Title: Not Peace, A Sword

Text: II Peter 3:1-7

FCF: We often struggle to keep our minds set on and believe what God has said.

Prop: Because the Scriptures are polarizing to the two families, we must remember what we’ve been taught from scripture.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to II Peter chapter 3. Realistically speaking we are only 3 sermons away from finishing up II Peter. As we approach the end of the book it will be helpful for us to review only briefly what we have covered thus far.

In Chapter 1, Peter introduces our dependance on our God. That all that we need to live godly lives has been given to us by Him. Including the faith to believe in Christ. This does not promote idleness – but rather spurs us forward to add to our faith other spiritual virtues. Since we have the confidence that God has supplied all we need, we can pursue godly living in faith, knowing that God has and will continue to help us. Peter confesses that they already know all this but he wants to reassure them before he dies that all they have received from the apostles and the holy prophets is true.

In chapter 2, Peter exposes the false teachers for what they are. They have snuck in with destructive heresies, while appearing by all human perception to be genuine confessors of Christ. They had even abandoned the desires of the world for a time. Nevertheless, they went back to those desires to be enslaved again, proving that they were never genuinely changed. And God has always and will always reserve the ungodly for judgment while rescuing His people.

As Peter wraps up his letter, he turns to his audience to encourage them in what to do in light of the presence of these false teachers, and how to keep themselves spiritually safe from them.

I am in II Peter 3. I’ll begin reading in verse 1. I am reading from the NET which you can follow in the pew bible on page 1371 or in whatever version you have in front of you.

Transition:

What is the remedy to avoid false teaching? How can you ensure that you do not fall prey to it? Could it really be as simple as how you perceive the Word of God?

I.) Because Scripture is relevant, we must remember what we have been taught from scripture. (1-2)

a. [Slide 2] 1 – Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written to you,

i. Although an apostle, an Elder, and a Pastor – Peter addresses his flock as his friends. His beloved. Family. For that is what the body of Christ truly is.

ii. And as a loving father Peter writes to his children for a second time.

iii. Although this is not definitive proof that this letter was written by Peter, nor is it proof that I Peter is the other letter he wrote, it seems safe to conclude based on all the leg work we did in introducing this book, that Peter wrote two letters, I and II Peter, for the same purpose.

iv. What is that purpose?

b. [Slide 3] In which I am trying to stir up your pure mind by way of reminder.

i. Peter wants to stir up or awaken. This word can be used of water that is agitated and choppy. So their minds must be called to action. They must be alive and active.

ii. But not just any minds. It is their pure minds.

iii. With all this talk about apostates and looking like believers but turning out to have a nature that has never changed – Peter is convinced that such is not true of the audience to which he is writing.

iv. He says they have pure minds. Blameless or unspotted minds. They are untainted, unmixed.

v. And how will he activate their holy minds?

vi. By way of reminder.

c. [Slide 4] 2 – I want you to recall

i. Peter’s purpose as he stated in chapter 1 of this book also, is to remind them.

ii. He wants them to bring back to the front of their minds some piece of information.

iii. Not just once – but to keep the reminded truth at the forefront of all their living.

iv. What specifically must they recall?

d. [Slide 5] Both the predictions foretold by the holy prophets

i. Peter wants them to go back to the prophets of the Old Testament.

ii. Is he referring only to the Major and Minor prophets?

iii. Well Moses is called a prophet of God, and he wrote the first 5 books of the bible.

iv. Samuel was a prophet of God.

v. Prophets of God existed through the times of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

vi. Psalms, Proverbs, Job. Song of Solomon all contain prophesy about the coming of the Messiah both the first and second advent.

vii. In other words – even though Peter states the predictions foretold by the holy prophets – there really isn’t a book of the Old Testament we can exclude.

viii. Since we know where Peter is going, and since he states their “predictions” as what we should recall, it is appropriate for us to conclude that he wants us to pay particular attention to those prophesies about the coming judgment.

e. [Slide 6] And the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.

i. But here is a perplexing question… to which command is Peter referring?

ii. Certainly, since he speaks of the coming judgment – that could hone our guesses… but which one?

iii. Is it Christ’s command to repent and believe the gospel?

iv. Is it Christ’s command to make disciples?

v. It is hard to say for certain – but given the subject matter that came before this, and given what he is about to talk about through the end of the book, I would say that verse 14 gives us our best clue.

vi. “Therefore, dear friends, since you are waiting for these things, strive to be found at peace, without spot or blemish, when you come into His presence.”

vii. We are still a couple weeks away from delving into this verse deeply, but might I suggest to you that the command that Peter refers to, the command that has been transmitted from Jesus through the apostles, to now all of us His dear children… is to persevere.

viii. The command is to endure.

ix. The command is to be found by his returning master, a slave with many talents when he was only given one. A bridesmaid with a full oil container when the groom comes. A wedding feast attender that responds to the summons. A sheep that hears the masters call and comes without delay.

x. Certainly, as Peter has said in chapter 1, the Lord keeps His dear children! But there is a human side of this also. We must add to our faith. We must produce fruit of righteousness. We must persevere!

f. [Slide 7] Passage Truth: Peter reminds his audience that they already have what they need to persevere. Namely, the Scriptures and commands of Christ.

g. [Slide 8] Passage Application: So, they must remember the Words of God concerning the coming of the judgment. Namely the predictions of the Old Testament prophets and the warnings of Christ their King and judge.

h. [Slide 9] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out to the whole counsel of God -we know that God’s Word is ultimately what He has provided to His people not only to draw them to Him but also to help them persevere to the end. All that is written within the scriptures are given for faith and practice of His people. And the bible claims this of itself. In fact, the scriptures say that not only are they profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, but that Christ, who is called the Word, is the fullest revelation of God that we have. He says that if you have seen me, you have seen the Father because I and the Father are One. And all that Jesus taught and commanded His apostles has been meticulously preserved in the gospels, Acts, and the epistles of the New Testament. And each Old Testament book is affirmed and treated as scripture in the pages of the New Testament.

i. [Slide 10] Broader Biblical Application: What does that mean for us? Basically, that the bible, the Word of God, is invaluable to God’s people. It is likened unto bread and water in scripture. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. If we are to have life and to have life abundant – we must keep at the forefront of our minds the teachings of the scriptures. Included in these are, of course, the predictions of the coming judgment and the need for God’s people to remain faithful and endure to the end.

Transition:

[Slide 11(blank)] But this is not all that Peter wishes for his audience to remember or to understand concerning God’s Word.

II.) Because Scripture is reviled, we must remember what we have been taught from scripture. (3-7)

a. [Slide 12] 3 – Above all, understand this:

i. Many translations have something to the effect of “knowing this first”

ii. This is not a step of chronology but of priority.

iii. Whatever Peter is about to have them understand – it is not something they must know going into a recalling of the Old Testament prophecies or the command from Christ.

iv. Rather, this is what they must understand chiefly…

b. [Slide 13] In the last days blatant scoffers will come,

i. This seems odd to place this as a higher priority item to understand recalling the Old Testament Prophesies or the command of Christ.

ii. But thinking this through it actually makes perfect sense.

iii. The command of Christ and the predictions of the Old Testament prophets are items that are written, preserved, and will not fade away.

iv. God keeps His Word and preserves it for His people.

v. If there is going to be failure, it is going to be human. And a human failure that we most certainly must be conscious of – is the tendency to complacency and comfort.

vi. It is easy to be lulled into an “everything is fine” mentality and fail to remain vigilant.

vii. Peter wants his audience to, above all, understand that blatant scoffers will come.

viii. Peter actually says “scoffers in their scoffing will come.” This is an idiom to indicate that they are not actually trying to hide their intentions. They may as well wear signs that say they are scoffers.

ix. But what is a scoffer?

x. A scoffer is a mocker or ridiculer.

xi. How does the scriptures as a whole speak of the mocker? Perhaps the most famous is Psalm 1.

xii. “How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers!”

xiii. Traditionally, interpreters see the progression, or rather the digression, of walking, standing, and sitting parallel to the wicked, sinners, and scoffers.

xiv. To sit in the assembly of the scoffers is to join in the immovable opposition to God and all He says.

xv. Therefore, to scoff is much like the apostates of chapter 2. They mock or ridicule the things of God.

xvi. Why would they do this?

c. [Slide 14] Being propelled by their own evil urges

i. They are slaves to their natures.

ii. They may have made that profession and all seemed good for a time – but now they are back to eating their vomit. They are back to rolling in the mud.

iii. The worst part is – they think that everyone else has it wrong.

iv. Come gather in our think tank and we will educate you on the true nature of the judgment of God!

v. Come join us as we dismantle the prophets of old and the apostles!

vi. Come reason together with us – do we need the Old Testament anyway?

vii. Come and hear the true gospel – that God has forgiven you all your sin and has no care for how you live.

viii. So says the scoffer, acting as the teacher. Sit and hear where you have errored. All the while, they are the ones controlled by their evil urges.

ix. But what is their message? What is their prophesy?

d. [Slide 15] 4 – and saying, “Where is His promised return?

i. My friends. Do you not hear the sly hiss of the serpent in these words?

ii. You will not surely die. There is no coming judgment!

iii. Where is it if its true? Hasn’t he been gone for almost a whole generation? Shall we continue to wait? How long? 100 years? 1000? 10,000?

iv. How do we know that He won’t return you ask? How do we know that no judgment is coming?

v. Easy…

e. [Slide 16] For ever since our ancestors died, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.”

i. It has already been at least 4000 years since Adam and Eve have died.

ii. These prophets have said this was coming for thousands of years!

iii. And yet – life goes on as it always has! Nothing has changed!

iv. The burden of proof is on you! How dare you say that judgment is coming. How dare you suggest that anything is going to change.

v. No. There is no coming judgment. All will continue as it is. So, eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow will be exactly like today.

vi. Such is the reasoning of the mocker.

vii. Why have they concluded this?

f. [Slide 17] 5 – For they deliberately suppress this fact,

i. They have concluded this because they are deliberately rejecting a key piece of information.

ii. One that would upend their entire argument.

iii. What piece of information are they intentionally forgetting?

g. [Slide 18] that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of the water and by means of water.

i. I am going to try to keep this from getting too technical but we have to understand something about ancient cosmology to understand Peter’s point.

ii. The way the ancient’s understood the world was not exactly scientific.

iii. [Slide 19] Many ancient cultures understood the earth to be a disc floating on top of water, surrounded by water on all sides, and covered by water above with a firmament holding the waters from pouring through.

iv. We could actually demonstrate this by placing a plastic plate on water in a container and allowing it to float. Then, putting a bowl over top of it, and then pouring water on top of the bowl.

v. How did this come about?

vi. Well, the earth was without form and void. It was chaotic. And God’s Spirit moved on the face of the waters and brought order to the chaos.

vii. If we look at this Ancient Near Eastern understanding of cosmology this is how they understood the universe. And the creation account leans into that understanding. That isn’t to say that they are correct. It is simply to meet them where they are.

viii. So, the Spirit of God divides the waters in the sky from the great deep, brings land from the waters and surrounds the land with seas.

ix. But what happened to this world?

x. What happened to a perfect cosmological system set up so all God created would thrive?

xi. Well – in short – sin.

xii. Sin happened. Which resulted in what?

h. [Slide 20] 6- through these things the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water.

i. If we assume that what the bible says is true, we see a great number of things that are starkly different after the flood.

ii. The age of men takes quite a nose dive. This occurs immediately in Noah’s grandchildren. There is no gradual descent, but rather a sharp nosedive in the years a person lived. Noah lived over 900 years. His son Shem lived 500. And his son 400. And each following generation lives a little less and a little less. We also see them having children MUCH earlier. Before the flood Noah became a father when he was 500. And most before him gave birth to their children between their 80s and 180s. Shem has his son at 100 years old – but after this the men are in their 30s and 20s when they have children.

iii. Animals were noticeably more trusting of men before the flood.

iv. So much so that the bible actually comments after Noah and his family get off the ark, that animals were no longer tame.

v. Noah steps off the ark and makes a vineyard. He drinks the juice and gets drunk. Perhaps he has sinned here… or perhaps he was completely surprised by the fermentation process of the wine.

vi. God saw all that He had made and called it good. However – our earth today wobbles on its axis, It is not a perfect sphere but is actually fatter around the equator – AND its shape is constantly changing, it spins 1 time in 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds, its orbit around the sun takes 365 days 5 hours 59 minutes and 16 seconds.

vii. Now there are many theories as to what is going on and why all this is the way it is.

viii. But Peter – as a humble fisherman in the first century by the inspiration of the Spirit gives us the long and the short of it.

ix. The world before the flood is gone. The earth that God created – is not the same earth we have now.

x. Now whether something changed cosmologically – or whether there was some kind of water canopy or exactly how all this happened we are not all together sure.

xi. But from Peter’s perspective – the world that God created… was destroyed in the flood of Noah.

xii. When we read that the fountains broke apart in the great deep and the heavens opened up... the cosmology of Genesis indicates that something cosmological happened during the flood.

xiii. To the extent that the earth we now inhabit, although capable of supporting life, is a broken version of the world before the flood.

xiv. Which makes us ask the question… if the flood was so cataclysmic – apocalyptic even – how did the world survive at all?

xv. Well Peter can answer that too…

i. [Slide 21] 7 – But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire,

i. God in His wrath exercised restraint.

ii. Like a demolitions expert he broke the world, but made sure to break it in such a way that life could continue afterward.

iii. Now the heavens and earth are not the same as they were before the flood.

iv. They are a broken shadow of what they were.

v. But Peter makes it plain. All that is present now – has been reserved… but for what?

vi. Fire.

vii. Although God promised never to the judge the world again with water… He did not promise to never judge the world again. And there are many passages in scripture revealing that the next judgment will be in fire – not in water.

viii. We just talked about this last week when we discussed that Jesus would bring a baptism of fire.

ix. And just so we are clear – what is this baptism in fire supposed to accomplish?

j. [Slide 22] By being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

i. The same thing that the waters of the flood did.

ii. Peter focuses on the destruction of the ungodly.

iii. Will the world also burn up too?

iv. The bible speaks of a new heaven and new earth. Is this God renewing or recreating? Or both?

v. This isn’t Peter’s point.

vi. He simply wants to assure his audience that the scoffers are purposefully neglecting a very important detail.

vii. God has already destroyed the world once in judgment.

viii. The earth is not as it has been from Adam.

ix. The heavens are not as they have been from Adam.

x. If God can judge once and purge the world of all the ungodly…

xi. He can certainly do it again.

k. [Slide 23] Passage Truth: So, Peter reminds his audience that scoffers will come in the last days, following their father the devil, and reviling all that has been revealed about the truth of the Word of God.

l. [Slide 24] Passage Application: So they must continue to keep the scriptures at the forefront of their minds. For all the Word of God has an answer to every mocking word and every accusation such people could bring against it.

m. [Slide 25] Broader Biblical Truth: From the whole of scripture we see this theme on repeat. Although Peter says it will occur in the last days – and perhaps he means it will intensify – when have we not seen scoffers question and bring great doubt to the words of God? And since the completion of the first century, has not this question been raised over and over again? Where is His promised coming? Did we miss it? And even today, many mock the promises of God. Peter has more to say on those promises and how God will keep them – but for now it is enough to remind ourselves that scoffers and mockers are normal operating procedure. Noah had his mockers. So will Christ.

n. [Slide 26] Broader Biblical Application: So CBC, we must keep the devotion of our faith alive. We must trust what God has said. Each year, each century, each millennia, that promise gets no less valid and no less true. He is coming again to judge the living and the dead. He is not slow to follow through. For He does not operate on the time table we do. So for now, as His people we must anxiously look for His coming by maintaining our faith and living holy and expectant lives so we are prepared for His coming.

Conclusion:

[Slide 27(end)] So CBC, in a world where scoffers seem to be lying in wait around every corner, where do we run for safety?

Where do we go when false teaching threatens to steal us away and undo us? Where will we set our foundation upon which we can build the spiritual virtues of godly living? How do we escape the lies of the devil and his children?

Believe what God has said.

In this text, Peter’s audience can escape those who he is warning them about, by continually refreshing their minds with the promises and commands of God. In this we must see the divide the Word of God makes between the two families – the family of the serpent and the family of the seed. Christ said, I did not come to bring peace but a sword. His Words… divide. So what must God’s people do?

They must wash their minds with the Word. They must have a heavenly view on the world. And the only way to get a heavenly view on all of life – is to keep the Word of God at the forefront of every word, every deed, every thought, every feeling.

Do we understand what that means?

It means that regardless of whether or not something is legal, fiscally wise, your patriotic duty, or your civil right – it must first pass the test of the Word of God. It must first make it through the filter of how God views the world.

It means that even if everyone else talks that way, thinks that way, or acts that way – the Word of God stops God’s people from it.

It means that rather than being controlled by emotions, rather than following our hearts, rather than letting “love” or “joy” determine what we do – the Word of God corrects what we feel. And it may not change the emotion – but it prevents us acting in that emotion. To choose His law instead of our feelings.

There was a time in Israel’s history where everyone did what was right in their own eyes. It was the time of the judges.

IF you want to succumb to the teaching of false teachers, if you want to follow them straight into hell, then do as the Israelites did. Always do what you think is best. Always do what feels good to you. Follow you heart and it will lead you right into the fire of judgment.

But if you are God’s. If you expect to be rescued from judgment instead of being reserved for it… then you must check every single thing you think – your entire worldview- your values – your rights- and even your most deeply held opinions must be compared to the Word of God and if it is found out of step… it must be killed. Not imprisoned. Not shunned. Not given a slap on the wrist. No my friends, you must bind it and take it to Golgotha and nail it to the tree with Christ.

You must surely be killing your sin… for if you do not… your sin will be surely be killing you.

Do not believe those who revile the word of God. Do not trust those who use the word of God as a weapon against those with whom they disagree. Do not follow those who act in the wisdom of their logic and reason without considering the Word of God. And do not abide the words of a man who questions the plain text of scripture to twist it to his own ends.

Rather cling to what God has revealed in His Word to His people.

And mark and avoid all who dissuade you from its study. Be wary of all who take you to preachers and teachers who they do not personally know, nor have they investigated their lifestyles, but tickle the ears and affirm the conclusions they wish. Ignore those who flippantly question the teachings of church fathers without careful and humble consideration of the truths they espouse.

Be Bereans. Go to the Word of God and see if we find what is being taught. Trust what God says. Ignore the scoffer.

This is how you stay on Christ’s foundation. This is how you insure that you are not led astray.

Be people of the book. For soon, if you aren’t, you will be swept away with all the rest. There is no excuse my friends.

The God of the Universe, who holds all things in His hands, has given you 1 book to know Him and to obey Him. If that is not enough to make you pant for a drink from its pages. If that is not enough to make you hunger for a morsel from its words. Then nothing will.