Glorious Ones! - 2 Peter 2
Have you ever heard someone say, "If there's a God in heaven, how come he let so many people die in the hurricaine?" or "How can a loving God allow so many people to die from that Tsunami?"
As I read this chapter, I couldn't help think of all the disasters this past year, and the war, and all the bombings. How many people died in 2005?
Then, I read in this chapter:
4 For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned; he threw them into hell, in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgment day. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world – except for Noah and his family of seven. Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. Then God destroyed the whole world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 6 Later, he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and swept them off the face of the earth. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.
It frightens me when Pat Robertson makes some of the statements he makes. However, sometimes he's only saying out lout (to millions of people on TV, many of which are looking for bold statements they can twist) what I'm sometimes thinking.
The truth is, God is holy. He cannot tolerate sin...period. He has called us to be holy. Sin must be punished. Is it so hard to believe that God would allow the ocean to cause us to wake up by sweeping out a city so filthy it has been called a modern day Sodom & Gamorrah?
I must admit that I grow more and more concerned for the moral decay in our country, and in our world. When I read Pete's description of those false teachers in this chapter, I couldn't help thinking about our world today. Read the verses below and see if they don't describe some of the leaders and politicians and wealthy in the world today:
10 ...These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at the glorious ones without so much as trembling.
12 ...They laugh at the terrifying powers they know so little about, and they will be destroyed along with them.
13 ...They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. ...They revel in deceitfulness while they feast with you.
14 They commit adultery with their eyes, and their lust is never satisfied. They make a game of luring unstable people into sin. They train themselves to be greedy; they are doomed and cursed.
18 They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With lustful desire as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living.
19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.
The really good news is that God will protect us - the glorious ones! Did you catch that in verse 10 & 11?
9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while punishing the wicked right up until the day of judgment. 10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own evil, lustful desires and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at the glorious ones without so much as trembling. 11 But the angels, even though they are far greater in power and strength than these false teachers, never speak out disrespectfully against the glorious ones.
Wow. Hold on to your faith, glorious ones! You can see from this chapter alone how much is at stake. And, you can see how much God loves you. Hold on to your faith in these end times. Your reward is not far off...
peace,
e
As I read this chapter, I couldn't help think of all the disasters this past year, and the war, and all the bombings. How many people died in 2005?
Then, I read in this chapter:
4 For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned; he threw them into hell, in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgment day. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world – except for Noah and his family of seven. Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. Then God destroyed the whole world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 6 Later, he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and swept them off the face of the earth. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.
It frightens me when Pat Robertson makes some of the statements he makes. However, sometimes he's only saying out lout (to millions of people on TV, many of which are looking for bold statements they can twist) what I'm sometimes thinking.
The truth is, God is holy. He cannot tolerate sin...period. He has called us to be holy. Sin must be punished. Is it so hard to believe that God would allow the ocean to cause us to wake up by sweeping out a city so filthy it has been called a modern day Sodom & Gamorrah?
I must admit that I grow more and more concerned for the moral decay in our country, and in our world. When I read Pete's description of those false teachers in this chapter, I couldn't help thinking about our world today. Read the verses below and see if they don't describe some of the leaders and politicians and wealthy in the world today:
10 ...These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at the glorious ones without so much as trembling.
12 ...They laugh at the terrifying powers they know so little about, and they will be destroyed along with them.
13 ...They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. ...They revel in deceitfulness while they feast with you.
14 They commit adultery with their eyes, and their lust is never satisfied. They make a game of luring unstable people into sin. They train themselves to be greedy; they are doomed and cursed.
18 They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With lustful desire as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living.
19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.
The really good news is that God will protect us - the glorious ones! Did you catch that in verse 10 & 11?
9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while punishing the wicked right up until the day of judgment. 10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own evil, lustful desires and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at the glorious ones without so much as trembling. 11 But the angels, even though they are far greater in power and strength than these false teachers, never speak out disrespectfully against the glorious ones.
Wow. Hold on to your faith, glorious ones! You can see from this chapter alone how much is at stake. And, you can see how much God loves you. Hold on to your faith in these end times. Your reward is not far off...
peace,
e
