In the sermon 'All Things Pointing Heavenward' by Jim Tsantles, based on 2 Peter 3:14-16, the speaker emphasizes the importance of maintaining a heavenly focus amidst earthly distractions. Drawing from Peter's letters, he highlights the need for spiritual diligence, encouraging believers to be found in peace, without spot, and blameless. The sermon underscores the connection between God's long-suffering and salvation, urging listeners to recognize the grace in God's patience, which allows time for repentance. Tsantles also discusses the challenges of understanding scripture, advocating for a communal approach to interpreting difficult passages and warning against those who twist scriptures for personal agendas. Throughout, the message is clear: believers are to set their minds on heavenly things, anticipating eternal life, and to be stirred from spiritual apathy. This heavenly orientation is presented as crucial for living a life that reflects God's kingdom.

Our sermon text for this week is 2nd Peter 3 verses 14 through 16. Therefore beloved looking forward to these things be diligent to be found by him in peace without spot and blameless. An account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation. As also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him has written to you. As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction as They do also the rest of the scriptures.

It is absolutely wonderful to be back with you. Tom brought his family to join us this week, so he's not aware of what's been going on this past week or 10 days. The Lord's had our family on a journey of adopting that little chocolate fella in the back. And so it's been an incredible seven to 10 days, however long it's been, it seems like an eternity. And when you come back and you're with your family again for the first time in seven or eight days, as everybody's eagerly awaited the return, it's such a sweet time.

And I feel that way even now coming here, having the opportunity to share with you as family. You know, When you're away, they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I think there's truth in that. When you spend a little time away, you're just reminded of God's goodness to you through your church family, through your own family. And in fact, that's kind of how I want to start us in this time. One of the things I do with my own family is if your home's like mine, there's a million distractions all the time, the phones ringing, the dogs barking, something's going on.

And so when I gather my family around the word often I'll do this, is I'm going to do it to you now before we start. I say, alright kids, give it to me. Hand them to me. Come on. What am I talking about kids?

Hand me your ears. Come on. And they literally will take their ears like they're throwing to me and dad will hold his hands out. You know, come on give me your ears, your eyes because those become distractions. Give me your eyes, throw them to me so they'll take their eyes and they'll throw them to me.

More importantly, give me your hearts. Children, give me your hearts and your mind. And they'll go through the little symbol of those things. It's my way to connect with them and communicate something that I think is a key principle that we're going to see here. And that is this.

Good students become great teachers. So children, as you're at home, engaging the Word of God with your family, be a great student. Be a great student. And students sitting under the Master Teacher, the Teacher ordained from heaven, produce something altogether different because they're also empowered by the Holy Spirit. And This is exactly what Peter sat under for all of those years.

All the things that we studied when we went through the book of Matthew before. How many times do you remember this phrase? The kingdom of heaven is like. How many parables would you guess? It's many.

The thrust of Jesus' teaching to His disciples is the kingdom of heaven is like. So Before we start our text today, I want to show you one more example of this. Turn with me to Acts chapter 1. I want you to be able to see this. While you're doing that, I'm going to set my timer so I don't over-bake this today.

We can't over-bake this, can we? I've only got sixty pages in notes. Alright, let me get to Acts chapter 1. Verses 1 through 3. Let your eyes see these words.

Acts chapter 1, the former account I made O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up, after he, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to who? To the apostles. Peter's one of them, right? After he had given commandments to the apostles, whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them, pay keen attention to what you're about to see, let your eyes see this, being seen by them during 40 days, and what is he speaking about? Let your eyes see it.

Don't just hear my words, let your eyes see the word of God. He's speaking of them, of things, pertaining to the Kingdom of God. That's what Jesus is doing. Forty days. Forty days.

We were just gone for seven or eight and it seemed like an eternity. Forty days of saturating mentally. Being taught by Christ Himself. Forty days about the Kingdom of Heaven, about the Kingdom of Heaven, about the Kingdom of Heaven. That's what Peter is sitting under in preparation.

And now, perhaps some thirty years later, as he's writing these letters to the beloved, to you, to me that will read today. He's been matured by the Holy Spirit over these thirty years and he sat under this incredible teaching. So as he's compelled to take pen to paper, probably wasn't pen in those days, Quill or whatever they took in those days. As he's writing these things, what do you think he's writing about? What is he doing?

In fact, I want you to see something else. So turn back to 2 Peter chapter 3, because Peter is very clear about his purpose. As good leaders are, they're very clear about their purpose and intention. So turn back to 2 Peter chapter 3. I want you to see something so you can see in the context of where we are today, what Peter's intention is and what he's doing.

So look at 2 Peter, actually we're not going to go to chapter 3, let's go to chapter 1. 2 Peter 1, there's a couple things I want to show you. I want you to look at verse 12. This is how he writes to those that he's writing to here. For this reason, verse 12, I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.

Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. You see what he's saying? I want to remind you right now in this letter, because I believe I'm about to be called to heaven. I believe I'm about to die.

And I want to leave you with a constant reminder of these things. Now turn to chapter 3 as we're approaching our text. And I promise we'll get there. Now, chapter 3 verse 1, listen to what he says. Beloved, he's repeating himself because he's saying this, I now write to you this second epistle, in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior." Do you see what he's doing?

Do you understand what he's doing in his writing? He was taught under tutelage from heaven. The man from heaven as Jesus is calling him, heavenward. He's saying, I'm giving you a reminder. I'm writing you a reminder.

If you didn't catch it in the first chapter, guess what? I'm stirring up your pure minds again. I want to remind you of these things. And that's what He's doing. Stirring your pure minds by way of reminder.

Why? Why? Why the stirring of the mind? Think about that. Because The truth is we need a stirring of the mind.

We need a stirring of the mind all the time. If you are saved and have the Holy Spirit living in you, guess what? You still need to be stirred. Why is it that you need to be stirred? Because we still have a sin nature that's been destroyed and conquered, but we have a flesh that gets us focused on the things of this earth.

We spiritually fall asleep. We're lulled to sleep often by our own apathy, by our own distractions, our own interests, and often our own pleasures. So we need a stirring. I'll give you an example. Right now, if you could tell everybody in this room, seriously think about this, Tell everybody in this room what you think about more than anything else.

This is Peter's litmus test here. He's stirring the mind. What's on your mind? If we were to be honest, and that could be cast as an image in front of everyone, what's always on your mind? Men, is it always your work?

Is this what consumes you, as it does me so often? What details I need to fulfill and what obligations I need to keep? Ladies, is it the multitude of obligations and all the children things, issues of the children or things that you're dealing with? This is true of us. And so this is why it requires such a strong stirring.

This is why Peter says, while I'm here now, I'm about to die, and even when I'm gone, I'm going to stir you because you need it. You need it all the time. Because of your apathy and your own interests. And the issues of the flesh. And that's really what he's done in much of this letter.

If you remember, what has he done thus far in this letter? I'm gonna give you a little reminder, especially for those who are just coming in. In chapter one, do you remember what he stirred you to consider? Do you remember in chapter one, 2 Peter chapter one, what did he stir into the pot, into your mental pot in the first chapter. How about this?

It was that they were eyewitnesses to the power and the prophetic word. That they were the chosen witnesses, that it's reliable and trustworthy. Chapter 2. Do you remember what chapter 2 was? Jason preached it.

I know he knows it. Chapter 2. It was all on false teachers. He's stirring into your mind to be aware of these things. They're going to take the word.

It's going to be considered their depravity, their destruction, their doom, and the deception that comes with those false teachers. That was chapter 2. And now in chapter 3. Do you remember how we started chapter 3 without looking? You can cheat if you want.

Do you remember how we started chapter 3? There's going to be in those last days what? Do you remember? It's going to be scoffers and mockers. And what are they going to say?

Come on! You guys, overreactive. What are you talking about? Where is this coming? You guys have been saying this from day one.

You crazy Christian people. They'll mock you. Peter's stirring that into that pot for you to consider. Guess what? You're going to be mocked.

And so now, he gets to this point where we are in our text, where it's going to be about a looking forward to. And as you consider what it is you think about more than anything else, what Peter wants to stir right here, right now, is this for you. The title of this sermon that I've given today is that all things point heavenward. Get that? All things are to point heavenward, should point heavenward.

Everything, our thoughts, our actions, our deeds, should point heavenward. I'm going to just ask that we go to Him before we look into the steps further. Let's pray. Lord, we are in desperate need of Your help. We're often so distracted, so many things that run through our minds all the time.

We need help from on high. God, we need your help to call our hearts and our spirits to be alive and awakened today. Oh, God, help us. We're a dependent people. Stir us, Lord.

Stir us the way your Holy Spirit stirred Peter to write these things. God help us now. In Jesus name. Amen. So we are in 2 Peter chapter 3.

We've got three verses that are really unique in that. The three verses all have links to the preceding verses. So in verse 14 we start off with a therefore. In verse 15 we have an and consider. In verse 16, we have an as also.

So we have three links to the previous verses. And in fact, let's read this together. So take your Bibles up. Let's look at this. Verse 14.

He starts and says, Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace without spot and blameless. Therefore, if you look at therefore, You have to ask yourself, what is it there for? So it's the Greek word dia. Dia essentially means an account of, as a result of.

And so when you see that, it demands the dia here, demands that you go back there and carry forward the thought. So we've got to read verse 12 and 13. Read verse 12 and 13 with me so we can track with where Peter is. He says in verse 12, Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." And then he says, therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things.

These things are what? What are these things? You've got to answer the question. These things, I believe he's referring to the previous verses. It's that we're to look, we're to look heavenward at the new heavens and the new earth and the promises of God.

And he's speaking here to the beloved. Meaning what? Speaking to you, Christian. He's talking to you, those who are beloved, who have received the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. And so the fact that we have looking forward to, that Christians have something ahead of us, you have to identify with Peter in the use of these words, looking forward to.

Looking forward to. And it begs the question that you must ponder when you come to a verse like this. And you must ask yourself this question. And I'm going to ask you right now, are you ready? Are you ready?

This means yes. Everybody, young one, join me. This means yes. My question for you that's in our text today is this. What are you looking forward to?

I'm going to repeat it. Do yourself a big favor spiritually and ask yourself the question right now. What are you looking forward to? If you were honest with that answer, what would it look like? So let me get more specific.

What are you looking forward to in five years? Details of life, hopefully getting married if you're younger, in that age range. What are you looking forward to? What about in 25 years? I see the comments back and forth.

What are you looking forward to? I don't know. What are you thinking? What are you looking forward to in 50 years? I don't have 50 years, I don't think.

You may not have tomorrow. What are you looking forward to in 100 years? That's our text. That's where he's going with his thoughts. What are you looking forward to in a hundred years?

If you don't ask yourself that question here today, you've missed the whole point of Peter's teaching. The whole point of the Holy Spirit calling you here to hear these words is this. What are you looking forward to in a hundred years? Are you an atheist? I hope we don't have an atheist here, but I wonder what that conversation looks like for the atheist.

What does that look like? It was a miraculous collection of molecular soup that put me together like this. This is amazing. I'm just going to live my life till it's full, I guess, because when that day comes and the lice just go out, my molecular soup just kind of melts in the pine box. I'm relegated to a collection of calcium bones that are laying in the box.

If you're atheist and you're answering the question, what does your 100 year picture look like? That's exactly what it looks like. I don't, By the grace of God, I don't have to have that conversation. What does it look like for the atheist? I think that must be it.

Molecular soup, you just melt in the box. Lights out. You're done. What about the agnostic? That's a very confused person.

The agnostic would say, at some point, I'm going to meet with somebody, I think of the big guy, something, and when that day comes, whatever that is, I'll meet whoever that is, and I think it's going to result in, because I think I'm a pretty good person, that it's going to be something good, right? What kind of hope is that? What is that to put your faith and confidence in? If you're agnostic today, you're fooling yourself. You're being an absolute fool.

Because what does it result in? This? Nothingness? Knowing somebody something? I pray, I pray you come today to the conclusion that Solomon did in the book of Ecclesiastes.

What conclusion does he come to? He comes to this conclusion, it's all vanity! It's all a passing away! I've tried this, it didn't work. I've tried that, it didn't work.

I tried it for 28 years, until The Lord was gracious enough to save me. Guess what? None of it worked. None of it worked. Here are the words of Scripture that beg you to consider your latter end.

What does it look like? Because the truth is, brothers and sisters, if you are in the beloved who Peter's writing to here, Here's the reality for us. Eternal life is all we have to look forward to. Yes, we'll have some pleasures. Yes, we'll have some joys.

Blessed joys. I get to watch grand babies come and I get to preach at them. And I get to go adopt little babies, and there's joy in this side of eternity. But there will be pain. There will be turmoil.

My children are going to have to lay me to rest one day. And I don't know when that is. And what Peter is saying here is for you beloved, followers of Jesus Christ, your eternity is all that matters. And if you don't know Jesus Christ, If you do not belong to Jesus Christ, hold that thought. Because I'm going to come back to you.

But you, beloved, we have this gift. We have the gift that's been given by God. It's eternal, it's irrevocable, and no greedy thief can come in and touch it and do anything with it. So you see what Peter's doing here. He's calling you, brother, if you're a brother in Christ and you've been saved, or you're a sister, he's calling you mentally where?

He's calling you heavenward. That's what He's doing to you. Just as Paul did, you don't have to turn here. I'm just going to share a couple verses from Colossians. Paul says this, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.

Set your mind where? You know this text. Set your mind where? On things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

So when Christ, who is our life, appears, which is what Peter is referring to when it melts away with fervent heat and it's all melted away, that's what Paul is referring to, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Wake up, Christian! Wake up! This is what it's all about. This is what Paul's writing about.

This is what Jesus spoke about for 40 days. And it's the heartbeat and the steady drum roll of Scripture taking you to the ultimate pinnacle of your love and trust in your Savior Jesus Christ as meeting Him and living with Him eternally. Yet We so infrequently talk about it. We so infrequently talk about our heavenly mindset and where we should be and where we'll end up. And we need to be reminded because yes, we are flesh.

And because we're often stuck in our own issues. And It reminds me, this was probably a year ago. A year ago, we're driving the van, we're coming down our little driveway, and as we're coming down our driveway, I look out and something looks strange ahead, and I could see our fence out front, and I see by the fence, I'm thinking one of the kids left a toy out or something. What's by the fence? It's not something that's by the fence.

This is the fence. The fence is on either side of the goat's head. The goat now, because of his lust for things that he didn't have within the fence, decides to stick his head without, and he literally somehow gets it through, but he's stuck with pickets on either side of his fence, or of our fence. And so I come pulling home, and here's this stupid goat with his head stuck between the fence. And so, what does any good shepherd at the moment do?

He gets out of the van and he grabs the goat by the horns who's fighting with me and he's wrestling with me and I'm trying to help him. I hope you're getting this picture. And I take the goat's head. I first got to straighten it out to push it back through the pickets. So I get it straight, and I get it back through the pickets, and the goat's free.

But he's so dumb, he doesn't even know he's free. He just runs around and, whatever he does. Don't miss the point. I give you the story because you are absolutely no different and I'm no different. Because we often get stuck in our own situations, our own problems, our own issues of life that you're just like the goat and that's exactly why Peter is taking us here and Paul takes us here and Jesus Christ takes us here to set your mind on things above.

Get your head from out between the pickets and be set free Christian. That's the point of the story. So that's the way I came home that day, to see my goat found like that. That's how I found my goat. And that's where Peter goes next in this text.

No, not to the goat. But he goes to The issue of what it is to be found. Look at the text. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent. There's a way in which we're to be doing this.

Be diligent to be found by Him in peace without spot and blameless. This idea of being found scares me like nothing else. And here's why it scares me. Because I know what's in my own flesh and what it's capable of. I have confidence in what I've been freed from, so I know Jesus Christ sets me free.

But here's what scares me. I've got a lot of children, and I know a lot of people, and I have no idea which one of them are truly saved or not saved. And what I don't want to have happen to them or you in this room is what happens in Genesis 3. Please turn with me to Genesis 3. Genesis 3, we're going to begin in verse 6.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was pleasant to the eyes, and the tree desirable to make one, why, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden.

In the cool of the day, an Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden. Then when the Lord God called Adam and said to him, where are you? So he said, I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid. I was naked. So I hid myself.

I just want to leave a moment to let that sink into your soul. I hid myself. I hid myself. I hid myself. I hid myself on that day when God walks into the cool of your day.

And he says, Jim, where are you? James, where are you? Joe, where are you? Does it not make you tremble? Wake up!

Does it not make you tremble? The Maker of heaven and earth who by His power speaks it all into being shows up on your door of the day of your death. Where are you? I'm afraid. You better be afraid.

You better tremble now. You better tremble now. Or maybe you're sitting here and you're thinking to yourself, perhaps, I don't know, that was Adam? That was his sin? I'm good.

Turn back to Hebrews. Turn to Hebrews 4. Please go there. Please, everyone, go to Hebrews 4. Your eyes need to see the words of God.

We're going to start in verse 12. Okay, join me with this. For The Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Circle verse 13. If you've never circled it, if you've never highlighted it, if you do not know Jesus Christ, please tremble at the following words.

And there is no creature hidden from his sight. But all things, all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom what? To whom what? To whom what 12 year old? To whom what 6 year old?

14 year old? 40 year old? 60 year old? To whom you must give an account. And you have no idea when that's going to be.

Adam had no idea when God was going to seek him out in the garden. But He did. And what did Adam do? God forbid it. God forbid it.

So here's what I say to you, if that's you right now. Please listen. Repent. Repent. Turn right now in your chair.

Repent. Turn from your sins and receive the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ that can cover you. It's the only blood that was spotless and perfect. And Peter is now going to refer to this spotless and perfect blood that can wash you clean. And that's where he's going next.

As he speaks to the beloved, it's those who have been washed. And he says that we are to give diligent attention. Diligent. It should be an effort of our focus to be found in this way. How?

How is he asking us to be found? Look at the text. Now I'm back in 2 Peter. I'm out of Hebrews. Back to 2 Peter.

Back to our text. We're at the end of verse 14. We're to be found by Him in peace without spot and blameless. Well, We know this. We know that the only way to be found in peace is how?

How is one to be found in peace? It's only one way. It's only one way. It's through the peace that only comes by Jesus Christ setting you free from the penalty of your sin. That's the only way for you to have peace with God.

So we know that's what he's referring to here. That level of peace being set free. Is Peter then, because he says without spot and blemish, being diligent in this direction, that he's speaking of sinless perfectionism, as some would twist and pervert text like these two. That your diligence can work your way, you can rub that spot off, you've been saved, but you still need to keep rubbing each spot off of you. Is that what Peter is referring to here?

I think absolutely not. I think what he's referring to here is exactly what's spoken of in two other sections I'm just going to share with you. But he's talking about the effort of diligence that must be made to walk out your faith faithfully. It's what Paul wrote as well. As you walk out your faith with fear and trembling before God and before man.

Philippians 2, chapter 2, I'm going to begin in verse 12. You don't have to go there, I'm going to read this to you. Listen to these words, he says, You're going to see some common words here, by the way. Therefore, beloved, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with what? Fear and trembling.

Can't earn your salvation, but he's saying in the same sort of way, you are to work this thing out with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless. You see the link? That you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom You shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain or labored in vain." You see where he's going here?

He's going in the exact same direction. This blamelessness that's being spoken of by Peter is not sinless perfection. Paul also writes this to the Thessalonians. He says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit.

Do not despise prophecies. Test all things. Hold fast to what is good. You see the action items? This is the diligence that I believe Peter is speaking to.

These things. And then he comes to verse 22. Obstain from every form of evil. Now listen to this. Verse 5, 23.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. Not your diligent scrubbing, but may the God of peace sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christians, we must be diligent and mindful all the time. We walk on a sunny day and what's chasing us? Every time we go out on a sunny day, what's chasing us?

Every single time. What's chasing you every time you go out on a sunny day, kids? You got a shadow. The thing's always behind you. It doesn't matter what you do, You've always got a shadow.

I think Peter's argument is for you to be considering not the shadow that follows you, but the bright shining lights of Jesus Christ that stand before you every single day of your life as a Christian. Do you realize that? So as you mark things on your calendar, You know what you ought to put? Is this next day the day of the coming of the Lord? Is this next day the day of the coming of the Lord?

Is that bright shining light that looks out that I'm looking forward to? Is it this day on the calendar? We should think this way. And I think that's the thrust of what the Holy Spirit is driving Peter to write. That we need to be diligent, working out our salvation.

Like every day. No, not every day is a Friday. Every day. Every day is a foreshadowing. The bright shining lights of Jesus Christ regardless of your circumstance.

Blind your eyes with happiness because you have salvation in Him. Now let's turn to verse 15. Verse 15, and consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation as also our beloved brother Paul according to the wisdom given to him has written to you. The phrase and consider. What does it mean to consider something?

What does it mean for you to consider? Con meaning with. It's not cider as a drink. It's consider. Consider to have all your mental faculties to pursue with your thoughts and your brain and your mind these things.

And what are we being called to consider with your mental capacities here in this verse? What is he calling you to think about? He's saying consider what? The long suffering of God. The long suffering of God isn't just by itself here.

What is it connected to? Look at the verse. Let your eyes see it. Stay with me. Let your eyes focus on this.

What is he connected with? Long suffering, he says here, is salvation. Or, stated another way, Long suffering equals salvation. What in the world does that mean? Long suffering equals salvation.

Did you ponder that this week? A few weeks ago, Jason preached on this. Listen to this. Peter had said this even, I think, with greater clarity in verse 9. Look at verse 9.

You're in chapter 3. So go ahead and look at verse 9. See what he says here? The Lord is not slack concerning His promise. There's some count slackness.

But instead He is long-suffering toward who? Toward us. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God's plan in his character trait and his wonderful attribute of being longsuffering is this, that he's calling many sons to glory. You hear that?

God is calling many sons to glory. Listen to Romans 9, brothers and sisters. He says this, verse 24, Even us whom he called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. As he says also in Hosea, I will call them my people who were not my people, and her beloved who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass in the place where I was said to them you are not my people there they shall be called the sons of the living God and Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel Though the number of the children of Israel be as what?

The sands of the sea, the remnant shall be what? The remnant shall be saved. For he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness. Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth. And as Isaiah said before, unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, He would have become, or we would have become, like Sodom.

And we would have become like Gomorrah. Here's the point. God's long suffering, this nature of His attribute is beautiful because of this. I wonder this, I've had to go to meetings at various places, like a New Orleans, or like a Las Vegas, where I have to go because of a business meeting, and you get any exposure. James, you know exactly what I'm talking about, because our work requires some travel, and you go in these places, and you're walking the street, and you wonder to yourself, why in the world don't you rain coals of fire down right now and destroy this wickedness?

Or when we're out at the abortion mill and we're watching car after car drive in and you're wondering to yourself, God, why wouldn't You just crush these people? They don't hear us. Or when we're out at the sodomite festival where they're celebrating their sodomy, holding hands, saying they love Jesus even, and perverting our Lord's text of Scripture, You wonder to yourself, God, why? Take me with it. I don't care.

Just kill this stuff. Here's why. He is merciful and He's kind. I lived 28 years as a wretched sinner. We say that a lot, but we don't even look at it rightly.

Here's what I mean by this. When you have a child who sins against another child, say a six-year-old, what's the biggest battle you have on your hand with a six-year-old or eight-year-old that you're dealing with when it comes to making it right with their brother or sister? What's the biggest challenge as a parent in that? That repentance would be genuine. They would understand.

Usually they're so full of guilt because they were caught. And I got in trouble and I was caught. They don't think about whom they offended. That's genuine repentance. Is when you consider the one you've offended, and you make it right with them, because your thoughts aren't on yourself, your thoughts are on the one you've offended.

But we do this even with our own sin. We don't stop and think, what is heavenly perspective of our sin? How much has my sin been a violation of the holiness, the perfection, and the standard of God? How is my sin, even the thought that just went through my mind, that would be so unthinkable that God could ponder such a wicked thought that just went through my head. We don't think about how offensive that could be to God, do we?

Not the way we should. We don't. And that's what we're called to do, is to have a perspective of the offense that we cause God Himself. And So immediately when we look at these attributes, the long suffering of our God leading us to salvation, it is beautiful, it is kind of Him because He really should do what with us? He should just crush us, he should just destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth.

And he doesn't. Because of his long suffering. I want you to listen to a couple of these texts of scripture. Psalm 86. Listen to these words.

This is Psalm 86. You can write it down and look at it later. I'm going to give it to you. So I'm 86, verse 15. But you, O Lord, are a God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy and truth.

Romans 2, verse 4. Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? It's His goodness. His longsuffering is because He's good. You realize every breath you're taking, He's giving you time to repent with every single breath that you have on borrowed air.

It's His oxygen. He put it in your lungs and He's giving you one more breath. Why? He should just destroy you for all your wicked thinking and actions. No, He gives you another breath because He is a God of grace and mercy, and He's giving you time to repent until the number is gathered and He destroys all and melts it all.

He's giving you time to repent. What kind of God? What kind of God is our God? Please, repent. Verse 16.

In fact, I'm going to go back and cover 15 into 16 because it's linked. As also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they also do the rest of the Scriptures." I want to go back to something I picked up for the first time. I'd often ask this question. Did the apostles and the writers of the New Testament, did they literally know? I used to think, I don't know, I don't see any place in scripture where they did understand that when they're taking quill to paper or whatever, parchment, did they understand that they were under the influence of the Spirit and this was what they're writing?

So he writes, Dear Ephesus, my beloved, is he's writing these things. Did Peter know? Like, did he know this is going to be recorded in the canon of Scripture itself? These words that I write? What do you think the answer is?

I think he speaks to it right here. Because look at the end of this text. I want to come to the end first and I'm going to connect it back to an earlier verse in chapter 3. You see what it says at the end? Now I'm going to link this as they do the rest of the scriptures to turn back one page.

Just turn, well in mine it's one page. The beginning of chapter 3. You might still be on the same page. Look at verse 2. That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before?

By who? The holy prophets. Recognizes speaking what? Scripture. And the commandments of us.

The apostles of our Lord and Savior. Now we drop this down to the text today where he says, as they also do the rest of the scriptures I conclude, this is absolutely undeniably him understanding this, that they were endued with power from on high, that Christ Himself had appointed them with these gifts and attributes to save or to heal and to do the things that they did and also to write Holy Scripture. I think it's very clear from this text. And so he makes it clear they're under the influence of God Himself in writing, words empowered by heaven. So I'm going to back now up to speaking of them, of these things, and some of which are hard to understand.

If you see text like this in scripture, I hope you do what I do, because I see text like this and I say, thank you Lord for your mercy to me. Here's why I say that. Do you remember the text where in Matthew Jesus comes and they're asleep. He tells them to stay awake and what does he say? Do you remember what he says?

What was his comment to them as they were sleeping? The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I'm so thankful for these little relief valves, I'll call them. I call them relief valves in Scripture because you know where I'm going with this? Because Peter's basically making that confession in which some of these things are hard to understand.

He's equipped by the Holy Spirit and he's making this allowance. Allowance might be the wrong word. But he's essentially making this statement, basically saying to us, look, I understand it's hard to understand. Scripture's hard to understand. Amen?

It's hard. But there's a right way for us to handle scripture that we don't understand. But I'm so thankful for these kind of inclusions because if my confidence and my salvation were based on my understanding of scripture, of every scripture I go to, I'd have been shaken and blown to and fro constantly. Because I feel so often that I'm a mental midget when it comes to these things and you hear other preachers preach and you go wow, that man's clearly inspired. But then you're reminded by the grace of God that though you might be a mental midget, my words don't need to be added to, my words are sufficient, It's not by your flowery words or anything else you could add to my words.

So I'm thankful for these little relief valves in Scripture. Some things are difficult to understand. Yes, Paul also wrote a lot of very difficult things to understand. And so, the question is this for you as a Christian. What do you do?

What is the right thing for us to do when we come to scripture that we don't understand? Where you find yourself saying, that's hard to understand. That's very difficult to understand. He knows our understanding is limited, and here's the beauty for you. Your understanding of that Scripture that you're reading, if your life is required of you today, there's not going to be an entrance exam there in heaven waiting for you to score.

A certain biblical knowledge tests score for your entrance to heaven. For former teachers, I'm sorry to inform you that there will not be teachers at the gates of heaven who will be marking your paper up with their red markers of all the Biblical answers. You didn't get right. Breathe a sigh of relief. It's not going to be based on your understanding in that context.

I praise God for these relief valves. So, now he takes us here. Untaught and unstable people, what do they do with these things? Well, they don't do what we should do, and I'm going to get to what they do, but what we're to do is what? What are we supposed to do when we come to Scripture that we don't understand?

What are we supposed to do? You are called to be a Berean. To search the Scriptures yourself. If it's relying just on your soul, brain, power, the molecular soup collected there in your head, it's pretty dangerous. This is where many heresies come from.

Instead, I'll give you an example. Even in preparation for the text to share with you, I don't want you today, God forbid you're dependent on Jim Santel's brain to give you anything of value. God can use some of it perhaps by his power, but I bet you I had 50 biblical counselors. So when we come to things that we don't understand or that are difficult to understand, Here's the beauty of the family integrated church, one of them. Here's the beauty of sufficiency of scripture and the beauty of walking with your brothers.

Guess how many biblical counselors I had this week. I was traveling. I wasn't even here, but guess how many biblical counselors I had. Maybe you know a few of them. Number one?

What's number one? The Holy Spirit. Indwelling. My first biblical counselor. Should be your first.

Then, Jason sends me the expositor Bible commentary. So I have expositors that are giving exposition. It's that guy in the front. It's Jason Doane. Counseling during the week.

It's us having conversation. It's not my brain just being left to go figure this thing out and now I'm going to come spew on you. It's James Lundquist. It's Taylor Santles. It's Ron Whitaker.

It's Tyler last night. It's sitting in men's meeting and having all these counselors sitting around and taking the Word of God and saying, What sayeth the Scriptures? What does God say? It's my wife. She shares different thoughts and ideas.

It's my daughters and my family that share. So, just in case I said something in error, I also get a time at the end where men stand, and we allow for opportunity for correction. This is the wisdom of God. That you're not governed by some preacher that preaches and misleads you. That's not the way Christians are to be.

We're to share with one another. We're to be corrected by one another. Be man enough to handle that. No brother, I think you got that thing wrong. Okay man, straighten me out.

Okay, so this is how we as Christians protect ourselves from either being a victim of or victimizing others. Okay, That's how we do it. We use a multitude of counselors. That scripture comes to real relevance here. How are we supposed to wage war through a multitude of counselors?

Well, this is warfare. Preaching is warfare. It's warfare because you are preaching against the enemies of Christ, even right here in this building, if he's fighting with your mental capacities and your own soul. Let me give you an example of what false teachers do as we're closing in on our end here before long. False teachers do something completely different.

They twist Scripture, And this is exactly what Peter's speaking about here. They twist it in such a way. What do they twist it around, by the way? What if false teachers generally twist Scripture around? Their own brain.

Their own ideology. Their view of how Scripture is to be said, how it is to be laid out, and how scripture is to be defined. It's through my brain alone. I'll give you a prime example. Can you think of an example?

What's an example of this? 1800s, mid-1800s? We deal with them every day, they come knocking on the door. Mormons too, yes, same sort of thing, but I'm speaking here specifically of the Russellonians. The Russellonians.

So, this is what Russell did. Any idea of what age he was when He first began his perversions of scripture. He was in his teens. What kind of formal education do you think he had? Not that that necessarily matters.

Formal education can twist you just as much as your own brain can, right? So here's Russell's conclusion. After he's come to his great enlightenment. This is taken out of Josh McDowell's Evidence that Demands a Verdict. I'd recommend that you read this.

One excerpt. This is a note from Pastor Russell, pastor which by the way he was ordained by a group of followers who were simple-minded. If the six volumes of the scripture studies that I've written are practically the Bible, hear what he said, The scripture studies are practically the Bible. Topically arranged, with biblical proof text given, then we might not improperly name the volumes the Bible in an arranged form. It wouldn't be improper if we called it the Bible just in an arranged form.

Whose brain is arranging this? Now he goes on. That is to say they're not merely comments on the Bible, but they are practically the Bible itself. Furthermore, not only do we find that people cannot see the divine plan in studying the Bible by itself, but we see also that if anyone lays the Scripture studies that I've written, if they lay the Scripture studies aside, even after he has used them, and after he has become familiar with them, after he has read them for ten years. If he then lays the scripture studies aside and ignores them, and then goes to the Bible alone, though he has understood his Bible for ten years, Our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness.

What an assertion. On the other hand, if he had merely read the scripture studies, put the Bible aside and merely read the scripture studies with their references, and he had not read a page of the Bible as such, he would be in the light at the end of those two years, because he would have the light of the scriptures. Why didn't God just blow him to pieces in that moment? But this is what, this is where it takes you. And that's why we can conclude here exactly how Peter concludes here by saying this.

This is what they'll do. They're untaught. They're unstable. By the way, we've seen this happen. We've seen this practically happen.

You've had this happen to you, I bet. We've had it happen to Dan, I'm sure we've had it happen to Jason. We've had it happen to Scott. That's what you meant. No, you said that.

Therefore, my interpretation of what you said trumps even your correction of what you said. That's what you mean. In fact, I'm going to go and I'm going to pull all the excerpts of things that I've interpreted that way. And I'm going to tell everybody else, this is what he teaches. They get so perverse around their twistedness of how they interpret it that they can't even give a correction without that person and their wicked intention of taking it and manipulating it.

You've had that happen to you. No, we've had that happen in arguments. No, no, no, you meant that that way. No, I didn't, I promise you I didn't. This is how I meant it.

Christians, we do not act this way. This is not how Christians are to act. And so when it comes to the context here, he is saying there are some things absolutely hard to understand, but there's a right way for us to act. There's a right way for us to handle that. Twisted people will twist it and pervert it, and it will lead them to absolute destruction.

And it's true of all false ideas, Their brain becomes the source of which all truth is channeled through. One final note on that, Michael, I remember Michael and I, if you remember that Jehovah that we had a chance to talk to, as we're talking to this Jehovah's Witness, What do you think his argument was? This whole argument. They've taken scripture and they've literally altered, so Russell began to alter text of scripture to make it fit his worldview and his ideology. So Michael and I, and it hit me, just hit me blindsided there.

The guy that was with us that night or standing beside us, You remember his argument? Because Taylor was standing beside me, and Michael was standing beside me here, and Taylor is over here. And his whole argument with us was, out of his own human brain, his own logic, no, God the Father and God the Son cannot be the same. That's not logical. It doesn't make sense.

See here, and he pointed to my son. This is your son. You are the father. And they'll take text of Scripture like they do in Colossians 1 and say, see the firstborn. Colossians 1.15, firstborn.

It doesn't make sense because they use their own brains, the capacity that's here, and everything's channeled through that. And if they can't logically appeal to that, they discount the supernatural and the ability that God would give them should God lead them to repentance. They're obviously just blind. But this is what happens, and this is what Peter's concluding us with in our text, is They will not only twist things, not just a thing, they make a habit, a lifestyle of twisting. They will also twist the rest of scripture.

And So, a couple of concluding thoughts. Where is Peter taking us here? If there's one or two things to take away from this time, what would the Holy Spirit leave us with? I think the big one is I look through this text all, really for over a month now, just meditating on this text. The major thrust that you must catch today is this.

Where are your eyes fixed? Seriously. What are you fixed on? And what are you looking toward? And the summary of text that Peter gave us here was all really driving as the drum roll of Scripture continues to drive us to the whole point of it all, that we have an eternity.

Wake up, brothers and sisters. We need to wake up. We need to talk to each other this way. We need to encourage each other to think heavenward. We have difficult times.

What do we do in those times? We look heavenward. Why do we look heavenward? In our closing, turn to Revelation 21. Revelation 21.

Everybody join these words with me. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, For the first heaven and the first earth passed away. Also there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband." Listen to this. Listen, listen, listen.

Verse 3. "...And I heard with a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and He will be their God. Are you stuck in a fence today? Are you stuck in a fence?

Does that fence seem impossible to get your head from between the pickets? Does this promise not reach to the depth of your soul? Look at verse 4. And God, He'll be the one to do this. You ever wiped a tear away from a child's face?

To the tenderness of a father or the tenderness of a mother for a child who hurt himself, and you see that big tear welling up in their eye and it melts your heart and you reach out in compassion. It's a sweet tenderness as a parent. You know God loves you like that. You know that He will be the one, regardless of how bad your head is stuck between the pickets right now, He will be the one to do this for you personally. James, come here.

Taylor, come here. Let me wipe that away from you, my son. Well done. Welcome to what I've prepared for you. Nick, come here.

It's personal. He will wipe every tear away from you. And there will be no more death. There will be no more pain. For the former things have passed away." Does this not send you heavenward?

Oh, I pray it does today. I pray it sends you heavenward. Let's close in prayer. God, I just thank you for the stirring of the soul. I pray that your Holy Spirit has stirred souls, Lord, by your words, by your truth, by the power of your Spirit.

God, that you've stirred souls in this room. That you would even save a soul right now, God, by the power of your hand. You would remove the scales of blindness. You would have them see the grave offense against you. You would give them eyes to see and they would repent right where they're sitting.

God, would You be merciful in this way. Oh, and for us, Lord, whom You've saved, we bask in the beauty of Jesus Christ. His holiness. God, we thank You for this time and the beauty of Your words. I pray that You would extend this time now, Lord, allow men to be led by Your Spirit, that they would stand and teach us further, make corrections, or whatever you would have them do.

So God, we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.