“You Must Not Forget This One Thing!”
Our bible study on last evening turned out to be very invigorating, as the momentum increased with responsive input regarding three questions. Would you say most people are in denial of the world possibly coming to an end? Would it make a difference in the life of humanity if they knew the date of Christ’ return? What is the responsibility of the believer in helping them to understand the importance of Christ’ return? The topic surrounding the context of this particular study was entitled, “The World to Come!” I focused our attention towards 2 Peter 3:1-16 after fielding the responses to the above questions, which were:
“It is doubtful that most people believe that the world we enjoy will someday cease to exist…”
“People do not like to be judged, they have resolved that when life has ended, it is over, and nothing else matters…”
“The younger generation today expect to see some kind of evidence, regarding to what has been told by the church community, since the end of time has not occurred after all of the predictions…”
“I went to church and attended all of the actives, but until I realized that I needed to know and have a relationship for God myself, then I did not seek to know and obey the Word of God…”
“When I came along, the preachers would talk about hell, and I knew I did not want to go there! Today, what people hear about in church is prosperity…”
“I was at work, and a coworker asked me, ‘does your pastor preach about sin?’ I responded, Yes! Then my coworker said, ‘my pastor has never talked about sin, we hear messages about prosperity!’
This bible study was an equipping session, that informs the disciples of Jesus Christ, how to expository present a passage of scripture that addresses the certainty of the Lord’s return and what to expect of the world to come! Let take a look at the text for convenience, perhaps there are people who have never read this passage of scripture, and may not be inclined to look it up. Also, this will give us some opportunity to add commentary to this scripture text.
The Day of the Lord Is Coming (2 Peter 3:1-16 New Living Translation)
1 This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. 2 I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.
There has always been an urgency and a necessity to remind all of us as believers who we are and how we should shape our way of thinking according to the scriptures that have been written to the body of believers called The Church” (the body of Christ which He is the head) by the prophets and apostles. Remember, they spoke and wrote what the Holy Spirit had revealed to them, and the Holy Spirit reveals to us only what is the mind and will of Christ which He (the Holy Spirit has received) from the throne of heaven.
3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4 They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
Disciples of Jesus Christ, must be aware who SCOFFERS are in our society and world! Such individuals are focused to raise doubt and fear about Jesus Christ and His body, The Church! Therefore, all attacks and any accusation is designed to diminish efforts the Kingdom of God (which is invisible & spiritual) to rescue every individual from the coming destruction of their opportunity to live with God forever in the New Heaven and Earth which will replace this society in which we know.
The tactic and strategy to MOCK the credibility of the HOLY BIBLE and to create a deception and diversion that causes people to think that THE WORD OF GOD is uncertain and unreliable because their are many versions of the truth, so which truth should someone believe? The desired response from the hordes of “DOCTRINES OF DEMONS & SEDUCING SPIRITS” is for the individual to determine what they wish to believe, which will ultimately prove to be ludicrous at the end of each persons existence who takes this path.
Note how the “god of this world” THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY has systematically created every kind of imagery that causes individuals in our society to view everything differently from how God would portray or desire it for His children. Our world society has been conditioned to believe a lie and reject the TRUTH which is only from God!
The sad part is we fund the existence of the ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY! No one brings any accusation towards how much money does this godless beast collects each year, yet, through MASS MEDIA the scribe of the ANTI-CHRIST the many ekklesia (called out ones) are being depicted by the very few MEGA CHURCHES which are false prophets of the ANTI-CHRIST! This becomes clear because the ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY and POLITICAL MACHINE embraces and popularizes such religious entities.
This is why there is no impact from the gospel from these FALSE PROPHETS, because they don’t cause people to realize their responsibility to God or their neighbor, success is based upon numbers and money. You have to inform people they need to repent, that “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 6:23)
Why is it that everything has remained the same, but actually people have become worst? Every INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM is in collusion with the spirit of the Anti-Christ, which will manifest itself incarnate into one individual. TO QUESTION THE AUTHENTICITY OF GOD TOWARDS EACH PERSON? (read the Genesis account about the FALL OF ADAM & EVE in the garden of Eden) This is what is going on today. HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO ENTER THE ARK? HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL PARTICIPATE & PROMOTE GATHERING PEOPLE TO ENTER THE ARK OF SAFTY?
During the days of Noah, it was predicted that God was going to destroy the world by water! Why would God destroy His creation?
3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with[b] humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.”
5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.
The Story of Noah
9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God
11 Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. 13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!
God kept his promise, no person has lived beyond 120 years of age, but everyone has an eternity to spend with God or away from God.
People were extremely wicked, which God did not tolerate and He will not tolerate it during our time!
Let’s continue to hear and consider what the Apostle Peter told us nearly 2,000 years ago:
5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. 6 Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. 7 And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
My brothers and sisters upon this earth, God keeps His promises!
Will you enter the ARK of safety which has been offered by God’s grace through faith in His son Jesus Christ?
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.[a]
Currently, we think of time and schedule our time in hours and days which add up to weeks and months, and before you realize it, another year has come and gone! We all have said it, and lived it, then soon forgot all about how our time has come and gone?
This is an unique warning. Can you imagine that a time would occur, that a 24 hour day would super nova and advance forward in time to be a 1,000 years later?
Can we fathom that our concept of time has been operating on a very slow cycle because God is striving to patient with people on this planet to establish a relationship with Him and to live righteously?
We establish a relationship with God first by repenting. Humanities refusal to repent will not prevent the judgment of God nor prevent the coming of Jesus Christ who will return.
11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
Now the Apostle Peter turns his appeal to the disciples of Jesus Christ with great urgency. How we strive should live holy and godly lives in this perverse generation! We as disciples of Jesus Christ are to focus our attention towards the new heavens and new earth.
We will one day experience a society in which everyone everywhere will witness God’s righteousness all around us and in us!
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
Here we find what manner of life we should strive to live.
15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— 16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.
Each day exist for us as disciples of Christ to make every opportunity to encourage everyone to be saved! This is the our purpose as Christians and this is our primary function as the body of Christ in the earth!
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