2Peter 3

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0:00 The rest of us, we are finishing up 2nd Peter this week, which means we're in 2nd Peter chapter 3. There's only three chapters in Peter's 2nd letter to the church. And part of the reason that we've been in 2nd Peter is because it's three chapters and I had a three week break in a sermon plan. So it's like, oh, perfect.

0:31 And also I don't think I'd ever all the way sat down in red 2nd Peter all the way through before, let alone looked at it in depth like I have been. And having gone through it in depth, I know why I haven't read it. It's a quirky book or letter. And very tied to the moment. Like it's really interesting just a reminder that like, you know, Peter was a guy. We're pretty sure Peter was the oldest of the 12 disciples.

1:02 He was probably the only disciple who was over the age of 21 because he was the only one that was worried about paying the temple tax with Jesus. And you had to be, if you were over 21, you had to pay the temple tax. And so Peter was a fisherman. One of the things I really like about Jesus when you look at the people. He's selected to be his disciples, his closest followers. They're all kind of blue collar guys. Like a lot of blue collar guys anyway. And fishermen was one of those jobs.

1:33 It was just like very meat and potatoes. Like go out, get the fish, sell just enough that you can live off of and go out regularly. So Peter was probably a pretty kind of blue collar dude. But because he was the oldest, he was the one who ended up speaking for the disciples the most. And so you get the idea that he was selected. Jesus saw him in him the capacity to go first. To kind of go ahead without things all things figured out.

2:05 You know, this is why like Peter, when the disciples are on the boat and the waves are buffeting it and Jesus has spent the night praying up on the hill and he's like wants to come and he's going to. And he sees them out on the lake and there's a couple accounts of the story. One, it sounds like Jesus was just going to walk by them so that he could meet them on the other side of the lake and let them figure out their way across at night. But the disciples see him walking on the water and they all nudge Peter, you know.

2:39 They're afraid the waves are buffeting the boat and it looks like there's a dude walking on the water through the storm. So they nudge Peter. They're like, Peter, that looks like Jesus. You should find out if that's Jesus. So right Peter does and then they know that if it really is Jesus, all the disciples should be able to do the things that their rabbi does. And so it's like, Jesus, if it's you tell me to come on out there. And Peter is the guy who walks on water.

3:10 Jesus walks on water, but we know he's living as a human fully submitted to the spirit. Peter, like when he confesses to Jesus, we know you're the Christ. Jesus is like, this is a miracle that Peter knows what's going on. That's the guy we're dealing with with Peter, the blue collar guy. And Peter walks on water. And then of course, Peter, when Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and all the disciples flee, Peter's the one who likes like, maybe we should fight, maybe now's the time to fight,

3:42 picks up the sword, cuts off the guy's ear. And Jesus is like, man, put away the sword, man, if you live by the sword, you're going to die by the sword, puts the guys' ear back on. But all the other disciples flee, but Peter kind of follows behind at a distance. And he has that like failure where he's afraid to admit that he knows Jesus in front of the slave girl, but he was there. Like he followed behind at least, farther than a lot of the other guys. I'm saying, Peter's not brash, maybe, but definitely you get the impression of a guy

4:13 who's willing to try stuff. So at Pentecost, he's the one who stands up and explains and announces to the church leaders that they killed the Messiah whom they say they are waiting for to their face, right? So Peter's like ready to take some stuff on. And he says right here in the beginning of chapter three, he kind of like says why he's been writing these letters.

4:45 Second Peter chapter three, the first verse there, he says, now this is the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. We think it was kind of an cyclical, like a broad letter, not to a specific church, but to the church at large, intended to be passed around. This is the second letter I'm writing to you, beloved. In both of them, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember

5:19 the prediction of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. So we've been tracking this idea that it seems like Peter's writing this letter now, especially with the recognition that he might not live to see Jesus return. There's one exchange after Jesus' resurrection just before his ascension. Do you remember where they're walking by a lake and Jesus is walking with Peter and he's

5:55 like, hey, Peter, do you love me? Remember that exchange? And Peter's like, yeah, I love you, man. He's like, cool, then feed my sheep. And then Jesus asks him again, do you love me? Yeah, I love you. Cool feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Yeah, of course, do you know? I love you. Why do you keep asking me? Cool, go feed my sheep. And then there's this little exchange where it sounds like Jesus implies John might be alive until he returns. John might never have to deal with death, but Peter probably will.

6:27 What a kick in the shorts, right? It bothers Peter, actually. So much so that Jesus is like, hey, if I want this guy to stay alive until I return, what is it to you? Don't worry about it. You worry about yourself. You know, he says that to Peter. And so Peter now has like, he has stayed kind of in Antioch and Jerusalem, though the church there has persecuted. Paul's gone out and preached the gospel and spread the church. He's stayed here, but he's watched the church grow.

6:58 He's enough to recognize. You know, he had that experience with Cornelius that the way of Jesus, that Jesus really is the king of all kings, the prince of peace, right? That he is a Lord for all and not just the Jewish folk and that everyone can live under the reign of Jesus. He's determined that and he has like seen that in reality. He's seen Gentiles and Jews lives change. He's seen people raised from the dead. He recognizes that sickness and demons pay attention to the name of Jesus.

7:31 He's experienced that himself. He even told us in the last chapter, he's like, remember that this story is not when I'm making up, but I stood on the Mount of Transfiguration and saw Jesus myself and that each of these prophets that we're talking about have spoken by inspiration of God. And so he's writing to remind people of the story that they're in. He goes in to talk about the prophets. He's like, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment. And he starts to talk a little bit about what the prophets have talked about, meaning what

8:08 the Old Testament prophets have talked about, what they talked about in the Jewish Bible. And you say, knowing first of all that the scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, knowing their own sinful desires, and they will say, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlooked this fact that the heavens existed long before. He really wants people to remember, he wants people to remember, he's writing them that

8:41 Jesus said he was going to come back. And this problem, this propensity for humanity to forget is tied up with our fatal flaw. Our fatal flaw is for the life of us, we have trouble believing that God has our best interest at heart, though he's given us everything, life, love, happiness, peace, movement towards eternity, though he's given us everything we're sure he's holding out on us. This is the fatal flaw.

9:12 But tied into that fatal flaw is this like, no matter how many times God reveals himself, if you give us enough space, we'll forget it. Right? We just will. And it's like you, if you look at the story of Scripture, this is the great concern for humanity. I told you last week, God will never tire of forgiving you. What's more likely to happen is that you'll tire of asking for forgiveness. God has never short or limited in his capacity to give you a new beginning.

9:44 You'll be exhausted with yourself always needing a new beginning, so you'll convince yourself you don't. It's fine that you're good enough. And this is the problem with humanity. We leave the garden like we have the garden experience. We walk with God in the cool of the evening. And then once we leave the garden within a couple generations, we're like, God, what God? We don't need God. And we forget that our lives are limited, that death is coming, that we're not the arbiters

10:18 of the future, that we didn't imagine ourselves into existence and we can't control the end, that there is something larger in which we are a part, we forget. And so God comes down in the person, I mean, into communicates to Abram and restarts a nation and makes covenant promises and the people forget. And so then he comes with David and enlarges their territory and David is a man after God's own heart and they bring the Ark of the Covenant into the temple and they set up the sacrificial

10:51 system again and then the people forget. And by the time Hezekiah's king, they've lost the Bible and started worshiping everybody else and they forget. And he restores and then the people forget. And so finally, God comes in the person of Christ and Peter, not even a full generation after the person of Christ is like, hey guys, I'm going to leave. Please don't forget. I'm going to leave.

11:21 He's like, please don't forget. He's like, I've been writing you these letters that you might not forget. And he says, let's see, the trick is we won't know when the end is coming. He's like, he compares it to the flood, but by the same word, the heavens and earth that

11:54 now, this is verse seven, exists are stored up. He's talking about how the world came out of water and then God used water and Adele used to reset it and in the same way he'll reset earth again. He's like, they forget that he's done this once before and he'll do it again. They've forgotten. Then look down to verse eight, but do not overlook this one fact beloved that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day, the Lord is not

12:26 slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you. Not wishing that any should perish, but all should reach repentance. He's trying to explain why if God has a plan for the earth that involves separation like he talked about in chapter two, where is he? He's like, the scoffers will come and go, hey, jokes on you, you're waiting around for something

12:58 that's never coming. And so Peter's like, just remember, he's done this before and it came as a surprise to everybody. And then he's like, and his like delay isn't forgetfulness. It's patience. I have told this story before, but I can remember when Wes was born, we were living in like a

13:29 in a basement apartment. It wasn't really an apartment. We affectionately have called it the hobbit hole, you know? It didn't have a legal address. It was just a basement that the guy had turned into like a space to live. And it was kind of passed between seminarians because it was under the radar. So it was really cheap, you know? It's like 1200 square foot and like 400 bucks a month. It was a good deal. And what you had to go in through the back, you had to enter through the laundromat. They had a laundromat in the basement.

14:00 So you couldn't go in through the front door of the building. It was like one of these four family flats. You know, they had four flats on each level and maybe four levels. And then underneath in the basement was their laundry. And you entered that from the back. That's how we got into our apartment. You'd go in the back door through the laundry and the storage lockers that everybody had where you could store your stuff. And there was a little door. And you walk through the little door and then into a nice lovely tiled apartment, the hobbit hole.

14:30 And the front, it was like a long line along the width of the building. And the front rooms had windows, I mean, kind of, you know? Because they're like down here on the ground, right? The top of them. And they're, so they're like kind of behind shrubbery. So it always looked like it was overcast outside because the windows were just kind of full of dirt and dust and stuff, you know? But then the interior rooms had no windows at all, right? Because they were in the basement.

15:01 And the reason I'm telling you this is because the memory I have is very clear. Wesley was our very first kid. And I didn't know what I was getting into. And one of the things that surprised me, I've said this before, but one of the things that surprised me is how much I liked the little baby, you know? Like I knew I would love him because he was mine, but I liked hanging out with him. It was cool. And I can't remember. The memory I have is like, I'm there at night.

15:32 We were doing bottles at night. And I was rocking him in that like interior room in the basement in St. Louis, like 15 hours from family all in our fourth, just Megan, my wife asleep in the other room. And I'm rocking in this basement without any windows, giving him a little bottle. And I can't remember thinking, okay, you can come back now.

16:04 We got this one, you know? I can't remember thinking, what if he had come back before he gave us this one? That would have sucked. Peter says, God is still at work. It doesn't mean he's forgotten. He does not forget. It means there is still work for him to do. And the work involves patience in your direction.

16:36 He said, don't be mistaken. This is why I read the Isaiah chapter 40 for our call to worship because what Peter is doing makes me think of what Isaiah is instructed to do in chapter 40. Now call to worship was a little bit long because actually this like admonition from

17:11 Isaiah to the people of God is like three chapters long. And Isaiah in this spot in Isaiah chapter 40, he's been telling people that God will come with judgment, similar to what Peter has been saying. Hey, God will separate folk out. But then God tells, but give the word of comfort to my people. So Isaiah chapter 40 starts comfort. This is God speaking to Isaiah.

17:43 Comfort comfort my people says you're God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that there will come a day when her warfare is ended and her iniquity is pardoned. So there will come a day when the struggle and the hardship, when the enemies on the side, when the lies and the confusion are put to bed and done. And there will come a day when your iniquity is pardoned. I told you God is not tired or limited in his capacity to forgive.

18:16 And so the reminder is there will come a day where every hardship will be put to bed and every shortcoming resolved where your iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand a double. See, everything has been resolved and a voice cries prepare the way for the Lord. And this you should read Isaiah chapter 40 and 41 and 42. I'm not going to read it all to you right now, but it is kind of inspiring and it wraps

18:49 up in chapter 43. Look forward to chapter 43. It now says, thus says the Lord who created you, O Jacob, who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. Peter reminds them that God created out of water and del used the earth in water.

19:25 And he's saying that he's stored up fire and will del use the earth in fire as he did it with water. And God through the prophet Isaiah to the people of God in the world says, hey, comfort, there will come a day when all your hardship is resolved and all your iniquity is pardoned. And then he says, when you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. And when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. And the flame shall not consume you, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,

19:59 your Savior. I give nations as your ransom because you are precious in my eyes and honored. I love you. I give men in return for you, people in exchange for your life, fear not, for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east. And from the west, I will gather you. I will say to the north, give up and to the south, do not withhold. Bring my sons and daughters from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth.

20:31 Everyone who was called by my name, who I'm created for my glory, who my formed. Remember that Jesus in his High Priestly Prayer says to God, hey, I've held all the ones that you gave me. The God throughout the whole story of Scripture is trying to remind humanity in various and different ways. We are so journers and movers apart from our homeland, but the homeland is coming. Don't forget that you are out here wandering in a mess.

21:06 Don't forget that your God has prepared future for you. And here. Peter is writing his second letter trying to stir up the church because he can feel he's not going to live until Jesus comes back and he doesn't want them to fall into the trap of humanity so consumed in the ups and downs of their days and the things they have and they don't have in their schemes and their plans that they'll forget the story in which

21:40 they live and operate and to which they go. He says it here at the end in a very cool way. Let's see the end of chapter, second Peter chapter three, verse 11, second Peter chapter three verse 11. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people are you to be in lives of holiness and godliness waiting for the hastening and hastening the coming of the

22:13 day of God because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt and bury them. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and new earth in which his righteousness dwells. Therefore since you are waiting for these be diligent and found by him without spot or blemish. Peter says that we are waiting not for like disembodied skate off into the future.

22:48 This is a unique thing about the way of Christ that the earth carries a shadow of eternity in it. The prophets say you have eternity in your heart inside of you, that you have a sense of what's to come. And so Peter echoes what the prophets have said, that it's not as though what's coming is like emerging with the divine and a dissolution of everything you know, but a fullness of everything that you know.

23:19 New heavens and new earth. This is why when Jesus returns after the resurrection, he's enfleshed, body and soul, mind and spirit all together again as it's intended to be. Peter says, know that this is what you have been promised. And so now living in light of that promise that he will stick with us through the waters and the fire, we will not be burned. And we are going to new heavens and new earth. Peter says, how should we live as we wait for that day?

23:53 Therefore beloved, since you are waiting for these things be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace. This is a constant thing, especially in the New Testament, the notion that the people of God are at peace, live peaceful and quiet lives. They've seen enough of war. They don't call us mostly to be worrying people.

24:27 They call us to be peaceful people. Delegant, filled up with your vocations. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation. This was so interesting to me, this is where we'll finish right here. And count the patience of our Lord. We just said he's patient, that's why he's waiting. As salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom giving him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks of those matters, there are some in them

25:00 that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction. Did you catch what Peter said? He said, he said, and count patience of our Lord as salvation. Just as Paul talked about, he's like Paul wrote in his letters, I know his letters are hard to understand. That's what he said. But don't be, don't be listened. So I had to look, did he actually, do we know what Peter's referencing?

25:30 And most people, so he said, and count the patience of our Lord as salvation. Just as our brother Paul wrote to you. And most people think that he's referring to the letter that Paul wrote to Romans. Because remember that Paul was in house arrest, but before that he was collecting and offering to take back to the Jews who were persecuted. And so he was traveling around Asia Minor, collecting dollars from all the churches to take back to the Christians who were persecuted under Jewish rule.

26:03 And in that time period, he wanted to get to Rome, but he's like, I got to take the money back. So he wrote a letter to Rome, and it was so comprehensive that it was one of the first ones that they started to make copies of and circulate around the early church. So he probably wrote Romans before 60 AD, and by the middle 60s it was being spread around. People were like, this guy gets it, right? And so Peter, wherever he is, an Antioch or somewhere over there in the eastern area

26:35 is referencing a letter that they all had read already and saying, it's hard to understand, I know, but press in and don't let the dummies distract you or twist what he's saying. But there's one very cool thing that they think Peter is referencing here. It's in Romans chapter two, if you go to verse four, stand by them and make sure that's right. Yeah. Verse four, I'll start at the beginning of Romans chapter two.

27:05 Therefore, you have no excuse, oh man, every one of you who judges for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. Do you suppose, oh man, that you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance

27:36 and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing a wrath for yourself on the day of judgment. Peter is saying, how should we live? Be diligent, people of peace, and take heart that the new heavens and the new earth are prepared for you, such that you repent and recognize I need the free gift of God. It's better than I can manufacture on my own.

28:14 I need to release the plans I have, the strategies and the schemes to protect myself, to provide for myself, to earn myself love. I need to give up all of these things because God, in his gracious kindness, has preserved a future for me that is secure and cannot be taken away. And my response to his kindness is repentance. Yeah, I'll take it. I'll take it from you, free gift, thank you. Peter's like, hey, our brother Paul said it right.

28:48 It's the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. So today, I just want to remind you, we've got a lot going on in your life. All of us in the room do. We've got a lot going on. And for all of us, we know how it ends. So take heart, repent and receive the good news of God that your iniquity is pardoned and your future is secure, your warfare is ended.

29:21 Hey Lord, thank you for the promise of a future with you. Teach us how to take hold of that with hearts of repentance. Be with us now. Guide us into repentance now, good Lord, that we might partake of your gift now. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.