Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Perhaps you've heard the expression, don't be so heavenly minded that you're of no earthly good. But a heart set on a biblical view of God is free and burning to love and serve others with abandon, just as the Lord Jesus did. A heart fixed on God is free to take risks that benefit others and glorify Him.
We're no longer ruled by the drive for self-protection and self-preeminence. In 2 Peter 3, 4-9, the apostle describes the character of God, calling His people to remember and reflect on who He is so that God can transform their hearts. Let's listen to this message titled, The Character of God. Please turn in your scriptures this morning to 2 Peter chapter 3, and we're going to be reading verses 1-13.
This is now the second letter that I'm writing to you, beloved. In both of them, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, Where is the promise of His coming?
For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlooked this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ, our living hope, that He died for us, and that He rose again on the third day, Lord, that we might be reconciled to you. Lord, we thank you for your Word, that it's alive and that it's active, and that it provides us instruction and your wisdom. Lord, I thank you for godly men like the Apostle Peter, whom the Holy Spirit guided and led in writing these words.
Lord, may we remember them. May they not just be words to us, Lord, but may we live by these words. May we remember the words that are preached this morning by your servant, our pastor, my friend, Rich.
Lord, we thank you that you're not willing that any should perish. We pray, Lord, that for those that scoff at your Word this morning, Lord, that you will open their eyes. And, Lord, in these days that we live in, that we will live our lives holy and blameless, because that's what you've called us to. Father, we look forward to the time when you will return, and you will make all things new. We thank you for your love for us, Father, and we pray that you will make us aware of your presence throughout this morning. Thank you for the beautiful music. But, Lord, we look forward to hearing from your Word, and we give you the praise and the glory for what's going to be said and done this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, Darrell.
The reading of God's Word. I don't normally do this. I don't want you to think I'm setting a precedent by doing this, but today is a special day for a couple among us. Mike and Donna Wilson are celebrating their 40th anniversary today. That's pretty special. They walk in and I say, happy anniversary.
How many years? She goes, I've been married 40 years to the same man. 2 Peter chapter 3 expanded horizons in this sub-series of this book, Live as People Who Remember. Chapter 2 is a polemic against false teachers, those who would spread lies, those who would cause you to believe that what is a lie is actually true. And we're surrounded by that. We're inundated with that today. And so this message is for us today just as much as it was for in the days when Peter wrote it to his original audience.
It is a timeless Word of God. So let's listen in that way this morning. Because the liars would cause us to focus upon ourselves. And they get rich off of causing people to focus on themselves. That's what the adversary of your soul does. Because when you're focused on yourself, you lose focus of God.
And that is his main tactic right there. And so this is why I'm calling this Expanded Horizons because today we're going to talk about the character of God. Like Job, remember what Job went through?
None of us has ever experienced anything close to that. Maybe one among us. He's not able to be here this morning but he's watching. What Job experienced caused a lot of questions for him. And so much of the book of Job is Job answering questions and then his friends who were really great friends until they opened their mouths. Hurling all this false theology at him. Job had a lot of questions.
But you know what's interesting? God didn't answer his questions, did he? What did God do? He expanded Job's perspective of himself.
That's what we need in this day also. In this series of Expanded Horizons, last time we talked about the revelation of God. His self-disclosure, God making himself known. Today we're going to talk about the character of God. Next time the judgment of God and then after that the kingdom of God.
So Expanded Horizons. So today is part two of this sub-series of 2 Peter, the character of God. We're going to be looking at verses 4 to 9 of chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Where is it that the faithless and the false teachers get it wrong?
In two ways. Let's look at the text now. They will say, scoffers, he's talking about scoffers in the last days. Remember the last days is that period of time between the first coming of Christ and the second coming of Christ. All of that is the last days. Because Christ is the epitome of God's revelation. His self-disclosure. And we base our faith upon that and then when he comes again, then the end comes.
So these are the last days. Where is it that the faithless and the false teachers get it wrong? First of all, they make their limited understanding as if it's absolute. They count on their limited understanding as if they have full and complete understanding. Verse 4, look at verse 4 with me. They will say, where is the promise of his coming?
Ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. So they're basing their view on their limited perspective. I don't see God at work. I haven't seen his judgment.
God's not going to intervene. And they're basing it simply on the fact that they haven't witnessed it. So if I haven't seen it, then it's not true. That's arrogance. But we do that all the time, don't we? If I haven't seen it, well it must not be true.
It's a very human way to behave. This is the problem of what we call today scientism, a philosophy that all truth can only be known through the hard sciences. Here's the problem with that statement. That statement itself was not derived through science.
Right? So that's the problem with scientism. If it can't be determined and proved through science, then it can't be true. In other words, since we can't see God, we just cannot believe that he exists.
But God is like what God has done. And so it's so common, and you see it all the time in children, right? We had five grandchildren living in our house for three weeks, right?
And your grandchildren think they know everything sometimes, right? You know, so one of our granddaughters, her name is Annabelle Louisette. You know her as Gracie. She knows her as Gracie, right? So we're talking there, and I'm going, Annabelle Louisette. And she says, I'm Gracie.
She doesn't realize what her full name is. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in him. The one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m.
