Preached Sunday, May 4, 2014 from 2 Peter 2 Peter 3:14-18
Theme: We will be found faithful by the Lord at His coming, if we keep true to certain practices.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We come this morning to our last time together in our series through the New Testament letter of 2 Peter. And it has been an amazing letter to study!
It began with a wonderful affirmation in 2 Peter 1:3; that as followers of Jesus, we have—as a present provision—all things that pertain to life and godliness through a relationship with Jesus Himself. Everything we will ever need in order to be all that God calls us to be in life, and to do all that God calls us to do in our service to Him, is ours through Jesus Christ.
In Chapter 1, we’ve seen how the apostle Peter exhorts us to rise up with complete confidence in that provision, and to build faithfully on the foundation of our faith with the materials God commands us to use. At the end of Chapter 1, Peter affirmed to us that we can build on that faith in Christ with assurance; and that’s because the apostolic promises about our Lord are not myths. Jesus really is the risen Son of God; and He really will be coming to this earth again.
Now; not everyone was faithful to the truth that the apostles taught us about Jesus. And so, in Chapter 2, Peter warned us about the dangers of false teachers who would arise within the church and mislead God’s people, and who would seek to sway them from a sincere faith in the apostle’s promises about Jesus. Peter went into great detail in warning us about the character of these false teachers and the harm they would cause. And then, in Chapter 3, he spoke about the promise of the Lord’s return; and warned of the way that many unbelievers would arise in the last days to mock the whole idea of Jesus’ coming. Peter affirmed to us that—in spite of the mocking of unbelief—”the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night . . .” (3:10).
And all of that brings us to this morning’s passage—Peter’s closing comments to his brothers and sisters in Christ. In the light of the Lord’s promised return, and of the promise of a new heavens and a new earth; and in light of the fact that many deceivers and scoffers would arise in the last days—Peter tells us what we should do with it all. He writes;
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, and also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen (2 Peter 3:14-18).
This is a very practical close to a very practical New Testament letter. The letter began by affirming to us that we have all that we need in Christ for life and godliness; and it ends by urging us to use that provision, and to so live as to be found by Him ‘faithful’ at His return.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; if the Lord Jesus should return in our lifetime, in what spiritual condition will we be when He comes? How will He find us? Will He find us faithful?—faithfully living for Him and doing what He has told us to do?
Did you know that this was also a concern for the Lord Himself? Before He left this earth, He urged us—His followers—to make sure that He will find us faithful at His coming. In Luke 12:35-40, He said,
“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Luke 12:35-40).
Jesus assured us that we cannot know the time of His return. It will happen at a time when the people of this world are not anticipating it. But we, as His followers, must keep in a constant state of expectation, and always live in such a way as to be found by Him to be faithful at His coming. He said that those servants that He finds faithful at His coming will be very blessed.
The very same apostle Peter—whose letter we are studying together—heard the Lord Jesus say those very words. And he wondered at the time if they applied only to the twelve apostles, or if they were meant for all people. So he asked the Lord; “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?” (v. 41). There was much in Jesus’ words that Peter didn’t understand; and perhaps he wondered if they involved something that would only happen only in their lifetimes. But Jesus made it clear that He meant those words for all His followers up until the time of His return—however far away that return may be; and for whoever it may be that He calls to be faithful. His words would including us today, when He went on to say . . .
“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more” (vv. 42-48).
Dear brothers and sisters; the Lord Jesus is coming again! He will come at a time when the world is not expecting Him to come. But you and I know it with certainty; and much is therefore required of us. We need to live in a constant state of expectation His return; because nothing could be more important than to be found by Him ‘faithful’ at His coming. We need to live like the five wise virgins in one of His parables—the five virgins of the wedding party that faithfully awaited the coming of the bridegroom; the ones that kept oil in their lamps, and constantly kept their lamps lit and ready for the cry, “Behold, the bridegroom is coming!”
And that is why I love these final few verses in 2 Peter 3. They tell us what we need to do—in the light of the sure promise of our Lord’s return—so that we will be found ‘faithful’ by Him at the His coming.
* * * * * * * * * *
Peter certainly wanted his brothers and sisters to be ready. He wanted them to be able to enjoy the full blessing of being found faithful by our Lord. And so, he told them certain things that they needed to do in order to ensure that the Lord would find them faithful.
In our passage this morning, I count five of things we need to do. And if we do these five things consistently—if we make them the regular patterns of our lives—we too will be found faithful at the time of His return. If He comes in our lifetime, He will find us in a way that will please Him. Or if He comes after our bodies have been placed in the grave, He will raise us to the rewards of being faithful to Him to the very end.
Here’s the first of those five things. We will be found faithful at His return if we will make it our regular practice of life to . . .
1. BE DILIGENT IN HOW WE LIVE (v. 14).
Peter writes, “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless . . .”
Look at these words carefully. Do you notice that Peter urges us to be found by our Lord “in peace”? This isn’t talking about our each having a subjective experience of inward peace. Throughout this passage, the commands are distinctively “us” related. They have to do with all of us together as brothers and sisters in Christ. And so, the “peace” that we are to be in before Him isn’t so much a matter of inner peace within ourselves as it is of outward peace in our relationships with one another. We are to be careful to maintain good, loving relationships with one another in the body of Christ; not walking all over the feelings and rights of one another. We are to be careful to see that we look out not only for our own concerns, but also for the concerns of one another; that we esteem one another as better than ourselves, and serve one another in genuine love. The Lord Jesus cares very deeply about our relationships with one another; and when He comes, He wants to find us in a unity of love before Him.
And do you notice that Peter also says that we need to be found by Him “without spot and blameless”? It’s interesting that in 2 Peter 2:13, when Peter wrote about immoral false teachers within the church, he described them as “spots and blemishes”. But in 1 Peter 1:19, he wrote that our Lord Jesus is a lamb “without blemish and without spot”. We are not to be like those false teachers—who bear secret sin in their lives, and who are slaves to the lusts of the flesh. We are to, instead, be like our Lord—who walked with before the Father in purity and holiness. We’re to confess our sins to one another, and help each other to live morally pure lives. The Lord Jesus wants to find us holy in His sight when He comes.
Now; we are, of course, far from where we should be in all this. But we’re to work hard at it. To be “diligent”—as Peter is using the word—means to be earnest about a thing; be very intentional and committed to it. The New International Version has it that we are to “make every effort” to be characterized by a spirit of loving peace with one another, and personal holiness in our daily walk. We’re to give ourselves to it with seriousness; because we want to be found pleasing to our Lord at His return. We’re to be like the apostle Paul; who, in 1 Corinthians 9, wrote;
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
People give themselves diligently to all sorts of temporal things. But nothing could be more important than to be found by the Lord Jesus in a way that pleases Him—that is, to be at peace with one another, and to be holy in our personal lives. If you have a strained relationship with another brother or sister in Christ, then do what you must do to make it right. If you are harboring secret sin in your life, or are allowing yourself to be dragged down by a sinful habit, then do what you must do to repent of it and be free of it. Don’t wait! Give yourself to it with all diligence. Make it your regular practice of life. Keep short accounts before God and with each other.
And do it because you want to be found pleasing to the Lord at His return.
* * * * * * * * * *
Another regular practice of life should be that we make it our habit to . . .
2. CONSIDER RIGHTLY JESUS’ LONGSUFFERING (v. 15).
Peter goes on to say, “and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation . . .” And I think a good clue to what Peter means by this is to be found in what he said just a few verses earlier—in verses 8-9. Peter wrote;
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:8-9).
The seeming-delay of the Lord’s coming is really an act of mercy on His part. He is allowing unbelieving people time to hear the gospel message, believe on the Lord Jesus, and be saved. I certainly think that that’s a big part of what Peter has in mind.
But I also notice that he makes reference to Paul. He goes on to speak of this “longsuffering” of our Lord being “salvation”; saying “—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you . . .” Apparently, Paul had written something similar to the same people to whom Peter wrote.
This letter—as we learned from Peter’s first letter—was written to Jewish Christians who were suffering for their faith. And the only other New Testament book that was written specifically to persecuted Jewish Christians—other than the book that was written by James—would be the book of Hebrews. We don’t know for sure who it was that wrote the book of Hebrews; but in my personal study of it, I have come to feel very strongly that it has all the marks of having come from Paul. And if that’s the case, then I wonder if Peter might not be speaking of these words from Hebrews 10:35-39;
But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
“For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul (Hebrews 10:32-39).
You know, dear brothers and sisters; the day of the Lord’s return is life for us. We are saved by faith now; but on the day of the Lord’s return, we will experience the full completion of that salvation! Our bodies will be transformed to be like that of the Lord—or if we have died, our bodies will be raised in glory. Our glorified bodies will be united with our glorified spirits; and thus we will forever be with the Lord Jesus! As Paul wrote in Colossians 3:3-4, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
And in that sense, the Lord’s longsuffering is our salvation! Everyday that He delays His coming is a difficult time of waiting for us—just as it is for Him. He longs to have us with Himself, just as we long to be with Him. But every day of His longsuffering is a day for us to live more faithfully for Him, and for Him to prepare an eternal place for us in the Father’s house. And on the day of His coming, then we’ll really live!
So; if we would be found faithful by Him at His coming, then let’s make sure that we think rightly about His delay. Let’s not allow ourselves to be troubled by those who mock at the Lord’s return and say, “Where is the promise of His coming?” Let’s keep our eyes on that day; and make it our habit of life to consider His longsuffering to be our salvation!
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; Peter had mentioned Paul’s writings. Many of the letters of the apostle Paul would have been copied and would have circulated among the Christians by that time. Peter goes on to speak of them in verse 16 when he writes, ”in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”
Peter here refers to the letters of Paul as “Scripture”. They have the same divine authority as the Old Testament Scriptures that the Jewish people read and honored. And we can certainly admit the truth of what Peter said about them; that in the things that Paul wrote—though given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—there are some things very hard to understand. They present revealed truth from God of a deep theological nature; things that require careful thought and stud and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to grasp. I mentioned my belief earlier that Paul was the writer of the book of Hebrews; and if that’s true, then Hebrews is certainly an example of a writing from Paul that contains “some things hard to understand”.
In fact, some untaught and unstable people treat the writings of Paul with great contempt. As Peter says, they take the hard things that Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to write, and “twist” them—a word that had the idea of putting them on a rack of torture and wrenching them for wicked purposes. They, in the end, don’t harm the word of God though. They twist Scripture, not to the destruction of God’s revealed truth, but to the destruction of their own souls. The word of God is a Rock of Gibraltar; and wicked people cannot break it. They can only break themselves against it.
But this, I believe, implies yet another thing that you and I must do if the Lord would find us faithful at His return. Even though the people of this world will twist and distort the word of God, you and I must . . .
3. LEARN DEVOTEDLY FROM THE SCRIPTURES (v. 16).
We must make it our daily habit—our whole lives long—to read the Scriptures. And we must be dedicated students of it—not just reading the easy parts, and skipping the parts that are hard to understand. We must work at it diligently; and study; and ask questions; and interpret it correctly; and journal; and memorize; and think carefully about what we read; and apply it faithfully and accurately to our lives. We must devotedly study and learn from the Scriptures. The apostle Paul told Timothy;
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:14-15).
If we would be found pleasing to the Lord at His return, then we must make it our continual habit to be people of the Bible!
* * * * * * * * * *
And very much related to that, we must also . . .
4. KEEP ON GUARD AGAINST FALLING BY ERROR (v. 17).
Studying the word of God carefully is the positive habit that informs our minds and our hearts with saving truth from God. But we must be careful to protect the ways Scripture informs our minds and hearts; and not allow ourselves to lose what we have gained. There are people all around us who have abandoned the truth of God from out of a love for sin. Peter has warned us of those who twist the Scriptures to the destruction of their own souls; and so he then adds, “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked . . .”
The word that Peter uses—here translated “beware”—suggest the idea of keeping on guard. One of the ways that I believe some professing Christians start out strong and end up suffering loss is because of a failure to be on guard with respect to what they listen to. They get a little over-confident; and start listening a little too receptively to ungodly philosophies and alternative world-views. They read articles or books that speak badly of the Christian faith without due carefulness and prayerfulness—making sure to hold up what they read or hear to the sure word of God, and asking the Holy Spirit to guide them. They listen to this world’s wisdom in order to ‘hear what the world is saying’; but they don’t—at the same time—challenge what they hear with what God Himself has said. They try to be “informed”, and “open-minded”, and “scholarly” in the things of this world. And pretty soon—before they realize what has happened—they are embracing ideas and beliefs and values and habits of life that are hostile to our good God and His trustworthy word. And if I may say it; it’s the professing believer that think he or she is most immune to such a danger that is—in fact—in the greatest danger of all.
We sometimes forget that—as Peter said in his first letter—our adversary the devil “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). As the apostle John put it in his second letter;
For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward (2 John 7-8).
If we would want the Lord Jesus to find us faithful at His return, then we’d better be careful who it is that we hear and what it is that we listen to! We must constantly keep ourselves on guard against being deceived by the error of the wicked.
* * * * * * * * * *
And there’s one final thing. If we would be faithful all the way to the time He returns, then we must make it our habit to . . .
5. GROW RELATIONALLY WITH JESUS HIMSELF (v. 18).
Peter—at the end of it all—says, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” And I believe that this stresses to us the absolute importance of maintaining an ongoing, personal relationship of love with our Savior. We’re not to simply be content with the fact that we prayed a prayer once in our lives to receive Jesus as our Savior. We must maintain an ongoing, personal fellowship of love with Him. We must grow in our relationship with Him.
Peter says that we are to grow in the “grace” of our Lord. I take this to mean that we make sure that we have received the complete forgiveness of our sins as a gift of God’s grace; and that we now rest in God’s full love and acceptance through what Jesus has done for us alone. I believe this means that we keep ourselves from legalism, and the kind of religious ritualism that deceives us into thinking that we are earning God’s favor by our works; and that we make sure that we rest confidently and joyfully and thankfully in what Jesus has done for us.
And Peter also says that we are to grow in the “knowledge” of our Lord. And I take this to mean that we become life-long students of our dearest and most beloved Friend. We should spend time with Him; and bring our troubles to Him in prayer. And most of all, we should make sure that we are obeying Him; because we cannot love Him and grow relationally with Him unless we obey Him. He Himself said;
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:9-10).
* * * * * * * * * *
Nothing could be more important than to be found ‘faithful’ to the Lord Jesus when He returns. And if we would do these things habitually—if we would be diligent in how we live, consider the longsuffering of our Lord rightly, learn devotedly from Scripture, keep on our guard against falling by error, and grow relationally with Jesus Himself—then we will ensure that He will find us faithful.
We’ll be able to say, with Peter, “To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”