Please turn with me, if you will, in your Bibles to 2 Peter 3. I'll read verses 1-15 from the New American Standard Translation. This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. Know this, first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But the present heavens and earth, by his word, are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. in which 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. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat? But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 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 to be salvation." Here ends the reading of God's word. Our passage today in the latter part of verse 11 and the first part of verse 12, the Apostle Peter writes this about the return of our Lord. Once again, 11 being 12. What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat? What exactly does this mean? We can easily understand that as we look forward to the return of our Lord Jesus, we ought to be holy in conduct and godliness. But how can mere men possibly hasten the coming of God, hasten the coming of the day of God, the return of the Lord Jesus? After all, didn't Jesus himself tell us that that day has already been determined ahead of time by God himself and that no one knows about that day except for the father himself? You may recall the Lord's teaching in Matthew 24, where we read about that return. I'll read that passage from Matthew 24 of that day and hour, no one knows. Not even the angels of heaven or the sun, but the father alone. For the coming of the son of man will be just like the days of Noah, for as in those days which were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark. And they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So shall be the coming of the son of man. Then there should be two men in the field. One will be taken. One will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and one will be left. Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, He would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason, you too are to be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will. To understand how it is that we, mere men, can hasten the coming of the day of God, let's look a little more closely at the Lord's own teaching about that day. First of all, let's consider what the apostles learned just as the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and there were angels left standing there who gave them instruction. In Acts 1, we read this about Jesus ascension into heaven and about those words that were ministered to them by those angels. from Acts 1. After he had said these things, he, that is Jesus, was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received him out of their sight. They were gazing intently into the sky while he was departing. Behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. And they also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven. Not surprisingly, in the years and in the decades that followed, these apostles and then through them, the various churches that they established set their hearts upon that promise that the Lord himself and his angels had given to them. They look forward to the fulfillment of that promise. They look forward to the day that the Lord Jesus would return in a manner such as he had gone up. Based upon what is called a word of the Lord, that would be the Lord Jesus himself, the Apostle Paul expressed this same expectation of the Lord's visible return with these words in a letter that he wrote to the Thessalonians. For this we say to you, writes Paul, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remains shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, i.e., as he returns." Not surprisingly, the Apostle Paul, in this very same letter, characterizes the Christian life as one in which Christians live as those who are not only living to serve the true God, the living God, but as those who live, quote, waiting for his son from heaven. Paul commends the Thessalonians in chapter one of that same letter with these words. The word of the Lord, writes Paul, has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place that your faith toward God has gone forth so that we have no need to say anything, for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you. and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead. That is Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. In the context here, Paul is clearly complimenting these Thessalonians. News of their devotion to the Lord Jesus and their faithfulness to him has, Paul writes, sounded forth not only in Macedonia and Achaia, that would be the equivalent of Greece, modern Greece, including the northern part and the peninsula, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth. In other words, reports of God's wonderful work of grace among them had gone out and spread not only through all of Greece, but even to parts beyond. Thus, we may conclude that the Christian life may rightly be characterized not only of one in which we turn from idols to serve the living and true God, but also the Christian life involves living as those who are waiting for something. We are waiting for something to happen. We are waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus from heaven. That should characterize our walk as Christians. We should have our hope and our hearts set upon what the Lord Jesus has promised. But what more do we know about the return of the Son of God? We have Jesus's own teaching. Shortly before his arrest, Jesus was walking out of the temple in Jerusalem and looking back and he was discussing what was going to happen to that temple in the not so distant future. Mark tells us this at that time, Peter and James and John and Andrew, his four closest disciples, were questioning him privately. So the others were probably around, but these four were right there with him. According to Matthew, this is what those four disciples actually asked him at that point. Matthew 24, 3, tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming? When will these things be? When will this temple be destroyed, as you've just told us? And what will be the sign of your coming and at the end of the age? Here's Jesus' reply, again going back to Mark, because he gives us a bit fuller reply. Jesus replied as follows from Mark 13. Jesus began to say to them, see to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in my name saying, I am he, and many will mislead many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened. Those things must take place. But that is not yet the end. For nation will arise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. But be on your guard, for they will deliver you to the courts. You will be flogged. in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my name's sake as a testimony to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations." In other words, Jesus told his four closest disciples, that is, four of his apostles, he told them very clearly that before his coming more precisely before his second coming, the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. So while no man knows, according to Jesus himself, what day or what hour, or to correct the misleading interpretations that have been given on that, not even the month or the year either, no one knows it's going to come like a surprise. In spite of that, we learn what is reflected also in verse 10 of our passage today. We learn from the Lord Jesus that it is going to be a surprise. Peter puts it this way. The day of the Lord will come like a thief. It's going to sneak up on you. Still, we do know this with absolute certainty. Before the Lord Jesus returns, the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. According to the Lord himself, this is a condition which must be met. For the Lord to return. When that will be, we cannot say. God knows. God knew when that day would come, even before the Lord Jesus went to the cross and rose. But we don't know. For as we read, Jesus teaches clearly, of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven or the Son, but the Father alone. God knows ahead of time, just when it's going to be, that the task of preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth is going to be complete. And then, and only then, will the Lord Jesus return. So then, we have a little bit of help. in understanding that somewhat cryptic remark in our passage today in 2 Peter 3, verse 12, namely, how is it that mere men could possibly hasten the coming of the day of God? Since the completion of the task of preaching the gospel to all the nations is the event that apparently triggers the return of Christ and the day of God, to use Peter's terminology, It follows that the church on earth, at least from a human perspective, can hasten that day. How? By diligence in carrying out the Lord's commission to the church to bring that gospel to the ends of the earth. Looking back again at our passage in 2 Peter, we can also now take on and begin to understand another difficult verse. Just three verses before verse 12, we have verse 9, which has long been a source of strife and difficulty. In verse 9, three verses before, Peter encourages the church on earth to hasten the day of the Lord's return. Peter gives this reason for the apparent, not real, but apparent slowness of the coming of that day. Peter writes in verse 9, again this is from the New American Standard, The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. Now, on this point, the New American Standard and just about every modern translation, New King James, which is really the King James slightly modified, would be an exception to that. Just about every modern translation here is weak on this verse. The last clause here is best rendered by the King James The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you. And then I would commend to you the King James Version. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Verse nine, like verses 11 and 12, indicates that the Lord's return is on hold pending another occurrence. In verses 11 and 12, we saw that in the light of the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels, teaching that Peter was a direct eyewitness to, he was instructed by his Lord, the Lord's return was awaiting the completion of the task of preaching the gospel to the nations. Here in verse 9, we read that the Lord is holding back his return, quote, again, with the King James Version, he is not willing that any should perish. but that all should come to repentance. In other words, before he returns, all must come to repentance. Why? Because God himself is not willing that any should perish. Wishing is too weak. But what does this mean? Who exactly are the all who must first come to repentance before the Lord returns? One commentator, and I'm not commending this commentator to you, but it's instructive to hear what he has to say. One commentator explained this phrase as follows, and this is a quote from him. It's kind of a paraphrase. God desires all, without exception, to repent and to escape damnation. God desires all, without exception, to repent and escape damnation. But as I said a moment ago, the word here is not wishes or desires, it is wills. The King James got it right here. If this commentator were correct, Peter would be saying, God wills that all without exception shall surely repent and escape damnation. The necessary corollary would then be, if God's will is absolute, there must necessarily be universal salvation. On the other hand, if there is not universal salvation, God's will is ultimately to be thwarted. God is unable to carry out his own will and to bring all to repentance. Obviously, what is called universalism, the idea of universal salvation of all men everywhere, is impossible. Why? Jesus says clearly in a passage that you all know very well, the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it. That's the way to destruction. On the other hand, the notion that the will of God to save all whom he wills to save can somehow be thwarted is not only heresy, but it too is directly contradicted by our Lord's own teaching. The Lord Jesus, in John 6, said as follows, This is the will of him who sent me. Not wish, will, even the New American Standard got it right there. This is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me, I lose nothing. but raise it up on the last day. So then, who exactly are these all who must first come to repentance before the Lord returns? Who are those whom the Lord God wills that not one of them should perish? To understand that, and not have me just assert it, let us look a little bit more carefully to verse nine, and this time To be a little bit easier, I'm going to read from the New King James Version of verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Please note that in context here, the second part of verse 9, all is not all men everywhere. It's simply not. In context, it is, with the King James Version, all of us, or the manuscripts that stand behind the New American Standard and the ESV and most modern translations read, all of you. Either way, all of us or all of you, the all is a specific group. a specific group that includes Peter's readers, and possibly, if it's all of us, Peter himself as well. Now, Peter's original readers for this letter were clearly Christians. They are members probably of one specific church. I'm not of a mind that believes that 2 Peter and 1 Peter had the same addressees. 1 Peter was written to a wide range of churches. And looking at 2 Peter 3, the first couple of verses in particular, we don't have time to deal with that problem today. But the problem that is being addressed in the second letter is, according to Peter, the very same thing that he was addressing in a previous letter. But 1 Peter has a totally different topic. So there was probably a third Peter, another letter that has been lost that preceded 2 Peter. Might have been before first Peter, I don't know. Either way, Peter is writing to a Christian church. What is Peter's view of Christians in Christian churches? Well, we can get that from first Peter, chapter one and verse two, even though it's a separate letter to a separate church, the churches are all churches of Christ. This is how Peter understands churches of Christ to whom he writes letters. 1 Peter 1 verses 1 and 2, Peter writes to those, quote, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood. That's how Peter understands the people to whom he writes letters, churches to whom he writes letters. It doesn't matter whether it's 1 Peter, 2 Peter, or a letter that's now lost. When he writes to Christians, he understands them as those who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood. In other words, As Peter writes letters to churches, Peter is self-consciously writing to those who have been chosen by God himself for salvation. He's not writing a tract to all men everywhere, Christian and non-Christian alike. He's writing to churches, to the elect. Thus, the all of you, if we go with the modern translations and their manuscript, or all of us with the King James Version in chapter 3 verse 9, either way, that all may be rightly understood, must be rightly understood as all of the elect. All of those who have been chosen by God ahead of time for salvation. We may then rightly paraphrase Chapter 3, verse 9, in this way, paraphrasing the New King James Version, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but He is longsuffering toward us whom He has chosen, not willing that any of us should perish, but that all of us, all of His dear chosen people, should come to repentance. God knows each and every one whom he has chosen by name. He is unwilling that any of his dearly beloved saints should perish. And thus he is being patient. Surely he is not being slow or slack. He is being patient while the gospel is preached to all the world, to every nation, Then, and only then, when the last of us his elect have come to faith and repentance, then he will send the Lord back from heaven to judge those who remain in their sins. So then, how must we strive to hasten the coming of God, to hasten the coming of the day of God, the return of the Lord Jesus? It is by striving to preach the gospel to all the nations, indeed, to every creature. Again, I like the King James version in Mark 16, as the Lord himself commanded, according to the King James translation, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And he's not talking about dogs and cats. Every creature. by seeking to fulfill that command to preach to every nation and to every creature in every nation. By doing so, the church can indeed must and will hasten the coming of the day of God. And so what are you to do? Peter actually outlines that for us at the beginning of chapter three. And we're not going to have time to go into this in the kind of detail that I would love to if I get another chance to preach to you. Peter writes this, this is now beloved the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior. And here the ESV is right on the mark. the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. It's very literal, very accurate, and right to the point. The commandment here is the command of the Lord Jesus Christ recorded in Matthew 28. It's a commandment that was given by the Lord Jesus through the apostles to the church. He is writing a second time that they should remember that. He doesn't just mean memorize it. He's talking about having it in their gut, on their heart, driving them as a church, living it, praying it, giving for it. And in doing so, we hasten the day of God. Just one more word to explain how it is that this is both the commandment of the Lord through the apostles and it is that which was spoken beforehand by the holy prophets. The prophets of the Old Testament being referred to here could see in their prophecies, could see in the visions and in the promises that God gave to the fathers. They could see that coming day when the gospel would go forth From the seed of Abraham and all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Finally, the Lord Jesus Christ came that promised seed of Abraham, and he delivered the command that was prophesied ahead of time. Let us as a church, this congregation and as a denomination, let us give ourselves in earnest. to that commandment that the Lord has pressed upon us and so hasten the coming of the day of God. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we give thanks for the great privilege that it is to have that charge. Oh, it is beyond our comprehension how you would choose when you have a whole host of angels, you would choose mere men for this wonderful task. Grant, O Lord, by the power of your spirit, that we would be up to that task, that we would not only not forget it, but that we would eat, drink, eat and sleep and live the commandment. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let us continue our worship with the use of hymn number 453, standing as we sing. All authority and power, every status and all made, now belongs to Him who suffered our redemption to obtain. Angels, demons, kings and rulers, over all shall Jesus reign. O in worship, every tongue shall call him Lord. How are men to call upon him, if his name they have not heard? Therefore go and make disciples, read his gospel, spread his word. All the clear commands of Jesus, undivided and obeyed, told probation for our weakness, with his teaching he has led us. All the time He will be with us, always to the end of days. Who keeps them blessed in His ways, God the Father, Son, and Spirit, Bless those meant to Him, God's grace. Amen. You did not realize when you showed your text and topic for the evening that on Sunday evenings, I'm in the middle of a series called Living in the Light of Christ's Return. So thank you for adding to that series. And you know that from the Lord Jesus' book you learned last week about living in the light of Christ's return, probably one of the most important words is watch. Watch. Watch. And we're all familiar with that word. You go to the doctor, and you know what he's going to say. Watch your diet. Watch your weight. Watch your exercise, how you do it. Watch how you walk. Watch, watch, watch. Be careful, so we're familiar with that. Now, in that light, let me read again the text that I opened up this morning for readers. After speaking of the glory of Christ and his preeminent glory over all the angels, I mean, the angels, as wonderful as they are, they're ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are in need of salvation. And then he says, therefore, in his great salvation, We must pay much closer attention, watch, to what we've heard, lest we drift away from it. But since the message is prepared by angels proved to be reliable, and any transgression or disobedience would not hear it, receive a just repercussion, how should we escape? If we don't watch, if we neglect such a great salvation, He was prepared at birth by the Lord, and was attested to us by those who heard him. Our God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will. Because of this, this ultimate, supreme, this immediately verifiable, binding, true watch, he will break away. And in light of that, the hymn that was sang after the morning sermon, rise, my soul, watch and pray. Watch and pray. And why don't you use it this evening, as I will, as you examine yourself regarding the way you live in the light of Christ's return. Rise, my soul, watch and pray. From thy sleep, awaken. be not, by an evil day, our lairs foretaken. But the foe, well we know, ought his harvest reaped, while the Christian sleepeth. Watch against the devil's snares, lest asleep he find it. For indeed, no pains he spares in the seeing and blinding. Satan's prey on her bed, who's secure from sleeping. Now watch, Harvey, watch, but not the wicked world with its power to defeat thee. Watch, lest with her palm unfurled she betray and cheat thee. Watch and see. Lest there be faithless friends to charm thee, who thus seek to harm thee. Watch against thyself, my soul, lest, with grace, thou trample. Let not self thy thoughts control, nor God's mercy settle. Pride and sin lurk within. All thy hope is scattered. need not reflect. But all watching also pray to the Lord unceasingly. He will freely do thy strength and faith increasingly. O Lord, bless in distress, and let nothing disturb thee, but the will to serve thee. Our Father, we thank you for the weekly time at the Lord's table, and we thank you especially that we can end our Lord's Day, as it were, feasting in the presence of Christ, being hosted by the Lord Jesus at his table, and being nourished by Jesus himself. Our Lord, we love the simplicity of the Lord's Supper. We love the fact that it's not pomp and ceremony and incense and magic incantations. That is what we focus on. But simple bread is a sign to seal the body of Christ. Bread broken before our eyes, a sign and a seal of a broken body of Christ. The cup of wine, a sign and a seal of the blood of Christ. Wine symbolizes that which makes the heart and the land. Wine is a victory cup. Our cup cannot exhaust the facets of the Lord's supper or of baptism is those signs and seals of the covenant of grace. And in this case, our Lord can nourish us. Thank you, Lord, for the honor of examining ourselves. For if we don't stop and think that we should, then this world perishes in large measure because people do not stop. and take stock of themselves before God, and examine themselves in coming Christ. For it is first just that we have these times to examine ourselves. When we don't do this, I'm more than clear, we don't end up with ourselves. And rather, in this case tonight especially, we examine ourselves regarding our families, our affliction, The ways in which we have persisted the things of your grace to give to us. The way we've lost our passion for the things of the gospel. The way we've not cherished Christ as we ought. The way we've let the world tarnish our faith. The way we've let our own inbred sin deceive us by making us think that somehow now we are unworthy of Christ, when our very sense of our sin will be for you our worthiness to come and sit there. When the devil himself deals with us in various ways, so that we sleep, so that we are negligent, our God grants us now holy self-examination, particularly with respect to ways that we neglect in such a great salvation. And then, Lord, turn us from those things to the one whom we look for our sins of neglect and coldness and apathy. And may we feast and eat with bread and drink with the wine. May we eat and drink in a wonderful way to work Christ's spirit, on Christ himself, so that we are nourished on the preeminent one, so that we are in a fresh way interaction with the all together loved one, and we are assured in a new way that surely as we eat and drink in this day, We are partaking of a Christ who gave himself for us. Grant now that these elements will be set apart for their common use, for the specially holy use of giving us the fortunes of a marriage so fulfilling. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. And he took the bread and broke it. And gave it to the disciples and said, this is my body that is broken for you to do this and that. He gave them the bread. and all the bread you have digged and what it gives you for it. Mother of God, we surely should hold that bread and all the signs you have crossed inside. Amen. I'm so sorry. I love you. Yeah. That's part of the intriguing things about the gospel. This is the body of Christ broken for you. But not one of Jesus' bones is broken until it comes. So in what sense is the body of Christ broken for you? Our Lord says he doesn't despise a broken and contrite spirit. Broken inside were all of our sin and guilt. Jesus' body was broken when he took all of the sin and guilt for each of his people and took in himself the crushing power of the wrath of God. And that phrase, the body of Christ broken for you, is a statement that all punishment For what breaks you is taken. Body of Christ broken for you to eat. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. The shedding of the blood of Christ is forgiveness. This is a new covenant in His blood. I love you I love you. The life of the flesh is in the blood, and the life of the believer is in the blood of Christ. Drink. Our Lord, we marvel that this great salvation is symbolized to us and sealed to us in elements of bread and wine. And given the fact that that salvation is brought so near to us that we taste it and see it and smell it and it becomes a part of us, And God grant us grace that we never neglected. Make us a watchful people for Jesus' sake. Amen.