Sermon Tone Analysis

2 Peter 3:11-16

Judgement of the Saints

 

/Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?

You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness/.

/So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters.

His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction/.

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he day of the Lord will come like a thief.

The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

These things shall soon come to pass.

The world and all who dwell therein shall at last face divine judgement and God’s holy wrath.

And as the inhabitants of this world are judged, we Christians are also judged.

Though we Christians will not be formally judged at that time, the quality of our witness will be revealed by the impact we have had on those in the world.

The quality of our life and witness will be then revealed.

Our obedience to Christ will be seen in those rescued from the coming wrath.

It is certain that /we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad/ [*2 Corinthians 5:10*].

The text today confronts us, challenging each one who names the Name of Christ, charging us to invest our best labours in His great work; and we are threatened by that confrontation.

Though discomforted, we are seized by the knowledge that God shall yet judge all mankind, and each of us know some who must stand in the judgement.

Some among us have trifled with God’s grace.

We have said the right words, but somehow there has been no transformation of our lives.

It is not in professing Christ that we are saved; it is in possessing Christ that we are saved.

Though we have said we wish His salvation, we do not want to submit to Him or to call Him Master.

Consequently, all among us who are yet pretending to be Christians need to be concerned that we become Christians – now, while it is day.

Everything will be destroyed.

What kind of people ought we to be?

This is the central question of all Christian life and service.

Then, our gold and silver has corroded.

Our lands and homes have turned to dust.

Our fine garments have become rags.

Nothing is left save the Lord; and only knowledge of Him counts in that day.

The advent of that day is surprising; no one anticipates it.

Suddenly, it is there!

How shall we then live?

The hour is fast approaching, time is swiftly passing.

Whatever we intend to do, it must be shortly done.

While we dabble in petty politics, protect our transient fiefdoms and play at being religious the lost perish and all hasten toward judgement.

Though we live in the shadow of eternity, we attempt to hold onto the accoutrements of the dust of the moment that we call time.

Christians are Judged by the Quality of Their Lives.

/You ought to live holy and godly lives/.

Years ago it was common to hear a thought provoking challenge to the quality of our faith and practise as followers of Christ.

The question which was then frequently heard was, If Christianity were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you.

The evidence that He is Lord is a transformed life … a life which is being changed into His likeness.

Frankly, there is scant transformation evident in the lives of the saints today.

The desperate need of the hour is transformed lives within the professing church.

The evangelical churches are today becoming mainline, and as they do so they take on the trappings of acceptable religion.

Not only are we ourselves muted in our enthusiasm for Christ’s demanding presence, but we disdain those who are themselves stirred deeply by His Spirit.

Not only are we ourselves content to give God a pittance of our time, but we are offended when challenged by His demand to be Master of all.

We are too often content to depend upon anything and everything except Christ.

We depend upon God *also*.

That is not Christian Faith, however.

If you believe in Jesus *also*, He is of no use.

God is of use only when you believe in God *alone*.

Christ our Lord is not an addendum to insure that we live the abundant life; He is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.

If He is Lord of all, then He is Master over my thoughts, my speech, my actions.

My life is being judged by all who know my profession, and it shall yet be judged in the courts of Heaven when Christ Himself shall reveal what I have been.

When the Word confronts me with the challenge that I ought to live a holy and godly life, I am compelled to examine the quality of my life.

My thoughts should be thoughts worthy of Christ.

None of us can lay claim to an untarnished thought life, and I do not mean that there shall never be an unworthy thought in my mind.

I do mean that I must not tolerate and nourish those thoughts unworthy of Christ as Lord.

Martin Luther used to say, “I cannot keep the birds from flying over my head, but I can keep them from building a nest in my hair.”

Just so, I cannot keep thoughts of disobedience or evil from entering my mind unbidden, but I can insure that I do not permit them to remain there.

I can take steps to move steadily toward holiness and godliness in the matter of my thoughts.

I cannot gain victory over my mind by simply deciding that I will not think of that which is evil.

God always recommends replacement therapy.

He never takes away that which we hold except He replaces it with that which is better.

/Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.

And the God of peace will be with you/ [*Philippians 4:8,9*] is the command we have received to give us victory in this area of life.

If you are losing the battle in this arena, determine that you will feed your mind only on that which is pure and godly.

Read the Word.

Read the great sermons of the past.

Listen to taped messages which build the mind and equip you to honour God.

Cancel your newspaper subscription, it is nothing save sensationalism and error for the most part.

If there is something which you must know, there are plenty of people willing to tell you at the appropriate time.

Drop your cable subscription and put the television in the garage so that you will not be tempted to permit the godless to indoctrinate you in the finer points of rebellion.

For the most part we feast on rebellion, listen to the lies of defeat which the world sells as fact, and then marvel that we don’t seem to enjoy the blessings of God.

An old adage says that one cannot live on skim milk all week long and give cream on Sunday.

I am what my mind dwells on.

After a confrontation with the religious leaders, the disciples inquired of Jesus what He meant when He said, /What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him “unclean,” but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him “unclean.”/

Jesus explained /that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body/ … /but the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

These are what make a man “unclean” /[*Matthew 15:11, 17-20*].

Just as my thought life must reflect the presence of Christ, so my speech must reveal His mastery, if I will be judged worthy of His Name.

How easy it is to begin to speak as the world speaks.

We become casual in speech, cursing and swearing and misusing the Name of our Saviour; and even ministers of God are effected by this trend.

Since our models on screen all misuse God’s Name, we ourselves begin to do so.

Since the educated and the elite of our world use coarse language, even believers, in a misguided attempt to be socially acceptable, speak thusly.

“Oh, God,” has become the hallmark of contemporary speech, used as a casual response to every statement or to indicate our cool response to any situation.

“Christ” is no longer the revered Title of our Saviour, but an epithet which has even lost the force of emphasis through its frequency of use.

“Damn” is used so often in casual conversation that nothing will be left and no one will be safe in our world if God begins to heed our multiplied prayers.

Though the world speaks thusly, Christians must resist this tendency.

This does not begin to address the banal, mindless speech which without thought destroys reputations and even individuals.

Gossip and slander are the weapons used to kill more people than any handgun or rifle.

It is easy to dismiss a charge against ourselves by diverting attention through character assassination.

Have we lied or done evil?

Say that the one bringing the charge is crazy or suffering from mental imbalance due to an injury.