Monday after the Last Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 23, 2020 by under
Scripture: 2 Peter 3:1-18 (NKJV)
3:1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 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. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 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? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 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.
17 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; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
Devotion
Today’s reading tells us about those who don’t listen to the words of yesterday’s Epistle and Gospel. They sleep like the foolish virgins, but they mumble and grumble in their sleep: they don’t just think they are ‘good enough’ for the kingdom of ‘whatever god there may or may not be,’ but that they are, in fact, superior to Christians. The believers, they think, are waiting for something that will never come, something that they believe is just nonsense. After all, everything is just how it has been: nothing has changed yet, so nothing will change ever; Jesus hasn’t come back, so He’s not going to come back.
St. Peter handles such objections easily. God is not sluggish about keeping His promise or fulfilling His warning; He is unwilling to judge the world until He has shown His mercy completely, bringing the full number of His elect into the Kingdom! In this way, Peter says, He would stir up our minds that have been made pure in God’s eyes by the blood of Christ to show this understanding in our lives. Since the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night to those who sleep, we are to be seen looking forward to that Day, growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. Some twist the Word of grace, Peter says, using it as a license to sin. Instead, we look forward with sober joy, focused on and proclaiming in our words and actions that we and any who stand in that Day will do so by grace alone, for the sake of the Crucified Christ alone.
Prayer: Lord of Harvest, let there be joy and strength to work for Thee, till the nations far and near see Thy light and learn Thy fear. Amen. (TLH #507:6)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
