Held By His Word– Wednesday night Feb. 8
2 Peter 3:1-9 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of [a]us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and [b]perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward [c]us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
In a nutshell: Peter is reminding these believers that false teachers have come in and will try to turn the believer’s ears away from the truth through a variety of things, twisting Scripture and scoffing at God’s promise of Jesus’ return. Peter continues to remind them that God does not view time the same way we view time, therefore His delay in returning is in order with His will, that all men should repent.
What does it mean to you?
Be mindful of the Word
WE have prophesies and the words of the apostles to reassure us that Jesus is returning for His own. He went away to prepare a place for us and He will return in the like manner. Peter tells us that we need to remind ourselves of this very thing.
To “be mindful” means we take God’s Word seriously. We do not treat it haphazardly. We pay attention and obey His Word, even when we do not like it or it does not make sense.
Stir up your minds by way of reminder. My son sets an alarm for everything he does as a reminder to call someone, brush his teeth, take a pill, put in a deal, buy some bread, make an appointment. He does not miss much because he sets himself reminders.
There are things you need to remind yourself of, especially in difficult times and situations.
Stir up your mind by reminding yourself that God is faithful- No matter what you are going through, no matter what you suffer or your affliction, God is faithful. He is faithful to deliver you from temptation- GO TO GOD FIRST (discuss). He is faithful to walk with you through that proverbial valley of the shadow of death. He is faithful to strengthen you and uphold you by His righteous right hand. God will do His part. We are the ones that neglect His help when we are going through something. People get mad at God because HE doesn’t answer their prayers the way they want Him to; but this does not mean He is not faithful. It means your faith is misplaced, it is in what you want Him to do and not in who He is.
Stir up your minds be reminding yourself that God is good and is working things out for your good- Remind yourself, “God is for me and HE is working things out for me good” SO when HE removes something, you know it is for your good. When He delays, you know it is for your good. When He denies you something, you know it is for your good. REMIND YOURSELF of His goodness
Stir up your minds by reminding yourself that there is an end, this trial is not forever. It had a start date and it has and end date- In the thick of it, and if it has been a long trial that has extended into many years, remind yourself there is an end. This trial is not forever. It will end. There is hope. It will not always be this way. If you have prayed for a spouse, you will not always be single. If you have prayed for a job, you will not always be unemployed. If you have prayed for children, you will not always be childless. If you have prayed for healing, there is an end to your suffering. One day, God will show up and answer in a mighty way. And I will tell you this- it does not always look the way you think it should, but there is an end, even if its death. But in death, there is victory.
Scoffers will come– Scoffer definition, a person who mocks or makes fun of someone or something, often of religion or moral values; someone who jeers or mocks or treats something with contempt or calls out in derision. This is the voice of the scoffers:
Jeremiah 17:15 Indeed they say to me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come now!”
The speakers are not named or defined, but they are clearly mockers in Israel who questioned Jeremiah’s prophetic character, on the ground that his prophecies had received no fulfilment, as of yet. Scoffers mock the judgment of God. Saying “God would never”. Remember this.
Psalm 78:19-20 Yes, they (God’s chosen people) spoke against God: They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? 20 Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?”
A scoffer questions God’s Word. They do not truly believe Him. They question His ability to do what He said He would do. They question His ability to provide, deliver, forgive, restore and to bring judgment.
The Bible tells us to have nothing to do with scoffers.
Proverbs 9:8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.
Proverbs 24:9 The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men.
They will twist your mind and turn your ears. Anybody who mocks the holy things of God is not my friend. Anyone who mocks the Bible, the church, pastoral leadership, my brethren, or my Savior has no place in my life. These scoffers willfully forget. This is important. Peter is not talking about the world, he is speaking directly to people in the church who have departed from the faith and twist Scripture. They willfully have left the path of righteousness for a path of wickedness. They willfully turn their back on God’s Word. Anyone who has turned away from the Lord and gone down the path of the wicked has willfully forgotten what the Lord has done for them. I will pray for you and plead with you to return, but we are not friends.
Jude 17-19 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are [a]sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.
I knew this lady several years ago who started out in the truth. But she began listening to others telling her that Christ has already returned in 70 AD when the temple was destroyed, and we missed it. Yes, Christ prophesied of this destruction, but He also prophesied of another time just before His return. WE have not missed His return, otherwise we are all sunk. Paul warned the young pastor Timothy of this very thing:
2 Timothy 2:16-18 But shun profane and [a]idle babblings, for they will [b]increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.
Beware these teachers can overthrow your faith. ALL things in Scripture concerning Christ is true. Most seminaries now are not teaching the basic principles of Christ- including his death and resurrection. If there is no resurrection, then we are all dead in our sins. Christ is returning at the time appointed.
God’s time- The Lord does not operate in time the way that we do. A thousand years is as a day. I am not sure how God views time, but it is not like us.
Why does God delay His return? Because He is waiting for the fullness of all things, for people to repent and turn to Jesus
Revelation 6:9-11 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
We are on God’s timeline, not our own. What will you do with this time? There is always a time limit of when God speaks until God fulfills what He has spoken. Sometimes, God is perfecting your character, sometimes it is another’s character, sometimes it is just for the right events to transpire. Whatever it may be, there is always a waiting time.
What will you do in your waiting season? It could be a few months or it could be a few years- let me give you some suggestions:
*Do not grumble and complain- mind the words of your mouth
Because God is long suffering and HE has way more time than we do, our days are numbered, do not get trapped wandering in the wilderness because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut
Numbers 11:1 Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.
Numbers 14:29 The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.
1 Corinthians 10:1-11 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us [a]tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now [b]all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our [c]admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
*Fix your eyes on Jesus and not your circumstances
Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
*Do the work God has given you to do- you cannot sit around and twiddle your thumbs
If your hand is to the plow and your eyes are on the work given you, you cannot get distracted and side- tracked.
All things are held by His Word– I rode the bus almost all 4 years of high school. I didn’t get a car until halfway into my senior year, when I was 18 and I had worked hard and saved enough money to get a used vehicle. In all my 4 years of riding the bus, the bus always showed up. If my regular bus driver was out, they had a sub. In all my years of setting my alarm, it went off at the time I set it. If we trust these things, how much more should we trust God’s Word that He is returning for us?
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Acts 1:11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
The following is one of my favorites as my morning prayer and scripture reading time faces sunrise
Hosea 6:3 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
Yes, let us know (recognize, be acquainted with, and understand) Him; let us be zealous to know the Lord [to appreciate, give heed to, and cherish Him]. His going forth is prepared and certain as the dawn, and He will come to us as the [heavy] rain, as the latter rain that waters the earth.
If HE holds the earth in place by the Word He spoke,
Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”
Man can lie. WE all know this, as we all have been lied to. Working at the tanning salon, invited people to church all the time- a bunch of characters tan one time I invited a male stripper and promised to pick him up from the gym, he escaped out the back
BUT God cannot lie
Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Hebrews 6:17-18 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
17 Accordingly God also, in His desire to show more convincingly and beyond doubt to those who were to inherit the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan, intervened (mediated) with an oath.
18 This was so that, by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before [us].
KJV uses the word “immutable” which means “unchanging over time or unable to change” Thus His Word not only does not change over time, it is impossible to change it. God cannot lie, neither can He deceive. If HE said it, it is so.
Will HE not fulfill all His Word to us? Not to just return for His own, I am waiting for this day. I live for His return. I long for His return. I live with an expectancy of His return. But while I am here waiting, I still have to believe His Word for my life.
Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me [a]void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
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