Peter

Here is a reference to the words of the Holy prophets of the Old Testament as well as the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament should be read and studied as well as the New. In fact the Old Testament is the only scripture they had in the days when Jesus walked on the earth. We are to heed also the words of the apostles and those sent by the Lord for our edification.

This is indeed happening today. When I was a child growing up in church everyone seemed to be in expectation to the coming of the Lord. After the year 2000 came and went with the Lord not returning, I hear less and less about the immediate expectation of the coming of the Lord.

I didn't think He would come when so many were expecting something to happen that year. They made the same mistake in the year 1000 thinking the Lord wasn't coming so that may have what caused some to begin to think the church was supposed to reign and there was no literal coming. There are some that are into that error again. Its called kingdom now, where they think we are to set up Christ's kingdom and do not emphasize His literal return until we do set it up. Our goal though is to preach the kingdom message. We are to bring souls to Jesus Christ by preaching the gospel of kingdom that comes within us the moment we receive Jesus and believe the gospel. There is a literal coming in the latter days but right now the kingdom come within us the moment we believe. We are never to use any force when preaching the gospel. It is impossible to force faith into someone. Only God can change a person from a hardened sinner to a born again child of God. It is an inner conversion, not a religion that is by man.

The calendar was changed back in the days of Roman rule and it is not necessarily God's calendar. The Jewish calendar is vastly different. Jesus said though that in an hour we think not, He will come when we least expect it.

He will appear suddenly as a thief in the night. The bible also says that His coming will be for those who look for Him and for those who love His coming. If the thought of the coming of Jesus strikes fear instead of comfort, that is a good sign of not being ready.

We are to love His appearing. I realize that we fear for those of our loved ones who may be still lost but aside from that fact, we should love the return of the one who gave us eternal life through His own sufferings and sacrifice.

Jesus has a warning for us about these things:

• Luke 12:43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
• 44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
• 45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
• 46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

When we think the Lord isn't coming, we usually begin to look inward and start picking on other believers or we starting thinking that we are supposed to set up His kingdom ourselves or else and begin to use force turning the gospel into a religious institution instead of a change by God's spirit.

Others may just start seeking the things of this life only until the spiritual need for God is neglected. Neglecting to fellowship with the Lord and in His word lets down our guard and makes it much easier for sin to enter our lives again. Fellowship in prayer and bible study keeps our faith strong. Faith will produce the works of righteousness, which produces even more faith and influences others to believe also. Unbelief comes when we neglect our spiritual life and unbelief is the biggest hindrance to anything from God.

• 2 Peter 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
• 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
• 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
• 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
• 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Noah preached before the flood warning of the coming judgment. I can just visualize the mockers he must have endured. He preaches of a coming flood and no flood comes at once. We've preached the coming of Christ for 2000 years and yet He has not come. As we read on we know why. First of all two thousand years is compared to two days to God. That is a short time in His thinking. 2,000 years seems long to us but when we compare it to eternity, it passes quickly. So it's only been 2000 years. To God it's only been like two days. Another thought brought out here by Peter is that the Lord is not slack concerning the promise of His coming. He indeed will come as He said but God is not willing that any should perish.

God is opening doors even as I write this lesson to spread the gospel all over the world and then, shall the end come. This shows me that He wants my neighbor saved, He wants my family saved. He does not want them burning in an eternal hell. He wants them to escape that by believing on the Son, Jesus Christ who will deliver them from being lost forever and give them freely, eternal life. All who receive Him and believe in Him will receive eternal life. He does not want any to be lost. People are lost because they do not believe or they do not receive the way of escape. They take it lightly, laugh it off, persecute the presenters of the gospel or ignore the whole message of salvation. They do this to their own peril.

Jesus is the way God planned for the salvation of all men, women and children. There is no other way to be saved. No one else was worthy to die for our sins. Sin brings guilt upon the whole creation. Sin brings death both physically and eternally. The wages of sin is death eternally. Jesus came and suffered the physical death in payment for sin. He did not sin Himself so He suffered death for sin that He did not do. That makes His suffering and death on the cross count for us who did sin and deserve punishment of death. We who believe this and receive this into our hearts (innermost being) become born again and can now inherit eternal life.

The first birth is when we are born as a baby from our mother's womb, the second birth results in being born again by the Holy Spirit after believing and trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the Son of God to save us from sin and granting us eternal life. We might experience physical death but just for the body (unless Jesus returns before that event), but the soul and spirit is preserved forever. The soul and spirit that experiences the new birth does not ever die. In spite of what scoffers and atheists would have you believe there is no soul sleep. At physical death the soul and spirit goes somewhere. They are fully conscious somewhere. This is either in hell or in the presence of the Lord. They await the future resurrection of the body, which will join the soul and spirit with a new body which cannot ever die again.

The soul and spirit, which reject Jesus Christ and His plan of salvation, will not receive this new body. They will abide without a body and be in eternal torment forever. This should cause us to weep and intercede for those that are lost while there is still time. We don't have time to quarrel and fight over doctrinal differences. We don't have time to hate people that disagree with us. We don't have time to fuss and feud. Time is slipping by, souls are dying right now and passing into eternity. Today is the time to repent, today is the day to receive forgiveness of sins and become born again. Let us not take this lightly. Now is the time. God wants us to repent and receive eternal life. He does not want us to perish.

This will happen suddenly when we least expect it. I don't get into arguments with people over whether there is a rapture in which believers are caught away before the tribulation. (I sincerely hope this is how it happens) but I see no point in arguing about it. Since we do not know the day or the hour, whether He comes pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-tribulation is a minor point. We need to be ready spiritually no matter when the coming takes place. I certainly hope the pre-tribulation teachers are correct though. I would rather escape all those things and stand before the Son of God. I lean toward and believe that we go before the tribulation begins. I do not believe that with an escapist mentality. I know people are persecuted for their faith and have been since Jesus returned to Heaven. I believe it is a reward for those that believe when they first heard the gospel and stayed faithful.

The same readiness is necessary though no matter when we believe the rapture comes. To be counted worthy to escape and stand before the Son of Man or to be spiritually ready to stand the trials of the tribulation will take spiritual strength available through the power of God. I personally lean toward pre-tribulation also because a godly praying church has the power to prevent evil and hold back any anything that is not contrary to the will of God. Jesus said faith as small as a mustard seed can remove mountains.

This is the point I am making. Make sure that we are walking in godliness and holiness. This is not my words here but the apostle Peter's warning.

We are to be looking for His coming.

This is our hope. In the New Heaven and New Earth there will be no more murder, no more lying, no more rape, no more pornography, no more abortion, no more filth, no more exploiting women, no more child abuse, no more deception, no more fraud, no more cheating, no more hate, no more sin, no more wars, no more poverty, no more sickness, and no more pain. To those who reject Christ and find fault with the gospel I have to ask, "What fault can you find with an eternity like that one?" " What fault can you find in a God that is supplying all of the above through faith in His Son Jesus Christ?"

This should be our goal that all of our sins be under the blood of Jesus Christ and we have His righteousness as a covering. He removes the past and all our sins and makes us a new creature in Him. We have no business going back and picking up that old stuff into our lives again and expect to be saved and inherit eternal life. He made us free from sin, we can stay free from sin. He will give us power of it, we can't do it ourselves but we must choose to receive and believe that He has the power to save and keep us from evil.

I read a wonderful explanation of why so many misinterpret the scriptures. Our motives actually have a lot to do with the way we understand scriptures. If we read the bible in order to find error and mistakes, we most likely will misunderstand and find mistakes. If we read the bible with a searching seeking heart that desires to know God and truly know His will then we are much more likely to receive the correct understanding. If we search the scripture in order to get permission to do something that we suspect may be wrong, that may lead to misinterpretation. The one who understands all scripture perfectly is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the teacher. We need to seek with the right motive and trust the Holy Spirit for the correct understanding.

Beware of those who use the scripture to control or take advantage of people. The motive of teaching scripture should always be to lead people to Jesus and then to teach them the way of righteousness and lead them closer to Jesus. We never, never should we use scripture to draw followers after some man (or woman).

Be steadfast and unmovable in the truth. Realize that the same God who anoints preachers to preach can also anoint your ears to hear and receive truth. We can read and study the bible for ourselves and search with the desire to seek and understand the truth.

This is a great blessing: To read, seek, and study, to grow in the knowledge of God, and to seek Him continually. Praise His holy name forever. Dorna C