2 Peter 3:7-18 – 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Second Peter is the Apostle Peter’s last Will and Testament. In the beginning he writes, “I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.” (2 Peter 1:13-14)
Peter was about to die. These are his final words of admonishment and guidance. The letter discloses the concerns that were troubling him. What caused his heart to be uneasy? What did he want to make sure followers of Jesus understood before he departed?
As people with an eternal view we have an interesting paradox: we have the assurance of heaven yet struggle with death. One reason is that believers see some unfinished business and are concerned the issues will not be addressed unless they are around to attend to them. No matter what Peter saw as unfinished, Jesus had spoken to him that it was time to come home.
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he gives some final instructions. He knew Jesus was coming again. He also knew he was going to die before it happened. The question was: Would there be devoted followers when He returned? Peter saw some things that could jeopardize believers being ready. Things problematic were occurring, maybe even being epidemic. The soon to die Apostle sees warning signs and addresses them.
First Peter states, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore….” (1 Peter 4:7) The word therefore means, “consequently; for this reason; as a result of this.” The verse indicates His return should affect our activities.
In Second Peter, after revealing the severity of the coming Judgment is the phrase “so then” (v.14) and the word “therefore.” (v.17) Both are similar in nature. The focus of these verses is not on activities as much as attitudes. Attitude impacts thinking, reveals disposition and influences opinion. Peter’s desire was for end-time believers to have an attitude lending itself to godly activities.
In verse 11 the question is asked, “What kind of people ought you to be?” He states the conduct of a believer is to be holy, godly, anticipating and involved. This is behavior of people living with the promise.
What is the attitude that will produce this behavior? Two are revealed: a pursuing attitude and a protective attitude.
In verse 14 is the phrase, “Since you are looking forward to this” and then Peter addresses certain actions believers should take. In verse 17 is the phrase, “Since you already know this” and then Peter addresses certain protections believers should make.
To win a competitive game a team needs to have a good offense and a good defense. To be ready for Jesus’ return requires certain actions and certain protections.
The apostle saw some troubling behavior and states two attitudes that will keep a believer ready for the coming of the Lord.
Pursue integrity
In Chapter 2 Peter mentions “blots and blemishes.” (2:13) People’s attitude about life’s value and the worth of an individual had become distorted. People had become like “brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed.” (2:12) He later describes these people as having “eyes full of adultery,” as “seducing the unstable,” as “experts in greed.” (2:14) The weapon of choice was to appeal to “lustful desires,” to “entice,” to “promise…freedom” that led to enslavement and depravity. (2:18-19) He concludes his indictment with a proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit, and a sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” (2:22)
Purity will be in jeopardy as the hour of His return comes closer. Sexual desires will take preeminence, sensuality will take charge, and greed will rule the hearts of men and women. Restraint will be thrown to the wind and immorality will be on the rise.
Peter challenges the people of God “to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.” (3:14) They are to be people with an unsullied attitude. They are to look up so that their mind is not in the gutter. Thoughts and conduct are to be irreproachable, free from censure.
There is no peace in sexual promiscuity. Peace comes from a spotless, blameless attitude. Ron Auch in his book Prayer Can Change Your Marriage speaks of how a pornography addiction was destroying his life and home. He pursued answers in many different ways but to no avail. Eventually he pleaded with God for an answer. This is what he discovered: “I gave myself to seeking God. I gave up trying anything else. I instantly came to realize that God is what I needed and not answers. I realized that up until that time I hadn’t been seeking God at all; I had used my prayer time to ask God to take care of my situation…. In prayer so often all we seek is the band aid when what we really need is God. What I needed more than God to take care of my problems was for me to spend time in His presence. That’s what I had to learn to do. To go after God! … For the first time in my life I began to experience what I really needed. I didn’t need all that sex, I needed God. I may have been seeking it, but God was what I needed. All the time I was…saying, ‘God, I need you to help me with my problem,’ God was trying to say to me, ‘what you need is Me.’”
Peace comes from Jesus – anything less is guilt, frustration and despair.
Sexual misconduct will be on the rise as the hour of His coming approaches. Living with the promise is seen by possessing an attitude of purity. The Apostle Paul said it best: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)
As people looking for the imminent return of Jesus we should refrain from crude humor, suggestive comments and gutter language. Living with the promise means pure irreproachable thinking, possessing an unadulterated disposition and having opinions that are saturated with spotless and blameless peace. In other words, pursue integrity!
Possess alertness
Chapter 2 reveals a second concern of Peter: “The filthy lives of lawless men.” (2:7) Peter was deeply troubled by how people chose to live. Some followed shameful ways and brought “truth into disrepute.” (2:2) Others, in their greed, exploited people with made up stories. (2:3) Peter declared false prophets were “among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2:1) They were described as having filthy lives (2:7), lawless deeds (2:8), corrupt desires (2:10), bold and arrogant (2:10) and who despise authority (2:10). People normally despise authority when it hinders them from getting their own selfish way.
Since sexual misconduct will be increasing in the end-time generation, some will misuse their position of influence to satisfy unwholesome cravings. One of today’s great tragedies is educators and clergy using their status in life to sexually abuse children. Fortunately, the percentage of people violating a sacred trust is very small. Unprincipled men were evident at Sodom’s destruction (2:7) and unprincipled people will be evident at the end of time. (3:17)
Sensual living is living by the senses (taste, smell, sight, sound, touch). The focus moves away from doing what is right to doing what feels good. Feeling good becomes the measure of acceptable living.
Sensual living is living life as it comes – living for today and feeding every sensual and greedy desire as they arise. A heart seeking to fulfill every craving will be the standard at the end of time.
Peter calls the people of God to “be on your guard.” (3:17) Do not be gullible! Be alert!
The Apostle Paul warns not to be “blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14)
Augustine said, “Always beware of the man who abounds in eloquent nonsense.” It is not an unwholesome desire, nor a lack of faith, to want verification from the Lord before moving into unchartered territory where there is also an element of personal desire. Oswald Chambers said, “God never threatens; the devil never warns.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 reads: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
Be cautious of the actions of unprincipled people, advocating unprincipled lifestyles that bring unprincipled gain to sensual and corrupt desires. Many will embrace various unwholesome attitudes and fail to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (3:18)
What is happening today?
What Peter saw in his day is evident now. Restraint is quickly disappearing and caution is being thrown to the wind. Sensual living is increasing over purposeful living. Pursuing inappropriate sexual pleasure is taking precedent over pursuing a greater sense of God’s presence.
To insure of not falling into a deadening end-time trap take on an attitude of integrity and alertness. Advancement only comes by being free from vice and protecting what godly ambitions you possess.
In 1986 Chernobyl became a nuclear disaster: Two electrical engineers were in the control room one night. They were playing around with the machine; performing what the Soviets later described as an unauthorized experiment. They wanted to see how long a turbine would "free wheel" when they took the power off.
Taking power off a nuclear reactor is a difficult, dangerous thing to do. The reactors are very unstable in their lower ranges. In order to get the reactor down to that kind of power they had to manually override six separate computer-driven alarm systems. One-by-one the computers came up and said, "Stop! Dangerous! Go no further!" Rather than shut off the experiment, they shut off each alarm and kept going. The result was a nuclear fallout that was recorded all around the world.
The instructions and warnings in Scripture are very clear. In the end-times many will ignore them at our own peril, and tragically, at the peril of others.
As end-time believers take on an attitude of integrity and alertness. Are you ready for the Blessed Hope?
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