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Proverbs 11:11-20
11 By the blessing of the upright the city is
exalted, But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
12 He who is devoid of wisdom despises his
neighbor, But a man of understanding holds his peace.
13 A talebearer reveals secrets, But he who is
of a faithful spirit conceals a matter.
14 Where there
is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
15 He who is surety for a stranger will suffer,
But one who hates being surety is secure.
16 A gracious woman retains honor, But ruthless men retain riches.
17 The merciful man does good for his own soul,
But he who is cruel troubles
his own flesh.
18 The wicked man does deceptive work, But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward.
19 As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.
20 Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their ways are His delight
Father God, thank you for the gift of your Son. Through
your Son give us Wisdom concerning the teachings of Peter, your Apostle. In
Jesus name we pray, Amen!
Book of II Peter 3:10-18
NKJV
Peter closes this book telling us to be prepared for the
coming of Jesus. He tells us to be alert and on our toes at all times because
that day will come unexpectedly. We don’t want to be caught off guard when
Jesus comes by listening and practicing some religion that is contradictory to
the Bible.
10 But the
day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will
pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat;
both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
But the day of the Lord; The phrase,
“But the Day of the Lord,” refers to an extended period of time. Peter is
lumping together a large timeframe consisting of the Great Tribulation, Millennial
Reign, and the Great White Throne Judgment with particular reference to after
the Great White Throne Judgment.
These
current times the Church is in its last age, the Laodicean period (Revelation 3:14–19). The next prophetic event will be
the “Day of Christ” or the Rapture of the Church; followed by the Great
Tribulation, a period of seven years, the seventieth week of Daniel 9:24–27; then the 1,000 year world empire of
our Lord Jesus (Revelation 20:1–7); to be
concluded with the Great White Throne Judgment when the wicked dead will be
judged, which is what Peter referenced to in II
Peter 3:7
when he speaks of “the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
After
these events occur the renovation of the Earth and its planetary heavens will
take place with a great inferno. Then the Millennium will merging into eternity
and the “Day of God”.
Will come as a thief in the night; This pertains
to the arrival of our Lord Jesus and when that happens only God knows, no one
can predict Jesus coming, it will happen when we least expect it. Mark 13:32 "But of that day
and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the
Father.
In
which the heavens will pass away with a great noise; “Pass away” in the Greek is
“parerchomai,” and means “to pass away, pass from one condition to another.” It
never means annihilation. With Peter using the word heavens, I do believe he is
saying there will be a change in the second heaven, meaning the starry skies.
Mankind has put things into space that will be done away with during this
refreshing of the heavens and earth. There won’t be anything left that man
created it will all be made new and by God.
Where does the great noise
come from? Such a destruction of the elements could not occur without “a great
noise.” It will be a fiery inferno with great explosions.
And the elements will melt with
fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up; The heavens and the Earth passing from
one condition to another, means the following:
1.
They will be purified by fire.
2. The
heavens and the Earth will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious liberty of the sons of God (Romans 8:21).
3.
They will be changed to a new state (Hebrews 1:10–12).
4.
They will in a sense be re-created or renewed to their original perfection, as
before the Fall of Lucifer (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22–24; Hebrews 12:25–28; I Peter 3:13; Revelation
21:1).
5. The
heavens and the Earth will be cleansed of all the curse and its effects of
mankind (Revelation 22:3).
Isaiah mentioned this,
speaking of a “new heaven and new earth wherein Righteousness will dwell
forever” (Isaiah 65:17).
This eternal condition is “the Day of
God,” in which the present created heavens and Earth will be changed. When
that happens, “the Day of God” will
be unending; it includes all of eternity when sin will be forever banished from
the universe, and Righteousness will be seen everywhere.
For other prophetic
pictures of the day of the Lord, see Isaiah 34:4;
Joel 3:15-16; Matthew
24; Mark 13; Luke 21; Rev_6:12-17.
11
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy
conduct and godliness,
Therefore,
since all these things will be dissolved; All these things are referring to the material things of
this earth that we store up. Realizing that the earth is going to be burned up,
we should put our confidence in what is lasting and eternal and not be bound to
earth and its treasures or pursuits. Do you spend more of your time piling up
possessions, or striving to develop Christlike character? Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves
break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do
not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.
What
manner of persons ought you to
be in holy conduct and godliness; Holy
conduct is referring to our lifestyle, in other words we are to live a life of
godliness; a life modeled after Jesus. We shall live a life asking ourselves
this question before we act or speak, “What would Jesus do?”
The Greek word for holy is
“hagios,” meaning set apart for the service of God. It actually means the same
as Sanctification. Therefore, a holy life is a separated life; separated from
the world and joined to God.
Godliness in the Greek is “eusebeia”,
and means faithfulness toward God.
12 looking
for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens
will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
Looking
for and hastening the coming of the day of God; The Greek word rendered “hasting,” (σπεύδω speudō,) means to urge on, to hasten; and
then to hasten after anything, to await with eager desire. Not knowing when
this may occur, the mind should be in a state which constitutes “expectation;”
that is, a belief that it will occur, and a condition of mind in which we would
not be taken by surprise should it happen at any moment. As Titus states we are
to be looking for the blessed hope
and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13 The
true Christian does not dread the coming of that day. He looks forward to it as
the period of his redemption, and would welcome, at any time, the return of his
Lord and Saviour.
Because
of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will
melt with fervent heat; “The Day of God,” concerns the coming, eternal, perfect
Earth, which will last in that condition forever and forever. It will be
ushered in by the cataclysmic events of this phrase. “The Day of God” cannot commence until there is absolutely no sin
remaining in the universe. The cleansing will be by fire.
13
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a
new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Nevertheless
we, according to His promise; Peter
uses the word “we” here signifying Born Again Saints of God. Those that are
Born Again look forward to meeting Jesus which is the promise noted here. A
child of God does not fear physical death because they have repented and asked
Jesus for forgiveness and accepted Him into their hearts to rule and reign
their lives. They have the assurance they are a child of God and their reward
will be eternal happiness with their Creator.
Look
for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells; In the eternal state which Peter
mentions here, Righteousness will dwell, for all evil will have been banished
to the lake of fire forever and forever. The state of this new order of things
is described in Revelation, Chapters 21 and 22. In fact, at that time, the earth will be so purified
that God will literally change His headquarters from planet Heaven to planet
Earth, in effect, moving the entirety of the New Jerusalem from the former
place to the new earth. Christians look forward to a world without corruption.
14
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be
found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
Peter is telling the true
believers (beloved), Born Again Saints not to become lazy and complacent
because Jesus has not yet returned. Instead, live in eager expectation of his
coming. Food for thought; What would you, or should you be doing when Christ
returns? With this question in mind, is the life you are living, one that Jesus
would honor?
15 and
consider that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation—as
also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has
written to you,
And
consider that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation; It is Jesus Who waits and is
longsuffering. His longsuffering is toward the fact of Salvation for the lost.
In other words, He through the Holy Spirit, ever seeks to bring the lost to
Repentance. God calls all through many aspects of a person’s life to Him, but
we have deaf ears and hearts to the calling of God. The calling may come by
means of sickness, disease, financial hardships, relationships, etc. It can be
through our struggles in life that we think we can handle, but Jesus calls us
to submit to Him for all things.
As
also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has
written to you; Here
Peter acknowledges Paul as an apostle; a brother in Christ. Paul and Peter
supporting each other because they recognized they were both endowed with the
gift of wisdom by the Holy Spirit. Both wrote letters to the believers in Asia
Minor preaching the same topics.
16 as also
in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things
hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the
Scriptures.
As
also in all his epistles; This
is a continuation of the previous phrase and here we have evidence that Paul
and Peter preached the true Gospel and complimented each other in the letters
they wrote. Peter is saying in all of Paul’s letters he taught on what he was
saying.
Speaking
in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand; No doubt the hardest thing for the
Jewish believers to grasp and understand was that the old Jewish laws were dead,
and salvation is not granted to those who practiced them. Even today this
concept is very difficult for people to understand because our human nature
tells us we need to do this or that instead of placing our faith in the acts of
the Cross; Jesus death and resurrection.
Which
untaught and unstable people
twist to their own destruction, as they
do also the rest of the Scriptures; The untaught no doubt refers to the unsaved and the
unstable referring to a new Born Again individual or a saved person that is
listening to false doctrine. False preachers and doctrine is what this book is
all about and Peter is giving a warning here that people take scripture and
twist it to justify the life they want to or are living. These people will only
take a fragment of a verse or omit a verse altogether to live by. For instance
some people don’t believe these verses because it can be very difficult to do,
so they ignore the verses about forgiving others, but we know Jesus forgave
those that crucified Him. Mark
11:25-26 "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything
against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you
your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive,
neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."
17 You
therefore, beloved, since you know this
beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led
away with the error of the wicked;
You therefore, beloved, since you know
this beforehand; Peter is
say, being aware of false teachers and doctrine which can result in falling
away, people should study the Bible with the intent of gaining wisdom so that they
may not fall into error, and be deceived.
Beware lest you also fall from your
own steadfastness; Meaning a firm adherence to the truth.
Being led away with the error of the
wicked; Referring
to wicked men, like those he referred to in 2nd Peter chapter 2, who
became public teachers of false religion.
18 but grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever.
Amen.
To
grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord is the only way a Saint shall grow.
This “knowledge” refers not only to Who Christ is [the Lord of Glory], but also
what He did in order that we might be Redeemed. To Him refers to belonging to Him
because He is the only one who paid the price for man’s redemption.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All
things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God."
The
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners
Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I am a
sinner. I confess my sins to you; I am
sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful
lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my Savior.” I believe this and have faith you will make a
new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart and lead
me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John 3:16,17; Romans
3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians
2:8-10; 1 John 5:11-14; 1:6-10)
(Sin: Rom. 1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph.
5:3-7)
