Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.1MB)

In chapter 1, Peter emphasizes the importance of remembering the truth. He urges us to grow in knowledge and godly character. He reminds us that the message about Messiah was not a cleverly invented story but confirmed by the eyewitness testimony of the apostles – the men the Lord Yeshua sent to represent Him and the truth about the Messiah is reinforced by the prophets of Israel.

In chapter 2, Peter warns about the danger of false teachers. These evil men distort the truth, live immoral lives, exploit others for personal gain, and lead people to destruction. Although they may appear to be very successful, God will judge them. We must be able to identify them and not be taken in by them.

In chapter 3, Peter begins this final chapter by explaining why he wrote this letter. 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. False teachers ensnare people by distorting the truth. Peter wants to stimulate wholesome thinking in us – thinking shaped by God’s Word rather than by the false teachers.

Peter is not introducing new teachings or revelations. His goal is to remind us of truths we already know. Truth must be remembered because spiritual forgetfulness is one of the great dangers for us. Peter lets us know what he wants us to remember. I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles – the Lord’s representatives sent you.

We are to remember the two great sources of truth. First, the words of the holy prophets of Israel, especially their words about the Messiah. The more we know what the prophets said about the Messiah, the stronger we will be in faith and the better able we will be to resist the distortions of the false teachers.

The second source of truth we are to remember is the teachings of the apostles. These special representatives of the Lord Yeshua didn’t invent their own message. They faithfully taught His commands.

The message of the prophets and the message of the apostles are one unified revelation. Together they form the foundation of the true faith and protect us from heresy and false teaching that can destroy us. So, remember what the prophets wrote and what Yeshua commanded through His representatives. Know your Bible.

Peter also wants us to remember something very important that we’ve already been informed of. Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Yeshua is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” Yeshua promised He would return to this world. And His representatives taught the same thing. The promise of Yeshua’s return is not a minor detail in the faith. Yeshua’s return is connected to the final defeat of evil, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of the wicked, and the restoration of all things. When false teachers scoff and mock the truth of Yeshua’s return, they deny essentials truths of the Good News.

In the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth. The last days began when the Son of God came into the world, died, rose again, and ascended to Heaven. We are already in the last days. The scoffers were already present in Peter’s time – and they are present in ours. And as we move closer to the end of this age, we should expect the scoffing and mocking to increase.

Peter tells us why these scoffers mock the promise of Messiah’s return: they are following their own desires. If Yeshua is coming again, then judgment is coming and people will be accountable for their lives. But if people can convince themselves that Yeshua will never return, they feel free to live however they want. Denying the truth that Yeshua is coming removes the fear of accountability and judgment.

What is the argument of the scoffers and mockers? They will say, “What happened to the promise that Yeshua is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” Nothing unusual has happened, and therefore nothing unusual will ever happen. The false teachers can’t imagine sudden, divine intervention that dramatically changes the world. They assume that history moves along in a steady, gradual pattern. The sun rises. The sun sets. Generations come and go. Life continues as it always has.

Another name for this thinking is normalcy bias – the tendency to assume that because things have always been a certain way, they will always continue that way. The future will look like the past. Nothing significant will ever change. Therefore it’s impossible for Yeshua to return.

But the false teachers were wrong. They ignored the Word of God that reveals that God acts suddenly and powerfully. They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

God acted suddenly and powerfully when He made the universe and everything in it – not over billions of years of gradual evolutionary processes.

God acted suddenly and powerfully when he destroyed the ancient world with a mighty flood – around 2500 BC – which is reinforced by evidences all around us like sedimentary rock which covers much of the continents, fossils, coal deposits, oil deposits, salt deposits – all created by the flood.

God will act suddenly and powerfully when, in connection to the day of judgment, the present universe is destroyed with fire. And He will act suddenly and powerfully when all ungodly people will be judged and destroyed – especially the false teachers who mock God’s judgment.

After answering the scoffers who claim that everything has remained the same since the beginning of creation, and wrongly conclude that Yeshua will never return, Peter reminds us that the Lord’s perspective on time is very different from ours and what seems like a long delay to us is not a long delay to Him. But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

God does not experience time the way we do. A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. We live within time. Years and decades and centuries – especially a thousand years – seem long to us. But the eternal God is outside of time. What feels like a long time to us is not long to Him.

Because of this difference in experiencing time, some people think that the Lord is slow about fulfilling His promise to return. Peter corrects that misunderstanding: The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. Anything we might think of as a long delay is not because the Lord is slow about fulfilling His promise.

Peter gives us the real reason. He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. The apparent delay in the Lord’s return is an expression of His patience and His mercy. God is giving humanity time – time to hear the Good News about salvation. Time to repent. Time to turn to Him and be reconciled to Him so they won’t be destroyed.

The Lord’s patience should not be misunderstood as a permanent delay. Peter warns us that sudden, divine intervention, followed by judgment, is coming. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

Just as a thief arrives suddenly and without warning, the Day of the Lord, the day when the Lord dramatically intervenes in human history, the day when the Lord returns to this world – will take the world by surprise. Those who are complacent and unprepared will experience harm – harm that could have been avoided if they had listened to the truth and turned to God and were ready the Lord’s return.

The Lord’s return will be followed by judgment and universal destruction. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. The present universe will be completely destroyed – down to the atomic level, the elemental level. Everything gone. Everything people think is solid and real and gives their lives meaning – gone. God will do a thorough work of judgment. And everything on earth will be found lacking, missing the mark, disappointing, deserving of His judgment.

The implications of this great judgment and universal destruction are profound: Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live. Since the universe will be destroyed, and if everything around us is temporary, then it makes no sense to spend our lives pursuing money, possessions, status, power. What should we be pursuing? Living holy and godly lives.

Living a holy life means living a life that is set apart to serve God, a set apart life that reflects who the holy God is.

Living a godly life means living a life that reflects God’s character – His love, His righteousness, His truth, His grace.

What kind of lives should we be living? Lives that are looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. We are not meant to dread the day of God, the day connected to the Lord’s return and future judgment. We are meant to look forward to it. The world fears God’s judgment, but we look forward to the day when evil will be defeated and we will be vindicated and righteousness will reign.

What kind of lives should we be living? Lives that are hurrying it along. That means that there are things that we can do that will hurry along God’s day. If God is waiting patiently so that people have an opportunity to hear the message of salvation, turn to him and be saved then living holy and godly lives, living lives of faithful witness, will help bring God’s plan to its conclusion. I like that. I like knowing that the way I live can actually affect God’s plan for the world. That motivates me to live the way Peter is telling us to live.

Peter again reminds us of the complete destruction of this entire universe. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. God will not fix the present universe. He will not renovate the present universe. He will completely destroy it and then make a new and perfect universe.

But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. The universe we have today – damaged beyond repair by rebellion, sin, injustice, suffering and death – will be replaced with a new universe filled with God’s righteousness. In that world, there will be no corruption, no rebellion against God, and no injustice. Everything will be righteous – perfectly aligned with the will and character of the righteous God.

What kind of lives should we be living? Lives full of great hope based on God’s promise of a new heavens and a new Earth filled with righteousness.

And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

We are not to passively wait for the Lord’s return. We are to make every effort to live peaceful, pure and blameless lives. We are to be diligent and work hard at living peaceful, pure and blameless lives.

We are to live peaceful lives. This includes peace with God that’s the result of repentance and faith. This includes peace within the community of Yeshua-followers. And in a world filled with conflict, we are to work at bringing reconciliation and peace.

We are to live lives that are pure and blameless in God’s sight. Our lives should be characterized by moral purity, obedience to God’s Word and repentance when we sin.

Let’s pray:

Father in Heaven, we thank You for the truth You revealed to us through Israel’s prophets and the apostles of our Lord Yeshua. Help us remember Your Word and protect us from the false teachers and the scoffers and mockers of these last days. Keep us from spiritual forgetfulness, and help us stand firm in faith and truth as we wait for Messiah’s return. Work in us so that we live holy, godly, and peaceful lives, pure and blameless in Your sight. Fill us with hope for the new heavens and new Earth filled with Your righteousness. Use our lives to lead many to repentance in this time of Your patience. We look forward to Your day, Lord. Amen.