2 Peter 3:1-10

Rachel Workman: 3 This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. 2 I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles. I am all about some wholesome stimulation and memory refreshing. It seems God has to do that a lot with me. I'm a hard headed one. ;)

3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4 They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. 6 Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. 7 And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. We serve a great God who is capable of so much more love than we are. That's a good thing for us. Everything on this earth will be found to deserve judgment. When Jesus comes again those that are in Christ will be taken from this earth. Those that are left will get judgment. I certainly would not wait until the last minute to be ready. As sinful as I still am I'm ready. I'm ready because of what Christ has already done for me. Thank you Jesus for the cross.

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Pat Bell:  ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.[a]

I look forward to and fear this at the same time. What will Gods judgment of me be? I look forward to seeing Jesus, and know he is a loving God, but am I good enough for his judgment? Am I following the path he wants me to be on? I pray I am, and I need to work hard at the task at hand.

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John Burnett:  3 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. ² I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

³ Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  This is happening today.  When I post on my favorite forum concerning the Bible or Gospel, I get made fun of and called all kind of names.  The truth must really hurt because they will say just about anything to try and hurt me or provoke me into a verbal sparring match. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  They forget it because they believe in evolution and do not want to give God credit for creation. ⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. ⁷ By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.  Reservations for fire sounds like going to an expensive restaurant with expensive food and seriously bad ambiance.  The waiter describes the steak as very very well done but that’s not the worst thing.  You are being cooked at the same temperature but you can’t see it because it is so dark. ⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  I have read that some believe this is a prophetic statement in that, the earth is 6000 years old and it took him 6 days to create it.  It think it means exactly what it says, He is more patient with us than we can fathom.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.  I am ready to be stolen.

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Krista Cook:  3 This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. ² I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.
³ Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. ⁴ They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
⁵ They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. ⁶ Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. ⁷ And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
⁸ But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. ⁹ The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.^[a]

- remember and don't forget!  That's what this letter is all about.

And then we are reminded of God's great love and long suffering toward us - He wants all to come to repentance.  We must be ready for His coming bc it will come when no one expects it - are you making preparations?

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Mike Grimm:  3 This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. ² I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles. God’s words would keep their minds pure. Then the Christians would not believe the false teachers. The prophets in the Old Testament spoke God’s words. Now, the apostles had been with Jesus, so they knew his commands and spoke Jesus’ words.

³ Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. ⁴ They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” The “last days” is the time between Christ’s first and second comings: thus we, like Peter, live in the last days. We must do all that God expects from us and believe that He will return as He promised.

⁵ They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. ⁶ Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. ⁷ And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed. In Noah’s day the earth was judged by water; at the second coming it will be judged by fire as described in Revelation 19:20; 20:10-15. Hopefully we will all be dead and gone when this day is upon us. However, we must live like it could happen at any second. Just imagine…any second we could hear the blast of the trumpet and see Christ descending from the clouds. Then it’s too late

⁸ But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. ⁹ The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. God is not slow. He is not even on our timetable. Jesus is waiting for more of us to repent and give our lives to Him. We must stop sitting around waiting for His return and start living with the realization that time is short. We must be ready for Him to return at any minute. We must also live a Christian life like He may not return for many years. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. “The day of the Lord” refers to God’s judgment on the earth. Here it is used in reference to Christ’s return. Christ’s second coming is going to be swift and horrific for those who do not believe in Christ. But for the morally clean and spiritually alert, it won’t come as a surprise.