2 Peter 3:1-14 Today’s message marks the end of our 8-part series on the end times. We are currently in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are disorientated by the speed with which our way of life has been turned upside down. All over the world people are isolated, anxious and fearful. Could this be a foretaste of life in the end times? While cannot escape much of the chaos around us, the strategy given in our passage today…
Patience is not something that comes easily to most of us. Yet so much of life involves waiting… waiting for rain (especially if you’re a farmer), waiting for Mr or Mrs Right to come along, waiting for an answer to a prayer… and so on. One particular test of our patience is the second coming of Jesus Christ, now 2000 years since it was first predicted by Jesus Himself. Some people have given up their faith and even become cynical because of this delay. But according to Peter, this is a short-sighted view. God’s plans still are firmly on track and He is showing patience Himself during this waiting period so that more people might hear and respond to the gospel. If evangelism is that important to God, what about us?
In these opening words of Peter’s second letter he is concerned to remind believers about the importance of having a growing and fruitful faith. Here Peter seems to draw our attention to three key things which will keep us growing in our faith: (1) Remembering the Foundations of our Faith; (2) Fostering the Fruit of our Faith and (3) Remembering the Future of our Faith.