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“Until He Comes: Take Heart and Give Heed!”- II Pet. 2:1-22

Most like promises better than warnings, though both are essential. Promise: “A declaration, written or verbal, made by one person to another, which binds the person who makes it to do, or [not] to do, a specified act; that which causes hope, expectation, or assurance.” Warning: “Previous notice; caution against danger; admonition” (Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary). We need both promises to give hope and warnings to caution us. God gives us both in His Word. 2012 Theme: “Until He Comes” - looking for Jesus to come and living according to that perspective. Until Jesus comes, we should take heart in God’s promises & give heed to His warnings! Both are equally sure. Both are expressions of God’s love. II Peter 2:1-22 - Primary teaching - 4 statements about false prophets/teachers (last week): I)There will always be false prophets/teachers, until Jesus comes. II)They will not escape God’s judgment. III)Their character is flawed. IV)They may appear to be redeemed, but are not and they will return to unbelief. 4 statements that warrant everyone’s attention - 1 promise, 3 warnings. I)God knows how to rescue the godly from trials - vs9a. God preserved Noah, rescued Lot. Sometimes God delivers us from trials & sometimes through trials; but He will rescue us. He will “make a way where there seems to be no way.” He will cover us - Psalm 91:4 (picture) Psalm 27:13-14 - “Wait” - “qavaw” - “wait, look for, hope, expect; collect, bind together” (Strong’s). Take hold of God, bind/weave His Word in your heart/mind, expect Him to be who He is & do what He has promised. Seek God’s glory in your trial and do what is right. II)God keeps the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment - vs9b. Vs1, 3 - “bringing upon themselves swift destruction…;” “Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” It may seem that the unrighteous “get away with murder,” but God will bring justice, punish evil. The scales will be balanced! One’s judgment & punishment has either been put upon Christ on the cross, or it will be meted out when Jesus comes. There’s no escaping God’s judgment. III)Day of judgment is an undeniable reality - vs9b. “Destruction” (1, 3, 12), “Extinction” (6), “Utter darkness” (17) II Peter 3 - “The day of the Lord” - heavens and earth destroyed, “new heavens & a new earth in which righteousness dwells” Revelation 20:11-15 - All our names & deeds are in the Book of Deeds; only the redeemed have their names in the Book of Life. The only way to escape the day of God’s judgment is faith in Jesus Christ as the only way & Redeemer. By faith embrace Him, realizing our sin & need & need of a Savior, relying upon Him alone, turning from self & sin, committing your life to Him. I Thessalonians 1:9-10 The reality of judgment should drive us to pray for & witness to the unsaved. IV)There will be those have had some sort of “conversion experience” who are not redeemed & do not believe & will turn back to their unbelief - vs20-22. God knows those who are His (II Tim. 2:19) and preserves His own (Jude 24-25). But, there are those who profess Christ who are not in Christ. They may seem to have embraced Christ by faith & even “escaped the defilements of the world” for a time, but go back to them. Demas is an example - (Col. 4:14, Philemon 1:24), II Tim. 4:10 Phygelus & Hermongenes - II Timothy 1:15 I Timothy 4:1 Be warned! II Peter 1:10 Be concerned for loved ones & friends. Until He comes, let us take heart in God’s promises, which are many, and let us give heed to God’s warnings, which are also expressions of His love.