Until Then (Part 2)

read or hear about someone who has destroyed their credibility

and it's no one's fault but their own.

Jesse Smollett.

He's the poster child of someone doing that right now.

But what he's done is not something new.

People have been doing that, well-known people,

obscure people.

People have been doing that since the Garden of Eden.

You can think of individuals well-known or in your family

or among your friends who did some things

that it appears they destroyed their credibility.

It happens to Christians.

In fact, one of the most well-known Christian leaders of all time,

Simon Peter, the leader of Jesus' disciples,

he almost destroyed his credibility.

Most of you in here, you know the story.

He appeared to have just blown it all when, right after Jesus was arrested,

Peter was asked not once, not twice, but three times,

do you know him or you are one of his?

And all three times, Peter said, no.

I don't even know the man.

Now, that's well-known among Christians.

But do you remember what happened before Peter did that?

Before Jesus was arrested,

Jesus prayed this for Peter.

Look at it.

It's in Luke 22.

Jesus said, I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

By God's grace,

Peter did not destroy his faith or his credibility.

After he denied Jesus,

the scripture tells us he went out and he was broken.

He truly repented.

He came back as a strong Christian, Christian leader,

and pillar of the early church.

He did exactly what Jesus prayed he would do.

He strengthened his brothers.

He did that to the very end of his life,

as recorded in his last letter, 2 Peter.

If you would, turn there with me this morning.

2 Peter, chapter 3,

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

the last letter that this disciple,

who appeared to have messed up his life,

destroyed his credibility,

but he came back.

This is not the focus of the message this morning,

but I want you to know this.

If you have royally messed up some things in your life,

maybe you've done some things just within your family

or to a certain friend

or where you work

or where you did work.

You've done some things that

it appears you have lost your credibility.

I want you to not give up.

By the grace of God,

if Peter could come back from what he did,

you can come back as well.

Sometimes it takes time.

Sometimes it requires God working in some other people's lives

to forgive you

and to show you grace.

But God can work in all kinds of situations,

and he does,

to rescue us when we blow it,

as in a case like Peter.

2 Peter, chapter 3,

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 13.

We're going to continue to look at

how God expects us,

commands us,

to live in this world

until we see Jesus face to face.

Now that day is going to come

for every single one of us in here.

One day we're going to see Jesus face to face.

It'll be the day that we die.

You know, we looked at that

a few weeks ago.

We did a series,

what happens after we die,

what happens after Christians die.

And we looked at

from several different passages of Scripture,

when we close our eyes in death

in this world,

we're going to open them again immediately

in the presence of Jesus.

So one day,

we're all going to be face to face with Jesus.

Either right after we die,

or we could be alive when He returns to this world.

And we'll see Him when He comes back.

But the point that Peter is going to make

in this passage is,

it matters how we live until that day.

God holds us accountable

for how we live our lives

day in and day out in this world.

Let's read it.

2 Peter chapter 3,

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 13.

But according to His promise,

we are waiting for new heavens

and a new earth

in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved,

since you are waiting for these things,

be diligent to be found by Him

without spot or blemish

and at peace.

And count the patience of the Lord

as salvation,

just as our beloved brother Paul

also wrote to you

according to the wisdom given Him,

as He does in all His letters

when He speaks in them of these matters.

There are some things in them

that are hard to understand,

which the ignorant and unstable

twist to their own destruction,

as they do the other scriptures.

You, therefore, beloved,

knowing this beforehand,

take care that you are not carried away

with the error of lawless people

and lose your own stability,

but grow in the grace and knowledge

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory both now

and to the day of eternity.

Amen.

God cares how we live right now.

Here's what we looked at last week.

Get serious about your character.

As we live life in this world,

right up till the day we die

or Jesus comes,

God wants us to be serious

about who we are

in terms of our character.

Look at verse 14.

He says,

Be diligent to be found by Him

without spot or blemish

and at peace.

That was what we looked at last week

in a lot of detail.

So let's just hit some highlights here.

God calls each one of us

to develop and demonstrate

Christian character in two ways.

A lot of ways really,

but two in this passage.

Number one,

live a pure life.

That's what He's talking about

when He says,

without spot or blemish.

Purity matters to God.

And as I said last week,

some people look at that

and they just automatically think

about sexual purity

and it certainly matters to God.

But God cares about

how we live in every realm of our lives.

God cares about us

being morally pure

in our own minds

and what we think

when nobody else knows.

He cares about us

being morally pure

in our speech.

The way we talk to people

and about people.

And obviously,

God cares about

our moral purity

and just the way we live.

That includes

our private lives

when nobody else is around,

nobody else sees,

as well as our public life.

A lot of you know

a well-known concept

or definition of character.

Character is defined

by how we are

when no one's looking

just as much

as when

everyone is looking.

God wants us to live

pure lives.

It matters.

God also wants us

to live a peaceful life.

Look at that word,

not just spotless

and blameless,

but at peace.

It's important

that we live

at peace

with God

and other people.

But the point here

seems to be

the character quality

of peace.

And peace is

the character quality.

We've done a study

on Wednesday nights

on the fruit of the Spirit

not too long ago.

Paul lists

in Galatians chapter 5

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

a list of character qualities

that he calls

the fruit of the Spirit

and one of them

is peace.

Now,

one of the best ways

for us to develop

such peace

is to truly

trust God

that He is both

wise

and sovereign.

That means

we need to learn

to trust God

that He's wise.

He always knows

what's best,

what's right

for us.

And because

He's sovereign,

He always has

the ability,

the power

to bring it about

when He wants to

and in the way

He wants to.

If we'll learn

to trust God

like this

instead of worrying,

peace will be

the result.

I want you to look

at what Paul says

in Philippians chapter 4

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

along this line.

He says,

Do not be anxious

about anything,

but in every situation

by prayer

and petition

with thanksgiving

present your requests

to God.

and the peace

of God

which transcends

all understanding

will guard your hearts

and your minds

in Christ Jesus.

We can develop

this character

quality

of peace,

of wellness,

rightness

when we learn

to trust God,

take things to Him

in prayer

instead of worrying

about it

because He has

the power

and the ability

to actually

do things

that will work out

in the way

that's best for us.

Trust Him.

Now,

we also saw last week

that God calls us

to put forth

our best effort

to develop such character.

Look at the first words again.

Be diligent

to be found by Him

without spot

or blemishing

at peace.

God's actually

commanding us

to try hard

to live like

the Christian

that He has

already made us.

This doesn't mean

try hard

to make yourself

right with God.

I emphasized

that last week.

We are saved

by God's grace,

His undeserved favor

through faith

in Jesus

and what He's done

not what we've done.

When God saves us

He puts His Spirit

in us.

The Holy Spirit

works in us

from the time

we're saved.

He works in us

throughout our lives

and He's the one

who gives us

desires

to please God.

You know,

sometimes when you

think right

and you know

you think better

than other people,

you have better desires

than a lot of people

maybe that

you work with,

some of your classmates.

Don't pat yourself

on the back.

If you're a Christian

that's the Spirit of God

working in you,

giving you

those kind of desires

and He'll not only

give you those desires

but Scripture tells us

He will work in us

to enable us

to act on them,

to do them.

Again,

from last week,

Philippians 2.13,

for it is God

who works in you

both to will

and to work

for His good pleasure.

Peter's telling us

here in verse 14,

in effect,

put forth your best effort

to cooperate

with the Holy Spirit

so that you can be

pure

and peaceful,

a pure and peaceful

Christian.

Now,

let's move on.

The next way

to get ready

to meet Jesus

face to face

whenever that will be

is this,

make the most

of God's patience.

Have you ever thought

about how patient

God is

and why?

Well,

let's look at it.

This is going to be

in verses 15

and the first part

of verse 16.

He says,

and count the patience

of our Lord

as salvation.

God's giving us

time to be saved.

And count the patience

of our Lord

as salvation.

Just as our

beloved brother Paul

also wrote to you

according to the wisdom

given him

as he does

in all of his letters

when he speaks

in them about

these matters.

Peter is describing

God as being patient

and that's his way

of explaining

why Jesus

has not come back

into this world.

We'll look at it

later on next week.

Peter is combating

false teachers.

People in the church,

people who came

into the church

and caused all kinds

of problems

because they were

teaching things

that were wrong,

that were leading

people astray.

And one of the things

they were teaching

is this.

These New Testament

leaders like Peter,

Paul,

they've been saying

for years

that Jesus was

coming back.

Well, he hasn't.

And the reason he hasn't

is he's not going to.

And so Peter's responding,

they don't know

what they're talking about.

The reason that Jesus

has not returned

to this world yet

is because God

is being patient

with people,

giving them time

to be saved.

I want you to look

back at verse 9.

We didn't read it,

but we're in 2 Peter

2 Peter 3:9

chapter 3,

verse 9.

It's going to be

on the screen.

Peter explains this

in more detail.

The Lord is not slow

to fulfill His promise,

as some count slowness,

but is patient

toward you,

not wishing that

any should perish,

but that all

should reach repentance.

Now think about

what He's saying.

People are saying,

Lord's never coming back.

It's been this long,

He never will.

But Peter is saying,

no.

The reason that Jesus

has not yet returned

is because God

is patiently

waiting,

working in people's lives,

giving them time

to repent.

And Peter points out

that Paul

taught the same thing

in His letters.

Now,

we don't know

which letters.

It could have been,

for example,

Romans.

Here's why I say that.

Paul emphasized

not only God's patience,

but also His kindness

in this statement.

Look at it.

He says,

do you presume

on the riches

of His kindness

and forbearance

and patience,

not knowing

that God's kindness

is meant to lead you

to repentance?

Now,

I want us to just

pause here

for a few minutes

and think about

that God is patient.

He's patient with us.

He's patient with people

who do not believe.

God's patience

reveals His love,

His mercy,

and His grace.

I don't know

what everyone's concept

of God is.

Some people have

a warped view

that God's in heaven

looking down on us,

waiting for us

to get out of line

so He can inflict

some kind of pain

or punishment on us.

That couldn't be

further from the truth.

These passages

that I'm reading

from Romans,

here from 2 Peter,

God's patience

reveals that He's

a God of love,

of mercy,

of grace.

God does not

want to destroy people.

He wants to save people.

Peter's telling us.

But when Jesus

returns to this world,

the truth is

the time for salvation

will be over.

At the time of death,

our time of salvation

will be over.

Whatever a person's

spiritual condition is,

at the moment

they see Jesus,

whether it be through

death or His return,

at the moment

they see Jesus,

at the moment

we see Jesus,

our eternal destiny

is determined.

It is fixed.

It is permanent.

As we saw a few weeks

ago in another study,

that means

it'll either be

joy in heaven

or torment

in hell.

That's the reality.

The fact that Jesus

has not yet come back

to this world

is because God

is being patient

with people.

Right now,

God is waiting

for more and more people

to repent of their sin

and trust Jesus

as their Lord and Savior.

I'm going to touch on this

a little bit later on,

but right now,

if you have family members

and friends

who are not Christians,

you need to take this

and make it personal.

God is being patient,

waiting on

your loved one,

your friend.

And it may be

that God is

patiently waiting

for you

to share the gospel

with that person.

And through

your witness,

God's going to draw

them to faith in Jesus.

Don't discount

that reality,

that possibility.

Now,

if you're not

a Christian,

what Peter is saying,

what Paul is saying,

this means that God

is patiently waiting

for you right now.

Also,

if you are a Christian

and you're living

in rebellion

against God,

if you're a Christian

and you know

just as well

as you're sitting there,

I'm not right with God

and I know why

and I'm just not willing

to do anything about it.

I want you to know

the fact that you are

alive and here

and hear that

and understand that,

that is God being patient.

Because you are

presuming upon

His grace

and mercy

and love

by still being

rebellious.

So,

think about

as we move on here,

this applies

to both Christians

and unbelievers.

God is being patient,

but Paul says,

God's also being kind.

Look at it again.

God's kindness

is meant

to lead you

to repentance.

Let's think about

how God

shows us

patience

and kindness

or patient kindness.

Think about

how He does this

in your life

if you're not a Christian.

But also

in your life

if you are a Christian

and especially

if

you just won't

listen to God.

You won't

obey Him

right now.

Maybe God's

kindness toward you

is in the form of

you have good health.

Your family

life

is great.

You've got

good friends

who love you,

care for you.

Maybe God's

patience

and kindness

with you

is seen

in your

athletic ability,

your musical talents.

Maybe God's

patience

and kindness

toward you

is seen

in just

the good ways

God

has just

blessed you.

But if you're

away from Him

as a Christian

or as an unbeliever,

He's intended,

He wants you

to see

these good things

as signs

of His

kindness

and patience,

He wants you

to come to Him.

Let that goodness

bring you

to Him.

Maybe God

is

showing His

patient kindness

by preventing

you from

reaping

the

sinful

seeds

you have

sown.

the

scripture

talks about

something

that a lot

of people

refer to

as the

law of the

harvest.

We reap

what we

sow.

But maybe

you can think

right now,

I've sown

some pretty

bad seeds

and nothing's

happened.

That's God

being patient.

That's God's

kindness.

kindness.

But don't

presume that

just because

the crop

hasn't come

in yet

that it

won't ever.

We reap

what we

sow.

That's a

biblical

principle.

And I

want to

encourage you

before you

have to

haul in

that

harvest,

listen to

the Lord

and obey

Him.

Confess

that sin.

put your

trust in

Christ.

Don't

presume upon

God's

patience.

It could

be that

God's

showing you

His

patient

kindness

by helping

your family

and friends

to not

give up on

you even

though you've

given them

reason to

do that.

It may

be that

right now

your

spouse

or your

children

or your

parents

they have

every reason

in the world

just to

let you

go

because of

the way

you've

mistreated

them,

dishonored

them.

It may

be that

you've lost

some

credibility

or maybe

all credibility

in their

eyes but

by the

grace of

God they

are being

patient

with you

and waiting

for you

to wake

up.

Waiting

for you to

get right

with God

and then get

right with

them.

maybe God's

kindness

is in the

form of

allowing you

to have

some kind

of serious

problem

to wake

you up

spiritually

before it's

too late.

I have a

Christian friend

who was living

in rebellion

against God

at one point

and God

put them

in the

hospital

with a

sudden

physical

problem

and as

it turned

out

that was

an act

of God's

kindness

because that

interruption

that hospital

stay

disrupted

the plan

to carry

out some

sinful

behaviors

and when

all was

said and

done

they did

not act

on

those

sinful

plans

they had

made.

God's

kindness

intervened

but through

the hospital.

I have

another

Christian

friend

who

rebelled

against

God

and did

not repent

until he

had lost

everything

his wife

his job

and his

reputation.

He finally

woke up

truly repented

came back

to God

but he

never got

his wife

or his

job

or his

reputation

back.

He did

lose

much

in that

process.

If you're

not a

Christian

the fact

that you

are alive

and hearing

this message

is an

expression

of God's

patience

and kindness

that also

applies to

you if you

are a

willfully

disobedient

Christian.

But the

day will

come

God's

patience

will end.

God is

truly loving

but he

is also

holy.

God

loves us

but he

cannot allow

our sin

to go

unpunished.

The good

news of the

Bible is

that God

provided a

way to

express both

his love

and his

holy justice.

He did

that by

sending Jesus

into this

world to

take the

punishment for

our sins.

God

was dying

on the

cross.

He took

our sins

upon himself

and he

experienced

God's

wrath.

He

experienced

the punishment

that we

deserved.

Jesus

suffered what

we could

consider the

torment of

hell as he

died on the

cross.

The pain,

the torment

of being

separated from

God.

That's why he

cried out as

he hung on

the cross,

my God,

my God,

why have you

forsaken me?

God had

turned away

from him

as he was

our sin

bearer

taking our

punishment.

But there on

the cross as

he did that,

he paid the

penalty for our

sins in full,

which means

when he cried

out at the

end,

before he

died,

it is

finished.

It means

everything

necessary for

us to be

right with

God has

been done.

The penalty

for our sin

has been

paid.

Jesus died

and was

buried,

but God

raised him

from the

dead,

and when he

raised him

from the

dead,

that shows

us that

God has

accepted

Jesus'

sacrifice

for us.

By raising

Jesus from

the dead,

God is

saying,

Jesus has

defeated sin

and death

and the

devil.

He's won

that victory

for us.

This is the

gospel.

This is the

good news of

God's gracious

salvation through

faith in

Jesus.

But this

gospel requires

our response.

It's not

enough just to

believe these

facts.

We've got to

respond to what

Christ has done

for us.

We've got to

repent of our

sin, change

our mind about

it, own up to

it, turn from

it.

We've got to

put our

personal trust,

faith, confidence

in Jesus as my

Savior.

and commit

my life to

Him as my

Lord.

Here's what I

want to ask

you.

Have you made

this kind of

commitment?

Have you made

this kind of

response to the

gospel?

Everyone in here,

have you made

this kind of

response?

If not,

will you do it

now?

Will you cry out

to God,

confessing your

sin, turning

from it, putting

your faith in

Jesus, calling

upon Him to

save you?

If you'll do

that right now,

the Scripture

says, whoever

will call upon

the name of

the Lord will

be saved.

But I know

that the

overwhelming

majority of

people in

this room, you

would say, I've

done that.

I've done that a

long time ago.

Well, here's what

I want us to

understand.

If we are

Christians, there

will be evidence

to show that.

I had a real

encouraging

conversation this

past week with

a man, late

30s, early

40s.

He's got a

real demanding

job, wife and

children.

He's got a very

busy life.

But in the

conversation with

this guy, I

found out he is

not only very

active in his

church, but he

is a real student

of the Bible.

And he was

telling me that

he was concerned.

There was no

pride or arrogance.

There was no, you

know, look at me

and putting people

down.

He's talked about

how he was so

concerned that just

around him, among

his family members

and friends, in his

church, there's so

many people who

claim to be

Christians, but

there's absolutely

no evidence in

their lives that

the Lord's ever

changed them or

the Lord has even

reeled them now.

Do you

understand that?

Do you

understand that if

a person is a

Christian, if you're

a Christian, you

will experience the

presence of the

Holy Spirit within

you.

Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

tells us if the

Spirit of God does

not live in us, we're

not Christians.

But Romans 8 also

tells us that if the

Spirit of God lives

within us, he will

so work in us to

give us this sense

notice that God is

our Heavenly Father

and enable us to

truly pray and

call Him Father.

That's the Spirit of

God living within us.

That's in addition to

what we said earlier,

how He gives us the

desire and the

ability to please

God.

But think of this,

if the Holy Spirit's

living within us, when

we fail to please

God, the Spirit will

grieve us, inflict

guilt on us, and

move in us to cause

us to want to

confess our sin to

God and be forgiven

and be restored to a

right relationship with

Him.

That's what the Spirit

of God will do.

If we're Christians,

we, right now, we

should understand the

Spirit's presence and

how He works in our

lives in some ways.

He's real.

If we're Christians,

our family members and

friends will see

evidence that Jesus

has changed my life.

He is changing my life.

People will see, people

will just see the

presence of the Lord,

the power of the Lord,

in some way, not in a

perfect way, but in some

way in your life.

If we're Christians, we

understand, we should

understand that saving

faith is continuing

faith.

And it will be evident

for everyone to see.

You know, when Jesus

talked about things like

this, about how we

should live, He talked

about how a tree should

be known by its fruit.

People should be known

by the kind of

character quality fruit

fruit their lives put

forth.

Paul described such

spiritual fruit in terms

of character qualities

like love and joy and

peace and patience and

kindness and goodness and

faithfulness and gentleness

and self-control.

Paul also talked about in

Colossians 3 that a part of

Christian living involves

killing sin within us,

turning from it,

dying to things like

sexual immorality,

impurity, anger,

slander, obscene talk,

lying.

See, the New Testament is

telling us that being a

Christian involves far more

than just saying, I trust

Jesus.

Far more than just being

baptized, far more than

just coming to church.

A Christian is someone who

is growing by the grace of

God more and more,

developing Christ-like

character.

Paul describes it this way,

for those whom He foreknew,

He also predestined to be

conformed to the image of His

Son.

That's how Paul is

describing Christians.

Those He foreknew, God

predestined them to be

conformed to the image of

His Son.

And God does that through

His Spirit who indwells us.

Hear this clearly.

If your life does not

produce any evidence that

the Bible says a Christian

will show forth, then you

shouldn't consider yourself to

be a Christian.

See, you don't get to define,

I don't get to define what a

Christian is.

Bible does that.

God does that for us.

And when we examine our

lives in light of what the

Scripture says a Christian

is and how a Christian lives,

that's how we have to

evaluate ourselves.

As we think about God being

patient and giving people time

to be saved, do you have

family members and friends who

are not Christians?

God is patiently waiting for them.

God is giving them time to

repent and trust Jesus.

Could it be that God is

patiently waiting for you to be

the one to share the gospel with

them?

The second Sunday of this year,

I preached a message about us

taking on the responsibility to

develop relationships with people

who are not Christians who are

already in our lives.

I passed out a paper that had

concentric circles, people in your

family, your immediate family,

your extended family, classmates,

work associates, neighbors, friends,

all these kind of things.

And I asked you to think about

just a few people who might fit in

that category who's not a

Christian and to pray for them

and develop a relationship with

them and ask God to give you an

opportunity to share the gospel

with them.

Have you done that?

Are you still thinking of them,

praying for them, working with

them, looking for an opportunity to

share the gospel with them?

If you're not, I want to encourage

you to start today.

Consider that God's being patient

with that person that you love and

you want to spend eternity with.

Be thankful that God's being

patient, but get involved.

Ask God how you should be involved.

Share the gospel with them.

All of us need to let it sink in

this morning that while God is

patient with us, his patience is not

unlimited.

Time is running out.

We all need to listen to the Lord

and respond to his patient call.

And we need to do it right now.

We need to do it as the writer to the

Hebrews warns us.

Final thought.

This is from Hebrews chapter 3.

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

See to it, brothers and sisters,

that none of you has a sinful,

unbelieving heart that turns away

from the living God.

But encourage one another daily as

long as it is called today,

so that none of you may be hardened

by sin's deceitfulness.

We have come to share in Christ,

if indeed we hold our original

conviction firmly to the end.

Let's pray.

Dear God,

show us now how we should respond.

Show us, Father, how we should

demonstrate our gratitude for your

patience and your kindness.

Help us, Father, not to presume upon it.

And help us, Father, not to wait

until it's too late.

In an attitude of prayer,

you just do what God's calling you to do.

I would be happy to pray with you.

But you listen to God and obey Him.