Well, after the many weeks of ministering in 2 Peter, to announce that we're now coming to chapter 3 sounds like progress. We've been preaching in this passage since early January, and we have, I think, dug out a lot of things that I trust that are helpful to us. In chapter 3, you'll notice that this is Peter's love letter, and he starts off by saying, this second epistle, be loved. and he reaffirms his personal interest in those to whom he writes. And that is always very important. If you get a letter for someone that you know that cares for you, it means a lot. I have just finished the first volume of Arnold D'Alemore's records of George Whitefield. I'm looking forward to getting into the second volume. But I read that Mr. Whitefield was in the habit of writing letters, even to pastors, preachers that hardly knew him. He might hear about someone in a particular situation or need, and he would sit down and he would write a letter that would be very personable. And he would write as if he knew the person all of his life. And he would seek to give some fatherly spiritual counsel to that person that might be laboring in the backwoods of New England or somewhere obscure. And you can imagine the joy of that recipient of the letter, noting that it's from Mr. Whitfield, opening, and just reading that this man, who had a thousand other things to do, would take the time to write a personal letter to him. As Peter wrote to his friends, his people, he expressed this personal attachment unto them. It's always true, even in pastoral work, for preachers and pastors to truly love and care for the people to whom he preaches. That's God's way. God raises up pastors, preachers, evangelists, teachers, but he also must put a love in his heart. for those people to whom he ministers." We cannot minister to people whom we have no interest in or no care for their souls. Now, there were things in this second epistle that Peter wanted to say that obviously he did not or he chose not to write in the first epistle. And we learned that people need time to absorb large chunks of truth. We cannot expect people to swallow everything as one pill. So I think tonight it would be a good thing if we do an overview of this short epistle. Chapter 1. is danger inside the church. You remember way weeks back, that was the line that we took, that Peter is warning these people of danger inside the church. Then in chapter 2, it is judgment on all sin and sinners. We have in chapter 2 the angels that were cast out, lot who was dragged out of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah before it was destroyed. You have the generation in Noah's day, how God came in judgment and destroyed the world. We learned in chapter 2 that it is a very detailed description of the lawless and what heart-wrenching detail Peter goes into to describe those who live without God and live without his law. And you'll notice in verse 17 of chapter 2 that judgment is reserved for them. there is no escape. And for the wicked who live without God, there is certain judgment." And that was a very strong note of alarm and warning. In chapter 3, we come to, scoffers shall come in the last days. These are the final days of the Lord's church. The word for last days is the word eschatos, and I'm sure you'll know that the doctrine of the Lord's return or those events of the Lord's return is called the study of eschatology. It is the doctrine concerning the last things or the last events of this very world. Now, we have to be careful here, because these last days that are spoken of in various parts of the New Testament, they really began in Acts 2, and they're spoken of in verse 17. And so we can say that these last days are the days from Pentecost till the return of the Lord Jesus. And there are many other references that perilous times shall come, and there are various references of in these last days God hath spoken to us by his Son." That's Hebrews 1 and verse 2. And then here in 2 Peter 3 and verse 3, knowing this, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, Now, when are these last days? Obviously, Peter wrote these things before the end of the first century, so we're living about 2,000 years after these things were written, and Peter was already warning that in the last days, scoffers will come. We also need to be on our guard that we don't fall into that pit of many who jump to conclusions that their particular generation or situation were the very last days, and they began to predict and to prepare for a particular time when the Lord would return. We could make a case, however, that while the last days, as far as God's dealings with His church, run from Pentecost to the sound of the trumpet when the Lord's returned, those are all the last days, that there shall be an increase of evil, and there shall be an increase of satanic activity, toward the end of that period of time. So we might end up making a statement like this. We're living in the last of the last days. We're living in the period when the marks of the warnings of apostasy are upon the church. In Revelation 12, verse 12, it says, Because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." That's the devil it's referred to. And when Satan knows that he has but a short time, He's going to be all the more busy, he will raise up even more false teachers, and he will attack the church from all quarters. And so this sharp increase in scoffers against the Lord is a sign of what we'll call the very last days. Now, I want to take you to a couple of verses where these very last days are referred to, and that we can stand upon our position that there is at the near end of the history of this world a vast increase of evil and of satanic activity. Let's go to Jude, first of all. Jude, verse 17 and 18. But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time." Now, that's not the last days, but nevertheless, it points to a late period of time. And you'll notice that these mockers have the same characteristic. They walk after their own lusts. They're given to corruption. The depravity of man will abound in that time. Going backward a bit now to Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 1, 1 Thessalonians 5, 1, But of the times and seasons, brethren, Ye have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the LORD so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction. And if you read that passage on right down to verse 6, you'll notice the exhortations to staying awake, not falling asleep, not allowing yourself to slumber thinking all is well, but to be prepared. And then back in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 37, Matthew 24, 37. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Now, there's one way of looking at the days of Noah in that there was a lot of normality going on. There was a lot of normal living. They were marrying and giving in marriage. People were making plans about the future. And of course, Noah's message of righteousness and God's judgment upon the world was mocked at and laughed to scorn. And that parallel of that day will return. I'm not going to do it tonight, but I may do it next week. when I get to the parallels between the days of Noah and the present times in which we live, and the parallels with God's judgment upon the world at that time, and the judgment of the world to come. And so we learn here that there is reason to watch. These statements were made by the Lord to appeal to God's people to watch. Now, we avoid predictions, we avoid date setting, but we are to keep our eyes open and to observe the times in which we live and not fall asleep. Now, coming back to Peter and to this chapter 3, I want us firstly to look at the preacher's task in days of scoffers. And the task simply is preach about them. That's really what Peter is saying. Preach about them. And then we see the believers thinking about scoffers. Remember them. And also, the true Christians test to refute scoffers. Refute them. don't take these things lying down." So we're going to look at the true preacher's task to preach about these scoffers. He says to them in this verse 1, Now, beloved, I now write unto you, in which I stir up your pure minds." Now, notice that Peter did this in both of his epistles. Both were for the purpose to stir up the minds of his people, and this is the preacher's work. That's what I'm supposed to be doing here tonight. I am to be stirring up the minds of God's people and calling God's people to be awakened, alert, and to be equipped that we might withstand these evil scoffers and false teachers." Now, you'll notice here that he stirred them up to purity. And you'll see how Peter took the position that these people, these Christians to whom he was writing, were living pure lives. They were not living in the gutter. They were not following the lusts of the flesh. They were a people of pure mind. And that's the position that Peter took as he wrote to these people. And so tonight, I would say that I'm preaching to the choir. I'm preaching to men and women who, for the most part, by God's grace, are living lives of victory. and you're men and women of prayer, men and women of rejoicing in the Lord, and you are by every opportunity seeking to resist the devil, fleeing from evil, and yet the preacher's task is to stir people up, even those of pure mind, that they remember these scoffers that come. Now, the preacher is to stir up because his task is to build up. We are to be building up with faithful words. You go to verse 2 now, it says, that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets. And the way to build up is the way of words, God's words, the words of Scripture. And if you go back to 2 Peter 1 and verse 19, you'll remember how Peter stood upon a more sure word of prophecy, a more sure word. And we are to build ourselves up on the Word. And the preacher's task then is to stir up, to build up, and then to give out consistent teaching, and that is founded on the Word. Now, you'll notice here a reference to the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, and there's reference made there also to the holy prophets. That's equal to Ephesians 2.20, the text we take for the foundation of the church. The church is built upon the prophets, the apostles, and Jesus Christ. That is the foundation of the church. That is the basis for our authority. And it is, of course, the Scriptures, the revelation, the Word of the living God. And here is the foundation of our faith. And it is only by taking heed to this foundation of our faith, by being mindful of the words of Scripture, that we're going to stand against the scoffers, because they're going to bring all their vain philosophies, they're going to bring all their dirty imaginations, and attack the mind, the heart, the lifestyle, the witness of the Christian and the church, and so we need to be grounded and founded on the Word of God. And at the end of the day, this is a matter of faith. It's either you believe the book, or you don't. It's either you take your stand where the Word of God sounds out the truth, or you give up the fight and you join the mockers who will malign the Word of God and the very history of the world. Now, what are these scoffers doing? In this chapter, if I may sum it up, they are simply saying that the world has continued as it is today with no interruption, no judgment, and the world will just keep going on as it is today. That is called uniformitarianism, that there is a uniformity right through the history of the world. But to be a uniformitarian, you have to deny biblical history. You have to deny the Fall, that sin came into the world. You have to deny Noah's flood, or the flood in the day of Noah, and you have to deny all those things that have been revealed. And so, we all have to take a decision here. Are we going to be biblicists, Bible believers? Are we going to take Bible history by faith, or are we going to join the mockers and the scoffers? And that really is the drawing line. The true preacher's task is to build people up in the faith that this book is God's Word. that it's dependable, that if you base your life and your soul and your eternity on this written Word, this book will stand you in good stead with God, that this book presents the gospel, the way of salvation. And unless you take your stand for the miraculous, supernatural, divine history of the Bible, you're going to fall. You're going to come right down. into the pit where the scoffers against God's Word are. Now, I said tonight I've been reading about George Whitefield. Another thing I've learned, that when even he was a young man ministering in New England at the age of 26, he took a very straight stand against unconverted men in the pulpit. It actually was the grandfather of Jonathan Edwards who gave countenance to this notion that it's better to have an unconverted man in the pulpit than no man. And surely even an unconverted man can do some good if he's got the Bible in his hand and following the basic liturgy of the church. Now, that's very surprising, and it became a trend within training schools in New England at that time, men who had no testimony of salvation, and they had all this theology. They were men of learning, they were men of acumen, and they had various intellectual abilities, but they were not converted. And when George Whitefield went up and down the east coast of the United States of America preaching the gospel and came to understand that there was this move to bring unconverted men into the pulpit, he denounced it firmly and paid a heavy price. He made many enemies. because he insisted for a born-again ministry, just as he insisted on the new birth for a man or woman to get to heaven. And if you know about George Whitefield's preaching, he was very, very much preaching the new birth. He insisted on the miracle of the new birth. Now, what happens when an unconverted man gets into the pulpit? What happens when someone who has got all this knowledge, but his heart is really unconverted, he loves the world and sin and the praise of men, what happens is the Word of God is corrupted. and it becomes handled deceitfully. I want you to notice how the Apostle Paul warned of this in 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 17. 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 17. For we are not as many which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. Now, that word corrupt means to huckster. It means to sell at a discount. It means to cheapen, devalue. And we are not of them which corrupt the Word of God or devalue it. Our job is to call men and women to take their stand where the Bible stands, and draw the line where the Bible draws the line, to do other. is to lose the battle and to surrender to those false teachers and to those who deny the great supernatural historic events of the Bible. Now, that's the true preacher's task. Preach about the scoffers and take our stand for the Bible. Now, we come back to 2 Peter chapter 3, and you'll notice in verse 2, the true believer's thinking, that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken by the holy prophets, and so on, that in the last days scoffers would appear. That's what that's leading down to. The word mindful is the Greek word for which we get mnemonic. I'm probably not saying that one. It's one of the trickiest words to pronounce. You know, that little device that we use to remember things, a memory aid. In Sunday school, I know some people have tried to teach the children the three friends of Daniel—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And how do you remember those names? Well, you shake the bed, you make the bed, and into bed you go. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. That's a memory aid and device. And Peter is saying to these people, use your mind. Get this into your mind and remember it. Don't forget it, whatever device it takes, that you remember that the Bible warns us of these scoffers who will come. Now, memory aids are used in the Bible as well. You have Psalm 119. It's divided into 22 sections, all corresponding with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. And section 1, there are usually about eight verses in each section, and they follow that memory aid. So if you knew the Hebrew alphabet, you could use that to help you memorize. And if you read Psalm 119, we are called to remember the precepts, the judgments, the warnings, and the principles of God's Word, and that is the true believer's thinking. How do I sum this up? Well, I've got one, two, three, four A's. Talk about a memory aid. Alliteration is a memory aid. The first thing that you are to be mindful that the Bible is an absolute. You can't play fast and loose with the Bible. When God says it, we believe it. It's also an attitude that when we hear some new fad, some new philosophy of men, we always ask the question, what does the Bible say about that? That's our attitude. And in a good sense, Christians are a people with attitude. They always ask the question, what does the Bible think of that? What does the Bible say about it? Also, there's affirmation. When we go to the Bible and discover what the Bible says, that's it. It's affirmed. There's no more argument. There's no more debate. We come to a settled position. Paul warned about those that were always learning and never come to the knowledge of the truth. They never come to a fixed conclusion or position. We are believers tonight that have positions. on doctrine, on the history of the Bible, and the great truths of the Bible. And then also the fourth A is our assessment of orthodoxy. Test all things. Believe not every spirit, but test the spirits. And that is what we're to apply. Now, is that the way you think? If you are a liberal-minded person, and I'm thinking here now theologically, I'm not talking about politically, theologically, a liberal-minded, that means you're open to all ideas. A liberal-minded person is open to every source of knowledge, every suggested truth, and we say, well, we give equal value, equal weight, equal place to all these sources of truth. No, we have a biblical view, a biblical view. And so there is the world's view. There's my view, there's the Christian worldview, and there's the biblical view, and it's the biblical view we're after. Because you just don't want my view. If you've got a question for me, you'll be saying, now could you show me in the Bible where I can stand upon that truth? Or where that is the solid teaching of the Bible. We must arrive at a solid position based on the Bible. Now that doesn't happen overnight. The new Christian, and we have some new Christians here tonight, you're relatively new to the Christian faith, standing up for Christ, and you face the issues of ungodliness and the false notions of the world. If you don't hear it at work from the ungodly, you'll hear it on the radio, you'll hear it from many sources. In this vast media age, it comes from all quarters, and you're going to be bombarded with ideas and views. And so, you need to seek a biblical mind. As I said, it doesn't come overnight. We need to grow in knowledge and grow in our fixed position. That's why the Bible says when we're choosing elders, we do not choose a novice, someone that's just new to the faith, who is just discovering these things and hasn't really come to a fixed position. And so, as you give yourself to Bible reading, hearing the Word preached, or maybe you do some personal study with a Bible commentary or study aid, you grow in the fixed positions of the Word of God. And that now becomes the true thinking of the believer. And I hope I'm seeing in your life development, growth in knowledge. And to do that, of course, you have to be a Bible worm. You have to be a Bible ant, storing away those things that are a help and a blessing to your soul. You remember how the prophet Ezekiel was to eat the roll Well, Christians are to digest God's truth. Let that work in your mind and heart and become the very food for your soul. Now, the third part of this is the true Christian's test. We need to be aware of false teachers, and you'll see how there are marks of how to identify them. If you read verse 3, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last day scoffers walking after their own lusts. That's the mark. They're vile. They love sin. They love uncleanness, and they are the opposite to purity. Back in verse 1, Peter said, stir up your pure minds. But these scoffers are impure, and usually they are to be noted by their unclean lifestyle. And here Peter is calling people to be able to take the test and to identify these ungodly men. What are we to do with them? Reject them. They're to be noted. They're to be marked, and they are to be rejected. So test number one, watch for purity. If you get somebody in the pulpit, and they're full of the world, and they want to promote the world, you can be sure they're not sent by God. Because this gospel is the gospel according to godliness. Then also, how to refute the scoffers' denial of judgment. Well, we need to know our Bible history. These scoffers, you'll notice what they're saying in verse four, where is the promise of His coming? And so they are mocking the idea of the Lord returning, and returning in judgment, and they're asking, for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning. That is their notion of uniformitarianism. that everything just continues on and on with no interruption. So how do we refute these scoffers? Well, by taking our stand, firstly, for direct creation. God created the world in six days. God created the world perfect, complete. And that will not lead us into either evolution or theistic evolution. Theistic evolution is the attempt to try and merge the direct creation with a period of time that agrees more with science, and it is impossible to do. So we need to know direct creation. We need to know the fall, where death entered the world and all the curse of the world. We need to take our stand on Noah's generation when the world was destroyed by a flood, verse 6, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. Another instance not mentioned in this chapter here would be the Tower of Babel, where the nations of the world were scattered with various languages, and that is a part of world history. That's why there are so many languages in the world today, and linguists would tell you that they all flow back to a particular root. And while I can't understand Mandarin or Cantonese, and I can't understand Hindi, yet linguists say that right in the very root of every language, there is the basis of one tongue or one language. And that's because the world was scattered at the very time of Babel. The other part of history would be the line of Christ from Abraham, that there is a people whom God has called out to be his own Israel to serve the Lord. Now, we need to stand on those things, because you'll see the lie of the false scoffers in verse 4. 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. And so they do not accept God intervening, God intercepting, and God bringing judgment upon the world. But they deny it. And they do not accept that the world is getting worse and worse and heading for judgment. Rather, their contention would be that due to the evolutionary process, the world is getting better and better, and it is acquiring greater ability to do things that are right. Next week's message will be based on this whole matter of uniformitarianism. I have way too much material to preach on this tonight, but I want you to think about this for next week. When you go to the gas station to gas up your car, what are you using? You are using fossil fuel to fill your car. And you're doing it, and I'm doing it, and there's millions of people in the world who every week are filling up, tanking up with fossil fuels of various kinds. And all of this fossil fuel comes from fossils, which are the remains of living animals or vegetation that was destroyed in a worldwide flood. And the fact that this fossil fuel is available all over the globe is testimony to a worldwide flood, and it's testimony to God's judgment upon the world. Now, the ungodly deny it. They scoff at it. There are even people who say, well, I love the story of the Lord Jesus, and I just love to hear about His birth, and I love to hear about the resurrection and those events of Christ. But this idea that God judged a whole world and destroyed it apart from one family? I can't accept that. And so there is all kinds of false notions on this matter. The Bible teaches us that God is imminent in the world, that He is at work in the world, and He is going to judge the world again. Not by a flood. The rainbow promise tells us He will never again destroy the world by a flood. but he will destroy it by fire. And if you read the rest of this chapter, you will discover just how complete that judgment by fire will be. So we can say tonight, this world is headed for judgment. The scoffers deny it. Men mock at it. But the Bible warns us, and we are to be mindful, we're to take our stand where the Bible stands, that God is going to judge this world and wind it up, that there will be a great destruction of this world. And next week, Lord willing, We will look at those parallels between Noah's time and our own, and we will look a little more in detail on this lie of uniformitarianism and how it doesn't stand up, and yet it is the theory upon which many people build their views. So tonight, I trust that the Lord will speak to your heart. It's my job to preach these things, even to the choir. Even though you know them and believe them and may have heard them all your life, I am to stir up your pure mind, and you are to remember them, and you are to refute these scoffers by knowing the Word and taking your stand where the Bible takes its stand.