(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to
each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted.)
Patience is an important virtue, but it is sometimes difficult to practice, unless what you are looking for is worth the wait.
As time passed since the period of Jesus' ministry, and as the mission he entrusted to the apostles reached farther into the Roman Empire, some people were beginning to wonder at the delay in the completion of God's program.1 A few were even raising serious doubts that He would complete it.
* LXII The Foremost Consideration4
—explains any apparent delay, as one realizes...
In v. 9, Peter mentions God's "promise" but does not explain what that promise is. In v. 13, Peter mentions God's "promise" again, this time with an explanation: It is to give you "a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." As the apostle said, your reprieve is not a sign of God's procrastination...
As with other passages that address man's future, in this passage, Peter presents only two options.11 The first is the default setting, where men are heading in the natural course of events. Without a radical change in direction, they will perish. Repentance is that course correction, and it is the only alternative. There are no other options. What, then, does repentance entail? How much of a change does God expect?
If your car is heading over a cliff, you may avoid immediate danger by turning to the right or left so that you are no longer falling over the edge but are now driving along the edge. The danger is still there, of course, and you remain perilously close to it. Moving out of danger requires a radical change. Repentance is that radical change. It means...
While God makes many decisions unilaterally, without regard for the wishes of anyone else, He makes some decisions in response to what others would choose. In such cases, though, He may make His preference known, as He does in v. 9, where Peter writes that...
God's sense of time is different from man's sense of time, but God still expects man to use that time well, especially in light of The Foremost Consideration, which is the patience of God toward those He has made, including you, as you chart a course ever farther from sin and ever closer to Him.
Having considered The Foremost Consideration, we will look next at The Foremost Conflagration, which signals the prompting of God, in 2 Pet 3:10-11.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
A prisoner in jail received a letter from his wife: "I want to plant some corn in the back garden, and I'm anxious to get started. The mere prospect of fresh corn makes my mouth water. Would next week be too soon to start?" Her husband, suspecting that the prison guards might be reading the mail, wrote back: "Dear Wife, whatever you do, don't touch the back garden! That is where I buried the money from that last bank heist." A few days later, he received another letter from his wife: "You wouldn't believe what happened. Some law enforcement officers came with shovels and dug up the whole back garden." Her husband replied: "Dear Wife...now is the best time to plant the corn!"Patience is an important virtue, but it is sometimes difficult to practice, unless your priorities are clear, as God's are in exercising The Foremost Consideration.
As time passed since the period of Jesus' ministry, and as the mission he entrusted to the apostles reached farther into the Roman Empire, some people were beginning to wonder at the delay in the completion of God's program.1 A few were even raising serious doubts that He would complete it.
2 Pet 3:4 They...say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."In response, Peter reminds his readers that God operates on a different timetable, a difference these skeptics intentionally ignore.
2 Pet 3:5 ...they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.It is vain to attempt a prediction of events that God has not made clear. Just as the first global destruction, the one by water, took most people by surprise,2 so the next global destruction, the one by fire, will take most people by surprise.3 Peter reminds his readers that, while some people may be in a hurry to advance the divine program, God is not. In fact, His view of time is different from man's view.
2 Pet 3:8b With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.After noting this difference in God's perception, Peter explains the focus of God's attention, especially toward the end of the Messianic Age and end of His timetable. Moreover, understanding what He regards as important—
* LXII The Foremost Consideration4
—explains any apparent delay, as one realizes...
- The patience of God (2 Pet 3:9,13)
2 Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.... 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.As I said, God's sense of time is different from man's sense of time. It is not so much that time itself is different for God, that twenty-four hours do not really constitute a day. From the start, He established the very structure of time, and He scheduled certain events according to that structure. For example...
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth....and...
Exod 20:11 ...in six days the LORD made...all that is in them....and even that...
Gen 2:2b ...on the seventh day he rested....Like us, God uses time, but unlike us, He is not circumscribed by time, bound in any way by it. Moses states in...5
Ps 90:2b ...from everlasting to everlasting you are God.However far you go on any timeline, even to the most extreme ends, there you will find God, because time passes differently for Him or, in actuality, it does not pass at all. Time simply exists: the past, the present, and the future—the events therein are observable by God all at once. In fact, part of His revelation to us includes a partial chronology of events leading up to the end,6 some of which we considered earlier.7 As God says through Isaiah...8
Isa 46:10a I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.Consequently, there is no 'being early' or 'being late' for Him, no moving too fast or too slow. He always is,9 so—and here is an important point to remember—He is always on time. The difference for us, as Peter writes here, is a matter of perception: "The Lord is not slow...as some understand slowness." Therefore, any apparent delay on His part, we should interpret as an opportunity to review and revise the trajectory of our lives. In other words, the delay in your judgment...
1. Your reprieve is not a sign of His procrastination (v. 9)....as if He cannot make up His mind about what He wants to do with you. Remember:
- It is only God's patience that prevents your perishing in the end.10
In v. 9, Peter mentions God's "promise" but does not explain what that promise is. In v. 13, Peter mentions God's "promise" again, this time with an explanation: It is to give you "a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." As the apostle said, your reprieve is not a sign of God's procrastination...
2. Your reprieve is rather a sign of His aspiration (v. 13)....for you, the good plans He has for your future. That is...
...and prosper you shall. The purpose of your repentance is not just to change your activity, from what displeases God to what pleases Him; the purpose of your repentance is to change your destiny, from a place without God to a place with Him.
- It is also God's patience that permits your prospering in the end.
As with other passages that address man's future, in this passage, Peter presents only two options.11 The first is the default setting, where men are heading in the natural course of events. Without a radical change in direction, they will perish. Repentance is that course correction, and it is the only alternative. There are no other options. What, then, does repentance entail? How much of a change does God expect?
If your car is heading over a cliff, you may avoid immediate danger by turning to the right or left so that you are no longer falling over the edge but are now driving along the edge. The danger is still there, of course, and you remain perilously close to it. Moving out of danger requires a radical change. Repentance is that radical change. It means...
- Not that you must simply turn aside from what leads ultimately to destruction;
- But that you must actually turn around and go in the opposite direction.
- "Look, I've cleaned up my speech. It's no longer laced with profanity. Okay, I still tell an off-color joke occasionally and bad-mouth that annoying coworker, but I'm better than I was. I've turned aside; now I'm just skirting the edge." To that, the apostle Paul says...12
Eph 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs....
Eph 5:4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
Repentance is not just turning aside; you must turn around and go in the opposite direction.
- "Look, I've cancelled my subscriptions to Playboy and Hustler. Okay, I still visit a porno website occasionally and fantasize about that attractive neighbor, but I'm better than I was. I've turned aside; now I'm just skirting the edge." To that, the apostle Paul says...13
Eph 5:3 ...among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity...because these are improper for God's holy people.... 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral [or] impure..person...has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Repentance is not just turning aside; you must turn around and go in the opposite direction.Is there any place where you are just skirting the edge, where God (and you) would be better served by a u-turn? ...God does not expect a minor course revision, one that attempts to skirt the edge of sin without actually falling into it. He expects a major course reversal, one that charts a new path ever farther from sin and ever closer toward Him.
While God makes many decisions unilaterally, without regard for the wishes of anyone else, He makes some decisions in response to what others would choose. In such cases, though, He may make His preference known, as He does in v. 9, where Peter writes that...
2 Pet 3:9b [God does not want] anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance....This is His preference, that all people would avail themselves of the offer He extends for their salvation. Alas, it is not to be. Rather, the vast majority will decline God's offer, choosing instead to walk a path away from Him. As Jesus said...
Matt 7:13b ...broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many [are on] it.It will be for them the wrong decision, but God is the consummate gentleman: He will not force anyone into the kingdom who will not go. Thankfully, you have made the right decision, one that places you on a narrow road "only a few find," but one that leads to a most welcome destination—"the home of righteousness."14
God's sense of time is different from man's sense of time, but God still expects man to use that time well, especially in light of The Foremost Consideration, which is the patience of God toward those He has made, including you, as you chart a course ever farther from sin and ever closer to Him.
Having considered The Foremost Consideration, we will look next at The Foremost Conflagration, which signals the prompting of God, in 2 Pet 3:10-11.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted)
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