Please turn with me now in your Bibles to the second letter of Peter, the third chapter. 2 Peter chapter 3, beginning at verse 1 and reading down through the end of the chapter. 2 Peter chapter 3, beginning at verse 1. Let us hear God's own word. Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the commands given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. First of all, you must understand that in the last day, scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, where is this coming he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. But they deliberately forget that long ago, by God's word, the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends. With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish. but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort as they do the other scriptures to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, Be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory, both now and forever. Amen. So far the reading of God's word. It seems to me that at least once or twice a year, there is a news report on the evening news about a burglar trying to break into a building who has tried to go down a chimney and has gotten caught. And I always look at that story and think, what was he thinking? And you could probably easily make a much longer list of stories you have told about things people have done that just lead you to shake your head and say, what were they thinking? How could anybody be so stupid? So foolish? People really are amazing. and we wonder how or whether they are thinking. And that question of how do you think, how are you thinking is the question that Peter poses in this second letter. He wants us to be thoughtful Christians whose thinking, he says, is wholesome. Wholesome thinking. That's what needs to guide us, not just in one area of life or another area of life, but in all of our lives as God's people. We need to be those who are characterized by wholesome thinking, or as other translations put it, by pure understanding. This word that the NIV translates as wholesome has that idea of something pure, something unmixed. When you think about it, that's a helpful way to think about it. Some people's thinking is mixed, or as we might put it, mixed up. And what Peter is saying to the people of God is don't be a mixed up people. Don't have your thinking partly formed by God and partly formed by this world. But people, be people of pure understanding. Be people of wholesome thinking. Now, Peter, at the beginning of this second epistle, makes it pretty clear that he sees himself as close to the end of his life. And he's saying to this people, now, I want to tell you something you already know. Preachers sometimes feel that way. Haven't I told you this before? Why do I have to tell you again? But I want to tell you something that you already know to remind you, to call to mind to you, the truth. Listen to Peter's words in 2 Peter 1, verses 12 and following. He says, So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them, and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. He wants this people whom he feels he will soon leave to have a testimony and a reminder of the wholesome thinking to which they are called as Christians. He wants to strengthen them and so he is strengthening us still. Even though he has gone to his glory in heaven with his Savior, he continues through the word that he wrote to speak to us and to call us to be people who aren't mixed up in our thinking but have a pure understanding of God, of the truth, and of the way in which we are called to live for God. So what does it mean to have wholesome thinking? Well, the first point that Peter wants to make is wholesome thinking involves thinking about God's word. Thinking about God's word. He commends to us the words of the holy prophets and the holy apostles as they speak the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. If you want to think straight, if you want to think pure, if you want to think in a wholesome way, your thinking had better be informed and directed and filled with the word of God, with the truth of God, with the word that he has given through these holy men, the apostles and the prophets and through our Lord and Savior Jesus himself. Now, we're probably inclined to think, well, you know, you've already said that you're only going to tell us things we already know, but we know that so well, we really don't need to be told that. But Peter's aware that there will come people who are scoffers and will say, why do you believe that word? Why do you believe that word? It's not true. Oh, you know, there are some very inspiring things in it. There are good things in it. There are profitable things in it. But it's kind of mixed up. It's not wholly reliable. These scoffers will come and they'll say, well, let me give you an example. Where's the promise of his coming? Didn't Jesus say that He would come again in glory? Didn't He promise that He'd come back and make all things new? Where's the promise? Where's the fulfillment? Has He done it? Is that word really reliable? That's sort of interesting to pause and think a minute. If that kind of attack was already occurring to Peter only decades after the ascension of our Lord. How much more might someone raise that question today? Centuries after the ascension of our Lord. Where's the promise of His coming? Why hasn't He done what He promised to do? And you know, there is a school of biblical scholarship that says, well, the truth of the Bible is disproved by the very fact that Jesus promised to come back in the lifetime of that first generation. He didn't do it. Clearly, it's not true. Peter anticipates all of that. And he says to the people of God, look, don't be surprised when scoffers come along, when mockers come along. Don't sit with them. Don't walk with them. Don't stand with them. That's the message of Psalm 1. Don't sit in the seat of scoffers. They are not motivated by a passion for the truth, Peter says. they are motivated by their own evil desires. They're motivated by a desire to live just the way they want to live, not the way God wants them to live. And so to justify their own confusion, to justify their own mixed-up lives, they turn to the Word of God and say, it's not reliable, it's not true. You shouldn't rest in it. And Peter wants to say, if you want to be wholesome thinkers, then you need to be built up and renewed in the confidence that you ought to have in God's word. And Peter says, what's the character of that word that these scoffers are attacking? What's the character of that word? This word that they say is not reliable. They forget, Peter says, that this word of God, this promise that we have from God as part of his word, This Word of God is what created all that we see. Isn't that a powerful Word? This Word of God not only brought into being the heavens and the earth and the shape of the earth and the boundaries of the seas, but this Word of God released the seas to flood the world, to drown the wicked at the time of Noah. don't think for a minute Peter is saying here that God just created the world by his powerful word and then set it going and isn't involved in it but God remains involved in the history of the world he shapes the history of the world he directs the history of the world and in that history there are the judgments of God that point to the great day of judgment that's coming Peter says God's word is powerful God's word is active. When the scoffers say, all things have continued as it was from the beginning, what they're really saying is God isn't involved. And maybe in the struggles of life, in the difficult times of life, we can be tempted to say, well, where is God? Is he involved? And Peter says, that's the attitude of the scoffers and the mockers, Those who don't really believe and trust the Word of God. And Peter is saying, if you want to be a people with wholesome thinking, think about God as the Creator. Think about God as the Governor of this world. Think about our God as the ever-active One with us in this world. And then know that his word can be relied on. And when the word says that Jesus is coming again, he's coming again. We can trust that word. We can rely on that word. That word is certain. And that word says to you and to me, Peter declares, that there is a home of righteousness that awaits us when Jesus comes again in glory. there's a home of blessedness. There's a home of health. We've prayed tonight for a long list of people and there are others who struggle with physical weakness. There's a day coming when all of that weakness will be put away. We are a people who struggle with sin. That quotation this morning from Robert Murray McShane was striking, wasn't it? We need to repent of our sins, and then we need to repent of the sinfulness of our repentance, and then we need to repent of the sinfulness of that repentance. There's in many ways no end to the sinfulness we can find in ourselves. And if we're sensitive to that, if we care about that, how wonderful it is to hear that there's a home God is building for us in which righteousness dwells. and where we will be righteous when we are there. Every sin removed. That's the promise. That's the hope. But Peter underscores not only the reliability of God's word, that Christ is coming to provide a home of righteousness for his own, but Peter underscores in particular here that Christ is coming in judgment. that when Christ returns, there will be destruction for the ungodly. Perhaps that theme makes us a little uncomfortable. I did some thinking about that this week when I was at a conference in Indianapolis. It was a conference attended by a number of people, and many of them there were quite liberal in their theology, liberal theologians and liberal ministers. and I discovered I hadn't been around a lot of liberals for a long time. I find out in the foyer here after church there aren't a whole lot of liberals to talk to. And it was interesting because my first reaction is they're really using a lot of the same language that we use. They were talking about God, and they were talking about Christ, they were talking about heaven, they were talking about sin, and they were talking about grace. But as the conference went on, what I discovered was that there was one element that was missing. The very element that Peter is highlighting here in our text. When they talked about sin, they were always talking about the way in which sin harms human relationships. The way in which we should try to overcome sin so our lives will be better. And, of course, that point is true as far as it goes. But what was completely missing in their discussion, in their approach to reality, in their thinking, what was completely missing is that sin offends God. That we have a righteous God. That we have a holy God. That we have a God who is pure through and through and therefore is offended. Is, I think it's not too much to say, enraged by the indifference and the wickedness and the callousness of the creatures that he has made and blessed in such an extraordinary manner. The attitude seems very much to me that God is the available power and reference point so we can have things our way. And there seems very little concern about the way God would have things. And there is not a hint of judgment to come. There is not a hint that there is a day of reckoning for the wicked. and indeed, I'm sure if many of them could hear this sermon, they would snort and laugh and say, oh, that old-fashioned fire and brimstone preaching, don't you know that's gone out of fashion? People don't believe that anymore. But whether we believe it or not doesn't determine whether it's true. And God has said to us from the beginning of His Word to the end of His Word that He is a holy God, a righteous God, who will not tolerate sin in His presence. He is a God who will either punish the sinner in Himself or punish the sin in the Savior. Those are the only two options. And Peter wants to remind us of that. Because that truth is essential to wholesome thinking. God has made a promise. It's a promise that he will redeem his own and bless them, and he has promised that he will come in judgment on the wicked. That's essential to his own nature. That's essential to a moral world in which we live. And he wants us to be clear about that in our thinking. It is helpful, Peter says, in effect, to from time to time worry about judgment. Worry about whether we'll stand in the judgment. For the prophet Malachi said, who shall stand when he appears? And the answer is only those in Jesus Christ. Only those clothed with the perfect righteousness of Christ. Only those whose sins have been placed upon Christ. And only those who have received from Christ that full measure of obedience that he kept in our place. That's the word of God. And as God's word powerfully created this world, so Peter is saying God's word will powerfully end this world. In judgment on the wicked and on a new home of righteousness, for those in Christ. We have to think on these things, Peter says. Be reminded of these things. Even though we're surrounded by a world filled with mockers that we should believe such things, Peter says it's the truth. It's going to happen. Nobody in Noah's day thought the flood was coming. They all could have formed a little theological society and concluded Noah's words could be reinterpreted. They didn't really mean what they said. They could form a little group and say, you know, if we all just visualize dry land, we won't drown. But it wouldn't have mattered. The flood came, the judgment came, and the judgment of the last day is coming just as certainly. Wholesome thinking requires us to think about those things. God's Word. Secondly, wholesome thinking requires that we think about God's work in our time. The charge was that God is kind of slow. God's a slow poke. That's what the scoffers said. And Peter's response is, God has his own timetable. He's not slow as some count slowness. He's not slow because he's forgetful. He's not slow because he's a failure. He's not slow because he doesn't know what he's doing. He's slow in the first place because he's patient. What does his slowness mean? It means we have time to repent. He's slow because he's patient. Psalm 103, verse 8. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. His slowness, you see, is purposeful. He is slow so that you and I can come to our senses. So we can straighten out our thinking. So we can think straight. So we can repent. That's what he says here in the text, isn't it? Verse 9. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promises. Some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. He's patient with you, wanting you to come to repentance. Is there anyone here tonight who hasn't really repented? Is there anyone here tonight who still cherishes his sin in his heart and thinks God won't notice? Is there anyone here tonight who doesn't really care about the ways of God but wants only to follow evil desires? Is there anyone here tonight who hasn't turned to Jesus Christ and said, I am a sinner in need of forgiveness. Oh, blessed Jesus, forgive my sins. You know why Jesus hasn't come back? Because he's waiting till all the elect turn to him with that prayer. That's the purpose of the slowness of his coming, that we might repent. And what a blessed work that is. What a blessed slowness that is. Jesus Christ had returned in the first century. Where would we be? We wouldn't be born, would we? Jesus Christ had returned 10 or 20 years ago. Some of us might not yet have repented. His slowness is a blessing for us. But Peter says, the work of the Lord today is slow, but one day will be sudden. He will come like a thief in the night. He will come just as he came to the generation of Noah, where one day was dry and the next day was flood. And the question, you see, for us tonight, in light of the suddenness of that coming, like a thief in the night to make all things new and to bring judgment, are we ready? Are we ready? Have we understood the slowness of God and the suddenness with which He will come? Are we ready? We need wholesome thinking to be ready. And thirdly, finally, we need to think not only about God's Word and about God's work, but about God's way. What is the way of God among us? What is the way He calls us to? Peter tells us our God is a holy God, so what kind of a people ought we to be? We ought to be a people who live holy and godly lives. I think Peter is saying here, is that the passion of our hearts? In light of the wonderful promises of God's word that we have, of a certain home and salvation in Jesus Christ, In light of God's work, slowly waiting for us, calling us to repentance. What kind of a people ought we to be? What way ought we to walk? And the goal Peter lays before us is that we should be a holy and godly people. We shouldn't be like those whose lives are dominated by the evil desires of the scoffers. But we should be the people who have before us a notion of what delights our God. A notion of what His law lays before us as the blessed life, the good life, the holy life. And that ought to be the passion and desire of our hearts. Make every effort, Peter says, to be spotless and without blemish. We might sometimes think, I sometimes think, doesn't God get tired of my repenting? Years and years of the same old tired sad sins. Doesn't he get tired of my repenting? And of course the glory of the gospel is no, he doesn't get tired. Amazingly, he doesn't get tired. But he does say to us, use your energy to be a consecrated people. Well, you know this language of spotless and blameless, two different translations trying to get out of my mouth at the same time. Spotless and blameless or spotless and without blemish. This is really the language of the sacrificial offering, isn't it? It's the language of those beasts consecrated to God without any kind of defect in them. And God says, I want you to be my people, dedicated to me, consecrated to me. a people without spot or blemish, with a passion for God and for his ways, for his law, for his appearing. Is that the character of your life? Is that what you'd like to be, even if you're not? And Peter says in verse 15, you need to guard what God has given you. Hold on to it. Protect it. Because the world would rip it away from you. Now, I thought the song service was downright heavenly tonight. And one of the reasons that I think it's important to sing the psalms is because the psalms regularly remind us that there are two ways of living. There's the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. The Psalms are never calling us to think we can be righteous in our own strength, that we can be righteous by our own accomplishment, but they are constantly holding before us that call to righteous living and that call to repent of the wickedness to which we are so prone. The first song of the song service, Verse number 137, the third verse says, All they that forsake thee must perish and die. And we sing that kind of thoughtlessly sometimes, kind of glibly sometimes. Maybe we're so familiar with this we hardly think about it. Think about the terrible quality of those words. All they that forsake thee must perish and die. But near to my Savior, most blessed am I. You have to guard what you have. There's an evil one who would take it away from you. There's a struggle to the Christian life. Guard what you have and then grow in grace. That's Peter's final injunction. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be a growing people. Don't be a static people. Don't be a people satisfied with what you already know, what you already are. But be a people eager to know more of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to rejoice more fully in all that He's done for us, to seek more passionately His Spirit that we might live for Him. And then it's sort of as if Peter says, okay, I've reminded you. I'm ready to die. I've run the race. I've kept the faith. And Peter, in effect, says, and your blood is not on my hands. I've reminded you. He wants us to be wholesome thinkers so that our lives will be better in Christ. That they will be more Christ-honoring. And when we honor Christ more, our lives will also be more enjoyable, more filled with the blessing of the Lord, more joyful in His service. And so how is it with your thinking tonight? Are you a wholesome thinker? Or are you still mixed up? Jesus Christ has come to purify our minds. To take away our sin. To give us life. Life everlasting. And a home of righteousness in heaven. May that blessedness be true of every one of us here tonight. Amen. Let us pray. O Lord, our God, you know how easily we are mixed up. How much of the world's wisdom we take to ourselves. How much of the world's values we follow. And so as we listen to the words of the blessed Apostle Peter, we pray that your spirit will help purify our minds. That your spirit will help us recognize how great is the work that Jesus Christ has done for us in his first coming. And how marvelous and terrifying the work of his second coming will be. And so we pray, O Lord, that as you have given us time, so you would give us repentance. That we might turn away from all of our self-confidences and turn to Christ and to him alone, hoping only in his work. And that as we find ourselves in Christ, we might so by his grace more and more seek to be a holy people. living lives of gratitude before you for the perfection and fullness of the saving work of Jesus Christ. Make us that kind of people, O Lord, full of faith, full of grace, full of holiness. Hear us then and bless us, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.