Malachi Pt. 2: Corrupt Worship Destroys Relationship

Sacrifice is at the core of our relationship with our Creator. True sacrifice is the giving away things you value to someone you who is more valuable to you than the thing. Sacrifice is foundational in all intimate relationships. Parents sacrifice for their children, siblings & real friends sacrifice for each other. Where does that come from?

God has modeled how sacrifice maintains & repairs relationship since the beginning.In the Garden, Yahweh sacrificed animals to atone for the 1st sin. Job offered sacrifices for himself and his children as an admission of sin. Noah, 1st thing after letting the animals out of the ark…he sacrificed burn offerings. Abraham offered sacrifices, was ready to sacrifice His son! The temple system that was part of the Law of Moses served to created a regular ‘life rhythm’ of sacrifice, making God’s people deal with their sin.

Yahweh’s people were taught to sacrifice things that really mattered, things that cost. Things that were your means of survival, your livelihood & your chance to advance. God taught His people; our most valuable things are not enough to pay for our sin. The sacrifices happened day after day, year after year…partial atonement.

Then Christ Himself, offered the sacrifice that was of enough value to cover the cost. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross pays for our sin and buys us out out of HELL! Full and complete atonement. Paid in full! We honor HIM / God by laying down our lives, sacrificing our desires and pleasures to do HIS will. The Christian expression of this is that we are called to be ‘Living Sacrifices’…

Hey God: Why all the focus on sacrifice? Why make sacrifice such an important part of the daily life of YOUR people? God’s reason & purpose of lifestyle sacrifice was and still is: SIN AWARENESS. The process of regularly dealing with your sin, having it cost you something, is the gateway to grace. You cannot lay down your life to Christ without truly needing to! It takes sin awareness to fully understand the need for a savior. God wanted to demonstrate to them & us, as HIS people we must live in recognition of our sinfulness and corruption. God has blessed us to be unique: dealing with our sin is a blessing because it is how we truly recognize our need for Christ as Lord & Savior.

Last week we ended with:

9 “Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should He show you any favor at all?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. (Yahweh Tsebaoth)

Malachi 1:10 – 2:9

10 “How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will not accept your offerings. 11 My name is honored by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

  • God is frustrated with the corruption and disobedience of His people
  • All over the world [at this time] other people were honoring God
  • Others Honor God while those He has chosen to be HIS, do not? That is nuts!

12 “But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it’s all right to defile the Lord’s table. 13 You say, ‘It’s too hard to serve the Lord,’ and you turn up your noses at my commands,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

  • Your actions are what matter to God
  • Your actions say everything, they expose what you truly believe
  • The parable of the two sons [Jesus @ Matthew 21:28-31]
  • If difficulty stops you from trying, then you don’t believe in what you are doing

“Think of it! Animals that are stolen and crippled and sick are being presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?” asks the Lord. 14 “Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and My name is feared among the nations!”

  • Take a second and recognize what they were doing is what we can be guilty of
  • God says: ‘Should I accept these ‘lame’ offerings? You know the answer
  • Taking about what you’re going to give is never a good thing [Wayne & others]
  • It is like they forget He is watching…that God is paying attention
  • He wants to remind them AND US…
  • He is beyond powerful and His reputation is honored all over the world

1 “Listen, you priests—this command is for you! 2 Listen to Me and make up your minds to honor My name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken My warning to heart.

  • Pay attention those of you in charge [leaders can forget about their obedience]
  • God wants to give us a chance to clean up out act
  • Yahweh is a God of second chances, but there’s a point when His chances end
  • He says He will do it and because He knows their hearts, it’s as good as done
  • They will be cursed going forward but God will also curse past blessings!

3 I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile. 4 Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that My covenant with the Levites can continue,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

  • For such dishonoring of His reputation He will include descendants is the curse
  • God knows it will take something incredibly harsh to make them realize their sin
  • It will be painfully obvious that God Himself is acting against what they’re doing

5 “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name.

  • They were supposed to be representatives of God’s peace & life…
  • Those who provide the spiritual infrastructure for God must be extra reverent

6 They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from Me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with Me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin. 7 The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

  • Those who minister must be examples, speaking and acting on behalf of God
  • From intimacy with God, they teach His principals and maintain proper doctrine
  • They are to be instruments of God’s will: Messengers [like Malachi]

8 But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed Me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out My instructions.”

  • God pronounces Judgement on the Levitical priesthood [It ends with Christ]
  • They have become ‘blind guides’ as Jesus called them [whitewashed tombs]
  • Their corruption has led others to dishonor God’s name
  • God’s human ‘spiritual infrastructure’ will be judged more strictly [Jame 3:1]
  • This is God speaking in present tense about future things…they are and will be
  • At the core of their disobedience was favoritism
  • This is still an issue amongst God’s people…see James 2:9
  • ‘If you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers’
  • It is like they forget God is watching!

SUMMARY:

V. 1:10-14 God is not in the business of tolerating His people’s dishonest offerings & sacrifices. He cares deeply about His reputation, so should His people. Actions are what matter to God. People act in accordance with what they truly believe, even in difficulty. God’s perfect justice means he will not let falsehoods be considered blessings.

V. 2:1-4 Those who go between Yahweh and His people are commanded to Honor Him wholeheartedly, anything less curses everything they touch. God will humiliate and degrade those who corrupt HIS worship, it will be disgustingly harsh and obvious.

V. 2:5-7 Levitical Priests were Yahweh’s instruments of peace and life for His people. They were to live reverently with Him and speak for Him. They were to instruct and convict God’s people by His Word. They were to be His messengers. All of this holds true for those who minister and lead in Christ’s Body

V. 2:8-9 When those in charge of Yahweh’s ordained spiritual infrastructure become corrupt it is like a cancer throughout the community. Lack of accountability leads to mistreatment of the relationship. The entire relational structure between Yahweh and HIS people is trashed when community wide actions create a culture of dishonoring God. It works the same in Christ’s body.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

How do you view God’s reputation? How do your actions enhance it? What needs to stop that degrades it?

How do you think Christ views your lack of honesty and effort in your acts of worship? How does it impact your ability to relate to Him?

If you minister to God’s people, are you convicted of your accountability to fully honor Christ? How do we strengthen our culture of accountability to honoring Christ for servants and leaders in this body?

What actions [based on Scripture] can you take to honestly support the spiritual infrastructure Christ has placed you into?

/by

Malachi Pt. 1: Unrecognized Love

MALACHI 1:1-9

To be truly Biblical Christians we not only need to be well versed in the New Testament but we also need to understand the Hebrew scriptures in light of Christ.

TEMPLE DESTROYED 586 BC / 1ST EXILES RETURNED 538 BC / TEMPLE REBUILT 516 BC / EZRA ARRIVES 458 BC / NEHEMIAH ARRIVES 444 BC

About Malachi, the man, the book and the context.

Malachi the Man: We don’t know much about him except this message. He lived in the years after the nation of Israel had return from Babylonian exile. A contemporary of Ezra & Nehemiah though probably a generation after (overlap) He lived in Jerusalem aprox. 450 – 400 BC 1st recognition of His prophetic writings is at about 400 BC. Prophetic mostly by speaking from Yahweh’s point of view.

Malachi The Book: It reads like a legal proceeding. Question and answer style. There are a number of exchanges between God and the people. An accusation or statement is made by God (through Malachi) and then the people respond (through Malachi) and ultimately God has the last word. In terms of last word this book is often refereed to as the last word from one of God’s Prophets that He sent to the Jews before going silent for 400 years [J. B. & J. C.]

Malachi The Context: The Israelites had returned from exile,, they rebuilt the temple in 516 BC. 42 years later Ezra arrives in 458 Nehemiah arrives at the beginning the year 444 BC. At the end of Nehemiah chapters 8-13 we see that unified public reading of the Torah, community wide public confession, they sign and seal a covenant to observe of the Law of Moses at the end of 444 BC. Malachi writes just 40 or so years later and whatever obedience was pledged, it seems to be lost in one generation!

Malachi’s message has the overtone of judgement because God’s people had not learned from the consequences of their past sins. The disobedience that had cause God to send them into exile was becoming their way of life again. Corruption was growing amongst their leaders and had infected the priesthood as well.In light of Christ we read this from the perspective of being God’s people, and it is timeless in detailing the human condition regarding our sin and waywardness.

1 This is the message that the Lord gave to Israel through the prophet Malachi.

  • Malachi means ‘My Messenger’ The message is to Israel / God’s People
  • Word message here can translated as Burden or Oracle…not a light message

2 “I have always loved you,” says the Lord. But you retort, “Really? How have You loved us?” And the Lord replies, “This is how I showed My love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, 3 but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.”

  • God declares His enduring love for His people [Israel]
  • This first reply of the people starts this pattern of arrogance and self-focus
  • From God’s point of view all humans deserve to be rejected by Him, and yet..
  • God showed His love by bestowing undeserved favor upon Jacob’s family
  • God set apart the family of Abraham, Issac & Jacob by His undeserved love

4 Esau’s descendants in Edom may say, “We have been shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins.” But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies replies, “They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again.

  • Contrast between what people want and the finality of God’s Will
  • This is the ultimate fate of those who don’t know Yahweh

Their country will be known as ‘The Land of Wickedness,’ and their people will be called ‘The People with Whom the Lord Is Forever Angry.’ 5 When you see the destruction for yourselves, you will say, ‘Truly, the Lord’s greatness reaches far beyond Israel’s borders!’”

  • God explains how it could be for the descendants of Jacob…
  • Knowing and trusting God is the only way to believe in HIS justice
  • You realize HE is in control of EVERYTHING

6 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your Father and Master, where are the honor and respect I deserve?

  • After proving His love God turns to how Israel has responded to that love
  • When faced with their actions of disrespect they obfuscate and justify
  • ‘What did we ever do’?
  • God says you want to call me Father without showing me any honor
  • God says you want to call me Master / Lord without showing fear or reverence
  • What do you think God deserves from you?

You have shown contempt for My name! “But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for Your name?’ 7 “You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on My altar. “Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?

  • Contempt for God’s name means contempt for all that HE stand for (reputation)
  • Again His people say: ‘How have we mocked and ridiculed your reputation?’
  • The hardened heart cannot even see how it rebells and disrespects God
  • How do we make sure we are not giving God our leftover devotion / sacrifice
  • God tells them they have done it and they are like; ‘how have we done it?’
  • They know better, just like we know better
  • We know we are to give to God in ways that actually cost us (sacrifice)

“You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect. 8 When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

  • The offering of ‘lame’ sacrifices is a blatant show of disrespect
  • Giving to God things that don’t have value to you is not really a sacrifice
  • You would not think of blatantly disrespecting your earthly ruler…why God?
  • Notice the title God gives HIMSELF here

9 “Go ahead, beg God to be merciful to you! But when you bring that kind of offering, why should He show you any favor at all?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

  • This speaks of how relationships work…it’s a two way street
  • We can claim to want God’s mercy but on what basis?

This thread is going to continue in the passage next week… God has more to say!

SUMMARY V.1-5: God has a burden for His people to know His heart. HE has always separated His chosen by His love & Grace. In HIS self-existent wisdom HE chose Jacob for Grace and Esau for destruction. Yahweh’s greatness is proved by HIS righteous, holy, perfect justice AND His overwhelming, everlasting, undeserved mercy.
SUMMARY V.6-8a: Obeying biblical standards is the only way to honor God as Father AND respect Him as Master, otherwise we show contempt for who HE is. It starts with sacrifice.
As people called by Yahweh / Christ we are to sacrifice the most important stuff we have. It was always meant to cost us something to honor & respect God for who He is.
SUMMARY V.8b-9: God’s chosen people are to grow [through teachable failures] in their desire to obey sacrificially, while being real about their shortcomings. In Malachi’s day they were calling something sacrificial that was not. In our lives it’s being real about the cost to follow Christ. HE deserves our honest, sacrificial efforts to obey. When we make excuses and cut corners we damage our relationship with HIM.
APPLICATION QUESTION
In what ways do you personally recognize the loving favor of Christ and display gratitude for it?
APPLICATION QUESTION
If the God of Scripture is your Father & Master, how do you specifically show Him the honor and respect He deserves?
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
What have you sacrificed in your life since becoming a follower of Jesus Christ? What will you sacrifice to become a follower of Christ?
APPLICATION QUESTIONS

How honest are you about what living sacrificially for Christ based on Scripture requires? What impact does a lack of honesty have on your relationship with Christ?

/by

2nd Peter Pt. 6: Waiting In Grace

Making The Most of The ‘Divine Delay’

Last week: Pretty intense look at ‘The Day of The Lord’. What do you believe about Jesus returning? How does it change the way you live? Do you have hope in the return of Christ… What does hope look like day after day, year after year? Lifestyle, values, behaviors and choices. We are called to recognize the grace…and then live like that grace is real important…because it is!

Christ’s second coming is Inevitable. The Old Testament Saints didn’t know it would the 2nd Advent of the Messiah… the one they kinda envisioned…

Last week we ended with this:

But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief… and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. ~ 2 Pet. 3:10

Ch3:11-18 (NLT)

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.

  • He is speaking on behalf of God: ‘It’s going to happen’
  • The audience of this message is the redeemed in Christ
  • What does it look like to live in these ways?
  • Holy
  • Godly
  • Looking forward to Christ’s return
  • Hurry it along
    • [Plural Adverb] ‘Make Haste’ = level of speed that is necessary
    • Based on being given mercy, what is our ‘Sense of Urgency’ to be like?

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.

  • ‘That Day’ Jesus had a lot to say about that day… Matthew 24 & 25
  • Contrast this destruction with the flood… the day of the Lord is by fire
  • Common idea from scripture that fire purifies
  • Once this world is purified by fire it will be where righteousness dwells

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.

  • This is repetition of V 11 & 12
  • The end is going to happen… so we live totally in light of that reality
  • Do everything you can to live at peace with Christ’s people
  • What matters is what is pure & without blame in Christ’s sight [HIS perspective]
  • HE makes us blameless when we surrender our lives to Him

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.

  • Why would this encouragement to remember Christ’s patience be repeated?
  • The leader of Christ’s disciples declares Paul’s writings as ‘God-breathed’
  • ‘These things’ could be described as God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness & love.

Some of his [Paul’s] 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.

  • It is not easy to understand God’s Words spoken or written by HIS prophets…
  • Ignorant = Not enlightened by Christ’s Spirit
  • Unstable = Unregenerate (in context with use in 2:14) unsettled, without peace

17 You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing.

  • Peter’s audience: leaders and stalwarts of Christ’s Body…they know this stuff
  • You must combine ‘Knowledge’ with being ‘on guard’
  • Without these two combined in your life you WILL be sucked into sin & struggle
  • How important is secure footing?

18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

  • To avoid the errors of: The wicked [lawless & unrestrained] we have to GROW!
  • We have to grow [be discipled] into new ways of thinking & living
  • Laban made a great point two weeks ago about the practical application of Scripture: You have to replace sinful thinking & habits with NEW thinking and habits. It is a losing strategy to think you can just stop it what is wrong…
  • This is the way this letter began and it is how it ends (IMPORTANT)
  • The call to discipleship is the call to live as Christ desires us to live
  • Responding to the call to discipleship is how we give glory to God

SUMMARY:

Christ’s return is an essential part of the Biblical Gospel. Christ’s Body ‘eagerly anticipates’ this day to begin eternity surrounded by God’s righteousness. That conviction informs how we live: holy, godly, peaceful, pure, and blameless in His sight.

The message of God’s Word [Protestant Christian Scripture] is consistent! Peter & Paul agree with Moses & Malachi. The understanding of; The Day of The Lord, God’s ‘long suffering’ mercy & how Biblical Christian should live, is found in the historical interpretation & application of our old & new testaments together.

Growing ‘IN CHRIST’ is our job as Members of THIS Body. You gotta show up to grow up!

We must be diligent to build and reinforce Biblical Culture, based on the sound and practical application of God’s written Word. We call this: ‘Body Discipleship’.

APPLICATION:

Read and discuss Matthew 24 & 25 with someone. [Homework]

What specific ways can YOU live holy, godly, peaceful, pure and blameless? What do YOU use to define that kind of living?

What is YOUR [reading, studying, watching, researching] PLAN to grow in your understanding of the whole Bible?

“As followers of Jesus who believe that the eschatological promises have broken into the present through the work of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit, we don’t wait idly for Jesus’ return, nor do we live like the corrupt teachers who saw Jesus’ delay as an opportunity to indulge the flesh. Rather, like Peter, we live as new, transformed humans who take advantage of the divine delay to join in God’s redemptive purposes. We live out our days bearing witness to Jesus, continuing his mission, fighting back the powers of darkness, and hastening the day when those purposes will be fully accomplished.

So yes, we wait. But we wait patiently, knowing that God is orchestrating all of human history towards his glorious end. And we wait purposely, joining in God’s redemptive mission to make disciples of all people.” ~ Whitney Woollard

RECOGNIZE THE GRACE! LIVE BASED THE GRACE!

/by

2nd Peter Pt. 5: Word, Time & Mercy

A Worldview Based on Scripture

What is God’s Word? How does Time work for God? What are the bounds of His Mercy?

Common themes for Peter & God’s revelation… lots of repetition in scripture. We are going to hear about the ‘Day of The Lord’ an event that Christ spoke of.

Wisdom…James 1:5 ~ If any of you needs wisdom they should ask God, who gives generously to all peoples without making them feel foolish or guilty.

2nd Peter Chapter 3:1-10

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.

  • Two letters of guidance…They stand alone AND work together, sequentially
  • God [thru Peter] wants to stir up our wholesome / pure thinking
  • You cannot stir-up or stimulate something that is not there
  • We have renewed Minds. The result of the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit
  • We CAN think in ways that honor God’s holiness… With proper directions…
  • We are called to have a refreshed memory!
  • Memory of what? Scripture! Peter’s letters echo the O.T. & N.T. that existed

Big Themes of 1 Peter:
Eternal Hope in Christ’s Resurrection life
Chosen by God alone to live for Him
Christ did the work on the cross to make us right
Jesus Christ’s disciples are to live wisely in light of eternity

Big Themes of 2 Peter:
All of Christ’s disciples are to grow spiritually
The measure of maturity is based on sacred view of Scripture
Christ’s disciples identify and oppose non-scriptural teachings
God’s Word, Time & Mercy

Still to come: God’s Word / God’s Time / God’s Mercy / How to live / Paul’s writings

2 I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.

  • This is defining what writings are Scripture…equality of Old & New Testaments
  • To remember is to ‘revere’… Treat as valuable… Believe it and follow it!
  • The prophets are ‘Holy Prophet’ = ‘Set Apart Messenger of God’
  • Our Apostles are ‘Vessels of a Message’ …Our Lord’s Message! Christ’s Words!
  • This is our shepherd telling us to remember these writings as ‘God’s Word’
  • We recognize ‘false, non-scriptural doctrine’ by knowing the ‘historical reading’

Cultural Standards For Christ’s Body: Verses 1 & 2 are critical instructions for Christ’s Body. Pure thinking & a refreshed memory of Scripture. It is a mindset, a way of thinking…’Scriptural Thinking’

3 Most importantly, [1st thing] 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.”

  • Most importantly is better rendered ‘starting with’ [creates proper perspective]
  • “You have to understand 1st thing, this world is going to be opposite God’s Word”
  • The biggest threat to a God-Centric view of life is to make it seem ridiculous
  • Big Picture attacks on the God of Scripture… attempt to use the ‘weight of culture’
  • The more socially conscious people become the more ridicule & mocking hurts
  • Those who are self-absorbed need the approval of other & felling they ‘fit in’
  • The fear of man…caring too much what others think (prov. 29:25)
  • The popular culture says ‘What kind of fool would serve anyone but themselves’?
  • Denying Christ’s return is denial of Christ’s deity. HE said He was coming back!

5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago 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.

  • The cultural elites, the opinion makers, they deliberately attack God’s character
  • Science says: “God couldn’t create the universe in six 24 hour days”
  • “God didn’t really flood the earth… it’s a metaphor…”
  • The ‘modern’… ‘scientific’… ‘informed’ viewpoint of our popular culture
  • The cultural consensus put forth by our Entertainment Media: Our Bible = ‘myth’

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.

  • The same ‘Word’… Is saying who WHO is and what HE does…
  • We believe the standard, ‘the measuring stick’ of God’s Will & Ways is our Bible
  • Word of O.T. Prophets & Christ’s Word about HIS return / Day of Judgement
  • ‘Word’ = Creation, Action, Will, Judgement, Character
  • This is contained in a form our human brains can handle in this life = Bible

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.

  • This sentence is joined to the previous one. Judgement coming…when God says
  • A key aspect of understanding God: He doesn’t operate in time like us
  • Heretics love to say when God is going to do something…like they know
  • HE waits for OUR Sake…for people we love to receive eternal life in Christ
  • God coming in Christ proves HE wants everyone to be saved.
  • Repentance is clearly the doorway we must go thru to be united with Christ

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.

  • Like a thief is the same way Christ described HIS return…
  • The ‘Day of The Lord’ has Biblical Meaning…86 Scripture references to this event
  • God will bring final judgement on this age…
  • It will be a reformation of all matter as we know it
  • This entire creation will be judged

KEY STUFF TO REMEMBER:

In 1st & 2nd Peter the Holy Spirit sets the standard of ‘Scriptural Thinking’ as common practice for Jesus Christ’s disciples. ‘Scriptural Thinking’ by the Body of Christ is two things: the proper reverence for and practical application of O.T. & N. T. Based on the Church’s historical view of Scripture

With our thinking rooted in Scripture we should recognize clever and attractive attempts to pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ and God’s Word by the popular media culture. The world around us has and will continue to mock the scriptural account of creation…the scriptural account of the Genesis flood and the idea of a ‘Judgement Day’.

God is patient for YOUR SAKE: Each day that Christ does not return is an opportunity to repent of rebellion against YOUR Creator and make Christ YOUR Lord! If Christ has become YOUR Lord, each day YOUR response is to grow spiritually & glorify God with YOUR life!

APPLICATION:

How would you characterize your level of Scriptural Thinking?

Last Resort? New Interest? Hobby? Inconsistent Effort? Regular Practice? Way of Life?

In what ways does the information / media / entertainment culture we live in mock the truth of ‘Our’ Scriptures?

What are the differences between how YOU experience time and how God does?

What is The Day of The Lord to YOU? Specifically how does it shape YOUR life?

/by