Expect the Lord's Return Part 4 - 2 Peter 3:15-18

1:32Well, the celebration of liberty, I think we all joined in to some degree or another yesterday. Sometimes I think we get the wrong idea of liberty. What is liberty? Liberty is not the freedom to do whatever you want. I think that's somewhere deep in our mind: that liberty is: I get to govern my own life, do what I want, be what I want, and do whatever I want, whenever I want, and somehow that equates to liberty. Well, that is not at all the picture of liberty that is described in Scripture. Liberty is the freedom to do what you ought to do, or maybe more precisely, freedom is the ability to grow as God would have you grow, to grow according to what God wants for your life, unhindered. That's liberty. Yesterday, my kids and I, several of my kids, we declared Independence Day on our asparagus patch, a patch in our garden. If we had an asparagus, a patch that had been taken over by morning glory and all kinds of vines and all pretty, but they were choking out our asparagus. So we thought we'd get in there and remove the weeds so that they can grow, declaring independence. Then there was a profound question: where do weeds come from? So we were digging around, and I came to this one patch. Let me just show you. Okay, so let me show you what weeds come from.

3:13And I said, here's a little piece of soil. It looks all just like soil for the most part, right around our asparagus plant. But as we dig down, we find all kinds of roots. And there's all this Johnson grass roots underneath, and they're really ugly and very thick, just below the surface. And they choke out the asparagus. And as I pulled out a little stalk of this root, Johnson grass puts up these little spikes or little shoots that come off the roots. And I said, now this is where weeds come from. They're roots. They're underneath, and they shoot up. I said, now you can picture this also in your heart, that the thing that will choke out fruitfulness in your life or something very similar to these weeds in the heart. Other loves, other ambitions, really cares for other things other than Christ. And these weeds will grow up and they will choke out your relationship with Christ and keep you from walking in his ways because you'll be distracted, pulled away, overpowered, and even enslaved.

4:28And the question I have had. Have you had your Independence Day? Or do those cares and fleshly desires of this world still drive your existence? And if you have experienced Christ, first thing he does is he comes and he breaks that power. He pays for the penalty, and he breaks that power. So you no longer have to live as a servant to your flesh, to its will, to its desires, and to its discipleship, because it does have an end and it does have an aim and it will shape and mold you. Well, if you are in Christ, something changed has changed. And there will be an expectation for the person of Christ on a day-to-day basis, a preference to the principle of Christ ruling rather than the principle of yourself ruling. There will be that growing day-by-day desire, but ultimately it has a long view in view. And that is Christ's return. That moment in which we are transformed into his image and glorified even more completely.

5:56That desire to be like him. And there is conversation. A day when we will be like Him. And so we are expecting His return. This is how history ends. Turn of Christ, as we know it. And then, really, that's the beginning point for human history, redeemed human history. Well, we've been working our way through 2 Peter and the expecting, he's laid out nine principles, nine exhortations that, if obeyed, they will dress a person in readiness. And we've looked at seven of them so far, just by way of reminder or review. We expect the Lord's return by remembering the right words. We expect the Lord's return by anticipating that mocking mockers will come. We expect the Lord's return by knowing the purpose for his delay.

6:56We expect the Lord's return by understanding the day of the Lord. We expect the Lord's return by looking forward to the day of God, which is very different than the day of the Lord, as we spent time looking at. We expect the Lord's return by being diligent to be found in Him in peace, according to verse 14. We expect the Lord's return by regarding the patience of our Lord as salvation. Today I want to add a couple of more to that. The last two imperative commandments. In this section.

7:33But just by way of review, we looked at, we started working through regarding the patience of our Lord as salvation. There is a relationship between patience and salvation. God's patience is his ability to store up wrath without pouring it out. And it's because of his patience, his ability to withhold himself from immediate incinerating judgment. That is his patience, and it is his ability to be patient that gives us salvation. All of us here owe our salvation to the patience of God. Every single one of us.

8:15And this should give us the ability to be able to be patient with one another. This should also give us the ability to be patient with our society. His delay means salvation, not withdrawal or isolation from society or intimidated or conformity to society or amassing great wealth or trying to, anyway, pursuing it. No, these are days of salvation because these are days of God's patience. These are days of God's patience upon you and upon me and upon this society, upon this church, and upon this nation. And we need to see it as such, and we need to so characterize our lives by such. Truth. These are days of salvation and give ourselves to that.

9:06But I want to continue looking in this section of Scripture because it's almost like Peter inserts a parenthetical thought here that is very profound. If you look back at 15, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. And then notice what he says next. Just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you. As also in all his letters, speaking them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort as they do also the rest of scriptures to their own destruction. Just as, he says, referring to everything he's just said in verses 14 and 15, looking back, and he brings in Paul into this discussion. It's interesting. Now, Paul, if you remember, has spent much time ministering among the churches of Asia Minor, Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, all that area. Paul had been up there, so they were very familiar with his writings and his ministry. But it's clear that Paul had written to them. That's what Peter says. He had spoken to them about some of these same things, some of these same themes.

10:30Things he has spoken to them about these things in verse 16. He's certainly referring back to the day of the Lord, that day of judgment and the day of God, that day of blessing that follows that day of judgment. Paul wrote significantly about that. But look at that little phrase in verse 15: according to the wisdom given him. So here is Peter not only reminding them of what Paul had written to them, but he is affirming what Paul had written to them. He affirms them. And notice three things there that he relates about Paul's letters.

11:11Verse 16, some things are hard to understand. Not all things, but certainly some things that Paul wrote. Don't know what the issue was. Perhaps it had to do with end-time eschatology. It could. I think there's certainly what's involved here is there were these false teachers who were coming up with this idea that somehow Christ delays in his coming or he's not coming. Where's the promise of his coming? The bottom line is, I think, that whatever they were contorting or distorting of Paul's writings, it had to do with take your ease, follow the flesh, do whatever you want. And that may have been because they talked about how Paul was. Some of his eschatology, his view of the end times, or perhaps maybe more in like Romans 3.8, Paul says this, and why not say, as we are slanderously reported, as some claim that we say, let us do evil that good may come. So in Romans 3.8, Paul is answering that some of the accusations that people are taking his words. They're distorting them and saying that Paul is teaching that just do whatever you want so that good may come. Well, that's just evidence of what false teachers do with the Word of God. Look back, the second thing he says: some things are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort. That is, the untaught, those who are naive and the unstable, those who are vacillating, who are not stable. They are driven by the flesh. They're not driven by God. They are unstable in their walk.

13:02And look at what they do. They distort the Word of God. They distort His words. And that's a very graphic word. The word distort is it brings the image of a torture rack, which stretches people and disfigures or bends them in ways that they're not supposed to be. It's a very graphic term. What Peter is saying, this is what false teachers do with. The word. They contort it, they bend it, they stretch it. And then look at the third thing, he says, as they do the rest of the scripture. This is what false teachers have to do. That's if you're going to live according to the flesh and you want that to be your guiding principle, you will figure out a theology that will get you there, and you will figure out an interpretation of scripture that gets you there, but you can only do so by distorting or contorting it and disfiguring it to where the scripture says something which it does not say. So it's your heart that drives your theology if you live by the flesh. But we are to bring ourselves under the principle of Christ and let him teach, let him instruct, and let him transform.

14:21But on a very important side note here, Peter could not affirm or esteem Paul's ministry more loudly than he does right here. Peter equates Paul's letters in the category of Scripture as they do the rest of the scriptures. They do to Paul's writings as they do the rest of scriptures. Do you see how he's equating what Paul was writing as Scripture? And this gives us insight into the canonization of the whole New Testament, how the Bible. Came together. Peter was very much aware that what Paul was writing was Scripture. Words of the apostles, the right words, remembering the right words, and the idea of giving to the church the right words in order for them to grow on, meditate. Well, look at the back at the end of verse 16. The result of distorting the scriptures is what? Destruction. Destruction. So don't follow the distorters of Scripture and be careful of you yourself coming under the authority of Scripture.

15:41I know sometimes we're shocked. This past week, a lot of people were shocked that our Supreme Court doesn't seem to obey the law. But how do we expect them to obey the law if we ourselves will not bring ourselves under a higher principle? And that is God's law. And I think the challenge for us as believers is to bring ourselves under the discipline of Christ, His Word. Obey. Let that be the guiding principle so that we avoid the destruction. But I want you to see something in these verses. It's profoundly beautiful. There's a relationship between Peter and Paul here that you might. At first glance, just rush through it and miss it. There was a conflict between them. I don't know if you remember that, but if you turn to Galatians 2, there is a conflict. I'll read it to you, or you can turn there. But in Galatians 2, there was an issue that was taking place where Peter was withdrawing because of really an attack upon the truth of Scripture, the truth of God's word, and that was when certain men came from Jerusalem, known as the Judaizers, and started influencing Peter so he would no longer eat with Gentiles. Let me just pick up what took place. In verse 11 of chapter 2, but when Cephas, that is Peter, came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas, that is Peter, in the presence of all, if you, being like a Jew, live like the Jews, Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel Gentiles to live like the Jews? Very profound moment. But the point that I want to underscore here is that Paul opposed Peter to his face publicly. And that's really the last record we have of the relationship between Peter and Paul.

18:25So what was going on here? I don't know. But certainly, I think the false teachers were maybe trying to pit Peter against Paul, saying Paul is saying something that contradicts Peter. And so they've got something going on with the whole idea of living by the flesh or by setting aside God's word so that the flesh would prevail. But whatever they were doing, they were distorting the word, distorting the word. But Peter, in this moment, gives us insight into the reconciliation that had taken place between Peter and Paul.

19:03It's not found on the pages of Scripture. And yet the language that Peter uses here can only speak of reconciliation, but not just reconciliation, but a profound respect and a deep love for Paul. Peter loved Paul. Look at the text. Our beloved brother, Paul. You cannot regard Peter without regarding Paul. Peter so esteemed him as these words tell us. What's interesting is a lot of John Calvin, I read his remarks on this. He didn't believe Peter wrote the letter by himself, that he used an ammanuensis or somebody else to write for him. And you know what his reason was? It was because of this passage. And he says this: because Peter, open quote, Peter himself would never have spoken thus, end quote.

20:10With all due respect to the great reformer, I think he got it wrong. He's looking at this and he's saying, there's no way this kind of reconciliation could happen or this kind of esteem could happen. But look at the word. No, these are the words of Peter. Even if he used an amanuensis, it doesn't set the fact that these are his words, our beloved brother Paul. And they are also the words of the Holy Spirit. That God in his wisdom wanted us to have this record before us.

20:50He wanted us to know what happened between Peter and Paul. You see, the Holy Spirit knew that. We needed the closure to this. Peter and Paul were fine with each other. But we needed to know that. It was the evidence of their reconciliation that other people needed to know. Peter and Paul were on the same page after all. There is not only a communion of theology, but there is a communion of spirit. And see what happens sometimes in the course of ministry, things happen. Attacks happen from all different directions, like the Judaizers in Galatians. And sometimes it catches people off guard, and perplexities and difficulties arise from within and from without.

21:50And church members and church leaders face all sorts of challenges because we have a real enemy and we have real deficiencies. And because of that, sometimes it sets us at odds with each other or it may be an occasion for strain. And sometimes in the Malay, we will turn on a brother or sister in Christ. Sometimes in the Malay, we will have a brother and sister turn on us. We call it friendly fire. But it's just as devastating.

22:26But how beautiful is reconciliation? If Peter had said nothing else in this letter, this would have blessed the body of Christ for all time. We know what happened. I think as we think about this and meditate on this and just think about our own lives, we need to seek not only reconciliation, but visible evidence, public evidence of reconciliation. Another thing worth commenting on here is Peter's humility. What a change from the Peter who once contended to be the greatest and boasted that it was impossible for him to deny Jesus. There is not a hint of self-justification or a hint of self-prejudice or prejudice against Paul. And we regard the Lord. We need to regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. I want to move on, shift gears, to the last two. We expect the Lord's return by guarding yourself against fleshly error.

23:38Expect the Lord's return by guarding yourself against fleshly error. Look at verse 17. You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness. There are two specific areas that you need to guard yourself against fleshly error. First, guard yourself or guard your knowledge. Of the future. There's a great importance of knowing the future. You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, the Holy Spirit wanted to make sure that we knew some things beforehand because it's very important for us to know some things about the future. We don't have to know every detail, but there's certain things that we need to know about the future so that we can live now. And we need to guard that. Because when you get the idea of the future off, it will cause you to misstep in your present. You know, you think about it like this: if you know there's a final exam coming, what do you do? You prepare for it. If you know it's going to rain, you prepare for it. Turn off your sprinklers, whatever, get an umbrella, you know. And if you know that Ozona sells their, has burgers, buy one, get one free on Tuesdays, what do you do? You make plans, and that's where you are on Tuesdays, right?

25:03Knowing certain things about the future helps shape your present. And origins and destiny are the two big pieces of the puzzle that you have to know about in order to understand and make sense out of your presence. And the sad part is that our times and that in our times is that there are millions of Americans believe that they are. Nothing more than highly evolved slime. And that there is no consequences. There is no future judgments. Their origins are off, and their understanding of the future is off. And it's no wonder that they live a little different.

25:52They're blinded by the God of this age. And it is us that are to go to them with the truth about origins, the truth about destiny, and the Savior who can change the heart, change the future for us. You see, Jesus knew that we needed to know certain details about the future, and so he told us through his apostles, and that's why we are to listen to right words. But there's a second specific area. You're to guard yourself, you're to guard your knowledge of the future, but you're also to guard against the error of unprincipled men. Look back at verse 17, so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men. The idea for guard is an imperative, and it's an impression. Be guarding, be taking precautions, so that you will avoid two disasters, two profound disasters. Look at the, it's a conjunction, and two disasters. The disaster one, so that. That you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men. The way of error, destruction, the wrong path, unprincipled, the lawless, lawless men. And what that really means is the error of being led by your own looks good, feel good, seems good to you mentality. That's the error of godless men or lawless men. Put you on the throne.

27:34And if you walk in the flesh, you will gravitate to those kinds of teachers. That's why they're so popular. But the error of unprincipled men is the fleshly driven worldview and theology. That state of being discipled by your flesh as opposed to being discipled by Christ. Well, there's a second disaster to avoid, and that is to fall from your own steadfastness. Look at verse 17. The word for fall literally means to be banished from or to fall away from. Steadfastness is a firmness. And if you routinely give into your fleshly instincts, your fleshly ambitions, your fleshly wisdom, your fleshly desires, your Christian walk will lose stability. You will be anything but steadfast. And the Christian walk will be one. Discouraging burden after another.

28:36You know, I hardly ever see a chronically depressed believer who is steadfast in their walk with Christ. Hardly ever. Even in difficult circumstances, those who are steadfast in their walk with Christ exhibit levels of hope, and even in very trying pains and sorrows of life, I have seen those who walk steadfastly with the Lord exhibit even an unusual amount of joy, even in the most trying circumstances. And yet, I routinely see discouraged Christians who walk in worldly ways. Those whose lifestyle and pattern is one of compromise and fleshly living, there seems to be a consistent pattern of discouragement and depression, self-loathing. You see, worldly Christianity is unproductive, it's unstable, it's the very opposite of being established. That's what Peter says in chapter 1 and verse 12, being established. And that's really the purpose of his whole letter. Because they're false teachers that have crept into the church and they're leading people astray so that their faith is being shaken, becoming unstable. And so Peter writes this letter so that they will not be shaken.

30:19Be firm. Don't fall from your own steadfastness. We're not talking about a loss of salvation here. We're talking about a loss of reward, a loss of purpose. But you know what happens a lot of times? We come to a passage like this, and the idea is, well, we're not talking about a loss of salvation here. Therefore, it's just not that big of a deal. I guess I'm all right after all. Do you know what that is? That's a fleshly response, isn't it? As if the whole meaning of Christianity is to get you to that point of initial salvation, and that's it. After that, it really doesn't matter.

31:06The only thing that matters in our salvation, or it matters in the universe, is my salvation. And once I know that's fine, then I'm good. That is fleshly living, just manifesting itself in a different way. No, what's at stake here is the glory of Christ as being one who is born from above, redeemed. Redeemed, you are the image-bearer of Christ. And what happens in you and through you is a reflection to what God is doing and what God can do and what He is willing to do. So the end is the glory of Christ. And if you look at verse 18, just a little bit ahead, what is Peter's final thought? To him be the glory. When you lose your steadfastness, Christ's glory is what is diminished in and through your life. And that's a horrendous shame because you have been given the privilege to bear, you are the image.

32:16It's not some icon, it's not some statue, it's not some you, redeemed you. And as you grow in his grace, bear more and more his glory. So you expect the Lord's return by guarding yourself against fleshly error. Finally, you expect the Lord's return by growing in grace and knowledge. Look at verse 18. But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

32:53And the command is to grow. Imperative present. You be growing. You be. Be increasing. You be advancing. Be advancing in grace, in favor, in His delight by responding in faith. He loves faith. He stops the show and says, Look, here's faith. Here's faith. Remember, Jesus, I didn't even find such faith in all of Israel. He loves faith and his favor. Grow in his favor and delight by responding to him and keep responding to him in faith.

33:34We grow in grace and knowledge. Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's interesting that this whole, let me just read to you a couple of verses from chapter one. This is the bookends. Growing in the knowledge of Christ. Chapter one, verse two, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us. Knowledge, no more about him. And then what does he go on to say in verse 5? Now for this very reason, apply all diligence to your faith. Supply moral excellence and to your moral excellence, knowledge. Knowledge. Be growing in knowledge of him. It will be that fortification for you.

34:27Be growing. And as he goes on, he lists those who are. Of virtues. But that's what he, that's his whole exhortation. In fact, Peter's whole life can be summed up in these words: be growing, be growing in grace and knowledge. You know, see, he met Jesus at a time when he knew very little about Jesus. He met Jesus, and then he left everything and he followed Jesus. His whole life was one about growing in knowledge and understanding of Jesus and who he is, his purposes, and his glory. That's what Simon the fisherman did, and that's why he became Peter the rock, one of the greatest leaders in all of human history.

35:14You see, churches are to be these citadels of grace, or fortifications of grace, if you will. You know, a fortification is used as a defense in times of warfare. And it's also used as a place to solidify rule during peacetime, times of war, times of peace. I think we are to think of our church as citadels of grace. You see, there's nothing that saps the life out of a person more than the thought that God doesn't love me anymore. Have you ever been there?

35:58God is distance. God doesn't care. There's nothing, I have really blown it this time. Even God in all his glory cannot forgive me. And there's nothing more discouraging to the soul than when you start believing these lies. But that's not true about our Lord Christ. We are to preserve the knowledge. He is forgiving. He is compassionate. He has the power and the compassion upon us. You see, the church is the citadel where we retain the words and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So they do not vanish from our memory, nor do they vanish from the memory of society. That's our purpose, to keep setting forth the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ before each other and before the world. And Christ established the church as the place where people will grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord. To him, look at Peter's last words. Come to the end of this book.

37:11To him be the glory. Very different from Peter, the Peter we met on the early pages of the Gospels. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Imagine this closing sentence. Seen. Peter finishes his letter. If he's writing it, maybe he would set down his pen. He looks it over, leans back, perhaps, sighs, and prays once again for God's protection upon these scattered churches in Asia Minor who have been being pelted under Nero's persecution and under all these false teachers that have gone out. It's his final letter.

38:04His letter is complete, and his life is nearly complete. He will shortly afterward seal his message with his blood. How did Peter's life end? Scripture doesn't tell us, but Jesus does tell us how he would die, that he would die a martyr's death in John 21. All the records of the early church indicate that he was crucified. Clement says that Jesus, that Peter watched his wife be led away to die, and then subsequently he was crucified upside down. And as they were leading his wife away, Peter is said to have addressed her by name, saying, Remember the Lord.

38:56Such was the blessed marriage that he had. Remember the Lord. And that was the ending point. Martyred, according to reliable records, I want to take you back to a moment in time. Had you seen how Peter's life has gone? I want to take you back to that beginning point. I just want to read you a section from Luke's Gospel. That moment in chapter five when Peter first met Christ. Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around him and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats lying there at the edge of the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And he sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a cast. Simon, which is Peter, answered and said, Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But I will do as you say, and let down the nets. When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both. Of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.

40:46A little bit later, Jesus said to him, Simon, do not fear. From now on, you will be catching men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. That's where it began. I don't know why Jesus singled Peter out and called him rather than others. Jesus had Peter's address, went to him. I can't explain that. That's in the mind of God. But there were a lot of people there that day. In fact, I don't know, even today, as he comes by, he calls few. The call today is to us today. It's not to the great multitudes. It's to those today who are here sitting under his word. He still calls people out today to follow him. And how does he do that? Through the communication of his word. He is calling today you who are here today to come and follow him. That's how he does it. And the principle of Christ, will you follow Christ while Like Peter, are you willing to leave your darkness and follow him? And I know some of you are reluctant because of past sin, because of a whole number of reasons. But like Peter, follow him, and he will lead you out of your darkness. He will justify you. He will forgive you. But he will also set your life on a journey. Could you imagine what Peter's life would have been like had he not met Christ? Probably been a good fisherman right around that area. Never would have heard of him. But that's what the call of Christ does. It sets our lives on a whole new trajectory.

42:44His basic call is still the same. Come, follow, grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's the testimony of Peter's life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we know that you do call men and women to yourself today to follow you. Father, we know that today, through the proclamation of your word and the reminding of these truths, that your Spirit is indeed speaking to your people today and calling them out to follow your Son and to be conformed into his image. Father, forgive us where we have performed. The flesh and our own way of thinking over Christ. May we love Him more. May our flesh be as crucified. And may we grow more and more in the crucifixion of our flesh, that we might truly be your disciple, take up our cross and follow you. For we know that your wisdom is greater than ours, that your way is higher than ours. You lead to the blessed path. Father, help us to believe this deep down in our soul.

44:04Father, we truly want to be discipled by your Son and conformed into his image. Father, and I just ask you to do whatever you need to do in my life and in those who are willing in this church. Do whatever you need to do to cause us to be more and more like your Son. In Jesus' name, amen.