Welcome to the Sunday morning service at Bible Baptist Church in Hampton, Georgia, where Pastor Lauren Regeer opens God's word each week to provide us with biblically based teaching that helps you meet life head on. Thank you for joining us and may your hearts be blessed as God's word is taught. And now here is Pastor Lauren Regeer. Amen. Thank you, John. What a reminder. First Corinthians 15 tells us or ask the question. O grave, where is thy victory? Death, where's your sting? We have always, I think, sensed that sting a little bit on this side of heaven as we see our dear folks who go through that battle with death and then help them as they breathe their last and their heart beats its last drum. And it's been a blessing as a pastor in this recent days to be able to see and share the truth. 1 Corinthians 15, death, where is thy sting? It was as if Louisa looked at death right in the eyes and laughed. Says, I want to go home. Death, you can't get me. Hell, you have no chains on me. I'm redeemed. I'm going home. She took her flight in that golden chariot called Cancer. And on her way upward, she laughed death in the face. Isn't it great to be a Christian? I don't know what folks do when it comes to breathing their last breath without any security at all. And the resurrection of the body, the resurrection that we have together because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Second Peter, please, chapter number three, spend a few minutes together in the word, and then we'll share the elements of communion together this morning. 2 Peter chapter 3 in our study, expositional, working our way through the book of 2 Peter. I've entitled this Final Words, final words from our wonderful Apostle Peter. We're at part one, which means there may be more to follow. We'll read a few verses together. We're just going to ask a question as we begin. What are your final words going to be? I don't know, Pastor. I'm not sure. Interesting is the study of gravestones. There's one that has this little inscription at the bottom after the name and the date. This little phrase, I told you I was sick. What will be your final words to your family, to your friends? Peter is addressing the churches scattered abroad there in the Roman Empire. In chapter 3 of 2 Peter will be his last words to the church. They are words of great import. 2 Peter 3, verse 1, this second epistle, beloved, I write unto you. in both which I stir your pure minds up by way of remembrance, that ye might be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first, that there shall come," someone who says 2 Peter is about this prophecy of the coming of these folks while Jude said they're here, they're very similar in their in their theme, knowing this first that there shall come in the last day scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, where's the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, but by the word of God the heavens were of old created, the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished." The great hydraulic shakeup, as we mentioned a few months ago from the book of Genesis, the global flood. But 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." Someone has said this is a disposable planet. God brought it into being and he will take it out by the same word. But 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 in timeless eternity in the economy of God. This whole history of man is as a vapor just here and gone. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to usward. Isn't this a great phrase? Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come. It's not saying it might come, it will. As a thief in the night in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, the elements shall melt with a fervent heat, the earth and also all the works that are therein shall be burned up." Let's stop with verse 11, "...seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, melted away, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness," and we should add, "...looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved," there's that word again, "...and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat." Peter is asking us, he's putting us on alert with these final words that Jesus will indeed come again. Don't give up and don't stop looking and anticipating that great day. Chapter 3 of 2 Peter, we come to again the final admonition to the churches scattered abroad. These churches, by and large, are fledgling churches. They're newfound churches, and most of them have been recently established within the last 50 years. The preachers that have come by mainly have been those who came from Jerusalem, Judea, with this glowing word that they served a master, they served a savior that had come out from the grave. Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah prophesied by the prophets. They were thrilled with this message and the apostles mainly and other disciples came with this message and the churches were founded. And so Peter is writing to them not far after that. Their faith was often attacked as the early church bears witness was being attacked by those that preached messages that weren't always that doctrinal. In fact, false prophets in chapter 2 were beginning to emerge, wanted to confuse, seduce the early church. taking advantage of this group of believers by their message that was seductive. And so there was this attack on truth going on in those days already as it continues to be in the church today. And so Peter's thought, Peter's concern, and you'll see it, turns from this very clear description of what a false prophet is in chapter 2, it turns now in a tender tone to protecting his wonderful churches. How would they survive without him? He knew the Lord had already prophesied to Peter that he would die. He would be martyred for the faith. What would happen in the interim? How would the church survive? What glue would hold them together? In the face of these strong forces stacked against them, again, I mentioned it's been 2,000 years or so since this book was written. And these same strategies still exist in the world today. The church is under attack. The church is being surrounded by seducers. All you have to do is turn on the television to know that the gospel has been watered down and changed, corrupted by this feeling of health, wealth, and prosperity. You can go to churches today that look more like a circus or a mini mall, and it's all about attracting folks by exciting programs and promising them the world and often lacing in a verse of scripture here and there. And Peter's warning them in a tender tone. I say it's a tender tone because at least four times in the chapter three of 2 Peter, you'll see a little term. It comes from the word agape, beloved. See that? You catch that as we read verse one. Beloved. You're my loved ones. And verse 8, beloved. Verse 14, beloved. And verse 17, ye therefore beloved, knowing these things. He's talking to them not as someone who was an intellectual or a professor in some Bible college somewhere. He's talking to them as their father in the faith. and one who wants what's best for them. He knew that their attention to the word of God and their caution about people who brought in strange doctrines would be the glue that held the church together. Christ says, I will build my church. And the very forces, the seductive forces of evil that surround the church will never prevail ultimately. I remember saying some stern things to my boys, some strong words of admonition, and those final words are especially suited as such. I do remember telling my boys to be careful who you date, be careful about what you... I remember my father, when I turned 27, had a word with me about my first date. I wasn't quite that old. But he would say things like this. Drive safely, son. Have a great time. We're trusting you with this girl and with our car. Keep your hands at 10 and two. Keep both hands on the wheel at all time. Keep both hands off that girl. You understand me, son? And be home by nine or you're dead. My dad had a way with words. If you fail these instructions, just know your life will not be long upon the good earth God has given you." And so as I'd leave the door, he'd say, goodbye, I love you, 9 o'clock, 10 and 2, or you're dead. Peter has a short economy here, just one chapter in which he winds up really the message of his life. There are words of commission, words of import, words that matter. as all Scripture does. And why is it that parents lovingly warn us? Why is it that they do that? Well, they say strong things exactly because they love us. In chapter 2, Peter has made it very clear that there's an agenda, a demonic mission. People will come. Men with damnable heresies who will come against the church and like many with fleshly appeals and carousing attitudes. They'll call the church to embrace the culture. And we know, we've already talked about the Gnostic culture that really combined these forms of seduction and debauchery in their forms of worship. And they were coming to the new church, God's church, the called-out bride, and this church was being called back to be assimilated into the culture again. And so he comes to them with this heartfelt warning in chapter 3. And he warns them, be mindful, first of all, of the scriptures, verse 1 and 2. This second epistle, beloved, I write to you now, both in which I stir up." Why does he use the word pure minds by way of remembrance? Well, this, of course, there's no chapter headings in the original writ, but this stands in juxtaposition. It stands in contradiction, really, or in opposition to everything that has just been diagnosed about the false teacher in chapter 2. So he says, by way of transition, I'm coming to you, beloved, because your minds are different. They ought to be. Your minds are pure. I want to stir you up to wholesome thinking. The idea of stir up is to stimulate wholesome thinking as opposed to what we had. in chapter 2 by the false prophets, the world given to mixing doctrine with fleshly appetites, a world given to pushing even their culture of religion into a certain attitude that embraces the world and the culture. I believe in a great way it's always been the conflict of God's people to be almost to be drawn away by the enticements of those around us, right? It was the battle that God had, even through his prophets, and long before even the church was established, it was this, his people were always being drawn away to the culture around the groves, the idols, the Canaanitish worship, and he's saying, stop that. Am I not enough? Isaiah chapter 5 and other places, have I not given you, tended your garden, given you everything you need, and yet you're drawn away. the pleasures of the religious culture. And it will be, I believe, without a doubt, it will be the religious culture of the end times as well to intermingle seductions in our religious culture, to draw us away from God. And God today is asking us, as he asked his people in the past, am I not enough? What else do you need besides God? And yet these false prophets were always alluring the church by these forms of really perverse physical forms of worship that were ungodly. So he says, I want to stir up your minds to think purely about what's happening around you. You're called ekklesia, out of the world. Not that you leave it, but you're called out not to be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. How does that happen? The prescription is given to us in chapter 3, verse 2, that you might be mindful of the words, to be mindful of the scriptures. How did they come? Who are the proxies of truth? Who are the apostles and who are the prophets? And two things are used here, two words or two groups of people. Trust the truth givers. In a world of competing voices, trust those who were the apostles. Who are they? The eyewitnesses of Christ. Peter in chapter 1 verses 19 and beyond says this, there's all kinds of forms of truth out there but there is a more sure word. And how was that more sure word delivered to you? It was delivered by two means, the voice of the prophets, the law of the prophets, that's what they had. All of scripture was still in force, at least the New Testament was being still written while Peter was writing these words and so not every church had a copy of the New Testament yet. And so he says, trust the prophets whose message has been singularly about the coming of the Messiah, about the prophecy of end time judgments, about getting your heart right and knowing the true God, trust them. And then he said this, trust the word or the commandment of the apostles, those that were eyewitnesses of Christ. Those that really were those upon which the wings of this push for worldwide evangelism had been started. The impetus for this new mission to the world through Paul and Peter and the other disciples and apostles. Trust us. Why? Well, we were eyewitnesses to this Messiah. We saw him. Amen. We saw him come up out of the grave and we came here with a message that he's alive. And Eeyaw offers to you this gospel of grace, this good news that changes your life. The law broke us. Jesus Christ came to give us grace that we might have the power within us to fulfill the commands of Scripture. So be mindful of the Scriptures. Dear church, I'm going to ask you something. We're a month into the new year. How mindful have you been? of the disciplines of reading the word and loving it and taking notes in your private journal. How much have you spoken about this book to others, your friends? Do you long to love the book? He says, be mindful of the words which are spoken before by the holy prophets. One quarter of this book, the Bible, is prophetic in nature and it all points to the coming of Jesus Christ and God is trying to prepare us for this world that shall come. Believe it or not, the world in which we live today is fleeting and our life is but a vapor. And so the prophets came to tell us there is an unseen city that's coming. There is a world of judgment coming upon those that do not. And Peter will mention at the end of chapter three about this melting down of planet Earth. This is a disposable globe. And yet we are in a culture that loves and hugs this world and tries to preserve it. The Lord created it by word and he will destroy it in a word. And so cling not to this present world. We're to fill our minds with scripture and those words particularly have to do with those given by the holy prophets and verified by the apostles and He goes in chapter 1 and 19 and says, listen, there is a more sure word. It comes by the inspiration, every word given by God. These are the things that we ought to memorize, meditate about, live by. And so he starts chapter 3 before he talks about the judgment that is to come, the return of Christ. He says, now cling fast, hold fast the form of sound words. Then he turns the corner a little bit. He says this in verse 3, knowing this first, that they shall come. in the last days, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts." Interesting phrase. And saying, where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. Now I wanted you to note that they walk after their lusts. And secondly, verse 5, for this they are willingly ignorant of. That's another great phrase to underline. There are characteristics of these who come with a false message. One, what does it say? They walk after their lusts, and they are, of course, willingly, willfully ignorant. What are they willfully ignorant of? Does it remind you, by the way, of any other scientists in our culture that are willfully ignorant? What are they expunging from the record, so to speak? Well, they're saying what? We don't believe really the heavens were of old and that the earth was standing out of the water and in the water. And they say this, we just were forgetting willfully that the world that then was, was overflowed with a flood of water and perished. So we see, secondly, the final words continue, be mindful of truth. These are his final words. And then he also says, be careful about these. Beware of the mockers. This is really the word for scorners. Those who ridicule you in your faith. They're in church, they come to church, but they come to ridicule you. He says this, dearly beloved ones, beware of these who will come. Peter, like Paul and others, believe that Christ could return at any moment. Do you believe that? We've been saying that and preaching that for 2,000 years where the scoffers are saying, where is he? Now, let me ask you a question. I do believe this lands on our ears today because they're still saying that, by the way, but this lands on our ears a whole lot differently than it landed on the ears of those in that day. Why do I say that? Well, in our day, as far as I know, in America, in this part of the world, no one tried to stop you on the way to church to arrest you, drag you before a court, and have you even put in jail, tortured, and even put to death for your faith. That was the case in the early church. And Peter and Paul? All told the church that he could, and by the way, it wasn't just Peter and Paul's message. The angel, the last word, the final word to the disciples standing there in Acts chapter one, verse 11, right? Why stand you gazing up at heaven? This same Jesus, like manner as he's left, will return again. Jesus said, I'm coming back that where I am there you might be also. There's the promise of his return, his eminent return at any moment return. And that was the message. We've seen him come out of the grave. We saw him rise up into heaven and the promise was he's coming back. So church be ready. And they were getting saved. Many were coming to Christ. And they were staking their whole lives on this message, this gospel of good news that God saves to the uttermost, and that He's coming back and that His kingdom is heavenly. He's going to establish that kingdom, of course, on the earth, and then we will enjoy the eternal state together with Him forever in heaven. And that message that He's coming back resonated in the hearts of these people. And as they became Christians at great cost, They were seeing their family members getting persecuted and some of them in the church bearing a tremendous price for this. And they were discouraged, some of them. And they were, some of them, again, going through tremendous persecution. And so here came the scoffers saying this little phrase right here, nothing changes, nothing will. So, Here we are and we could be 50 years post the resurrection, 70 years post the resurrection. Where is your God? And they were giving their lives for this message. They had staked it all on that claim. It was a different brand of Christianity in those days. I'm not saying we're not as courageous as they were. I'm just saying they were giving their lives. And so here came the mockers, the scoffers saying, hey, nothing ever changes. Nothing ever will. Where is your God? Where is the coming back? And they were beginning to look at each other, getting impatient, right? Where is this God who said he was going to whisk us away or establish his kingdom and we would be a part of that? Where is he? Peter writes this wonderful, heartwarming chapter to calm their hearts. The mockers have this insidious agenda to pull us away. Now I say today, we have almost the opposite spectrum in that although the message is still the same, so where is your God? You've been talking about this for 2,000 years. So much so. that the church has almost stopped talking about the return of Christ. We are so enamored by what is around us. The early church, they were being persecuted and they were wearied by the persecution. They longed for heaven. And yet they wondered, where's the promise? And so the mockers and the ridiculers came, the scorners came, and they were saying, okay, it doesn't pay, does it? You might as well come to our side, enjoy our form of brand of religion that was more entertainment based, more fleshly. It's a different gospel entirely. And today we have that same silence going on about the return of Christ because we have bought in. The fact that maybe he's never coming back. I remember the seventies. Remember the Jack Van Impey crusades? I went home scared of the judgment that was to come. I could feel the hot breath of the devil. I knew the Russians were right around the corner too. Some of those messages scratch my head about a little bit, but we were warned over and over. It's good warning for us to remember Jesus is coming back again. It's just hard to find churches now that are talking about the second coming. You know why? We've got a game this afternoon. We've got places to go. We've got fun things to do. We've got to hang out with the family. And so in a similar sense, this seductive message that where is the sign of your coming? Where is the God that promised to come and rapture his bride away? Where is that? It's been 2,000 years. Peter will address that. And there's always this seductive pull in the heart of the church, whether it be persecution or just pleasures of heart that draw us away from looking upward. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher, who could come at any moment, snatches bride away. Well, what was their problem? What was their line? What did they say? They are morally indulgent. We see that in verses 3 and 5, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers. What are they doing? They're walking after their own lusts. This is very indicative of this type of preacher. He's all about his own desires. Dr. Fred was talking about this in Sunday school class. These preachers are motivated by a health, wealth, and prosperity gospel about what they can gain, and we find that in chapter 2 of 2 Peter. They are in it for their own greed and lust. Don't be taken by their scientific prowess and intellect. They often come with that shroud of, or that, really that guise. After all, it has been, hasn't it been, when we take away this idea that God started it all, they deny the fact that there's been a flood. They deny that there's ever been any interruption in the plan of history. That God is just doing a continuism. God is just doing the same. I mean, it's just the same thing. Maybe there's a God, maybe there isn't. But nothing changes, so party, have a great time. God's not coming back. He's forgotten about his plan. For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. Don't panic. The sun will come up tomorrow. Chill out. Kuna matata. You've got to give the scoffers, at least in this context, one One thumbs up, at least they weren't evolutionists. They said from what? For this they are willing, ignorant, by the word of God, the heavens were of old. At least they didn't throw in evolution there. They, at this time, didn't know about Darwin and his intelligent plan. and come up with a strange notions about man evolving from apes by means of random mutations and survival of the fittest that prove successfully beneficial to the human race and to evolvement of creatures. No matter that that theory, evolution on its own merits, has no merit, can't be reproduced, cannot be proven, is counter-scientific, counter-logical. It's taken 2,000 years of intelligence for us to embrace the idea that an explosion plus millions and millions of years, random mutations, order from chaos, that's what it produces. These are the same folks. that say this, let's protect the spotted owls and let's abort human babies. Don't forget, these men have two defining characteristics. They are dumb and dumber. No, they are scoffers who hate God and His church and His program. First of all, they are morally indulgent, verse 3. Did you know that when you try to wrestle away from your mind the idea of a coming judgment, What you're doing is saying, God, I don't really want to believe that I will ever be in trouble for my lifestyle. And disdain for coming judgment breeds sexual permissiveness. Chapter 214, their eyes are full of adultery. Chapter 218, they allure by the lust of the flesh. Chapter 220, they are self-entangled, self-captivated. Verse 22, though they know the truth, fuse to return to truth. In fact, they return to their natural instincts like a hog or a dog. They return to the debauched corruption that is true of their unregenerate hearts. These are these called walking after their own lusts in chapter three and verse three. Secondly, they are morally, excuse me, willfully ignorant men. This is the ridiculers come against the church, but they are truly willfully ignorant just because We think they have such a fine-tuned theory of origins. Let me tell you something. What is behind atheism is not logic. What is behind evolutionism is not a science at all. In fact, the farther you dig, into the fossil record, the more you have to say something happened. There must have been a global deluge here. Because why are there fossils of whales in the Andes Mountains? What's up with that? And why are certain stratas of life, evolution posits that if you start with the simple then you go to the more complex forms. The farther you dig the more simple the organisms, but that's not true. In certain stratas there's complex with a simple all mixed together because of the flood and yet they try to explain without logic or science behind them. What is behind it then? Well, Peter tells us what's behind these theories that run counter to truth. It's this idea that we don't want to be ruled by the authority of God. And if we can find a way that this began without God, then there is no God and then I can live morally impure, selfish life without the accountability or any coming judgment. I'm not accountable to a God. And so these try to change the very course of history for they are willingly ignorant that God has interrupted already as a classic lesson to all of us that what He's done in the past, He will do again. Not by a flood, but God has promised that the next worldwide judgment will come and it will be a judgment by fire. Why is it that they say there's never been a change? Whatever happened yesterday will happen today and tomorrow. C'est la vie. They say it because they hate God and they don't want His authority in their lives. I was doing a little bit of study on this thing about does life ever change? Has history ever been interrupted? We know of the flood, of course, as believers. That whole account is in every culture. It's amazing that when those eight came off the boat, They told their children about the flood. Don't you think they would have said that to every generation? Hey, there's a flood. And so there's the verbal, if not written, account of a flood in every cultural background. You can see it written on cave walls about the floods. It happened at one time. So those eight told their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And so we know that God has interrupted the course of human history before the flu pandemic Didn't know much about this until I studied 1918. Do you know that 100 million people died in this flu outbreak? We're worried about the coronavirus. They knew nothing about viruses back in the time, how to cure it, how to combat it. And this particular brand was very, or strain, was very, very dangerous. became an epidemic that took the lives of 100 million. Every flu starts with a bird somewhere. It morphed into the hogs in Kansas. Five men contracted this particular blend of the flu, and by the time it had run its course, 100 million people died. Why do they say all things just continue as they were? December, I don't know if you remember this, of 2004, we got word on the news about a tidal wave in Indonesia. Remember that? 250,000 people died in the space of less than 24 hours. I mean, just because of the inundation of just one wave where God said, there you go. And yet the scoffers tell us By the way, talk to some folks from New Orleans sometime about what God can do. The scoffers will tell you, hey, figure God out. Nothing changes. It all remains the same. What happened today will happen tomorrow. No big deal. And the church often can come to a place where we just say, you know what, maybe God doesn't care about how I live. And we see that this is not the response of godly people. And Peter warns us about this. This is really a condensation, really, of the thoughts in Genesis chapter 7. Everyone died, even the animals, except the eight people and those preserved in the ark. You think about this. The days before the ark, the days before the flood, it wasn't just everybody was living in a village of about 260 people. Someone has estimated there could have been in the billions of people already at that time. No one is sure, but there could have been with the long lifespans. There could have easily been, the global population could have been in the billions already before the flood. And guess who came out of that? Eight people. Thank you for joining us today. Please tune in each week for new messages from Pastor Lauren Regeer at Bible Baptist Church in Hampton, Georgia. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you.