September 12, 2004
Service Theme - "Our God Is Good"
2 Peter 3:1-18
Grab God's Greatness
I. Introduction
A. Illustration - Clyde Francis Lytle wrote, Unless we know the difference between flowers and weeds, we are not fit to take care of a garden. It is not enough to have truth planted in our minds. We must learn and labor to keep the ground clear of thorns and briars, follies and perversities, which have a wicked propensity to choke the word of life (as cited on SermonCentral.com).
B. Context - That's the gist of what Peter has been teaching us throughout both of his letters. Truth matters, and God's truth matters an awful lot. Today we're going to dig into the truth of God's Word to find out how to grab hold of His greatness and see His power in every part of our lives. So let's spend some time in 2 Peter 3. I'll be using the New Living Translation.
II. God's Greatness Is for Us!
C. Let's start out by reading verses one and two. (NEW SLIDE) This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. 2 I want you to remember and understand what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles. Peter gives us the purpose for writing both of his letters: to get us to remember. (NEW SLIDE) Peter wants us to remember to be pure in our thoughts and to remember what has been written and commanded by the prophets and apostles. It's easy for us to have a problem with anyone or anything in authority over us. Rebellion is part and parcel with our natural, sinful nature. We don't like anybody telling us what to do, so we struggle to obey God's Word because we rebel against its authority over our lives. But if we are pure in our thoughts first, remembering and obeying what is written in God's Word is a lot easier! Remember to be pure in your thoughts and remember and obey what has been written and commanded by the prophets and apostles.
D. (NEW SLIDE) Second, Peter tells us to remember that scoffers are in trouble. Verses three through seven: (NEW SLIDE) 3 First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire. (NEW SLIDE) 4 This will be their argument: "Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly the same since the world was first created." (NEW SLIDE) 5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth up from the water and surrounded it with water. 6 Then he used the water to destroy the world with a mighty flood. (NEW SLIDE) 7 And God has also commanded that the heavens and the earth will be consumed by fire on the day of judgment, when ungodly people will perish. It's easy to believe that something will never happen when we don't see it happening right away. But as author and pastor's wife Jill Briscoe said, I remember a time when I was waiting for soon to become now. I went down in Oconomowoc to a little lake where we live, and I sat there very early in the morning praying, pleading with God that my soon would become now. "God, I cannot see you working. What about all these prayers that people are praying? This is a terrible situation. What are you doing about it?" God said to me, "Any fish in that lake?" I looked at the lake, which was like glass, and I said, "Sure. Of course there are fish there." "How do you know? Do you have to see fish jump to believe they're there, Jill?" I remember sitting there for a long time until I could say to God, "If I never see a fish jump, I will believe they're there and active. If I never see you answer a prayer, I will believe" (as cited on PreachingToday.com). Scoffers say there is no God and that God is not going to judge the world. God says, "Look beneath the surface. I'm working both now and forever! Judgment is coming!" Scoffers will try to confuse or sidetrack Christians. God says, "Be prepared and stay true!" Scoffers deliberately forget God's power - they train themselves to believe it doesn't exist. Christians have got to train themselves to see God's power in every part of their lives. God says, "I am working both now and forever!" Scoffers forget the coming judgment. God says, "Don't forget it, but use it to help motivate yourselves to bring people to me!" Peter tells us that scoffers are in trouble.
E. (NEW SLIDE) Third, Peter tells us to remember God's great grace and His judgment. Verses eight through thirteen: - (NEW SLIDE) 8 But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. (NEW SLIDE) 9 The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. (NEW SLIDE) 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed on it will be exposed to judgment. *(NEW SLIDE) 11 Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! 12 You should look forward to that day and hurry it along - the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. (NEW SLIDE) 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God. Those who are antagonistic toward God will say that He doesn't exist and therefore there is no judgment coming. They will say that, if He did exist, He would have come by now. But Peter reminds us that God's clock operates a lot differently than ours. We tend to go through our days glancing frequently at the time and wondering both where the time went and how we're going to get everything done. God doesn't even bother with His watch, because He set everything in motion from the beginning of time. (NEW SLIDE) He is waiting patiently so that more and more people can come to Christ. The longer God waits, the more chances people have to receive His free gift of salvation. So we've got to do whatever we can to bring people to know and follow and serve Him. Thomas Jefferson wrote, (NEW SLIDE) In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock (as cited on PreachingToday.com). We've got to do whatever is legal and moral and ethical and will bring people to Jesus Christ. We can't afford to get hung up on style or methodology. We've got to stand like a rock on God's principles and use anything that will work to bring people to know Him. Why? Because God is waiting, but not forever. Judgment will come "as unexpectedly as a thief." Now if I knew a thief was coming, I'd be ready with several sheriffs' deputies waiting for him to come. Or I'd be waiting with my 30-30. Either way I'd be ready. And God is giving us advance warning to be ready when He comes, even though we don't know when the day of judgment will be. How can we be ready? Peter tells us to respond to God's mercy with holiness and godliness so that we'll receive mercy and God's reward instead of judgment and God's wrath. (NEW SLIDE) A loose translation of the Greek in verse eleven tells us "it is necessary for you to exist in a life's practice of holiness and a life of piety, respect, and reverence." C. S. Lewis wrote, The greatest thing is to be found at one's post as a child of God, living each day as though it were our last, but planning as though our world might last a hundred years (as cited on PreachingToday.com). If we are living a life of holiness and godliness, we will be remembering God's great grace and judgment.
F. (NEW SLIDE) Fourth, Peter tells us to stay true no matter what. Verses fourteen through eighteen: (NEW SLIDE) 14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to live a pure and blameless life. And be at peace with God. (NEW SLIDE) 15 And remember, the Lord is waiting so that people have time to be saved. This is just as our beloved brother Paul wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him - 16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. (NEW SLIDE) Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters around to mean something quite different from what he meant, just as they do the other parts of Scripture - and the result is disaster for them. (NEW SLIDE) 17 I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends, so that you can watch out and not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people. I don't want you to lose your own secure footing. (NEW SLIDE) 18 But grow in the special favor and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be all glory and honor, both now and forevermore. Amen. Peter is telling us to live a pure and blameless life, to be at peace with God, to not worry about when He's coming back, to not believe anyone who twists or distorts His Word, to heed the warning, to grow closer to Him and grow up in Him. James W. Kennedy said, (NEW SLIDE) "What really matters is what happens in us, not to us" (as cited on PreachingToday.com), and that's the point that Peter's trying to get across. We get so concerned about our outside circumstances that we forget that what God wants to do inside of us is the most important thing of all. (NEW SLIDE) The keys are focus and accountability. If we stay focused on the big picture of what God is doing and wants to do, then we will stay true. And if we build accountable relationships into our lives, we will be enabled to resist the temptation to lose that focus. As Archibald Hart wrote, (NEW SLIDE) Accountability to another is the only way to safeguard against poor judgment, unconscious motivations, and self-deception (as cited on PreachingToday.com). God is calling us to stay true no matter what, and focusing on growing in holiness and doing His will and keeping ourselves accountable is what will enable us to stay true.
G. Illustration - Mark Christian wrote, One of the keys to understanding our relationship to God is in understanding that God wants us to obey Him not for His sake, but for ours. God loves us so much that He wants us to avoid the pitfalls and disappointments of this life. He knows that when we take on the attitude of Christ, we will be happy and satisfied. Our obedience to Him is to our great benefit in our lives today and forever. I can remember my dad trying to explain to me that he wanted me to avoid the mistakes that he had made. He wanted me to do things the right way because it would make my life easier and I would be happier. This came from a father who, just like all of us, made his share of mistakes. Our Heavenly Father never made mistakes, but he knows us well. He knows our weaknesses and where we might stumble. He knows what tempts us, and He wants us to avoid that temptation. Our God is a God of Peace, and wants us to enjoy peace, but that peace comes out of obedience to His will (as cited on SermonCentral.com).
H. If we want to grab hold of God's greatness, to live the life He is calling us to live, to receive the reward He has for us, to walk in obedience and holiness, then we've got to do what Peter has instructed us to do. Grabbing God's greatness is the best thing we can ever choose to do, and I pray that all of us make that choice!
VI. Conclusion
A. Please bow your heads and close your eyes out of respect for God and for each other's privacy. What is the Holy Spirit calling you to surrender this morning? What do you need to surrender in order to grab God's greatness and begin to live the life He is calling you to live?
B. If you sense God calling you to surrender some area of your heart or life to Him, and you'd like to do that this morning, please raise your hand, and I will pray for you.
