Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. This is the fourth 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.
If you want to hear other messages from the series, you can go to www.delightingrace.com. The grace of God does not mean he just sweeps evil under the rug or looks the other way. No, he has dealt a blow on sin.
And where did that happen? On the cross. He didn't sweep sin under the rug. He dealt with it. And Jesus took it all. That's compassion, folks. That is serious compassion. Jesus experienced the holy, necessary wrath and judgment of God that you and I deserve.
The grace of God, again. He's compassionate. And I mentioned this verse before, but he says in the prophet Ezekiel, through the prophet Ezekiel chapter 33 verse 11, as I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. That God. He has acted to provide rescue and remedy. And that's why the whole tenor of scripture is invitation. I am a good God, I am a holy God, I am a just God, but I am a gracious and a compassionate God. Turn to me and live. That's what he says. He's a compassionate God.
Number nine. Wait a minute. Before we say that, as I said before, the judgment of God is necessary. He's not willing that any should perish, but we know that there are those who have and will perish.
Right? I like what the Logos, the Faith Life Bible study says here. It says about the ungodly perishing under the justice of God. It says, however, that the ungodly perishing under his justice will ultimately be a necessary consequence of the world becoming good and holy again, as God will not force his will upon those who resist it. He is the one who makes all things new. And what that means is, every part of creation that is created in the image of God, that willfully chooses to resist and ignore God, God will step out of the way and second the motion.
He says, okay, have it your way. Now you get to live for eternity apart from the life source that created you and sustains you. You get to live for eternity all for yourself. All for yourself. Nothing else. Just you.
Think about that. That is not a pretty picture. You know the worst kind of punishment that exists for anybody?
What is it? Solitary confinement. A person will go crazy, literally, in solitary confinement if they're in there long enough. And as I've expressed it before, imagine yourself, imagine a person being dropped into the Sahara Desert, surrounded by thousands of miles of nothing but sand and the hot sun. And there's you. Nothing else. No clothes. Nothing. No food.
Nothing. And there's you. That's barely a taste of what an eternity without Christ will be.
I'm not saying that in a threatening way. I'm just trying to imagine what is it like to live only for yourself and nothing else. It's not a pretty picture.
Not pretty at all. That's why we desperately need the grace of God. Because this is His purpose. This is His story. You and I are brought into this.
This is what will happen. The justice of God. And the only thing that rescues us from that is the grace of God. God is compassionate. And He's also patient.
Number nine, He's patient. He's patient toward you. He says in verse nine, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
He is patient. It is His goodness that leads you towards repentance. That's why we must know God in the way that He's made Himself known to us. He is not simply a God of our imagination.
Or a God of our desire. We must know God in the way that He has made Himself known. Implicit in this is the understanding that every day before Jesus returns is a day of grace and represents the possibility of more people turning to Him and receiving eternal life. It could be that there is someone in this room this morning that does not know Jesus this way.
You need Jesus Christ. He is the only way to the Father. He is the only one who can rescue you from the holy, necessary wrath of God.
Because God is good. He is righteous. He is just. But He's also compassionate and He's patient. Could He be waiting on you?
Number ten. He is gracious. I've kind of covered that already, but it needs to be said. Because this is who God is. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. This is the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ.
He invested Himself to reconcile you to the Father. That's what every human being needs. We don't need to be rescued from our immoral behavior, immoral lifestyles, bad choices, addictions. We don't need to be rescued from that. What is it we need to be rescued from?
The wrath of God. And the only way we can be rescued from that is in Jesus Christ, who then grants me His righteousness. And when I have His righteousness, then He puts His Spirit within me. And the one who makes all things new does what?
Makes me new. Folks, that's our message. That's the message of the Word of God. So, in this text that is all about the holy necessary wrath and judgment of God, implicit in it is the gospel. Because we understand this in the context of all of God's self-disclosure. That He is a gracious and compassionate and a patient God.
And He waits. What is needed for you and me is an encounter with God in truth and surrender. Truth and surrender. So, as I said before, God is not like us, but He has acted so that we can be reconciled to Him and become like Him in these ten ways. This, folks, this is God's purpose and His mission. This is God's mission. He has called you and me into it.
This is why this series is called Live as People Who Remember. And instead of focusing on ourselves and the immediate, we need to expand our horizons and see God for who He is. This is God's mission.
He has called you into it. To lose sight of this is to be overcome by evil. This is why we're called to remember. To lose sight of what we covered today, to lose sight of that, is to be overcome by evil.
Does that describe you in any way today? Be honest before the Lord. Encounter Him in truth and surrender.
Are you losing sight of this? But to remember it is to get stirred up to action with hope and perseverance. As we said last time, we live in preparation for that day because, you know what, that day is coming.
It's coming. God has promised and God is a promise keeper. He keeps His promise. We live in preparation for that day. May the Lord challenge us this morning to assess where we are with regard to this. You might be going through some struggles, some fights, some deep discouragement, some serious battles physically, spiritually, emotionally. Remember this.
Remember what we talked about today. Remember who God is. This is His mission and He's called you into it. Remember who you are in Christ. If you lose sight of this, if you feel like you're being overcome by evil, then what needs to change is your focus put back on Jesus Christ. If you don't know Jesus Christ, you need to.
I invite you to Him this morning. Stand with me please. Father, we are blessed to know that we have a word from you. As we have opened up your scriptures today, Father, you have made yourself known to us afresh. Through the written word, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Father, work in our hearts as your word has gone out. May it accomplish what you set it out to do this morning, Father. 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.
