{"id":8405,"date":"2020-03-27T20:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T03:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=8405"},"modified":"2020-03-27T21:59:58","modified_gmt":"2020-03-28T04:59:58","slug":"2peter3_10-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2peter3_10-18\/","title":{"rendered":"The Day of the Lord \u2013 What Is It and How To Prepare for It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Peter 3:10-18\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Peter 3:10-18.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

2 Peter 3:10-14 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But\u00a0the day of the Lord will come like a thief<\/strong>. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10-14:\u00a0 In these verses Peter is talking about \u201cthe day of the Lord\u201d (v1)?\u00a0 The \u201cday of the Lord\u201d is a term found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.\u00a0 It refers to the end times, or more specifically as we see in the New Testament, the time when Jesus will return to earth, physically raise Christians who have died back to life, gather His people, establish His kingdom and issue His final judgment on those who have rejected Him.\u00a0 For this reason the New Testament writers sometimes refer to the day of the Lord as the day of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians\u00a01:14; Philippians 1;6, 10;\u00a02:16).\u00a0 Verses 10 through 13 and other passages also tell us that the day of the Lord will be accompanied by the catastrophic destruction of the earth and its atmosphere as we know it, and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.\u00a0 What can we learn from this?\u00a0Jesus is coming back, and His return will change life on this planet as we know it.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Peter says in verse 10 that the day of the Lord will \u201ccome like a thief\u201d, he means that the day Jesus returns will come when people don\u2019t expect it.\u00a0 Paul talks about this too (for example, see 1 Thessalonians 5:2).\u00a0 Jesus also uses the same thief imagery in Matthew 24:42-44:
\n42\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“\u2026keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
\n43\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
\n44\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.<\/p>\n

The day of the Lord will be both dreadful and joyful \u2013 dreadful for unbelievers because they will face their final judgment, and joyful for believers because we will get to see our Saviour Jesus face to face.\u00a0 So what is the best way to get ready for the day of the Lord?\u00a0\u00a0Because the day of the Lord is coming, keep placing your faith and hope in Jesus, and keep living for Jesus, who alone makes us \u201cspotless, blameless and at peace with Him\u201d (v14).<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Peter 3:15-16 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-16:\u00a0 Here are some lessons I learn from these verses:<\/p>\n

1.God\u2019s \u201cpatience means salvation\u201d (v15).\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Peter once again reminds us that the reason Jesus has not yet returned is because God is patient with human beings, \u201cnot wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance\u201d (v9).\u00a0 By sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins, God has done everything He can do to save us so that we can be with Him.\u00a0 Now He patiently waits for us to receive that gift of salvation before it is too late.<\/p>\n

2.Notice what Peter says about his contemporary Paul.\u00a0 First, Peter says that the content of his letters is consistent with what Paul writes in Paul\u2019s letters.\u00a0 I love how Peter does not see Paul as a competitor but as a teammate, both of them working for the same purpose of leading people to Jesus.\u00a0 What can we learn from this?\u00a0The kingdom of God is a team sport.\u00a0 We are to see each other not as competitors but as teammates working toward the same purpose.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Second, notice one more thing Peter says about Paul\u2019s letters: Peter says that ignorant and unstable people distort Paul\u2019s letters \u201cas they do the other Scriptures<\/em>\u201d (v16).\u00a0 What does that tell us?\u00a0 According to Peter, Paul\u2019s letters are God\u2019s Word and holy Scripture. Peter recognized that God was speaking through his teammate and contemporary Paul.\u00a0 This is further evidence that the early church treated the letters of the apostles to be God\u2019s Word and holy Scripture, and so can we today.<\/p>\n

2 Peter 3:17-18 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17-18:\u00a0 These two verses show us\u00a0two options we have as Christians: either we can be on our guard and grow spiritually, or we can get carried away by error and fall away from faith.<\/strong>\u00a0 There is no real in between.\u00a0 Practically speaking in my own life I find that there\u2019s no such thing as \u201cstaying the same spiritually\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Every day I\u2019m either drawing closer to Jesus or I\u2019m falling further away.\u00a0 Either I grow or die, so to speak.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, the fact that Peter tells us to \u201cgrow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ\u201d (v18) tells me that\u00a0we can choose whether we grow spiritually or not<\/strong>.\u00a0 Spiritual growth is not a process that is beyond our control or the result of mere luck, circumstances or the right environment.\u00a0 Even more\u00a0spiritual growth is about the choice we make in the heart to keep pursuing Jesus every day, regardless of how we feel.\u00a0 When we take up our cross and follow Jesus daily, that\u2019s when we grow.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, because You are coming soon, may I live each day ready and waiting for You.\u00a0 May I make every effort to be found in You and not in error, for only in You am I blameless, spotless and at peace.\u00a0 Thank You that growing in You is possible, and that it happens when I make the choice each day to follow You.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

This brings our look at 2 Peter to a close.\u00a0 Take a minute, look back and review the most important lessons you learned from this short book.\u00a0 As you recall each lesson, turn it into a short prayer to God.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Peter 3:10-18.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

2 Peter 3:10-14 (NIV)\u00a0
\n10\u00a0\u00a0But\u00a0the 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 in it will be laid bare.
\n11\u00a0\u00a0Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives……<\/p>\n

On verses 10-14:\u00a0 In these verses Peter is talking about \u201cthe day of the Lord\u201d (v1)?\u00a0 The \u201cday of the Lord\u201d is a term found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.\u00a0 It refers to the end times, or more specifically as we see in the New Testament, the time when Jesus will return to earth, physically raise Christians who have died back to life, gather His people, establish His kingdom and issue His final judgment on those who have rejected Him.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8405"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8500,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8405\/revisions\/8500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}