awakening someone, there's some challenges. Quick show of hands, how many of you have a challenge when that alarm goes off in the morning? Yeah? Come on, be honest. Okay.

It comes with its own set of challenges. It does. Since we've gotten back from South Africa, I've shifted my schedule to awakening at 4.30 in the morning. So I'm up at 4.30 every morning, and that comes with its own set of challenges, which is basically involuntarily closing my eyes at about 8.45 every night, wherever I happen to be standing, sitting, laying, etc. I've turned into kind of sleepy bear mode at that point in time, and I've kind of jokingly told people that invite us over, here's a deal, I turn into a pumpkin at 9. So I need to go home, because wherever I'm at, by 9 o'clock, I'm going to fall asleep. There's no way around it. If I don't get to bed at a reasonable hour, if I don't get seven and a half hours of sleep, something's got to keep this beautiful. But if I don't get seven and a half hours of my beauty sleep, the schedule is just not sustainable. It just isn't. If I start getting behind on the sleep, I won't be able to keep going, and I won't be able to get up. But brethren, each morning when that alarm goes off, I have a choice.

I have a choice. Every morning when that alarm goes off, I can turn my feet out of the bed, I can put them on the floor, I can thank God for another day of drawing breath, I can get dressed and I can go to the gym, or I can reach over onto my phone and hit that little button at the bottom that turns that alarm off and lets me sleep for a little while longer. Those are my choices. That's all I've got. I can't choose anything else. Spiritually, in this set of epistles, Peter and his writings are serving as that alarm for the brethren who are reading it.

His words in this epistle are designed to stir up, to awaken, to arouse the brethren from slumber, from that gradual slowing of momentum that Peter was seeing over intervening decades.

Despite knowing what they know, despite being established in the present truth, Peter desired to arouse them from sleep and to stir them up through these reminders. Inherent in an alarm, those of you that have an alarm that goes off maybe too early in the morning, inherent in an alarm is a sense of urgency. There's a sense of urgency in that alarm.

In fact, some alarms actually get more urgent the longer you ignore them.

They start out going, if you're asleep for a while, and eventually you wake up or you turn it off. Right? Let's turn over to Romans 13. Romans 13. Paul experienced similar concerns in the 60s AD, in the congregations that he served, in the congregations that he oversaw as well.

Romans 13. We'll pick it up in verse 11 to 14 as Paul kind of draws a similar analogy, and he flushes out what is ultimately needed as a result. Romans 13 and verse 11. Romans 13 and verse 11. Paul writes, do this knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand, therefore let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. So the word that Paul uses here to awake out of sleep is the root word that's used in the word di gyro. It's the Greek word di gyro, meaning to rise up from sleep, to awaken, or to raise oneself out of bed. So Paul is speaking to the urgency in this alarm. Paul says the time is short. Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. He says the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Paul unequivocally from the rooftops is shouting, Jesus Christ is coming!

That's the message that Paul is sending in this particular section.

And because he's coming, and because he's coming soon, Paul goes on to talk about there's work that needs to be done. There's work that needs to be done. There are things which need to take place. And for us to do those things, we have to be awake.

We have to be ready. We need to be stirred up. It's the same message as Peter. Put on the armor of light. Put on godly character. Add to your faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. But in verse 13, Paul adds a certain expectation of urgency that not only must we be awoken from slumber, once we're awake, Paul says, it's go time.

Once we're awake, it's go time. He says in verse 13, let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. And we see those outlined in Galatians 5, but before we see the fruits of the Spirit, the different lusts of the flesh.

They're not always the way that we consider the word lust to be today. They are the desires of our humanity. They're not always just sexually charged things like lust that we consider today. Anger is in that list. Wrath is in that list. Contentions are in that list. And so, considering making no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust, Paul says we need to walk properly.

And what that word means is we need to walk decently. We need to walk with grace. We need to walk with decorum. The Greek word is eschimonos, not in revelry, not in carousing, not in drunkenness, lewdness, lust, strife, or envy. He says instead, putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and not making provision for the flesh. Peter wrote that in these last days, in this time in which he pleads for a sense of urgency, he says scoffers would come walking according to their own lusts. Or Peter, I'm sorry, wrote that, not Paul. Peter wrote that, walking according to their own lust, their own desire, scoffing at God, mocking, asking questions like, well, where's the promise of his coming? Oh, your God's gonna return, is he? Oh, he is? Well, where is he? Where's he at? He hasn't returned yet. Last days, huh? Yeah, I bet. Peter said these individuals were going to be around. Sound anything like the world around us today? Yeah. Does it sound like some who have departed in the past? Sadly, yeah, it does. Yes, it does. In their minds, God wasn't coming back, at least not imminently, and they'd lost their sense of urgency. The concept, theologically, is referred to as something called delay of parousia. It's the Greek term for the second coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, one of the arguments that people make against 2 Peter being authentic is the fact that it mentions this in this book. According to them, this is not a problem until the second and third centuries. Nobody was questioning the return of Jesus Christ until the second and third centuries. Rather, nearly every generation in the Church has believed that Jesus Christ would return in their lifetime.

Nearly every generation in the Church. Because we look at events, we look at what's going on outside, and we see how bad it's gotten, and we go, you know what? It couldn't possibly get any worse!

And then the world surprises us by getting worse! And then 10, 15, 20 years down the road, we go, well, now it couldn't possibly get any worse! Here we are! And then it continues.

So we see these sorts of things. They see that disintegration. They assume that it can't go on any longer. We're getting older. It must be getting close. Paul said in Romans 13 that we just examined.

Paul wrote, time is short. The return of Jesus Christ is near. That was written 1500 years ago.

Plus, Peter speaks to this as well, talking about the time in which he lived to be the last days. And so Peter actually addresses this delay of Parousia in 2 Peter 3. Let's go ahead and turn back over there. If you're not already there, 2 Peter 3, he addresses this concept. In fact, it's one of the places in Scripture in which it's addressed the most clearly is in 2 Peter 3, this idea of the delay of Parousia. So Peter speaks to this considering again the time in which Peter lived to be the last days. As this accusation is leveled, he addresses it beginning in 2 Peter 3 and verse 3, picking up where we left off earlier. Peter writes, knowing this first 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. For this they willfully forget that by the word of God, the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. Verse 7, 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. But beloved, verse 8, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. Peter says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but he is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Peter explains that these individuals, these scoffers, essentially argue, since the fathers fell asleep, well, all things have just continued on since they were from creation. The sun rises, it sets, the earth turns, the seasons come and go.

Peter says the Word of God sustains these things.

And so they argue that because the Word of God sustains these things, there will be no destruction from it. Peter says that they willfully forget, not just forget, but willfully forget, willfully put out of their minds the fact that by God's own words, the heavens and the earth were brought out of Tohu and Bohu. That the world that existed by that Word, the same world that was flooded, the Word that sustains the earth now, maintains the sun's cycles, the seasons, that same Word has reserved the earth for fire and judgment of the perdition of the ungodly. But Peter's central point to this argument, as he addresses this concept of delay of parousia, comes in verse 8. He says God's not delaying, as some might consider a delay. To God, times accounted differently.

A thousand years to us is his day to God. His view of time being kind of outside of time in that sense, it's as though time has barely passed. He's not delaying. He's not somehow forgotten to return, or he's late for a very important date. God is merciful. He's patient. He's long-suffering towards us because he doesn't wish that any should perish. He desires that all, and that includes all, come to repentance. They'll have their own times. They'll have their own opportunities, but that all should come to repentance. And it is his mercy that is holding back that day, which will come, because he's providing more time. He's providing more time for what?

He's providing more time for the work that needs to be done to be done.

For repentance to take place in his people, in the world, those who God calls. For the gospel to be preached. Ultimately, the work that God has called us to do to be done. Verse 10, he goes on, he says, The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt with 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 of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. So Peter essentially says, because this day will come, because the heavens will pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt with a fervent heat, because the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Peter asks the critical question, what kind of person ought you to be? Because all of these things are absolute, matter of fact, going to take place. And so, therefore, what kind of person ought you to be? What should you be looking toward? What should be your focus?

You know, colloquially, Paul is known as the Apostle of Hope. He's known as the Apostle of Hope.

James speaks to the importance of authentic faith. Peter, to the hope of the kingdom of God, despite persecution, despite false teachings. John speaks to love. Just like 1 Corinthians 13, faith, hope, and love. We see in these general epistles as these big themes that take place.

But Peter's point is critical. Peter's point is critical, even down through the ages to us today. And sometimes, you know, we look around, we see the different things going on in the world around us, and often we want to focus on what it is that's going on in the world around us. We see the challenges, we see the difficulties, we see legal maneuvers going on in the world around us that's positioning the Word of God to be more challenging to share going forward. We see prophetic handwriting on the wall, we see governments taking more and more authority on themselves, building towards this point in which the authority will now be coming from this centralized world government. We see a rise of ungodliness, we see a rise of evil in society around us, and brethren, sometimes sometimes I think we focus so much on those things that we run the risk of losing sight of the foundational message. I want to be clear, we are called to cry aloud. We are called to cry aloud and spare not. We are to let the people of God know their sins. We are to ensure we cry out as a watchman to this world. But if the focus is entirely on that message, if the focus is on how bad everything is getting, if the focus is on how horrible the world has become and is becoming, if we're not providing an equally powerful, if not honestly more powerful message of the hope that is coming, then we're doing those to whom we are crying aloud a disservice. We're doing those who we are crying aloud to a disservice. If we are crying out to the sins about the sins of this world and not again making a powerful effort or an even more powerful effort to then overcome our own, and if we're not growing in those foundational building blocks of the gospel message of Jesus Christ, then we're doing to those whom we're crying aloud a disservice as well.

Peter's point is all of it. Everything, everything that is wrong with this world today is going to burn. That is Peter's point. Everything in this world today, everything physical, is going to melt with fervent heat, and at the end of the day when all of that is slag, what is ultimately going to matter? That's Peter's point. That's what he's bringing to bear in this question, and Peter's conclusion is that what is really going to matter is the manner of person that we have become in holy conduct and in godliness. And brethren, that process right there, that is a byproduct of hope. That's a byproduct of hope. It's a byproduct of an anticipation and an expectation of something better coming. Hope is defined as an expectation. Interestingly, the Greek word, elpis, which is what Peter uses when he describes this idea of hope, can actually be used to describe an expectation of fear too, or an expectation of evil.

But it's used here to talk about an expectation of good because it's the expectation and the anticipation that defines the word. Whatever that person happens to be expecting or looking to, it's that anticipation that defines it. In the Christian sense, when we consider the concept of hope as eager anticipation or anticipation of something frequently, when we address it, when we consider it, we're speaking to the anticipation and the expectation of the joy of salvation. Turn over to Titus 3 and verse 4. Titus 3 and verse 4.

Titus 3 and verse 4, we'll see the Apostle Paul right here to Titus about this hope. About this hope. Titus 3 and verse 4 begins with, But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. You know, when Peter speaks in 1 Peter 3 verses 15 to 16 to the hope which lies within us, he's referring to this hope. The hope that Peter is speaking to, hope that he's referring to, is an anticipation and an expectation of eternal life.

It is not a hope or an anticipation of a specific doctrine or maybe even a body of doctrines.

He's referring to the hope of eternal life. And the defense or the Apolloeia, which we provide to those who ask us a reason for the hope that's in us with meekness and fear, is a reasoned response as to why we can view all of these horrendous things taking place in the world around us and not let them get the better of us. To not let them shake us to the core to allow us to become fearful or worried or anxious, but instead to continue steadfast in the faith as Titus 3 verse 8 as monishes.

Paul writes to Titus in Titus 3 and verse 8 he says, this is a faithful saying and these things I want you to affirm constantly, Paul writes, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. Why is that important?

Because then when they revile our good conduct in Christ, as it says in 1 Peter 3, they might be ashamed because they see that there is nothing that they can revile us about.

He goes on in verse 14 of 2 Peter 3. If you turn back to 2 Peter 3 and verse 14.

2 Peter 3 and verse 14. I should have put a bookmark in there. I told you to and then I didn't.

There we are. 2 Peter 3 and verse 14. He says, therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, without spot and blameless, and 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 also in all of his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some hard things to understand. He acknowledges sometimes Paul can be difficult to understand. He says, but which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction as they do also the rest of the Scripture. So we see by the time Peter wrote there was some you know form of Scripture, possibly even outside of just the Old Testament, going around at that point in time because he references Paul. But you therefore, beloved, verse 17, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked. He says, but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Peter encourages the brethren to look forward to these things. He encourages them to have eager anticipation, a hope to wait on and anticipate them, to hope for what is coming, to be diligent, to be found in peace. Could you use a little more peace in your life today?

Be diligent, to be found in peace. Where does that peace come from? Comes from knowing what's coming. Comes from not being concerned with what's now because of what's coming. He says, to be found in peace without spot and blameless, the end result of the work that is expected in this time, ultimately, that we've been given. It is his patience, it's his forbearance and his mercy that's giving us salvation, ultimately, as Paul writes in Romans 2. He encourages them to remain steadfast. He encourages them not to lose sight of the prize, not to lose sight of the vision, to not allow ourselves to be deceived or to fall from that steadfastness, that safe position that we have in Christ through repentance and obedience to God.

Peter's epistle is one of the admonitions of the foundational building blocks of the Gospel message.

It is written against the backdrop of horrific world conditions. You know, we talk about today situations that couldn't get any worse. They were taking brethren from their homes and killing them in Nero's time. We're not there. We're not there yet. We've got a long ways to go.

Maybe not that long, but we've got a long ways to go.

It's written in the backdrop of horrific world conditions. It's written from a backdrop of very challenging spiritual conditions inside of the Church as well. But while Peter addresses these things, he most certainly does. He addresses them from a position of hope in what is coming.

He encourages and admonishes the brethren to remain steadfast, to continue on in what they've been called to do, to become more like God and Christ. Not to worry about the events that were taking place now. Not to allow themselves to be shaken by it. Not to allow the anger and the frustration of world events to ultimately impact their holiness and their calling.

Not to allow the conditions of the world and the frustrations and anger with the conditions of the world to impact the building of godly character, of love and of peace and of holiness. We know that conditions in the world are difficult. We can watch the news. We can see it. We know. Constantly reminding ourselves of that fact is not going to help us build godly character.

It's not. It is not going to help us grow in love or in peace or in holiness. Constantly reminding ourselves that the world is terrible will have the opposite effect. It will breed bitterness. It will breed resentment. And it will breed wrath. Peter touched on it. He made sure the brethren understood that these things were to be expected, to understand that the false teachers that taught these things would be judged. But because the brethren had very little control over the events which were taking place, he moved on and focused on the one thing that they did have control over themselves. In spite of all of the things taking place in the world, despite of all the things that were going on, the only thing they had control over was themselves.

Peter wrote both of his epistles to stir up, to awaken, to arouse the readers from sleep.

He desired that they understood the time was short. He desired them to get fired up and to get excited about what was coming, about the things that God had promised, the things He was going to provide. None of us, one of us, know how many days we have left. I hate to get morbid.

Any one of us could draw our last breath tomorrow. And in that sense, time is short. It absolutely is. Because we have no idea. We have no idea how much longer any of us have. We have exactly how long God gives us to grow, to prepare, and that's it. And so in that sense, every day needs to be urgent in that preparation. Every day needs to be focused on the end goal, on the coming Kingdom of God and that incredible work that has to get done in our lives and ultimately in the world around us as we preach the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God. Brethren, as we enter into this Passover season, again nine weeks away, I hope we'll take some time to read the words of the Apostle Peter in his first and his second epistles. And I hope that as we approach this spring Holy Day season, we'll stop to ask ourselves some important questions. Are we still fired up over this calling?

This calling that each and every one of us have received, are we still as fired up as we were initially when we had that first call? Well, we wanted to run out and tell everybody. Are we still fired up over it? Are we still stirred up and excited? Do we need to be stirred? Do we need to be awakened? Have we begun to slumber a little bit? Are we putting in the necessary effort?

Are we repenting? Are we growing in godly character? And then lastly, do I see and focus the vision on the coming Kingdom of God or is my focus on what's happening right now here on this earth, the pile of eventual slag? As things become more challenging and as we see the prophecies of these latter days queued up to be fulfilled, brethren, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Satan loses. All of the things that he does, the beast power, the world government, the rebellion against God, every single one of them fails. Every one of them fails. You can't let them shake us.

You can't let them rattle us. Because God wins. God wins. The Kingdom of God will come. Jesus Christ will reign. God will dwell with his people. Don't lose sight of the climax of the story. Don't get lost in the plot. This isn't it. This world right now isn't it. Brethren, be stirred to action. Be doers. Take the light of God to this world. Tell them who's coming.

Give them the hope that they so desperately need because, as we recognize, the absolute best is still yet to come.