11 ¶ Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting
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? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for
such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot,
and blameless. 15 And account that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also
according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them
of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they
that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures,
unto their own destruction. 17 Ye
therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also,
being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and
for ever. Amen.
Isaiah 34:4 And all the host of heaven shall be
dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their
host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling
fig from the fig tree.
Christians are to be waiting expectantly for Christ’s return
and living accordingly.
Titus 2:11 ¶ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works.
All things which mankind has done that he admires so shall
be destroyed and we shall be changed. I am certain that any modern scientist
would insist I am mischaracterizing their work but I speak only as an unlearned
regular person who loves science for what it has done in the realm of
technology that makes our lives better and health that assists us in living
longer and more productive lives. But, today, theoretical scientists using
models based on mathematics and computer simulations see God’s handiwork from
advanced equipment like the Large Hadron Collider in Cern, Switzerland in
bursts of energy that manipulate and constantly adjust the physical universe
that we know. Since they cannot believe in God they postulate particles they
cannot see or directly test or directly verify as being the cause of these
bursts of energy and action. They give
them names like the Higg-Boson particle which supposedly allows matter to have
mass and exist at all which they refer to as the “God particle.”
And yet, as we learned from the book of Job, every action
necessary for physical existence is taken by God and every consequence of those
countless actions per second is a direct result of God’s constant attention. It
will be a simple matter for Him to change the physical universe, destroying and
reconstructing from the one tainted by sin, while our souls and spirits, which
are not part of the physical universe remain untouched except for the
fundamental changes He makes to saved and unsaved in the non-physical world.
Modern science has cut itself off from so much knowledge by
ignoring or denying God’s existence and creating a false framework of unseen
things that are only good explanations if you deny God’s hand in the matter.
There will be a new heaven and a new earth where
righteousness will dwell and there will be no sin. God is not going to allow
space to be populated with sinful human beings who kill and lust and war along
the lines of Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, or Star Trek. If space is to be
explored it will not be by mankind’s feeble attempts to counterfeit God and it
will not be space tainted by sin and death, which was not in the original plan
but man had to be shown that only God can create and maintain this reality. Man
has shown that given the chance, regardless of the facts presented to him of
his weakness in mind and body, that he will worship himself.
Revelation 21:1 ¶ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for
the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more
sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, and be their God. 4 And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things
are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon
the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for
these words are true and faithful.
Peter encourages the Christian to be diligent, to be found
without blame. Paul wished the same as is evident in the following great
passage on the purpose of God.
Ephesians 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ: 4 According as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: 5
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all
wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself: 10 That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory,
who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom
ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy
Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of his glory.
Peter repeats that God’s patience is necessary for our salvation.
He ties that in with what Paul also said about the same thing which I quoted
previously. This presents an important point about the Scriptures. The Bible
says here that Paul wrote by the wisdom given to him, not by word-for-word
dictation.
There are only two times the word inspiration is used in the Bible.
Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in man: and the
inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
2Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
Notice in Job that God’s inspiration gives men
understanding. Understanding is a synonym of wisdom mentioned here in 2Peter as
made clear in dozens of verses throughout the Bible. Here is one example from
Paul’s letters.
1Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to
nothing the understanding of the
prudent.
Peter is not writing word-for-word dictation from the mouth
of God. He is writing from his own understanding given by God. The words are
all important because God preserved them for us.
Psalm 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as
silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve
them from this generation for ever.
Psalm 119:89 LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled
in heaven.
So, the doctrine of preservation is linked to the doctrine
of inspiration in a way that cannot be denied. This means that God worked
through men on more than just one occasion in faithful copyists and translators
as well as the secretaries of the men who were authors of the Bible books if
those men did not write their particular books themselves. He even changed the
original autographs on one occasion that we know.
Jeremiah 36:32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it
to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of
Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in
the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.
We can also surmise, as a Bible-believing friend told me,
that as it took 1500 years to put the Bible that God wanted together through
dozens of writers, it also took a similar amount of time to perfect it in the
English version of the early 17th century. Then, as I believe, after
the Authorized Version, also known as
the King James Version or King James Bible, was introduced the
Roman Catholic Counter-reformation had its greatest success in Richard Simon
and Jean Astruc’s criticism of the Bible, which was followed in German theology
and criticism of the Bible. There was also what is called The Enlightenment when man began to revive the classical worship of
man’s reasoning ability and intellect, excluding God from any rational
discussion. All modern Bibles flow from these modern traditions. When you
remove God from the equation by reducing Him to merely a philosopher’s first cause you only have man’s ability
to interpret facts which can be highly subjective and does not necessarily lead
to truth because of man’s finite understanding.
Peter admits that the Bible can be difficult to understand
and many cause much harm by declaring knowledge they do not have. But, you do
understand much of the Bible so that is no excuse to not read or hear it read.
What you don’t understand is something you should, in prayer, ask for
understanding and you will receive what God has for you, no doubt. God will
speak to your spiritual heart and change you as He sees fit. You may not be
satisfied that things you think need changed or things that others say need
changed in you are not changed but know that God is the one in control and He
knows what is best for your and what glorifies Him. Just don’t twist the
Scriptures to justify your own fears, paranoia, bigotry, and lust for control
of others.
Peter finishes up with saying that since they know these
things ahead of time there is no excuse for them to be deceived and that can be
expanded to you and me. For we have the complete Bible and we have no excuse to
let someone trick us with false doctrine they come up with by taking verses out
of context or using the Bible as a tool to drive their own agenda, even if
their agenda seems Godly. If you destroy the source of your convictions by
twisting the Bible in knots then you have no credibility, and so it is with
much preaching.
Finally, the church need not be concerned with growing in
numbers. It should be concerned with growing in grace. God will add the numbers
as He sees fit. All efforts at soul-winning should be tempered by that
understanding. We need to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God as
people visit our churches and as we meet people where they live.
To Him be the glory, both now and forever.
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