Okay, go ahead and open your Bibles to the book of 2 Peter. Get started. Book of 2 Peter, in last Lord's Day, we entered a new chunk of text. I think a very important one, especially in light of all that Peter is describing, all that he's teaching, and especially all that the church today is enduring. Book of 2 Peter 3, and as we did last Sunday, let's read from verse 14 through the end of the chapter to get an idea of the context. Please follow along. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the scriptures, to their own destruction. If therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall away from your own steadfastness. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. And all God's people said, Amen. There we go. Right. So the title of this message, part two, is looking for these things, looking for these things, a call to those who believe the promise. There's a particular call involved in here and I want to talk about that a little bit today because Peter's getting our attention. He's getting these churches attention in the midst of some very trying circumstances. So definitely we can relate to those churches that he is writing to. But this call, this call to those who believe the promise. So this is for Christians. This call is for those who are in Christ. And when you survey the vast landscape of Scripture, we have calls coming in many forms. First one is what we would call a general call. We are commanded to preach the Gospel to everyone. There is a general call, and we know that even though we preach the Gospel faithfully and clearly and sometimes excessively, We understand that not everyone is going to respond in saving faith. God knows those who are His. And so, after the general call, we have what's called the effectual call. This is when someone preaches the Gospel, and the Lord opens up that person's heart, and they are born again, and that regeneration produces genuine faith in Christ alone. And so forever, from that point forward, that person is united to Jesus Christ and all the blessings pertaining thereunto. So that's the effectual call. That is the saving call. And then elsewhere in Scripture, we also have what is called a call to serve. This is really for everyone in the church. Everyone who identifies with the Lord Jesus Christ is called to serve in some capacity. As Paul teaches very richly, especially in the book of 1 Corinthians, Every person is a member of the body of Christ. Everyone who is in Christ is a member of the church, and we are called to serve. That is without exception. Everyone is called to serve in that manner. However the Lord directs them and gifts them. And fourthly, and I think the one we're dealing with here, is what we could call as a call to action. There are many times throughout both the Old and the New Testament where God sends people to call the people to awake from their slumber or to stand at attention, to prepare themselves. It can come in a variety of descriptions. But there is a call to action. And that is what we're dealing with here. And in these calls to action, I find that we have plenty of application. I love Oswald Chambers' a remark on this. He says, the call of God is like the call of the sea. No one hears it except the person who has the nature of the sea in him. And so what Peter is doing, he is calling out to those who partake of the divine nature. Those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have not been regenerated by the working of the Holy Spirit are deaf to this call. There is no sense of urgency. They have stuffed their ears full of garbage so that they do not hear God calling out to them. Calling them to attention. Calling them to take this seriously. Especially the situation they're in where many are abandoning the faith. Many are falling into temptation. Many are compromised. And so if we truly have the nature of God inside of us, if we partake in the divine nature, we will definitely hear the call of God when He calls us to attention and calls us to action. And so that's what we're dealing with here. So in verses 14-16, we find three calls to do something, and last Sunday we got through the first. And that is simply this, the call to courage to persevere in godliness. That in times of great temptation, in times where there is a lot of false teaching circulating the church, We are called to be courageous in the face of that. Rather than being cowards, rather than rolling over and compromising, we are called, as Peter says, to be at peace. To be found at peace. Functioning as we ought to function. As the Spirit gives us strength and wisdom. We are to be spotless and blameless. That is, we are to resemble Christ. Who Peter describes in his first letter as a lamb without blemish and without spot. So, developing Christ-likeness, resembling Jesus is not a pipe dream for the Christian. I rather say it's an inevitability. Especially as God works within us His work of sanctification. So this is called a courage to put on Christ and to exemplify that character. And don't get me wrong, this is not passive at all. Being at peace, being spotless, being blameless are not passive things. These types of people who have this kind of courage are willing to confront the culture. Confront the culture in which they live in all of its unbelief, in all of its waywardness, in all of its apostasy. Again, this is not for men and women who are not spirit-filled. These are not for church members who claim to be Christians, but God is not working in them. These are for true believers in Jesus Christ who hear His voice, and who love and obey Him, and who want to stand in the evil day, and after having done all, to stand. So that's the first one. Here's the second one. It is a call to confidence to trust in God's plan. So we have the call to courage to persevere in godliness and not grow faint-hearted. And secondly, we have the call to confidence to trust in God's plan. And this is drawn from a very minor portion of this passage. So go ahead and look at your Bibles. In verse 15, that first phrase, he says, And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So, Peter is drawing our attention to have the confidence to trust in God's plan. Again, when it comes to this, we Christians are not to be wishy-washy, second-guessing. what the Lord is doing, but even if we don't have a completely clear picture of all the details, we are still called to trust Him. We can have confidence that He is doing everything according to His plan, and that whatever our God ordains is right. So it is a confidence there for the Christian to trust in God's plan. What is this plan? This plan is His saving plan. Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. This word regard is a very strong word. It's not merely a passing glance. It's not merely an opinion held. It is to look at something closely to consider the truth that lies within. It is to mull something over. It is to think very deeply about something and to continue to think about it. It's to unpack all of the implications and to apply them rightly. So he says, think about this, and keep in mind the context. This is a very difficult time these churches are going through. It's hard to consider God's plan in the midst of this when so many odd things are taking place where you have the marginalization by the pagan culture without, and then within you have the proliferation of false teachers. You have many false gospels, false teachings, false words as Peter describes. here in chapter two. We don't have to rehash all of that, but suffice it to say, it's all pretty bad. And the challenges cannot be understated. And so if you're a Christian living in times such as those, and I think we're living in them now, it is tempting to second guess the plan of God. Sometimes as if to act that he has no plan at all. or to say that his plan is not quite working. There are a number of ways to call into question his goodness and faithfulness and even his wisdom. But he simply says this, regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. We've talked immensely about the patience of God. We know that God is being patient. He's not procrastinating. He's being patient. And so the church can trust in that plan. Can be confident that God is about His work, about His business, and that business is the business of salvation. Consider this encouragement that Isaiah gives to Judah. Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you. And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice. How blessed are those who long for Him. Justice is coming from the hand of the Lord. But He is a compassionate God. Again, if you're living in an evil society, I'm sure many of us, if not all of us, have prayed this at one time or another. Lord, why will you not judge the wicked people in society? Why will you not smite them? Why will you not put them away? Why will you not do something? And we have the answer here. Salvation. God's plan is salvation. And so the encouragement here is to see these things, whether you live in the first century or the 21st, is to see these things from God's perspective. We don't want to see what's going on in the same way as these apostates and false teachers that Peter brings up, that he exposes very clearly. They see it for one thing, and yet we have God's perspective on the matter here. And really, these things are true for the church at all times. We are to have a heavenward perspective. We are to seek out God's viewpoint on the issue and trust in His sovereign plan. I think we face this challenge today on at least two fronts regarding this attitude. Number one is this. Many who are in unbelief today assert that the primary problem with humanity is religion. And not just religion of any kind, because let's face it, we all have our truth. say the modern philosophers of today. But the problem primarily lies within organized religion. Organized religion. Usually the monotheistic religions. But among them especially is Christianity. And their viewpoint, of course, is that Christianity's time is up. We don't need it anymore. It's time has come to an end. And I think without citing much evidence, they say that. They also say that Christianity is dying. It's falling by the wayside, no one believes this anymore. But I think what's going on, truly, and the reason we don't need to be discouraged, I think, yes, a kind of Christianity is dying. I think pop Christianity is dying. I think a counterfeit Christianity is dying, and for that we can all rejoice. From the heretics' point of view, it may seem that the church is dying, but I actually think what's going on here today is that we're being pruned. Remember, the Lord Jesus is always faithful to purify His church. He continues to purify us from all unrighteousness. And those counterfeits are always exposed. Remember, they are laid bare before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. So that's one thing. And of course, the challenge for us is to not believe that. We have no reason to believe that the church is on the outs. That the church is going to fail. That the church is simply going to fade. It's not to the point where we just need to give up. or even stay out of it. That brings me to number two. And this is the notion we've come across again and again, and it's worth repeating, because I want to root out this mindset toward the church and God's saving plans in this world. It begins with this. that the world is in moral freefall, and of course, the end is near. It's amazing, if you listen to Christian radio, that a variety of new popular songs have come up which deal with the doctrine of the return of Christ. There's something wrong with the world. Jesus is coming back soon. And so we just persevere for now. We buckle down and make sure we're saved. And we preach the Gospel so that all who will believe in Jesus escape the imminent judgment. There's a desire to depart. I don't think it's always escapist, but I definitely think that we do not live in light of Christ's victory on the cross, and that ultimately, evil will prevail in this creation. But we find, even in Peter's context, that the design for creation, for this creation, is to be restored and exalted into a new heaven and new earth. But listen to this. This mindset is prevalent. Pastor, church planter, and author Dan White sums this attitude up, I believe, very perfectly. He says this, from, I think, a couple weeks ago. He says, I think Christianity should sit out the culture wars. It's really OK if we lose and let someone else win. I'll wait for someone out there if they want to tear their garment. at this preposterous statement. He continues, we got a ton of really important Jesus stuff to do that has nothing to do with triumphing, ruling, or governing. Now, if you believe in the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ, in history, you probably just threw up in your mouth a little bit. Such a statement is preposterous. Jesus stuff has everything to do with triumphing, ruling, When we proclaim the gospel, we are proclaiming the good news of Christ's triumph over sin and death. We are proclaiming Christ's rule. Therefore, repent or die. We are proclaiming Christ's governance that He rules over all, even in the midst of His enemies. Therefore, repent, believe, and obey the King. Everything the Christian does has to do with Christ in His triumph, rule, and governance. So for any Christian, especially a pastor, to say that we should sit out the culture wars, And it's really okay if we lose and let someone else win, is an insult to the rule of Jesus Christ. His present rule, which we believe and teach. It's amazing that we have come to this point. To where we think that it is irrelevant. to engage in the culture wars. It's never okay for the Christian to lose. We win because Christ has won. So if this is anything but okay, to let anyone else win is to undermine Christ in his preeminence, Christ in his supremacy, Christ in his glory, seated on the throne, exercising current rule over every nation. And every nation must bow the knee and believe in Him. I think Peter's view is much different. I believe he has in view this glorious promise. And we believe this promise of a new heaven and new earth. And even though we live in perilous times, we do not discount the saving activity of God. Peter really is repeating in a different way what he has already said in chapter 3. Listen to this. We go back in this chapter. He says, "...the Lord is not slow about His promise," verse 9 of chapter 3, "...as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." So of course we believe in the promises of God. And in this context, there is a coming judgment upon Jerusalem, upon unbelief, upon the apostate order. So we believe that God is going to judge evildoers and rescue the righteous. But in His apparent delay, we see evil prevail. We may even share the perplexity that Jeremiah had. Listen to Jeremiah, chapter 12, verses one through two. He says this. Righteous are you, O Lord, that I would plead my case with you. Indeed, I would discuss matters of justice with you. Why has the way of the wicked prospered? You ever wonder that? Why are those who deal in treachery at ease? You have planted them. They have also taken root. They grow. They have even produced fruit. And yet He understands you have put them there. So He understands there is a greater purpose to this. God was not sleeping when this happened. No, He was awake and attentive, ruling and guiding His creation to an appointed end. Even evildoers are subject to His sovereign hand. That's why Martin Luther said, He may be the devil, but He's God's devil. God is calling the shots, even in the case of satanic activity. God is sovereign over all. Listen to the psalmist's encouragement, Psalm 37. Do not fret because of evildoers. Do not be envious toward wrongdoers, for they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good." So here is our guidance. Here is teaching for us. Even though the wicked prosper, what do we do? Trust in the Lord and do good. Sounds a lot like regarding the patience of our Lord as salvation. It goes on to say this, dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday." So there we have the situation of evildoers prospering. We have the instructions for the righteous, the business that we are to be about, and they are amazingly common things. I think we're doing this right now. One of the most revolutionary acts that we can do in the culture today is to get up, to get dressed, to brush our teeth, and to bring our family to corporate worship. And I think as time goes on, especially in American culture, it's going to be seen as more and more revolutionary. Because we are gathered together and saying, there is no God but Jesus. Jesus is Lord. and only He saves. Not the state, not Caesar, but Jesus Christ alone. And so we commit our way to Him and note that there is an outcome here. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noon day. So even though we don't have time to flesh out all that that means, we say God has spoken and it's true. This is a joyful result that is anticipated by those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. So don't be so consumed by all the evil going on, by the fretting, that you forget to do good, that you forget faithfulness, and that you forget to trust in the Lord. Once again, don't mistake procrastination for patience. God's patience is at work. And He says, regard it as salvation. And I would like to suggest this morning, that this is more than just the salvation of souls. Now in verse 9, the primary context is that. That all would come to repentance. And we talked about the actual historical fleeing of Christians from Jerusalem before it was sacked and burned to the ground. So we know that God is at work, He's patient, He's saving people. But seeing that the context here comes just after this promise of a new heavens and new earth and the old creation being laid bare so that we see it for what it is, I believe that salvation here is understood in a more holistic sense. Salvation in its totality. Salvation that regards the uncovering, the revealing of the new heavens and new earth. So even today, this has... immense significance for the church. 2,000 years removed from this letter. We still regard the patience of the Lord as salvation. But He is being patient. Why? So that He can continue through those who proclaim the Gospel to reveal, to make manifest the new heavens and new earth. So whereas in verse 9 we were talking about the salvation more of individuals, salvation of a remnant, right here we are talking A salvation of the entire cosmos! Remember! The words of Colossians. Paul to the Colossians. For Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through His blood on the cross. What are those all things? Well, things invisible, visible. Heaven on earth. Principalities, powers. You name it. All those things are put in their proper relationship to the Lord Jesus. And that all involves Christ's saving work in His death and resurrection. It wasn't just to Save people. It was to save the whole of creation. To bring that newness to bear. Even though it's over a long period of time. So how much more are we blessed by this Word? Knowing that the Lord continues to do His work. In the first century, they are warned about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, where He would be present in awful judgment. And yet, what do we see that today? How do we see this today? That the Lord Jesus is still present on His throne, exercising judgment and salvation toward the nation. So we never have to second-guess what God is doing. He's being patient. We can rest assured that He is bringing salvation to bear, not only in the lives of His people, but all of creation. And we can rest in that beautiful promise. So here's the final thing. We have the call to courage to persevere in godly character. We have the call to confidence to trust in God's plan. Thirdly and finally, a call to commitment to honor God's Word. So we have to unpack this verse a little more. So look at verse 15. We'll start here on this point. Just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking to them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they also do the rest of the Scriptures to their own destruction. So there's a lot going on there, but I think really distilled in one point is that we are called here to renew our commitment to honor God's Word. Even though God's Word, as Peter indicates here very clearly, is sometimes difficult to understand. But we still commit ourselves to honor God's Word. It's authority, it's truth, even it's very resilience, but it stands under all of man's scrutiny. We honor its power, but it has the power when proclaimed to bring life to the dead. We honor it in every sense that it is meant to be honored. But we honor God's Word as God's Word, that He has spoken to us. hold it up and continue to proclaim it and not twist it to our own ends. We don't make it say what we want it to say. I think that's an overriding principle. So let's look at the verse specifically when it comes to honoring God's Word. So first thing Peter does is he acknowledges Paul as a partner in the Gospel. Partner in the faith. So we don't need a big biography of the Apostle Paul. We can do that maybe when we go through the book of Romans or something. But in short, while Peter first took the Gospel to the Jews, Paul primarily took it to the Gentiles. So you have all of the nations in view here, Jew and Gentile. This vision of the Gospel that spans the entire globe. If you're familiar with Acts 15, we see this very thing. You have the Jerusalem Council, where the apostles of Christ recognize that God is granting faith and repentance among the who? The Gentiles. So now they have to search the Scriptures at this time and understand which Scriptures are being fulfilled. Like, is it really here? Is this new covenant ministry really here? Yes, it is. Now listen to how Paul describes it from Galatians 2. So verse 7, But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised, for he who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship, to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles. and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas, that is Peter and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised." So Paul is recounting something that in relationship to the book of 2 Peter happened decades before. And he's recounting that. That yes, they verified him as a preacher of the gospel. As an apostle sent out by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so they're partners in ministry. And even though Paul had to, on occasion, publicly rebuke Peter for hypocrisy, they remain partners in gospel ministry. they continue to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nation. And Paul, mind you, wrote letters also to the churches in Asia Minor, in modern day Turkey, and this is where the churches to whom Peter is writing are located. Paul writes Galatians, there's a lost letter to the Laodiceans, Colossae, and here we are in the mid to late 60s, it's not hard to imagine why Paul's teachings would have, by this point, be very well circulated. And there is also opportunity to see if there is a conflict. But there is no conflict. One isn't preaching a gospel of grace and the other preaching a gospel of kingdom. They're preaching a gospel of the kingdom of grace. Both are involved. And so there's plenty of time for these teachings, this doctrine, to circulate throughout all these churches. And these teachings will be in perfect agreement. The Lord isn't giving them a contrary message. Even in the book of Colossians, Paul notes that the gospel has gone out into all the world. Also, it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing. So even back when the letter of the Colossians was being written, Paul recognized, wow, the gospel is going forth. It's bearing fruit all over the world. That is all over the Roman Empire. It had spread. And here we are several years removed from that. So again, there's no reason that Paul's teachings are unfamiliar to these people. Consider also Acts 18, Paul's desire to go to the Gentiles. When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the Word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads. I am clean. From now I will go to the Gentiles. which is Paul's primary ministry. Now note that in most of these churches, there is going to be a smattering of the Jews. Whether Peter's writing to them or Paul is writing to them, there's going to be Jewish believers, and from what we can tell from Peter, even Jewish apostates. among these churches. So Peter recognizes Paul as a partner in ministry, but also, very importantly, that there was a type of wisdom given to him. So he is endorsing Paul's teachings. But it didn't come from man, it came from God. Divine wisdom is the wisdom in question here. Just as Paul tells the Galatians, for I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. So there's nothing natural about it. It's supernatural. It comes from God. He says, for I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. So at some point in Paul's life, was called to faith on the road to Damascus, the Lord Jesus Christ personally revealed to him the content of the Gospel, the content of the Word of the New Covenant. Now listen to this wisdom as Paul describes it. 1 Corinthians 3.10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation. and another is building on it. Then he says, of course, but each man must be careful how he builds on it. But he's not wise in his own conceit. He is proclaiming a wisdom from above. Same thing with Colossians 1.28, teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ. This wisdom is inexhaustible because it's found in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And he used that wisdom. He taught that wisdom because he knew it was sufficient for sanctification. He knew it was sufficient to present every man complete, that is, mature in Christ. That is the goal of divine wisdom. And it reaches, it achieves its goal when taught faithfully and when believed. One more from 1 Corinthians, where Paul tells the Corinthian church he did not come to them in human wisdom. This is chapter two. but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, a hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory, the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood." So mark that. I mean, we stand in the same circumstances. The rulers of this age, of this world, do not understand the mystery that is made plain in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So they lean on their own wisdom. They lean on their own understanding. But we have received it. And Paul says this, he goes to this extent, for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Right? Their ears were shut. They did not hear the call. And if they did, they would not have crucified Christ. And yet Christ and Him crucified is to our great benefit. So Peter very clearly confirms the benefit. Paul speaks this wisdom and it was given to him not from man, but from God. And he said, He wrote to you. as also, verse 16, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things." So we say, okay, what are these things? Now this is very important to understand. Now it might seem like a glorified Bible study, I get that. But when Peter says something here, he's making a very important point. And if nothing else, The point is, is that Scripture agrees with itself. He writes something, Paul writes something, and yet the same wisdom is given to them to accurately and precisely convey the promises of the Gospel. So he says, also. That is to say that Peter isn't writing anything novel here. Paul also says the same thing and they are in agreement. He's like, you know what Paul says. I mean, he says the same thing I'm saying here. So he's not the only one who testifies of these things. So what are these things? It's basically all that Peter has just laid out, especially in chapter 3. Paul anticipates them as well. That's why I keep saying they're all pointing, all these New Testament authors are pointing to the same event that is anticipated. That Christ is going to receive His kingdom, He's going to be publicly vindicated, and He is going to begin the process of crushing the old creation and all of His enemies under His feet. So consider Paul regarding scoffers and false teachers. In 1 Timothy 4.1 we read this, but the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. So important is this that he warns Timothy again in his second letter, 3.13, But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceived and being deceived. Not only are they going to be present, but they're just going to get worse and worse. And they're probably not going to let up until they're actually judged. So Paul warns about it. Jude warns about it. John warns about it. James warns about it. All of them warn about it. So here we have Paul. How about God's patience? Peter talks about God's patience being salvation, an opportunity for those to come to repentance. Listen to Romans 2.4, straight from Paul. Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? We also have Christ's return and judgment and fire. We've read 2 Thessalonians 1. That God will repay with affliction those who afflict you, give relief to you who are afflicted, When the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire dealing out Retribution to whom to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Right false teachers God's patience judgment all clearly enumerated by both of these apostles. But there's more to that. There's more to it than this. There's also the restoration of all things. Peter just talks about a new heaven and new earth. We see the same thing that Paul talks about. In Romans 8.21, he mentions that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. What could Paul possibly be talking about here? He's talking about the manifestation of the new heavens and new earth, which comes through Christ's judgment on the old system and the continual preaching of the gospel of the kingdom. They're all talking about the same thing. Imagine that. So you have, at least here, two witnesses of what is about to unfold. But even if that's the case, even though there will be fire and judgment, there is deliverance, there is relief to those who know and follow Christ. And so Paul here adds support. to what Peter is saying. And so this witness has gone out, it is confirmed, there is agreement that what the Lord Himself predicted is going to happen. And so then He goes on. Here's where it gets difficult. He says this, which the untaught and unstable distort. Remember, we are those who are at peace. We are those who in Christ are spotless and without blemish. We are blameless and commanded to walk that way. But there are those who are untaught and unstable, and they distort the words of Paul as well as the words of Peter. Well, of course, they're saying similar things. So if you distort and reject one, you're going to distort and reject the other. So at first he describes them as untaught. This is just another way of saying that they are ignorant. They do not know. They may claim to know something, but we have already seen that they really do not know. They are always learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth, says Paul in 2 Timothy 3.7. They remain untaught. They remain unregenerate. And this is very amazing for our own time, because it seems to be that the answer to everything, to all of society's ills, other than putting away Christianity for good, is this thing we call education. Oh, this person just needs to get educated. Oh, they're ignorant. They were only educated. Hey, you believe those myths and fables? Get educated. As if that's just a one-size-fits-all solution to all of society's ills. Just get educated. Well, what are you being educated in? I mean, think about the events leading up to World War II. We had something in Germany called Hitler's Youth. They certainly were being educated. Oh, they were very educated. But did anyone bother to ask, in what were they being educated? How were they being indoctrinated? The content, the substance of education matters immensely. You can be untaught and be fine, but you can't be untaught in the Scriptures. and be in good standing. The question is, what are you educated in? That is our question to the world. They accuse us of being uneducated. Well, in what? Why would I want to be educated in the things that you are passing around? Why would I want to be neck deep in that? It's a good question, but Peter says these are the untaught. They may claim to know Scripture, but I think one of the reasons that they are untaught is because they have not been able to take whatever they have learned in Scripture, especially from the Old Testament, and put it together to where they see that it all points to Jesus' work. So they are untaught. And those who are untaught, distort. They are also unstable. And these two go hand in hand. If you are untaught, if you are ignorant in the gospel, you are also unstable. As James describes, you're going to be like the man who looks at himself in the mirror, and then walks away and immediately forgets what he looks like. These people are unstable. And in chapter 2, verse 14 of this book, Peter talks about false teachers who entice unstable souls. These unstable souls are the ones who we would describe as vacillating, as wishy-washy. They are unfixed. They've been exposed to the gospel. They are probably church members. Many of them have probably been baptized. And have made a public confession of faith in Jesus Christ. And yet, in all of that teaching, in all of that time invested, they are still unstable, because their faith is not founded on the rock of Christ. They do not truly believe. And so what these unstable souls end up doing is cherry-picking from Scripture what sounds good to them, but they do not wrestle with the hard stuff, which is what we're going to get into in this very verse. This word unstable points to that which has not been established. So whatever house they have built, whatever mammoth edifice has been constructed is built on sand. It doesn't matter how big the fortress is, if its foundation is sand, it's going to collapse. Conversely, it doesn't matter how small or seemingly insignificant your building is, if it's built on the rock of Christ, it will stand after all of the storms and temptations of life, bash against it. Even though, and one of those storms of life, by the way, is going to be the accusation that you are untaught, that you don't know. And so he says, these untaught, unstable people distort the word that Paul has written. like a plant that never takes root, but is blown over by the wind or scorched by the heat. They simply lack the moral fiber, integrity, and most significantly, the Spirit's presence to be able to rightly interpret Paul's teaching. We have to realize that. That even in our own study, it's not going to come from human wisdom rightly understanding God's Word. It's going to be through the aid and empowerment and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we will find ourselves untaught and unstable. And we will find ourselves distorting the Word of God. Just as these apostates distort what Paul has said. Their beloved brother in the faith. This distort means to twist or to wrench. You might imagine something like wringing. Wringing water out of a cloth until it's dry. Think about this. commanded to twist the Scriptures. We are commanded to cut the Scriptures. In 2 Timothy 2.15, Paul tells Timothy, study to show yourself approved unto God that a workman need not be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of Truth. That word dividing means to cut it straight. When one distorts the Word of God, he does nothing but cut crooked lines. And you can imagine what teaching like that looks. It's hard to define anything. It's hard to understand anything clearly. It's hard to rest on any doctrine. It's hard to see where those lines are drawn between truth and error and what we often say between what is true and what is almost true. So we are all, especially teachers, are called to cut the Word straight without any embellishment, without any customization, to plainly and clearly and with unction Teach God's Word. Teach it faithfully. And we find that in Paul's own reckoning, as he reviews his ministry, as he looks back, many people did twist what he said. They're going to twist what he says on the coming judgment. They're going to twist what he says on the patience of God. And everything in between. But listen to Romans 3.8. We kind of get a glimpse of this. He says, and why not say, as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say, let us do evil that good may come. And he says their condemnation is just. That people are trying to justify themselves. Well, if evil is going to come by my lie or by my lawlessness, then why not just do evil that good may come? Well, if you have reasoned yourself, if you have twisted the scriptures, to come to that conclusion, then your condemnation is just. Romans 6.1, I think we know this one. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? That's another example of twisting the scriptures so that we misapply and misunderstand grace. What those who come to that conclusion are forgetting is that grace abounds in righteousness as well. When you are living righteously, when you are walking with God, grace is abounding. We don't need to sin so that grace may abound, even though God's grace is sufficient for it. We do not then twist the scriptures to conclude that we can live however we want. We must remember that there is power in the grace of God. That God's grace is given to us to the extent that we can pursue righteousness, uphold righteousness, proclaim righteousness. Not to live like evildoers. Galatians 5.13, for you were called to freedom, brethren. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. So those two primary ways in which Paul's teaching was twisted. One was his view on grace, the other was his view on liberty. And I think a lot of the church faces that same attack today. That if it's truly by grace, then surely, Surely, once we know our sins are forgiven, we're going to go and sin like it's going out of style. Where if we rightly applied, rightly divided the Word of Truth, we could come to the opposite conclusion. That if we are truly resting in God's grace, We will walk with Him and we will see a development and growth in Christ's likeness. We will hate sin. We will refuse to have anything to do with sin. Of course, the other thing is freedom. We don't use freedom to serve ourselves. Those who don't understand the Gospel, those who twist the Scriptures, do not understand that the freedom that we are given by God in Christ is meant to serve others. It's not to serve ourselves. using it as an opportunity for the flesh, which is what Paul's detractors assumed. If you're free, again, you're just going to live however you want. You're going to serve yourself. You're going to live for your own pleasure. No, if we are truly free, we live for God's pleasure. And we do what He wants us. It seems to be such a drastic situation that even Paul remarks in Galatians 2.4 that people came up to spy out our liberty. What is this liberty that Paul is proclaiming? Let's go check it out. As if they're afraid of it. Is it they're afraid of freedom bringing in corruption? When in fact, the freedom that we have in Christ brings a zeal for righteousness. Another one. This will be the last one I think that we can use. In 2 Thessalonians 2, there was also a twisting of Paul's teaching on the eschaton on the last days. Remember, people were going around saying that the Lord had already returned. And there was also this question of saints that were quitting their jobs, they weren't working, they were being lazy because of a certain end times expectation. And Paul of course says, no, get to work. If a man doesn't work, he's not to eat. He's not to sponge off of you. A person that does that is twisting the scriptures to make it say what he wants it to say. And of course of that, Paul says, their talk will spread like gangrene. So we have to really be on guard against that kind of Scripture twisting. About that being some kind of gaining a cultural foothold within the life of the church. Spreads like gangrene. And that gangrene, of course, has to be cut out. Kind of gives us a really, I don't know, a potentially grim scene of things. See, when flesh is gangrenous, you know what you no longer feel? You don't feel the pain of it. It no longer hurts. Remember the one time I was working in the ER drawing blood, and a woman came in, and she had her leg covered up, and she wasn't in any pain at all. And when the nurse removed the gown to look at her leg, it turned out that her leg was over halfway decomposed, and there were maggots crawling inside of it. She felt no pain, and yet it was totally corrupted, totally gangrenous. And of course, the doctors had to take some drastic measures so that she would not die. And so in the same fashion, the church also has to take drastic measures against those who come in and twist the Scriptures to their own ends. Because all it does is kill. There is no neutrality with Scripture twisting. All it does is kill because it's meant to kill. So do not twist. Cut it straight. so that we see the Word of God for what it is. Because if Scripture has no meaning, then nothing has any meaning. I think we see this challenge evident. We can't go into great detail, but just to give a modern example of this. And there are many. But I think one of the ways this is found actually is in what's been labeled as Christian deconstructionism. A great quote by Elisa Childers, author of Another Gospel, describes it this way. Deconstruction is the process of going through everything you've ever believed about God and Jesus, the Bible, Christianity, all of the doctrines, all of the history, everything you thought about it, and you're sort of rethinking everything. Now that's a very charitable way to describe it. You're sort of rethinking everything. And what often happens in this rethinking or reimagining is an outright rejection of the Gospel. And I would say this is exactly what Peter's detractors are doing. They've taken things they've learned, they've taken things they've heard, they're putting it all together, and yet somehow they are twisting it to the end that they are rejecting it and even misrepresenting it so that they can live the same sinful life they were living before they even proclaimed Christ publicly. It's a very bitter irony that is going on. And so what Peter's doing, he's saying that these heretics, these detractors of both himself and Paul, they do not stop at the difficult passages. In this deconstructing. This is very important for us to understand. These people, and we see this today as well, and this is usually how deconstruction happens. There is a difficult teaching in the Bible. And there are many difficult teachings in the Bible. And it becomes more difficult when society around you, to a large degree, especially when this morality is legislated, that calls into question the hard teachings of Scripture. We see that in many cases. We see it in the case of gay marriage. Rejecting the notion that marriage is between a man and a woman. We see it also in transgenderism. It cries against the creation order where God says, male and female created He them. It's a rejection of those foundational truths of Scripture. And then some. But that's just a couple examples. And this is what happens. You reject the difficult passage rather than wrestling with them. Rather than thinking them through. rather than seeing the benefit that will come, the blessing, the spiritual growth that will come when we ask God and trust Him to give us wisdom, right? James says, whoever lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously and without finding fault. Instead of doing that, we use Scripture to call Scripture into question. And that's how it starts. You reject one hard yet clear teaching, and you say, It's difficult to understand. And then use this as a grounds to twist the rest of the Scriptures. So yes, the rest of the Scriptures, Peter is acknowledging. He is acknowledging that Paul is writing inspired Scripture. Because he says, Paul and the rest of the Scriptures. But even more so, he's making it very clear that once you Once you twist a difficult passage to your own ends, there's very little stopping you from doing that to the most basic of Scriptures, to the most simple of teachings. And it's hard to number off all the ways that that is happening in the church today. But this is a form of deconstruction. There is a rethinking of everything, but the conclusion of this process is a rejecting of everything. Even to the point where you reject it with a kind of animalistic hatred that's hard to compartmentalize. It's hard to put into words. But let me tell you this, most people who twist Scripture never actually bother opening Scripture. And that's the problem. You come across a hard passage, and rather than doing the work, getting your hands dirty, humbling yourself and asking the Lord for wisdom, you simply just question a teaching into your own personal rejection. And yet we see the end of this. That you can't twist part of Scripture without twisting all of it. And when you do this, you make Scripture say whatever you want it to say. So that is a clear warning for the church, without getting into many details that we could, and all the examples that we could, that principle stands. If you make one part of Scripture say what you want it to say, especially a hard part, then it would follow that it is much easier to twist those other Scriptures. that aren't so difficult. And you just make the Bible say whatever you want it to say. And if the Bible says everything, it says nothing. And that is why the church must be so vigilant and yet prepared and, dare I say, educated about our own holy books so we know how to respond. so that we know how to unleash Scriptures. And what is amazing is that what we find a lot of the time is people are actually prevailing upon the very standard of Scripture in order to reject it. That's weird. But all that to say, here's the sad part. They do this to their own destruction. There is not a good outcome for those who twist the Word of God. There is not a good end for those who take God's Word, which has been clearly spoken, even while acknowledging that there are difficult parts in it. Again, take 1 and 2 Peter. Probably the most densely packed collection of difficult verses in all the Bible by a mile. Very difficult. But when we do that, the end is not a good one. Whoever does this destroys themselves. Whoever does this brings judgment upon themselves. And this is a clear reminder of the importance of Scripture. It is really, friends, the difference between playing with Legos and playing with fire. You twist the Scriptures, you're playing with fire, and you're going to get burned. You know, when you play with Legos, the biggest danger is really stepping on them later on. but they're toys. And yet, this is what happens when we regard Scripture as some kind of plaything. We end up getting burned. To go back to that old saying, there is nothing more dangerous than an ignorant man with a Bible. Let us not be ignorant men. Let us not be ignorant women. Let us honor the Scriptures. Let us commit ourselves to honoring the clarity and the infallibility, the inerrancy, and the inspiration of the Word of God. Let us not treat it like a pack of Legos where we take it and build whatever we want. Scripture is self-building. Scripture is sufficient to the task for our salvation, but also to proclaim the good news of that salvation to all the world. What I'm saying is, friends, is that Scripture does not need us. We need it. We need its truth. We need its guidance. but to treat it as some kind of toy, some kind of plaything and make it say whatever you want, is to completely undermine and insult its place within the people of God and the world at large. So don't underestimate that call. Don't underestimate this precious call that we have to rely on God's Word. to rely on His wisdom, and of course, to take the Gospel forth, and to cut it straight, regardless of those who would dare to twist it. So in all these things, going back to the beginning of this passage, let us be found as those who commit ourselves to honoring God's Word. Let's pray. Father, thank You again for our time in Your Word, and we are reminded of this call that You give us, this very important a call to action, whether that be a call to honor Your Word, a call to trust Your plan, or a call to courage, a call to live in godliness that we would pursue all three. And we know, Lord, that Your Spirit is sufficient to the task, that You strengthen us, that You unite us. under the banner of the Gospel. That You help us to persevere even through life's various challenges and temptations. And Lord, especially this last point about honoring Your Word. We want to be those who honor Your Word. And there are so many Scriptures we could call to mind. about those who honor Your Word, who tremble at it, who delight in it. It goes on and on, and yet we can at least establish this principle today that we are not to twist it and make it say whatever we want, but to see it as true and clear and sufficient that even though it offends those who do not know You, to us it is life, it is peace, and it is joy. Help us, Lord, to stand firm on that. Because this is often where hearts fail. This is where courage crumbles when it comes to upholding Your Word. And I pray, God, that You would give us the spiritual fortitude to do just that. And we know, Lord, that we can trust You, because these are all wrapped up in Your promises. Your promise to be with us, to never depart from us, and to see us through safely to Your Kingdom, which is here now, and which is growing. Help us to be faithful, God. Give us joyful hearts as we do that. In all these things we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.