Well, good morning to all. It's good to be here and to see your smiling faces. And even if they're not smiling now, hopefully they'll be smiling later. We've come to enjoy this day that the Lord has made. So the psalmist says, let us rejoice in it. Amen. Well, why don't I begin praying and then we'll take a dive into the text. Father, we come before you and are so grateful to you, O Lord, for this morning. Lord, just the breeze, the cool breeze, just the sun shining. Lord, it's just your kindness. Lord, we thank you that you are with us this morning and that you do not leave us. And Lord, that your desire is that you would to meet with us. And that is our desire as well, oh Lord. Be it through the teaching of your word this morning in the Bible study hour, be it through the preaching of your word, be it through the kids' time, the singing, the New Testament reading, Lord, through any of these things that we are to be about this morning, Lord, May we truly experience you in your presence with us, Lord, to see more of who you are, to know you more, and to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray this in his name, amen. This morning really marks the end of this wonderful, wonderful journey that we have been on. Last year, actually, it's almost to the day, last year, September 5th, we began studying this letter of 2 Peter, and here we are, the last and 17th teaching. Praise the Lord. He has been good to us, and I would like to personally say he has been just so good to me. Just in helping me, be able to do this. And just meeting with me, oh, so often and so many times there in the office of my home and just crying out to Him and experiencing His goodness towards me in preparing. Don't regret it one bit. So it's been a pleasure. So if you have your Bibles with you, open them up to 2 Peter 3. We'll be looking at the last four verses, verses 15 through 17, but we'll begin reading at verse 14 in order to gain some of the flow of the context. 2 Peter 3, verses 14-18, 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 all 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. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness. but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. Well, last time we understood that we are to be a looking people, a word that Peter often used in verses 12 through 14, to look for and hasten the coming of the Lord, to look for the new heavens and the new earth, to look for these things, he says. This looking forward is really prompted by the awesome and glorious coming of the Son of Man, the parousia, the second coming of Christ. And on that day, as it's often mentioned in the New Testament within scripture, that day, the day of the Lord, Peter reminds us of what will take place. He will come like a thief in the night. The heavens, in verse 10, he says, the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat. And the earth and its works will be burned up or exposed. And therefore, since all these things are to be destroyed and we, we have come to understand and believe that it will happen just by reading the word. And this is only because of the grace and kindness of God in revealing these things to us, that we're able to see these things of what is going to take place. And since we see these things, then he says, Peter, we are to be a people of holy conduct and godliness. Our way of living needs to be distinctly and entirely different. than what we see of those who are in the world of those who do not belong to Christ. Why? Because a separation has taken place when we have become united to Christ, something that Lee is covering. Remember what we are told in 1 Peter, Chapter 1, verse 14 through 16, since you are obedient children, then you are not to be conformed or united to the former lusts or former sins, but you are to be like, so not to be like, but to be like the Holy One who called you and said, become holy yourselves. Also, in all your behavior, be holy, for I am holy. It really couldn't be more clear than this. We are to strive and be diligent in that very thing, becoming holy ourselves through and in all our behavior. I know that this is impossible, and we know that. It's impossible without the work of Him who is in us. That is why Paul says, work out your own salvation in trembling and fear because of He who is at work in you, in me. All that we are about, our coming and our going in public or private, our love and devotion, everything is to reflect our Savior and King. Martin Lloyd-Jones says it like this, the Christian appeal is this, you claim that you are children of God, you say that you believe this gospel, very well. If you really believe that, it is time you began to prepare for it. Listen to John saying the same thing. We do not know what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself. Martyn Longjoy continues, of course, it is inevitable. If I say that that is what I desire, Well, let me give practical proof and demonstration." End quote. Peter continues in verse 14 of this very chapter here with the word, therefore. And he says, dearly beloved, and we covered this. He says, dearly beloved saints, since you look for these things, what things? The things that only the beloved earnestly look and yearn for, heaven, eternity, a place where righteousness dwells, That's what we long for. That's what we look for. And with every passing day, we long for it even more. Not only to be finally and fully eliminated from the wretchedness of this world, but even more and especially because of the righteous one who is waiting for us, to be with him forever. But as we long and we look for these things, Peter tells us to be careful. and pay close attention. Be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless. How will we be found when he comes is a question that has to come to mind when Peter says, be diligent to be found in peace, spotless and blameless. What a question, what a thought. How will I be? found when he comes. As a bride prepares herself, think about this, for her groom on their wedding day, how much more should we prepare and be ready to meet Christ on that glorious day? To be diligent to be found in such a way that we will enter in and receive the reward of eternal life. So in the midst of multiplied wickedness, these are the words of Christ, I may be paraphrasing here, and the love of many growing cold, let our holiness and love increase. For he, Christ says, who perseveres to the end will be saved. Matthew 24. And so Peter continues, and here we pick up with our text for this morning. He directs our attention to regard or count the patience of our Lord as salvation. You know, contrary to what the false teachers and the scoffers were saying in verse four, where is the promise of his coming? Peter does well to repeat for us here, as he did also in verse nine, and we covered that, that the Lord is not slow about his promise, but is patient toward you. Not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. You know, regardless of what anyone thinks about the coming of Christ, He is coming. And the scoffers will look at the patience or the slowness of Christ, as they call it, the day, the slowness of the Lord, as they call it, and presume that they have enough time, that they can wait. Or worse yet, they conclude that if He hasn't come yet, then he will never come at all. But the believer, he will look at the patience or the slowness of the Lord and see salvation. That's what he sees. He sees salvation. We see salvation. We see patience. They will see the kindness. They will see the mercy of God in desiring and bringing them, you bringing you, bringing me to himself. This is what the slowness, if you want to say slowness of Christ's coming. is to make us look for, is to see salvation. And so our heart rejoices because he was patient towards me, towards you. And we rejoice and we sing like the hymn, oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus, right? Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, love of every love, the bestest, a heaven of heavens to me. It lifts me up to glory. for it lifts me up to thee. That's what our heart sings when we see the love of Christ and his mercy and his patience toward us. So what are we to do until then, until his coming? Well, we must not remain silent. The patience of Christ as salvation is to be shouted out to a dying world. As long as today is still today, don't harden your hearts. but come, come to him and you'll find rest, peace, and love like no other. This is part and parcel to what Peter is saying there to hasten the coming day of the Lord, to go out and to call, to preach the gospel, to call men to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we could really spend some more time on this as it very much presses us to be about the king's business. in calling all to come to that wedding banquet, to be ones who go into the highways and byways and say, come, all things are ready, come, come to the marriage feast. As J.C. Ryle put it, the invitations of the gospel are wide, full, broad, and unlimited. Saints, let us be faithful servants of the King. While in that very same verse, though, where he says, regard the patience of the Lord as salvation, Peter seems to transition into something that at first looks like it's out of place. He brings Paul into the whole context. Why Paul? Why is he bringing Paul? Well, the common connection is that Paul taught and wrote of these very things, the day of the Lord, the need for holiness and godliness, to remain unstained by the things of this world, to be spotless, blameless, and in peace, although with all the warnings of, along with all the warnings of the false teachers that Paul brings forth, and the dangers that would assail us. And to add to that, Paul, many believe that Paul is also mentioned because of, what Paul wrote about the beautiful grace of God that is found in Christ Jesus. The grace of God, the teaching of the doctrines of grace that the false teachers took and distorted and made it what it doesn't mean, a license to sin, as Paul clearly wrote about. Now, we'll get to that, but for now, I want us to see how Peter viewed Paul and the letters he wrote. in verses 15 and 16. Notice that he considers Paul as a co-laborer and believer. He calls him our beloved brother, Paul. Despite what some may wrongly argue, saying that they're skirmish in Galatians chapter two, when Paul rebuked Peter to his face for his hypocrisy that somehow they never really ended up, they kind of parted ways and didn't end up in peace with one another. There was a rift between the two. And therefore, this is why they would say, those who would hold that Peter did not write this letter, they would say, that's why this letter couldn't be written by Peter because they parted ways and he wouldn't be saying that about Paul. So somebody else is writing this, which I've already covered that in the introduction to this letter a year ago. But suffice it to say, Peter wrote the letter and was in total peace and agreement with Paul, which with such deductions and accusations, we need not spend that much time. These men were pillars of the gospel message and ones who wrote things like the love of Christ is to rule and reign in each one of our lives. to love one another with an unfeigned love, to outdo one another in love, and to live at peace with one another. Anyway, I don't think it's necessary for me to convince you of these things. So I want to draw out of verse 15 and 16, five takeaways. They'll be short. Number one, Paul wrote, with the wisdom given him, not a wisdom learned. This is important because we know that Paul was a learned man. You see what Peter says there. He says, therefore, beloved, or 15, verse 15, 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. Paul was taught by Gamaliel, the leader of the Sanhedrin. He was advancing in Judaism beyond his contemporaries, his countrymen, and was part of the strictest sect. He was, no doubt, a very educated man. Paul didn't lose his abilities, he didn't lose his characteristics or personality when he wrote the letters, he did. We see it throughout, especially in Romans, if you've been following along with the teaching in Romans, and if you've been reading or hearing any of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, he would say, and here is the great logician, right, Paul. But there's something beyond all of that which he could not attain on his own. It is the wisdom given to him by our Lord. This is only by the grace of God, the gift of God. Number two, according to that wisdom, he wrote to you. He wrote to you. Paul and Peter were writing about the same gospel. the same Christ, the same hope. Notice that Peter is writing to the scattered saints in Asia Minor, reminding them that Paul also wrote to them regarding these things, just as he did in many of his letters. However, we really don't know which letters he wrote to these saints. We do know that Paul encouraged the saints to distribute letters among them from one church to another, various locations as it's written in Colossians 4 16 he says when this letter is read among you have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans and you for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea also in first Thessalonians 5 27 he says this I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren I do think the commentators really, on 2 Peter and the IVP series, shed some light on the matter. However, we really don't know, so I don't want to bring this out and then conclude that they're right in this, but it sheds some light. They say, there are two routes to identification. Theologically, the letters which talk of Jesus' return are 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Geographically, the letters to Asia Minor are Ephesians and Colossians, but some of Paul's letters were lost. as we know from 1 Corinthians and Colossians. So we cannot limit the identification to the ones we possess. So all in all, we really don't know what letter it is that Peter is referring to. Number three, Peter thinks Paul is hard to understand. Well, that's a short point here. Peter, your letters are hard to understand as well. But all kidding aside, notice Peter doesn't say that Paul is impossible understand. There are portions within Scripture that are more difficult and require more work, time, and prayer to understand. However, we know this one thing, the reality that any of us understand any of Scripture is only because the Lord's doing. He's the one that's opened our eyes to see and understand, only to have our hearts burn within us as He did to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus as he opened the scriptures and explained himself and showed them himself in the scriptures. Number four, the untaught and the unstable distort the scriptures to their own destruction. Now we don't know exactly what it was from Paul's letters that the false teachers were distorting, but we can make a pretty good guesstimate. We can. Considering the teachings of the false teachers, which Peter lays out for us in chapter 2 and a portion of 3, it is possible that they were distorting Paul's teaching on, and Luther would agree with this, he says this, the justification by faith and freedom from the law. But notice, it wasn't only Paul's letters, but also the rest of scriptures. So what they were promoting instead of holy conduct and godliness, instead of Escaping, as Peter says, the corruption that is in the world by lust. They were proclaiming this libertine, this sinful lifestyle. Loose living, indulging the flesh, not interested or concerned about any coming of Christ or judgment to follow. They were teaching anything but the scriptures. Rather, they were teaching everything that would support their own sinful desires. And we covered this. As one commentator put it, one can almost hear his own libertarian war cries being quoted back at him in 1 Corinthians 6, 12. Everything is permissible for me. And in Galatians 5, 13, you, my brothers, were called to be free. And such was the cry of the false teachers as we see in chapter 2, verse 19, end quote. Well, these are the untaught and unstable. The untaught are the incompetent, of those who are incapable of learning. And the unstable are the weak ones, probably referring both to the lack of any foundation and their own way of thinking. They are untaught and unstable, not thinking rightly and not living rightly. But notice what they are doing. They are distorting the scriptures. What a judgment awaits, tampering with the living word of God. As a matter of fact, Peter mentions that here and throughout the letter. What is the end for these false teachers? It's their destruction. It's darkness that has been reserved for them. It's destruction that awaits them. But this distorting, it's not a misunderstanding of scripture. It involves or consists of a twisting and changing of the meaning and intent of scripture. They are mishandling, they are misrepresenting, they are misinterpreting, along with many other misses, of course. They have missed it entirely. Listen, it is happening in our day as well. Similar to the false teachers, many today who call themselves Christians are distorting the scriptures. They twist them any which way until they are convinced that the scriptures will now align and agree with their wicked and sinful lifestyle. That is not just living a different lifestyle, saints. That is destruction, as Peter calls it. Barclay actually quotes G.K. Chesterton's famous picture of orthodoxy. He says, orthodoxy was like walking along a narrow ridge, almost like a knife edge. One step to either side was a step to disaster. Jesus is God and man. God is love and holiness. Christianity is grace and morality. The Christian lives in this world and in the world of eternity. Overstress either side of these great truths so that once destructive heresy emerges." End quote. Well, lastly and fifthly, Paul's writings, his letters were placed with the rest of scripture. I want to quickly bring out in these verses this, Peter's comment about the false teachers destroying the letters of Paul as they do also the rest of scriptures. Is Peter saying that Paul's letters are just like the rest of the scriptures? Yes. In short, there's your answer. But the word other or rest, loipos, means of the same kind. Of the same kind. When it's used as an adjective throughout the New Testament, it always comes, it always ends with that meaning. It carries that meaning, of the same kind. But even so, we see Peter himself equating the New Testament apostles with the Old Testament prophets. both moved by the Holy Spirit to speak as the Lord gave utterance. We covered this in chapter one, verses 16 through 21. An interesting point that one commentator actually made, and I'll just throw it out there for you to think about, was that as the Lord had the people of Israel assembled together at the mountain of God to hear God speak, so Paul is desiring and encouraging the saints to gather around and read his letters. When writing to the Corinthians, Paul said, the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandments. We see it even in Peter's letter. Both of them, they carried the authority and speak, as Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2.13. He said this, for this reason, we also constantly thank God that when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God. which also performs its work in you who believe." All right. Well, those are the five things that I just wanted to bring forth, quickly cover in verses 15 and 16 as to why Paul. You see, Paul and Peter align very well. They're both speaking the same thing. But I want us to see in these last two verses here two things. There's a final admonition. There are two imperatives that Peter leaves with us, with his readers, along with a wonderful doxology at the end. It's these two, the imperatives, which I want to look at in more detail. The imperatives are to guard and to grow, guard and grow. This is the conclusion to the entire letter, hence the word therefore. It's not only to the previous verses, but I believe that what Peter's doing here is he's bringing it to a summation, to a concluding remark to the whole of the letter, therefore. And again, as I mentioned in the past, he's addressing the beloved. When we see him addressing the beloved, that somewhat signifies to us there's a new section coming, Thought coming. But he addresses the beloved. This is the pastoral heart of Peter coming forth once again, one final time at the end of the letter. He begins by reminding them that they already know these things. What things do they already know? Well, all that has been mentioned in the letter. From the way of life to the dangers that are all around them. the destruction that awaits the wicked and the hope and the glory that awaits the believers. But notice that he uses the word beforehand, or simply put, because you know of these things in advance, in advance. In other words, he's saying to his readers, you have been privileged and we have been privileged, or it has been granted to you to know these things and even the end, of these things, of whichever path you're on, the righteous or the wicked. What will take place is not a surprise. It shouldn't be a surprise. What has been revealed to us, even in just this letter alone, is nothing but the grace of God. The kindness and the love that He has for us to reveal these things is amazing. The fact that He keeps us and that he helps us in this pilgrimage is even more. And all of this in order that we might be that brilliant bride awaiting to be with her husband in glory. That is why Peter gives these imperatives. Guard and grow. This should be This should really be all of our responses after hearing all that we heard in the letter of 2 Peter. We ought to be ones who are on guard, to look out for, to avoid. This is a call to action. We are not living in a day, nor was there ever a day for the Christian in which we can let down our guard or take it easy down the river of grace. Since when has the Christian life been a life of ease and comfort? It's a life of thorns in the flesh and suffering. It's a life of fighting the good fight of faith. It's about carrying our own cross and dying to self. This was the life of our savior. And if that is what we call him, then it is his sufferings that we are to share. We are not called to a life of glamour and fame, a worldly rich and lavish lifestyle here on this earth. No, we are called to forsake all, to count all things as loss, as rubbish, so that we may gain Christ and be found in him. Ultimately, Paul puts it like this, that we may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death in order that we may attain to the resurrection from the den. Saints, we won't get there without being on guard and watchful. Fighting with all that is in us, to be that resolute as Paul was, forsake all. I choose Christ. You know, Peter continues, he continues to elaborate on why are we to be on guard? Why? He says, so that we are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from our own steadfastness. Notice the guarding, the watchfulness needed is to be very vigilant. paying very close attention to what is happening in us and what is happening around us. Why? So that we won't be carried away. So that we won't be led away or astray, to not be deceived, to not be associated with or accommodating to that which is not of God. You know, the enemy, he has a sack full of allurements, many appealing temptations, along with tactics and schemes to present before you. And he does it. Be it through what you see or hear, he will attempt to enter through any gate that is its weakest. He will use those around you, the unprincipled or lawless men, the false teachers who profess to be followers of Christ, but their lives do not align with the scriptures, and they do so in order to deceive us. Saints, be on guard. The teaching in our day has been muddied. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has an interpretation. Everyone is right in their own eyes. Each is distorting and twisting the scriptures so that they can still somewhat hold onto their sinful and wicked way of life that they so enjoy. That is an abomination to our Lord. He will not have that. And before we quickly excuse ourselves from doing anything related to that or anything of that sort, I want to challenge you this morning to examine yourselves. I need to examine myself. by asking the Lord to reveal to us any area in our lives in which we have been slipping. Moving away from the truths of Scripture, maybe, or the many imperatives found therein, this being one of them, be on guard. Because this carrying away is like the drifting away that Jeff spoke of. One thing here, and then another, and another, and soon you find yourself questioning even the very existence of God and His goodness towards you. Even His own attributes, you'll begin to question and doubt. If you haven't been on guard, then I would argue that you have been failing and falling in some or many areas in your walk with Christ. To not be on guard, Peter says, is to fall from your own steadfastness. to fall from your own faithfulness, devotion, from your own persistence or loyalty. And we know that our devotion and loyalty is to God and God alone. You know, this reminds me of what Paul said to the Galatians, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? He says, are you foolish? Have you begun in the spirit and now being perfected in the flesh? Listen, when you and I are not on guard, something is going to happen and whatever it is, it's not good. Be it that we fall into some grievous sin or we follow some erroneous teaching. If the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour, do you really think the moment you are off guard that he will just sit still? To not be on guard is to give access to the enemy. That is why there in 1 Peter 5, where he talks about the roaring lion, he uses two words to describe it, what you are to do right at the very beginning, be sober, be watchful. It simply amazes me that many Christians are more on guard or vigilant when there is another more spiritual person around. They are more careful on what they do or say or even think. Saints, that can't be our motivation. Christ is our motivation. Be steadfast, be devoted, be faithful to the one who called you. Remember what Jeffrey Thomas once said when he came here, he said, obedience is its own reward. I love that. So be on guard, saints. Don't be fooled and let down your guard thinking that you will never be moved because you read within scriptures that he will always keep me and he will always protect me. Nobody can snatch me out of his hands. That is true. Without the keeping hand of God, we would all forsake him and perish. But that doesn't negate or cancel out the command to be on guard. As a matter of fact, your being on guard is the result of him keeping you. So keep on guard and he will keep you. But notice that Peter doesn't end the letter on the negative. This is the heart of the true disciple and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. The positive is this, grow. Grow. Peter ends with the way he began. He began with a prayer for all the saints that grace and peace be multiplied to them in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Even in verses three and four, by his divine power, by his grace, we have been granted all things needed to live this godly life, to live a godly life, along with being granted his precious, his magnificent promises, which have much to do with becoming partakers of the divine nature, being more and more like Christ, and less and less like the corruption that is in the world by lust, from which we, as Peter says, we've escaped. So here at the end of the letter, Peter circles back and he says, be on guard and then grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To grow in grace is not an easy thing to define. If I asked you what does it mean to grow in grace, how would you answer that question? It is a difficult one to answer, but it is answerable. To grow in grace is to grow in the realm of grace as a child of grace. And this is exactly what being conformed to the image of Christ means. But I want to quote to you J.C. Ryle, because I think he did the best job in describing what growth in grace really means. It's a little bit longer, but I really felt that I was going to do you a disfavor if I would try to define it. I couldn't do it better than he. So here goes. J.C. Ryle, quote, when I speak of growth in grace, I only mean increase in the degree, size, strength, vigor, and power of the graces which the Holy Spirit plants in the believer's heart. I hold that every one of those graces admits of growth, of progress, and increase. I hold that repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, zeal, courage, and the like may be little or great, strong or weak, vigorous or feeble, and may vary greatly in the same man at different periods of his life. When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply this, that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive. His spiritual mindedness more marked. He feels more of the power of godliness in his own heart. He manifests more of it in his life. He is going on from strength to strength, from faith to faith, and from grace to grace." Amen. That's a definition of growing in grace. But what about growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? This should be the work and aim of every student in the School of Christ, to look for, to study, to know more about the Savior. This is accomplished by spending time in His Word and on our knees searching diligently until you have found Christ on every page and He has made Himself known to you. He is the object of our knowledge. That is why Peter puts it the way he did, grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's like the hymn, More About Jesus, right? More about Jesus would I know, more of his grace to others show, more of his saving fullness see, more of his love who died for me. I continue, more about Jesus let me learn, more of his holy will discern. Spirit of God, my teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me. More about Jesus in his word, holding communion with my Lord, hearing His voice in every line, making each faithful saying, Mine. More of Jesus on His throne, riches in glory all His own, more of His kingdoms sure increase, more of His coming, the Prince of Peace. Grow in the truths of Scripture, both in knowing and doing. Dig deeper, saints. Go further in your knowledge of Christ. You will never reach the end, but with every step, you will be presented with an inexpressible joy, a peace, a love in knowing more about him. He does this for us, he meets with us, he delights in us, and he communes with us. Saints, we commune with him that we might know him. And the more we know Him, the more we grow in our knowledge of His love for us, His patience with us, His faithfulness that never fails, His mercy that is new every morning, His compassion that draws us, His loving kindness that never ceases, and so much more. Listen, when we begin to grow in our knowledge of Christ, our desire is to want and to be more like Him. May the Lord grant more of this in our lives. Let our song in this life be like the hymn, To Be Like Thee. Oh, to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, this is my constant longing and prayer. Gladly I'll forfeit all of Earth's treasures, Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear. Oh, to be like Thee, oh, to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art, come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness, stamp Thine own image upon my heart. Amen. And that is the way that Peter ends this letter as well, with a doxology and an amen. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity, says Peter. Meaning, in all time and space, saints, all glory to the King of kings and Lord of lords, to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As it says in the book of Revelation, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. He is coming. And Peter's letter speaks of this very clearly. So come Lord Jesus, take us to be where you are, where heaven is home because that is where righteousness dwells and righteousness dwells there because the righteous one is there. So Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we come before you. So grateful to you, Lord, that in this year, Lord, that you have carried us through this letter penned by your servant Peter, filled by the Holy Spirit, Lord, we just are so grateful to you that we are ones that get to hold it in our hands and read your word. But Lord, let us not just be readers and hearers, but doers. Lord, help us, oh Lord, to grow in grace. Help us to grow in the love of God. Help us to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We can't do this without your help. We can't do this without you helping us to be on guard. So help us, O Lord, to do that very thing, to be just inundated in the Scriptures and seeing more of Christ. Let our hearts burn for Him. It's in His name we pray. Amen.