Pastor Jeff emphasized the importance of being ready for the second coming of Christ, contrasting the scoffers’ disbelief with the certainty of His return. He urged believers to live expectantly and grow in godliness, highlighting that true change comes not from commitments, but from a relationship with Jesus. He concluded by reminding the congregation that through grace, believers can live faithfully, peacefully, and authentically as they await Christ's return.
Sermon Transcript
Well, good morning. Will you help me welcome all of our brave campuses that are worshiping with us today? So great to worship with all of you.
One quick announcement this morning is to save the date for our men. February 1, 2025, is our warriors summit this year. Last year we started, it had over 1300 guys in here. This year, we expect it to be even greater. We've decided this year to give this a try and do one day instead of a Friday night and a Saturday.
We got twice as much activity packed into one day. It's going to be incredible. February 1st, 2025. Save the date. That's the first day of February.
Okay, so next week we'll have signups. We'll begin. You'll have one week to sign up with the lowest price. After that, the price goes up. So we want to see as many guys as we can be there.
Bring some of your sons, bring friends. It's going to be an incredible, incredible day. All right. And with that, just thank you again for your prayers. My wife is here today at service, so I know you're excited to see her.
Don't hug her too hard or squeeze her because it won't feel comfortable to her. So with that, let's continue our worship this morning as we seek the Lord and get ready to hear his living and active word among us. Would you pray with me? Our Father, we give you glory, honor, and praise for who you are. We thank you, Lord, that we had the privilege this morning of singing praise to your name, of gathering as your saints and praying and telling you how you and you alone are worthy, that your name is above every single name.
And now we look forward to hearing you speak. Because, Lord, we as a people believe that every time your word is faithfully and accurately proclaimed, that it is you who are doing the speaking. So speak, Lord, for we are ready to hear. And so now, for all those who have gathered, who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ speak directly to you, who will believe what he tells you, and who will, by faith, put into practice what he shows you. Will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word, Amen.
Amen. This morning, I want to talk to you about how to be ready for the second coming of Christ. How is it that you can be ready? There are so many things in life that we prepare for. One of the most important things that you'll ever prepare for is Jesus Christ's second return.
And the last time that we were in this book, we were talking about what it was like for scoffers when they hear about the fact that Jesus is going to return or that he's going to return soon, oftentimes people are saying, well, where is he? Y'all have been saying it for 2,000 years. He's not coming. They scoff, they mock. They say, where is He?
But we know that he's coming because His Word tells us that he's coming. He Himself said He was coming. Even the angels in heaven, when he ascended to heaven said, in the same way, you see him go, so you'll see him come. So one of the things that you can put on your calendar with exceptional certainty is the fact that Jesus Christ is coming back to earth. Now, with that, the question becomes, how then shall you live?
How is it that you want to live in light of his coming back? Should it make any difference? And I find that for many believers, when it comes to his return, people don't want to think about how they live. Instead, they want to get charts and graphs and figure out exactly when it's going to be. And while I'm in favor of studying the Word of God and seeing what the Scriptures may teach, I'm not so concerned about the timing of it as much as I'm concerned with the fact of it that Jesus Christ is coming back fully bodily and visibly, and you better be ready.
And for some Christians that don't even think about those things, they live in the denial of believing falsely that, well, everybody sins and it really doesn't matter. And when I get here, I'll just ask for forgiveness. When he gets here, I'll just ask for forgiveness. So it doesn't really change the way that I view things. And I'm here to tell you that one of the most motivating parts of being a Christian is knowing that Jesus Christ is returning fully bodily and physically.
And if you know he's coming, the Scripture teaches you this, then is how you should live. And so, as we've been in this series called Stay the Course, and we spent the first four weeks talking about what genuine faith looked like, and spend the next two weeks talking about false teachers that teach differently. And then we spent these last two messages, we're going to talk about the certainty of Christ coming and the readiness, this may be the most important message for you to be ready for Christ's return. Because I'm telling you, he's coming and he's coming back, and he will judge both the living and the dead when he arrives. Amen.
So how then shall we live? And to do that, this morning, we're going to be in the book of Second Peter, chapter three, verses 11 to 18. As we finish this book and as you're turning there to second Peter, chapter three, verse 11, I'll set it up with this hinge verse, because verse 10 tells us what the day of the Lord is going to be like. He says that the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Verse 11.
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat? But according to his promise, we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures to their own destruction. You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.
Amen. And as he writes to us these words in this last section of this letter, he's really highlighting to us how to be ready for the second coming of Christ. I'm gonna highlight three truths of how you should live in light of Jesus Christ coming back. And today's message is specifically geared for those who would call themselves believers. For those who have repented from their sin and trusted that Jesus is the Christ who died on the cross for their sins, who rose from the dead and are placing their faith in him and him alone.
This is how you should live. This is for you. This is what God's telling you. And the first is this. Live expectantly.
Live expectantly and grow in godliness. Live expectantly and grow in godliness. Now, notice the verse in verse 10 that we read. It's that the day of the Lord will come like a thief well, the reason that the day of the Lord comes like a thief. The day of the Lord comes like a thief to those who aren't ready for the thief.
If you're ready when the thief comes, you're prepared. There is no thief. You lock the doors, you prepare. He's not getting in. And if he does, it's going to be a bad day for the thief.
Right, Christians? I'm telling you, Jesus Christ is coming back. He will not come back as a thief. For the believers who love his appearing and who are eagerly awaiting his return, you're expecting that. So you live expectantly and you grow in godliness.
Because he tells us that when he comes, the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up. The first time God destroyed the world was through a flood. He promised us through a covenant of the rainbow, he will never destroy the world again with water. But the world is going to be destroyed again, and it's going to be intense heat, so intense we have no understanding of how intense it will be. The heavens and the earth will melt away and God will be able to start again from scratch.
That's how intense it's going to be. And for those of you that are saying, oh, he's just preaching all this fire and brimstone, no, I'm just telling you the word of God. Noah had 120 years to tell a group of people in his generation that God was going to send a flood. They didn't believe him. Only Noah's wife, his three sons and their wives boarded the ark along with a few animals that they were able to corral.
And other than that, nobody listened. And many today are not listening either. And when God returns, when Jesus Christ returns in all of his glory, there is no second chance. So how do you ready yourself in light of the fact that God is going to create a new heavens and a new earth? You live expectantly and you grow in godliness.
Notice verse 11. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be? That's really the rhetorical question for this whole text. How should you live? What kind of people ought you to be?
What should you be doing? How should you be living? What principles should you be motivated by? How should your focus be? What should you be doing until he gets here?
Should you just be sitting around? Should you just twiddle your thumbs? Should you just predict the future? What should you do? And he's going to answer the question, his rhetorical question, is going to come with his remarks.
He says this. What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and Godliness? He says, if you really believe Jesus is coming back and you really believe that he's the Holy One, and you really believe he's judging both the living and the dead, then you should live holy and you should have piety in your life. You should have godly practices in what you're doing, and you should be growing in those. Now, here's what I mean by saying this, and here's what he's saying when he uses the word you ought to be.
He's not telling you, work harder, try harder and make commitments. How many, as a believer, have committed to something that they've failed at since becoming a believer? Anybody? Okay, show of hands. Either you're not participating or you're a liar.
Right? Because all of us, even from the time that we come to Christ, we can hear a great sermon, we can hear a good message, we can be moved in our quiet time, we can be moved during worship, and we make commitments. God, from now on, I'm going to. And we fill in the blank with commitment upon commitment upon commitment, many of which won't even make it as far as our car by the time we're driving away. Your commitments are worthless.
They're worthless. So ought to doesn't mean commit more. Ought to doesn't mean write down 10 things that you're going to commit to because you can't. That's not what it means. When he talks about living with holy behavior.
When he talks about living with godliness, here's what he's saying. He doesn't mean you don't try harder. It means it's normative for the believer. You don't try to live godly so you'll love Christ. You love Christ, and godliness becomes, in some ways automatic.
Jesus says, if you love me, you'll keep my word. He doesn't say, if you keep my word, then I know you love me. Because what people try to do is they try to make greater and greater commitments. Like, if I really read my Bible every day, or if I read it a little bit longer, or if I pray every day, or if I pray a little longer, or if I give, or if I give a little more, or if I do this, and I do, then God will know that I love him. It doesn't work that way.
It works the opposite way. If you really love God, your heart will be motivated to do the things God wants you to do. There's something that changes in a believer's heart when they're born again. That's why Jesus says, you must be born again. You can't just, quote, get religion.
You can't just start practicing Jesus. You have to have an entire transformation. And your heart of stone needs to become a heart of flesh. You must be born again. If you're not born again, here's how it sounds.
When a preacher preaches, you have to. You have to, you have to. You have to do more. Be. It feels horrible.
If you're a new creation in Christ, there's something that goes off inside of you when you hear the word of God that says, I want that. I want more of that. I want more of him. I want to live more like that. How do I get that I want that?
I want more of Jesus, not less of him. He gave everything for me. How can I give more to him? And there's this desire that changes inside of you. Tithing it's not, oh, pastor's making me give.
Well, how much do I have to? Is it 10% of my gross or my net? I just need to know that's legalism. Heart is, he gave me everything. How can I give him that which is most important to me?
I want to give him more. I want to steward my resources. I want to grow in his word. I want to seek his face. I want to.
And where I fail, I say, man, I wish I wanted more of what you want. So even sometimes as Christians, when we fail, we try to commit our way out of it. Well, I failed again, so I'm going to commit even harder. Jesus, it won't work. I'm a living testimony of commitment.
Not working. Commitment doesn't change your life. If you're angry before you commit, you'll be angry after you commit. If you're unforgiving before you commit, you'll be unforgiving after you commit. If you're immoral before you commit, you'll be immoral after you commit.
Commitment doesn't mean anything. Authenticity in your prayer does. Where instead of praying these kind of false prayers that all of us have prayed, lord, if you get me through this, I promise you, I'll never, ever, ever do this again. Right? And you start praying like this, lord, I don't deserve to have you get me through this.
And the reality is, if you get me through this, I'm gonna do it again. Because I actually like my sin more than I like you. But I really wish you'd changed me so that I like More of what you like and hate. More of what I'm doing. And Lord, would you please move in my life so I can be more dependent upon you, so I can become what you call me to be.
Because I really want to live out my identity, but I don't know how to do it. That's authenticity and that God honors. Amen.
So when we're growing in godliness, we're not growing in commitment so that other people think we're godly. We're growing in dependence so that God can make us godly. My godliness. I'm not comparing my godliness to you. I'm not telling you what I do for my devotions or how much scripture I memorize or how much I.
Because it doesn't matter what you think. I'm growing in my likeness to Christ. Jesus, what does it look like for me to steward things towards you? Jesus, what does it look like for me to give my life completely to you? Jesus, what does it look like for me to love my wife?
Jesus, what does it look like for me to honor you? Jesus, what does it look like for me to honor my children? Lord, what's it look like for me and how do I grow in that? You see the difference? One is religious comparison, so you'll think I'm good.
The other is, I know I'm not good compared to my God, but I want to be more like him. How do you change me? One is freeing and one is binding. Legalism binds your commitments. While they sound really, really, really, really good, if you had the ability to do all those things, you wouldn't need Jesus.
God would just save you. And you'd say, thank you for saving me. I got it from here. And not one of us can do that. And yet the devil lies to us and says that you can just commit harder, just pray harder, just read your Bible more, just give more money.
Just do. Just do. Just do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Jesus said, no, it's done. I did it.
And I can still save you. I'm still in the process of doing good in your life. Amen. So holiness is not what you're becoming. Cause I think sometimes we talk about holiness in church.
We think about behaviors. Don't drink, don't chew, don't smoke. Don't date girls that do that. Don't play cards. Don't watch movies.
Don't, don't.
And then church people are like, I hate holiness. That's not holiness. That's legalism. Holiness is God. Here's who you are.
You've recreated me from the inside out. You've already told me that I'm holy. You've already told me I'm righteous. You've already told me that I'm good not because of me, but because of you in me. Would you allow you to be more manifest in my life so I can live out who you actually see me being?
And that's where God begins to grow. That's what it means to grow in holiness. And what I find is when I pray that way, God shows me certain things about my life that he doesn't show you about yours. And I know God's talking to me about my life. When my flesh responds in a way like this, how come nobody else has to do that?
How come you're not talking to them about that? Why would I be the only one that has to? Do you understand what I'm saying? Because when I'm praying and I'm asking God to change me, he changes me. And he wants me to grow into who he created me to be.
And God sees me already through the lens of His Son for what he designed me to be, even though I can't even see it myself. So God's got me on a journey where he's growing me. One of the great scriptures that highlights this for me is Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 14, where it's almost like this dualistic statement that the author makes. He says, for by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified through Jesus Christ. One death on the cross, he's perfected all those who have repented and believed in Him.
So positionally, I'm already perfect. Positionally, I can stand in the presence of God because of the shed blood of Christ. However, in practice, I haven't arrived yet. And in practice, I'll never arrive until I meet Jesus Christ face to face. And so the devil lies to me and says, well, you're really God's.
God may say you're holy, but let me show you some events from your life recently that will demonstrate that you're not. And then I believe the lie. But positionally, in my identity, I am holy. And God's saying, I want you to live holy. And if you'll live the way I want you to live, you won't be bound to that sin anymore.
But it's not your commitment that gets you out of it. It's your desire to let Christ live more in and through you. Do you really want Jesus to be Lord of every area of your Life. And when you begin to pray prayers of authenticity, of Lord, I'm not even sure I want that. I mean, if I'm being honest, I kind of like my sin.
If I'm being honest, I like the way I feel when I sin that sin. But if I'm also being honest, I know that it's not as enjoyable as it once was. And I see in your word you want me to become that Lord. Would you teach me to love what you love and hate what you hate? Will you grow me?
And what I find in my life over 30 plus years of walking with the Lord, the areas where I'm no longer living in my sin have not been a result of my great commitment and my great piety. It's been a result of my great God who has rescued me from that pit. Amen. To him be the glory. Right?
So as you're growing in godliness, I'm not asking you to write down 10 things I gotta work on this week. You'll fail at all 10, promise you. And then you get tired of church, all you do is give us a bunch of rules. I'm not giving you any rules. I'm showing you a relationship with one who can change all that and make you who he has already called you to be.
So grow in your holy conduct and your godliness. Amen. And then he says this in verse 12, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat. Now, we've talked about some of these scriptures where it talks about, you know, the sun going dark and the moon turning to blood and the stars falling from the sky. Jesus promised that.
They promised that in the New Testament we're going to see all that, that, that that day's coming. But he also says the elements will always also be burned up. What are the elements? Well, the elements are simply this. It's, it's earth, fire, wind and air.
I mean, it's, it's the, it's the elements. Earth, fire, wind and water. What I'm trying to say, the celestial body, like everything's going to be burned up. Everything that you think is so precious. The outfit you have, the trophies you've won, the watch you wear, the house you love, it's all gone someday.
Because there's nothing worthy of being taken into the new heavens and the new earth. So it's okay to have things as long as things don't have you. But if you have things that are like, oh, it's so priceless. It's not priceless. It's a thing.
This picture, it's a great picture. It's not making it into the new heavens and the new earth. Your home's not gonna come. It'd be a dump in the new heavens and the new earth. Do you understand what I'm saying?
And yet the enemy tries to get us to hold on to this world. Cause this is so great and this is so important. What's coming is even better. What's coming is so good, you won't look back on what's here, Right? So live expectantly.
He's coming. And when he gets here, friends, I'm telling you, it's good. It's really, really good. It's really good. Now, personally, my theology, you've heard me teach through the book of Revelation.
I don't believe Jesus Christ is coming back today. I don't believe that. If you do, that's great. And I've never been more ready to be so wrong in my entire life. I don't believe that.
I do believe there are things that will take place. I do believe that one generation of the church will see the Antichrist. I believe one generation of the church will see a massive falling away unlike ever before. I do believe one generation of church will see the sun turn black and moon turned to blood and stars fall from the sky. And when you see that, you don't know the day or the hour, but the time's coming.
That's what I believe. Now, you don't have to believe any of that. And I don't care if I'm right or wrong on the timing of that. Here's what I care about. Jesus Christ is coming back to establish his kingdom.
And that's what I'm talking about. Amen. And I live my life in such a way that I'm yearning for that. Some people say, well, if you don't believe, you can come back today. I mean, that's just going to cause you to sin.
No, it's not. Have you ever seen an engaged couple before talk about their wedding day when it's a ways off? Like you'll ask them, have you set a date? No. Have you set a date?
No. Have you set a date? Yeah. When is it? It's June 15, 2025.
But you talk to him in a couple months and you ask him, how long til you get married? Yeah, it's like 73 and a half days. Cause there's such anticipation for what's coming that you start counting down days and then you start counting down hours, and then you start counting down minutes. And the closer you get, the more you to come. So regardless of what you believe about the timing, I'm here to tell you, on the authority of God's word, it's soon and it's sooner than most of you think.
And the more you walk with Jesus, the more excited you should be about his return. I'm pumped about it. There's nothing I have planned or looking forward to in my life that I'm more excited about. If I get 50 yard line tickets to the super bowl this year and Jesus decides to come back five minutes before it starts, I'm cool with that. I want to see my children get married and have kids.
But if on the day of one of my children's weddings or one of the day when they're going to deliver, Jesus comes back, fine. You're not interrupting anything. Yes, it's okay to look forward to things, and yes, it's okay to enjoy things that God gives with an open hand and call it a blessing and enjoy it to the full. But don't let anything stand in the way of saying, well, I just hope he doesn't come back. I want to get married first and I want to have kids and I want.
I get all that from an earthly perspective. But I'm here to tell you, Jesus Christ coming back is way better than anything you have on your calendar or way more important than anything you look forward to. Amen. So live expectantly for that. Live expectantly.
And while you're living expectantly, grow in God's grace. You know, the apostle Paul talked about this when he said in second Timothy, chapter four, I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I have kept the faith. Then he says to young Timothy, which is also true to us, he says, now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have loved his appearing.
What's the crown of life for when Jesus gets back? Are you excited he's here? Do you love his appearing? Are you like, why did you come today? I finally had a good day and you show up right now and blow it.
That's not who heaven's for. And here's another part about heaven. Here's why his second coming is so important. Listen, listen, if heaven is all about the presence of Jesus, and that's what you're looking forward to, then why don't you want it now? There's so many people, like, I want to go to heaven, I want to go to heaven, but their view of heaven is just their own view of bliss.
Like, I can eat whatever I want and not get fat. I can be lazy. I can sit around, I can fish, I can watch football. It's going to be so awesome. Well, what about Jesus?
Well, if he comes, that's fine, too, I guess. That's not salvation. Just so you know, if you really are looking forward to his return, you'll look forward to his presence now, because his presence now is the appetizer or whetting your appetite for what's to come. If I get to heaven and Jesus isn't there, I don't want to go. The only reason I want to be in heaven is because I want to be in the presence of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
He is my life. Amen. So when I talk to people, say, did I pray the right prayer? Did I do the right thing? I'm like, hey, let me ask you a question.
Are you looking forward to spending time with Jesus? No, I don't want Jesus. I don't want. Okay, well, that shares where your heart is. Why would you ever want to go to heaven?
See, hell is geared for people that say, I don't want Jesus now, and I don't want him ever. So, Lord, make sure that when you come back, you send me to a place where you'll never be. That's hell for those that didn't want Him. Right? It's a heart posture.
If you're looking forward to Jesus, you live expectantly and you grow in godliness. And notice this. This is probably the one that blew me away this week. When I was reading this was verse 12, looking for. That means we're anticipating and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning.
The elements will melt with intense heat. So we get the idea of looking forward to. But hastening. Studying that word all week, I'm like, it can't mean that. It can't mean that.
It means that hastening doesn't mean preparing. Hastening means that you as a Christian, not only are trying to get ready, but you can advance or make it come quicker based upon how you live. How about that? That's what it means to hasten. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
God's sovereign. He's already picked today. Yes, he has. And this will not affect God's sovereignty. Your godly choices do not affect his sovereignty.
But apparently, according to the word of God, it's also True that. The more you pray and the more you evangelize and the more you're serious about the things of God, the sooner he's going to get here. Well, why is that? Well, because when the last person gets saved that wants to get saved, there is no point of Jesus not being here anymore. He's going to be here.
Listen, I love the next generation coming up. If you're in middle school, high school, college, or young, and I love you because I see an intensity in you that's been lacking in the church for a long time. You can help hasten the day of the Lord. You can get Jesus to come faster. Now, if you're sitting there saying, well, I don't want him to come faster because I want to live my life, you're missing the point.
If you love Jesus, I promise you, when he gets here, it's better than anything you have planned for yourself. And the more intense you are in your prayer, the more you want Jesus and the more you want to see him move in this world, the sooner he's going to get here. And the reality is, the longer you live, the sooner you're going to see him. Because I know, almost 54, I know I'm either going to die or he's coming back in my lifetime. Either way, it's happening soon.
So what do I want to do? I want to live by praying. Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus, get here.
Jesus, we need you. And until you get here, I want to grow in godliness. I want to be more like you. I want to be consumed by you. I want to grow every single day with you.
I want to be transformed by you. Because I can't wait till I see you face to face. And you present me faultless before my Father in heaven. I can't wait. And that's how we all should live.
And when the church does that, guess what? You hasten the return of Jesus, you bring him back sooner. Notice verse 13. But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells. Can I just tell you this?
What's to come is so much greater than anything we can fix here. Let me say it again. What's to come is so much greater than anything we can fix here. I want to leave the world a better place than when I got here. Okay, great.
It's still a mess because of sin. The new heavens and new earth that I'm talking about are perfect. There's no sin. Everybody gets Along Jesus Christ, the righteous one is there. Everyone that's there with him is righteous.
Everyone there loves one another, cares for one another, builds one another. Everyone there supports one another. I mean, you can't make that happen here. Yes, I think it's important that you vote yes. Voting has consequences to how you vote yes.
Policies do make a difference. But the only one that can transform an entire culture from sinner into saint is the Lord Jesus Christ. The only one that can make a culture righteous is the Lord Jesus Christ. The only one that can create a new heavens and a new earth is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's okay if you hold on to politics a little bit, but that shouldn't be what you hold on to ultimately.
You should be holding on to the fact that what's coming is a utopia that no human being other than the Lord Jesus Christ can create. Amen. And amen to God be the glory. Right, so this is what he's telling us. And in the book of Isaiah, I'll just give you a couple verses.
Like Isaiah, chapter 65, verse 17. He says it like this. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. What former thing? The things you're thinking about now that are so important, they won't even get a thought for what's coming.
They won't even come to mind. Revelation 21, and verse one says the exact same thing. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. Friends, what's coming, it will blow us away. No eye has seen, no ear is heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.
It is so good that if we could see it, we wouldn't want to be here anymore. We would be praying and begging, jesus, come back now. That's how good it is. And friends, it's on the calendar of every single believer. And I'm here to give you the good news.
He's coming and he's coming soon. Amen. So live expectantly and grow in godliness. Second is this, Live peacefully and grow in wisdom. Live peacefully and grow in wisdom.
Notice verse 14. He says, Therefore, beloved. Now, I love this word beloved because he's talking to saints. When I say you are loved, I'm telling you the truth. That everybody that God creates, every human being he creates, he creates in his image or the image of God.
You're the imago dei. So even if you're the most Pagan, God, hater in the world, you have redeeming value because you were created by our God and He loves you. But if you've repented and believe there's a love that's lavished upon you unlike any other love that's unconditional, that can't be taken away, God loves you beyond love, there's nothing you can do to make God love you anymore. There's nothing you can do to make God love you any less. You are loved.
Love, love. You're beloved. And that's what Peter's saying because he's addressing the saints. That's what I would tell you who are born again. You're beloved, and nothing can change that position.
Amen. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, since you're looking for the return of Christ, be diligent. That means eager to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless. Find it found in him in what peace? How do you live in peace?
Because you live in Christ. And he is what? He's the Prince of peace. John 14:27. Jesus said, My peace I leave with you.
Who could enjoy a little more peace in their life. See, so often when trials and tribulations come, what do we pray for? We pray for our circumstances to change. God, take them out of our life. God, take that out of my life.
God healed this in my life. God healed that in my life. And we wonder, why doesn't he do that? Because he's the one that's authored the things he's brought into your life. Then how should you pray?
Lord, give me peace in the middle of all this. Because this is so troubling to me, and I don't know what to do. And I need you. And what I find is, in the middle of the storm, Jesus can be your peace. I mean, isn't that cool when I mean even Jesus metaphorically, on the boat with his disciples in the middle of a storm in this little rickety boat, what's he doing?
Sleeping? Not getting seasick? Not vomiting over the side? I mean, sleeping disciples, don't you care if we drown? Do you not see our circumstances?
Do you not see how bad it is? And Jesus stands up, said, peace, be still, calms the winds in the way. Like I got control over everything. And what I've noticed in my life and in life, and people that really love Jesus, no matter what you go through, if Jesus is your peace in the middle of what you go through, he will take you through whatever you go through. And you can have peace in him, even if your circumstances are absolutely lousy.
And by the way, you're going to go through seasons in your life where your circumstances are absolutely lousy, where you could question, why is this happening to me? And why have God is so good? Am I going. Because he loves you so much, he wants you to experience peace in the middle of the lousy. Because one day when he gets here, there is no more lousy.
It's only good every single day for the rest of your life. And that's where your hope should be, in the blessed hope of Jesus. Amen. That's what he's talking about. So he's telling them that when it comes to these things about Christ's second coming, we need to live peacefully.
And the only place you can get peace in this world is in Jesus. You can't get it anywhere else. You can't get it on social media. You can't get it in politics. You can't find it in education.
You can't get it in a relationship or in a marriage or with your kids or with your parents. You can't find it anywhere. But you can find it in Jesus. And if Jesus is the center of your life, you can have peace. My peace I give to you.
I don't give peace as the world gives. I have peace that passes all understanding. I can guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Amen. And notice how he says, if you have this peace, you can live spotless and blameless.
And I love this. It means you're focused on his presence and not on his perfection. You're focused on presence, not being perfect. If I'm spotless, if I'm living God's way, I realize there's going to be times in my life I don't measure up. I realize there's times in my life people could accuse and say, well, look, what you not talking about that it means I focus on his presence, not on perfection.
Because what we have a tendency to do is I care way too much about what you think about me, and you care way too much about what I think about you. And so we come up with all these little rules and laws that we're going to look good and we're going to act good and we talk good. And if you've been a Christian long enough, you know how to talk Christianese and you know how to quote Bible passages and you know how to say, well, the Lord this and the Lord that, and here's what he's saying and here's the Scripture. When deep down inside your heart you haven't changed. But when you focus on presence, then I'm not focused on you.
Because then I'm going before the Lord and saying, lord, I need you. Because I see in my life that I'm a new creation. I see in my life that old things have passed away. And yet, Lord, I also see in my life that my behaviors aren't living out the way you've called me to live. And Lord, I want to do that, but I'm not doing that.
Lord, would you help me to do that? I need you. I'm depending upon you. I don't care what anybody else says. I know I got to grow in you, Lord, show me how to do that.
That's different than legalism. That's different than making choices that you think other people want you to make or your mom and dad want you to make, or kids think you need to make, or your employees or your employers. It's different because what you're saying is, jesus, I just need you to show me how I can grow the most in you. Show me how to do that. And Lord, I'm just focusing on your presence.
I want to be in your presence. I want to know that. I know that. I know that you're walking with me and you're manifesting more grace and peace in my life and you're multiplying yourself in and through me. And Lord, I love you and I'm craving more and more of you.
And I'll tell you this, the more and more you crave of Jesus in this world, the more and more you're going to look forward to him coming. The longer I walk with Jesus, the more I want him to come. And not in some sort of sick, demented, like, self inflicting wound kind of way. Like, the world's terrible and I hate this place. That's not what I'm talking about.
I'm saying I crave the person in the presence of Jesus, where I'll no longer have to see the things I see anymore. Where I know that every tear that I've cried and every tear somebody else has cried, Jesus will be like, I got that. I'm taking care of that. You don't need to worry about that anymore. You've been suffering for a while.
No more suffering anymore. You've been hurting for a while. There is no more pain. I mean, I'm looking forward to that. I mean, to just only live for this world is like, man, I got a great job on the Titanic.
It doesn't help.
I mean, this world is Passing away. Yes. The world is the Lord's. Everything in it. We honor him, we do all that.
We live our best. But as you do, you're going to yearn for the new heavens and the new earth. Can you imagine your life if you didn't know how to sin? Can you imagine your life if everybody around you didn't know how to sin? I mean, it's amazing to even think about.
It's goosebumpy kind of things. That's what's coming for every single believer. Live peacefully and grow in wisdom. And then he says this, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. Just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as in all his letters, speaking in them of these things.
He's saying, Paul's my contemporary. He's writing the same things to you. He's been telling you the same thing, which tells us that Paul's letters were in circulation at the time that Peter was still alive because the church was still reading Paul's letters, some of the very same letters that we have in our Bibles today. And so that's there. But notice what else he goes on to say.
He says, in which some things are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort as they do the rest of scriptures to their own destruction. He says some of the stuff that Paul's teaching is hard to understand. Why? Because Peter's talking as a blue collar fisherman that speaks the language of the people. And if you read through the word like we've gone through this book, first Peter and second Peter, very easy to understand, very cut and dry, very do this, don't do that.
I mean, very clear. The Apostle Paul, before he was saved, what was he doing? He was a, he was a theologian, he was a Pharisee. Of all the Pharisees. Some of the things Paul writes to this day, we're like, what is he?
What exactly does he mean? Right. And he's saying that the untaught who are the ignorant and the unstable who are weak, twist it to make it make sense. Can I just pause for a second? 95% of what you read in the Bible is very easy to understand.
But there's about 5% that I find like, I don't know exactly what that means. I'm okay with that. Many Christians spend the majority of their life focusing on the 5% that they don't understand rather than the 95% that's clear. There is so much clearer that you don't need death. What should I be doing.
It's all there. What do you do when people wrong you? What do you do when you see people do evil? Can you hate them? Can you hate people that go against God?
We can't. Because the Bible says what? Love your enemies. And on top of that, not only you gotta love them, you gotta pray for the ones that persecute you. Cause that's what Jesus did.
So clear. Such a clear. Do we live that? No, I don't like living that. You don't like living that?
Because my flesh tells me I should do something differently. So when people wrong you, just demonstrate love to them. And while you're doing that, pray blessing over their life. What do you do when people wrong you? You forgive them.
How do you forgive them? In the same way that Jesus forgave you. How did he forgive you? He was perfect. You're a sinner.
You were dead. He forgave all your sins. So don't withhold forgiveness from anybody. Very clear. Very difficult.
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. It can't get any clearer than that. Very clear. Teaching. Difficult.
Apparently impossible. Apart from the Spirit. Husbands, love your wife like Christ loved the Church. Clear. He laid down his life for the Church, even while he was still alive.
He was beaten by the church, he was chewed out by the Church, and he still loved. Clear. Easy to do. No, impossible. Apart from the Spirit of God.
I mean, there's so many truths that we can live in, yet we try to live in the 5% of ambiguity. I don't quite understand that. You don't need to understand that. Live in the 95% that's so clear that you can ask God's help for to grow you in. Amen.
Honor your father and mother. It doesn't get any clearer than that. Difficult. Not in our family, but some families. Difficult.
Right? Do you see what I'm saying? And we laugh because we say, man, I'm not measuring up. I'm not living. It's okay.
God will meet you right where you're at. But he doesn't want to leave you right where you're at. He wants to grow you by his grace. Amen. And I don't know exactly, and no scholar does.
I mean, what was confusing to people? I mean, I know a couple of things that are still confusing to people this day. I mean, you read Romans, chapter five, and it says, where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. In other words, you cannot out sin God. So then some people say, fine, I'm going to put that to the test.
I'm gonna sin all I want, and then God's job is to forgive me. And then Paul writes Romans 6. He's like, May it never be because we died to sin. Sin was the very thing that was killing us. So how can we live it any longer?
Paul said, we're free from the law. Some people think being free from the law means I can do whatever I want. No, being free from the law means I'm freed from the law because the one that fulfilled the law now lives inside of me, who's trying to get his work done through me. So the law is having its way in me because the law is still valid, even though I'm not bound to the law to keep it. Because I proved I couldn't keep it.
Christ in me wants to fulfill it. Amen. Could have been those things. Could have been in First Corinthians where he's writing them. And apparently they thought, we can never hang out with non Christians ever.
Don't even be with them. And Paul's like, how could that be? You'd never even be able to share the Gospel with them. What I'm talking about are those people that claim that they're Christians that come to church and then live completely immoral with such a person. Don't eat with them.
So there are all sorts of things that get twisted by false teachers. And they get twisted because people try to make it comfortable and palatable for you. But if you just read the Word and say, well, I. It just says this, so I'm going to believe it. Genesis 1 says that God made the world in six literal days and rested on the seventh.
How can that be? I don't know. Because he's awesome. So I just believe that because I'm not going to stand in line telling God that these seven PhDs that are so smart said that couldn't be. And God's like, who are they?
Do you see what I'm saying? I mean, the teaching of Scripture is so clear. If we just believe it now, there's things that we can disagree on, but those things are never going to be a major doctrinal issue or anything about Christ and who he is or the Gospel. None of those things. All those things are crystal clear there.
Amen. So he tells us. He's like, hey, live peacefully. That means you have peace in your heart so you can live peaceful with everybody else and grow in wisdom, which is skilled living. And as you read the Word and you apply the Word and you ask God to work it out through you, you're going to learn how to live the way God wants you to live.
And all those things that he teaches that are super duper clear, he's going to teach you how to live those things out. I knew the verses on marriage before I got married. My wife knew the verses on marriage before we got married. Twenty years in, we're better at practicing those things than we were when we first got married. I mean, it was just as clear to me what it meant to love my wife like Christ love the church.
When we got married, I just wasn't as good at practicing it as I am today. She knew it meant to honor and obey her husband, everything. But she's better at it today because we're growing in it, right? I always tell people, you're gonna be an expert in marriage until you get married, and you'll be an expert parent until you have kids, right? Cause we're growing in it.
There's no such thing as perfect. Jesus is perfect. And as the perfect one transforms us, we'll look more like him. But on this side of heaven, we'll never be perfect. There's not one of us that can be propped up as a specimen.
Hey, look at Jeff. Hey, look at Sue. Look at Barb. Look, they're so perfect. Just be like nobody.
Even Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ in the ways. You see me going after Jesus, follow that. Right? That's what we do. Not perfectly, but increasingly amen.
And then he gives this final note of exhortation. He tells us our final one, that we should live faithfully, that we should live faithfully and we should grow in grace. It says in verse 17, you therefore beloved. There's that word again. He goes, I want you to get this of who you are, knowing this beforehand.
Now, when it came to Jesus, second coming in Matthew 24, he goes, I'm telling you these things before they happen. So you won't be surprised. Peter's saying the same thing. He's coming back. I'm telling you, you won't be surprised.
Any Christian that's surprised by Jesus coming hasn't read their Bible. I mean, it's no surprise when the Bible says that he's coming like a thief. He's only coming like a thief. If you're not aware of the thief's coming for the believer, he's not coming as a thief. He's coming as my Lord and Savior.
And I can't wait till he gets here. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen. But he says, knowing this beforehand, so be on guard. So that you're not carried away.
That means led astray by the air of unprincipled or lawless men and fall from your own steadfastness. Just like, make sure you stay rooted in the truth. Make sure you stay rooted in the grace of God. Make sure you continue to live faithfully. Don't be led astray by people who are lawless.
Don't be led astray by those who say, well, you don't really have to live that way. You don't. You don't need to do this. God's a God of grace. He's a God of forget, you know, don't be led astray by that.
Hold firm. Be. Be steadfast. That's why In Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 2, it says, Let us run this race with perseverance. That means, even when you get knocked down, get back up.
That's why James 1:4 says, Let endurance have its perfect results. So you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. That's why when trials come, and they're coming, or they've already come, or you're just coming out of one, or you're just getting ready to go into one again, they're going to come. But hold on to Jesus during that and remain steadfast. Even Romans 5 says, Perseverance leads to proven character.
How you grow in Christ likeness is through trials when you hold onto him. So don't follow lawless teaching. Don't follow those that don't teach the Word. Follow the word of God and hold on firm. But what?
But grow in what? In the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grow in grace. Let me just say it this way. The same grace that saved you is the same grace that will grow you is the same grace that will translate you into the next life.
It's not as though God saved you by grace, for it's by grace. We've been saved through faith. It's not our own doing. It's a gift of God. So no one should boast.
And then we say, thank you, God. Thanks for saving me. I would have never got saved myself. Thank you. I got it from here.
Now I'm just going to commit, commit, commit. I'm going to do. You can't do that. The same grace that saved you is the same grace that will sanctify you. The same grace that will glorify you.
You're just as dependent upon Jesus today as you were the day he saved you. You need his grace. Grace is not just his unmerited favor. To save you, which it is. It's his favor to grow you.
Notice What Titus, chapter 2, verses 11 through 13 say? Titus 2:11 through 13 say this. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. So grace is what saves? It's not your own doing.
It's a gift of God. Also instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age. So what's grace do? It teaches us how to live out everything God wants us to live. My commitment doesn't do that.
God's grace grows me in that. Looking for what? The blessed hope. That's Jesus. And the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus.
Grace gives our focus to Christ. So think about this. You need God's grace as much today as you've always been. Now, why does Peter keep calling us beloved? Beloved.
Beloved, Beloved. Because if you are saved, there's nothing you can do about it. Let me just be clear. If you're saved, John 10 tells me that Jesus has got you with one hand and the Father's got you with the other hand, and you're not going anywhere. If you didn't do anything to earn your salvation, there is nothing you can do to lose it.
It's a gift, and it's an irrevocable gift. If you saved yourself, you're going to lose your salvation. And I was listening to another pastor, Vodi Bakam, who's going to explain this better than I will today. But I heard him talking about this very concept this week, and he was talking about how arrogant it is for people to think they can lose their salvation. I mean, think about the arrogance of that for just a minute.
Like, if you could really lose your salvation, like, you could get it because you earned it, but then you could also lose it if you didn't keep living. Right? Are you saved? Well, yeah, I'm saved. I mean, I could lose it.
I mean, for sure I could lose it. But I haven't because I'm pretty awesome. Friends, I know from my own personal testimony, if I could lose my salvation, I would have already lost it by now. You can't lose it because you're beloved. You have a new identity.
Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have been made new. You are His. And you are his for all eternity. And the reason the devil lies at you and tells you that's not true is because he wants you to continue to make worthless commitments that don't change your life.
But if you already know you're saved and you already have a new identity and you already have been forgiven, that same God that forgave you from your entire past is the same God that's going to grow you from your present, and the same God that's going to present you faultless before the Father in Heaven. It's all his grace. And so when we pray, we're praying, God, I need more grace. I need more grace. I need more grace.
And that is what salvation looks like. Amen.
And it's important that you know this, because when Peter's talking about, you know, see the patience of God as salvation, we already read the last time we got together in verse nine, that it's the. It's the, you know, the patience of our Lord not wanting anybody to perish. If you have in your heart hatred towards people, if you have in your heart, can't wait till that abortion doctor gets his. Can't wait till that Muslim gets his. Can't wait till the people that went into the Twin Towers get theirs.
Can't wait. You do not have the heart of God, because even in Ezekiel, God says he takes no delight in the death of the wicked. The most wicked person that's ever lived on the planet. Do you know who that is? If you don't get a mirror, because you're more familiar with that.
But even if you don't understand that God never gets delight when somebody apart from him dies. He doesn't stand up in heaven and like, yeah, I'll show you. I think it breaks his heart because he knows that he had the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, leave eternity, come to this earth, live among us, become incarnate flesh, die on the cross for that person's sin. And they rejected him. And I believe it breaks his heart because why?
Because it's God's grace that saves us, not our good works, which means this. Don't ever let your heart get hardened towards an unbeliever. Don't ever listen to the lie of the enemy. You've been praying for them for a decade. You've been praying for them for 30 years.
You've been praying for them to turn. They're never going to turn. And they're horrible people. And just pray one day God gets them. Don't you ever pray like that.
You pray this way, Lord, have mercy on them the same way you had mercy on me. Because, Lord, if you hadn't had mercy on me, that'd be me. And I need people in my life that prayed for Me and Lord, would you save them? Lord, have mercy on them. I know you desire nothing more than to have a relationship.
And even if they're cold to you and rebellious towards you, you're going to extend the full measure of your love until you can't extend it anymore. And then here's what hell's designed for. Hell's designed for the people in this world that say, I wanted nothing to do with God in this life. I wanted nothing to do with God in this life. I never want anything to do with God in this life.
And then hell is God's saying, okay, you can have nothing to do with me for all eternity. It's horrible. You wouldn't wish hell on your worst enemy. You wouldn't. You wouldn't.
There's injustices. But here's a promise. God says, I'm going to make all those right. I'll make them all right. You don't need to worry about that.
Vengeance is mine. I'll make all those things right. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to pray for the lost and I want you to pray that I will grow you. And the more you grow into the heart of God, the more you're going to love God and the more you're going to have a heart for the lost.
And that's what it looks like. And the lost aren't just people that are good people that are doing bad things. Lost is anybody that doesn't have Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. So you live faithfully and you grow in grace. Friends, brave church is not for a group of legalists to get better so that we look around each other like I'm so much better at reading the Bible now.
I'm a better prayer, I'm a better giver. I'm this. It's not about us. We're a group of people that said Jesus is worthy of our best. And man, we're not there yet, but we're growing in it.
And I haven't arrived yet. And a matter of fact I arrived at church today and I felt really lousy. But I'm so thankful. God will meet where meet me where I'm at still call me as beloved and pick me back up and keep me going. And I needed to hear that.
And that's the truth of God's grace. That's what keeps you to stay the course. Stay in the course is not your commitment. Stay in the course is Jesus Christ being at the center of your life who will bring you home. Amen.
He and he alone is our living hope. So live expectantly, peacefully and faithfully. Live in such a way that you yearn for his presence among you. Live in such a way that you own the gospel. And the gospel is not only what saves you, the gospel is what sanctifies you.
The gospel is what glorifies you. That's why it's good news. Good news is not just the get out of hell free card. Good news is the God that got us out of hell is sanctifying us presently so that in the future we can stand before him without even having any presence of sin, just being in the presence of his righteousness on this new heavens and this new earth in which it will be perfect forever and ever. Amen.
And here's the truth. Listen, if you've never repented and trusted Jesus, why not make today today? If you hear the Lord's voice, don't harden your heart. Give your life to him completely. Let Jesus be your living hope.
And if he is your living hope, maybe there's some things today that you're not, quote, committing to. Maybe it's just a recalibration in your heart saying, jesus, I've been trying to show myself worthy. And what I needed to be reminded of today is you're the one who made me worthy. And Lord, refresh my soul again today. Take me the next step where you want me to go and let me live in your peace.
Would you stand with me, Our Father in Heaven?
When there was no way for us to get to you, you sent your son to come and get us.
If you're here today and you want to have a relationship with Christ, you can pray like this. Lord Jesus, I believe that you're God and that you died on the cross for all my sin and that you rose from the dead and that you're alive as you've ever been. Lord Jesus, I'm just bringing you all my sin right now. I'm going to turn it over to you in exchange for all your righteousness. I confess you as my Lord and Savior.
Come into my life. And Lord, for many of us here who know you as our personal Lord and Savior, we pray, Lord, help us grow in the next step, not by our commitments, but by your grace. Lord, help us be authentic enough with you in our prayers to show where we don't even want to change. But we want you to change us. And Lord, we trust you for all you want to do.
We give you glory, honor and praise because you and you alone are our living hope. And we honor you and praise you and bless you in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus. Amen and amen. Can we give God praise for who he is?