Assuredly I Say To You
Or
According To Jesus
Sunday Dec. 24, 2023
We will close out these lessons of a lifetime messages with the final words from the pen of Peter’s second epistle. It was written just prior to Peter’s death, of which he knew was near. The last words of a godly saint such as Peter should be important.
Therefore, his letter should greatly impact our thought process and our spiritual service as well as how we live our lives for Jesus Christ. We break into the middle of Peter warning the church about scoffers in the last days that will walk according to their own fleshly lusts.
He reminds his readers of the creation of the heavens and of the earth by the Word of God and therefore he impresses upon true believers to always be looking for the Day of the Lord. Let us listen in on Peter’s final message!
Scripture To Consider:
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any perish but that all come to repentance. But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
“Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you [and me] to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the Day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, as also our brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you , as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”
“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.” 2 Peter 3.9-18
Something To Consider:
Let us therefore not forget that it was the power of the Word of God that created the heavens and the earth, and that it is the Word of God that creates faith in an individual’s heart and life. For the Lord is not willing that any perish, but that all repent and enter into that straight and narrow gate that leads to eternal life in Jesus Christ.
As Jesus declared to Nicodemus early in His ministry in John 3.3; “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he [or she] cannot see the kingdom of God.” And if we do not see the kingdom of God, we will by no means experience the everlasting rewards of the kingdom of God!
Something Else To Consider:
Therefore, let us not forget that there is a day of judgment that is coming. And therefore, let us also not forget that the Word of God is alive and powerful to save and able to bring to fruition His promises. Let us therefore live for Christ in this world, but never live as though we are of this world.
According to Jesus, beginning in John 5.24, “Most assuredly, I say to You, he [or she] who hears My Word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
Jesus also, in speaking of His second coming in verse 25 of John chapter 5, acknowledged, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”
Something More To Consider:
Therefore, let us also consider what we are to be in Christ as revealed in the light of God’s Word. Let us redeem the precious time we have been given. Let us not fall prey to being led astray by the error of those who twist and distort the Scriptures. And let us continue to study the Word of God that we may grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord!
According to Jesus, “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place [yet to be built Jewish temple], then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”
Furthermore, also according to Jesus in verse 22 of Matthew 24, “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake [for the true enduring to the end present tense believer in Christ] those days will be shortened.” Thank the Lord that according to Jesus relief will finally come!
A Few Final Words:
And also according to Jesus in verses 29-31 of Matthew chapter 24; “Immediately after the tribulation [not before as false prophets proclaim their deceptive lie of a pre-tribulation rapture, but] immediately after the tribulation of those days. Then the sign of the Son of Man [Jesus] will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes [nations] of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man [Jesus] coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
And yet finally, according to Jesus, “And He [Jesus] will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect [those faithfully enduring to the end saints] from the four winds [or four corners of the earth], from one end of heaven to the other.”
In Closing:
Therefore, are we prepared for the coming end time perilous times? Will we be found looking unto Jesus Christ and the Word of God? Or will we be foolishly attached to the Antichrist and his evil and lawless new world order system?
According to the Word of God, let us be mindful to be found as Peter declared in his farewell teaching, “But growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, continue to teach us the lessons of a lifetime we still need to learn. And keep us in the love of God through Jesus our Lord and Savior, by helping us to desire to endure unto the end of our lives, or unto the end of this earthly age. In Him Always, Amen!
According to Jesus 