House of Hope Online

July 2, 2023

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The word of the Lord today is another one from the archives that He gave on August 12, 2018, but again seems even more relevant today and worthy of reviewing.

In Genesis 18:23-33, there is a fascinating discussion between Abraham and God which teaches us a great deal about intercession and the willingness of God to listen to the intercessor.  Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family were living in the city of Sodom.  God was getting ready to destroy both Sodom and Gomorrah and all their inhabitants because of their wickedness.

Abraham negotiated with God about the fate of the few righteous people in the cities, including Lot and his family.  Abraham reminded God that it would not be in His character to slay the righteous along with wicked, and God eventually relented and sent angels to rescue Lot and his family before the destruction.  In answering Abraham’s prayer, God showed His heart toward the righteous who are surrounded by unprincipled sinners. 

In 2^nd Peter 2 and 3, we learn about what Lot and his family were going through.  In prophesying about today’s world, Peter said this:

2^nd Peter 2:

 1 ¶ But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;

 3 ¶ and in [their] greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

Verses 2 and 3 are telling because the word “sensuality” can be broadly defined as more than sexuality.  It can also mean satisfaction of all the senses: vision, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching.  If you read or listen to the news, you will acknowledge crimes of the unprincipled every day in the pursuit of the senses (murder for sex, drugs, thievery, illicit gain, and other deceptions).   Peter warns in verse 3 that God’s judgment is not idle and the destruction of many is not asleep.

Because of sensuality, verse 2 explains that the way of the truth (i.e., the Gospel) will be maligned.  Thus, the rise of an antichrist sentiment in this country has attempted to distort the truth about our Lord and Savior, and His promises.  As Christians today, we can relate to what Lot was going through, and take comfort in how God preserved him:

2^nd Peter 2:

6 and [if] He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing [them] to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter;

 7 ¶ and [if] He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men

 8 (for by what he saw and heard [that] righteous man, while living among them, felt [his] righteous soul tormented day after day with [their] lawless deeds),

 9 [then] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

Note in verses 7 and 8, that Lot was “oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men,” and “while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds.”  As we live in this world, we can become oppressed and tormented by the evil thoughts and deeds of those around us.  People that you work with, or even know socially, can bring thoughts and logic that the devil wants to use to oppress and torment you.  The sensuality in our world can start weighing on our minds, causing evil thoughts of our own, doublemindedness, and even doubt about the prosperity that God has for us in the future.

It doesn’t help that mockers will seek to discourage your faith, as foretold in 2^nd Peter 3:

2^nd Peter 3:

 3 ¶ Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with [their] mocking, following after their own lusts,

 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For [ever] since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”

 5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God [the] heavens existed long ago and [the] earth was formed out of water and by water,

 6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.

 7 But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

The logic of verse 4’s “Where is the promise of His coming?” is often used by mocking unbelievers today.  The point of the mocking spirit is to make you feel stupid for your faith in Jesus and the truth of God’s written word.  Mocking unbelievers say essentially, “See, Jesus isn’t coming back again.  Evil is continuing just as always, and your ‘ministry’ is having no effect.”  Peter points out that it escapes their notice that the word of God formed the earth out of water and by water, and that while God holds the power to destroy it once again, He is reserving the present heavens and earth for fire in the day of His judgement of the ungodly.

Peter goes on to encourage us to wait on the Lord, explaining that His tarry is due to His desire for all to repent:

2^nd Peter 3:

9 ¶ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Notice in verse 10 the prophecy that the earth and its works will be burned up.  Many today fear global warming.  Could that be what Peter is prophesying here?  Possibly, but this I know, we are not to fear the day that the earth and its elements are destroyed by intense heat, because we will be raptured by then and that is the day that Jesus will begin the establishment of a new Jerusalem, and a new world order where His righteousness will prevail.  That will be a good day for us and our children!

Therefore, considering the earth is headed for a fate like Sodom and Gomorrah, how should we feel about that, and what sort of people should we be?  Peter answers in the next several verses:

2^nd Peter 3:

 11 ¶ Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

 14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,

Note the promise in verse 13 of new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.  And the encouragement of verse 14 to look for these things (the promises) and to be diligent, in peace, spotless and blameless.  Therefore, we are to remain steadfast in our faith, and in peace because we trust the promise of the Lord for a new righteous order in the new earth.

2^nd Peter 3:

17 You 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,

 18 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.

Finally, we are to be on guard, so as not to be carried away (tempted) by unprincipled men and to fall away from our steadfast faith.  And in verse 18, instead of being tormented as Lot was by unprincipled mockers, we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Take your heart to the Holy Spirit, along with all your worries and doubts, and trust that His presence is a safe place for you to fall.

Father God, thank you for the promise of deliverance from the sin of the ungodly among us.  Protect us, Lord, from the torment of unprincipled mockers.  Help us by your Holy Spirit to stay on guard, but also to remain in peace, trusting your promise as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, in whose name we pray.  Amen.