2
Peter 3
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 with water.
By
water 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. (2 Peter 3)
Today
we have scoffers, even in the Church of God.
“Where
is this “coming?”
The
scoffers were present in the days of Noah.
They
scoffed every day while Noah constructed the Ark.
They
scoffed the seven days after God shut the door to the Ark.
They
scoffed when it began to rain.
However,
40 days later there was no one to scoff.
Lawless
men always scoff; they are deceived.
God
has promised a new heaven and a new earth.
He
has promised a thousand years of rest here on this earth.
The
second coming of Christ Jesus
Will
be as final as the day the Lord closed the door to the Ark.
He
said that He was coming soon, and so it shall be.
He
will come soon and the scoffers will be no more. Hallelujah!
Today,
however, anyone can turn to Christ Jesus and be saved.
Today
is the day of salvation. Hallelujah!
Soon
it will not longer be called today; “Time” will have ended.
As
God has written, so shall it be! Hallelujah! Maranatha!
No comments:
Post a Comment