Primoa1970
Advanced Member
Member # 1016
|
posted
Hello all. My pastor is away this month, so I'll be preaching this coming Sunday. I know this is long and I do apologize in advance but hey....ever heard of a short-winded sermon before?
If I've posted this in the wrong place Dave, then I do apologize to you.
2 Peter 3:1-18
The Times They Are A Changin’
Introduction:
Back in 1979, when I was just 9 years old, times were much different…..and much simpler than they are today. For those of us who can remember, you might recall some of the small highlights which surrounded that particular time period:
Jimmy Carter was our President. A gallon of gasoline cost about 75 cents.
Eastern Airlines (remember them?) was offering non-stop shuttle flights between New York and Washington, DC for just $29. And before you actually got on the plane, you didn’t have to take off your shoes, your socks, your glass eye, your prosthetic arm, or the metal plate in your head. We didn’t have cell phones or lap-tops but rather….Lincoln Logs and Legos. I didn’t have a Game Boy Advanced or a Play Station 1 2 or 3 but rather…..Electronic Battleship, Yahtzee, and Hooked on Phonics 1 2 and 3.
If you had a phone in your car in 1979, you were either the President of the United States, or James Bond. Speaking of the President, Ronald Regan was on his way in; disco was on it’s way out. (And I thank God for both)
Terrorism existed in the world during this time, but not within our borders. We had the Iranian hostage crisis to deal with. I’m sure some of you here can remember watching on television as our fellow Americans were blindfolded and marched through the streets of Iran. Not a very pleasant time.
In 1979 we didn’t have the internet to turn to in our times of boredom but rather….we resorted to actually gathering around the dinner table and talking to one another. I wasn’t old enough to have a job during this time but if I was, I’m sure that playing solitaire or free cell at work would require bringing an actual deck of cards to the office….and not simply clicking the mouse and opening the program when the boss wasn’t looking.
The point I’m trying to get across is simply this:
In the last 25 years or so, we have come so far, so fast. We have made some amazing technological advances…..some for good, some for not so good. The times that we live in are very quickly accelerating towards something. There’s a culmination of things that are about to take place in our world. Now before I go any further, I don’t want anyone to think that this morning’s message will be one of doom and gloom.
If you are a born again believer this morning you have nothing to fear. If you have trusted in Christ for eternal salvation at some point in your life, as prompted by the Holy Spirit, then you have the peace of mind and the absolute assurance of knowing that your permanent home is not here on this earth but in Heaven!
So if you’re a Christian this morning, this message is simply a reminder for you of things to come. If you’re not a believer this morning, then I would suggest that you pay close attention….and heed the warnings of God’s word.
Deuteronomy 30:19 “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live”
That was a pretty clear-cut command from God the Father; through the lips of Moses. All throughout biblical text in the Old Testament, we see the blessings of God, the promises of God, and unfortunately for many, the judgment of God. Not too long after the creation, we have the failure of mankind. In Genesis chapter 3, God immediately begins to work out a plan of redemption. We have the very first game of “pass the buck” ever recorded in human history. Adam blamed not only his wife….but God as well. His wife blamed the serpent….rather than herself.
(Illustration: Siblings who blame each other for something done wrong)
Of course, because of all this, God lays out a series of curses and blessings…judgment and grace.
He told the serpent that he would be cursed above all livestock and all wild animals. He also told the serpent that he would crawl on his belly and eat dust all the days of his life. (Dust is the symbol of death itself…. Genesis 3:19 “for dust you are and to dust you will return”)
God said in verse 15 “and I will put enmity (or hostility) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel”. That’s grace…..why? Because God could have wiped us out right at that moment…but He didn’t. God could have said, “You know what? I’m scrapping the whole plan”.
(Far Side Illustration: “In God’s Kitchen”)Of course we all know that God is perfect and he doesn’t make mistakes but, I just thought that was kind of funny.
Let me briefly address the women here…..Do you ever wonder why it’s so painful to give birth to a child? Genesis 3:16 “To the woman He said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you”. Ouch. What does the national organization for women do with that verse? You see, her judgment fell on what was most uniquely hers as a woman and as a suitable helper for her husband. That’s the curse; but there’s a blessing in there. As a sign of grace in the midst of judgment, the human race would continue…..through birth.
Let me address the men now…we’re not out of the woods yet either.
Whether you do manual labor, or even if you sit behind a desk all day; do you ever wonder why your body hurts after a long days’ work?
Genesis 3:17-19 “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat of it”, cursed is the ground because of you, through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return”
Again; blessings and curses. The curse was obvious: Man would have to labor and toil for his food – His means of survival. The blessing may not be quite as evident: God chose not to wipe us out….but gave us a means of escape. (Grace) Sure, we would have to work for our food, but at least we would have the food to begin with. And oh, by the way, the most important 2 things that came from this episode: Sin and Salvation. Mankind was given the curse of eternal damnation…..or eternal separation from the Creator. This goes for every human being on the planet. But you see, God didn’t leave us in that helpless state. He offered us the means of escape. He offered us the way back to that once-perfect state. He offered us Himself….in the man Christ Jesus. And Christ is the only way that we could ever return to the Father. There’s no other way, except through Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 “Jesus said ‘I am the way…the truth….and the life…no one comes to the Father except through me’”
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”
Now….fast forward about 4000 years; from Genesis to about 5 or 6 BC…..
When one of the greatest episodes in human history took place: God visited our planet in the form of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of the times had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law (you and I), that we might receive the full rights as sons.”
It was at that moment in time when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. When He was about 30 years old, He began His 3 year ministry in Nazareth where He was raised. In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus was in the synagogue as was His custom. Someone handed Him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah….He unrolled it and found the place where it is written, saying: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind; to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”. Isaiah 61:1-2
From that point on, He began preaching the gospel, or the good news of salvation. But not only that….He also told us that He was the means to that salvation…..or to eternal life. He literally became our substitutionary, atoning sacrifice….through His death, burial, and resurrection.
During His ministry, He chose 12 disciples (apostles) who would eventually become the foundation of Christianity as we know it today. Of course, Christ is and should be, the one true foundation of every church.
1 Corinthians 3:11 “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ”.
One of those disciples was given a special commission at the end of the book of John. Read John 21:15-18 Tell the quick story of how John recognized Jesus from the boat and how Peter swam 100 yards in his excitement.
Jesus was reinstating Peter as a leader. Because shortly thereafter in Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, what happens? The Holy Spirit is ushered into the body of believers…..and you and I have that same Holy Spirit living and dwelling within us as Christians. Ephesians 1:13-14 says that we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, who is literally the down payment, or the guarantee of our redemption.
So the day of Pentecost comes, the Holy Spirit fills the apostles…they begin to speak in tongues, everyone around them thinks they’re drunk…and what happens next? Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly gets up and begins to expound the gospel….and because of that, we know that about 3000 people were saved and added to the eternal kingdom of God. This same Peter who failed when he denied Christ 3 times….was now boldly preaching the good news of salvation. You see, God just doesn’t throw us away when we make a mistake. He’s a God of mercy and grace….and forgiveness.
Now we come to our text: 2 Peter 3. Of course, Peter gave us 2 letters. We have 1 Peter which was written somewhere between 60-64 AD…..most likely from Babylon. He addressed it to God’s elect (Christians), strangers in the world who were scattered throughout the regions of the Roman empire. It’s basic themes were Christian life and duties. It’s also been characterized as a letter of separation, of suffering and persecution, of suffering and glory, of hope, of pilgrimage, of courage, and as a letter dealing with the true grace of God. In this letter, Peter feeds Christ’s sheep by instructing them on how to deal with persecution from outside the church. That’s Peter’s first letter.
2 Peter was written somewhere between 65 and 68 AD….right before he was martyred during the reign of Nero. This letter instructs the same audience on how to deal with false teachers and evildoers who have come into the church. In both letters, Peter, as a pastor (Shepherd) of Christ’s sheep seeks to commend to his readers a wholesome combination of Christian faith and practice. He has a three-fold purpose:
1) To stimulate Christian growth, 2) To combat false teaching, 3) To encourage watchfulness in view of the Lord’s certain return.
And chapter 3 deals with just that.
Verse 1: Peter addresses his audience as “dear friends”. The NKJV says “beloved”. The Greek word is “agapetos”. Adjective form of the word agape.
He uses this adjective 4 times in this chapter (1,8,14,17).
Verse 2: By saying this, Peter places the OT prophets and the NT apostles on the same equal plane. Both are vehicles of God’s sacred truth. Peter, being one of the apostles, can speak with knowledge and authority as a representative of the apostolic group.
Verses 3-7: This was the 1st century, and even then people were saying, “So where is this Christ that you say is coming? Why is He taking so long?” Here we are 2000 years later, and people are still saying it. The unsaved person has everything to be afraid of….because of the fiery judgment that is approaching.
Verses 8-9: God is not on a linear timeline like we are. His delay in bringing about the consummation of all things is not a result of indifference, but of patience in waiting for all who will come to repentance. The unbelievers, or the scoffers are wrong on 2 points: 1) They misunderstand the reason for the delay. (God is a long-suffering God). 2) They fail to recognize that all things have not continued without Divine intervention since creation (the flood was an intervention).
Verses 10-13: We, as Christians, are promised a place where sin will cease to exist. There’s coming a time when we will be restored to that once-perfect state that Adam and Eve enjoyed briefly. Again, if you’re a Christian, you have nothing to fear. If you’re not a Christian, you have everything to fear.
Now of course, there’s 2 views on this: Either the earth and it’s contents will disappear and not be seen anymore, or the earth and all of man’s works will appear before God’s judgment seat. (1 Corinthians 3:9-15 “Bema seat”
Bema seat for the Christian…..Great White Throne for the unbeliever.)
Verses 14-16: Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. Believers have peace with God as a result of being justified by faith. But, we can still displease God by failing to live as He desires. When He returns, we may not receive His commendation or His reward. Our salvation is secure, but we may miss out on some rewards.
He mentions the apostle Paul in verse 15. He says that he writes the same way in all his letters…which probably refers to the exhortations about holy living. He says that Paul’s letters contain some things that are difficult to understand, which ignorant and unstable (or untaught) people twist and distort as they do the other scriptures (Jehovah’s Witnesses) and this they do to their own destruction.
Verses 17-18: Verse 17 does not indicate that a true believer can lose his salvation. If you are a true blood-bought, born again Christian, then the Holy Spirit of God who lives and dwells within you will guide you into all truth. Falling from your secure position is not the same as being eternally condemned. Eternal condemnation is reserved for all those who reject Christ in the here and now. Again, if you’re secure in Christ, you’re going to heaven when you die.
Closing:
What can we take from this message?
For the Christian: We have everything to look forward to. The earth and everything in it will someday be gone. This is not our permanent home. If you’re in love with your house, or in love with your car, or in love with your job (I doubt it)…..it would be wise to fall “out” of love with those things. I know this is a common cliché but it remains true nonetheless: You can’t take it with you when you die. You wont ever see a U-Haul truck following after a funeral procession. Now of course, there’s nothing wrong with having material possessions……as long as we don’t make them into little gods. We are to be good stewards of everything that is on loan from the Lord.
So as a Christian, be encouraged today. The Lord is coming back very soon. I believe we’re closer now than we’ve ever been. The times have gotten progressively worse around us. But we can find hope and security in the fact that we’re saved by grace, through faith…..and by the blood of Christ, and nothing else.
If you’re a non-believer, I pray that God will save you in the same way that He saved us…..by the beckoning call of the Holy Spirit. I pray that your spiritual eyes will be opened to the truth. There’s still time for you….God is patient.
But if you die without Christ, it will be too late.
--------------------
1 John 1
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Posts: 639 | From: Orlando, FL | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged | 
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
