Introduction: For those of you who have been able to make it to the morning Sunday School
adult class, you know that we are currently studying an issue which is perhaps the most widely
debated today in all of Christendom. It is also, by the way, one of the most interesting. It is the
issue of end times. Now everyone of us would confess some degree of curiosity as to what the
Bible says is going to take place in the future. It is also plain to see that many in the church
today are also curious, because of the endless books which have been written on the subject.
Everyone wants to know who the antichrist will be, when the rapture will take place, whether or
not we will have to go through the Tribulation, and of course, whether or not there will be a
thousand year reign of Christ on the earth. The answers to these questions are myriad. Just
about every possible combination of these elements has been tried.

But in the midst of all this discussion, let us not forget the main reason why the Lord has
told us about these things in the first place. He has told us that we might be ready. Jesus said
in Matthew 24:42-44, \u201cTherefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is
coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night
the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to
be broken into. For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when
you do not think He will.\u201d Paul also writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:6, \u201cSo then let us not sleep as
others do, but let us be alert and sober.\u201d And Peter says in our text this evening, \u201cYou therefore,
beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of
unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness\u201d (v. 17). The Lord has revealed to us
that Christ is coming, in order that we might press forward in holiness and purity. And what
better way to stimulate this within us, than by showing us exactly and infallibly what will happen
when Christ comes. When He comes, He will judge us. So we had better set about the
business of being ready. John writes, \u201cAnd everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies
himself, just as He is pure\u201d (1 John 3:3).

Now this isn\u2019t surprising when we realize that this is the main goal behind all of God\u2019s
revelation. God has shown us that He has purposed to call out of mankind for Himself a people
who are zealous for good works. He wants a people who will reflect His holy nature. This is
why He sent Christ into the world. He sent Him to cleanse us from our sins, and to break the
reigning power of sin in our hearts. He had chosen us before the foundation of the world, that
we might be conformed to the image of His holy Son, in order that Christ might be the first-born
among many brethren, and that He might have the place of preeminence among us, since it was
He who authored our faith. And when this goal is achieved in our lives, faith is perfected in us,
Satan knows that he has lost that which he hoped would be his, and God is glorified. Nothing
brings God more glory than when His children live according to His holy commandments.

This is God\u2019s goal in redeeming us, and this should also be our goal as we set our hearts
and minds to look towards the future. And this is what Peter tells us in our passage this evening,
namely, that

I. First, Peter draws our attention to what he has just said regarding the coming of the
Lord. He writes, \u201cTherefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be
found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord to
be salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him,
wrote to you.\u201d

A. The word \u201ctherefore\u201d is used to draw an argument to a conclusion.
1. Generally, we say if this and this is true, then this is the result.
2. Peter has been telling his audience specifically what will be taking place on the day

a. In chapter one, Peter points out that Christ\u2019s coming is not some cleverly devised
tale, like those which are found in other religions. No. Peter was an eyewitness of
a foreshadowing of that coming. He was on the holy mountain when Christ was
transfigured before him, and His garments shone like the sun.

c. But he also warns them in chapter two that false prophets will seek to distort this
truth. As they had done in the past, so they would continue to do in the future.
Satan always has his counterfeits, who secretly at first, and then later openly, oppose
the truth of God, under the cloak of the prophetic office. They will try to lead them
astray. They will try to lead them into sinful activities. And they will even deny
that Christ is coming, seeking to remove that incentive He has given us to pursue
holiness.

e. Today, there are many false prophets prophesying against the truth of Christ. Some
of them claim supernatural revelations, while others simply claim to be expounding
what God has put in His Word. But they lead the people of God astray. They lead
them into materialism and lust. They lead them into worldliness and away from
God\u2019s holy standards. They tell them that holiness is not that important, neither is
God\u2019s holy Law. There are even those who deny that Christ is coming again.
Oddly, there are even those who believe that Christ has already come, and that the
resurrection has already taken place.

f. But Peter tells us not to listen to them. Mockers will come, mocking the truth about
Christ\u2019s coming. But we should not take it to heart. Instead we should believe
God\u2019s truth and seek to walk according to it.

1. The first command is to seek holiness. He says, \u201cSince you look for these things, be
diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.\u201d
a. Since you through faith see these things which are yet future through the eyes of

b. What do you suppose Peter means here by saying that you should be spotless?
When it is applied to a lamb, it means that there is no blemish on his coat. But
when it is applied to a man, it means that there are no moral blemishes on the man\u2019s
character. He is without defect.

d. And certainly, if you live a blameless life, then usually, not always, you will be at
peace with those around you. I said not always because the Bible also tells us that if
we live godly, we will suffer persecution. Jesus certainly was blameless in all His
ways and had no moral defects. And yet through His ministry, and especially at the
end of His life, He had more enemies than friends, and that within the covenant
community.

e. This being the case, if you live godly, you can expect to be at peace with those who
are also seeking godliness. But you will find yourself at odds with those who are
not, even within the church.

f. But seeing that Christ will return and will set all things right, your goal is to seek
this moral purity, this purity of life, no matter what the consequences might be. You
must serve Christ, and seek to please Him first, or in the end you will be found to be
nothing more than a man-pleaser and not be pleasing to God.

2. The second command he gives has to do with what we might think about the Lord\u2019s
taking so long to come again. He says, \u201cAnd regard the patience of our Lord to be
salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him,
wrote to you.\u201d
a. As Peter told us earlier in this epistle, there were those who were using the Lord\u2019s

b. But Jesus tells us that there will also be wicked men just prior to His coming who
will use the Lord\u2019s delay as an excuse to live a ungodly life and will take advantage
of their brethren. He says in a parable about the Second Coming, \u201cBut if that evil
slave says in his heart, \u2018My master is not coming for a long time,\u2019 and shall begin to
beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will
come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,
and shall cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; weeping shall
be there and the gnashing of teeth\u201d (Matt. 24:48-51). This, presumably, is from
within the covenant community, within the church. And there is certainly no lack
of ministers today, and others, who are taking this kind of advantage of their
brethren. But, as Jesus said, they will be sorry for this affront to their Master.

c. Notice that they lost the purifying incentive of Christ\u2019s Second Coming. They
were no longer motivated to be holy, because it seemed to them that Christ\u2019s coming
was a long way off.

e. We should regard the patience of the Lord to be salvation. Peter writes, \u201cThe Lord
is not slow about His promises, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,
not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance\u201d (v. 9).

f. God is giving additional time to gather in His elect. And so we should do all that
we can to use this time to press forward into His kingdom ourselves, and to bring the
lost into the household of salvation through the Gospel.