Looking and seeing-Peter uses these words several times. It is relevant to this day. It’s dangerous to look but not see. Jesus told the Pharisees and Jews that they had eyes to see yet they did not and ears to hear but they didn’t listen. It’s one thing to look and another to see. You can tell when someone is looking at you and seeing you by the expression on their face. It’s dangerous in this day to look but not see. There are so many things happening prophetically and biblically. They are plain and obvious, yet seemingly few are actually seeing these things for what they are.
Instinct will tell us to hang onto our everyday lives and not look at the present as being the end times. We’re coming to the last days; time is running out. Things are beginning to touch us. Economics, weather, and the state the whole world is in should cause us to see it. Behaviors are changing and for the worse. There is a falling away, a decrease in interest in the things of God. There is a lukewarm and even cold attitude toward God. People are turning the other way. There is an increase in deception. More and more are leaving common sense to follow foolish beliefs.
II Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”
We are called upon to look and see. Darker days are here. The light is dim, and the absence of light makes it harder to see. We are the children of light. It should alarm us that so many who used to be alarmed are not anymore.
In verse 1 Peter says “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.” His purpose for writing this is to “stir up pure minds.” He wants to make our innocent mind aware of what is going on. It does affect us. We can’t look at the Bible and not see what is happening. We’re living in it. Then in verse 17 he says “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.” The purpose is to stir the mind. The conclusion is to see what is happening so we won’t be led away ourselves.
To look is to turn our attention a certain direction. Whether we really see depends on what we do when we look. To see is to assimilate what we look at. A lot of things are taking place today. We look, but do we see them. Do we linger on the wrong things? The devil doesn’t want us to see things as they really are. He wants us to see through his eyes, his interpretation. He wants us not to be prepared for the day of the Lord.
Verse 14 says “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” This verse uses “seeing that ye look.” Verse 17 uses “seeing ye know these things.” We all know the end times are here. We say that off-the-cuff a lot. We should be looking at how ready we are. There is urgency for us to be aware and attentive. We can’t believe or trust much of what we see and hear today. Our school system, the media, the government-we can’t believe them anymore. There are so many lies and false images that it’s easy to get confused. This is the devil’s tool. He doesn’t want us to recognize the truth. Our prayer should be for open eyes and a clear mind. We can’t find ourselves saying these are not changing. It’s falling apart. God said it would. The age of grace is here, but it’s about to be over. For our own safety we need to be in a “seeing” mode.
Verse 1 says there needs to be a stirring of the mind. Don’t go to sleep. Stay alert and aware. Don’t trust everything. Let it be proved out by the Word of God- the truth. Verse 2 tells us why: “That ye 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 Saviour.” He told the church to see what the Old Testament prophets said and then what the apostles in the New Testament were telling them. We must see the truth of God’s words. That’s always a necessity but especially now. There are so many different religions and opinions that if we don’t know the truth we can be led away. He says to be “mindful of the words.”
Verses 3 and 4 plainly tell us about the last days. “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 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 the creation.” People mock the Lord. The skeptics look at things in the past and say “he’s not coming back or he would have by now.” It’s a joke to people anymore. It’s almost as if they dare the Lord to return. This is a lie of the devil. The more wicked society becomes the more skeptical people become. We need to worry about the coming of the Lord or we may find ourselves skeptical. The devil says “don’t worry about the coming of the Lord. It’s fine and dandy.” That’s one thing we don’t have to worry about. It is fine, and the end will be as God said and has placed it.
Things are more advanced these days. But others would have us believe that things are basically the same as they were since we evolved from those monkeys they say we did. These are errors, and it’s foolish to believe it. Things are not the same. We’ve seen changes since we were young. The signs slap us in the face. Then a commentator comes on and we follow this one and that. God is right!
Verses 5 and 6 say “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 water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.” We are ignorant when we say these things. It’s absurd to think its no worse and not moving to an end. It’s not the same old same old. Geology and science tell us an incident occurred abruptly and catastrophically and the earth was inundated of water. Every culture names it. They have their own name for Noah, but they all speak of it. We are involved in a progression of time that points to the coming of the Lord. Those who mock and say things will always continue as they are wrong. They’ve always changed. There is a hastening to the coming of the Lord. Things are in frenzy all over the world, yet people drift merrily along. God created it, and he will end it. The day of the Lord began when he created it all. God spoke and ended things as they were with the flood. The skeptics mocked Noah, but who knocked on the ark wanting in? God ended it. There was no way to get in.
In verses 8 and 9 Peter says “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” See past the skeptics who ask “why hasn’t it ended already. If it’s so bad why does the Lord put up with it?” Why does he put up with it? The Lord is waiting. He’s long suffering. He puts up with all that is going on for one purpose-he’s not willing that any perish. He wants all to be saved. He puts up with a lot. His name is a curse word. He sees the sins of the whole world, yet he waits. He doesn’t bring his wrath down on people, but many are asking for it by the way they live. Many deny God. They are led away by the wicked. Let’s not be led away. God has not forgotten the promise of his coming. He said there will be a new heaven and earth. The world will be rid of the devil. It will be rid of sin. He’s not putting the promise off. When God says its time, the day of the Lord will come.
We must see this, and react accordingly.
We’ll pick up with this next week. Read and study the remainder of the chapter.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 