Lesson 16

Deliberate Ignorance

2 Peter 3:1-10

In sharp contrast to the previous chapter, in II Peter 3, Peter turns his thoughts away from the false teachers and focuses his attention upon his beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact, he uses the word "beloved" five times in Chapter 3, once with reference to Paul, and the other four times with his readers in mind (vs. 1, 8, 14, 17). "Beloved" is a wonderful word, I think. It means "greatly loved or dear to the heart." It is the meaning of my name. Peter cut no slack with false teachers. But that does not mean that he was a hateful person. He loves the people of God dearly.

Why This Epistle?, vs. 1-2.

In verses 1-2, Peter reiterates the reasons why he wrote his epistles. "Both", he says, we written to "stir up", that is, to awaken or arouse your pure minds by causing you to remember. It is possible to have a pure mind but a bad memory! And it is easy for Christians to get accustomed to God's truth. Eutychus went to sleep listening to Paul preach (Acts 20:7-10). You may not be literally asleep but your mind need to be aroused and awakened. Like concrete, your mind will harden if it is not stirred. If you have become spiritually lethargic, you are vulnerable to the subtle strategies of the enemy. Wake up and remember, says Peter.

But what are we to remember? Verse 2 tells us that we are to be mindful of the words spoken by the holy prophets (that's the Old Testament) and of the commandments from the apostles of Christ (that's the New Testament). In other words, Peter is calling us back to Bible.

Preparing this message caused me to want to reaffirm my commitment to the faithful teaching of God's Word. Dearborn Baptist Church is a Bible centered congregation. Sunday after Sunday, week after week, I summons you to the pages of Scripture. We read it, explain what it means and apply to our lives. This is a Bible preaching church. However, teaching and preaching the Bible is not so trendy these days. Proponents are telling us that we need new methods, that proclamation is no longer effective in this high tech, entertainment oriented world. The pull is always there. At times, I find myself being affected by all those trendy voices telling me how to draw a bigger audience, how to be more exciting and interesting and appealing. But then I read, "Be mindful of the words of the holy prophets and of the commandments of the apostles" and it underscores in my own heart that this is God's method. "Preach the word." "Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." I acknowledge that there is a time and a place for a variety of methods of communication. But at the center, we must always be Bible teaching. For it is the word of God that is alive and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing the heart. It is the scriptures that are profitable for doctrine, correction, instruction in righteousness. We must always come back to the Bible.

Like Peter, beloved, my desire today is to awaken your minds and to urge you to remember God's Word.

Where Is God's Promise?, vs. 3-7.

Beginning in verse 3, Peter warns his beloved about "scoffers." What is a scoffer? A scoffer is someone who treats lightly that which ought to be taken seriously. There are always people who scoff at the idea of hell or a future time of judgment or at the fact that Christians believe in the return of Christ.

Why do scoffers scoff? Because they want to continue living in sin. If your lifestyle contradicts the Word of God, you either must change your lifestyle or reject the word of God. Scoffers choose the latter. They reject what God has said and mock those who proclaim it. Psychologically, men have difficulty living with guilt. The scoffer does away with his guilt by doing away with God's Word. To choose to believe or not to believe is not really an intellectual question. It is a moral and spiritual decision. The scoffer prefers to rule out God's Word so that he can live in sin without guilt.

It may seem like a waste of time to answer the scoffer. While is seldom helps the scoffer, it does help honest people who may fall prey to the scoffer's arguments and conclusions. Peter does not address the scoffers themselves. Rather he focuses on God's people who will be exposed to the scoffers.

Peter identifies four doctrines which scoffers ridicule. First, they laugh at the second coming of Jesus Christ, v. 4. "Where is the promise of his coming?" It implies a denial that Christ is coming again. "Where is the god judgment?" asked the evil men of Malachi's day (2:17). "Where is thy God?" asked the heathen to the psalmist (42:3). "Where is the word of the Lord?" demanded the enemies of Jeremiah. These are not honest inquirers. They are mocking God and His Word with their sarcastic questions.

According to Peter, their reasoning is that nothing cataclysmic has happened in the past. For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. But Peter points to two cataclysmic events.

The first one (v. 5) is creation. Peter says that creation was "by the word of God", that is, God spoke everything into existence. The earth standing out of the water and in the water is, it seems, a allusion to Genesis 1:6-10. Peter says that they are ignorant of truth of creation. But, notice, the kind of ignorance. They are willingly ignorant. They are deliberately ignorant. The problem here is not ignorance of the Word of God but ignoring the word of God.

The second cataclysmic event to which Peter points (v. 6) is the flood. Peter is establishing the fact that God has, in the past, interrupted the course of history in a dramatic fashion. The truth is that all things are not as they were from the beginning. He goes on to say in verse 7 that the "same word" which created the world is not keeping, sustaining the world until the day of the judgment of ungodly men.

Why The Delay?, vs. 8-10.

Anticipating the scoffers next question, Peter answers before they can ask. If Jesus is indeed coming again, why the delay? What's God waiting for? You can almost hear the heavy sarcasm of their questions. There is almost an implication here that God is unwilling or unable to act. Or maybe He is tardy or off schedule!

Peter tells us something wonderful about God and something terrifying about the future in these three verses. First, he reminds us that God is eternal. Man is immortal. He had a beginning but will have no end. But God is eternal having neither a beginning nor end. As such, time means nothing to God. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day, Psalm 90:1-4. Time means everything to us, because our time on earth is so short. But it means nothing to God.

According to verse 9, God's delay in sending Christ back is not due to negligence, but to His patience. It is mercy, not weakness, that causes the delay. Ironically, Christ tarries for the sake of the scoffers, who use the delay as an excuse for unbelief. Peter states it both negatively and positively here. The Lord "not willing that any should perish", that is, God does not wish anyone to suffer eternity in Hell. His will is that "all would come to repentance." Paul said that God's will is for "all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth ." Romans 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. Ezekiel 18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

This does not support universalism, the belief that all will eventually be saved. That idea is contrary to much scripture. Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Although God wants all men to be saved, God does not save men against their wills. The Bible clearly says that men must repent, that is turn from their lives of sin, and believe the gospel. Jesus said (John 5:40) "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." To rob us of this will to choose would be to rob us of that which makes us men. There is no hope for those who rebel, who refuse to believe and obey, but a longsuffering God waits for those who will come in faith and repentance.

Peter ends this section by reaffirming the certainty and the suddenness of the coming of the Day of the Lord. When will it come? No one knows, because it will be "as a thief in the night." The thief does not warn his victims of his coming. He comes suddenly and unexpectedly.

And when it happens, Peter reminds us of the words of Jesus, that heaven and earth will pass away - dissolved with fire, melted with fervent (intense) heat. Man's great works will all be burned up. All the things that man boasts about - his great cities, his great buildings, his inventions, his achievements - all will be destroyed in a moment of time. When sinners stand before the throne of God, they will have nothing to point to as evidence of their greatness. It will all be gone.

And so this section ends solemnly. Remember God's Word. Men may mock the things that you believe, but you can count on God's promises. Jesus is coming again! Until then, live for God and call sinners to come to Christ.