Weekly Devotional 12-5-11 Rest Assured, God is Faithful
“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” ( 2 Peter 3:1-10).
Peter was led to write the above passage to encourage believers (the elect) in their walk as they faced difficulties because of persecution and to warn that in the last days there would be scoffers going about casting doubt on the validity of the Lord’s return. They mocking said, “4 Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation”. Peter assured them that the Lord would return soon, unexpectedly, like a thief in the night and utterly destroy the earth. This of course would have caused great concern in some of them. Would the Lord return and destroy the earth before their loved ones were saved? Peter reminded them that God is longsuffering, that even though He would return suddenly, unexpectedly, He would not return until the elect were secured. He said that God is not willing that any of the elect be lost, but that all come to repentance. The opposite to “not willing” is “willing” and because it is God’s will that all chosen persons be secured in salvation (be saved) they will be secured. We of today can rest in that truth.
In his letter to Romans Paul wrote, “25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written” (Romans 11:25). There is much in this passage that we could delve into, but to the point of this devotional I bring your attention to, “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”. It is God who is adding to the ranks of the redeemed according to His time, He is in control of all there is, even time. We read from another of Paul’s letters,
“1Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2Thessalonians 2:1-8).
The Holy Spirit residing in the Church is the restrainer. The Day of the Lord will not occur until approximately seven years after He is taken out of the way. Before He is taken out of the way, the church will be caught up to be with the Lord. We read from 1st Corinthians 15:50-53, “50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
God is faithful and no one of the elect shall be lost. He will bring them all to faith.
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