The
apostle drawing towards the conclusion of his second epistle, begins this
last chapter with repeating the account of his design and scope in writing a
second time to them, ver. 1-2. II. He proceeds to mention one thing that
induced him to write this second epistle, namely, the coming of scoffers,
whom he describes, ver. 3-7. III. He instructs and establishes them in the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to judgment, ver. 8-10. IV. He sets forth
the use and improvement which Christians ought to make of Christ's second
coming, and that dissolution and renovation of things which will accompany
that solemn coming of our Lord, ver. 11-18.
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Adhere
to Words of the Prophets and Commandments of the Apostles.
A. D. 67.
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1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write
unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of
remembrance: 2 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:
That the apostle might the better reach his end in writing this epistle,
which is to make them steady and constant in a fiducial and practical
remembrance of the doctrine of the gospel, he, 1. Expresses his special
affection and tenderness for them, by calling them beloved, hereby
evidencing that he added to godliness brotherly-kindness, as he had (ch.
i. 17) exhorted them to do. Ministers must be examples of love and
affection, as well as life and conversation. 2. He evinces a sincere love to
them, and hearty concern for them, by writing the same thing to them, though
in other words. It being safe for them, it shall not be grievous to him to
write upon the same subject, and pursue the same design, by those methods
which are most likely to succeed. 3. The better to recommend the matter, he
tells them that what he would have them to remember are, (1.) The words
spoken by the holy prophets, who were divinely inspired, both
enlightened and sanctified by the Holy Ghost; and, seeing these persons'
minds were purified by the sanctifying operation of the same Spirit, they
were the better disposed to receive and retain what came from God by the
holy prophets. (2.) The commandments of the apostles of the Lord and
Saviour; and therefore the disciples and servants of Christ ought to
regard what those who are sent by him have declared unto them to be the will
of their Lord. What God has spoken by the prophets of the Old Testament, and
Christ has commanded by the apostles of the New, cannot but demand and
deserve to be frequently remembered; and those who meditate on these things
will feel the quickening virtues thereof. It is by these things the pure
minds of Christians are to be stirred up, that they may be active and lively
in the work of holiness, and zealous and unwearied in the way to heaven.
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The
Cavils of Infidels; Destruction of the World.
A. D. 67.
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3 Knowing this first, that there shall come
in the last days scoffers, walking after 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 the
creation. 5 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: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being
overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the
earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
To quicken and excite us to a serious minding and firm adhering to what God
has revealed to us by the prophets and apostles, we are told that there will
be scoffers, men who will make a mock of sin, and of salvation
from it. God's way of saving sinners by Jesus Christ is what men will scoff
at, and that in the last days, under the gospel. This indeed may seem
very strange, that the New-Testament dispensation of the covenant of grace,
which is spiritual and therefore more agreeable to the nature of God than
the Old, should be ridiculed and reproached; but the spirituality and
simplicity of New-Testament worship are directly contrary to the carnal mind
of man, and this accounts for what the apostle seems here to hint at,
namely, that scoffers shall be more numerous and more bold in the last days
than ever before. Though in all ages those who were born and walked after
the flesh persecuted, reviled, and reproached those who were born and did
walk after the Spirit, yet in the last days there will be a great
improvement in the art and impudence of bantering serious godliness, and
those who firmly adhere to the circumspection and self-denial which the
gospel prescribes. This is what is mentioned as a thing well known to all
Christians, and therefore they ought to reckon upon it, that they may not be
surprised and shaken, as if some strange thing happened unto them. Now to
prevent the true Christian's being overcome, when attacked by these
scoffers, we are told,
I. What sort of persons they are: they walk after their own lusts,
they follow the devices and desires of their own hearts, and carnal
affections, not the dictates and directions of right reason and an
enlightened well-informed judgment. This they do in the course of their
conversation, they live as they list, and they speak as they list; it is not
only their inward minds that are evil and opposite to God, as the mind of
every unrenewed sinner is (Rom. viii. 7), alienated from God, ignorant of
him, and averse to him; but they have grown to such a height of wickedness
that they proclaim openly what is in the hearts of others who are yet
carnal; they say, "Our tongues are our own, and our strength, and time,
and who is lord over us? Who shall contradict or control us, or ever
call us to an account for what we say or do?" And, as they scorn to be
confined by any laws of God in their conversation, so neither will they bear
that the revelation of God should dictate and prescribe to them what they
are to believe; as they will walk in their own way, and talk their own
language, so will they also think their own thoughts, and form principles
which are altogether their own: here also their own lusts alone shall
be consulted by them. None but such accomplished libertines as are here
described can take a seat, at least they cannot sit in the seat of the
scornful. "By this you shall know them, that you may the better be upon
your guard against them."
II. We also are forewarned how far they will proceed: they will attempt to
shake and unsettle us, even as to our belief of Christ's second coming; they
will scoffingly say, Where is the promise of his coming? v. 4.
Without this, all the other articles of the Christian faith will signify
very little; this is that which fills up and gives the finishing stroke to
all the rest. The promised Messiah has come, he was made flesh, and dwelt
among us; he is altogether such a one as in stated before, and has done
all that for us which has been before taken notice of. These principles the
enemies of Christianity have all along endeavoured to overturn; but as these
all rest upon facts which are already past, and of which this and the other
apostles have given us the most sure and satisfying evidence, it is probable
that they will at last grow weary of their opposition to them; and yet,
while one very principal article of our faith refers to what is still
behind, and only has a promise to rest upon, here they will still attack us,
even to the end of time. Till our Lord shall have come, they will not
themselves believe that he will come; nay, they will laugh at the very
mention of his second coming, and do what in them lies to put all out of
countenance who seriously believe and wait for it. Now therefore let us see
how this point stands, both on the believer's part and on the part of these
seducers: the believer not only desires that he may come, but, having a
promise that he will come, a promise that he himself has made and often
repeated, a promise received and reported by faithful witnesses, and left
upon sure record, he is also firmly and fully persuaded that he will come:
on the other hand, these seducers, because they wish he never may, therefore
do all that in them lies to cheat themselves and others into a persuasion
that he will never come. If they cannot deny that there is a promise, yet
they will laugh at that very promise, which argues much higher degrees of
infidelity and contempt: Where is the promise, say they, of his
coming?
III. We are also forewarned of the method of their reasoning, for while they
laugh they will pretend to argue too. To this purpose they add that since
the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning
of the creation, v. 4. This is a subtle, though not a solid way
of reasoning; it is apt to make impressions upon weak minds, and especially
upon wicked hearts. Because sentence against them is not speedily
executed, therefore they flatter themselves that it never will,
whereupon their hearts are fully set in them to do evil (Eccl. viii.
11); thus they act themselves, and thus they would persuade others to act;
so here, say they, "The fathers have fallen asleep, those are
all dead to whom the promise was made, and it was never made good in
their time, and there is no likelihood that it ever will be in any time; why
should we trouble ourselves about it? If there had been any truth or
certainty in the promise you speak of, we should surely have seen somewhat
of it before this time, some signs of his coming, some preparatory steps in
order to it; whereas we find to this very day all things continue as they
were, without any change, even from the beginning of the creation.
Since the world has undergone no changes in the course of so many thousand
years, why should we affright ourselves as if it were to have an end?"
Thus do these scoffers argue. Because they see no changes, therefore they
fear not God, Ps. lv. 19. They neither fear him nor his judgments; what
he never has done they would conclude he never can do or never will.
IV. Here is the falsehood of their argument detected. Whereas they
confidently had said there had not been any change from the beginning of
the creation, the apostle puts us in remembrance of a change already
past, which, in a manner, equals that which we are called to expect and look
for, which was the drowning of the world in the days of Noah. This these
scoffers had overlooked; they took no notice of it. Though they might have
known it, and ought to have known it, yet this they willingly are
ignorant of (v. 5), they choose to pass it over in silence, as if
they had never heard or known any thing of it; if they knew it, they did not
like to retain it in their knowledge; they did not receive this truth in the
love of it, neither did they care to own it. Note, It is hard to persuade
men to believe what they are not willing to find true; they are ignorant, in
many cases, because they are willing to be ignorant, and they do not know
because they do not care to know. But let not sinners think that such
ignorance as this will be admitted as an excuse for whatever sin it may
betray them into. Those who crucified Christ did not know who he was; for had
they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. ii.
8); but, though ignorant, they were not therefore innocent; their ignorance
itself was a sin, willing and wilful ignorance, and one sin can be no excuse
for another. So it is here; had these known of the dreadful vengeance with
which God swept away a whole world of ungodly wretches at once, they would
not surely have scoffed at his threatenings of any after equally terrible
judgment; but here they were willingly ignorant, they did not know
what God had done because they had no mind to know it. Now therefore we
shall proceed to consider the representation which the apostle here lays
down both of the destruction of the old world by water and that which awaits
this present world at the final conflagration. He mentions the one as what
God has done, to convince and persuade us the rather to believe that the
other both may be and will be.
1. We begin with the apostle's account of the destruction which has once
already come upon the world (v. 5, 6): 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. Originally the world was otherwise situated, the waters were
most wisely divided at the creation and most beneficially for us; some of
the waters had proper repositories above the firmament, here called the
heavens (as it is also Gen. i. 8), and others, under the firmament, gathered
together unto one place; there were then both sea and dry land, commodious
habitation for the children of men. But now, at the time of the universal
deluge, the case is strangely altered; the waters which God had divided
before, assigning to each part its convenient receptacle, now does he, in
anger, throw together again in a heap. He breaks up the fountain of the
great deep, and throws open the windows (that is, the clouds) of heaven
(Gen. vii. 11), till the whole earth is overflowed with water, and not a
spot can be found upon the highest mountains but what is fifteen cubits
under water, Gen. vii. 20. Thus he made known at once his terrible power
and his fierce anger, and made an end of a whole world at once: The world
that then was, being overflowed with water, perished, v. 6. Is
not here a change and a most awful change! And then it is to be observed
that all this was done by the word of God; it was by his powerful word that
the world was made at first, and made in so commodious and beautiful a frame
and order, Heb. xi. 3, Kathrtisqai.
He said, Let there be a firmament, &c., Gen. i. 6, 7. And let
the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place,
&c., v. 9, 10. Thus he spoke, and it was done, Ps. xxxiii. 9.
Thus, says our apostle, by the word of the Lord the heavens were, as
they were of old (that is, at first creation) and the earth
(as it was at first a terraqueous globe) standing out of the water and in
the water. Not is it only the first frame and order of the world that is
here said to be by the word of God, but the after-confusion and ruin
of the world, as well as the utter destruction of its inhabitants, were also
by the same word; none but that God who stretched out the heavens and
laid the foundation of the earth could destroy and overthrow such a vast
fabric at once. This was done by the word of his power, and it was also done
according to the word of his promise; God had said that he would destroy
man, even all flesh, and that he would do it by bringing a flood of waters
upon the earth, Gen. vi. 7, 13, 17. This was the change which God had before
brought upon the world, and which these scoffers had overlooked; and now we
are to consider,
2. What the apostle says of the destructive change which is yet to come upon
it: The heavens and the earth, which now are, by the same word are kept
in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of
ungodly men, v. 7. Here we have an awful account of the final
dissolution of the world, and which we are yet more nearly concerned in. The
ruin that came upon the world and its inhabitants by the flood, we read, and
hear, and think of, with concern, though those who were swept away by it
were such as we never knew; but the judgment here spoken of is yet to come,
and will surely come, though we know not when, nor upon what particular age
or generation of men; and therefore we are not, we cannot be, sure that it
may not happen in our own times: and this makes a very great difference,
though it should be admitted that they were equal in every other respect,
which yet must not be allowed, for there were some, though very few, who
escaped that deluge, but not one can escape in this conflagration. Besides,
we were not in reach of the one, but are not sure that we shall not be
included in the other calamity. Now therefore to see the world to which we
belong destroyed at once--not a single person only, not a particular family
only, nor yet a nation (even that which we are most nearly interested in and
concerned for), but the whole world, I say, sinking at once, and no ark
provided, no possible way left of escaping for any one from the common ruin,
this makes a difference between the desolation that has been and what we yet
are to expect. The one is already past, and never to return upon us any more
(for God has said expressly that there shall never any more be a flood to
destroy the earth, Gen. ix. 11-17); the other is still behind, and is as
certain to come as the truth and the power of God can make it: the one came
gradually upon the world, and was growing upon its inhabitants forty days,
before it made an utter end of them (Gen. vii. 12, 17); this other will come
upon them swiftly and all at once (2 Pet. ii. 1): besides, there were in
that overthrow (as we have said) a few who escaped, but the ruin which yet
awaits this world, whenever it comes, will be absolutely a universal one;
there will not be any part but what the devouring flames will seize upon,
not a sanctuary left any where for the inhabitants to flee to, not a single
spot in all this world where any one of them can be safe. Thus, whatever
differences may be assigned between that destruction of the world and this
here spoken of, they do indeed represent the approaching as the most
terrible judgment; yet that the world has once been destroyed by a universal
deluge renders it the more credible that it may be again ruined by a
universal conflagration. Let therefore the scoffers, who laugh at the coming
of our Lord to judgment, at least consider that it may be. There is
nothing said of it in the word of God but what is within reach of the power
of God, and, though they still should laugh, they shall not put us out of
countenance; we are well assured that it will be, because he has said it,
and we can depend upon his promise. They err, not knowing (at
least not believing) the scriptures, nor the power of God; but we
know, and we do or ought to depend upon, both. Now that which he has said,
and which he will certainly make good, is that the heavens and the earth
which now are (which we are now related to, which still subsist in all
the beauty and order in which we see them, and which are so agreeable and
useful to us, as we find they are) are kept in store, not to be, what
earthly minds would wish to have them, treasures for us, but to be what God
will have them, in his treasury, securely lodged and kept safely for his
purposes. It follows, they are reserved unto fire. Observe, God's
following judgments are more terrible than those which went before; the old
world was destroyed by water, but this is reserved unto fire, which shall
burn up the wicked at the last day; and, though this seems to be delayed,
yet, as this wicked world is upheld by the word of God, so it is only
reserved for the vengeance of him to whom vengeance belongs, who will at the
day of judgment deal with an ungodly world according to their deserts, for
the day of judgment is the day of the perdition of ungodly men. Those
who now scoff at a future judgment shall find it a day of vengeance and
utter destruction. "Beware therefore of being among these scoffers;
never question but the day of the Lord will come; give diligence therefore
to be found in Christ, that that may be a time of refreshment and day of
redemption to you which will be a day of indignation and wrath to the
ungodly world."
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Conception
of Eternity.
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A. D. 67.
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8 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 apostle comes in these words to instruct and establish Christians in the
truth of the coming of the Lord, where we may clearly discern the tenderness
and affection wherewith he speaks to them, calling them beloved; he
had a compassionate concern and a love of good-will for the ungodly wretches
who refused to believe divine revelation, but he has a peculiar respect for
the true believers, and the remaining ignorance and weakness that the
apprehends to be in them make him jealous, and put him on giving them a
caution. Here we may observe,
I. The truth which the apostle asserts--that with the Lord one day is as
a thousand years, and a thousand years are as one day. Though, in the
account of men, there is a great deal of difference between a day and a
year, and a vast deal more between one day and a thousand years, yet in the
account of God, who inhabits eternity, in which there is no succession,
there is no difference; for all things past, present, and future, are ever
before him, and the delay of a thousand years cannot be so much to him as
the deferring of any thing for a day or an hour is to us.
II. The importance of this truth: This is the one thing the apostle
would not have us ignorant of; a holy awe and reverential fear of God are
necessary in order to our worshiping and glorifying him, and a belief of the
inconceivable distance between him and us is very proper to beget and
maintain that religious fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom.
This is a truth that belongs to our peace, and therefore he endeavours that
it may not be hidden from our eyes; as it is in the original, Let not
this one thing be hidden from you. If men have no knowledge or belief of
the eternal God, they will be very apt to think him such a one as
themselves. Yet how hard is it to conceive of eternity! It is therefore not
very easy to attain such a knowledge of God as is absolutely necessary.
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Destruction of the World.
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A. D. 67.
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9 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. 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.
We are here told that the Lord is not slack--he does not delay beyond
the appointed time; as God kept the time that he had appointed for the
delivering of Israel out of Egypt, to a day (Exod. xii. 41), so he will keep
to the time appointed in coming to judge the world. What a difference is
there between the account which God makes and that which men make! Good men
are apt to think God stays beyond the appointed time, that is, the time
which they have set for their own and the church's deliverance; but they set
one time and God sets another, and he will not fail to keep the day which he
has appointed. Ungodly men dare charge a culpable slackness upon God, as if
he had slipped the time, and laid aside the thoughts of coming. But the
apostle assures us,
I. That what men count slackness is truly long-suffering, and that to
us-ward; it is giving more time to his own people, whom he has chosen
before the foundation of the world, many of whom are not as yet
converted; and those who are in a state of grace and favour with God are to
advance in knowledge and holiness, and in the exercise of faith and
patience, to abound in good works, doing and suffering what they are called
to, that they may bring glory to God, and improve in a meetness for heaven;
for God is not willing that any of these should perish, but that all of them
should come to repentance. Here observe, 1. Repentance is absolutely
necessary in order to salvation. Except we repent, we shall perish,
Luke xiii. 3, 5. 2. God has no delight in the death of sinners: as the
punishment of sinners is a torment to his creatures, a merciful God does not
take pleasure in it; and though the principal design of God in his
long-suffering is the blessedness of those whom he has chosen to
salvation, through sanctification of the spirit, and belief of the truth,
yet his goodness and forbearance do in their own nature invite and call to
repentance all those to whom they are exercised; and, if men continue
impenitent when God gives them space to repent, he will deal more severely
with them, though the great reason why he did not hasten his coming was
because he had not accomplished the number of his elect. "Abuse
not therefore the patience and long-suffering of God, by abandoning
yourselves to a course of ungodliness; presume not to go on boldly in the
way of sinners, nor to sit down securely in an unconverted impenitent state,
as he who said (Matt. xxiv. 48), My Lord delayeth his coming, lest he
come and surprise you;" for,
II. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, v.
10. Here we may observe, 1. The certainty of the day of the Lord: though it
is now above sixteen hundred years since this epistle was written, and the
day has not yet come, it assuredly will come. God has appointed a day
wherein he will judge the world in righteousness, and he will keep his
appointment. It is appointed to men once to die, and after this the
judgment, Heb. ix. 27. "Settle it therefore in your hearts that the
day of the Lord will certainly come, and you shall certainly be called to
give an account of all things done in the body, whether good or evil; and
let your exact walking before God, and your frequent judging yourselves,
evidence your firm belief of a future judgment, when many live as if they
were never to give any account at all." 2. The suddenness of this day:
It will come as a thief in the night, at a time when men are sleeping
and secure, and have no manner of apprehension or expectation of the day of
the Lord, any more than men have of a thief when they are in a deep sleep,
in the dark and silent night. At midnight there was a cry, Behold, the
bridegroom comes, (Matt. xxv. 6), and at that time not only the foolish,
but also the wise virgins slumbered and slept. The Lord will come in a
day when we look not for him, and an hour when men are not aware. The
time which men think to be the most improper and unlikely, and when
therefore they are most secure, will be the time of the Lord's coming. Let
us then beware how we in our thoughts and imaginations put that day far away
from us; but rather suppose it to be so much nearer in reality, by how much
further off it is in the opinion of the ungodly world. 3. The solemnity of
this coming. (1.) The heavens shall pass away with a great noise. The
visible heavens, as unable to abide when the Lord shall come in his glory,
shall pass away; they shall undergo a mighty alteration, and this shall be
very sudden, and with such a noise as the breaking and tumbling down of so
great a fabric must necessarily occasion. (2.) The elements shall melt
with fervent heat. At this coming of the Lord it shall not only be very tempestuous
round about him, so that the very heavens shall pass away as in a mighty
violent storm, but a fire shall go before him, that shall melt the
elements of which the creatures are composed. (3.) The earth also,
and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. The earth, and
its inhabitants, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. The
earth, and its inhabitants, and all the works, whether of nature or art,
shall be destroyed. The stately palaces and gardens, and all the desirable
things wherein worldly-minded men seek and place their happiness, all of
them shall be burnt up; all sorts of creatures which God has made, and all
the works of men, must submit, all must pass through the fire, which shall
be a consuming fire to all that sin has brought into the world, though it
may be a refining fire to the works of God's hand, that the glass of the
creation being made much brighter the saints may much better discern the
glory of the Lord therein.
And now who can but observe what a difference there will be between the
first coming of Christ and the second! Yet that is called the great and
dreadful day of the Lord, Mal. iv. 5. How much more dreadful must this
coming to judgment be! May we be so wise as to prepare for it, that it may
not be a day of vengeance and destruction unto us. O! what will become of
us, if we set our affections on this earth, and make it our portion, seeing
all these things shall be burnt up? Look out therefore, and make sure of a
happiness beyond this visible world, which must all be melted down.
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Solemn Exhortations.
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A. D. 67.
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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? 13
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved,
seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him
in peace, without spot, and blameless. 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; 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. 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.
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.
The apostle, having instructed them in the doctrine of Christ's second
coming,
I. Takes occasion thence to exhort them to purity and godliness in their
whole conversation: all the truths which are revealed in scripture should be
improved for our advancement in practical godliness: this is the effect that
knowledge must produce, or we are never the better for it. If you know
these things, happy are you if you do them. Seeing all these things must be
dissolved, how holy should we be, that are assured of it, departing from
and dying to sin, that has so corrupted and defiled all the visible creation
that there is an absolute need of its dissolution! All that was made for
man's use is subject to vanity by man's sin: and if the sin of man has
brought the visible heavens, and the elements and earth, under a curse, from
which they cannot be freed without being dissolved, what an abominable evil
is sin, and how much to be hated by us! And, inasmuch as this dissolution is
in order to their being restored to their primitive beauty and excellency,
how pure and holy should we be, in order to our being fit for the new
heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness! It is a very exact
and universal holiness that he exhorts to, not resting in any lower measure
or degree, but labouring to be eminent beyond what is commonly
attained--holy in God's house and in our own, holy in our worshipping of God
and in our conversing with men. All our conversation, whether with high or
low, rich or poor, good or bad, friends or enemies, must be holy. We must keep
ourselves unspotted from the world in all our converses with it. We must
be perfecting holiness in the fear of God, and in the love of God
too. We must exercise ourselves unto godliness of all sorts, in all
its parts, trusting in God and delighting in God only, who continues the
same when the whole visible creation shall be dissolved, devoting ourselves
to the service of God, and designing the glorifying and enjoyment of God,
who endures for ever; whereas what worldly men delight in and follow after
must all be dissolved. Those things which we now see must in a little while
pass away, and be no more as they now are: let us look therefore at what
shall abide and continue, which, though it be not present, is certain and
not far off. This looking for the day of God is one of the directions
the apostle gives us, in order to our being eminently holy and godly in
all manner of conversation. "Look for the day of God as what you
firmly believe shall come, and what you earnestly long for." The
coming of the day of God is what every Christian must hope for and
earnestly expect; for it is a day when Christ shall appear in the glory
of the Father, and evidence his divinity and Godhead even to those who
counted him a mere man. The first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he appeared
in the form of a servant, was what the people of God earnestly waited
and looked for: that coming was for the consolation of Israel, Luke
ii. 25. How much more should they wait with expectation and earnestness for
his second coming, which will be the day of their complete redemption, and
of his most glorious manifestation! Then he shall come to be admired in
his saints, and glorified in all those that believe. For though it
cannot but terrify and affright the ungodly to see the visible heavens all
in a flame, and the elements melting, yet the believer, whose faith is
the evidence of things not seen, can rejoice in hope of more glorious
heavens after these have been melted and refined by that dreadful fire which
shall burn up all the dross of this visible creation. Here we must take
notice, 1. What true Christians look for: new heavens and a new earth,
in which a great deal more of the wisdom, power and goodness of our great
God and Saviour Jesus Christ will be clearly discerned than we are able to
discover in what we now see; for in these new heavens and earth, freed from
the vanity the former were subject to, and the sin they were polluted with,
only righteousness shall dwell; this is to be the habitation of such
righteous persons as do righteousness, and are free from the power and
pollution of sin; all the wicked shall be turned into hell; those
only who are clothed with a righteousness of Christ, and sanctified by the
Holy Ghost, shall be admitted to dwell in this holy place. 2. What is the
ground and foundation of this expectation and hope--the promise of God.
To look for any thing which God has not promised is presumption; but if our
expectations are according to the promise, both as to the things we look for
and the time and way of their being brought about, we cannot meet with a
disappointment; for he is faithful who has promised. "See
therefore that you raise and regulate your expectations of all the great
things that are to come according to the word of God; and, as to the new
heaven and new earth, look for them as God has allowed and directed by
the passages we have in this portion of scripture how before you, and in Isa.
lxv. 17; lxvi. 22, to which the apostle may be thought to allude."
II. As in v. 11 he exhorts to holiness from the consideration that the
heavens and the earth shall be dissolved, so in v. 14 he resumes
his exhortation from the consideration that they shall be again renewed.
"Seeing you expect the day of God, when our Lord Jesus Christ will
appear in his glorious majesty, and these heavens and earth shall be
dissolved and melted down, and, being purified and refined, shall be erected
and rebuilt, prepare to meet him. It nearly concerns you to see in what
state you will be when the Judge of all the world shall come to pass
sentence upon men, and to determine how it shall be with them to all
eternity. This is the court of judicature whence there lies no appeal;
whatever sentence is here passed by this great Judge is irreversible;
therefore get ready to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ: and
see to it,"
1. "That you be found of him in peace, in a state of peace and
reconciliation with God through Christ, in whom alone God is reconciling
the world to himself. All that are out of Christ are in a state of
enmity, and reject and oppose the Lord and his anointed, and shall therefore
be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
and the glory of his power. Those whose sins are pardoned and their
peace made with God are the only safe and happy people; therefore follow
after peace, and that with all." (1.) Peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. (2.) Peace in our own consciences, through the Spirit of grace
witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God. (3.) Peace with
men, by having a calm and peaceable disposition wrought in us, resembling
that of our blessed Lord.
2. That you be found of Christ without spot, and blameless. Follow after
holiness as well as peace: and even spotless and perfect; we must not
only take heed of all spots which are not the spots of God's children (this
only prevents our being found of men without spot), we must be pressing
towards spotless purity, absolute perfection. Christians must be perfecting
holiness, that they may be not only blameless before men, but also in
the sight of God; and all this deserves and needs the greatest diligence; he
who does this work negligently can never do it successfully. "Never
expect to be found at that day of God in peace, if you are lazy and idle in
this your day, in which we must finish the work that is given us to do. It
is only the diligent Christian who will be the happy Christian in the day of
the Lord. Our Lord will suddenly come to us, or shortly call us to him; and
would you have him find you idle?" Remember there is a curse denounced
against him who does the work of the Lord negligently, Marg. Jer.
xlviii. 10. Heaven will be a sufficient recompence for all our diligence and
industry; therefore let us labour and take pains in the work of the Lord; he
will certainly reward us if we be diligent in the work he has allotted us;
now, that you may be diligent, account the long-suffering of our Lord to
be salvation. "Does your Lord delay his coming? Do not think this
is to give more time to make provision for your lusts, to gratify them; it
is so much space to repent and work out your salvation. It proceeds not from
a want of concern or compassion for his suffering servants, nor is it
designed to give countenance and encouragement to the world of the ungodly,
but that men may have time to prepare for eternity. Learn then to make a
right use of the patience of our Lord, who does as yet delay his coming.
Follow after peace and holiness, or else his coming will be dreadful to
you." And inasmuch as it is difficult to prevent men's abuse of God's
patience, and engage them in the right improvement thereof, our apostle
quotes St. Paul as directing men to make the same good use of the divine
forbearance, that in the mouth, or from the pen, of two apostles the truth
might be confirmed. And we may here observe with what esteem and affection
he speaks of him who had formerly publicly withstood and sharply reproved
Peter. If a righteous man smite one who is truly religious, it shall be
received as a kindness; and let him reprove, it shall be as an excellent
oil, which shall soften and sweeten the good man that is reproved when he
does amiss. What an honourable mention does this apostle of the circumcision
make of that very man who had openly, before all, reproved him, as
not walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel! (1.) He calls
him brother, whereby he means not only that he is a fellow-christian
(in which sense the word brethren is used 1 Thess. v. 27), or a
fellow-preacher (in which sense Paul calls Timothy the evangelist a brother,
Col. i. 1), but a fellow-apostle, one who had the same extraordinary
commission, immediately from Christ himself, to preach the gospel in every
place, and to disciple all nations. Though many seducing teachers denied
Paul's apostleship, yet Peter owns him to be an apostle. (2.) He calls him beloved;
and they being both alike commissioned, and both united in the same service
of the same Lord, it would have been very unseemly if they had not been
united in affection to one another, for the strengthening of one another's
hands, mutually desirous of, and rejoicing in, one another's success. (3.)
He mentions Paul as one who had an uncommon measure of wisdom given unto
him. He was a person of eminent knowledge in the mysteries of the gospel,
and did neither in that nor any other qualification come behind any of all
the other apostles. How desirable is it that those who preach the same
gospel should treat one another according to the pattern Peter here sets
them! It is surely their duty to endeavour, by proper methods, to prevent or
remove all prejudices that hinder ministers' usefulness, and to beget and
improve the esteem and respect in the minds of people towards their
ministers that may promote the success of their labours. And let us also
here observe, [1.] The excellent wisdom that was in Paul is said to be given
him. The understanding and knowledge that qualify men to preach the gospel
are the gift of God. We must seek for knowledge, and labour to get
understanding, in hopes that it shall be given us from above, while we are
diligent in using proper means to attain it. [2.] The apostle imparts to men
according as he had received from God. He endeavours to lead others as far
as he himself was led into the knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel. He
is not an intruder into the things he had not seen or been fully assured of,
and yet he does not fail to declare the whole counsel of God, Acts xx. 27.
[3.] The epistles which were written by the apostle of the Gentiles, and
directed to those Gentiles who believed in Christ, are designed for the
instruction and edification of those who from among the Jews were brought to
believe in Christ; for it is generally thought that what is here alluded to
is contained in the epistle to the Romans (ch. ii. 4), though in all
his epistles there are some things that refer to one or other of the
subjects treated of in this and the foregoing chapter; and it cannot seem
strange that those who were pursuing the same general design should in their
epistles insist upon the same things. But the apostle Peter proceeds to tell
us that in those things which are to be met with in Paul's epistles there
are some things hard to be understood. Among the variety of subjects treated
of in scripture, some are not easy to be understood because of their own
obscurity, such are prophecies; others cannot be so easily understood
because of their excellency and sublimity, as the mysterious doctrines; and
others are with difficulty taken in because of the weakness of men's minds,
such are the things of the Spirit of God, mentioned 1 Cor. ii. 14. And here
the unlearned and unstable make wretched work; for they wrest and torture
the scriptures, to make them speak what the Holy Ghost did not intend. Those
who are not well instructed and well established in the truth are in great
danger of perverting the word of God. Those who have heard and learned of
the Father are best secured from misunderstanding and misapplying any part
of the word of God; and, where there is a divine power to establish as well
as to instruct men in divine truth, persons are effectually secured from
falling into errors. How great a blessing this is we learn by observing what
is the pernicious consequence of the errors that ignorant and unstable men
fall into--even their own destruction. Errors in particular concerning the
holiness and justice of God are the utter ruin of multitudes of men. Let us
therefore earnestly pray for the Spirit of God to instruct us in the truth,
that we may know it as it is in Jesus, and have our hearts established with
grace, that we may stand firm and unshaken, even in the most stormy times,
when others are tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.
III. The apostle gives them a word of caution, v. 17, 18, where,
1. He intimates that the knowledge we have of these things should make us
very wary and watchful, inasmuch as there is a twofold danger, v. 17.
(1.) We are in great danger of being seduced, and turned away from
the truth. The unlearned and unstable, and they are very numerous, do
generally wrest the scripture. Many who have the scriptures and read them do
not understand what they read; and too many of those who have a right
understanding of the sense and meaning of the word are not established in
the belief of the truth, and all these are liable to fall into error. Few
attain to the knowledge and acknowledgment of doctrinal Christianity; and
fewer find, so as to keep in the way of practical godliness, which is the
narrow way, which only leadeth unto life. There must be a great deal of
self-denial and suspicion of ourselves, and submitting to the authority of
Christ Jesus our great prophet, before we can heartily receive all the
truths of the gospel, and therefore we are in great danger of rejecting the
truth. (2.) We are in great danger by being seduced; for, [1.] So far
as we are turned from the truth so far are we turned out of the way to
true blessedness, into the path which leads to destruction. If men
corrupt the word of God, it tends to their own utter ruin. [2.] When men
wrest the word of God, they fall into the error of the wicked, men
without law, who keep to no rules, set no bounds to themselves, a sort of
free-thinkers, which the psalmist detests. Ps. cxix. 113, I hate vain
thoughts, but thy law do I love. Whatever opinions and thoughts of men
are not conformable to the law of God, and warranted by it, the good man
disclaims and abhors; they are the conceits and counsels of the ungodly, who
have forsaken God's law, and, if we imbibe their opinions, we shall too soon
imitate their practices. [3.] Those who are led away by error fall from
their own stedfastness. They are wholly unhinged and unsettled, and know
not where to rest, but are at the greatest uncertainty, like a wave of the
sea, driven with the wind and tossed. It nearly concerns us therefore to be
upon our guard, seeing the danger is so great.
2. That we may the better avoid being led away, the apostle directs us what
to do, v. 18. And, (1.) We must grow in grace. He had in the
beginning of the epistle exhorted us to add one grace to another, and here
he advises us to grow in all grace, in faith, and virtue, and knowledge. By
how much the stronger grace is in us, by so much the more stedfast shall we
be in the truth. (2.) We must grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. "Follow on to know the Lord. Labour to know him more
clearly and more fully, to know more of Christ and to know him to better
purpose, so as to be more like him and to love him better." This is the
knowledge of Christ the apostle Paul reached after and desired to attain,
Phil. iii. 10. Such a knowledge of Christ as conforms us more to him, and
endears him more to us, must needs be of great use to us, to preserve us
from falling off in times of general apostasy; and those who experience this
effect of the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will, upon
receiving such grace from him, give thanks and praise to him, and join with
our apostle in saying, To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
