2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 11. And we'll read to the end of
the chapter. Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness? looking for and hasting unto
the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in
peace without spot and blameless. And account that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also,
according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you. as also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard
to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable
rest, as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing
ye know these things before, beware, lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory,
both now and for ever. Amen. The Apostle Peter has been very
eager to put his readers in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
throughout this little epistle, it's only three chapters, we've
come to the end of it this morning. Throughout this epistle, he has
been eager to remind his readers to remember Christ. And he repeatedly
calls him Lord and Saviour, our Lord and Saviour. We are to remember
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And right at the very beginning
this morning, I want to just draw your attention to something
which I think is I don't think coincidental, incidental perhaps,
but here we see that this phrase, Lord and Saviour, is the way
in which Peter speaks of Christ. Never does the Bible talk about
Saviour and Lord. Christ is our Lord and Saviour. He's not our Saviour and Lord.
And I mention that not because I'm trying to be pedantic, but
because there is a silly notion afoot in Christian circles these
days, that you first find Jesus as your saviour, and then you
make him your Lord. That you first give Jesus your
life, and then you learn about who he is. And I'm not denying
that there is a deepening and growth of knowledge of the Lord,
but I am denying this, that no one can come to Christ and find
him to be saviour who don't know who he is. and do not recognise
him as the Lord of Glory to whom they are answerable and accountable.
The reality is that the religion of our day, the Christian teaching
of our day, call it the evangelism of our day if you like, though
it is no more evangelism than simply propositioning people
for some action or some deed. But they try to suggest that
people can become Christians as an easy process, a mere lifting
up of a hand or going forward in a service. And they play some
music and they speak with emotional words and they maybe nurture
those that are under their language and they create an environment
and they say, come to Jesus, make him your saviour. and then
you can learn about him and all he is. You can't do that. It
doesn't work like that. And I think it is just lovely
to see the way in which the Apostle Peter, in writing these phrases
to describe our Lord and Saviour, puts them in that order, because
it undermines and puts to flight the foolishness of the modern
free will gospel that invites men to Christ the Saviour. but fails to recognise him in
his lordship over their hearts and souls. Until a sinner knows
the holiness, the justice and the glory of the Lord God, he
will always be looking somewhere else for a saviour. He has to
know that salvation is in the Lord alone. Now the promised
return of the Lord Jesus Christ has been much in Peter's mind
in this third chapter. And he has stated it in verse
10. We didn't read it together, but
it was there in the earlier part of the chapter. And then he describes
it. and having stated that the Lord
is coming back and described the circumstances of the Lord's
return, how the heavens and the earth are going to be dissolved
and there's going to be a renewal, now we find that he is entering
into the significance and consequences of that knowledge. Knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ
is coming back has significance for us in the way that we live.
We are to be aware that the return of Christ is imminent. We are
to be thoughtful of the fact that we cannot boast of tomorrow. We have to be cognizant of the
fact that the return of the Lord Jesus Christ may be very imminent. and how are our souls, how is
our standing before the Lord God? And there are implications
to be drawn, and he goes on to speak about these in verse 11. But what I want you to realise
here is that the way in which the Apostle Peter speaks to believers
about how they are to live is not by taking them back to some
Old Testament standard of right and wrong, but it is telling
men and women that their conduct is to be regulated by the gospel
that they have heard and by the promises of God and particularly
by his soon return. It is the return of Christ. It
is the fact that these believers have faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is to moderate,
motivate, regulate their conduct. We live in the light of Christ's
imminent return and we believe that he is coming back to judge. Faith works conduct. It is a mistake of all who take
believers back to the law as their rule of life. It is faith
that works our conduct. They would teach that obedience
regulates our faith, but it is grace that teaches faith. and regulates our works. Our attitudes, our motivation
flow from grace, flow from the goodness of God towards us and
the things that we understand of God's teaching in the gospel
and in the work of Christ. What we believe prompts and provokes
our holy conversation, prompts our godliness in this world amongst
believers and before the world that witnesses and watches. And our looking forward to the
soon imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ regulates the way
we live, the way we speak and the things that we do, because
we see thereby that we are hastening the fulfillment of God's promises. We draw upon the much repeated
phrase in the Word of God, the just shall live by faith. The justified live by faith. faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
faith in the promises of God, faith in the faithfulness that
he will perform those things which he has declared to do. And there's a lovely sense of
application in these final verses that the apostle gives us in
this little epistle. Remember that Peter has all the
time been encouraging a deepening, a deepening dedication to the
things of the Lord, an enhancement, an enlarging of our knowledge
of the things of the Lord. And we are to increase our knowledge,
we are to deepen our faith, we are to have increased joy in
the salvation that we possess because we learn day by day more
and more of who Christ is and what he has done. Surely, brothers
and sisters, we don't just get saved and then remain in that
position without deepening our experience and our knowledge
and our understanding of who Christ is. Those of us who are married,
we marry our spouse, we marry our wife, we marry our husband,
and we get to know them for the rest of our lives. And so it is with Christ. We
are his bride and we are getting to know him. And that starts
now and it will continue all through eternity. Spiritual blessings deepen the
more we understand and experience the Lord Jesus Christ in our
life. And I've said it before, and it's something that will
be repeated frequently, no doubt. We ask for good things from the
Lord, because good things are easy to handle. But the Lord
would deepen our relationship with him. If we ask the Lord
that we might grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth,
he will take us at our word. And sometimes that will be a
hard and difficult journey to make, and it will be rough, and
it will be sharp, and it will be hard to endure. but it's worth
it to get to know Christ more, to deepen our understanding of
Him, to enrich our spiritual relationship with Him, because
after all, this is temporary, this is passing, this will dissolve,
the heavens and the earth will dissolve in fire, and we will
stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing these things, what kind
of people ought we to be? 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 3, right
back at the beginning when we first went into this little epistle.
It says, according as his divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge
of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. The divine power of the Lord
Jesus Christ has given unto us all things that pertain to life
and godliness through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to
glory and power. It is by the knowledge of Christ,
it is by that deepening understanding and relationship with Christ
that we have the experience of all these blessings that pertain
to life and godliness. So seeing these things and knowing
these things and understanding these things, believing these
truths, trusting these promises, what manner of persons ought
we to be? Who are we? What are we? How do we live? What do we say? How do we act? How do we spend our time? How
do we speak to our wife? How do we speak to our children? How do we speak to the people
that we work with? How do we live? How do you speak
to your boss? How do you speak about your boss? What things are these that the
Lord has taught us? Well, Peter's talking about the
soon return of Christ. The soon return of Christ. How
do we live in the light of the soon return of Christ? How do
we live in the light of the fact that the heavens are soon going
to be dissolved? That the earth will be melted
with fervent heat? How do we live in the light of
the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to create a new
heaven and a new earth? He's going to form a new heaven
and a new earth. And he's going to do it with
righteousness. So Peter calls for diligence.
He calls for careful attention to these things. He's calling
for, verse 14, careful attention for the knowledge and the truth
that has been spoken to us in the gospel. Looking beyond ourselves
to the righteousness of Christ, to the justification of God,
to the blamelessness and all the privileges that we possess
in the Lord Jesus Christ, looking to these things, This new heaven and this new
earth of which Peter speaks is the eternal habitation of the
Lord's people. And it is here that the righteous
will dwell. We are going to dwell in a new heaven and a new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness. There's no sin there. There's
no hurt, there's no sorrow, there's no sadness, there's no wrath. It is almost incomprehensible
to us to imagine that. And yet it is set before us as
the glorious hope of the Lord's people and the faithful promise
of our God to us. And we are to live in the light
of this precious promise. And it is here that the righteous
shall dwell. They are righteous by imputation,
not because they are special or because they're different
from anyone else. No, we were just the same. We're
all the children of Adam, all sinful creatures, all fallen
short of the holiness of God. Nothing in us to recommend us
to God, except that he looked upon us and smiled. except that
he took pity upon us. And in his own time and in his
own way, he has brought us to himself. Touch upon that in a
moment, but let me just go back to this new heaven and the new
earth. There are four references in
scripture to a new heaven and a new earth. The first one we
encounter is in Isaiah 65 and verse 17. And there the prophet
writes, Hmm. That's interesting, isn't it?
We sometimes wonder about how can we possibly spend time in
joy in heaven, knowing what has transpired in this world, knowing
perhaps the relationships that we had in this world, and feeling
that there will be some loss thereby. The former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mind. Then Isaiah picks it up again
in the next chapter in 66 verse 22. So you see, even these Old
Testament prophets, they knew about the promises of God. They
knew what God was planning to do. For as the new heavens, 66
verse 22, for as the new heavens and the new earth which I will
make shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your
seed and your name remain. And then there's the reference
that we've read together already in 2 Peter 3 verse 16. And then in Revelation 21, just
turn with me to Revelation 21, please. And here at the beginning of
Revelation 21, the apostle John speaks of the new heaven and
new earth. So it's Isaiah, Peter, and John
all drawing the threads of this new heaven and new earth together.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard
a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away. So once again, we can see that
there is this continuing unanimity in the writing of these apostles,
that they are looking forward to this soon arrival of the great
promises of God. Elsewhere in scripture, it is
called the Father's house, this new heaven and this new earth.
It is called paradise. this new heaven and new earth. It is called the heavenly Jerusalem. It is called the kingdom of heaven. It is the eternal kingdom. Elsewhere,
it is the eternal inheritance and the better country. But it
is our place of everlasting rest and happiness in the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ. where is no sin, no sorrow, no
sickness, no death, but just a people who are made righteous
and the holy God in their midst. How are we to live in the light
of these things? This is the glorious promise
of God to his people. Heaven is a state of everlasting
blessedness, which we soon will enter into. but it is also a
place that is prepared by Christ for his church and his people. John 14 verse 2 says, In my Father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And Paul writing to Titus in
chapter 2 verse 13 says, Looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. What a day the day of God will
be. It speaks about in verse 12 here. What a day that day of God, that
day of the Lord is going to be. The first advent of the Lord
Jesus Christ was prefigured in Malachi chapter four, verse five,
as The great and dreadful day of the Lord. That was his first
coming, the great and dreadful day of the Lord. What is the
second coming going to be? It's spiritual knowledge. It's
knowing these things. It's entering into what the Bible
testifies of these things. It's knowing what Christ has
taught, what Christ has promised, what Christ has won for us. That spiritual knowledge received
by lively faith that settles our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not to be flighty people. We are not to be like the butterflies
that land on the dandelions or the bees that visit the flowers. flitting here and there and buzzing
around and never quite settling. No, we are to be a settled people
upon a solid foundation. We are to be a knowledgeable
people that when trouble comes and we get beaten and belted
and battered, we've got somewhere to turn. We've got hope that
endures. That we've got an anchor that
holds. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
has taught us, in the good times, how to handle the bad times. Spiritual knowledge. And this
promise appearing in righteousness, it is that which is to regulate
the believer's actions and the believer's life. It is the things
that the Lord Jesus Christ has taught us, that we receive by
faith. That He has shown us grace and
mercy when we deserved none. That He has revealed to us the
love of God that extends all down through the ages and cannot
change and will not change and is faithful. And terrible things
happen in our lives. And yet we believe that God still
loves us. Why? Not because the terrible
things happen, but because he has proved himself in the littler
things so that we can depend upon him in the bigger things.
We've learned of Christ. And he has taught us. He has
taught us that we are being predestinated or we have been predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son. And that's the process
that is underway right now. We are being made like Christ. Psalm 17 verse 15 says, the psalmist
is writing there, he says, as for me, I will behold thy face
in righteousness. That's what we're looking forward
to in that day. I will behold thy face in righteousness
and I shall be satisfied. Remember what we read in Psalm
65 verse 4? Blessed is the man that is caused
to approach unto God, to stand in his presence. What did it
say? We will be satisfied. Satisfied in that suretyship
of Christ. I will be satisfied when I awake
with his likeness. I want to mention two things
from this passage and then just a final conclusion and then we
will be done today. Peter reminds us in these final
verses of the blessedness of God is not being delayed. We sometimes think, why is it
seeming to take so long for the Lord? He's been promising to
come back for all this time. Why is it delayed? Well, this
heavenly experience, this joy that we will enter into, it's
not being delayed. On the contrary, and Peter's
repeating himself here to an extent, this long suffering of
the Lord is our salvation. It is simply that the Lord is
still calling his people home, still calling believers to himself. The salvation of the elect which
must take place because the Lord God is not going to lose one
of his church, one of his people, one of his little ones. That
is still to be fulfilled and therefore we are waiting. We're
not simply waiting on the Lord Jesus Christ coming back. We're
waiting on the church being completed, the flock of God being revealed
in this life. And there is a time when every
child of God will find faith in their saviour. It happens
through gospel preaching and it happens when God the Holy
Spirit grants faith and belief to an individual. And we long for that to happen,
don't we? To more and more people. We long
for that to happen to our children. We long for that to happen to
those around about us who have no faith yet. We want to see
our friends and our neighbours. We're a conflicted people. We want the Lord to come back
quick, but we want him to save our children before he does. So, There is a time, and scoffers
may mock, but God's people await his perfect timing. And we learn
patience, knowing that there is a time of love appointed for
every child of God. Ezekiel speaks about this in
chapter 16, verse eight. The Lord God says, now when I
passed by thee, I looked upon thee. Behold, thy time was the
time of love. I spread my skirt over thee and
covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest
mine. You know what that's talking
about? That's talking about the moment.
when a sinner discovers that they have an interest in the
Lord Jesus Christ, when He is revealed to them and they find
faith enough to believe upon Him. That's conversion right
there. And the Lord likens it to His
grace in that moment of love, that moment of love. when there
has been a change and an alteration in the knowledge and awareness
of the individual, being brought out of that sense of guilt and
conviction into the experience of the love and forgiveness of
God. Saved out of a miserable condition,
lifted out of a horrible pit, plucked, as it were, a brand
from the burning. quickened when dead in sins. These are all phrases that are
used biblically to speak about this time of love, this moment
of love, when the Lord God speaks comfortably to the sinner under
that sense of judgment. That's why this nonsense about
put up your hand and become a Christian just doesn't hold any water,
because it is that time of love that the Lord makes. to be the
experience in the moment when we enter into a knowledge of
our sins forgiven. It is when he applies pardoning
grace, sending mercy to the souls of individuals. Lovely little
phrase. It occurs in a conversation that
took place between Joab and David in 2 Samuel 14 verse 22, but
I think we can pick the words up and use them in another context,
but it's a beautiful little phrase. It says this, today, Today thy
servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight. That's the
moment, that's the moment when we experience that time of love,
when the Lord Jesus Christ opens our hearts and we can testify
today Thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight. It's the day we heard the gospel
and, as Paul says, the day that we knew the grace of God in truth. Not just as a cerebral thing,
but as a heart experience. Second thing I want to mention
is this, and I will be quick. The harmony that we see here
in the Apostle's writings is brought to bear in Peter's reference
to Paul, and I think it's delightful. Peter quotes Paul. Isn't that
lovely? That this apostle, this leader
of the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ quotes Paul in his
epistle here, his general epistle. I think it's just, it speaks
of, he speaks of the beloved Paul. You know, there might have
been grounds for animosity between these two. You remember when
Paul had to correct Peter when he distanced himself when he
came to Antioch? There were words spoken. Words
were spoken. But these men knew that there
was a love that undergirded their relationship. And so Peter speaks
of Paul as beloved. And he speaks of him as conveying
to the readers, to the believers, wisdom from above. So it's inspired
truth, that which Paul writes is inspired. It comes from God,
it comes from heaven, it comes from the Holy Spirit. That's
not just incidental. That's not like Paul saying,
as some of your prophets or some of your poets have said. No,
this is Peter recognizing that what Paul has written is true. inspired scripture. It is Holy Spirit inspired scripture,
wisdom from above. And it's clear also that Peter
is familiar with a lot of Paul's writings. So again, this is very
interesting. This little phrase tells us much
about an awareness that existed between the apostles with respect
to their respective writings. And Peter is obviously familiar
with much of Paul's written work. And he says, look, if there are
deep truths buried here in Paul's writings, these are truths that
we do well to consider carefully and learn from them. It's inspired,
it's heavenly wisdom from above. So let us study to discover what
the message is. Are we surprised that we're going
to have to study to find the mind of God? You had to study to take a driving
test. You had to study to pass some
medical exams. We all have to study at one point
or another in order to please the standards of our worldly
examiners. Are we going to be careless and
without thought when it comes to the study of the Word of God? Or are we going to see that there's
meaning in every line? This is wisdom from above and
we are to be conscientious in studying these truths because
they will affect the way we live and how we are able to cope with
this world. Peter says, be diligent to seek
the Lord while he may be found. The wicked scoffers, they rest
the scriptures to their destruction. That's enough to say about them.
But the Lord's people, they are like the Bereans who search to
see if these things be true. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 12 says,
Now we have received the Spirit which is of God. Now we have
received the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God. It's an end, there's
a purpose, there's design in this Holy Spirit coming into
our hearts. We are being given to understand
these things which God has graciously bestowed upon us. And here we come to the end of
the letter. Spiritual growth and knowledge
of God's grace is undoubtedly a gift from God. But hear me,
it is a gift to those who seek it. It is a gift to those who
seek it. It is increased by usage. It is improved by exercise. And it will wither by neglect. The Lord's people can at once
be thankful for the knowledge that we have and at the very
same time desire more. Knowledge of the Lord increases
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It's initiated, it's
nurtured by gospel preaching and it is refreshed as we commune
with the Lord day by day in prayer and worship. Peter says in conclusion,
chapter three, verse 18, grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's an injunction,
that's an instruction, okay? It's not... the 2nd or the 3rd
or the 8th or the 10th commandment. But it is a command, an injunction,
an order, if you like. This isn't negotiable. This isn't
to, if you like, if you feel like it. Peter says, grow in
grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory, both now and
forever. Amen. In the Garden of Eden,
Adam and Eve were dazzled and bewitched by the prospect of
knowledge. Knowing what God knew, that's
what they wanted. That's what Satan tempted them
with, knowing what God knew. In the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we are granted far, far more insight and understanding
and knowledge of good and evil than even Satan could have imagined
in the garden when he held out that prospect to those two. We see in Christ, we see in the
gospel, the true nature of good and the true depths of evil. We see our own heart and we see
the Saviour's heart towards us. We see what we deserve and we
see what grace has bestowed. We have learned the Lord Jesus
Christ and what we have learned of his divine love, his sovereign
grace, His atoning blood, His longsuffering, His goodness,
His peace, His intercession, His reconciling mercy towards
us. All of these things, all of this
goodness, all of these graces, they cause us to declare with
Peter, To him be glory both now and ever. Amen. And amen.