#bibleteaching #2Peter #ChapterThree #Series #Scoffers #Burning #Sky #EndTimes #Apocalypse #history #christianity #christian #God #doctrine #ChartridgeMissionChurch #chesham #ColmFagan #OxfordBaptistChapel #thefriendliestfellowship #LearningTheBibleTogether
Colm Fagan from Oxford Baptist Chapel is back in the Chartridge pulpit to wrap up our Bible study series on 2 Peter. With the end-time themes of scoffers and burning, melting skies, Colm leads us verse by verse through this very exciting third chapter.
Colm Fagan YouTube Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeLtfVhcCUFtJ-SHO_U48BSwXi1HQLDzE
Chartridge Mission Church, a beacon of faith, was founded in 1844 and remains in the village of Chartridge, just outside Chesham, in the picturesque Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire, England, UK.
We are a warm and welcoming fellowship and would be delighted to have you visit us in person. Join us for our Sunday service at 6 pm, followed by refreshments.
Our Church is fully accessible, with wheelchair ramps and an accessible toilet, ensuring everyone can participate in our services.
Chartridge Mission Church, Chapel Lane, Chartridge, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 2TH
The village Church with an international audience.
Support our work at Chartridge Mission Church:
Donations via Stewardship.org.uk:
https://www.stewardship.org.uk/partners/20005300
Cheques can be made payable to Chartridge Mission Church and sent to the above address for the attention of Pastor Barry Kempson.
Recorded on Sunday, 25th January 2026.
Join us for our Sunday service at 6 pm.
www.Chartridge.UK
The Friendliest Fellowship.
Colm Fagan from Oxford Baptist Chapel is back in the Chartridge pulpit to wrap up our Bible study series on 2 Peter. With the end-time themes of scoffers and burning, melting skies, Colm leads us verse by verse through this very exciting third chapter.
Colm Fagan YouTube Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeLtfVhcCUFtJ-SHO_U48BSwXi1HQLDzE
Chartridge Mission Church, a beacon of faith, was founded in 1844 and remains in the village of Chartridge, just outside Chesham, in the picturesque Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire, England, UK.
We are a warm and welcoming fellowship and would be delighted to have you visit us in person. Join us for our Sunday service at 6 pm, followed by refreshments.
Our Church is fully accessible, with wheelchair ramps and an accessible toilet, ensuring everyone can participate in our services.
Chartridge Mission Church, Chapel Lane, Chartridge, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 2TH
The village Church with an international audience.
Support our work at Chartridge Mission Church:
Donations via Stewardship.org.uk:
https://www.stewardship.org.uk/partners/20005300
Cheques can be made payable to Chartridge Mission Church and sent to the above address for the attention of Pastor Barry Kempson.
Recorded on Sunday, 25th January 2026.
Join us for our Sunday service at 6 pm.
www.Chartridge.UK
The Friendliest Fellowship.
Category
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LearningTranscript
00:00Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see.
00:15All I have needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
00:33Wonderful. I'm going to open up with a psalm. We can begin our service.
00:38I'll open up. It's nice to start with the word of God and end with the word of God in the meeting, I find, because then the first thing you hear and the last thing isn't just mine.
00:48I read this in the week and it encouraged me a lot. Psalm 48, it reads,
00:53Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north.
01:08The city of the great king. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.
01:15For lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together, they saw it, and so they marveled.
01:20They were troubled and hasted away. Fear took hold upon them there, and pain as of a woman in travail.
01:27Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish, with an east wind. As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever. Selah.
01:40We have thought of thy loving kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth.
01:52Thy right hand is full of righteousness. Let Mount Zion rejoice. Let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and go round about her. Tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation following.
02:13For this God is our God, forever and ever. He will be our guide, even unto death.
02:20Let's turn to our scriptures. We'll read the chapter together. That is 2 Peter chapter 3.
02:27This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance,
02:37that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandments of us the apostles, of the Lord and Saviour.
02:50Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying,
03:00Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
03:10For this they are willingly are ignorant, of that by the word of God the heavens were of old,
03:18and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished.
03:27But the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
03:40But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
03:51The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
04:05But the day of the Lord will come, as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away, with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
04:16The earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.
04:21Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
04:30looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
04:41Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
04:50Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless,
05:01and account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.
05:05Even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you.
05:13As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to be understood,
05:22which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction.
05:30Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware, lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
05:41fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
05:50To him be glory, both now and forever. Amen.
05:53This is Peter's signature. This is the last thing that he writes, if you bear that in mind.
06:00The last thing that Peter writes. And he says this in the end chapter.
06:06This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you.
06:12I think that confirms that this second epistle was written by Peter.
06:16Peter, I know a few people that go to Oxford University.
06:20They are believers, but they go to Oxford University and the theological classes there, the theological courses there.
06:29And and some of or I'd say 90 percent of the lecturers there are completely ungodly, carnal, unbiblical.
06:37And this is something that is relayed to me all the time by them and others and just doing a bit of digging is this is one of the most doubted books in the entire New Testament to Peter.
06:50They say if to Peter falls and crumbles or it causes us to doubt if to Peter goes,
06:57then there is good reason to reject the letters of Paul, because Peter confirms Paul's writing at the end of the chapter, as we'll see.
07:05And then if you reject Paul's letters, we're, you know, we're spiraling downhill very much, because if you look at Mark, if you look at Luke, they were fellow disciples with Paul.
07:16And then it starts to corrupt the Gospels. It's a very, very slip, slippy slope.
07:19But I'm thankful that the Lord gave his word and preserves his word.
07:24The Lord didn't say that he would preserve an apostolic succession.
07:30Even if there was a preserved apostolic succession, we are prone to wander and go astray.
07:36And I was saying that to someone today that the one thing that the Lord has preserved is his word.
07:40And I'm thankful for that. And that helps us confirm what was true in the past.
07:45That helps us confirm the present and the future.
07:47So this is the foundation that we can stand on.
07:51So we should trust that God has given this to us.
07:53And I think you'd see the wisdom and the power.
07:57And not only that, just the difference, the holiness that these words have compared to man's words.
08:03So this second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you.
08:09And I don't want to, you know, dig up too much into the previous chapters, but Peter does address them.
08:15I believe it's to the same audience.
08:17There's a few things that suggest that to the same audience.
08:20And if you wanted to go back, just at the beginning of 1 Peter, he tells us the audience to the strangers that are scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
08:31So these are people amongst that Asia Minor region.
08:35These are believers that are scattered.
08:38And he writes that to them and then to Peter, because in verse one of 2 Peter chapter three, he says this.
08:43This was puzzling me and the only way I can make sense of it.
08:47This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you in both, which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.
08:56And I thought, why does it say both?
08:58I really, I scratched my head for days about this.
09:00I thought, why does it say both?
09:01Because it doesn't give us like a double listing of something to follow this.
09:06It doesn't say.
09:08Because you read after, it doesn't categorize two things to say both.
09:12The only thing that it could in the context is his second epistle.
09:16So I believe when he says both, he's referring to his first letter and second letter, unless I'm mistaken.
09:21But that's the only thing that makes sense to me in context as well, in regards to two things that would go together to be both.
09:28This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you in both.
09:32And the things that he lists does make sense in both epistles.
09:36In both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.
09:40And how does he stir up their pure minds?
09:43Now you might think, how can they have pure minds?
09:46Because none of us have pure minds.
09:48We still live in our sinful flesh.
09:50But we now have pure minds.
09:53We now have a new man being born again.
09:57We have a new man formed and fashioned after Christ himself.
10:03And he says this in verse two.
10:05So he stirs up their pure minds by way of remembrance that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets.
10:17And of the commandment of us and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and saviour.
10:23So he says, look, I need to stir your minds up.
10:25Okay.
10:26By way of remembrance, that means it must be something that we've come across before.
10:30And then this is what we've come across before.
10:32He says this, the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of the apostles of the Lord and saviour.
10:42That would refer to those Old Testament writings, those words that are given us by the prophets and of the apostles of our Lord and saviour.
10:50So these are things that we need to be stirred up with in our minds and to remember.
10:57Now, in chapter one, as it would have been preached to you, is it comes up three times in chapter one of 2 Peter.
11:05He says to grow in your faith, to grow, to add to your faith, add, add, grow.
11:10And then because Peter does say that his time of departure is very close.
11:14He is going to leave this tabernacle.
11:16He's going to leave this earth.
11:17He's saying he's going to die.
11:19So in chapter one, he says, wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them and be established in the present truth.
11:30Yea, I think it meet.
11:31That means I think it fitting.
11:34I think it's suitable as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.
11:41And he mentions it again, as we just read in chapter three.
11:44He thinks it's suitable.
11:45It's meet.
11:47It's it's correct to always stir up the believers and to continuously put them in remembrance of the things they need to know.
11:54And he says, even though you already know these things and you're well established, I still need to bring this up.
11:59I still need to plow that ground, as it were.
12:02And then again, in verse 14 to 15, he mentioned it twice.
12:05And in verse 15, again, he says this, moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
12:16Go back to chapter three with me.
12:17So that's that's how he starts out his letter.
12:19He says to the believers about adding to their faith, adding to their faith and then to grow.
12:26And then he ends the letter with the same statement, actually.
12:29But he says this to add, to grow.
12:31And he says, you always need to be put in remembrance of this.
12:33Why? Because we're so prone to forget.
12:36We're prone to being stale, aren't we?
12:39Yes, I know the Lord has done this.
12:40And no, no, you need to always, always be reading this word.
12:45Now, you might have heard these truths 500 times.
12:48You may have memorized these truths.
12:51It doesn't mean you don't need to hear it again.
12:53And the same for me.
12:54So that's what he says.
12:55You need to be mindful of the words which are spoken before by the holy prophets and by the apostles of our Lord and Savior.
13:03So someone said to me, it's almost like wearing glasses.
13:07If you have one lens in that glass, you're going to be unbalanced.
13:10I don't wear glasses.
13:12The only time I did wear glasses, I was about 10 years old at school for a joke.
13:15And I felt a bit sick after wearing them.
13:17I couldn't walk properly.
13:18I don't know what grade they were.
13:19But imagine you have your lenses and then one is very strong and the other has no lens.
13:26That will cause you to be very unbalanced, wouldn't it?
13:29And it's like that when you have the Old Testament without the New and the New Testament without the Old.
13:33Now, I always found that, of course, the Old Testament doesn't make sense without the New Testament fulfillment and the Son of God.
13:40You cannot make sense of it.
13:41You cannot remove the New Testament.
13:43Like, what do you have?
13:45Unfulfilled promises.
13:46But also, the New Testament without the Old Testament, the more I read the New Testament, the more fulfillment you see.
13:54It's very important.
13:56So I hope, and we are in January, and I hope that your Bible reading is on point, that you are reading the Word of God.
14:03Normally in January, everyone starts to get up to pace and then they start to dip.
14:07I hope you don't dip.
14:08I hope you excel in that.
14:10So he says this, knowing this first.
14:12So remember, they already know these truths.
14:16He has to stir them up in remembrance of the scriptures that we previously had, of the scriptures we presently have.
14:23And he says this, the first thing is this, that there shall come in the last days scoffers.
14:30Now, scoffer is someone who would deride the Word of God, who would make fun or poke or disrespect.
14:37That's a scoffer.
14:40And here's what scoffers do.
14:41They walk after their own lusts.
14:45They will believe what they want.
14:48That's their lusts that they follow.
14:50They are subject to their own lusts.
14:53They do not want to have to be subject to the Word of God.
14:57In Romans chapter 1, it uses this phrase that they hold the truth in unrighteousness.
15:01So you can give someone the truth and they can hold it unrighteously, can't they?
15:07And that's what the Pharisees did.
15:08We see this in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, that scoffers.
15:13They make void the Word of God or they completely scoff and twist the Word of God.
15:18And saying, look at what would be a statement of these scoffers.
15:23Where is the promise of his coming?
15:26This kind of statement is a statement of humour.
15:30It's a flippant rhetorical statement.
15:32Where is the promise of his coming?
15:35You know, so much emphasis on this coming.
15:37Well, where is it then?
15:39Where is it?
15:39Have you ever been told some similar statement, even the day and age that we live in?
15:43Now, that confirms to me that the promises of God are true because it speaks of people like that.
15:48In Peter's day and in our day, we have people like that, don't we?
15:52That doesn't mean that God doesn't keep his promises.
15:54We know that where is the promise of his coming?
15:58In a day that he has appointed because no man knows the day or the hour.
16:05And that you scoffing at this just confirms it even the more.
16:08For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
16:13Well, come on, you know, there's nothing new.
16:16And believe me, I think we do recognise signs of the times, of course.
16:20I think believers in the 1930s, they saw signs of their times.
16:26But I'm sure some of you ladies that have given birth, you know, and some of you men, you've experienced a woman giving birth or a woman being pregnant or approaching that time of birth.
16:38Is sometimes you get those, you know, twangs here and there and then they'll ease off.
16:43Sometimes they come and then sometimes they go.
16:45But when the birth is coming, it comes faster and faster, quicker and quicker, more painful and more painful.
16:51The time have become shorter in between.
16:53And that's what it's compared to in the word of God.
16:55So they would say, yeah, yeah, everything's still to say, yeah, you know, people used to say that back then.
17:11People used to believe that back then.
17:13Yeah, utter hogwash, ridiculous.
17:15It's not true.
17:16But here's where they missed the mark.
17:19They are willingly ignorant.
17:21Number one, they walk after their own lusts.
17:24That's why they reject it.
17:25And not only that, they are willingly ignorant.
17:28They actually, willingly, on purpose, reject the truth.
17:34Can you believe there's people like that?
17:36I think I was like that at a point in my life.
17:41And may God change these scoffers.
17:44They are willingly ignorant of that by the word of God, the heavens were of old.
17:50If they just believe, well, it's just here, you know, and what will be what will be.
17:55When you believe like that, it's no wonder you conclude what you do.
17:58But if you start here, that by the word of God, the heavens were of old and the earth, the word of God created all things.
18:07He spoke things just for sake of time.
18:09I won't go through it.
18:09But we could go through a score of scriptures that say about how the word of God formed and fashioned all things.
18:15In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
18:19All things were made by him.
18:20Without him was not anything made that was made.
18:22But it also says this statement.
18:24They're willingly ignorant that by the word of God, the heavens were of old.
18:28Now, you'll meet some people like this.
18:30They'll have like a deist view where they believe, yeah, I mean, yeah, there might be a creator that created everything.
18:36The Bible says that they are ignorant that it was God that spoke everything into existence.
18:42Now they are personally accountable.
18:45Sometimes we miss that.
18:47Oh, do you believe there's a creator?
18:48All men believe there's a creator.
18:50They know it.
18:51It's manifest in them.
18:52And this is what they reject, that God personally created all things and we are personally responsible to him.
18:59Because when we hear it was by his word, that means he's a God that's creative.
19:06Not only that, it's a God that speaks and we can know it and they don't want to.
19:11We will come across people like this.
19:12And Peter warns about these people, knowing this first, in the last days shall come scoffers.
19:18And this is what they do.
19:20And it mentions this.
19:21And that the earth, standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
19:30Now I believe this is a reference to that God flooded the earth.
19:34Some people believe it to be a pre-creation flood.
19:37I don't hold that position because I think comparing scripture with scripture and something that we know to be true is that the old world did overflow with water and it did perish and everything in it.
19:49But if you look here, that they reject that God created all things.
19:55If they, in their minds, they reject that God created all things.
19:58In their minds, they try and find a comfortable place that they don't have to acknowledge a true and righteous God.
20:04But also that God wouldn't judge, God wouldn't interfere with his creation, what he clearly did.
20:12When it comes to a point where the imaginations and the thoughts and the hearts and the intents of man were only evil continually, God steps in.
20:21And that's something that a scoffer also has to admit.
20:24So they are willingly ignorant of that.
20:26Not only did God create all things, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
20:31You have to admit that if God created, everything will return back to him.
20:36That he is in charge.
20:37He is the Lord.
20:38He is the boss.
20:39And not only that, they have to be rejecting his judgment.
20:44They have to be rejecting of his interference in this earth that he created.
20:49But also it continues on.
20:51But the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word, are kept in store.
20:57So the same word that created all things is the same word that sustains them.
21:03And he says this.
21:04The same heavens and earth that we have right now, the earth that we walk on, the heaven that we see.
21:10It says it is reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
21:19Now that's something else.
21:20I believe that all people know that this world shall come to an end.
21:23However it does, there's different opinions.
21:26We know the biblical one and it's the true one.
21:29But all men know that the world shall come to an end.
21:32However it does.
21:32But here is what tells us that it's reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and against the perdition of ungodly men.
21:42That's another reason why they are willingly ignorant.
21:44Why? Not only does God interfere with his creation, he created them and they are accountable to him, but also he shall judge.
21:55He won't just get rid of the heavens and the earth.
21:57That's their perspective.
21:58But it says ungodly men too.
22:02But beloved, be ye not ignorant of this.
22:06Now they are willingly ignorant of all of those things, all of those truths, the things in the past and in the future.
22:11Here's what we ought to be ignorant of.
22:14So when he says things like that, you see in the Bible, I would that you not be ignorant, brethren.
22:18He's saying, look, listen, please don't miss this.
22:21Because if you miss this, it'll end up tripping you up further down the line.
22:26Don't be ignorant of this.
22:27That one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.
22:37It's almost like, now you read that in context, you're getting a flow of scripture there and you understand the subject that Peter's speaking about.
22:43And then he just says, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing.
22:46A day with the Lord is as a thousand years.
22:49Now it's a simile that he's speaking about.
22:51But one day for us isn't actually a thousand years for God.
22:55It's one day is just, you know, as a thousand years for God.
22:59Everyone go to Psalm chapter 90 with me.
23:02I'm sure this may have come to your mind, actually.
23:04Psalm chapter 90.
23:05This was a psalm that was written by Moses.
23:09You may have knew that already.
23:11But everyone look here with me.
23:13I'll read from verse one just for context.
23:14But just picture, Moses wrote this psalm and then the entire chapter, it uses descriptions of time.
23:21Morning, evening.
23:22It speaks of everlasting to everlasting.
23:24It speaks of before the mountains were formed.
23:26It speaks of all generations.
23:28It speaks of this, this, this, this all the time.
23:30Teach us to number our days.
23:31He says, how long, how long are days, the years, et cetera, et cetera.
23:34The whole psalm speaks of units of time.
23:37And then that's where we get in verse 10.
23:39The days of our years are three school years and 10.
23:41But if by reason of strength, they be four school years.
23:44That's where people get that scripture that the average life of a man now is about 70 years.
23:48If they have a bit more strength in body, it'll be 80 years.
23:52That's where the scripture comes from in this psalm.
23:55But look with me in verse one.
23:56Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth.
24:02Or ever thou hast formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
24:12So this is something that we should have as our perspective.
24:16Look, God has always been and he always will.
24:21If we have an eternal perspective like that, that would help us while we live in this world.
24:27If we know that God does not change, my years are few on this earth.
24:34Very few in light of eternity.
24:36And read the next verse with me in verse three.
24:39Thou turnest man to destruction and sayest, return ye children of men for a thousand years in nice sight.
24:45Or as but yesterday when it is past and as a watch in the night.
24:49Go back to 2 Peter with me.
24:51So he's saying, look, a thousand years to the Lord is just like a watch in the night.
24:55It's just the day.
24:56It's just like yesterday happened.
24:57That's like a thousand years to God.
25:00Picture back a thousand years ago, how England was a thousand years ago.
25:05That is a long time ago.
25:07Now think back four days ago, me and you.
25:09What was you doing four days ago?
25:11We're having four thousand years ago.
25:13Do you understand the perspective?
25:14He wants us to have an eternal perspective.
25:18We have eternal life, right?
25:19It's not like our life starts when we leave this world.
25:22No, we have eternal life and we should have that mindset.
25:26And he says, one thing that you shouldn't be ignorant of is that one day with the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day.
25:34The Lord is not slack concerning his promise.
25:38Now we're kind of back to context now.
25:41What is this promise about?
25:43It's them saying, no, no, where is the promise of his coming?
25:46Where is the promise that Jesus shall return?
25:49You know, and then many people were trying to overthrow the faith in those churches beforehand and saying, no, he's not coming back.
25:56He's not going to return.
25:58And it would overthrow the faith of some, it says.
26:01Paul mentions that to Timothy in one of his letters.
26:04But he says, look, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise.
26:07I've heard some Christians, I thought he would have been back by now.
26:12You know, I thought he would have been back by now.
26:15I mean, you know, sometimes in our own wisdom and carnality, sometimes we think it's got to be there.
26:22It has to be, you know, like if I was God, this would be the day, you know, 2012, the year 2000, you know, and we go back, you know, 1944.
26:311944, I thought, I thought, you know, that's how we are.
26:36But we are not him.
26:37He knows the day and the hour.
26:40Thank God.
26:42He has appointed a day in which he shall judge the world, it says.
26:45But he's not slack concerning his promise.
26:48You know what that means?
26:49Like when I go to work, sometimes we like draw cables and through the ceiling, you get a big cable drum.
26:54And if there's too much slack, it starts to get tied up.
26:57And if someone's not pulling properly as they should, you get a load of slack somewhere.
27:01And it's like, you know, what's going on?
27:03You know, I'm thinking, are you pulling or you're not?
27:05Sometimes we think about that, that same way with God, don't we?
27:08We think, hang on, like you said this, this, this.
27:10And I'm thinking this would have come about.
27:12This would have happened.
27:13The Lord shall return.
27:16As true as I'm stood here, he shall return.
27:19It's as good as done, right?
27:20Because God's promises are true.
27:22It's as good as done.
27:23It just hasn't come about in this present day yet.
27:27But he says, he's not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness.
27:34Look what he says.
27:36But is long suffering to us would, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
27:45Now, what a wonderful thought.
27:46Sometimes we don't think like that, but we should have that mindset.
27:49Is that Paul said words like this, that, Lord, if my brethren could be saved, I'd be accursed for my brethren.
27:59Moses said the same thing.
28:00Lord, you know, destroy me.
28:01Don't destroy them.
28:02When he's speaking about the tribes of Israel, you know, they had a heart for their people that they would be right with God.
28:08And may we be the same, not Lord, I just, oh, it's too much now, you know, help me just to get by.
28:15Please come tomorrow.
28:16What about the lost?
28:18What about him being long suffering and not willing that any should perish?
28:22Thank God for his long suffering.
28:27Thank God, because if he did come back, then what would happen?
28:33He would judge the world.
28:34But thankfully, he was long suffering to us and Lord willing to many, many more.
28:40So may we have that same perspective that God is long suffering.
28:45God is merciful and he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
28:50Now, the scriptures say that we are the light of the world.
28:56We are the light of the world.
28:58Matthew chapter five.
29:00The scriptures do say that Jesus is the light of the world, but he must be taken out of the world and we are his body.
29:06He uses us to spread his word, a shining light in the darkness.
29:12So may we do that before he comes.
29:14And I'll get back to that very shortly in our manner of behavior when he comes.
29:20But in verse 10, he gives us detail about this day of the Lord.
29:23Now, again, the scoffers are ignorant of the creation.
29:27They're ignorant of God's judgment as in the flood.
29:30And they're also ignorant of his return and his judgment.
29:34It says here, the day of the Lord in verse 10 will come as a thief in the night.
29:41Now, some people think, well, you know, is he going to come?
29:44Where it should have happened?
29:45Where's this?
29:46It's so slack.
29:47It's it seems so loose.
29:48You know, is God even, you know, sticking to his promises?
29:51God isn't vague.
29:53God isn't obscure.
29:54God's not trying to trick us.
29:57No, he's not with the ifs, buts, maybes and uncertainties.
30:00No, that's not God.
30:02But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
30:06This same expression is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, if you'd like to turn there with me.
30:12A thief in the night.
30:14What this description?
30:15Now, God is not a thief.
30:16He's not a robber.
30:18But the Lord Jesus uses worldly illustrations or earthly stories with heavenly meanings.
30:26That's hence the term of a parable.
30:29I mean, the Lord Jesus doesn't condone sin.
30:31I remember I was speaking about the unjust judge one day.
30:35And the woman said, don't you think that unjust judge was very unrighteous?
30:38I was like, yes, but it's it's it's a picture.
30:40It's a story that we would be familiar with.
30:43And it's relatable to how God deals with us.
30:46Like the parable with usury and, you know, about the person who hid his talent.
30:50He could have put it in the bank and usury.
30:52And it's like all these things.
30:53And is God a thief?
30:54No, he's not a thief.
30:56But it's the illustration that he shall come as a thief in the night.
30:59Now, picture a thief in the night.
31:01He comes when it's dark.
31:03There's unpredictability there, of course.
31:05But also they tend to strike suddenly.
31:08And that's the same way in which the Lord comes back.
31:11He will come back as a thief in the night.
31:121 Thessalonians 5, if you're there.
31:14Each of these chapters in 1 and 2 Thessalonians refers to the Lord's coming.
31:19Every chapter.
31:20Some in great detail.
31:22In chapter 4, about half of the chapter refers to his coming.
31:25But each chapter refers to it.
31:27But the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
31:32So you're saying, Thessalonians, you don't need me to write about times and seasons.
31:38You don't need that.
31:39What they did need is this.
31:41For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
31:47Same wording.
31:47For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.
31:58But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
32:04So the thief comes, ransacks whatever he does, and takes what he takes in the night.
32:10But that's not going to be the way for us.
32:12This world is not ready or expecting the Lord to come in the way that he will.
32:18For them it shall be as a thief in the night, but for us it shall be his glorious appearing.
32:22And let's go to Titus, seeing as we're so close to Titus, let's go to Titus chapter 2.
32:26Let's read verse 13.
32:28Titus 2 verse 13 says, Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our saviour, Jesus Christ.
32:40So to the believers, it's a blessed hope that our saviour, he gave us a promise that he saved us and he will come back for us.
32:48He shall return.
32:50For us, it's a blessed hope.
32:52And hope has expectation.
32:54A hope isn't just, well, that's nice.
32:57No, no, no.
32:58It's an expectation.
32:59It's a hope we have and a blessed hope.
33:01So go back to 2 Peter if you can.
33:03But to the world, it's something that shall overtake them.
33:06It shall be terrible to this world.
33:11And not just that, not just the world, but also it says judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
33:17So go back there in verse 10 if you can.
33:19The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
33:32That word fervent means like extreme.
33:37Fervent heat.
33:38The earth also and the works.
33:41You see this parallel a lot.
33:43I noticed that in a few different books of the Bible, especially in 2 Peter chapter 3 is the world and the works.
33:50Just think the world and the ungodly people.
33:54That's what God's going to consume.
33:55He's not just going to, you know, like he flooded the world.
33:58It wasn't just to clean up the world a little bit.
34:00No, no, no.
34:00It was the judgment against the sin that was in the world, too.
34:05And then look here.
34:07In verse 11, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved.
34:13Everything shall be dissolved.
34:14I was teaching today.
34:16I help with the Sunday school ministry at our church.
34:20And I was teaching some teenagers today and we were going through about the works that we bring and the foundation that's laid for us.
34:30Christ is our foundation as believers.
34:32And then our works, our labors that's laid on that foundation, whether it's wood, hay, stubble or gold, silver and precious stones.
34:41The wood, hay, stubble shall be burnt up because the Bible says that our works shall be tried by fire of what sort it is.
34:48And then the gold, silver, precious stones shall endure because they'll endure the fire.
34:54It was of eternal worth.
34:56The wood, hay, stubble was not.
34:58And that's what I was saying to them.
35:00And that's the same here.
35:01Nothing shall be eternal that comes from this world.
35:04Even the works shall be gone, shall be consumed.
35:09Even our carnal works that were not eternal works, they'll be gone.
35:14Nothing shall endure except he that done the will of God.
35:19So our service for God, only if it was true service for God, shall endure and there shall be great reward for it.
35:27So just think, everything shall be gone.
35:30In verse 11, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?
35:40If we know this, that, you know, a day to God is like a thousand years, you know, it's just like a quick bit of time.
35:49It's just like a whisper that's gone.
35:51That's how God sees things.
35:53And not only that is this world shall pass away.
35:55And when it's gone, it's not coming back.
35:57Nothing shall endure that.
35:58If we have this perspective, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?
36:07It's a rhetorical question, is it?
36:08It's a rhetorical question that actually continues on into the next verse.
36:11Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.
36:15By the way, they're all interchangeable.
36:17It says the day of the Lord, the day of God.
36:19And in other scriptures, it says the day of Christ.
36:21Just think about that.
36:43So think about what will last for eternity.
36:47The souls of mankind, that will last for eternity.
36:52When we preach the word of God, that souls might be saved, that people might be added to the kingdom of God,
36:58that we might preach the word of God and teach his people that works that will endure.
37:04May we focus on these things.
37:06That's what manner of people we ought to be in all holy conversation.
37:09That doesn't just mean our words.
37:11That means our lifestyle, the conversation that we have.
37:14Because Paul also writes in another scripture, just for the sake of time, we won't be able to go there.
37:18But he says, our conversation is in heaven.
37:21Our conversation is in heaven.
37:23You know what that means?
37:24We're citizens of heaven.
37:27How ought we to live in this world if we believe that?
37:32In verse 13, nevertheless, we, according to his promise.
37:36Again, let's mention again the third time.
37:37From his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
37:45So why would we as Christians get so rooted down in this world and love it so much, just like Lot's wife loved Sodom?
37:55Why would we get rooted down and leave our hearts behind here when there is a new heaven and a new earth that God has promised?
38:05Not only that, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
38:08A world in which it truly and rightly should be.
38:13A righteous world, not a broken world.
38:16Then we would think, this world is not my home.
38:19I am just passing through.
38:20Verse 14, wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things.
38:28And I do believe that as believers, we should always be hasting unto the day of God.
38:35Just like I could have cross-referenced more in the book of Titus.
38:38But the reason why it is a blessed hope, and then even previously, it mentions how they ought to live.
38:44They ought to live soberly, righteously, godly in this present world, because our saviour is returning.
38:53So wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent.
38:58That means you have to be, you have to put yourself there with great awareness and focus.
39:04To be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
39:12I believe this refers to how our hearts are with God.
39:15None of us are perfect, are we?
39:17No, none of us are.
39:19But we are in perfect standing with God because of what the Son of God has done for us.
39:25But this is talking about our hearts.
39:27If we are lazy and ignorant and our hearts are not right when he returns, then how ashamed we'll be when he does.
39:37Because he says, be found of him in peace.
39:42How is your relationship with God?
39:45Is it a broken one?
39:47If you're a child of God, you are a child of God.
39:50But if I have a broken relationship with my wife, if I have a broken relationship with one of my children, that's not a good situation.
39:56Would I like it to end like that?
39:59No, of course not.
40:00I should make it right.
40:01And if you are at odds with God, if I am at odds with God, it should be made right.
40:07Yes, I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
40:11But how is my relation with him?
40:13And it says here, without spot.
40:16Again, no man can cleanse his own heart from sin.
40:19But we should live godly, soberly, righteously in this present world.
40:23And we are able to with his help.
40:26And when we sin, 1 John tells us, if we sin and when we sin, we have an advocate with the Father.
40:33You know what's a blessing to a Christian?
40:36It's confession.
40:38Not how Rome teaches it, but it's confession.
40:43It's that we can confess our sins to God.
40:47Does God already know about our sins?
40:49Yes, he's the one that's been offended by our sin.
40:51He knows.
40:53But what he does is he invites us to come and confess our sin.
40:57Not just, Lord, please forgive me for my wrongdoing.
41:00No, no, no.
41:00That's forgiveness.
41:02Confession is you admitting your wrongdoing before God.
41:05When I confess my sins, I must admit my wrongdoing before God with a repentant heart and say,
41:12Lord, I justified this.
41:14I gave into this temptation.
41:16Lord, I know it's not right.
41:18Help me and forgive me.
41:20That we might be without spot and blameless.
41:24May our hearts be right before our Savior does return.
41:27It's all well and good to say, yes, even so, come Lord Jesus.
41:31You and I are going to be personally accountable to him when he does.
41:36Yes, we have made mistakes in the past, whatever they may be.
41:40But God, his mercies are new every morning and we can confess and be made right with him.
41:46Thanks and praise be to God.
41:49Can you believe that God can be so good to us?
41:53Verse 15 changes slightly and he says,
41:55An account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation.
42:00I believe that refers back to the long-suffering mentioned in verse 9.
42:03That he's long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
42:08I love that.
42:09That long-suffering of our Lord is salvation.
42:13Even as our beloved brother Paul, again, this links Peter and Paul.
42:18If there was no link, I think there would be trouble because some people view it as they had two different gospel messages.
42:24I think that's dangerous to assume that.
42:26There's only the one gospel.
42:27Even as our beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you.
42:34And also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things.
42:41So Peter's not saying, look, I'm not saying anything different to Paul.
42:43Paul is saying the same thing, in which are some things hard to be understood.
42:49Some things are definitely hard to be understood.
42:51Some things are easier, I find, in the scriptures.
42:54But some things are harder to be understood.
42:55Especially when we look in the future.
42:57It's almost like looking through a glass darkly, as the scriptures say.
43:00Some things are hard to be understood.
43:02And I don't think Paul does confess this in the scriptures.
43:05He doesn't quite fathom what the Lord shows him.
43:10But it says this, that there are these people, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest.
43:20So there are people that we shall come across, beware of this Christian, because Satan always has people lurking to infiltrate and to lead astray, to cause doubts and division and to spread false doctrine and even a false gospel, that they are unlearned and unstable.
43:39These are people who aren't balanced properly.
43:42That what they do is they rest or a word that you could put is they twist the scriptures.
43:47As they do also the other scriptures.
43:52What Peter does here is he confirms Paul's writing epistles as scripture.
43:59An apostle would be a one who penned down scripture.
44:02Peter confirms Paul's writings.
44:05He affirms his apostleship.
44:08And it says this, that they rest the scriptures or twist the scriptures unto their own destruction.
44:13Woe unto them who would change the word of God.
44:16Woe unto them that says that God has said something that he has not said.
44:19Ye therefore, beloved, believers, we will always have these people, we'll always have the scoffers, we'll always have the false teachers, we'll always have those who twist things.
44:31But us, seeing ye know these things before.
44:34Look, I'm not here to say you need my teaching to steady you.
44:39I'm not assuming that.
44:41I'm saying you should already know these things.
44:42But he says, beware, lest ye also, in fear of this, Christians, beware, being led away with the error of the wicked.
44:54That's why you always need to be refreshed by these scriptures.
44:58To continuously keep drinking and keep drinking.
45:01Otherwise you're going to grow thirsty.
45:02You're going to become unbalanced and more likely to be tossed to and fro and led away with the error of the wicked.
45:07That's why it's important to be immersed in the scriptures, not just, oh, I learned that when I was 10 years old at a Sunday school once.
45:14Oh, good for you.
45:15But are we putting it into practice?
45:18Look, think about this.
45:19You have a sword.
45:21It was once sharp, was it?
45:23Yeah.
45:23Is it good for today?
45:25Is it good for today?
45:27If not, you should go home and sharpen it.
45:28Don't be led away with the error of the wicked.
45:32And it says this and fall from your own steadfastness.
45:37I like how Peter, even if you compare it to one Peter, he starts and finishes pretty much the same way.
45:43Because in one Peter, he wanted them to be steadfast.
45:46He wanted them to be steady.
45:48He wanted them to be balanced.
45:50And that's my desire for the body as well, is that you would not be led astray and fall from your own steadfastness.
45:58And here's how we can do it, look.
46:00But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
46:06The closer we draw to Jesus, the more we learn of him, the more we shall grow.
46:12I believe growing in grace is walking with God.
46:16Grow with him.
46:17You'll be a much better father, a much better brother, a much better husband, a much better friend, a much better servant, if you stay close to Jesus and grow.
46:30Like we sing a song at Sunday school.
46:32Read your Bible and pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow.
46:37Neglect your Bible, forget to pray and you'll shrink, shrink, shrink.
46:41And I know it sounds very primitive, but it's very true.
46:43I've met Christians, they didn't add to their faith, as 2 Peter says.
46:48And even, let's go back to it very quickly, they didn't add to their faith.
46:52And you know what happens?
46:54It says this in verse 9 in 2 Peter chapter 1.
46:57But he that lacketh these things is blind.
47:01This is talking about believers.
47:03A believer can be like this.
47:04He that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off.
47:09They don't have good vision and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
47:14You ever met a Christian?
47:15You're like, no, he, believe me, I was sure he was a genuine Christian and now he doubts.
47:20Now he doubts.
47:22Because he was left in a state where he was just stale.
47:25He never grew.
47:26He never added to his faith.
47:27And now he doubts that he was purged from his old ways.
47:30He can't see forward.
47:31He can't see what God wants him to do.
47:32He can't see what God did for him.
47:34He's blind, staying in the same place.
47:36And that's exactly where Satan wants us.
47:39And that's why he says, wherefore rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling an election sure.
47:44Give diligence.
47:45You'll see this word over and over again with Peter.
47:48Just be serious.
47:51Be aware.
47:52Like, if there was a soldier and he wasn't diligent, you'd think he's not going to last too long.
47:57He's either going to give information away, get captured or killed.
47:59We, as men and women of God, we should give diligence to make our call an election sure.
48:05Because if Satan can cause you to doubt, no, you're not one of his.
48:09No, you're not in the will of God.
48:10No, that's not right.
48:12Then what's going to happen?
48:13You're going to be fruitless.
48:14Because he says, if you do these things, you won't be unbarren.
48:17You'll be fruitful.
48:18Now, listen, if you do make your call an election sure by being diligent, you shall never fall.
48:25You shall never fall.
48:26And I believe I see this a lot and I don't know why, because the scriptures are clear.
48:33I think if we're ignorant of the scriptures, that would be why.
48:36But we're supposed to be a body that's advancing.
48:39You know, we are more than conquerors.
48:41And, you know, the perspective that we give each other as Christians is I'm hanging on.
48:44I'm hanging on.
48:45Well, when we have a wealth, you know, a continuous well that we can just continually draw from and draw from and then share it.
48:54Why do we not do that?
48:56May you be refreshed in these meetings and may you be refreshed as you learn in the word of God at home.
49:02Be encouraged and learn and grow.
49:05You are not too far along to grow.
49:07Believe me, you're not.
49:08I'll end with this.
49:09Scripture say in the book of Jude.
49:11Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.
49:22To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forever.
49:30Amen.
49:30Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father.
49:37Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
50:07Morning by morning, new mercies I see.
50:15All I have needed, thy hand has provided.
50:24Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
50:31Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above.
50:46Join with all nature in beautiful goodness.
50:54To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
51:02Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
51:10Morning by morning, new mercies I see.
51:17All I have needed, thy hand has provided.
51:25Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
51:33God bless you.
51:35Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth.
51:42Thy love give presence to cheer and to guide.
51:49Stir for today and bright hope for tomorrow.
51:57Blessings, O my good ten thousand beside.
52:04Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
52:06Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
52:11Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
52:13Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
52:15Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
52:17Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
52:18Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
52:19Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
52:20Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness.
52:25Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
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