Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / May 7 - 2 Peter 3

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May 7 - 2 Peter 3 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. Great to have your company on
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  this Wednesday, the 7th of May. And you know what it's like when
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  you're just settling into something and then it's over
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  before you really worked out that it started.
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  Well, it feels like that's what's going on with this book.
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  Here we are today, only the third day of reading the second
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  letter from Peter, and he's wrapping it up.
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  It's going to finish with his final words of greeting to these
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  Christians around the world. And this is the day that he gets
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  into laser focus, the fact that, yes, Jesus is indeed coming
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  back. And that changes everything in
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  the way that we live our lives. And that's pretty important for
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  us to hear because I don't know about you, but my typical day
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  does not include apocalyptic ideas about the end of the
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  world, my own death, and these sorts of issues.
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  We're pretty good in our little world of hiding and forgetting
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  about all those things and focusing instead on the
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  important big things. And maybe they're not so
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  important, but loud things of our lives.
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  So this is a great little reminder today that this life is
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  but a blink before the eternity that we will spend with our Lord
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  and each other in worship. Isn't that great?
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  So friends, Are you ready? Let us wrap up this little book
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  as we read together the final chapter, Second Peter chapter 3.
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  This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of
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  them I've tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and
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  refresh your memory. I want you to remember what the
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  Holy Prophet said long ago and what our Lord and Saviour
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  commanded through your apostles. Most importantly, I want to
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  remind you that in these last days, scoffers will come,
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  mocking the truth and following their own desires.
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  They will say what happened to the promises that Jesus is
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  coming again from before the times of our ancestors.
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  Everything has remained the same since the world was first
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  created. They deliberately forgot that
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  God made the heavens long ago by the word of His command, and He
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  brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with
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  water. Then He used the water to
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  destroy the ancient world of the mighty flood.
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  And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have
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  been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the Day
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  of Judgement, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
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  But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends.
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  A day is like 1000 years to the Lord, and 1000 years is like a
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  day. The Lord isn't really being slow
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  about His promise as some people think.
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  No, He is being patient for your sake.
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  He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to
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  repent. But the day of the Lord will
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  come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away
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  with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will
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  disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be
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  found to deserve judgement. Since everything around us is
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  going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you
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  should live looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it
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  along. On that day He will set the
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  heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the
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  flames. But we are looking forward to
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  the new heavens and new earth as He has promised, a world filled
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  with God's righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you
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  were waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be
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  found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His
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  sight. And remember, our Lord's
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  patience gives people time to be saved.
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  This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the
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  wisdom God gave him Speaking of these things in all of his
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  letters. Some of his comments are hard to
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  understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have
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  twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just
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  as they do with other parts of Scripture, and this will result
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  in their destruction. You already know these things,
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  dear friends, so be on guard. Then you will not be carried
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  away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own
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  secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the
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  grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
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  All glory to Him both now and forever.
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  Amen. Jesus, the only lasting thing in
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  this life of ours is our relationship with You.
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  Everything else will be consumed by fire.
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  Everything else has a use by date which is fast approaching.
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  It's all about you, Jesus. It's all about our heart resting
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  in Your embrace. Oh, just make that message so
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  clear to us so that as we go about our lives, we can continue
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  to place You at the heart of all that we think and do and plan.
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  Our lives are yours, Lord. Use them in whatever way you see
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  fit, because this is just such a temporary moment in the time
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  space continuum. And we do look forward, even
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  though it sounds terrifying with the world being consumed by
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  fire. Lord, we look forward to the day
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  when all of the challenges of this life just evaporate around
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  us, and all that is left is your warm and loving embrace, which
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  will make everything else pale into insignificance.
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  Ah, we love you and we are so grateful that we are loved by
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  You. And so we your servants, pray
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  all of this in your loving name, Jesus, Amen.