The Day of the Lord
Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
But 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. The 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.
But 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.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as 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. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear 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. He 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.
Therefore, 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. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
My Understanding: Peter said that he wrote both of his letters to the believers in Christ “to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.” To stimulate means to “arouse (wake up); excite; inspire; motivate; encourage; or to energize” (MS Word Thesaurus). Wholesome can be characterized as sensible, honest, practical, and spiritually healthy thinking or reasoning. Evidently some people were putting doubts and/or confusion in the minds of these believers, and so Peter wanted to clear up any misunderstandings, and to set the record straight, so that the believers were set on the right course again, and they were no longer distracted or confused over these things that other people were saying, which may have caused doubts or confusion in the minds of the believers.
Scoffers will Come
Peter began by saying, “First of all you must understand…” He was clearing up misunderstandings and was setting the record straight. Then, he told them what they must understand – in the last days scoffers will come. A scoffer is one who jeers, mocks, ridicules, derides, makes fun of and laughs at those whom, or what they don’t understand. Jesus faced many of these scoffers during his days on the earth. And, he said that we will be treated just like he was treated. So, we should expect to be scoffed, and we should thank and praise the Lord that we are counted worthy to suffer with Christ for the sake of his name, and for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These scoffers will make fun of the promises of God, and will bring into question the legitimacy of God’s words, such as when God told us that Christ will return, and he will return both in judgment and in receiving his bride to himself. And, people will scoff at us today when we tell them that God is going to bring judgment on the world, and they will even use the same argument of how things have gone on as they always have, and that history just repeats itself over and over again.
Then, Peter said something very interesting and telling about these scoffers. He said that they deliberately forget all that God has done at the power of his word and all that has happened so far in fulfillment of his word. In other words, they choose to ignore God’s word, and to ignore all the evidence of the power of God’s word, and all the evidence before them of the fulfillment of God’s word. They do this deliberately because they are following their own evil desires. And, this still goes on today. People choose what parts of the Bible to believe and what parts to ignore. Now, granted, the Bible must be interpreted in light of context, culture, to whom it was written, the circumstances around the writing, in comparing scripture with scripture, and with regard to whether it was written under the old covenant or the new covenant. Yet, all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for correction, instruction, and training in righteousness. In other words, although parts of it may not literally apply to us today or not apply specifically to us, because of to whom the words were written or under which covenant they were expressed, still we can learn lessons from all scripture on how to live for God day-by-day. And, we certainly can learn of God’s divine character throughout history, and can see how God consistently works and fulfills his words to us. Thus, we can trust the word of God, if we choose to trust.
Then, in contrasting the remarks of these mockers, Peter, again, sets the record straight. In encouraging his listeners toward wholesome thinking, he says, “But do not forget this one thing…” The scoffers deliberately forgot about the power of God’s word, so Peter was reminding the believers in Christ to not forget what God has said to us. When Satan throws his lies at us, which he will do through scoffers, we need to dig into God’s word and ask for the Holy Spirit of God to reveal to us the truth of his word and to remind us of all that God has said. And, then we can fight Satan’s lies with the truth of scripture. And, that is what Peter was doing here, too. So, he reminded the church that the Lord Jesus is not slow in keeping his promise of coming back for us, as we might understand slowness, because God doesn’t think in time like we do. To him a day is like a thousand years. The reason for his delay is because of his great mercy and patience with man, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance. When he comes in judgment, the gig is up. There will not be any more chances to turn from sin and to follow the Lord in obedience. So, his coming has been delayed so that as many as possible can be saved before the Lord returns.
Be Prepared
Then, Peter reminded his listeners that the day of the Lord will come like a thief to those who are not ready and who are not waiting for him. I Thessalonians 5:4 says this: “But you, brothers, are not in darkness that this day should surprise you like a thief.” When the Lord returns, “the heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed with fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” Peter was arousing his listeners to wholesome thinking here when he brought to their minds first of all that our God is a God of his word and he will do what he says he will do, and then to remind them, in case they have forgotten, that Jesus Christ will not only return, but he will return in judgment and that the lives we have known on this earth will cease to exist, so we need to make sure we are not living for this world, but we are living our lives with eternity’s values in view.
Peter then made the practical application to his sermon. On the basis of the reality of coming judgment, and the knowledge that God will fulfill his words, and he will do what he said he would do, and on the basis of the fact that our lives on this earth will vanish, and this earth and all the junk we have accumulated will disappear one day, he asks the question: “What kind of people ought you to be?” This is a very valid and critical question for all of us to answer, as so many professing Christians are living their lives like the scoffers who think the world will just continue on as it has and that they don’t have to concern themselves with things such as judgment of God or the shortness of time or to look at their lives to see where they are placing their value and hope. So many professing Christians have bought into the lies of Satan and have joined the institutional church in becoming like and blending in with the world, instead of standing out in stark contrast to the world as lights of the gospel to a world lost in darkness. And, it is because they forget that this world is not our home and that this is temporal, and we should be living our lives for eternity, not for the things of this world, which will pass away.
Instead of blending in with the world, we ought to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to the day when our Lord returns. We should not be consumed by, enthralled by, or engrossed in the things of this earthly life of ours, but our focus and our goal in life should always be looking ahead with great expectation to the day when we will have a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness, not the home of wickedness. On this basis, we should make every effort (not in the flesh, but in cooperation with the Spirit of God) to be found blameless, spotless and at peace with God when Christ returns. As well, we need to be on our guard so that we are not carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from our secure position. Wow! I just keep seeing this over and over again in scripture. Our salvation is continuous, it is ongoing, and it will not be completed until Christ returns. We must be faithful, committed, enduring, persevering in the faith, repentant, obedient, and have our faith proven genuine by our actions, etc. So, we must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We must resist the devil. We must draw near to God, repent of our sins, and walk in faithfulness and obedience to Christ. We must live holy and godly lives as we look forward to the day when our Lord returns for his bride.
To My Beloved / An Original Work / November 14, 2011
Based off I Pet. 5:6-9; Eph. 6:10-20; Jms. 4:4-10
Be strong in the grace of Christ, and
Put on His full armor in your fight
Against the enemy of your souls,
And resist him with all your might.
Take up the shield of your faith within you.
Salvation’s helmet – you put it on.
Put on the belt of truth,
And walk in the Spirit,
And you’ll not be ashamed.
Love your Lord Jesus; call His Name.
Call on your Lord and Savior, Jesus, and
Make Him Lord and King of your hearts.
Obey all of His teachings He has given
To you to follow in all His ways.
Repent of your sins. Return to your God.
Follow Him where’er He leads you now.
Humble yourselves in full
Surrender to His will
For your lives today.
Bow before Him, and humbly pray.
Be strong in the grace of Christ, and
Obey your Lord in ev’rything, always
Keeping His teachings in your hearts near you.
Walk with Christ in ev’ry way.
Resist the devil. He will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and He’ll be near you.
Wash your hands you sinners
And double minded.
Weep and wail o’er sin.
With Christ, your new lives begin.
Song lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, Song Lyrics and Sheet Music (free) at:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/to-my-beloved
Song on video:
http://youtu.be/PLMZdBxhE3I
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