0:00:00 - 0:00:27 OK. So we're gonna check out Second Peter three. I'm excited. I had to wait like four hours for it to be late enough in the morning that I could record this without making people who live in my house angry. Um Let's get started. So um in verse one here, right off the bat, it says this, this second epistle 0:00:26 - 0:00:53 , beloved. I now write unto you in both which I stir you stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. Um So his purpose in writing these epistles is to stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance. Any time you hit a phrase that sounds strange, you should look into it and figure out why it is that 0:00:53 - 0:01:18 uh it's not obvious what it means that its meaning is non obvious. And in some cases, you'll find that it's just weird old English King James translation. Uh But in many situations, you'll find that there's a deeper meaning here as there is in this case, but this isn't really what I want to spend time 0:01:18 - 0:00:00 on, but it's worth looking up these, these words and, and as you read, you should always ask yourself what does this mean, why are these words here? Why are they in this order? And there are many tools like uh Bible hub where you can look up the words in their um I don't wanna say original language, 0:00:00 - 0:02:08 but in a more ancient language, at least closer to the original. And what you'll find as you spend more time doing that is that there, there are ideas that, that are quite far from our normal understanding of these things and it's worth looking into. Uh So without getting into this stirrup your pure 0:02:07 - 0:02:31 minds business, um there is something that, that should be mentioned it and that is that uh all messengers of God perform the same mission. They just do so at different resolutions and levels of effectiveness. So they have different levels of understanding and they have different levels of effectiveness 0:02:30 - 0:02:54 . But it's the same mission of the father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And you'll recall when Jesus is describing the mission of the Holy Ghost and saying what the Holy Ghost will do after he leaves from his mortal mission, uh the Holy Ghost will come and uh will teach you new things, but also bring 0:02:54 - 0:03:18 to your remembrance, the things that you were previously taught. And so that is what Peter is doing here. Um But you should look up this business of stirring up your pure minds. Um OK, verse two that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment 0:03:17 - 0:03:36 of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. Again, this is an invitation to ask questions. So as you're reading the scriptures, you can just generate question after question after question. And at least in the beginning, it's very useful to actually write these down in a way that's searchable and then 0:03:36 - 0:03:55 to pore over these from time to time and ask the Lord about them. And you'll find that some questions he'll answer right away. Other ques questions will take a little while and some questions might take a very long time. So it's, it's uh there are some questions where the price tag might be 10 years 0:03:55 - 0:04:19 of asking about it or more. But every question has an answer and the more you ask, the more you'll receive. So one question here is what's the difference between the holy prophets and the apostles of the Lord and savior? And uh you could subdivide that and into questions like how does what they teach 0:04:19 - 0:04:46 differ and how, what's the difference in how they learned of? What are they testifying? What are they teaching about? So those are interesting questions with good answers. Verse three. No, don't get too frustrated if I'm just leaving more questions than answers. I promise there's good stuff that I'm 0:04:46 - 0:05:07 actually going to address knowing this first that there shall come in the last days. Scoffers walking after their own lusts. All right. So here's another tip for studying the scriptures. When you get to words like Scoffer, can you readily define that to say a 12 year old? Do you, do you have a definition 0:05:06 - 0:05:23 for that word that could be understood by a 10 year old or 12 year old? Um One of my kids right now, he's at a phase where he, you cannot have a conversation with him because he peppers you with questions every three words. He'll ask you what, what does that mean? Why is this, what does this mean? Why 0:05:23 - 0:05:46 is this? And uh this is one way where we should be like Children as we're reading the scriptures, don't just glaze over what you don't understand, pretend that you have an annoying preteen asking you questions nonstop when you just really don't wanna think about those things. Um and stop and ask the 0:05:46 - 0:06:12 question, write down the question, look up the word and you'll find uh with a lot of these New Testament words, especially uh when it's talking about attributes of people, like someone being a scoffer, you'll find that the actual meaning of the word uh is much more readily applicable to your life and 0:06:12 - 0:06:36 how you see the world today than, than the word as it's used. And uh you ought to gain proficiency sufficient to translate those words in your mind as you're reading them. Or if you have a pigeon brain like me and you can't remember a dang thing, you should uh start a file with definitions of words and 0:06:36 - 0:06:56 then that will help you become more proficient with this. So that when you're reading, you're actually understanding what it says instead of just skipping over it. And so, um, reading this verse, um there shall come in the last days. Scoffers walking after their own lusts. I would ask you, what does 0:06:55 - 0:07:16 a, what is a scoffer? What would that look like today? Because we're in the last days? And what does it mean to walk after your own lusts? So lust is another good word. And uh I think most people, if you said, what does this mean? They, they spit out a definition having to do a sexual temptation. And 0:07:16 - 0:07:40 that's not at all the definition. That's a very specific subset of the definition. But if you limit it to that, you will miss almost every um example of that today. Verse four and saying, where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers fell asleep? All things continue as they were from the beginning 0:07:40 - 0:08:03 of the creation. OK? Who are the fathers in this case? So, so the attitude that Peter is prophesying uh that people have today is that you'll have people saying, well, where is the Lord? He said he was coming back, but where is he? Because he's not here? And by the way, things have been the same, pretty 0:08:03 - 0:08:28 much as long as we remember. Um But there's a more specific application that he's going to dig into. Uh speaking of the flood. So the question, who are the fathers in this case? Fell asleep? I mean, that's interesting too because some of them died and some of them did not die. Um Anyway, so fell asleep 0:08:27 - 0:08:47 , could, could uh you could look at that in the broader sense of they're not actively ministering to the world today. And then you could ask, why is that? And that also has an answer. Uh an important answer. It's very relevant for the last days. But anyway, um so since the fathers fell asleep, in this 0:08:47 - 0:09:11 case, talking about uh the, the pre flood patriarchs, uh and Noah was the last one. So you, you could say Shem was the last one. I would say Noah was the last one. Um verse five for this, they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of God. The heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the 0:09:11 - 0:09:39 water and in the water. Um So willful ignorance is a really big deal. It's something that most Christians don't mind. Uh It's a sin most Christians don't mind committing. And uh Peter's point here is that the way things are exactly the way that the Lord appointed them to be all things are by his word 0:09:38 - 0:10:01 . And according to his plan. And um if you, if you were to say something like, well, where, where's the Lord? He said he was coming back But, uh, as far as I can tell everything is how it always was, then you're willfully ignorant of how things were before the flood and why they changed and when they 0:10:01 - 0:10:28 changed and how they changed. So, as a for example, people before the flood lived up to 1000 years and that's pretty crazy. Right. People after the flood lived for 100 and 20 years and, uh, then at some point that changed to 70 years and that those three things are four reasons and they're really important 0:10:27 - 0:10:55 reasons. And uh so that's not coincidental and you know, you don't know anyone who's lived for 100 and 20 years. But um many people who are on the, who are alive right now will live for longer than 70. Um So times are changing and I'm not saying they'll live till they're 90 as things were in the beginning 0:10:54 - 0:11:22 , they will be in the end and they will transition to that for the same reasons. Another difference in how things were before is in the quantity. I, I guess we could say the scope, the scope of truth that was available on earth and why was it available in such a scope? Uh So you have to remember that 0:11:21 - 0:11:53 Adam and Eve dwelt in the presence of God before the fall and they were the only two human beings who lived here as fallen man with that knowledge. They retained that knowledge in the fall. And So uh they were able to transmit that knowledge to their posterity and that all came to an end with the flood 0:11:53 - 0:12:16 . So before the flood, all of the knowledge that Adam shared with his posterity was openly available to all people. And that's one reason the flood happened because they were sinning against such great light and truth. You could read about this in Genesis, although the translations are really bad, but 0:12:15 - 0:12:38 maybe you can make it out OK to see this. Um So that's a pattern that will be repeated in the last days. And so it's really important to understand continuing in verse six, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. But now in seven, but the heavens and the earth which are 0:12:38 - 0:12:59 now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. So one thing that humans tend to do is they presume that how things are now, that's exactly how they'll be tomorrow and they presume that how things were yesterday or exactly how they've 0:12:58 - 0:13:24 always been. Now, we always have abundant evidence that this is not the case, right? And yet we go about just with this normalcy bias. And um one example of this is what Peter is giving and he's, he's trying to use, excuse me, an example that his audience would recognize is readily apparent. Basically 0:13:23 - 0:13:42 what he's saying is, oh, well, you guys all know about the flood and you all know how the world was different before then because uh everything was one continent, for example. Right? And it all got broken up and after the flood, after the waters receded, the earth was different than it used to be. And 0:13:42 - 0:14:05 um it's sort of a different situation but that doesn't mean that it will always be how it is today. And he's trying to stress the point that God is in control. And all of this is according to plan, it's all, it's all mechanically progressing onward like a clock. And uh if you know what a clock looks 0:14:04 - 0:14:25 like and you know the direction of the hand, you know what comes next, right? Because it's all been defined and it's all in the scriptures. That's what he was saying up here. He's trying to help them understand and not just be aware of but live according to the words which have been spoken by the holy 0:14:25 - 0:14:48 prophets uh before about these things and what was going to happen. And when it's all been said, doesn't mean people pay attention to it, understand it or live according to it. So that's, that's the message um in verse eight, which we haven't read yet but beloved be not ignorant of this one thing that 0:14:48 - 0:15:12 one day is with the Lord is 1000 years and 1000 years is one day. So tick, tick, tick, tick right there. Seven ticks and the seventh tick is very different from the sixth that came before. So, um, going back to seven, he's, he's saying that there is a time kept in store or there's according to the plan 0:15:12 - 0:15:36 , there's a time when fire is going to come and that fire will provide judgment and it will provide perdition of ungodly men. So, traditions, in other words, you should look up judgment is a good word to understand and I'll help you with that one. Judgment does not mean punishment. It's like um the word 0:15:35 - 0:16:03 , risk is a four letter word and most people treat it like that, but risk is neither bad nor good. It's just uncertainty. And so within risk, there is both opportunity and danger. And if you want to be successful in life, you have to approach risk, not run from it and you have to figure out ways to mitigate 0:16:02 - 0:16:31 the danger because opportunity is the gateway. It's the key to improvement. So judgment is the same way. It is not bad nor good. It contains both and which one it is for you depends on the choices you make with respect to what with respect to God. So God is the judge. He is the example by which we will 0:16:31 - 0:16:58 be judged. So the more about whom we know we learn and the more uh fully we live according to what we learn, the more judgment will be a good thing for us. So judgment can cause blessing or punishment. So when judgment leads to blessing, that's called restitution, sometimes it's called restoration. I 0:16:58 - 0:17:15 don't like using that word because it's not what anyone thinks of when they hear uh the, the meaning, the intended meaning isn't what people think about when they hear the word, but the scriptures use it. So if you, if you do a scripture, search for the word restore or restoration, uh typically it's 0:17:15 - 0:17:44 used to mean um to render restitution or to, to make things as they deserve to be, right? So if you've worked hard and done the right thing, your whole life, but your life is still really hard and uh unenjoyable, then restitution. Uh Of course, I'm very much simplifying this, but restitution is to receive 0:17:43 - 0:18:03 enjoyment for all of that or maybe more uh plainly, if your neighbor's dog eats your sheep, they need to restore your sheep to you. They, they probably aren't gonna bring it back to life, but they need to give you a new sheep and maybe they need to give you two for your trouble. So that's what restoration 0:18:03 - 0:18:24 means. But you know, you know what punishment means a lot of times when folks do things, they um don't immediately face the penalties of doing those, those bad things. So that's what that means. I'll leave perdition up to you to look up. Ok. So we read verse 81 day is 1000 years. The point is, is that 0:18:24 - 0:18:51 it may seem like God is delaying what he needs to do in your life, in the world. He is not delaying anything, it's not delaying anything. Um Verse nine, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. As some men count slackness, but as long suffering, it's another good word to look up to us. Word not 0:18:51 - 0:19:17 willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. There are many, many scriptures that, that speak of this idea that uh a key purpose of creation is to expose people to every opportunity that they can have to recognize and receive what is good. So it's all about giving people the 0:19:17 - 0:19:45 opportunity to prepare for the next life. So uh repentance, I hope, you know what that word is. If you watch this channel, I hope you've read my book on repentance. But uh repentance means to reconcile to how you understand God to be, to live just as you understand Him, to be in all things at all times 0:19:45 - 0:20:12 . So that is also very key to the purpose of our lives. That's why we're here is both to be exposed to more of what we knew about God before and to choose to live according to it through faith. And then also to demonstrate to others what we've learned, which is quite natural. It just happens for the 0:20:12 - 0:20:33 most part as you live according to what you know. So these aren't separate things, but it it sometimes it's good to emphasize them separately verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. So what is the day of the Lord? That's another great question in the, which the heavens shall 0:20:33 - 0:20:54 pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also in the works that are there in shall be burned up. What is this all about? Well, one of the many things that are going to happen in the future is that everything we take for granted about the way this world works 0:20:53 - 0:21:17 in a geophysical sense, in the solar system, all these things are going to change. And um some of these things are gonna happen all of a sudden and other things will be more spaced out in time. But Peter's giving us a warning here that what we think is always going to be is not always going to be. And 0:21:16 - 0:21:47 then we get this very important idea of uh of this theme of fire. Once again, he mentioned it before. Where was that? We use our tools here. There you go verse seven. So the end times is the times time of fire. And he links that to judgment. And now we read about the elements melting with heat in the 0:21:47 - 0:22:12 earth in the works that are there in being burned up. We could talk about this for a while but uh maybe we'll just hang it for now and keep going. We, we will come back to it. I promise verse 11, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved. I love that. That word is used. What manner of persons 0:22:11 - 0:22:34 ought you to be in all, all holy conversation and Godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, where in the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Uh Again, trying very hard to limit what I'm saying here for time. If, if no other 0:22:34 - 0:22:58 reason, although there are other good reasons, there's a theme here that you might not get when reading, this is quite important. And what Peter is saying is, don't live your life according to how you see things right now live your life. According to how we've been told, things will be. And one of the 0:22:58 - 0:23:26 things He's stressing over and over again is that we have to live our lives in a way that can withstand this fire. Because anything that isn't reconciled to that fire is going to be dissolved, melted. Is there another word he uses? It's going to pass away, et cetera burned up. And so when he says, look 0:23:25 - 0:23:54 for new heavens and a new earth or live or excuse me, look for and hasten unto the coming of the day of God. What he's saying is find and live the law of the Kingdom of God because the world as you see it now, that world that you see is not ruled by God, it's not ruled by the same set of laws. And in 0:23:54 - 0:24:21 saying that you'll notice I was careful to, to link it to your perception, God is in charge here. But the current state of affairs is that folks have a very long leash and that there's a reason for that. It's, it's to provide a space for repentance and growth as we read before. But that time will come 0:24:21 - 0:24:54 to an end. And the way it's going to come back into governance, more direct governance by God is through, passing through fire. So there are a lot of keys there. I'm just trying to make this as, as brief as I can. So he says in 13, we according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein 0:24:54 - 0:25:22 dwelleth righteousness. And if you want to see a parallel of this phrasing, look in Hebrews 12 where um Paul writes about Abraham seeking for a city that does not have foundations. In other words, he was walking physically through the promised land during his mortal sojourn and that land was promised 0:25:21 - 0:25:48 to him. But he understood that the kingdom he sought could not be found on the earth at that time. And so he was seeking and living laws that pertain to a higher kingdom, God's kingdom. And that is what you ought to be doing as well where righteousness reigns. And um that's going to put you at odds with 0:25:48 - 0:26:14 the world as it is today. But that is the commandment. And if you wait until you see obvious reasons to do this, you cannot have the same outcomes as one who does it early through faith. So he says in 14, wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be fond of him in 0:26:14 - 0:26:44 peace without spot and blameless. So let's dissect this. So if you look for these things, the higher laws of righteousness be diligent that ye may be fond of Him, who's Him, Jesus in peace without spot and blameless. Now, what does, what does that mean in peace? We could go pretty deep on that. But uh 0:26:44 - 0:27:12 let's not, let's just say that as all of these things are revealed and the fire comes in hotter and hotter ways. The question is, will you retain peace? So do you have peace? Now, as a fair enough question, given that so many people do not. And so if you don't then seek God so that you can find that 0:27:11 - 0:27:35 peace and that will come through Him giving you laws which you might already have and maybe you're just not obeying them. But as you reconcile yourself to everything that God teaches you, you will encounter this piece. And then the trick is to find what's required so that you can retain that peace even 0:27:35 - 0:28:05 up to the level of the fire of God's presence, which will come to earth eventually and that happens both gradually and all at once. So their their gradual events that happen and there's they're all at once events was this without spot? That means that when that level of light is upon you, you are still 0:28:04 - 0:28:36 the person you thought you were before it was upon you. There are uh multiple passages in scripture where uh a being of great light appears to someone who diligently sought the Lord and thought they were without spot. But in the light of that being, they were revealed to be anything but without spot 0:28:35 - 0:29:10 um examples, Isaiah when he's taken into heaven and he says, whoa, whoa be upon me. And he's losing his mind because he's realizing in that setting that he is not without spot, that he is not blameless. And so um an angel comes with a coal from the altar and touches his lips to sanctify him. In another 0:29:09 - 0:29:34 instance of this is Daniel when a being of great light appears to him. And uh he says my comeliness was made corruption that's in Daniel 10. And so comeliness is fancy old English word. But what he was saying was everything that I thought was good about me is worthless. And that's exactly what happens 0:29:34 - 0:30:05 when you come into the presence of a being of greater light than you and you have not previously reconciled to that level. So um there's a lot more that could be said there, but we'll leave it at that. So that's the world that we're trying to tune ourselves to. And if you're going through life saying 0:30:04 - 0:30:29 well, and this boy is this human nature. Um You know, someone living check to check and is in peace about this presumes that nothing will ever change about their situation, that they will never encounter circumstances that require more than their present circumstances and they will never encounter circumstances 0:30:27 - 0:30:57 that reduce their current earnings. And that is absurd. And yet it is extremely common. I've known many of these people. Um That's a culture I was raised in and escaped. And uh it's apparently very hard to do as far as human nature goes because this isn't just a financial problem. It's much broader than 0:30:57 - 0:31:23 that. And so if you look around in churches, people say, oh yeah, things are great. My life's great. I have peace and someone with greater light could look at that piece and name 300 things that would take it away that they're aware of, but that you aren't this, this is one thing that, that causes you 0:31:23 - 0:31:48 to perceive your spots and your blame or your imperfections when you're in the presence of such a being because you all of a sudden see a little bit more of what they see and realize that everything you thought was sufficient is woefully insufficient. It's either insufficient. A lot of times it's not 0:31:48 - 0:32:16 even there, a lot of times the sources of your piece are actually illusions. And as they're taken away, you realize who you really are, what you're really all about and just how inadequate your beliefs and character are to withstand reality things as they really are. Not just the little tiny, you know 0:32:16 - 0:32:43 , looking at life through a straw of your perception shows them to be OK. Verse 15 and to count that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation. Sorry, I want to move on. And the spirit's telling me to pause and make sure you know all of the tools. So, so you might be asking yourself, OK. Fine, Rob 0:32:42 - 0:33:08 . I hear what you're saying. So exactly how do I prepare myself for situations that are beyond my present awareness? So the world's not on fire. So how do I prepare for that when it's beyond anything I know? And the answer for that, the shortest answer is that all of the tools for that are already on 0:33:07 - 0:33:35 the earth. The safest descriptive answer to the question is you will find this in a path that starts right in front of your nose. The very next step on that path is all the stuff you already know about, but you're not living according to, that's the first step. If we were talking one on one and you said 0:33:35 - 0:33:58 to me, I'm doing all of that. What's next? I'd have an answer for you. But I think the vast majority of people who are gonna watch that, that's the answer it while there are things you know that you don't do. That's the thing that is the next step. There's no shortcut around it. That's it. S So once 0:33:58 - 0:34:19 you do that, what happens is the Lord will reveal the next thing to you and he has tools for this. He can show you in the scriptures, he can show you through prompting, he can show you through answers to prayer and much of the time he will show you through people in your life. So um until you're reconciled 0:34:18 - 0:34:50 to all, you know, none of that will do you any good verse 15 and account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you. So this is gonna be a fun part 16 and also in all his epistles, speaking in them 0:34:50 - 0:35:20 of these things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they, that are unlearned and unstable rest as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. It's been so interesting to reread and reread and reread the writings of Paul. It's a marvel to me how powerful and plain the 0:35:19 - 0:35:50 ideas in those epistles are. And yet the world's understanding of these things is worse than non existent to put it bluntly. And that's really sad. So maybe someone will fix that someday. But I can only imagine how irritated Paul is with people who um are unlearned and unstable, who rest what he has 0:35:50 - 0:36:20 said. It must frustrate him beyond belief. Verse 17, ye therefore beloved, seeing ye know these things before beware. Lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness. So steadfastness is consistency um verse 18, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord 0:36:20 - 0:36:42 and Savior Jesus Christ to him, be glory both now and forever. Amen. You know, when you read stuff like this growing grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a lot of times the these are things that your mind just kind of skips over if you have read the New Testament a bunch, but 0:36:41 - 0:37:10 these words have meaning. So if I were to ask you the following questions, what would you say? What does it mean to grow grace for grace? What is the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? These are things that have meaning and uh Peter is specifically referring to an incremental cycle of increasing 0:37:09 - 0:37:37 in what we know of and how much we know God. So uh if you made it this far, there's a surprising number of people who tap out about halfway through these videos according to the stats that youtube shows me. But I wanna give you a little nugget that's actually probably more important than anything else 0:37:37 - 0:38:14 I've said so far. That is that as the end times comes I've referred to this many times in terms of waves. Um the fire gets hotter and hotter, you're going to need greater and greater truth, to withstand it. If you want. Where was that? My goodness as on the wrong page, peace. If you want peace in the 0:38:14 - 0:38:45 midst of all of that, Jesus said, uh my peace I give to you not as the world gives, give eye to you. His peace transcends anything that can happen here. And if that's the piece that you want as these things unfold, there's a path to that, but you have to, to acquire that understanding and you have to 0:38:44 - 0:39:10 live it. And what that requires of you now is to live what's already before you and the, the time is short and things are just gonna get hotter. And so you have to be purified to the standard you already have so that God can lead you into greater things and the cycle will go on and on until those who 0:39:10 - 0:39:36 have come all the way through. It are prepared for the fullness of what will will come. And um in, in no way is any of this about surviving. Um It's about receiving a fullness of what the Lord knows. You're capable of receiving and capable of enjoying because with law comes joy. And so you have to come 0:39:35 - 0:40:02 up higher and higher in law in order to come higher and higher in joy. And that's what it's all about. So I really like this passage because uh it sums up a whole lot of ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while. And one specific thing that I haven't addressed yet is this contrast between 0:40:02 - 0:40:32 the flood in Noah's time and the fire that is already upon us. So when uh the flood occurred, see water can have different depths and the flood was deep enough that it covered the land. But no matter how deep the water is, as long as you have a serviceable boat, you will rise above any depth of water 0:40:32 - 0:41:01 . That is not true of fire. There isn't something that will protect you from all levels of heat. So um things burn at different temperatures. Um And so if you're dealing with dry stubble or straw that will ignite at relatively low temperatures. If you're dealing with aluminum, you need a higher temperature 0:41:00 - 0:41:28 . If you're dealing with steel or gold, they all have different temperatures. But even diamonds can melt at high enough heat, right? So in order to endure hotter and hotter temperatures, you need something that is uh more resistant to the heat than the things that came before. And if you think about 0:41:27 - 0:41:54 this, in terms of purifying, say some precious metal, the heat will burn out impurities and it will do so. Uh according to the level of heat and the melting point of the impurities, not just melting, but combustion point of the impurities. And so what will melt? Gold will burn things that are less than 0:41:54 - 0:42:21 gold. So the process is done when subjection to the heat no longer changes the material, it'll still melt, but it won't come out of the process different than when it went in. And I've spoken about this before, was separating wheat from chaff. And, uh, what you're seeking is fire. So what, what protects 0:42:20 - 0:42:49 you from water is a boat. What protects you from? Fire is going through the fire before then. So this is really interesting because a boat can protect you even if you yourself are not buoyant. So Noah built the ark and the people that listened to Noah went on the ark and were saved. But the promise was 0:42:49 - 0:43:16 Noah's, the people who went on the boat were saved because they submitted themselves to Noah's promise to that covenant with the fire, you're going to be subjected to this heat. And so the question is what's going to protect you from that heat? You're, you're, if you're going to, to endure the fire directly 0:43:15 - 0:43:44 , the only way to prepare yourself is to subject yourself to that fire before it comes. So in this passage, we talked about the fire of the Lord's presence. There's fire from many sources though. And I guess I won't get into that. But briefly, a lot of the fire in the end times comes from the consequences 0:43:42 - 0:44:17 of people living really bad principles. And so these are things that include plagues, famines, et cetera, wars, natural disasters, serious stuff. And like Peter said, don't just assume that things tomorrow will be like they were yesterday. It's going to be a lot different. And so while those things haven't 0:44:16 - 0:44:46 happened yet, if you seek the Lord, he can lead you through them before they happen and through faith, he can teach you what you need to be prepared for when they are upon all people. So hopefully, I've given you some things to think about and uh these are all themes that I will um expand upon in books 0:00:00 - 0:00:27 OK. So we're gonna check out Second Peter three. I'm excited. I had to wait like four hours for it to be late enough in the morning that I could record this without making people who live in my house angry. Um Let's get started. So um in verse one here, right off the bat, it says this, this second epistle 0:00:26 - 0:00:53 , beloved. I now write unto you in both which I stir you stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. Um So his purpose in writing these epistles is to stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance. Any time you hit a phrase that sounds strange, you should look into it and figure out why it is that 0:00:53 - 0:01:18 uh it's not obvious what it means that its meaning is non obvious. And in some cases, you'll find that it's just weird old English King James translation. Uh But in many situations, you'll find that there's a deeper meaning here as there is in this case, but this isn't really what I want to spend time 0:01:18 - 0:00:00 on, but it's worth looking up these, these words and, and as you read, you should always ask yourself what does this mean, why are these words here? Why are they in this order? And there are many tools like uh Bible hub where you can look up the words in their um I don't wanna say original language, 0:00:00 - 0:02:08 but in a more ancient language, at least closer to the original. And what you'll find as you spend more time doing that is that there, there are ideas that, that are quite far from our normal understanding of these things and it's worth looking into. Uh So without getting into this stirrup your pure 0:02:07 - 0:02:31 minds business, um there is something that, that should be mentioned it and that is that uh all messengers of God perform the same mission. They just do so at different resolutions and levels of effectiveness. So they have different levels of understanding and they have different levels of effectiveness 0:02:30 - 0:02:54 . But it's the same mission of the father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And you'll recall when Jesus is describing the mission of the Holy Ghost and saying what the Holy Ghost will do after he leaves from his mortal mission, uh the Holy Ghost will come and uh will teach you new things, but also bring 0:02:54 - 0:03:18 to your remembrance, the things that you were previously taught. And so that is what Peter is doing here. Um But you should look up this business of stirring up your pure minds. Um OK, verse two that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment 0:03:17 - 0:03:36 of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. Again, this is an invitation to ask questions. So as you're reading the scriptures, you can just generate question after question after question. And at least in the beginning, it's very useful to actually write these down in a way that's searchable and then 0:03:36 - 0:03:55 to pore over these from time to time and ask the Lord about them. And you'll find that some questions he'll answer right away. Other ques questions will take a little while and some questions might take a very long time. So it's, it's uh there are some questions where the price tag might be 10 years 0:03:55 - 0:04:19 of asking about it or more. But every question has an answer and the more you ask, the more you'll receive. So one question here is what's the difference between the holy prophets and the apostles of the Lord and savior? And uh you could subdivide that and into questions like how does what they teach 0:04:19 - 0:04:46 differ and how, what's the difference in how they learned of? What are they testifying? What are they teaching about? So those are interesting questions with good answers. Verse three. No, don't get too frustrated if I'm just leaving more questions than answers. I promise there's good stuff that I'm 0:04:46 - 0:05:07 actually going to address knowing this first that there shall come in the last days. Scoffers walking after their own lusts. All right. So here's another tip for studying the scriptures. When you get to words like Scoffer, can you readily define that to say a 12 year old? Do you, do you have a definition 0:05:06 - 0:05:23 for that word that could be understood by a 10 year old or 12 year old? Um One of my kids right now, he's at a phase where he, you cannot have a conversation with him because he peppers you with questions every three words. He'll ask you what, what does that mean? Why is this, what does this mean? Why 0:05:23 - 0:05:46 is this? And uh this is one way where we should be like Children as we're reading the scriptures, don't just glaze over what you don't understand, pretend that you have an annoying preteen asking you questions nonstop when you just really don't wanna think about those things. Um and stop and ask the 0:05:46 - 0:06:12 question, write down the question, look up the word and you'll find uh with a lot of these New Testament words, especially uh when it's talking about attributes of people, like someone being a scoffer, you'll find that the actual meaning of the word uh is much more readily applicable to your life and 0:06:12 - 0:06:36 how you see the world today than, than the word as it's used. And uh you ought to gain proficiency sufficient to translate those words in your mind as you're reading them. Or if you have a pigeon brain like me and you can't remember a dang thing, you should uh start a file with definitions of words and 0:06:36 - 0:06:56 then that will help you become more proficient with this. So that when you're reading, you're actually understanding what it says instead of just skipping over it. And so, um, reading this verse, um there shall come in the last days. Scoffers walking after their own lusts. I would ask you, what does 0:06:55 - 0:07:16 a, what is a scoffer? What would that look like today? Because we're in the last days? And what does it mean to walk after your own lusts? So lust is another good word. And uh I think most people, if you said, what does this mean? They, they spit out a definition having to do a sexual temptation. And 0:07:16 - 0:07:40 that's not at all the definition. That's a very specific subset of the definition. But if you limit it to that, you will miss almost every um example of that today. Verse four and saying, where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers fell asleep? All things continue as they were from the beginning 0:07:40 - 0:08:03 of the creation. OK? Who are the fathers in this case? So, so the attitude that Peter is prophesying uh that people have today is that you'll have people saying, well, where is the Lord? He said he was coming back, but where is he? Because he's not here? And by the way, things have been the same, pretty 0:08:03 - 0:08:28 much as long as we remember. Um But there's a more specific application that he's going to dig into. Uh speaking of the flood. So the question, who are the fathers in this case? Fell asleep? I mean, that's interesting too because some of them died and some of them did not die. Um Anyway, so fell asleep 0:08:27 - 0:08:47 , could, could uh you could look at that in the broader sense of they're not actively ministering to the world today. And then you could ask, why is that? And that also has an answer. Uh an important answer. It's very relevant for the last days. But anyway, um so since the fathers fell asleep, in this 0:08:47 - 0:09:11 case, talking about uh the, the pre flood patriarchs, uh and Noah was the last one. So you, you could say Shem was the last one. I would say Noah was the last one. Um verse five for this, they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of God. The heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the 0:09:11 - 0:09:39 water and in the water. Um So willful ignorance is a really big deal. It's something that most Christians don't mind. Uh It's a sin most Christians don't mind committing. And uh Peter's point here is that the way things are exactly the way that the Lord appointed them to be all things are by his word 0:09:38 - 0:10:01 . And according to his plan. And um if you, if you were to say something like, well, where, where's the Lord? He said he was coming back But, uh, as far as I can tell everything is how it always was, then you're willfully ignorant of how things were before the flood and why they changed and when they 0:10:01 - 0:10:28 changed and how they changed. So, as a for example, people before the flood lived up to 1000 years and that's pretty crazy. Right. People after the flood lived for 100 and 20 years and, uh, then at some point that changed to 70 years and that those three things are four reasons and they're really important 0:10:27 - 0:10:55 reasons. And uh so that's not coincidental and you know, you don't know anyone who's lived for 100 and 20 years. But um many people who are on the, who are alive right now will live for longer than 70. Um So times are changing and I'm not saying they'll live till they're 90 as things were in the beginning 0:10:54 - 0:11:22 , they will be in the end and they will transition to that for the same reasons. Another difference in how things were before is in the quantity. I, I guess we could say the scope, the scope of truth that was available on earth and why was it available in such a scope? Uh So you have to remember that 0:11:21 - 0:11:53 Adam and Eve dwelt in the presence of God before the fall and they were the only two human beings who lived here as fallen man with that knowledge. They retained that knowledge in the fall. And So uh they were able to transmit that knowledge to their posterity and that all came to an end with the flood 0:11:53 - 0:12:16 . So before the flood, all of the knowledge that Adam shared with his posterity was openly available to all people. And that's one reason the flood happened because they were sinning against such great light and truth. You could read about this in Genesis, although the translations are really bad, but 0:12:15 - 0:12:38 maybe you can make it out OK to see this. Um So that's a pattern that will be repeated in the last days. And so it's really important to understand continuing in verse six, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. But now in seven, but the heavens and the earth which are 0:12:38 - 0:12:59 now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. So one thing that humans tend to do is they presume that how things are now, that's exactly how they'll be tomorrow and they presume that how things were yesterday or exactly how they've 0:12:58 - 0:13:24 always been. Now, we always have abundant evidence that this is not the case, right? And yet we go about just with this normalcy bias. And um one example of this is what Peter is giving and he's, he's trying to use, excuse me, an example that his audience would recognize is readily apparent. Basically 0:13:23 - 0:13:42 what he's saying is, oh, well, you guys all know about the flood and you all know how the world was different before then because uh everything was one continent, for example. Right? And it all got broken up and after the flood, after the waters receded, the earth was different than it used to be. And 0:13:42 - 0:14:05 um it's sort of a different situation but that doesn't mean that it will always be how it is today. And he's trying to stress the point that God is in control. And all of this is according to plan, it's all, it's all mechanically progressing onward like a clock. And uh if you know what a clock looks 0:14:04 - 0:14:25 like and you know the direction of the hand, you know what comes next, right? Because it's all been defined and it's all in the scriptures. That's what he was saying up here. He's trying to help them understand and not just be aware of but live according to the words which have been spoken by the holy 0:14:25 - 0:14:48 prophets uh before about these things and what was going to happen. And when it's all been said, doesn't mean people pay attention to it, understand it or live according to it. So that's, that's the message um in verse eight, which we haven't read yet but beloved be not ignorant of this one thing that 0:14:48 - 0:15:12 one day is with the Lord is 1000 years and 1000 years is one day. So tick, tick, tick, tick right there. Seven ticks and the seventh tick is very different from the sixth that came before. So, um, going back to seven, he's, he's saying that there is a time kept in store or there's according to the plan 0:15:12 - 0:15:36 , there's a time when fire is going to come and that fire will provide judgment and it will provide perdition of ungodly men. So, traditions, in other words, you should look up judgment is a good word to understand and I'll help you with that one. Judgment does not mean punishment. It's like um the word 0:15:35 - 0:16:03 , risk is a four letter word and most people treat it like that, but risk is neither bad nor good. It's just uncertainty. And so within risk, there is both opportunity and danger. And if you want to be successful in life, you have to approach risk, not run from it and you have to figure out ways to mitigate 0:16:02 - 0:16:31 the danger because opportunity is the gateway. It's the key to improvement. So judgment is the same way. It is not bad nor good. It contains both and which one it is for you depends on the choices you make with respect to what with respect to God. So God is the judge. He is the example by which we will 0:16:31 - 0:16:58 be judged. So the more about whom we know we learn and the more uh fully we live according to what we learn, the more judgment will be a good thing for us. So judgment can cause blessing or punishment. So when judgment leads to blessing, that's called restitution, sometimes it's called restoration. I 0:16:58 - 0:17:15 don't like using that word because it's not what anyone thinks of when they hear uh the, the meaning, the intended meaning isn't what people think about when they hear the word, but the scriptures use it. So if you, if you do a scripture, search for the word restore or restoration, uh typically it's 0:17:15 - 0:17:44 used to mean um to render restitution or to, to make things as they deserve to be, right? So if you've worked hard and done the right thing, your whole life, but your life is still really hard and uh unenjoyable, then restitution. Uh Of course, I'm very much simplifying this, but restitution is to receive 0:17:43 - 0:18:03 enjoyment for all of that or maybe more uh plainly, if your neighbor's dog eats your sheep, they need to restore your sheep to you. They, they probably aren't gonna bring it back to life, but they need to give you a new sheep and maybe they need to give you two for your trouble. So that's what restoration 0:18:03 - 0:18:24 means. But you know, you know what punishment means a lot of times when folks do things, they um don't immediately face the penalties of doing those, those bad things. So that's what that means. I'll leave perdition up to you to look up. Ok. So we read verse 81 day is 1000 years. The point is, is that 0:18:24 - 0:18:51 it may seem like God is delaying what he needs to do in your life, in the world. He is not delaying anything, it's not delaying anything. Um Verse nine, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. As some men count slackness, but as long suffering, it's another good word to look up to us. Word not 0:18:51 - 0:19:17 willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. There are many, many scriptures that, that speak of this idea that uh a key purpose of creation is to expose people to every opportunity that they can have to recognize and receive what is good. So it's all about giving people the 0:19:17 - 0:19:45 opportunity to prepare for the next life. So uh repentance, I hope, you know what that word is. If you watch this channel, I hope you've read my book on repentance. But uh repentance means to reconcile to how you understand God to be, to live just as you understand Him, to be in all things at all times 0:19:45 - 0:20:12 . So that is also very key to the purpose of our lives. That's why we're here is both to be exposed to more of what we knew about God before and to choose to live according to it through faith. And then also to demonstrate to others what we've learned, which is quite natural. It just happens for the 0:20:12 - 0:20:33 most part as you live according to what you know. So these aren't separate things, but it it sometimes it's good to emphasize them separately verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. So what is the day of the Lord? That's another great question in the, which the heavens shall 0:20:33 - 0:20:54 pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also in the works that are there in shall be burned up. What is this all about? Well, one of the many things that are going to happen in the future is that everything we take for granted about the way this world works 0:20:53 - 0:21:17 in a geophysical sense, in the solar system, all these things are going to change. And um some of these things are gonna happen all of a sudden and other things will be more spaced out in time. But Peter's giving us a warning here that what we think is always going to be is not always going to be. And 0:21:16 - 0:21:47 then we get this very important idea of uh of this theme of fire. Once again, he mentioned it before. Where was that? We use our tools here. There you go verse seven. So the end times is the times time of fire. And he links that to judgment. And now we read about the elements melting with heat in the 0:21:47 - 0:22:12 earth in the works that are there in being burned up. We could talk about this for a while but uh maybe we'll just hang it for now and keep going. We, we will come back to it. I promise verse 11, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved. I love that. That word is used. What manner of persons 0:22:11 - 0:22:34 ought you to be in all, all holy conversation and Godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, where in the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Uh Again, trying very hard to limit what I'm saying here for time. If, if no other 0:22:34 - 0:22:58 reason, although there are other good reasons, there's a theme here that you might not get when reading, this is quite important. And what Peter is saying is, don't live your life according to how you see things right now live your life. According to how we've been told, things will be. And one of the 0:22:58 - 0:23:26 things He's stressing over and over again is that we have to live our lives in a way that can withstand this fire. Because anything that isn't reconciled to that fire is going to be dissolved, melted. Is there another word he uses? It's going to pass away, et cetera burned up. And so when he says, look 0:23:25 - 0:23:54 for new heavens and a new earth or live or excuse me, look for and hasten unto the coming of the day of God. What he's saying is find and live the law of the Kingdom of God because the world as you see it now, that world that you see is not ruled by God, it's not ruled by the same set of laws. And in 0:23:54 - 0:24:21 saying that you'll notice I was careful to, to link it to your perception, God is in charge here. But the current state of affairs is that folks have a very long leash and that there's a reason for that. It's, it's to provide a space for repentance and growth as we read before. But that time will come 0:24:21 - 0:24:54 to an end. And the way it's going to come back into governance, more direct governance by God is through, passing through fire. So there are a lot of keys there. I'm just trying to make this as, as brief as I can. So he says in 13, we according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein 0:24:54 - 0:25:22 dwelleth righteousness. And if you want to see a parallel of this phrasing, look in Hebrews 12 where um Paul writes about Abraham seeking for a city that does not have foundations. In other words, he was walking physically through the promised land during his mortal sojourn and that land was promised 0:25:21 - 0:25:48 to him. But he understood that the kingdom he sought could not be found on the earth at that time. And so he was seeking and living laws that pertain to a higher kingdom, God's kingdom. And that is what you ought to be doing as well where righteousness reigns. And um that's going to put you at odds with 0:25:48 - 0:26:14 the world as it is today. But that is the commandment. And if you wait until you see obvious reasons to do this, you cannot have the same outcomes as one who does it early through faith. So he says in 14, wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be fond of him in 0:26:14 - 0:26:44 peace without spot and blameless. So let's dissect this. So if you look for these things, the higher laws of righteousness be diligent that ye may be fond of Him, who's Him, Jesus in peace without spot and blameless. Now, what does, what does that mean in peace? We could go pretty deep on that. But uh 0:26:44 - 0:27:12 let's not, let's just say that as all of these things are revealed and the fire comes in hotter and hotter ways. The question is, will you retain peace? So do you have peace? Now, as a fair enough question, given that so many people do not. And so if you don't then seek God so that you can find that 0:27:11 - 0:27:35 peace and that will come through Him giving you laws which you might already have and maybe you're just not obeying them. But as you reconcile yourself to everything that God teaches you, you will encounter this piece. And then the trick is to find what's required so that you can retain that peace even 0:27:35 - 0:28:05 up to the level of the fire of God's presence, which will come to earth eventually and that happens both gradually and all at once. So their their gradual events that happen and there's they're all at once events was this without spot? That means that when that level of light is upon you, you are still 0:28:04 - 0:28:36 the person you thought you were before it was upon you. There are uh multiple passages in scripture where uh a being of great light appears to someone who diligently sought the Lord and thought they were without spot. But in the light of that being, they were revealed to be anything but without spot 0:28:35 - 0:29:10 um examples, Isaiah when he's taken into heaven and he says, whoa, whoa be upon me. And he's losing his mind because he's realizing in that setting that he is not without spot, that he is not blameless. And so um an angel comes with a coal from the altar and touches his lips to sanctify him. In another 0:29:09 - 0:29:34 instance of this is Daniel when a being of great light appears to him. And uh he says my comeliness was made corruption that's in Daniel 10. And so comeliness is fancy old English word. But what he was saying was everything that I thought was good about me is worthless. And that's exactly what happens 0:29:34 - 0:30:05 when you come into the presence of a being of greater light than you and you have not previously reconciled to that level. So um there's a lot more that could be said there, but we'll leave it at that. So that's the world that we're trying to tune ourselves to. And if you're going through life saying 0:30:04 - 0:30:29 well, and this boy is this human nature. Um You know, someone living check to check and is in peace about this presumes that nothing will ever change about their situation, that they will never encounter circumstances that require more than their present circumstances and they will never encounter circumstances 0:30:27 - 0:30:57 that reduce their current earnings. And that is absurd. And yet it is extremely common. I've known many of these people. Um That's a culture I was raised in and escaped. And uh it's apparently very hard to do as far as human nature goes because this isn't just a financial problem. It's much broader than 0:30:57 - 0:31:23 that. And so if you look around in churches, people say, oh yeah, things are great. My life's great. I have peace and someone with greater light could look at that piece and name 300 things that would take it away that they're aware of, but that you aren't this, this is one thing that, that causes you 0:31:23 - 0:31:48 to perceive your spots and your blame or your imperfections when you're in the presence of such a being because you all of a sudden see a little bit more of what they see and realize that everything you thought was sufficient is woefully insufficient. It's either insufficient. A lot of times it's not 0:31:48 - 0:32:16 even there, a lot of times the sources of your piece are actually illusions. And as they're taken away, you realize who you really are, what you're really all about and just how inadequate your beliefs and character are to withstand reality things as they really are. Not just the little tiny, you know 0:32:16 - 0:32:43 , looking at life through a straw of your perception shows them to be OK. Verse 15 and to count that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation. Sorry, I want to move on. And the spirit's telling me to pause and make sure you know all of the tools. So, so you might be asking yourself, OK. Fine, Rob 0:32:42 - 0:33:08 . I hear what you're saying. So exactly how do I prepare myself for situations that are beyond my present awareness? So the world's not on fire. So how do I prepare for that when it's beyond anything I know? And the answer for that, the shortest answer is that all of the tools for that are already on 0:33:07 - 0:33:35 the earth. The safest descriptive answer to the question is you will find this in a path that starts right in front of your nose. The very next step on that path is all the stuff you already know about, but you're not living according to, that's the first step. If we were talking one on one and you said 0:33:35 - 0:33:58 to me, I'm doing all of that. What's next? I'd have an answer for you. But I think the vast majority of people who are gonna watch that, that's the answer it while there are things you know that you don't do. That's the thing that is the next step. There's no shortcut around it. That's it. S So once 0:33:58 - 0:34:19 you do that, what happens is the Lord will reveal the next thing to you and he has tools for this. He can show you in the scriptures, he can show you through prompting, he can show you through answers to prayer and much of the time he will show you through people in your life. So um until you're reconciled 0:34:18 - 0:34:50 to all, you know, none of that will do you any good verse 15 and account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you. So this is gonna be a fun part 16 and also in all his epistles, speaking in them 0:34:50 - 0:35:20 of these things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they, that are unlearned and unstable rest as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. It's been so interesting to reread and reread and reread the writings of Paul. It's a marvel to me how powerful and plain the 0:35:19 - 0:35:50 ideas in those epistles are. And yet the world's understanding of these things is worse than non existent to put it bluntly. And that's really sad. So maybe someone will fix that someday. But I can only imagine how irritated Paul is with people who um are unlearned and unstable, who rest what he has 0:35:50 - 0:36:20 said. It must frustrate him beyond belief. Verse 17, ye therefore beloved, seeing ye know these things before beware. Lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness. So steadfastness is consistency um verse 18, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord 0:36:20 - 0:36:42 and Savior Jesus Christ to him, be glory both now and forever. Amen. You know, when you read stuff like this growing grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a lot of times the these are things that your mind just kind of skips over if you have read the New Testament a bunch, but 0:36:41 - 0:37:10 these words have meaning. So if I were to ask you the following questions, what would you say? What does it mean to grow grace for grace? What is the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? These are things that have meaning and uh Peter is specifically referring to an incremental cycle of increasing 0:37:09 - 0:37:37 in what we know of and how much we know God. So uh if you made it this far, there's a surprising number of people who tap out about halfway through these videos according to the stats that youtube shows me. But I wanna give you a little nugget that's actually probably more important than anything else 0:37:37 - 0:38:14 I've said so far. That is that as the end times comes I've referred to this many times in terms of waves. Um the fire gets hotter and hotter, you're going to need greater and greater truth, to withstand it. If you want. Where was that? My goodness as on the wrong page, peace. If you want peace in the 0:38:14 - 0:38:45 midst of all of that, Jesus said, uh my peace I give to you not as the world gives, give eye to you. His peace transcends anything that can happen here. And if that's the piece that you want as these things unfold, there's a path to that, but you have to, to acquire that understanding and you have to 0:38:44 - 0:39:10 live it. And what that requires of you now is to live what's already before you and the, the time is short and things are just gonna get hotter. And so you have to be purified to the standard you already have so that God can lead you into greater things and the cycle will go on and on until those who 0:39:10 - 0:39:36 have come all the way through. It are prepared for the fullness of what will will come. And um in, in no way is any of this about surviving. Um It's about receiving a fullness of what the Lord knows. You're capable of receiving and capable of enjoying because with law comes joy. And so you have to come 0:39:35 - 0:40:02 up higher and higher in law in order to come higher and higher in joy. And that's what it's all about. So I really like this passage because uh it sums up a whole lot of ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while. And one specific thing that I haven't addressed yet is this contrast between 0:40:02 - 0:40:32 the flood in Noah's time and the fire that is already upon us. So when uh the flood occurred, see water can have different depths and the flood was deep enough that it covered the land. But no matter how deep the water is, as long as you have a serviceable boat, you will rise above any depth of water 0:40:32 - 0:41:01 . That is not true of fire. There isn't something that will protect you from all levels of heat. So um things burn at different temperatures. Um And so if you're dealing with dry stubble or straw that will ignite at relatively low temperatures. If you're dealing with aluminum, you need a higher temperature 0:41:00 - 0:41:28 . If you're dealing with steel or gold, they all have different temperatures. But even diamonds can melt at high enough heat, right? So in order to endure hotter and hotter temperatures, you need something that is uh more resistant to the heat than the things that came before. And if you think about 0:41:27 - 0:41:54 this, in terms of purifying, say some precious metal, the heat will burn out impurities and it will do so. Uh according to the level of heat and the melting point of the impurities, not just melting, but combustion point of the impurities. And so what will melt? Gold will burn things that are less than 0:41:54 - 0:42:21 gold. So the process is done when subjection to the heat no longer changes the material, it'll still melt, but it won't come out of the process different than when it went in. And I've spoken about this before, was separating wheat from chaff. And, uh, what you're seeking is fire. So what, what protects 0:42:20 - 0:42:49 you from water is a boat. What protects you from? Fire is going through the fire before then. So this is really interesting because a boat can protect you even if you yourself are not buoyant. So Noah built the ark and the people that listened to Noah went on the ark and were saved. But the promise was 0:42:49 - 0:43:16 Noah's, the people who went on the boat were saved because they submitted themselves to Noah's promise to that covenant with the fire, you're going to be subjected to this heat. And so the question is what's going to protect you from that heat? You're, you're, if you're going to, to endure the fire directly 0:43:15 - 0:43:44 , the only way to prepare yourself is to subject yourself to that fire before it comes. So in this passage, we talked about the fire of the Lord's presence. There's fire from many sources though. And I guess I won't get into that. But briefly, a lot of the fire in the end times comes from the consequences 0:43:42 - 0:44:17 of people living really bad principles. And so these are things that include plagues, famines, et cetera, wars, natural disasters, serious stuff. And like Peter said, don't just assume that things tomorrow will be like they were yesterday. It's going to be a lot different. And so while those things haven't 0:44:16 - 0:44:46 happened yet, if you seek the Lord, he can lead you through them before they happen and through faith, he can teach you what you need to be prepared for when they are upon all people. So hopefully, I've given you some things to think about and uh these are all themes that I will um expand upon in books 0:44:46 - 0:44:54 that will be published one day. But for now, hopefully, that's enough to chew on. Thanks for watching.