A Sermon preached at Ivybridge CongregationalChurch 13/8/06
Last month Graham expounded 1Peter, reminding you that :
The Lord Jesus has given us new birth into a living hope. 13
You are receiving the salvation of your souls. 19
You were redeemed ... with the precious blood of Christ.
118,19
You have been born again ... through the living and enduring word of
God. 123
Therefore ... 21 See the truth that you
are now different,
and should live as aliens and strangers in the world.
211
Or as Paul writes,
Do not conform any
longer to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Ro 122
This morning we move on to 2 Peter, written about 5 years later.
Therefore be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.
For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich
welcome
into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2
Pe 110,11
Peter reveals much about our current situation and concerning the future.
First about situation now.
He warns us about: False Teachers
They promise freedom while they themselves are
slaves to depravity. 2Pe 21,19
e.g. All religions are equally valid.
Abortion is a woman’s right.
Sex outside of marriage is fun.
Drugs, drink, tobacco are great.
Being ‘gay’ is natural.
If it makes you rich or happy, go for it.
Each of these promise ‘freedom’; but in fact addict men to slavery.
Then he warns us about: Scoffers
They deliberately forget that long ago by God’s
word the heavens existed
and the earth was
formed out of water and by water. 33-5
7th day
is more than just special.
God commands us to
remember creation by resting from normal work.
Evolution is a lie;
yet it is taught as truth. (C of E Gateshead school)
By these waters also the world of that time was
deluged and destroyed. 36
God was so grieved
with extent of wickedness
he
destroyed much of his fantastic creation.
The judgement of God
in the days of Noah was just.
What about the world
of 2006?
The same Lord Almighty
is insulted, ignored, ridiculed today,
and
even added to other satanic false idol gods.
Will God do nothing
in our generation?
By the same word the present heavens and earth
are reserved for fire,
being kept for the
day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men. 37
At the end the Judgement
will not be by water, but by fire.
Deserved?
Definitely!
Where will the scoffers
be then?
Rev tells us that during
the Great Tribulation they will not repent,
they
will curse God!
When are these days
of judgement, tribulation and the return of Christ?
Don’t know; but
likely to be very soon.
But as Peter says, The Lord is not slow in keeping
his promise. 39
He continues,
Be on your guard so that you are not carried away
by the error of lawless men
and fall from your
secure position.
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. 311, 17,18
Be ready.
There is an ongoing war for our souls and our minds; that is obvious.
But there is also a physical war - persecution.
Open Doors estimate 450 martyrs/day! China,
N.Korea, Philippines, Burma,
Indonesia, India, almost every nation in the ME and
Africa, most S.America.
We see Islam is increasingly fanatical and violent.
Their threats and actions against the Jews grow by
the day.
Christians are also their high priority target.
Their goal has always been to dominate the whole
world.
They will use the
West’s need for oil to the full.
No UN resolution will
have any more than a trivial temporary affect.
Why do I think that this is not just the ramblings of an old man?
Scripture! The parts that most of us choose to ignore
- difficult / dangerous.
God revealed to Daniel that war will continue to the end. Dan 924
War against all those chosen by God; both Jews and
Christians.
Read Dan
721,22 725,26 823-25
In the last days “until ...” Christ returns,
we are in for a very rough ride -
That is why we must now be sure of our calling and
election.
We must know the sure
revealed plan of the Lord Almighty;
and
not just read the ‘nice’ parts of scripture.
God tells Joel:
I will gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will enter into judgement against them concerning my inheritance,
my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided
up my land. ... prepare for war ... The Lord will roar from Zion. Joel
31,2, 9, 16
Zechariah was shown:
On that day, when all nations are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem
an immovable rock for all nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.
... On that day I will set out to destroy all nations that attack Jerusalem.
Zech 123,9
God also gave to John a vision of the 4 horses that he commands to ride forth.
The result? War, famine and disease that will kill ¼ of the world’s population.
That is 1,500 million people! Rev 64,8
And a further 1,500m in 6th Trumpet.
In Rev 13 God tells us of the most evil satanic Beast.
He will arise out of the sea of world confusion.
He will be given a mouth to utter blasphemies
and to exercise his authority for 42 months ...
power to make war against the saints and to conquer them ...
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. Rev 135-10 also 1412
Are we ready for such days?
Or do we choose to ignore these scriptures,
hoping that they refer
to another day, to a future generation.
We need to face the truth.
To Christians, our gracious God has revealed what he will do in the last
days.
The word of God alone is accurate concerning what
lies ahead:
our future and the
future of the increasingly wicked world.
A world that thinks
it can ignore or insult the Sovereign Lord with impunity.
Remember too, these are days when:
We shall also see the Lamb of God triumph again. Rev 1714
1919-21
He triumphed at Calvary - though few saw it that
way, and still don’t.
Today is a day of trial, but God keeps his word:
I am with you always.
“The purpose of God is sure and the people of
God are safe”. David Pawson
2 Peter clearly reveals how important it is to know the days in which we
live.
Days in which we depend so greatly upon him.
Days in which we so earnestly long for him.
Days when wickedness seems to triumph -
but they will do so
only until the day when the King of kings returns !
Therefore:
You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day
of God. 2Pe 311,12
This is our zealous ongoing goal.
And God gives us a sure vision of heaven. Rev 21,22
What there is in heaven ...
New - and remains new, it cannot tarnish or become
corrupt.
Glorious King reigns who is worthy, just, active
and wise.
His Bride is there, redeemed, holy, pure, filled
with joy and altogether lovely.
What there isn’t in heaven ....
No sea - endless confusion and lies is replaced by
harmony and truth.
No loneliness but true lasting friendships. All accepted
and genuinely loved.
No tears, no death, no heartache, no dashed hopes
or unfulfilled dreams.
No sickness, no pain, no disability, no abuse, no
starvation, never tired.
No poverty, no bills, no money, no greed, no theft,
no jealousy.
No violence, no war, no hatred, no injustice, no
enemies.
No deceit, no sin, no temptation and no end. No time.
Stories often used to end, “And they all lived happily ever after.”
They rarely do so now. But the Christian story does!
And it’s no make-believe, for God himself has
declared it to be the truth.
So meanwhile:
Be holy
Be ready
Be confident - read all the Scriptures.
The Word of the Lord Almighty will never be broken,
the King of kings reigns and will never abdicate
or be defeated. Amen.