I’m going to read a couple verses and then we’ll start. 2 Peter 3:8-9. 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.
8 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. 9 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. (2 Peter 3:8-9, ESV)
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, we’re going through a fiery trial here in LA. We don’t know the cause. We don’t know why this is happening. But Lord, we know that you are not caught off guard. You see us, and we pray that you would have mercy on us. We pray for those who’ve lost homes, that you would remind each person that we do not live for material things.
What a blessing that we have life, that we have health, that we have loved ones around us. We pray that no one would die in these fires. We pray for no more homes to be lost in these fires.
We pray for the fires to be contained through the firefighter efforts or through your supernatural intervention. Lord, we trust in you during this time. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
We got some messages this week. One person in our Golden Valley Charter School, she’s an academic counselor for our boys, starting with Timothy and Jeremiah and now with Elijah. She was one of the ones who lost her home in the Eaton fires. And she doesn’t live that close to the mountain. I was surprised it came down that far.
And there’s a YouTube clip of her we just stumbled upon. It’s her whole family gathered around the ashes of her home, singing hymns to the Lord. What a testimony of faith in the midst of that kind of ruin.
We used to worship in Old Town Pasadena at Friendship Baptist Church. Many of those residents also live in the Pasadena Altadena area. I think up to 10 homes were lost in that church alone.
So if we could be praying as a church, how can we support at least the people that we know? Do they just need money? Should we gather supplies? How could we bless these 11 households? The one with Golden Valley Charter? How can we bless these households – the ones that have been affected by these fires?
We should be asking why this is happening to us. Are we Sodom and Gomorrah? Is God raining down judgment on us? People can argue that. I think a lot of people outside of California look at California, especially Hollywood, and think, it’s God’s judgment. Is it? Is it gross negligence on the part of leadership and politicians who cut funds and budgets and didn’t prepare because they know year after year this happens, but they don’t do anything?
Is it deliberate? Human arsonist? Who knows? God knows. God knows. Let’s ask him how he wants us to respond through this fiery trial.
Last week we talked about eight qualities from 2 Peter 1. I’m going to keep revisiting this throughout this year at various times. Maybe at the end of the year we’ll end with 2 Peter 1 and grade ourselves. How did we do? So, anyone remember the eight qualities and can recite them from memory? The eight qualities that we’re supposed to grow in and supplement one to another to another. There are eight qualities.
And if we have these eight qualities, we will be fruitful in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus. If we are not growing in these eight qualities, then we become unfruitful in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus. We become blind. We forget that we’ve been forgiven of all of our sins and we live in sin.
Faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love. Yes, let’s commit these eight to memory this year and let’s strive and do our part to do all that we can to grow in these eight ways.
I was looking at 2 Peter, and what the Lord highlighted to me is that this was Peter’s last letter. It was written A.D. 64 to 67.
Do you know what other letter was written around that same period? And it’s the last letter of somebody else. 2 Timothy, Paul.
I find it very interesting that 2 Peter, 2 Timothy, two apostles, written around the same time, the Holy Spirit is speaking almost the exact same themes to these brothers. They’re both imprisoned in Rome at this time.
2 Timothy 4:6. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:6-7, ESV)
Same in 2nd Peter 1:12. Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.
I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as the Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. (2 Peter 1:12-14, ESV)
I hope that Jesus tells me when it’s my time to go so that I will be prepared, and I will be reminding people at the last, with my last breath, like these things are the most important things that I hope that you hold on to.
Peter knew his days were numbered; they were coming to a close. Paul also knew his days were numbered and coming to a close. And the Holy Spirit at the same period of history is telling these brothers basically the same thing.
Just at a high level, I’m going to go over these two letters, but of course I can’t go deeply. So that’s my homework to you with the help of the Holy Spirit, who is your teacher.
Let’s look at 2 Peter and let’s look at 2 Timothy and let’s see how the Holy Spirit is knitting together the same themes and he is reminding the Church to hold on to these things.
The first thing I see, the theme that is a common thread, there is a warning in both letters of deceivers and false teachers and a coming apostasy or a falling away in mass.
2 Timothy 1:15, Paul says, you are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.
15 You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. (2 Timothy 1:15, ESV)
Just can’t imagine that Paul, with his preaching and his fervor and his zeal and his spiritual gifting, that he is a pastor of these churches, and he plants these churches. And at the end of his life, he’s saying all of them in Asia are turning away from me. And he’s not taking it personally. He’s saying they’re falling away.
When he says they are falling away from me, he’s saying they’re falling away from the true gospel, and there’s only one gospel that saves. And they are turning to a different gospel.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— (Galatians 1:6, ESV)
I don’t think they’re saying they’re atheists. They have swerved into a silly myth, a diversion, a stray teaching.
He explains in the next verse, verse 16, 2 Timothy, next chapter in 2 Timothy 2:16. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened.
16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. (2 Timothy 2:16-18, ESV)
I’ve said this before, but the best defense that you can have is a strong offense. If you really know Jesus well, personally, experientially, and you know Scripture that points to Jesus, every part of Scripture is a fulfillment or a pointer to the person of Jesus.
If you know Jesus experientially well, you know Scripture inside and out, you have a strong offense. That in itself is your defense. As soon as somebody says, oh, the resurrection already happened. No, I don’t see that in Scripture. We know that Jesus resurrected, but they’re saying that Jesus has come in the flesh and he is here among us.
That’s what these teachers are saying. And so we read that and say, no, Jesus is not here yet. He’s not. The second coming hasn’t happened. It’s not hidden as if it’s only revealed to you. No, I read about the second coming. The whole world will know Jesus is here. It’s not hidden. It’s not secretive. It is for all the world to see.
You will see him in the sky. Everybody will look up and, and Jesus will come on a cloud. He will come down the way he went up and ascended. He will descend on this earth. Everyone, simultaneously on this earth will know that Jesus has arrived.
And these people are saying, no, it has already happened. Jesus is here. He came and he left. And he’s in my, and I’ve talked to him, I fellowship with him. And they’re saying this kind of stuff and Paul is naming people, saying these people are false, they’ve swerved into something that is not true.
How do we know when something is not true? It’s like the person has added something to the Bible or they’ve subtracted something from the Bible. That’s how you know it’s not true. It’s not in my Bible.
How did I fall into false teaching? For 20 plus years I didn’t know my Bible at all. And so when someone gave me something that was not true, I fell into it. You have to know the Bible for yourself. Don’t take my word for it. You have to know the Bible for yourself. And so when you listen to me, you should check whatever I’m saying.
Can you find it in Scripture, and is it confirmed more than in that one place in Scripture? You can look at other places in Scripture, and the Holy Spirit will bring it a conviction. What you heard is true, or what you heard is false. It’s not in Scripture, or it’s a twisting of Scripture. It’s a swerving away from the truth of Scripture.
There’s a warning of deception and apostasy in Paul’s letter, 2 Timothy 3:1.
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. Avoid such people.
For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7, ESV)
From looking at this list, doesn’t it seem like we’re in the last days? Don’t you see these qualities abounding around you in every way? There’s no shortage of pleasure. You just turn it on, it’s just streaming. Limitless pleasure.
Kids that are unruly in the home, they just don’t obey. This is the generation we’re in. It’s a spirit of this age. It’s a spirit of rebellion. And how are we to take Christian leaders and Christian brothers and sisters who act this way, who have these qualities?
It says avoid them. Paul names such people. Avoid these people. I’m naming them so that you don’t fellowship with them. I’m putting them in this letter so you don’t go to their house because they are going to capture you by their deception.
We might think it’s so judgmental. How can you name people? Paul did it. People are always learning, but they never arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Meaning it’s all head knowledge. It doesn’t translate into conduct that is change or a fruit aroma that is different.
2 Timothy 3:13. Evil people and impostors who will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13, ESV)
We’ll cover this in, I think, in 2 Peter as well. But why does it go from bad to worse? Because these people might not start off as a false teacher. They might start off well and sincere, but along the way they swerved. Along the way they added something to the Bible.
Along the way, they subtracted something from the Bible. They never dealt with their idolatry. And so that passion drove them in a direction that is antithetical to the ways of Jesus.
And if you meet Jesus and you swerve away from him, there are many passages Jesus says in the Gospels and even in 2 Peter, Peter will warn. If you meet Jesus and you turn away from him, your last state is far worse than before. And it’s actually better that you never met Jesus.
The worst people in the world are in the church. I think that’s what God is saying. The worst people in the world are in the church because they met Jesus. They turned their back on him, they trampled on his grace, and instead of being freed by the truth, they, like a dog, went back to their vomit, and their last state is worse.
Like they were worse off before as a non-Christian, how bad is it when you turn away from the true Jesus that saved you? The worst people in the world are in churches.
2nd Timothy 4:3. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.(2 Timothy 4:3-4, ESV)
If you have skeletons in your closet, and if you have addictions and you have hidden sins, you want to go to a church that makes you feel good about yourself and will just sugarcoat the sin and say it’s all grace, and don’t worry, God is patient with you. It’s true, God is patient.
But I wonder, if Charles Spurgeon were alive today, how big would his church be? If Derek Prince were alive today, how big would his church be, I wonder?
Because in the last days, people who are sound in their teaching are not going to have a big following because the generation has shifted away from righteousness to unrighteousness. So the people with the largest congregations are going to be people who are trying to itch their ears and trying to get a teacher that satisfies and soothes them in their state.
It’s not just Paul saying this in 2 Timothy. It’s Peter saying it in 2 Peter 2:1.
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality. And because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words.
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1-3, ESV)
If you’re in a church with a false teacher, it’s so subtle. The heresy creeps in so secretly you can’t even tell because you’re under a spell, because they favor you, they treat you well. You can’t even tell they’re a false teacher. You have fondness toward that person, and you’re not objective to that person because you’re under a spell. It’s like witchcraft through their word. They’ve got you under their thumb and they’re exploiting you with false words.
Now we get into our current events in LA. I was reading Genesis 18 and 19 this week and reading 2 Peter 2 alongside of it. And this is the account in verse 5. For he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.
If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.
And if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, for as that righteous man lived among them day and night, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.
5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, (2 Peter 2:5-9, ESV)
We have two examples of righteousness here. First, you have Noah. Think of how unrighteous, how wicked the world was, that God’s only recourse was to flood and utterly wipe out, start over.
And Noah, as a righteous man, built an ark. There’s debate as to how long it took. It took as little as 40 to 50 years, or as long as 75 years.
The whole time, think of the scoffing and the ridicule. While he’s building the ark for that long, think of how obedient and righteous a man Noah was to go against everybody else—all the mockery of all the people in the world. You’re the only righteous person in the world.
I can’t even imagine the kind of faith it took for Noah to fulfill his assignment for this duration. It is remarkable, his faith, remarkable. I will shake this man’s hand. Hopefully, someday in heaven, I want to meet this man. And the righteousness of Noah, it’s a blessing. If you have even one righteous person in your family, it’s a blessing to the rest of the family. Just one. Just one righteous man or woman. It’s such a blessing to the entire family.
Because you don’t read about the seven others in his family for being righteous, but you read about Noah’s righteousness. But because these seven wife and children are connected to Noah, therefore they are in the ark, protected, given more time to repent and to come to know the Lord and to become righteous themselves.
They’re given more time because of their connection to Noah. Same thing happens with Lot. In Genesis 18, we see a righteous man, Abraham. He’s pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah, specifically Sodom, because his nephew Lot lives there.
Why are we in LA? We’re here pleading for LA, I believe. Why are we here? I don’t want to live here. I’d rather go to Texas. I’d rather go to Florida. There are many other places as a Christian I’d rather go to.
Why has the Lord not allowed me to leave LA? Because, like Abraham, LA needs intercessors, needs people who see LA and the spiritual condition of LA and see the people walking around LA. And Abraham is that righteous man pleading for Sodom because of his nephew Lot.
And he says, God, you certainly won’t destroy righteous people because you’re not that kind of God. You will only judge the unrighteous. So if there’s 50, you won’t destroy it, right? God says, no, I won’t destroy.
He bargains with God all the way down to 10. If there’s 10, I won’t destroy LA or destroy Sodom. The fact that LA is still standing, that tells me there’s at least 10 righteous people in LA still. That’s one conclusion.
But eventually, the whole world will be destroyed by fire because the number of righteous people in the world will shrink so dramatically in the coming age. In the coming years, maybe in the coming decades or years, the number of righteous people in the world will shrink to such a small percentage that God’s only recourse is destruction.
He said, I won’t ever destroy the world with water again, but the next time I destroy the world, it will be through fire. And we don’t think of Lot as a righteous man because he just saw the lush pastures and the waters, and he said, I want to move there. And Abraham, the uncle, got the second option.
We don’t think of Lot as righteous. But you listen to the description in 2 Peter 2 that he was tormented in his soul as he looked at the sensuality, the wickedness of Sodom.
So in L.A., as we’re living here, are you enamored by the glamour and the glitz and the fancy cars and the beach homes? Do you want all of that? Are you drawn to that? If you are, you’re in trouble. You’re in trouble spiritually. If that’s what you want, if that’s what draws you to LA, then you’re in trouble.
The reaction for a righteous person in LA is I can’t believe this is happening in my city. I can’t believe wickedness is being exported to the rest of the world. I can’t believe this is normalized. There’s a tormenting in our soul. Rather than joining the majority and joining the bandwagon, there’s something tormenting. This is not right. This is not normal. God doesn’t approve of this. This is unrighteous. I don’t want any part of this.
And yet, why am I here? Why am I tormented? Why don’t I just move? For whatever reason, Lot was there and he was being tormented as an example of someone who is righteous. So as people in LA, we know we’re here to pray for it.
We know we are not supposed to become an LA citizen, but we are a citizen of a different kingdom, which means we’re always in collision and colliding and friction with LA culture and Hollywood. It’s just not right. It doesn’t sit well with my spirit.
That should be the response of a righteous brother and sister in LA. Because of Abraham’s intercession, God sent two angels. I think the moment Abraham started to pray, the angels were sent to the city. And again, there’s only one righteous person in all of the city.
Just Lot. But because the family is connected to Lot, the family was given more time. The wife came along with her the daughters. There were son-in-laws who were engaged to be married to the daughters, but they thought Lot was crazy. They thought he was joking, so they did not respond.
And out of humanism, Lot and Lot’s wife, they were lingering; they just couldn’t get their bags packed. They just couldn’t leave with the angels. And the angels just said, enough, it’s time to go. Just seized them by force and took them out of the city.
And we know the story. Lot’s wife looks back, she becomes a pillar of salt. And this incident or event is referenced in Luke 17 about the second coming of Christ, the day of the Lord.
And it’s similar language that God is coming to save the righteous and destroy the unrighteous. And while most of the world are completely unready, unprepared, unaware what is about to happen. The days of Noah, the days of Lot, are just the same, the days of LA, just the same. People are buying and selling, marrying, planning, doing this, doing that, just busy with life.
And Lot’s wife is representative of somebody who says, yes, I want to follow, but there’s something back there. There’s something there. Is it her lifestyle? It could be her lifestyle. But there’s something that makes her look back. Is she thinking about her friends? Is she thinking about extended family members who are not leaving the city with them? Is it her humanism?
She just can’t just forget about these sons-in-law and nieces and nephews and grandparents or something that’s making her look back. She looks back. And the summary statement of Lot and Lot’s wife is in verse 33 of Luke 17. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. (Luke 17:33, ESV)
For those who’ve lost their homes in LA, in some sense they are more ready to obey this verse, to lose everything and start living for Jesus.
For those who have homes and businesses and jobs and family members, we just have a lot of other concerns. And so when it’s time to go, it’s like we can’t go. We can’t move at God’s pace. We can’t even leave the coming judgment because we’re so bogged down, entangled by civilian affairs.
It’s like our feet are in the mud. We’re not quick to move; we’re lingering. We’re just so humanistic, with relationships that keep us tied down. We got to save ourselves. We were thinking about trying to save other people.
It reminds me of the five foolish virgins and the five wise virgins. It’s like, you can’t share oil. It’s time to go. The knock is at the door. You can’t even think about other people. It’s like, you got to save yourself. It’s that kind of an urgent situation.
And only those who’ve lost everything and denied their lives and says, I’m all in, I’m fully surrendered. That’s the kind of people that God is looking for. And if you’re not that kind of person, you’re not fully surrendered, you’re still bogged down, then we’re no different than Lot’s wife.
When the testing comes, we’re going to be the one looking back on 2025. Let’s surrender everything. Let’s put everything on the table and say, I’m all in. I’m all in for Jesus. If I lose everything, if I lose my home, I lose my business, I still have my life. I want to live for Jesus.
2 Peter 2:10 describes the quality of these false teachers. And you can hear it from their lips. They have no restraint over their lips. It says in verse 10, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones. And then verse 11, they pronounce a blasphemous judgment against the Lord.
10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. (2 Peter 2:10-11, ESV)
To understand what this is talking about, we have to read Jude 1:8. It also talks about people who rely on their dreams, who reject authority. They blaspheme the glorious ones.
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. (Jude 1:8, ESV)
And these glorious ones, in context, are fallen angels. Even the true angel, Michael the Archangel, will not blaspheme the fallen angels. The angels, the fallen angels, they are above us in many ways.
In creation, in power, in splendor, in ability, in every way, they’re above us. And these false teachers, they just blaspheme the glorious ones, even the fallen angels, and they act as if they know everything.
And even Michael the Archangel says, the Lord rebuke you. I’m not going to engage this. I’m not going to get into this debate.
This tells me that there are some in the body of Christ that make it their aim to really dissect these glorious ones, these false fallen angels and these demons and demonology and darkness.
And they tried so, so, so much to learn about their strategy and their scheme. They become almost a PhD in darkness. Let’s not be that way. Let’s not do that. Let’s not be like these false teachers who think they understand things they really should not understand.
They don’t understand. They just blaspheme. They talk about it so flippantly, as if they are an expert. No, they’re not an expert. They shouldn’t talk about it. Not even Michael the Archangel talks and engages darkness. He just says the Lord rebuke you.
I’m not going to engage you in these silly debates. You hear these false teachers, not only the blasphemous judgment against glorious ones, against people in God’s church. Jude 1:16. They’re loud mouth boasters. They boast all the time. It’s indicative of the generation.
Verse 17. But you must remember, beloved, the prediction of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you in the last time there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions. Worldly people devoid of the Spirit.
17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. (Jude 1:17-19, ESV)
This scoffing, this boasting, this blaspheming, this judging, you know the false teacher through their lips. It’s not even just false teachers. It’s the age that we’re in. It’s people who are worldly and devoid of their spirit. What do they do? They scoff because they think they know everything. They think they know everything. And you say something that is contrary to what they believe and they just scoff at you, they mock you, they ridicule you.
That’s the age that we’re in. Based on who you vote for, whether you got jabbed or not, what you believe about the fires, conspiracy theories, God’s judgment, whatever you believe, if you’re on a different side than these scoffers, you will hear the scoffing.
And what does scoffing do? It creates division because if you’re not with me, you’re against me. It’s like this is the age that we’re in. Scoffing, ridiculing. And so we just have to be careful what we say.
You can keep reading for yourselves. 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 3. It talks more about the loud boasting of these scoffers, more scoffing. And 2 Peter 3 talks about one day is like a thousand years, a thousand years, like a day.
What this tells us is God is patient, he’s patient with us. You probably know some people in your life or some even leaders in churches that you’ve been a part of who were so short-fused and they pounced at you for every little thing that you did wrong.
And my conclusion after reading Scripture and after getting to know the Lord a little bit better is my conclusion is these people don’t know the Lord because if they knew the Lord, they wouldn’t treat people this way.
Because God, he is long-suffering. A thousand years is like a day. Think of the long fuse God has. Think of how many times if you or me were God, how many times we would have wiped out this earth because of the rebellion of humanity.
God did it once before, he’s going to do it one more time at the end. That is a long fuse. He is patient. Why is he patient with us? He wants all of us to come to repentance. He doesn’t want one man, woman, and child on earth to go to hell.
Hell was not designed for humanity; it was designed for Satan and his minions. No human being was ever supposed to go to hell. So God delays his judgment as long as he can because he wants to save you and me.
This message is going a little bit long, so let me just wrap it up here. 2 Timothy 3:14. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned and how.
From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:14-17, ESV)
You really don’t need a preacher in your life. What you need is the Holy Spirit. He is your teacher. You don’t need a pastor, You don’t need a YouTuber. You only need the Holy Spirit. He is your teacher.
And the second thing you need is Scripture. If you’re alone at the ranch, you’re alone on an island by yourself because everything’s been burned. You’re the last person standing on earth. As long as you have Scripture and you have the Holy Spirit, you have all that you need.
Make it your aim to become a teacher of God’s word. You may not teach the way that I’m teaching right now, but make it your aim to know Scripture inside and out. So that when somebody teaches you something that’s false, immediately the Holy Spirit in you says, nope, that’s not what I read. That’s not what I know. That’s not the God that I know. That’s not the Jesus I know.
Right away, the Holy Spirit will tell you verse after verse after verse. Why? What you just heard is wrong. Conversely, if you know Scripture inside and out, everything that you hear, it will resonate in your spirit. And the Holy Spirit will say, yes, that’s right. Here’s a verse. Here’s a verse.
Why don’t you study for yourself? Why don’t you look at 2 Peter? Why don’t you look at 2 Timothy? It’s all in there. Why don’t you study it for yourself? It’s all in there. You might think it’s just Ray’s thing.
He just wants to talk about false teachers every other week. No, it’s not just my thing. It’s Paul’s thing. It’s Peter’s thing. It’s like at the end of their ministry, they’re saying, these are the things I want you to keep in mind.
Hold on to the truth. Watch out for deception. How do we have a strong defense? Have a strong offense. Be an expert at Scripture. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit himself at the end of a day will help you to teach others, starting with yourself, of course.
At the end of the day, using Scripture, the Holy Spirit will say, oh, you messed up here today. You didn’t obey me here today. You didn’t obey God’s word here today. You’re out of line today. You spoke out of line today. You acted out of line today. Your emotions were out of control today.
And from God’s word, the Holy Spirit will convict you. And you will be reproved, rebuked. Not by a man. Don’t let man rebuke you. Let the Holy Spirit, through God’s word, rebuke you. And then he will start correcting you.
Now this is how I want you to live. Tame your tongue. Tame your emotions. Don’t be angry. The anger of man doesn’t accomplish the righteousness of God.
Put these to memory. Commit them to memory. These eight qualities: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and agape love. Put these eight to memory and supplement. Add to it. Make every effort. Add to it throughout this year.
Check yourself at the end of the year. How did we do in these these eight tests? Did we grow in these? That would be a great way to end this year where we have a testimony. I grew in faith this year. I grew in virtue this year. I lack self-control. But look at all the ways in which I am much more in control at the end of this year with my emotions, my thoughts, my tongue.
And then train yourself to be righteous. It’s not automatic. You don’t automatically get in shape. That’s what we talked about last week. You got to train yourself to be righteous, to be pleasing in God’s sight.
And then when you’ve done all of this, then you’re ready for good works. For every good work, there are many good works that God has prepared for us.
If we’re not trained in righteousness, we’re going to miss them or we’re going to do them and we’re going to do them badly and ineffectively. We’ll be equipped for every good work.
Okay, let’s pray. Father, we know that in salvation history you spoke through the apostles. And at the end of Peter’s life and the end of Paul’s life, he basically preached the same word at the same time.
Both imprisoned in Rome. This is, this is how you confirm that these were true prophets of God. And we take what they say to heart.
We want to surrender our lives to you in 2025. We want to not hold on to our lives, but lose our lives for you in 2025. We want to become workers, approved, who can handle the word of truth. Become teachers of your word in 2025.
We want to grow in the equality that Peter mentions in 2 Peter 1. We want to be trained in righteousness.
We want to be trained in godliness. We want to be self-controlled in 2025. Help us to know error because we’re so equipped in the truth, because we’re trained in the truth.
All Scripture has trained us, rebuked us, corrected us, and trained us in righteousness. Help us to be a church that is nimble, active, and quick to obey you in 2025 because we’ve been equipped for every good work.
Give us wisdom how we can help our brothers and sisters who are suffering in LA, who’ve lost their homes and all their material goods. How can we encourage them concretely, spiritually? What can we do for them?
Lord, give us wisdom. Thank you, Lord, for giving us your most precious gift. Thank you for Jesus voluntarily dying and putting yourself on the altar as Isaac did. Thank you for allowing your body to be broken. Thank you for enduring the scorn of the scoffers, the ridicule of Calvary.
Thank you for doing all of this, allowing your blood to be shed for the forgiveness and the remission of sins. Thank you for the Lord’s Supper that we can remember every Sunday what you did for us, to give you thanks and praise for who you are.
Please meet us as we close out this service. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
