Verse 15, And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

I. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.

A. The word "account".

1. The word means "count", or to think.

2. It also means to let this thought have the preeminence in your mind when you consider why Christ hasn't returned.

B. The word "salvation".

1. Many people believe salvation is only talking about redemption from everlasting destruction.

2. There are many ways of looking at salvation.

a. When Christ saved me from eternal destruction, I would save He has saved me.

b. If someone has saved me from drowning, I would say they have saved me.

3. There are three tenses of salvation: Salvation from past sins, present sins, and future sins.

4. A. W. Pink: Four fold salvation: Saved from the penalty, power, presence and most importantly the pleasure of sin.

C. The wrong way to look on the longsuffering of God.

1. Like the folks in verse 3 and 4.

2. They supposed that since Christ hadn't already returned, that He wasn't going to return.

3. Like the unfaithful servant in Matt. 24:42-51, who took the delayed return of the Lord as a time to revel with the wicked.

4. The wicked suppose that since God hasn't punished them for sinning that He won't punish them.

5. God is actually extending mercy to them, giving them time to repent and turn to Him.

D. The right way to look on the longsuffering of God.

1. Peter explains that the longsuffering of God is salvation (mercy) for us, not the putting off of punishment.

2. God waits on the elect to be born, hear the gospel, and come to Him for the salvation of the soul.

3. God waits on the saved to come to the truth of true spiritual service to Him (the salvation of the life).

II. Salvation is more precious the more we know about it.

A. Ex. 14:13 - Salvation means deliverance.

B. Ps. 27:1 - David could be delivered by God.

III. Tenses of salvation.

A. Titus 2 - Salvation is deliverance from sin.

1. V. 11 - Guilt and condemnation of sin - past tense.

2. V. 12 - Power of sin removed - present tense.

3. V. 13 - Presence of sin removed - future tense.

B. Verse 14:

1. Gave - past tense.

2. Redeem - present tense.

3. Purify - future tense.

C. Salvation is:

1. Possess it now - Justification - past tense - Salvation of the soul.

2. Experience it now - (Progressive) Sanctification - Present tense - Salvation of the Spirit.

3. Look forward to - Glorification - future tense - salvation of the body.

D. Israel in bondage is a type of salvation.

1. Delivered - past tense.

2. In wilderness - present tense.

3. In the promised land - future tense.

E. A man drowning in water.

1. Past tense - getting help.

2. Present tense - got to shore.

3. Future tense - after all is over.

4. Eph. 5:25-27 - Notice past, present, future.

a. Verse 25 - Christ gave Himself for His church - Past tense.

b. Verse 26 - Christ sanctifies His church - Present tense.

c. Verse 27 - Christ will present His church to Himself - Future tense.

F. Salvation is:

1. Past tense - Salvation of the Spirit - Death of Jesus on the cross.

2. Present tense - Sanctification (progressive) - Jesus as intercessor or the work of Jesus as priest.

3. Future tense - Glorification - Second coming of Christ or Christ as King.

G. The New Testament pictures the three tenses of salvation.

1. The four gospels look back to Jesus - past tense.

2. The epistles look to Jesus as intercessor - present tense.

3. Revelation looks forward to Jesus as King - future tense.

IV. More on salvation, sanctification, and glorification.

A. Salvation in the past tense. (Prophetic office of Jesus Christ.)

1. Death of Jesus - Guilt has been removed - I Peter 2:24.

2. The source of this blessing is God.

3. The foundation of this blessing is the blood of Jesus - Ex. 14:13.

4. This comes by faith - Eph. 2:8,9 Rom. 4.

5. We can know we are saved.

a. Witness of the Word of God.

b. By the Spirit of God - Rom. 8:16, I John 5:9-13.

c. Witness of life - Practical righteousness.

1. I John 2:29 - "righteous" people are born of God.

2. I John 2:3 - We have fellowship with the Father.

3. I John 5:2 - We love His commandments.

4. I John 3:14,18 - We have the true love of God in our hearts.

B. Sanctification - Christs' intercession.

1. Rom. 5:10 - We shall be saved by His life.

2. Heb. 7:25 - How we are sanctified.

3. Phil. 2:12,13 - Our sanctification is salvation.

4. John 11:44 - Lazarus came out alive (Justification). He was bound with grace clothes and Christ commanded to loose him (Sanctification).

5. II Cor. 5:14,15 - Christ died for us and all the saved shall live for Him in this life and in the life to come.

6. What about sin in our lives?

a. Our fellowship with God is broken.

b. Ps. 51 - The joy of our salvation ceases.

C. Glorification - kingship of Jesus - Phil. 3:20.

1. Heb. 9:28 - Christ shall receive us into His eternal kingdom.

2. I Peter 1:3-5 - He has an inheritance for us that will not fade away.

3. Rom. 8:23 - We pray for the redemption of our bodies.

4. Rom. 13:11 - Our salvation is nearer than when we believed.

5. Note these blessings (and these are only a few we shall receive).

a. Get home at last.

b. We'll have perfect bodies.

c. We'll have perfect environment.

d. Unbroken fellowship with the Father - Rev. 22:4.

V. Even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you.

A. Things we learn from this passage (copied from Barnes Notes on the New Testament).

1. That Peter knew Paul and his writings.

2. That Peter assumed the people he was writing to knew about the writings of Paul.

3. That Peter regarded Paul as a beloved brother.

a. In Gal. 2:11, Paul (under inspiration of the Holy Spirit) told of his confronting Peter about his actions before the Jews concerning the Gentiles.

b. There are some that believe Paul "jumped down the throat of Peter, yelling loudly, and generally making Peter look like a fool".

c. Paul did not confront Peter in order to publicly show what an idiot he was, or what a wise man Paul was.

d. I simply do not believe this to be the case.

e. There is no doubt that Paul publicly confronted Peter, Galatians 2:14.

f. There is also no doubt that Paul did this as one Christian gentlemen to another Christian gentlemen.

g. Paul confronted Peter in order to help him, and to show those Jews that were there a truth they had forgotten.

h. The result of the confrontation was that Paul and Peter are closer friends in the faith, not bitter enemies.

i. Peter shows in these verses that he has a continual interest in the things written by Paul.

4. That Peter regarded Paul as an authority on doctrines and the duties of religion.

5. That Peter regarded Paul as also being inspired and his writings as divine truth.

B. The writings of the apostles were apparently circulated among the believers.

1. Peter takes for granted that the people he is writing to were acquainted with and agreed with the writings of Paul.

2. We ought to speak daily of heavenly things so we will be able to discern the truth when it is spoken.

3. We don't want to be deceived by a lie simply because we don't understand the truth.

4. If we know what the truth is, we will know when somebody tells us a lie.

C. It seems that each apostle was interested in what the other apostles wrote.

1. Daniel (an inspired writer) read what Jeremiah (another inspired writer) wrote.

2. Peter had read what Paul wrote for he declared in this verse that Paul and he were in agreement on these doctrines.

Verse 16, As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

I. Peter had apparently read all of Paul's epistles.

A. He knew what they contained, and that they contained the truth.

B. He realized there were some things that were hard to understand.

1. The natural mind refuses to understand some spiritual truths.

2. II Cor. 4:3,4 - Paul declared that if "his" gospel is hid, it is hid to the minds of those that are lost, to whom the god (Satan) of this world hath blinded.

3. Peter is not saying that Paul writes in such a fashion as to make himself hard to be understood.

4. Hebrews 5:10-6:6 - Paul is going to give some "strong meat" to some "grown-up babes in Christ" who have previously had only milk. He knows this meat will not destroy them if they are already saved.

C. He didn't believe in not talking about confusing things, but revealing them in their entirety to the followers of Christ.

1. There are some things in the scriptures that are very hard to understand.

2. Matt. 27:21 - The disciples could cast out some demons, but some they could not.

a. Jesus said "...this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."

b. Just as some demons are harder to cast out than others, so some doctrines are harder to be understood than others.

II. What is "these things".

A. The soon destruction of the world.

B. The way Christians ought to look at this world and the world to come.

1. So they will be able to put proper emphasis upon proper things.

2. So they won't be so carried away with material things, which will soon pass away.

3. So they will put proper emphasis upon eternal things.

III. The word "wrest".

A. This word does not mean "wrestle" as in Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not with flesh and blood..."

B. Definition.

1. To wrench - or to jerk away by forcing.

2. To torture - or to put under a great deal of strain to force the results to appear in an unreasonable manner.

3. To pervert - or to change from it's original intended scriptural meaning to a new and completely opposite meaning, full of wickedness and evil.

C. The point here is that there are people who show themselves to be spiritual when in fact they twist the scriptures to fit an unbiblical meaning.

1. This makes their religion a cult, regardless of where their church membership is.

2. They could be saved or lost, but they aren't followers of Christ.

IV. There are varying degrees of learning among the followers of Christ.

A. Some have much knowledge, and are able to grasp the principles of doctrines much quicker than others.

1. There are some that have a little knowledge and therefore must struggle to understand some of the more complicated doctrines.

2. Others have more knowledge, and don't have to struggle so hard to understand some of the more complicated doctrines.

B. There are others who are unlearned.

1. These people haven't learned the fundamental doctrines, therefore, they can't understand any doctrines.

2. Why haven't these people learned?

3. Do they not have a spiritual curiosity concerning spiritual things?

4. If they are truly saved, they do have a spiritual curiosity, but if they do not develop that curiosity, and turn it into knowledge, they will never learn even the most elementary doctrines.

5. It is our responsibility to think about the doctrines of Christ, putting them into logical (scriptural) order in our minds, that we might be able to understand how we must serve God.

6. It may be that some of these people are in a circumstance that make it more difficult to learn true doctrines than others.

a. We must learn, however, not to use the circumstances of our lives as an excuse for not learning, worshipping, and serving God.

b. Circumstances may "slow down" our progress, but it will never stop us.

C. There are others who are unstable.

1. These are people who seem to be unable to grasp and retain even the most fundamental doctrine.

2. Doctrinally, they wander about from doctrine to doctrine, from this teacher to that teacher, listening to all sorts of things, and never able to come the knowledge of the truth.

3. There can be some discussion as to whether or not these people are truly saved.

4. The fact is that we really cannot tell.

5. When we meet people like this in our life, we cannot tell whether or not they are saved.

6. Sometimes it seems like they are saved, and other times, we are quite sure they aren't saved.

7. Only God knows the heart of these people, just like only God knows the heart of those people we are sure are saved.

8. It is not our place to know about their salvation.

9. We can only judge their fruits, and since the fruits are so mixed up, we cannot tell.

10. Let us leave these people to God.

V. These two groups of people are not the only ones that struggle with proper scripture interpretation.

A. This does not mean that the "learned in the scriptures" get understanding without studying.

1. The people that are "learned in the scripture" also struggle with the meaning of some scriptures, but they don't struggle to their own destruction, as the unlearned and unstable do.

2. This does not mean that the scriptures are the cause of their destruction.

B. Their destruction comes because they have never learned the most elementary principle of scripture interpretation.

1. The first of these principles is: Never use our knowledge to determine the meaning of a verse or doctrine.

2. Always use another scripture to determine the meaning of a verse or doctrine.

a. When the unlearned and unstable wrestle with the scripture they are trying to make the scripture fit their lives instead of making their lives fit the scripture.

b. This does not mean that God has so written the scriptures that they will be too complicated to understand.

c. It means all scripture can be understood only when God gives anointing.

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 stedfastness.

I. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before.

A. Peter assumes there are some things these people know.

1. These are some very common precepts of doctrine that every Christian should know.

2. These people have just read the letter Peter wrote to them, so he has a foundation for saying they know these things.

B. The things they know before are:

1. II Peter 1:1-3 - God gives everything necessary to life and godliness.

2. II Peter 1:3-11 - Saved people will either grow or forget.

3. II Peter 1:12-21 - The desire of Peter's heart for the continuation of the gospel after his death.

4. II Peter 2 - God knows who the wicked are and He will judge them accordingly.

5. II Peter 3:2 - Follow the complete Bible, which contains both the Old Testament and New Testament.

6. II Peter 3:3-7 - There will be many scoffers in the last days, who are ignorant of God's ways and acts.

7. II Peter 3:8-16 - Even though there are many difficult scriptures, believers will be faithful because they trust God.

II. Beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked.

A. Notice the word "led".

1. Satan will not drive us into sin because we will be aware of what he is doing and will balk.

2. Satan will appear to us with a sin he wants us to sin, but he will make that sin appear good.

3. Then, we will willingly follow Satan into wickedness thinking we are following God into holiness.

4. The Word of God is what we must use to understand when Satan is using his wiles to pull us away from God.

B. We certainly don't like to think about it, but it is very possible for saved people to listen to so much trash that they will finally began to think that the trash is good food.

C. Notice that Peter does not say they will be led away with the wicked.

1. These Christians know they shouldn't mix and mingle with the wicked, so they won't do that.

2. They will remain apart and separate from them, but they will begin to accept the things the wicked are doing.

3. The end result is the same.

4. Christians can be led away from Christ with the same error that keeps the wicked from Christ.

III. Fall from your own stedfastness.

A. Peter is not talking about these saved people losing their salvation.

1. This fall is not a fall back into original sin.

2. It is a fall back into the sinfulness of the past life.

3. It is a fall from their own stedfastness.

B. Peter is talking about a fall from "stedfastness" (stability gained from scriptural doctrines).

C. Notice the word "fall".

1. This word indicates a downward movement (away from God, not an upward movement toward God).

2. Peter did not say "jump", like the downward movement was intentional.

3. There is no doubt that the fall from stedfastness is the result of Satan's trickery.

D. At what point in our lives can we stop being concerned about falling from our own stedfastness?

1. There is never a time we can stop.

a. It doesn't make any difference how old we get, or how much we learn about God's Word and will.

b. Satan is always ready and willing to cast a stumbling block in our way so others will be discouraged because of our sinfulness.

2. Young people like to think they aren't affected by wickedness, they believe they have time to sin now and serve God later.

3. People who are in early adulthood like to believe they don't have time to serve because they are busy working hard and saving for the future, raising their children, and taking care of the daily cares of this life. They believe they will have time to serve God when they are older and more settled.

4. Older adults often think it is too late for them to begin to serve God, or they think they have gotten along for years without God, so why do they need him now?

5. In truth, it seems the older I get, the more sin attacks me.

6. The way to fight sin is not to fight it directly, but to submit ourselves to God, trusting Him, and working for Him. Our minds will then be filled with positive things to do instead of being filled with negative things we ought not do.

Verse 18, But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

I. A comparison of verse 17 and 18 shows us that Christians will do either one of two things.

A. They will grow in grace, or they will "fall from grace".

1. It is impossible to remain neutral or the same.

2. What are you doing?

B. II Peter 4-9 also shows that the Christian will either grow closer to God or grow colder to God. There is no such thing as remaining stagnant toward God.

II. Two separate things - growing in grace, and growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

A. It is possible to grow in knowledge without growing in grace.

1. John 5:39 - Jesus said that the Pharisees ought to "..search the scriptures...", but they failed to discover that Jesus was the Christ.

2. II Tim. 3:7 - One sign of the last days is that people will be "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

B. It is possible to have limited growth in grace without growing much in the knowledge of God.

1. A newly saved person can sometimes exercise great grace with very little knowledge.

2. Sometimes we can grow in grace because we have already grown in knowledge.

3. Most of the time, we will grow in knowledge, then that knowledge will help us to grow in grace.

4. We must remember that growing in knowledge is a grace of God, and not a work of the flesh.

C. The best way - the balanced way - is to "...worship in spirit and in truth", John 4:24.

1. Regardless of whether we gain grace or knowledge first, one thing is very sure:

2. we can never grow into Christian adulthood without growing in grace and knowledge.

III. To him be glory both now and for ever.

A. There can be no doubt that Peter desires to give glory to Jesus Christ.

1. Sometimes saved people worship the building their church meets in.

2. Sometimes saved people worship the pastor God has put over them.

3. Sometimes saved people worship the material things God has given them.

4. The only one that we should worship is Jesus.

a. Rev. 4:11 - The twenty four elders fall down before the throne of God and worship Him because He is worthy.

b. Rev. 19:10, When John fell down before the angel to worship him, the angel told him to worship God.

B. Glory is dignity, honor, praise, and worship.

C. Both now and forever.

1. Jesus Christ should receive all our worship in this present day.

2. Jesus Christ will continue to receive worshipful praise throughout the endless ages of eternity.