Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. This is the third part of the message, which was first preached on October 1, 2023 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem.
It's part of a series on 2 Peter titled, Live as People Who Remember. Well, let's look with me at verse 5. This could easily be missed. For they deliberately overlooked this fact, that the heavens had existed long ago and the earth it was formed out of water, and through the water by the word of the Lord, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. Rich, how are you getting the fact that God is carrying out of that? By simply this, God cares about what's going on in this world. He does.
This text just communicated that. He cares about what's going on. It matters to him.
Why? Because it's his creation, and it was created by him, and it was created for him. He cares. He is acting and intervening in creation and in human life. He has a purpose, and he cares about what's going on because he's carrying out that purpose. So he is caring.
Number 4, he is good. Now these next three are coming from the same phrase. Verse 7. Look with me at verse 7. But by the same word, the heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
And from that, I deduce that God is good. Rich, I'm not seeing it in the text. Let me give you this illustration. My son and I, my son is very, let's make it more contemporary, my grandson. Because my sons aren't small anymore. So let's say my grandson, Hudson, is walking with me downtown. I'm holding his hand, we're looking at hardware stores, window shopping, or in the car lot kicking tires, because that's a Powell thing. And I see another person coming at him because he's mistaken Hudson for someone else. Or he just doesn't like what Hudson's done. Hudson's been loud and this other person is coming at him. And I can tell he's going to do damage to my grandson. Now it may be that maybe Hudson was misbehaving. But this guy is coming at him and I know he's going to do damage to my grandson. What am I going to do? I am going to oppose that evil.
What is that? That's goodness. Would God be a good God if he did not oppose evil?
He would not. That's what makes him good. And he is good because he's the very one who defines good.
By his own being. The very concept of good is defined by the character and the purpose of God. So evil then is any thought or behavior.
Thought or behavior that is contrary to the character and the purpose of God. That's why we need to know God. See God is good. That he will carry out judgment and destruction on the ungodly. Means that there is such a thing as evil and there is a good God who will hold that evil accountable and will exact justice. Because God is good.
Here's the problem. This is where we have to enter in the gospel of grace. Because that evil exists in every one of us.
And this would be a dreadful truth were it not for the grace of God. Because this God who is good, who will exact judgment on the ungodly. That holy necessary wrath, God rescues me from his wrath where? In himself.
Tell me that's not good. He rescues me from himself in himself. That's the grace of God. Because he will bring justice and judgment on the ungodly. So I need a righteousness that is not my own. But that he grants me through Jesus Christ. Number four, God is good.
Number five, God is righteous. He does what is right and good according to his character and purpose. In other words, he remains active. He remains caring and interested. He cares about what's going on. He's interested about what's going on in the world. He is not a passive God. He does not just stand aloof. It's not like, remember those tops we played with when we were little kids, you old people?
Anybody play with tops anymore? Yeah, this thing on a string, you wind it up. It's not like God just does that and then just lets it go and the earth is spinning and he doesn't care. Yeah, he's watching. But he doesn't really care what's going on. That's the view of a lot of people.
That's not true. That's not who God is. He very much cares. And so he acts righteously. He has a righteous interest in what's going on on the earth.
And he remains active. And that activity of God is the righteousness of God. Number six, God is just.
I've already mentioned this. So these three, God is good, God is righteous, and God is just. All of that from the judgment and destruction of the ungodly. In other words, that God is just means that there will be creaturely accountability to him, measured by his character and his purpose. And what Peter is pointing out is that God has been just in the past. He is just today and he will be just in the future. God is just.
He will bring justice. That, people listen to me, that is where you and I must have the grace of God. Because we deserve that justice just as much as anybody else were it not for being reconciled to him through Jesus Christ. Because we have the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
The righteousness I have is not something I have achieved. It is something I have received through faith. And apart from that, apart from that, anyone is under this justice of God. That's the gospel of grace. That is the care and the activity of God. So this is what Peter is pointing out.
And these scoffers and false teachers, they are deliberately overlooking these truths in this reality. Because God pointed that justice out long ago when he brought the flood upon the whole earth. God is just. Number seven, God is faithful.
That's a little easier to listen to, isn't it? But by the same word, verse nine, I'm sorry. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. He is faithful. Meaning he is a promise keeper. When God makes a promise, he keeps it. God doesn't ever make a promise glibly. When he makes a promise, he keeps it.
He always acts. Here's the definition of the faithfulness of God. Because I fear in today's very moralistic therapeutic deism, we tend to think of the faithfulness of God as when God gives me what I want.
Listen to me. That is not the faithfulness of God. What is God faithful to?
Himself. He is faithful to his purposed and declared character and purpose. That's what God is faithful to.
And just because I'm going through a hard time does not in any way mean that God is not faithful. God is faithful to his character and his purpose, and he will carry it out. He is a promise keeper. He always acts in a way that is faithful to his own character and purpose. And he does not delay.
He does not delay as if he's less than enthusiastic. To rescue. Remember, he rescues. He brings judgment, but he also rescues.
And this is what Peter has pointed out earlier. And he does not delay as if he's less than gung ho about carrying out his purpose. This is what I promised.
I guess I better do it. That's not God. See, God's not like us. Think back of a time when you've made a promise and you regretted it, right?
And said, I promise I better do it, right? That's not God. Not even close. He is unfailingly good. That's who God is. Do you know him that way?
He is unfailingly good. Number eight. Here's another C. God is compassionate. God is compassionate. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise of some counsel on us, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Not wishing that any should perish. He is a compassionate God. Because he is good, he is holy and just. He is righteous. It is judgment is necessary. God would not be a good God if he did not oppose evil. So the opposition to evil must be there.
It has to be. 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.
