 Today we're in 2nd Peter chapter 3. We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 9 as we continue our verse by verse study Here in the book of 2nd Peter So I'll begin reading at verse 1 in 2nd Peter chapter 3 I'll read to verse 7 we'll get into our study 2nd Peter chapter 3 beginning at verse 1 The apostle Peter writes beloved I now write to you the 2nd epistle in Both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of 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 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 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 by which the world that then existed parished being flooded with water But the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word Reserve for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men Now I'm going to begin this study here by giving some very basic things in some some foundational elements just to draw your attention to and Then we'll move on into the study But I'll begin by noticing something with you in the first line here in the first verse of chapter 3 verse 1 Notice how he begins he begins by calling them his beloved beloved I now write to you the second epistle in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder So he's calling them my dearly highly esteemed ones beloveds a word of of endearment now why would he begin by saying you are my beloved well the Obvious answer would be because they were very dear to him. He loved them. He had a shepherd's heart for these people There are those who occupy Ministry positions who don't have a shepherd's heart They've got a businessman's heart or they've got an entrepeneur's heart They want to build out up the people in the sense of numbers, but not necessarily in the sense of the love of the Lord There are quite a number of professional ministers, but the apostle Peter didn't fall into that category The apostle Peter was somebody who actually loved those whom he ministered to and that's why he begins by saying that he has a sincere love for the sheep and a Sincere love of the sheep is is an earmark of a genuine minister of the gospel and he learned that kind of love From a genuine shepherd by the name of Jesus Christ who said to us that that a man ought to love those whom he ministers to In John chapter 15 verses 12 and 13 he said this is my commandment that you love one another as I've loved you He went on to say greater love has no one than this then to lay down one's life for his friends. I Want you to love one another by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have loved one for another So tenderly be concerned for and minister to the sheep and and that's what the apostle Peter has discovered That's what the apostle Peter is doing. He's loving the sheep He has a sincere love for them and so it's very easy for him to begin this portion by referring to them in this way Now he speaks here also by saying that he's writing notice verse one a second epistle He'd obviously be referring to the first that he had written He had already stated I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things though You know them and are established in them or established in the present truth It says I'll be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease And so he's speaking concerning the things that he has written He'd be speaking of the first letter he had written as well as the second one that he's writing to them at this time And he's saying that in both of those letters in both of those epistles. I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder To stir up is kind of like saying I am your spiritual alarm clock. I'm waking you up I'm trying to awaken your mind. I want to get you guys to be active I want you to live for the Lord because when you live for the Lord when your heart is sold out to him when you're living for Jesus you can have security in your life as I've mentioned recently Sometimes people will say I'm not doing well in my walk with God. I I'm depressed or I'm having just a tough time or I'm going through some hard hard moments or whatever and and when you begin to delve into their their walk with the Lord You discover that the end of they're not in the word. They don't have devotions. They're not in into prayer They're not having fellowship there. They're not doing the the basic the essential things the fundamental things That would strengthen them and so sometimes there needs to be a an alarm clock sometimes there needs to be a reminder Sometimes we need to have that so that we might have security Now he says I'm stirring up your pure minds that word pure means undefiled It speaks of that which is sincere He's speaking of your thinking the way that you think your wholesome thinking and you can have what you call a pure mind Or wholesome thinking By faith and by the word of God we are washed by God's word. I Remember somebody one time sharing how that he was approached by Somebody who didn't have faith in Christ and as they were having a conversation The one who didn't believe in Jesus said to this man your brainwashed I'm Supposing that some of you perhaps in your lifetime as believers may have had somebody say that to you You're brainwashed that's normally intended to be an insult. You guys are brainwashed. You don't think for yourself My response is what this man's response was My response is the same as his Because when that guy said to him your brainwash, he said that's right My brains were dirty and they needed to be washed and they've been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ So yeah, my brains were dirty, but now they're washed. So yeah, I guess you can say I'm brainwashed Well indeed, you know, we have been washed by the water of the word and God gives to us pure minds and ability to have pure thoughts And and that comes through the word of God. It comes to pursuing him. It comes through the blood of Jesus Christ It's made possible by faith. It's made possible by the word. It's made possible through discipline In Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 Paul said finally brothers, whatever is true Whatever is noble Whatever is right Whatever is pure Whatever is lovely Whatever is admirable If anything is excellent or praise worthy Think about such things So put your mind on the things that are above not on those things that are below Allow God's word to wash you and purify you. So he says I'm stirring up your pure minds And he goes on to say by way of reminder that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before In other words, I'm simply reminding you. I'm reminding you of things that Jesus Christ has given to us Things that the Lord has given to us through his prophets the things that he gave to us by his apostles He's saying I want to guard you against the seductions of false teachers I want to remind you of the writings of the Old Testament prophets and I want to remind you of the instructions that you've received What Jesus has taught and what we apostles have communicated to you because I want to bring encouragement to you That's what the word of God by the way is intended to do. It's to bring encouragement and it's supposed to produce in us a Hope because you don't find hope in this world You find hope in the Lord and in Romans 15 verse 4 It says everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that Through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures. We might have hope And so the Lord would give to us hope through his word and as he's speaking concerning the encouragement that God brings And the words that have been spoken by the prophets and the apostles He goes on to say this In verse 3 knowing this first That scoffers will come in the last days Walking according to their own loss and saying where's the promise of his coming? For since the father's fall asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation So scoffers He's saying scoffers will come in the last days. This is one of those primary Signs that you're living in last times a scoffer the word scoffers isn't one that we use very often anymore But it's a word that speaks of mocking it speaks of somebody ridiculing It's somebody who speaks with contempt and they're speaking in this context with contempt against God's word and And they live lives that are are ungodly now obviously we have in our day many who are well known for being scoffers well known For being atheists if you were to Google atheists well known atheists There's a website that will actually give you the top 100 atheists Woody Allen is On that list and you have others like Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins Christopher Hitchens Sam Harris There are quite a number of people who are making their Making their fortunes on writing books promoting scoffing promoting atheism you have people on television who who make their living with have by having a atheistic worldview and and they have an antagonism towards faith and sometimes even against people of faith people like Bill Maher and others who make their living out of putting down believers and all atheism atheism is a rising Way of thought a rising philosophy Though it's still a minority. They definitely have impacts and they do have quite a following We have atheists that that we've encountered over the years one in particular comes to mind as I share this concerning scoffers that come in the last days There was a fella that was in our area in Ontario several years ago. His name was Patrick Green and Patrick Green was really upset because they had a nativity scene on the median on Euclid there in the city of Ontario and he was upset about it and I was trying to get the nativity scene removed as I remember and he was quite vocal and I forget What led to this but in response to some of the things that he was doing I wrote a letter to the editor and one of our local newspapers and and I basically just outlined some things concerning atheism and Concerning the fact that I consider atheists to be parasites, you know flattering speech that I wrote But in a sense, you know, I asked the question how many hospitals have been Established by atheists how many universities were established by atheists The greatest math mass murderers that the history of the world has ever seen have been perpetrated by or were perpetrators Who were atheists Lenin Stalin Mao and others who are guilty of seeing? Massacres of their own people to the hundreds of millions all of this came from an atheistic worldview philosophers like Sigmund Freud and others who have undermined the way of thinking of millions and so I just wrote something about that and and I got a letter from Patrick who basically was saying I'm gonna sue you Unless you write a Retraction and an apology to me for what you have said and I wrote back in a cordial way. I might say no what I said was true Patrick and I said Patrick My encouragement to you would be stop fighting the God that is pursuing you You need to open your heart to Jesus Christ who loves you. He gave his life up for you And you need to stop fighting him. It's hard to kick against the Lord and I had heard that Patrick while he never sued as Patrick left and went someplace up north and and It's interesting that in April of 2012 an article came out that I think you might find interesting because I should add this because Patrick even went so far as to call KKLA to argue His atheistic point of view and this was before Frank was actually Frank Pastore was hosting his show and and and Frank was called and asked can you speak to this atheist? And so I remember, you know Frank talking to Patrick and and discussing faith and all with them I remember that and Then Patrick basically disappeared. So in April of 2012 I read an article that says a noted Texas atheist Activists who pushed for the removal of inditivity scene in front of a county courthouse has turned to Christian Patrick Green's conversion comes after he learned a serious eye condition way a bit way a bit I'm not through Patrick Green's conversion comes after you learned a serious eye condition could make him belong Which in turn led to an outpouring of support among the same Baptist Springs Baptist Church in Athens, Texas that he had threatened to sue News of Green's condition prompted Jessica cry to ask her pastor at San Springs Baptist Church If they could help Green the Christian Post reported it He agreed in thousands of dollars and donations were raised on Green's behalf Green said it was Christ's compassion that made him see the light so to speak So now you can clap. Yeah, praise the Lord Yeah It is hard to kick against the prods and so yes Atheism and agnosticism my pastor Chuck speaks of agnosticism in this way He says that that using the Greek word Agnostic has kind of an intellectual ring to it and it does I mean think about it for a moment if you speak into somebody and they say to you Well, I really not sure. I'm an agnostic. It just has this kind of a intellectual Kind of a sense to it and Chuck says they ought to use the Latin because the Latin is ignoramus so but anyway It means literally without knowledge That's what agnostic means when you have the a prefix before noses noses means without knowledge and Ignoramus in Latin is the same word But we use the word agnostic because it has more of an intellectual kind of a feel to it But that's how it is But we don't use the word ignoramus because that that shows what it really is and so we we do that So what happens is that you have in the last days scoffers, but that is something that has existed all along So the Apostle is not simply speaking of just this this atmosphere of scoffing, but he's also referring to the fact that you find this kind of attitude even in the church That there are scoffers even that will be within the church now by context he's referring to false teachers who have infiltrated who have wormed their way into congregations and who are influencing people and he's already been speaking concerning them and he's saying that this is a primary sign that we're in the last days now Now Jesus had warned us concerning False prophets who would enter in and deceive many Jude in verses 17 and 18 had said But beloved remember what the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold they said to you in the last times There will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires and so that's exactly what has taken place They have infiltrated and they've begun to influence Now notice how he says they walk according to their own lust They're motivated by their own lust not a desire to honor and please God in other words for them It's it's all about them. When am I going to get out of ministry? When do I get out of doing this job? Basically is what you're looking at and they're they're using as a way to undermine faith a Question, where's the promise of his coming? Now when they say where is the promise of his coming? You need to understand that that's not simply an attack on a doctrine. That's an attack on the whole of scripture When they say where is the promise they're speaking in in reference to the promises of God? And so they're using the word of God as a tool to undermine the faith of God's people So where is the promise of his coming? They're calling into question the accuracy of scripture. They're calling into question God's faithfulness to his word We need to remember that the return of Jesus Christ is part of the proclamation of the gospel and the Bible is filled with Accurate prophecies concerning the imminent return of Jesus Christ Jesus had said if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself That where I am there you may be also Jesus himself had made promises to return and to take those who love him to be with him The writer of Hebrews in chapter 9 verse 28 said Christ was sacrificed wants to take away the sins of many people He will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him And so we're waiting for him and As we continue to wait for him and the Mayan calendar obviously was wrong where a lot of people were actually nervous But here we are. I mean I had someone write me. Are you even a little afraid basically? For you but no No, of course not, you know because we could trust the word of God Because God's word is true. And so that's the whole thing. Where's the promise of his coming? And then they say Because since since the father's fell asleep everything's continuing as it's always been Their argument is kind of what you would call a uniformitarianism Uniformitarianism basically rules out what we would call divine intervention and They're saying things. They're basically Remaining the same they haven't changed since the Old Testament fathers died Everything's uniform everything's the same. God hasn't intervened in any way. So what's his response to that? Well in verse 5 he said this they willfully forget that by the word of God the heavens were of old the earth standing out of water and in the water by which the world that then existed perished being flooded with water and So he says something very interesting notice in verse 5 they willfully forget That by the word of God the heavens were of old willfully they have deliberately Put it behind them Children are born born with an instinct with an intuitive knowledge that there's something greater than themselves You teach children to not believe Children believe they believe in things that are greater than themselves You get older and you start putting away what you at one time believed because now you consider it to be Childish or myth mythological or immature not well founded. I don't believe in a God. I Believe that things Took millions of years billions of years by chance to spring into this unbelievable complex World that we see today Paul in Romans chapter 1 verses 18 through 20 said the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in Unrighteousness because what may be known of God is manifest in them God has shown it to them for since the creation of the world is invisible attributes are clearly seen Being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse It's obvious. It's apparent someone says that this amazingly complex Universe that we live in is by chance and time They willfully forget Friend of mine was having an argument with an atheist on the job site We worked at FMC. I used to be in a in the Shipping department just up the street And my friend was working in the department that put together street sweepers Those are good-sized machines and all and he would work on them and put them together put them on the street and He was having an argument with the guy who claimed to be an evolutionist and atheist and and so my friend asked his co-worker How did this street sweeper get here? And the guy said that's a pretty, you know dumb question. We put it together And my friend's response was that's where you're wrong He said what happened is last night there was an explosion in the factory and This thing came and that's how I got here And the guy said that's pretty ridiculous But that's his argument for the entire creation Bible says every house is built by some man. He who built all things is God and So just by seeing that there has to be something that is behind all of this Well, there has to be a greater mind than ours and all you know the argument is they willfully forget God gives to you conscience You have an ability to know that something's right and something's wrong Children know that they've lied and there's this that we used to call it a pang of conscience Though conscience, there's a lot of people who are fighting very hard to eliminate and destroy conscience Because they don't want to have any absolute morals and therefore nothing is wrong. Nothing is right You still have conscience not only do you have conscience the ability to know that you're not perfect You also have creation You're able to look out there and see that this wonderful amazing planet that we live on With all the intricacies and everything that is so amazing Had to be fashioned by somebody and that's what Paul was saying and that's what the Apostle Peter is saying He is saying you have to willfully reject that you have to make a determination that you will not believe that God created all things Nehemiah 9 verse 6 you alone are the Lord you have made heaven the heaven of heavens with all their hosts The earth and everything on it the seas and all that is in them you preserve them all the host of heaven worships you Hebrews 11 3 by faith we understand that the world's reframed by the word of God So that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible So they willfully forget in verse 6 He says by which the world that that then existed perished being flooded with water They willfully forget that God brought the flood to deal with sin on the face of the earth They're mocking scriptures accuracy. They're rejecting God's judgments But he says in verse 7 the heavens and the earth which now exists are kept in store by the same word God's word was true in the Old Testament. God's word is true in the new Judgment is coming He speaks of judgment here in verse 7 the heavens and the earth which now exists are kept in store by the same word Reserve for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men Judgment by fire is an Old Testament picture of purification as well as a destruction of evil In Psalm 97 verse 3 it says a fire goes before him and burns up his enemies round about Isaiah 51 6 says lift up your eyes to the heavens and Look on the earth beneath for the heavens will vanish away like smoke The earth will grow old like a garment those who dwell in it will die in like manner My salvation will be forever. My righteousness will not be abolished fiery judgment He's saying fiery judgment is to occur in connection with the dead judgment and perdition He says of ungodly men so timing wise that will coincide with the final judgment. You want to see final judgment It's found in Revelation 20 verses 11 through 15 where John says I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away There was found no place for them. I saw the dead small and great standing before God books were opened Another book was open, which is a book of life The dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books The sea gave up the dead who are in it death and Hades delivered up the dead who are in them They were judged each one according to his works Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death Anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire He goes on to say in Revelation 21 1 now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away Also, there was no more sea We'll look at that in some detail next time we're together, but he goes on to say this But beloved do not forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years thousand years It's one day The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some counts slackness But his longsuffering toward us not willing that any should perish, but that all should come To repentance you ever have somebody When you're sharing with them about the Lord you ever have somebody Say I don't believe in God now look. I don't believe in God if there's a God strike me dead Nothing happened. There's no God you ever have anybody do that I usually take a step or two back just in case God's In a bad mood that day They mocked the patience of God. I was 20 when I gave my heart to Christ. I am grateful That he gave me 20 years to live Which wasn't really living it was dying every day Some of you were older when you gave your hearts to Christ there are some in this room who got saved later in life Aren't you glad at the patience of God? Aren't you glad that God gave you time? He was patient and loving and merciful he extended time for you. How many times you could have died in an accident? You could have died in a variety of ways over time, but you didn't you always survived You always survived I Was in the airborne. I was watching a jump demonstration Guy jumps out of the plane He had a malfunction on his chute and I watched him as he spun in the air coming down And as he was coming down everybody around was saying that man is dead that man is dead He's gonna die. We all knew it. He's gonna die. He's gonna die and a chute hangs up in a tree so he springs in this tree and Then he cuts his lines and jumps and the first thing I was there The first thing he was doing was swearing using God's name in vain, and I'm thinking Ignorimus as foolish God gave you mercy. He gave you mercy How many times? Could you have died before you were saved and yet? God was merciful to you. I Was less than 20 before I got saved. I dropped five reds, which are downers second all And I drank almost a half gallon of wine and I suffered through poisoning and I still remember waking up in the back of my little 1962 Ford Falcon station wagon paralyzed looking at the Just looking towards the sky laying there the headliner and Not able to move my head to the left or the right. I was paralyzed and Wanting to vomit and I knew that if I should begin to vomit I would drown in my own vomit I knew that would happen and I remember I hadn't prayed in a long time and I remember praying saying God be merciful to me I'm too young to die. I remember that and I passed out Next morning waking up I found the empty bottle threw it across the street into the field that was across the street from my parents house and went on In sin continued on but never forgot God was merciful to me and a few months later I gave my heart to Jesus Christ and I thank God because there have been many times that I've had close calls Accidents that should have happened that could have taken my life that God was very very kind to me and and I survived We're on the five freeway. We got hit from behind We're going 60 miles an hour. We got hit by a drunk driver who was going they approximated a hundred miles an hour Lifted up the rear of the car was in shot it across the lanes shot back And we actually ended up on the side of the road we survived shooting between cars at that speed And we survived so many times Riding my bike falling in front of a woman who is driving towards me falling right in front And I still remember the bumpers over to the front bumper of her car moving towards my head could have died But didn't because God is long suffering God is patient. God is merciful and rather than taking it for granted We ought to thank God for that the Bible tells us in Romans 2 forward Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness tolerance and patience not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance Don't you understand the Lord is not slack He's long suffering Not willing that any should perish But that all should come to repentance If you're unsafe today The reason you're here and the reason you're still alive Is God has been kind to you We don't use his kindness as an excuse to continue in sin We see it as God extending our time that we might be able to have a relationship with him And if you don't have that relationship You need to have it and you need to have it today