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I speak to you, in part 2 here, exhortations to faithful living. Exhortations to faithful living. These closing exhortations from verse 14 to verse 18 in 2 Peter chapter 3 gives us the application of how we can live faithful and persevere to the very end.
God's Word gives us those answers. It gives application to it. Aren't you glad that God does not leave us in the dark? There's great light and glorious light within these words. And now let's pray for just a few minutes as we look into these closing words of being steadfast and diligent that the Holy Spirit would have His way and help us to see and to apply this to our own lives.
We need the application, but we must catch everything that He's saying here in order to live faithful. To live faithful. To be found in Him. To be found in Him. Do you want to be found faithful in Him?
That's all that's going to really matter to the end when we see Jesus face to face. If we found mercy with Him and that we're faithful and found in Him. And like I said, we can know all the knowledge, we must apply it.
We must apply it. Amen? So the Apostle Peter's last will and testament to the church of the living God is to be found in Him, to be found faithful in Him. And let's pray and please bow with me in prayer just for a few minutes as we seek the Lord's face within this hour of worship and hear from heaven.
Amen?
Our Father and our God, Lord, we thank You. We thank You for Your Holy Word. Your Word does not return void, but it goes forth in power and truth. Not because of the one that delivers it, but because it is Your Word.
We desire truth in the inward parts as David prayed. Father, our great prayer today is we desire for Your name to be hallowed. Your name is holy. It is to be hallowed. And Lord, there's none beside You.
Help us to praise You. Help us to glorify You, Lord. And help us to exalt You as You truly are. Lord, we could do, again, we could do all the right things. We can go through the forum. There could be a good message and order.
We could sing the wonderful hymns as we have sung. Lord, we could put together everything perfectly, but Lord, unless Your Holy Spirit is in everything, we do everything in vain. So Lord, we pray now that Your blessed Holy Spirit would be within everything that we do in worship to You.
Praying, singing, preaching. Lord, may it all truly give glory to You. That is our prayer. That is our prayer, O God. So glorify Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. May He be lifted up within this time of worship.
Help us, as John the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God.
Your Lamb.
You have provided the Lamb. So Father, give us ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart to perceive by Your Holy Spirit. And may Your Holy Spirit be our teacher today.
Through Your Word.
And we'll be careful to give You all the glory and the praise and the honor. And we ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
O that we would be found faithful. O that we would be found faithful to the very end. Until we see our Lord and Savior face to face. Until we meet Him. Whether He comes back in His second coming, or until the time we draw our last fleeting breaths and we see Him face to face.
To be found faithful. To be steadfast. To be diligent. Now in the light of the sure promise of our Lord's second return,.
His glorious return,.
When He would come back in power and glory, this is really all, everything that Peter has spoken in his second epistle. And he basically narrows it down. Will we be found faithful by Him at His coming?
His second coming. This is application. That's really the question. Will we be found faithful? Now the apostle Peter gives to us, to the church, an application how we can be found faithful at the return of Jesus Christ.
And these exhortations, that's what they are. These are closing exhortations of faithful living. How we can be sanctified. How we can be holy before Him and men. And to the very last. And what I love about this, this wonderful epistle, this comes to us in a warm way.
It's very pastoral. It's very practical. It comes from a man that was once a fisherman. Now he's a fisher of men. He's very common. And he understands. As we have gone through this wonderful epistle, I don't know about you, but me personally, I've seen the loving heart of not just an apostle, which he is an apostle set apart unto the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is a saint called apostle. But more than that, we see a very warm, loving, God-fearing pastor. A shepherd of the church. We see a man that's been humbled by God. After all, think of all the rebukes he has received from the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was the only man I see in Scripture that was rebuked personally by God the Father. Verbally. I don't know about you, if I was rebuked by the Lord Jesus Christ, that's the Son of the living God. And if I was rebuked by the Father in Heaven, that would humble me to the dirt.
But yet this man was humble, truly humbled. You see at one time in the Gospels, he was a very straightforward, bold, arrogant fisherman. Notice how Jesus changed this man's life. But here we see a pastor.
He is a shepherd. Truly humbled man of God. And what is he doing? What is he doing? He's strengthening his brothers and sisters. He's strengthening the church. He is actually obeying the command that Jesus gave him after he was restored of denying Jesus.
He is strengthening the church. We need to be strengthened. The church is weak today, beloved. We need to be strengthened. Now verse 14 -18 gives us that strengthening. There are several exhortations.
The first and foremost we looked at last Lord's Day is found in verse 14 of 2 Peter chapter 3. He speaks of being diligent. Diligent. Be diligent. Underscore that. Be diligent. We're going to look at that word.
I want to keep that word before us. This is the closing exhortations that I want us to see. Be diligent. That we will be diligent to the very end. Look at verse 14. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things.
What things is he talking about? That is found. And look back now to verse 10 -13. We will see very clearly what things he's talking about. But the day of the Lord. This is the things he's talking about.
That we're to be looking forward to these things. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise. And the elements will melt with fervent heat.
Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. I want you to notice how many times he mentions the word will. The day of the Lord will come. The elements will melt. The works that are in it will be burned up.
It's going to happen. He goes on to say, verse 11. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? What a verse. This is a question all together.
What manner of persons ought you personally to be? That is so convicting. Aims right at our hearts. Each and every one of us here today hear this exhortation. It's an exhortation. It's a question. What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct?
That's our walk. That's our behavior. And godliness. Being godlike.
Following Christ.
Notice how many times he says looking for. Verse 12. Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens there it is again will be dissolved. He says that twice. Being on fire.
And the elements will melt with fervent heat. It's going to happen. Verse 13.
Nevertheless.
We.
That's the church.
According to his promise. The promise of the Lord. That's what he's referring to. Look for the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. In which righteousness dwells. Notice how many times he says look for.
We look.
Look.
Toward these things.
We look forward to these things. This is the promise of his coming. This is the blessed hope. This is our blessed hope. This is everything that we believe.
In which Jesus will fulfill.
In his word when he comes back. Just a footnote here. Let me comment on this. I hear so many people within the church and this is just not within one denomination. I hear this everywhere. People looking for the antichrist.
Looking for the antichrist. Who is the antichrist? Who is the antichrist that's rising up today and they take this guess and that guess and I've even heard some ludicrous ideas that Prince Charles is the antichrist and how ridiculous that is.
Absolutely ridiculous. But can I tell you this? According to the word of God. Not according to this preacher. There is absolutely nothing within the text of the scripture that we are to look forward to the rising up of one world leader.
But we are to look forward to look toward to be looking for the glorious second coming of Jesus Christ. We don't look for the antichrist. We look for the Christ. We look for Jesus Christ. We look unto Jesus.
We look for him to come back in power and glory and put an end to all this wickedness that's going on. The day of the Lord. Again, look at how many times he says looking forward and hastening to the coming day of God.
Look for the new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Verse 14, Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things,.
Be diligent.
That's the key word right there. Be diligent. Persevere. Persevere, beloved. Persevere. Keep going forward. Keep going toward the mark. Keep pressing toward the prize of the mark of God in Christ Jesus.
Keep going forward. Don't look to the left. Don't look to the right. Look unto Jesus. Behold the Lamb of God. Be diligent. And I like to say this, that being diligent and perseverance literally rest on four things.
Four things. According to the Word of God, according to the Scriptures.
That's before us,.
In these exhortations, the Apostle Peter, by the Holy Spirit, the first thing as we look, we saw to be diligent. So we underscore be diligent. But, what are we to be diligent?
Towards.
I want you to see this.
The first thing we are to look, to be diligent, to is the hope, the blessed hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ. We see that this is really what Peter is underscoring through this whole epistle.
It's all about the second coming of Jesus, right? False teachers were denying. False teachers was mocking it. And he said that in chapter 3, the first verse.
Beloved,.
Now I write to you this second epistle in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder that which you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before the holy prophets and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts.
And what's what are they going to do? And saying, where is the promise of his coming? The promise of the second coming of Jesus Christ is being attacked by false teachers. Nothing changed. Nothing has changed.
So the first thing is we're to look, be diligent and looking to the hope of the blessed promise of the return of Jesus Christ. The second thing is, this is my outline before we really break it down. Number two, the holiness.
He speaks about practical holiness, our sanctification, our holy conduct. What manner of person.
Taught you to be.
In holy conduct and godliness. He speaks about this in the closing exhortations that is necessary for a clear conscience before God and men. We'll see that in the text. The third thing is, we are to develop a heart by the Holy Spirit.
By the way, this is something we cannot develop within ourselves. But within our sanctification,.
Our walk with God.
By the help of the Holy Spirit, we are to develop a heart for the lost.
For the lost and dying.
We will see that in the text. And Peter has already covered a great deal of that. And fourth, we will see that we are to be diligent by laying hold. By laying hold of eternal life. By laying hold of the holy scriptures and studying the holy scriptures before God.
Saying that we are approved unto God. That we rightly divide.
The word of truth.
And that in all these things, to be diligent and be found faithful before God and Christ and in Him. In peace. And then he says, without spot and blameless. Now let's look at this very quickly. Look at number one.
The first exhortation is found in verse 14. To be diligent, to persevere, to maintain the blessed hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ. His glorious return. Be diligent, to persevere. Be diligent, to persevere and maintain the blessed hope of Christ's coming.
And we saw that. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, these things, looking forward to these things.
Peter,.
And by the way, I've already mentioned it. Peter repeats this.
Several times.
He repeats the verb looking for, looking for. We looked at it. Verse 12, verse 13, verse 14. It means to eagerly respect the promise of His coming and the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells.
So Peter assumes, really he's assuming.
Upon the readers.
That they are looking forward to these things.
Notice, he says,.
Therefore, beloved.
I touched on this last week a little bit,.
But I want to.
Give a little bit more to this, time to this.
Beloved. Beloved.
Beloved in the Lord. Beloved in the Lord.
That is a great word. Already looking for the beloved or looking for the promise of His coming. The promises to be fulfilled. But he wants them to persevere in this blessed hope. This is his desire. He desires them to persevere in the blessed hope.
Don't you love that word beloved? I love that word beloved.
Beloved.
Peter uses it several times in chapter 3. In this whole chapter, look at verse 1. In verse 1, as I already mentioned, he begins by saying what?
Be mindful.
Verse 8.
Beloved. Be not ignorant. Verse 14.
Be diligent. Verse 17.
Beloved. Beware.
The beloved is to be mindful. The beloved is to be.
Not ignorant.
The beloved is to be diligent. The beloved is to beware. Be mindful. Do not be ignorant. Be diligent. Beware. I love Deuteronomy 33, 12. The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him. And the Lord shall cover Him all the day long.
Don't you love that promise? The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him. And the Lord shall cover Him. Is not that love? Be loved. That's the love that God gives to His special people. His hand-picked people.
His elect. His sheep. God's own hand-picked possession that He's called out of darkness into His marvelous light. God's own people. His own people in which He loves to the very end. That's glorious, isn't it?
Beloved. You are beloved of God. You and I are beloved of God. And God loves His own to the very end. 1 Corinthians 1 .8. The Apostle Paul speaks of being to eagerly wait for the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And in verse 8 he says,. Who will also, listen to this personally, God, also confirm you. Think about that. God will confirm you to the end. That you may be.
Blameless. Blameless.
That doesn't mean perfect, but it does mean that in Jesus Christ you are perfect.
Not in yourself.
Not in ourselves we're perfect.
By no means. By no means.
It is the perfection of Jesus Christ. When God looks upon us, we are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That is the perfection. And he says, He will confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second coming. This leads us to the second exhortation. So the first one is, Be diligent to persevere and maintain the blessed hope of the Christ is coming. The second is, Be diligent to persevere and maintain the holiness needed for a clear conscience.
Before God and men.
Now this is a whole sermon by itself, but I just want to touch on this. To be diligent to persevere and maintain holiness needed for a clear conscience before God and men. Look at the second part of that.
Peter was very fond of the word diligent, right? We've been seeing this word. And by the way, he used the noun,.
Excuse me,.
In 2 Peter 1 .5. Notice in 2 Peter chapter 1, go back a little bit. Look at verse 5. But also for this reason, this very reason, he says this, Giving all diligence. There's the word again. Giving all diligence.
Add to your faith. What is he saying? Virtue. I would say that would be classified under holiness. Virtue. Sanctification. Virtue. Knowledge. And he's speaking just not intellectual knowledge. This is what the church needs.
Not intellectual knowledge. We've got enough of that. We're talking about knowledge of God. We're talking about the knowledge of the holy. We're talking about the attributes of God. We're talking about all that God is.
I love what Stephen Lawson said. And I heard a small clip of this, and I just amen this. This went all over me like fire.
He said,.
He said as a footnote,.
He says,.
He was saying this within the sermon, I don't know which sermon it was, but I love the comment.
Today, and I believe he's preaching in the classroom, an expository preaching to young men. And this is what he said about preaching today. And this is so true, beloved. Tell me if you don't see this today in the churches.
No matter what the denomination it is.
Our preaching is too horizontal. Our preaching is too man-centered. Our preaching is too down to earth. He said, it's time for our preaching to be more vertical. The preaching must be God-centered.
It is time for God to come back to the pulpit. Amen. What would happen in the church today if God was glorified behind the pulpit? God was glorified in the church. If Jesus Christ was lifted up like he should be lifted up.
If the preached word was preached like it should be. There would be revival. He is so right. He is so right. The knowledge of the holy. The knowledge of the holy. Look at the verb. He uses a verb in, Peter uses a verb in verse 10.
Therefore brethren, be even more diligent. Now, to be diligent is important. But here is a verse that he says, be more diligent. Doing what? To make your call, your call. Only you could do this. Before God and yourself and your own heart.
Your call and election sure. Make it sure.
Paul says,.
Examine yourself that you are in the faith. No one could do this but you before God. On our face before God. In prayer before God.
You make your, be more diligent. To make your call and election sure. And then he says this, for if you do these things,.
You will never stumble.
Wow.
You know why he says that?
Because our faith is founded upon a rock. And that rock is Jesus Christ. That rock is Jesus Christ. Everything he focuses on. Don't you love these apostles? Really, and I quote MacArthur here.
All the epistles,.
All the apostles, and all that they speak of, from after Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and then you have Acts,.
The history of the church,.
But you have the epistles, most of them given by Paul, right? We have John. We have Jude. We have Peter.
We have James.
We have these apostles. And everything that they speak of is commentary on the life and works of Jesus Christ. Everything the epistles is speaking of, and I love that.
I love that.
I never have forgotten that. Because when we study through the epistles, it's all about Jesus. It's commentary about Jesus. It's application in Jesus. In Jesus. Everything that they speak of is all about Jesus Christ.
And I'm looking forward to it. Lord willing, we're going to embark on, we're going to begin a great journey in the gospel according to John. And all about Jesus Christ and His deity. That He is the Son of the living God.
He is God in the flesh.
We're going to study that.
I'm looking forward to that. And be in prayer. Be diligent in prayer in that.
So he says,.
Be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. Verse 15 of chapter 1.
He says this,.
Moreover, I will be careful. You know what that word. Careful, that's one translation. It means to be diligent. Be diligent to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my departure.
After I deceased.
After I'm gone. After I'm dead. Be diligent. To ensure that you always have a reminder. To be diligent implies to give full attention. This is what the word diligent means. It gives the full attention.
It means complete focus. It implies to give every effort. It implies to exert all that I have within me to press toward that mark, like Paul said, the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
And to go after that God-given goal in our Christian life. You exert everything that you have, all the means of grace, to go after God, to go after holiness, to be serious about it in our walk with the Lord.
Give all diligence. That's what it means. Give full attention. Give full focus. And can I say this? This doesn't happen automatically. There are some Christians that think that it happens automatically.
They sit back in the lazy recliner and they think, because God is sovereign, He's going to do everything.
But look at what He's already done.
And He is sovereign. And He is doing everything. And He is in control. But I don't want to sit along the sidelines.
And lose the blessing.
I want to be like Jacob. I want to wrestle with God. I want to be wounded by God.
To get the blessing.
I want to be involved, don't you? And there is a responsibility that we are to continue in the faith to lay hold on this side. And I believe Brother Keith spoke about this last week. He talked about the sovereignty of God and man's responsibility.
They run parallel toward one another.
They do not contradict each other. They do not intersect one another. But we do have a responsibility in our sanctification to lay hold of God and to press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in our sanctification.
It takes work.
And I don't know about you,.
I found that sanctification is very hard work.
Prayer is very hard work.
My flesh fights up against me to spend time with God in prayer. But in order to know God, I must spend time in prayer. And by the way, it's not just a duty,.
It should be a delight.
And if I'm not finding that a delight, there's something wrong with my heart. I must check my heart. But God's people loves to pray. God's people, it's part of the breath that He breathes. It's like the bird, the nature of the bird is to fly.
And the bird would not be at home in an ocean where a fish is at home. He does that by nature. When we're born from above, by nature we love to pray. We love to delight in God. So we need to be diligent in these things.
And these things don't come automatically. It requires focus. It requires great discipline. Oh, does it require discipline. Oh, does it require discipline. And the aim for our diligent effort is to be found by Him in peace, without spot,.
And blameless.
According,.
As I was studying this, according to Erdman's commentary, quote, quote,.
Quote,.
In a nutshell, this means maintaining the holy or godly behavior that is needed, listen to this, that is needed to have a clear conscience. A clear conscience is priceless. A clear conscience can't be bought.
A clear conscience before God and men is priceless, beloved. And it is the look of hope,.
The look of hope, listen to this, that must produce the life of holiness. I love that. It is in faith, as we look at Jesus Christ, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We look unto Jesus.
Don't you love that? Because when you read Hebrews 11, the hall of fame of faith, he speaks about all these people, by faith, by faith, through faith, Abraham, by faith, Enoch, by faith, all these great patriarchs, all these great men of God, women of God, Moses, Abraham,.
Enoch,.
Abel,.
All the way. And he gives this great, great commentary on all these godly men. But at the end of chapter 12,.
They are examples of faith. We're clouded by a great cloud of witnesses, but the one we look to is Jesus Christ. He, in other words, what he's saying, they look to Jesus, even though in the past, Jesus hasn't come, but they still look to the promise.
And that's what we're to do. We look back. Jesus Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith. Paul says in Acts 24, 16, Paul is testifying before Governor Felix. And he said this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless, there's the word, blameless conscience, both before God and before men.
Blameless.
A pure conscience. A clear conscience. And Peter says, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot,.
Paul says in Romans 12, 18, if it be possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. If it be possible. We're to pursue peace and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. Romans 14, 19, so then we pursue, listen to what he says, so then we, we, pursue the things which make for peace, and the building up of one another.
Listen to that.
The building up of one another? Beloved, let me say this, do you do that? Are you building up your brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ? Are you daily desiring to encourage them, to build them up in faith?
I'm not talking about praising them, I'm talking about building them up, and encouraging them in Jesus Christ. Point me to Jesus. Point me to Christ. And in this journey, beloved, iron sharpens iron. We need all the help we can get.
That's why we believe in the church, don't we? The fellowship of the saints. And you and I, you know this, people that don't care about going to church, now going to church doesn't save you, but when you are saved, you want to go to church, and by the way, it's those means of grace, that we come together to praise our God, to love our God, to love one another, to build up one another, to esteem the other more than ourselves, Paul said that, for the unity of the faith, to build them up, build them up.
To love one another. To pray for one another. Don't you love the one another?
That's the church,.
And I'm so much in agreement with Earl Blackburn. Jesus loves the church, and so should you. And by the way, and I'll put a little, I saw Vaude Botman, and he says, actually, if you don't love the church, you don't love Jesus.
Preach that today, and see how much attention you get. Just go out in the highways and byways of the world today, and what's everybody doing there? Loving the things of pleasure, more than the things of God.
And doing it with a form of godliness. Do you build up one another? Do you build up your brothers and sisters? Is this your normal habit, to be diligent, to be found by Him, in peace and spotless and blameless?
Diligently persevere, maintain the hope of His coming. Maintain the holiness of sanctification, for a clear conscience before God and men. The third is to diligently persevere, to develop a heart for the lost and dying world.
Do you see that in the verse?
Do you see this?
Look at verse 15. And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is what? Salvation. As also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you. Isn't it wonderful the way he addresses Paul?
He says, Brother Paul. He doesn't say the Apostle Paul. I'm telling you, Peter was a humble man. Now, when I was thinking about this, he brings and he commends Paul. He's not saying anything bad about the Apostle Paul.
And I want to tell you this. I want you to think of this for a second. The Apostle Peter was the head apostle. He walked and talked with Jesus for three years. Paul the Apostle didn't have that privilege.
Paul was one of the greatest theologians and missionaries that ever lived. And he understood the gospel. He had a grasp of the gospel. And because he understood that all religion was just dung,.
A manure heap,.
It stunk before God. And now, here is Peter, the head apostle,.
Older.
Now, Paul's already dead. Paul has already been executed by Nero, and Peter knew his time was short. He knew he was next. And by the way, tradition says, as I already mentioned, him and his wife,.
Peter was married.
That goes against everything that the popes do in the Roman Catholic Church.
They think they shouldn't be married. Peter was supposedly their first pope, and he was married. So they go against that. But anyway, he speaks about brother Paul, our beloved brother Paul. And you get this reading, I believe it's the book of Galatians, that Paul confronted him publicly to his face, and basically of his hypocrisy of how he was eating with the Jews and ignoring the Gentile believers.
And Paul says, no, you don't do that. The gospel was at stake here, because Paul understood that the gospel breaks down all barriers. There's no partiality with God, no respecters of persons with God.
God's intention is to reach Jews and Gentiles. And Peter was in a group, in a clique of Jewish believers, and ignored them. And Paul said, and he rebuked him publicly, folks. Think about this. Open rebukes better than secret love.
And he did it,.
And Paul did it gracefully too.
But here,.
Think of it, in his last, before he dies in his last will and testament, the apostle Peter says, our beloved Paul. Our beloved brother Paul. According to the wisdom given to him, according to the wisdom given to him, God's not slack concerning his promise.
God is long-suffering. He's not willing that any should perish. He goes back to that, that he spoke of in verse 9. And basically, let me just sum it up here. Our focus should be in sync with God's focus.
God's focus is that the world, He loves the world. God so loved the world. General love. And we are to love, we are to love and not resist evil. In other words, face it. Jesus never intended us to be like monks, to shut ourselves up.
His intention is to reach the world.
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to some people?
No.
Every person.
Everybody. Number four. Let's go to number four. To diligently persevere, lay hold of the help that comes from understanding the scriptures, in which basically I've already referred to the apostle Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you.
This is such humility, folks, from this apostle. Not only from the past that he was rebuked by the apostle Paul, a younger apostle, and here was Peter, the head apostle,.
That walked with the Lord,.
He could easily have said, don't you know I've walked with Jesus? There was no pride. He took the rebuke. And then, here Peter is speaking about the beloved apostle Paul, and then he commends him of the wisdom given to him, and he says that he's written to you.
He commends it. You know, most preachers won't do this today. They get behind the pulpit, thinking they're the great theologians, and they commend themselves, and how great knowledge they have, but they don't commend the other.
You know, D .L. Moody was a very humble man. And you know, that's why God uses humble people. And look at how God used D .L. Moody, and he always commended C .H. Spurgeon. And by the way, I read this somewhere, that when conferences took place in Chicago, D .L. Moody would always sit on the front row seat with his Bible open and with notes, and every guest preacher that came by, he was at their feet, just writing notes, and listening intently.
This was D .L. Moody, the evangelist, and he only had a third grade education, but God used him in a humble, great way. And by the way, when he visited Charles Spurgeon in England, he wanted to do something special for Charles Spurgeon.
And you know what he did? You know, D .L. Moody used to be a shoe shiner, and he shined his shoes. He said, let me shine your shoes. That is the mark of a servant, folks. That's why God uses men like that.
They're not puffed up in knowledge. They love God and they're humble. And this is the apostle Peter. He's commending Paul, our beloved brother Paul.
Love that.
Let me give closing application. Verse 15 and 16.
Consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. That is the longsuffering of the Lord, salvation. It's salvation. As our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you.
And he says this in verse 16,. And also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand. In other words, he had great wisdom. He's commended him. Which untaught, unstable people twist to their own destruction as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
And he brings in the false teachers again. This is what the false teachers do. They twist the Scriptures to their own destruction. They twist the Scriptures. That's why we are to be on guard. And the Scriptures speak.
The Scriptures speak. Look at 2 Timothy with me. Listen to Paul in chapter 3. Look at 2 Timothy 3 verse 14. But you must continue,.
There it is.
You must continue perseverance of the saints in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. This is why it's so important to teach our children the Scriptures.
Listen to this, verse 15. And that from childhood you have known the holy Scriptures. Why? Which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. And then he says why? Well, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.
That God breathes. It's God, Scripture speaks, God speaks. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
And he begins by, in verse 14,. You continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. From childhood. From childhood. Knowing the Scriptures. Be steadfast in this.
Be steadfast. Be diligent. Look at verse 17. This is important. All of it is important, but this is really a warning. You therefore, you therefore, this is personal. Beloved, there it is again, beloved.
Since you know this beforehand, you know this beforehand. You know it. And then he says, Beware, beware. Least you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked. The apostle says, Take heed, least you fall.
You think you stand, you fall. Take heed, you be lifted up and puffed up in pride that you fall.
You beware.
Makes me think of Luke 22. Go to Luke 22. Look at verse 31 through 34. Our Lord is speaking to Peter. Chapter 22. Look at verse 31 to 34. And the Lord is basically predicting Peter's denial of Him. He says in verse 31, And the Lord said,.
Simon, Simon.
That's His earthly name. It doesn't call Him Peter, does it? He says, Simon, Simon. Actually, it's an explanation point. Simon, Simon. Jesus is getting His attention.
Indeed, Satan has asked, and another translation says, for permission to ask for you that He may sift you as wheat. You know, I love that because it shows you Jesus is in charge. Jesus is in control here.
Satan is asking permission to sift you like wheat. Verse 32. Don't you love verse 32, folks? Memorize this one. Hide this one in your heart. It will take you far on this journey. This will take you home to heaven.
Jesus said, But I have prayed for you. Folks, this is why Peter came back. I prayed for you. This is why he was restored. I prayed for you. I've already prayed for you. That your faith should not fail.
I want you to think for a second. Jesus has personally prayed for you that your faith would not fail. And when you have returned to me, what does He say? Strengthen your brethren. Strengthen them. Strengthen the church.
That's what He's doing. That's what He's doing, folks. He's saying, You therefore, beloved, since you know this before Him, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked.
He fell. He knew it. He experienced it. You can fall too. He was so braggadocious about it.
And He said,.
Lord Jesus, He told the Lord Jesus, Even I will forsake you.
I will not.
And if you go back and look at that text, Listen to this. It doesn't end with that. But He said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. We know what happens. Jesus looked at him.
I tell you, Peter. I tell you, Peter. The rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny me three times that you even know me. All being lifted up in pride, folks. And no wonder Peter says, Beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness.
Think of that. We can be steadfast, but we can fall from it. Don't you thank God for these warnings, folks. They're so pastoral.
They're so full of love and grace.
I love this.
You could fall also from your own steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked. I don't want that to happen to you. But no one else intends it to happen. They don't. But it happens. God's grace hold us and preserve us.
And that we may persevere.
That God may hold us. Oh, and we are clasped in His hand. In the Father's hand. In the hand of the Great Shepherd. But folks, we do not let go, right? We continue. We lay hold of eternal life to the very end.
With a death-like grip. Just like Spurgeon mentioned about the Lippins. They attached themselves to that rock. They literally put their teeth within the rock and they hang on.
That's the way we should do.
Look at 2 John chapter... I'm sorry, there's no chapter. 2 John, look at verse 6 -9. Just chapter 1, right? Look what he says in verse 6. This is love.
This is love.
That we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment. This is the commandment. That as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. It's not our talk. It's our walk.
You should walk in it.
Why?
Because many antichrists, deceivers... 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. What is he saying? Look at verse 8.
Look to yourselves that we do not lose those things we work for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. And he who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.
That's a powerful verse, folks. Abides, continues. He who continues, continues in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. Jesus says, you continue in Me, you abide in Me, you are truly My disciples.
And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Yourselves. Beware. Guard yourselves.
Grow. Grace.
And glory.
Guard. Grow.
Look at verse 18. Back to 2 Peter. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grow in the grace. Notice what he says. In the grace. Grow in the grace. This is a great verse.
In the knowledge and knowledge. That's an intimate knowledge of knowing Him, folks. This is what it comes down to. It comes down to this. Jesus said it in John 15. John 15, 9 and 10. John 15, 9 and 10.
This is it. This is all knowing Jesus Christ, the true God, the living God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. But John 15, 9 and 10 says this. As the Father loved me, I also have loved you.
Abide in my love.
Continue in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide. You will continue in my love. Just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. Continue. You can put the word continue with abide.
It means the same thing. But abiding is continuing. It's going forth. It's not stopping. It's being in Jesus Christ, but continue.
Abiding.
And that's a great verse because notice that's love and the joy that's perfected only in Jesus Christ. And then He says, These things I have spoken to you that my joy, my joy may remain in you than that your joy may be full.
Did you get that? The joy of Jesus is in you and may remain in you and His joy becomes our joy. Our joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength. To know Jesus Christ personally. But grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Guard yourselves. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be devoted to the Scriptures. Be diligent in the Scriptures. Saturate yourself in the Scriptures. Devour the Scriptures. Love the Scriptures.
Jesus said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by what? Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We just don't live by the natural bread, but by the spiritual bread who is Jesus Christ.
To know Him.
Jesus spoke about this,.
That they may know Thee,.
The only true God in Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. Paul says that I may know Him in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.
Now glory.
Guard. Grow. Grace. Glory.
It's all about the glory of God, right? It's not about us. Knowing Jesus Christ is about the glory of God. What does He say? To Him be the glory both now and forever.
That seems like such a small comment, but that's the icing on the cake, folks. This is the climax. This is the pinnacle. This is the mountaintop. This is not the valley. It's actually the mountaintop.
He's saying to Him be the glory now and forever. What's it saying?
In Psalm?
I believe Psalm 115? There it is. I'm telling you, folks. We need to return to this. Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto us.
Twice.
Not unto us. John the Baptist says I must decrease. He must increase. Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto us, but to Your name give glory because of Your mercy and because of Your truth. One more verse. Look with me very quickly to 2 Corinthians.
And this sums it up. Let me read 1 through 15. Therefore. Therefore, since we have this ministry. We have a ministry. As we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.
We don't give up.
We don't faint. We have this ministry. What is it? But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ, who is in the image of God,.
Should shine on them.
And listen to what he says. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves Your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light. This is the power of God's word, folks.
Commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge.
Peter's been talking about this. The knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What a beautiful, powerful verse. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.
You know what that means?
Basically, we have this treasure in a pot. A pot. That the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. Listen to what he says. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. Is this persevering, folks?
Is this being diligent to the very end? Listen to the diligence. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We are persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed.
Always caring about in the body of the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our body. He's talking about death to self, right? For we who live are always delivered to the death for Jesus' sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke. We also believe that therefore speak. Knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus.
Will also raise us up with Jesus.
And will present us with you.
For all things.
For all things are for your sakes. That grace. This is what Peter's talking about. Growing the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. That grace having spread throughout through the many may cause Thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
To the glory of God.
Let's pray. Oh Father, there's such great practical holiness in what we have read and heard today. Help us, I pray, Lord. May we die to ourselves that we may live unto Jesus. Father, you have the power, all power in your word and even commanded the light to shine out of darkness and has shone in our hearts to give the light and the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
We thank you for this. We thank you for this. Lord, we owe our life, our souls, our all to you. And I pray, oh God, help us to live out everything here before us. It seems to be overwhelming, but Lord, day by day, by your help and by your grace, we can grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Help us, Lord, I pray. Help us, I pray, that we may give glory to you in all that we do because this is what it's about. This is thy chief end. It is to love you, to glorify you, and to enjoy you forever.
And we give you praise and glory in Jesus' name.