Scripture referenced 9 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Psalm 1:1-3 quoted by Mike to the graduating seniors about being like a tree planted by streams of water
1 Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in Yahweh’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
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Keep this verse
Psalm 63
quoted in prayer: 'your unfailing love is better than life itself'
1 God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.
2 So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory.
3 Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
4 So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches.
7 For you have been my help. I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul stays close to you. Your right hand holds me up.
9 But those who seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall be given over to the power of the sword. They shall be jackal food.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by him will praise him, for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be silenced.
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2 Peter 2:10b-22
reviewed as already-covered material on false teachers, enticers, and those who return to corruption
Keep this verse2 Peter 3:1-9
the main preaching text, covering reminders to wholesome thinking, scoffers, God's patience, and not wanting any to perish
1 This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you;
2 that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior:
3 knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts,
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
5 For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of God;
6 by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
7 But the heavens that now exist, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
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Ephesians 2:19-21
quoted to show the church is built on the foundation of apostles and prophets with Christ as the cornerstone
19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
20 being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone;
21 in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
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John 3:16
referenced to support the point that God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but to have everlasting life
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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1 Corinthians 1:18
quoted to show the message of the cross is foolishness to those perishing but the power of God to those being saved
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
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Habakkuk 2:3
quoted to affirm the vision will come at its appointed time and will not delay
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay.
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Hebrews 10:37
quoted to affirm that he who is coming will come and will not delay
37 “In a very little while, he who comes will come, and will not wait.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message came from 2 Peter, continuing a series through the letter. Pastor Blake walked through Peter's warnings about false teachers before turning to Peter's direct encouragement to the congregation and his argument for why God's apparent slowness to act is not indifference but patience.
What was said
Peter's sustained use of "they" through chapter two was not accidental. Pastor Blake pointed out that Peter spends the chapter describing false teachers and enticers in the third person, drawing a sharp line between those who belong to the community and those who would pull them away from the gospel. The "they" descriptions pile up, but the letter was always addressed to the "beloved ones," the people sitting in the pew.
The bridge into the passage covered this week comes when Peter says that if someone has known the way of righteousness and then turned away from it, they are worse off than if they had never known it at all. Pastor Blake said this is not a statement that salvation can be lost, but that when a person is enticed back into whatever sin they came out of, the transforming power of the gospel loses its credibility in that person's mind. The proverb Peter uses, the dog returning to its vomit and the washed pig returning to the mud, is a description of what false teachers lead people toward, not a verdict on the elect.
Peter then turns directly to his audience, calling them "beloved ones" and reminding them that he is writing both of his letters for the same purpose: to stimulate them toward wholesome thinking. He is not writing because he doubts they are saved. He is writing because he believes they are, and he wants them to stay centered on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ as the cornerstone.
The scoffers Peter predicts are people who look at the delay of Christ's return and conclude nothing is coming. Pastor Blake noted that this scoffing is not new, and used a recent news story about the Noah's Ark museum in Kentucky and its insurance dispute as a contemporary example of the kind of mocking Peter describes. The scoffers' argument, that everything has gone on unchanged since the beginning, ignores the flood, which is itself evidence that God has already intervened in judgment once and has promised to do so again.
The answer Peter gives to the scoffers is that God is not constrained by time the way people are. A day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day. The long wait is not forgetfulness and it is not slowness. Pastor Blake drew a contrast with the ordinary human experience of waiting on someone who never shows up, and said God is simply not like that. His promises are yes and amen.
The final turn in the passage is the shift from "they" back to "you." Peter says God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but wanting everyone to come to repentance. Pastor Blake connected this directly to John 3:16 and explained that the Greek word for repentance, metanoeo, is a turning of the mind, which fits exactly what Peter says he is trying to produce by writing: a reorientation of thinking back toward the center, the gospel that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, died in the place of sinners, and is coming back.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Peter draws a clear line between 'you' and 'they' throughout this letter. How do you respond to that kind of either/or framing, and where do you see yourself in it?
- The sermon described a situation where someone comes to know the way of Jesus and then is enticed away from it, ending up worse off than before. Why do you think Peter says that is a harder place to be than never having known it at all?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 7,381 words
0:01
Alright. Good morning, everybody. How are we? Been given another beautiful morning. Breath in our lungs.
0:06
What do say we sing our praises to the Lord? Amen. Would you stand with me?
0:11
We'll sing of the wonderful grace of God.
0:22
Alright. Who breaks the power? Who breaks the power of sin and darkness? Whose love is mighty and so much stronger. The king of glory.
0:38
The king above all king, who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder, breathless in on wonder, the king of glory, the king above all kings. And this is amazing grace. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love. Welcome.
1:31
You. For all that you've done for me. Alright. And who brings who brings our chaos back into order? Kings.
2:05
Who rules the nation? The Who rules the nations with truth and justice? Shines like the sun in all of its unfailing love. That you would take my face. That you would bear my cross.
2:48
You would lay down your life that I would be set free. Oh, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. And let's sing worthy is. Worthy is the lamb who stay. Worthy is the king who conquered the grave.
3:21
Worthy is worthy is the lamb who's slave. Worthy is the king who conquered the lamb who slay. Worthy is the king who conquer the great. This is amazing grace. This is unfailing love.
4:05
How do you take my face? Won't be set free. Oh, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for.
4:48
Man, y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements this morning and I'll hand over the mic to Mike. So here we go. The first one is Monday nights at first B. Carl, what's happening?
5:00
Yep. We're on tomorrow mule music message and we are in songs and psalms tomorrow focusing on God as creator and sustainer. And so please join us. Felix and Guadalupe are cooking tomorrow. And Good.
5:15
Yes. Exactly. Right? And I know you're invited. 06:00.
5:19
Perfect. Vacation Bible School is coming up quickly here, June 24 through the twenty eighth in the morning, nine to twelve. If you'd like to volunteer or if you'd like to enroll and register, there's a little booth set up in the back back there with registration forms. I think it can also be done online on our website. That's a good way to do it but Jesus saves the world.
5:39
Miraculous Mission Vacation Bible School coming up June twenty fourth to twenty eighth. Immigrant Hope is doing a shoe collection fundraiser. If you have been into the office and you've seen the piles of shoes, that's part of this. They're trying to collect 25,000 pairs of decent shoes to distribute all around the world. So if you would, that's good.
6:01
Next week, we will have an original courtroom drama that is being that has been written and will be performed by our own cast of players here. Both services, it'll be nine and eleven. So, The Liberator is the name of that. That ought to be fun and then, we are taking a this is a stateside mission trip, okay? This is stateside, not just United States but this is in our state.
6:26
Even if it feels like driving to Gillette is somewhere way way far away. We're going to take a team of people July 10 through the thirteenth to Gillette, Wyoming to help repair a building. So Scott and Pam Eichen, you all know them that were here. It's been unbelievably now, seven years ago. I see a few of faces that are remembering going, oh, that ought to be cool.
6:48
They are rebooting a church in Gillette, Wyoming. Gary, would you stand up? Gary is going to be kind of leading this team. If he didn't know that, he is now leading this team. He did know that actually, but we're going up.
7:03
It's a church plant, so it's a reboot of a of a church in Gillette. If you like to go construction wise, there'll be painting and there'll be some light carpentry and probably some light electrical and replacement fixtures and things like that. There's plenty to do, and it'd be fun on the way up there. We're gonna take the church van and as many other vehicles as we need. Okay?
7:21
So get with Gary if you wanna go do that. If you miss a message, you can find it on the First B website, firstbjackson.org, or you can find it on our Facebook page if you want to go back to it. Connect hour is happening between services. It does every week from ten ish until about eleven ish. It's down the hall in the fellowship hall so that we cannot become two different churches.
7:46
We have two different services, but we don't wanna do that. So we kinda keep together by connecting. And then if I have forgotten anything else, and I almost certainly have, there are prayer requests and other announcements in the paper bulletin that you're holding in your hand right there. That's good. Has a bicycle on the cover this time.
8:02
It's pretty cool. Nick takes care of that and gets it done. There are lots of prayer requests in there and other announcements. There's anything else that should be in that. Mike, would you come on up?
8:13
Mike is our youth director and he is you take it away.
8:18
Alright. So, pleased to announce that today is graduation Sunday. So we've got eight students, here from First Bee that are gonna be graduating. Yeah. Let's give them a round of applause.
8:30
That's that's really good work. And and also, me and my wife, we just had a kid ten weeks ago. So I'm ten weeks into this, but I feel like we gotta give it a round of a hand a round of hand to the parents, man, to get kids. Nice work, parents. So I'm honored and privileged to have had the opportunity just to speak into kids' lives.
9:00
And I feel like we had a great year at youth group this year, and it couldn't have happened without without the leaders that we had. So I just wanna kinda recognize some of the people that served and served so faithfully the youth of of our church. So I'm not gonna have them come up here, but Richard and Andrea Largie, Samantha McVeigh, Madison Casey, Sam Stevens, Aaron Anderson, Eugene Morningstar, Chris Darren with games. I mean, it's just it takes so much to to pour into these kids and into Awana for all that they do. I mean, we get them, and they're not like, Jesus, who?
9:36
I mean, they Awana is is playing a crucial role in this church too. So thank you for everyone who serves. And without further ado, I wanna go ahead and start bringing up if if these students are here, just go ahead and come on up here to the front with me. If not, then we'll just recognize them. Ben Brown, I don't think yeah.
9:56
There he is. Come on up here, Ben. Alright. And then next we've got Gage Grouse. And Kacen Areola.
10:44
Katelyn Spence. Is Caitlyn Spence here? Cooper McMullen. There he is. Regan Ross.
11:23
Isabel Upton. Is Isabel here? Is Isabel Upton? And Ted McDaniels. So to all of our graduating seniors, I just wanna say that to you as a church that we've supported them, that they they know who the person of Jesus Christ is and his finished work on the cross.
11:53
And to you guys, I wanna say that you've been equipped with the tools that you need. Everything you need is in God's word. I I got you guys a one year Bible this year. And the reason that I did that is is Psalm one says this. It says, blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way of sinners stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night.
12:22
And he says this in verse three, that person is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever they do prospers. So this Bible has played a huge role in my life. It gives you an old testament, a new testament, a psalm, and a proverb every day. And, I challenge you to read it morning and night and meet on the word.
12:45
So that's what we've got. If you guys wanna support them this coming Saturday, they're all gonna be graduating. So come on out to the high school. Let's give them one more round of applause. Alright.
13:08
I'll invite the band to come on back up.
13:10
There you go. Preach. Here we go. Would y'all y'all stand and greet one another? We'll bring you back together with a song.
13:22
The shaky shake. Blake told me.
14:09
Alright. It's fallen from. It's fallen from the clouds. A strange and lowness hour. I can deered in thunder and rain.
14:24
It's ringing in the skies like cans in the night. The musical the universe plays. We're singing he is holy, Singing you are holy, great and mighty. The moon and the stars live there who you are. I'm so unworthy, but still you love me forever my heart will sing of how great you are.
15:08
Alright. Beautiful and free. Beautiful and free. The song of the galaxies is reaching far beyond the Milky Way. Let's join in with the sound.
15:25
Come on, let's sing loud.
17:01
God, that is our prayer, and it is our song. Great and mighty you are. Holy you are. The moon and the stars, everything in creation just screams out that there is a creator. That is you.
17:16
God, we come before you humbly. We come before you joyfully. We come before you in in reverence of you, almighty God, the one who reaches down to us with grace. Amen. From Psalm 63, your unfailing love is better than life itself.
21:13
How I praise you. I'll praise you as long as we live. God, truly, what truly satisfies? What truly gives life and life to the full measure? And that is you.
21:26
And just, to be in your presence today is such a gift. And to be in your presence together too as a church family, all all with the same mindset. So God, may we continue to build our life on the solid foundation, the solid rock that you are. Amen.
21:57
Worthy of every song we could have seen. Worthy of all the praise we could have to bring. Worthy of every breath, good and free, we live for you. Worthy of any bread we could ever bring. We live for you.
22:42
We live for you and holy you are. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes and wonder. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around and who you are.
23:13
Holy, there is no one I will build my life. I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me. Holy, there is no one like you.
25:14
There is none beside you. Open up my eyes and wonder. Me
25:48
Y'all can have a seat. God, thank you for this beautiful morning. I thank you for each of these graduates. Lord, I thank you that you have planted the seed deep in their hearts and I pray lord that it would that it would grow just like that tree planted by streams of water. Lord, I thank you for that.
26:07
Thank you for each of them, Lord, and for a church that loves and sends them out. In Jesus' name, Lord, we ask that you go with them. I also ask, Lord, that you would take these offerings that we are about to place in these plates, these funds, resources, Lord, that you have given us. We acknowledge that you are the giver of every good and perfect gift, and we want, Lord, to give that back so that others may receive. We ask that you would advance your good gospel lord through whatever means you would like to.
26:39
Lord, I pray that we would always be faithful with what you've been trusted to this church. I pray that you would, Lord, grow your kingdom through those who call this home. Lord, I thank you for the visitors here this morning with us too, and I pray that you would bless every family represented from here, Lord, across this state, nation, and to the uttermost parts. God, would you do your will, Lord, and your way among us this morning in our hearts and in our giving. Amen.
27:12
Amen.
27:25
A father of kindness you have borne, I'll raise. You brought me out of darkness, fill me with peace, and give her a mercy or my help in time of need. Lord, I can't help but save. Faithful you are. Faithful forever you will be.
28:05
Faithful you are. All your promises are yes and amen. All your promises are yes and amen. The beautiful savior you have brought me here. You pulled me from the ashes.
28:44
You've broken every curse. Let's see, read deeper, you have set this captive
28:53
free.
29:21
All your promises are yes and amen. All your promises are yes and amen. And I will rest in your promises. Confidence is your faithfulness. I will rest
29:47
in your promises.
30:15
Faithful forever you will be. Faithful you are. All your promises are yes and amen. All your promises yes and amen.
31:00
Alright. I think that this is the last Sunday of children's church downstairs. Am I right? Last Sunday was the last Sunday of children's church downstairs. Whoo.
31:10
They get a great sermon from second Peter. Alright. Yeehaw. Y'all been reading ahead in the text. This ought to be fun.
31:21
Alright. 02:20 to three two. Actually, I'm gonna go to three nine. That's my plan today is I'm gonna go up to three nine. What's that?
31:29
No. No. No. I'm I'm the only kid. They're here.
31:32
They're here. I'm just I'm just kidding. The children's director had her eyes like this at the back, and she said, they can come downstairs. We'll teach them something. Like, there's a little bit of fear in her eyes.
31:42
It's alright. It's alright. It's alright. But we're gonna we're gonna go back. I want to highlight something that I highlighted a bit last week, but I want to literally highlight it this week.
31:51
I'm going read through from verse 10 B forward and then we'll pick up where we ended. White slides mean we've already covered it. Black slides mean we're getting to it for the first time today. So, we go. Bold and arrogant.
32:04
They, this is who? These are the false teachers, the enticers, those who would draw people away from God's word, the foundation of the prophets and the apostles. These are people who are bold and arrogant. They are not even afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings which last week I presented as being glorious ones and I believe that it's demons. There are other people who disagree with me about that but I think that context shows that to be the case.
32:36
They are in some way supernatural, glorious beings. Satan masquerades as an angel of light, right? Bold and arrogant, these false teachers are not afraid to heap abuse on these celestial beings yet even angels who are stronger and more powerful, they do not heap abuse on these same celestial beings when they're bringing judgement on them from the Lord. He says, they don't make a big deal about it. They just do what God says to do.
33:06
But these people blaspheme. Actually, let me go. These people, blasphem em, literally highlighting. The, they, and these people blaspheme in matters that they do not understand and they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed in light.
33:26
Animals, they too will perish. Now, that's a lot of days. They, they, they, they, they. If I'm speaking to y'all and I say they and I know from the very beginning second verse of this book, he says, this is to those who have received a faith just like ours. This is a Jewish background Christian who is presenting a book of encouragement to holy living to a group of Gentile believers.
33:53
Are you with me? Here we go. He's saying y'all the whole time. Y'all y'all y'all y'all y'all in the first chapter. He's saying, you all add to your faith, goodness, and self control and all this and he's making a call to holiness for all of y'all who are listening but then in the second chapter, he says, now, there will be false teachers just like there were false prophets and they, this, and they, that, and they, this, and they, that.
34:18
He is saying, you are either in this family or you are not. He is drawing a dividing line. Okay, it's it I I I don't like to the Us and them mentality. But Peter is saying, this is who we are, first chapter, and this is what they would have you be. They, they, they, they, they, these people, they, they, they, they will be paid back with harm for the harm that they have done.
34:49
They have polluted the pure gospel. They have used it for greed. Their idea of pleasure is to corrals in the broad daylight. They are blots and they are blemishes reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you with eyes full of death adultery. They never stop sinning.
35:07
They seduce the unstable. They are experts in greed and a cursed brood. Are you seeing a pattern here? Is it still a warning to you? Yes, it is but it's a gentler warning, I think, than to say, you, you.
35:26
But it's still a word to the wise is sufficient. These people have left the straight let me go on. They have left the straight way, and they have wandered off to follow the way of Balam, son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness but he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey and animal without speech who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. Excuse me, these people, these people, these people, there it is again. These people are springs without water and they're mists that are driven by a storm.
35:58
Do you remember the instruction of Jesus that he says, let the tares grow up among the weed. Every time that I present to an audience of people, I assume that most of the people that are in this building today are followers of Jesus. What? Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together but coming together and encouraging one another so much the more as you see the day approaching. That's what I assume for the most part but there are some among us who would rather go after the ways of Balam.
36:29
There always are. These people, these false teachers and enticers, they are springs without water and their midst that are driven by storm and blackest darkness is reserved for them, for they, mouth empty and boastful words by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh. They entice people. They entice people. This is where I got enticers right there.
36:52
Enticers are false teachers. They entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. So, they're just coming out of let's say sin. Just that's what it's called in the Bible. They're coming out of sin.
37:06
They're coming into the family of God and as they come out of their sinful background, there are people who would entice them to do one ditch or the other. It might be license or it might be legalism. They would entice them away from the truth of the gospel that Jesus Christ came to die as a ransom for many. He is the sacrifice for all who put their faith in him and that gospel is the cure for both of those errors. They would entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.
37:41
They promised them freedom while they themselves are slaves of depravity and I use this slide last week, this, excuse me, right there. Freedom them promising themselves slaves being. They promised them freedom while they themselves are slaves of depravity. For people are slaves to whatever has mastered them. If Christ has mastered you though, you're a slave to Christ.
38:07
How did Paul start off most of his letters and Peter Peter start off this letter? Dulas, a slave of Christ Jesus. They themselves are slaves of depravity. So, I dot dot last week. Got you to write here.
38:21
So, who are these people? I've said it 12 times now. They are false teachers. They are enticers where we pick up in the text today. It says, if they and it still says they, if they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our lord and savior Jesus Christ and then again are entangled in it and overcome, they're worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
38:44
Is that a horrible thought? It's a horrible thought to think that when you come to know the way and then you walk away from. This leads to a lot of talk on the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. If you read any commentaries, there are people saying these people were never saved anyway and then there are other people that would say, oh yes, you can lose your salvation. I I I believe that you cannot lose your salvation if you ever had it.
39:09
You got it. Nothing that can pluck you out of the hand of God. His whole purpose here is to stimulate us to wholesome thinking And he's saying, yes, they have gotten off of the way. And if they have come to the way and said, you know what? I'm gonna do this.
39:27
And they've tried this for a while, and then they go away from it again back into whatever lifestyle they were previously living, whether it was legalism or license. If they come to this and then they go away from it, this does not hold in their heads the transforming power that it once did. Are you with me? If you if you ask these days, it's not as true as it once was. If you ask of AA, not that they speak in a uniform voice now, But if you ask of AA, what is the cure for alcoholism?
40:03
They say, you will always be an alcoholic, but the cure is conversion, knowing the higher power. And it used to be a lot more evident. I think it's a statement of humility to say, I know that there is a higher power and I'm willing in humility to give over my will to his and submit my will to his. If you come to Jesus and he gives you the freedom that you've been seeking from, it's great and it's good but if in a moment of enticement, someone draws you back in and says, but you are set free from that. You never have to come on.
40:44
You can do whatever you want to. You don't have to really do that. That's not really the case. Look right here. He turned water into wine.
40:52
And they entice you away from that and say, come on, hang out with me. By the next round. Come on. And they draw you back into it. The transforming power that you had walking right here.
41:05
Seems like, well, that didn't really work, did it? He's but he's worse off if he feels like the only thing that works doesn't work. Are are you with me? It's a it's a hard passage. I give you that.
41:22
If they've escaped from the corruption of the world by knowing our lord and savior Jesus Christ and then they're again entangled in and then they're overcome and they're overcome. They're worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It does say they and they there. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Now, again, it's you, you, you, you, you all the way through but then there's the them over there.
41:54
I think that Peter is explaining a bit of what draws people away from the gospel in the first place. Wanting to do their lustful desires. He says, want to do whatever it is that they want to do. He says, it's worse to not know. It's worse to know the truth and go against it than to not know it because there's always the hope that you will come to know it.
42:16
Are you with me? Okay. Of them, the proverbs are true. A dog returns to its vomit and the sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud. Yuck.
42:34
It was bad for that dog when he ate it in the first place and when he threw it up, he goes back to it. It's horrible. The besetting sins that are against. There's no temptation that you're facing that it except for that which is common to man and God will provide a way of escape and get you out of it. It is absolutely possible to walk away from your sin.
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It is not true that you have to return to it. That's not what this is saying. He says of them. It's explaining what happens when people do walk away and then he goes next and he says, dear friends, this is it. Dear friends, actually, dear friends is softening it a little bit from the agape toy.
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Agape toy means beloved ones. Beloved of God. All of y'all who are beloved of God. Dear, dear, dear, precious friends, beloved of God. This is now my second letter to you and I've written both of them as reminders and he tells us that over and over.
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This is a reminder. I believe that you're saved. I do. Believe that you're saved. He says it multiple times.
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In fact, he says it right here. So, I will always remind you of these things even though you know them. You already know. Think it's a good one for grad Sunday as a matter of fact. I will remind you of these things even though you already know them and you're firmly established in the truth that you know how.
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I think it's right to refresh your memory. I'm going to remind you 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. This book is about striving. The book of first Peter, he's tell told him several times to make every effort to add to your faith, goodness, and self control and all these good things and he says, and I'm going to make every effort to see to it that after my departure, I'll, you will always be able to remember these things. I'm going to write them down.
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We're going to pass them down. And what is he reminding us of? To stimulate us towards wholesome thinking. Is it possible to remain neutral? Yes, you say.
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Is it possible to remain neutral and choose this day whom you'll serve? Is it for God or is it for the world? Is it possible to remain neutral? I don't think it is. I think that if you're not choosing God, you're choosing the world.
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You're going down a stream and if you're not swimming against that current, Peter is trying to stimulate you to wholesome thinking It's a tough passage but this is his purpose Dear friends, beloved ones, all of you, beloved of God, this is my second letter. I've written both to remind you to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall what? The words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our lord and savior through your apostles. Sounds like Paul right here.
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Paul in Ephesians says, so now you Gentiles, that's everybody who's not a background Jewish descent. So, now you Gentiles, you're no longer strangers and you're no longer foreigners. You're citizens along with all of God's holy people. You're members of God's family together. We are his house.
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We're built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. The cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We're carefully joined together in him becoming a holy temple for the Lord. The foundation of the apostles and prophets is very important. Above all, verse three says, you must understand that in the last days, scoffers will come.
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Scoffing and following after their own evil desires. Is that a surprise? Have scoffers been around since the beginning? Yes. I I've got something this week.
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I've received it from about four or five different people. Have you all heard this? I'm not scoffing and mocking, I promise you right now. So there's a museum in Kentucky that is Noah's Art Museum. I think it's great.
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Several of our folks have been there. It's wonderful. It's a pretty it's life size Noah's Ark. Biggest timber frame structure in the world. Okay?
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It's huge. And just a few days ago, they had a dispute with their insurance company and their insurance y'all hadn't heard this? I'm not seeing anybody nodding their heads. Yeah. I got it from a lot of people.
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Maybe it's my job. I don't know. But their insurance company because the rains came to Kentucky and it washed out a road. Now, the way that it comes up on every website, if you Google Noah's Ark Sue and Insurance Company, it'll come up 500 different ways and almost all of them are mocking and scoffing. Why did they build this thing in the first place?
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Oh, like it can't stand a little rain. There's a lot of mocking and scoffing going on. It was a road that was washed out. It wasn't that Noah's Ark was damaged by the rain but it's all kind of stuff and then, people are bringing up, oh, aren't Christians not supposed to sue each other? And then, it's 9,000 different mocking, scoffing sort of things.
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Scoffers exist. They have been since the beginning. They're gonna keep on being according to Peter. But I just wanted to bring that up because I got it and it was it was a little, hey, look at this. This is funny.
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A little bit of rain. Got no zark. Peter's going to use this example in just a minute, okay? Not that exact example but they will say, oh where is this coming that he promised? Jesus.
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Where is this coming that he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation. How do you know that? How do you know that? How do you know that everything is going on just as it has since the beginning of creation?
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All we see is what we see. We've got reports and some distorted reports from what happens, who wins the wars. When they win the wars, they write the history. You don't know everything that's ever happened since the ancestors have died. And there's a lot of hubris in the right now saying, oh, CS Lewis called it.
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What was it? Chronological hubris. I think it was something like it was chronological pride that because we see everything clearly. Now, certainly, Peter is saying the scoffers are going to point to that and say, where is this? That's ridiculous Where is this coming?
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It's been two thousand years. At this time, it only been sixty something years. Thirty something years since his since his crucifixion So, this is about sixty five to sixty seven AD that this was written. Where is this coming he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on since beginning of creation but they, again, he says, they, deliberately forget that long ago, by God's word, the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.
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Genesis teaches that by the way. By these waters also, the world of that time was delu and destroy He's talking about the judgment of God They're deliberately forgetting. What does Roman say? Roman says, they deliberately suppress the truth even though they can see it very evidently with their own eyes. By that, by these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
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He's already mentioned this chapter two. If he did not spare the ancient world, when he brought the flood on its ungodly people but he protected Noah, the preacher of righteousness and seven others, they were his family. By the same word, the present heaven and earth are reserved for fire. Being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of the ungodly. There are certainly scoffers that say, that's not going to happen.
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It's been here forever. If we ever should go, it's going to be natural processes. It's not like there's anybody really over us or looking out this way. He does not interfere. That is not what the Bible teaches.
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This is what the Bible teaches. By the same word, God's word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire. They're being kept for the day of judgement and the destruction of the ungodly. It's not hard to imagine the Earth being destroyed by fire in the days of nuclear weapons, is it? Or if you're sitting on top of a huge caldera, right?
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Super volcano could grieve. If he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes and he made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. This is not just an isolated instant. Peter picks this up. It's in Psalms.
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It's in couple of other prophets of the Old Testament. He's saying, this is going to come to pass. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends. Again, I got Betoy, beloved ones. I've been talking about day, day, day, day, day, day, day.
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This is the way they think but the way we think is in line with the foundation of the prophets and the apostles. 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. Y'all heard me preach before about how interesting the end times prophecies are and that no one knows the hour and so the gospel is what we ought to hold on to. The gospel that Jesus Christ came, lived a perfect life, did not have any sin debt owed, and voluntarily gave his life sacrificially so that anyone who would put their trust in him would not perish but have everlasting life would not have to fear the judgment but have everlasting life.
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Do not forget this one thing, dear friends, that with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. God is completely outside of time. He spoke it into existence. We have to deal with past, present, and future. We have to.
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We don't have any other options. If we're going live in the present, we have we have to deal with our past and think towards our future but God is not constrained by such as that. With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and thousand years are like a day and the Lord is not slow. Some older versions say, slack. I like slack.
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The Lord is not slack. He's not slow in keeping his promise. Surely, when he wrote this at '65, 66, or sixty seven AD and he's just thirty something years away from the cross and he's saying, he's not slow and then, now we're 2,000 He did everything that he could so we remember this. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise As some understand slowness, there are scoffers that say, well, why didn't he hear already? Why didn't he come already?
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Must not be true because you know what? If you're waiting on somebody in Jackson they forgot about you. You know, that's what our experience as humans is. When someone tarries, they probably found a better party, bigger thing. They went raft and they climbed mountains.
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They did something different than whatever y'all were going to do together. Is this can I get an amen, please? Has anybody had this experience? Yeah. But the Lord is not like that.
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If he says, its promises are yes and amen. We just say. If he says it's going to come to pass, it's going to come to pass. So, we should live in the light of what he has revealed and what he's revealed is, you can add to your faith goodness, and self control and holiness and godliness. You can add these things by submitting your will to the will of God and you find that expressly stated in his word.
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The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with and it's not they. It's you. It's actually y'all here. Where'd that go?
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There it is. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with y'all He's patient with you You know, if the shoe fits, you wear it, that's that old saying. So, he said, they, they, they, they, they, you actually could be a part of the day. I don't know you.
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I don't know where your heart is. I don't understand exactly where every soul in this room is but this could be directly to you today. It's a second person plural y'all here. Instead, he is, he has been patient with y'all not wanting anyone to perish. You know, that points immediately.
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You have to think back to John three sixteen for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So, he goes on from this not wanting anyone to perish but given the option there but so that everyone would come to repentance so that everyone would come to and it's metanoeo is what the Greek word. I didn't put it up there this time but it is a turning of the mind, a changing of the mind. When Peter says, I want to remind you, he says, I want to bring these things toward you to your mind to stimulate you towards wholesome thinking. So, if you were in the way of Jesus walking this central path and you were tempted to go either way, his words are to get you centered back upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles, the cornerstone of Jesus Christ, and to be right in the center of his will and it takes a change of mind to get there.
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If you can awake each day with the thought of lord, I long to do your will. Oh, it's so great. It's so great to go throughout the day and say, thank you lord for the opportunity right there to serve. Thank you lord for the opportunity that you've given to serve. What time is it?
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So, I used to go to church in a little country church and we change preachers about every two or three years and please don't get any ideas. There was a guy that at at sorry. At 11:53, he hit this verse every Sunday and it bothered me. I didn't like it because the crescendo of his sermon every Sunday was the same verse. It's a good one though.
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It's a really, really good one if you have not trusted in Jesus. You are in a hopeless state. If you have trusted in Jesus and you're tempted to turn away, he is patient with y'all but he's not wishing that any would turn away but that they would change their mind and turn back to him. Lord's not slow in keeping his promise. As some understand slowness.
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Don't believe the scoffers that say, well, it hadn't happened yet. Probably ain't going to happen. Believe some old ridiculous book. It's crazy. What is the death of a first century Jew have to do with you?
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Oh, first Corinthians one eighteen says, that the message of the cross is foolishness to whom? To those who are perishing. But to those who are being saved, it is the very power of God. Habakkuk says, for the vision is yet for the appointed time. It's out there in front of us.
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It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail though it tarries. Wait for it. Wait for it. For it will certainly come and it will not delay. Hebrews ten thirty seven says, for in just a little while, he who is coming will come and he will not delay.
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Jesus is coming back. That is what Peter is pointing to. If he doesn't come back by the end of the day to day, that doesn't change the fact that he's coming back and we should live in the light of that coming of the Lord. The next thing we get to, we'll talk about the urgency but we're going to save that for next week, alright? We'll probably close out the book next week, I would imagine.
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Carl, can you? The band come back up. I want you to think about whether or not you're living in the light of eternity. Are you living in the light of there is a god, the almighty God and he has a way. This way is expressly stated in his word.
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It doesn't equivocate. Jesus is the way. He is the life. He is the truth And if you deny that, you're doing so to your own peril. You're operating against your own self interest.
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I pray that today you'll consider what God has stated plainly in his word. In Jesus name, lord, would you do your will and your way through our lives? Amen. The altar is always open if you want to come forward. If you want to talk to me, you're welcome to.
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I'll turn the microphone off. I promise. But if you want to come forward to pray, I think that Peter is making a call for repentance and if you want to come forward, you're welcome.
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Would you stand and we'll sing, take my life and let it be.
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And now, after that sermon, taste and see that the Lord is good. He is good. He's good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. There is no other refuge.
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The lions may grow weak and they may grow hungry but those who seek after the Lord will lack no good thing. In Jesus name, lord, we pray that you would meet all of our needs, the needs that we have for the knowledge of God through Jesus Christ. The needs that we have for peace that passes understanding, the needs that we have, Lord, that we don't even know about. In Jesus' name, we pray that you'd keep us and consecrate our lives. Amen.
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