MidTree Church
The sermon audio of MidTree Church in Harris County, Ga. BEHOLD // BELIEVE // BECOME
MidTree Church
The Stirred Soul: Finding God's Purpose in the Waiting | Pastor Will Hawk | July 27th, 2025
Have you ever made Kool-Aid and noticed how the sugary goodness settles to the bottom if left unstirred? That's exactly what happens to our spiritual lives when we forget the urgency of Christ's return. In this powerful message from 2 Peter 3:8-13, we explore how easily Christians can become "settled" rather than "stirred" in their faith.
Peter writes specifically to believers—not unbelievers—warning about scoffers who mock the promise of Christ's return by saying "all things continue as they were from the beginning." These "doubt evangelists" deliberately overlook God's past judgment through the flood and His promised future judgment through fire. When we adopt their thinking, even subtly, our spiritual fervor settles to the bottom of our lives.
What feels like God's slowness is actually His extraordinary patience. With stunning imagery, God is depicted as still "inhaling" before the exhale of judgment, giving time for repentance. This patience isn't a sign of His inability or reluctance but of His incredible grace toward us. The day of the Lord will come "like a thief"—unexpectedly and without warning—with the heavens passing away with a roar and everything exposed.
We're witnessing unprecedented spiritual movements globally: massive revivals across Africa, Asia, and South America; Bible translations reaching completion in nearly all known languages; and even young men returning to churches in America seeking godly direction. These aren't ordinary times—they're extraordinary moments calling for extraordinary faith.
When asked how they feel about Christ's return, some believers responded with "fear" and "judgment" while others said "excitement" and "hope." This stark contrast reveals much about whether our faith is settled or stirred. Rather than merely waiting passively, Peter calls us to both "wait for and hasten" Christ's coming through lives of holiness and active participation in God's mission.
What would change if you truly believed Jesus might return today? Would you live differently? Would your priorities shift? Don't let the spiritual nutrients of God's truth settle unused at the bottom of your life. Take up Peter's challenge to be stirred in your faith, living with joyful anticipation of the day when righteousness will dwell in new heavens and a new earth.
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
Where's our scripture this morning that we're going to be reading from?
Speaker 2:Please turn to your Bibles, to 2 Peter, 3, 8 through 13, which is on page 1019 in your pew Bibles, and follow along as I read God's word.
Speaker 2:But do not overlook this one fact beloved that with the day with the lord, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. The lord is not slow to fulfill his promises some count slowness but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved and the earth and the works that are done in it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of the holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn? But, according to his promises, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen. Hey, out of curiosity, just by show of hands, by the way, you're going to want to be in one of the first two options, just so you know. When you read your Bible, I'm wondering how many of you are paper Bibles and how many of you are digital Bibles. Third would be none. You're still welcome here. If you're not reading your Bible, I'm really glad you're here.
Speaker 1:I guess there could be a fourth category, which is I do both, but if you're both, like which one is your typical? By show of hands, how many people are typical paper Bibles? Go, wow, that's amazing. That sort of surprised me a little bit. I love it, I love it. All right. How many people are digital Bible readers?
Speaker 1:Okay, why were y'all more reticent? Did y'all see that Paper Bibles are like yep, I'm sanctified, what's going on? I know how to flip to it. Digital folks are like yep, it's right here, I'm in it, I'm in it. Okay, good stuff. I've become more. Oh, all of that is a transition.
Speaker 1:Pull your phones out for just a moment, if you would. I've become more digital because I do a lot of my sermon writing and stuff on an iPad now, and so I've just naturally begun reading there more. Here's what I'd like you to do, if you do not mind. Certainly you don't have to play along. Do you guys have me back there? It is QR code if you don't know how those work. You're 50 or older and just find a young person around you. They'll help you out with that. But if you guys would go ahead, get this QR code, take a couple of minutes. I'd like for you to answer the question. When you think of these words that Pat just read to us, the day of the Lord, the last day, the day of judgment, what word or what feeling comes to mind? Just take a second over the next minute or two and throw those in. I'm looking for phones up. We still got a couple, all right, so we have been working through 2 Peter. We have two more weeks in it, including this week, and then we may take a little standalone before, in the fall, we hop into the book of Joshua. I have been missing some Old Testament and Song of Solomon was not quite enough, and so we're going to be hopping into Joshua in the fall.
Speaker 1:Where we are right now is 2 Peter uncommon conviction, steadfast truth in shifting times. Peter is in prison. He knows that he is on the latter end of his life. He is writing a letter to all of the Christians in his area life. He is writing a letter to all of the Christians in his area, which the Holy Spirit held onto and preserved for us 2,000 years later. Same truth in the middle of shifting times, and there are a number of convictions that Peter wants us to have. And here is where we start.
Speaker 1:This morning, peter says now, look, I've already written to you once. This is now the second letter that I'm writing to you, beloved. One thing to note whenever you see little keywords like this in Scripture, take note what this is telling us on the forefront is is Peter, generally speaking, writing to Christians or non-Christians at this moment in his letter? One, two, three go, yeah, okay, thank you, shane, loud and proud. So this two, three go, yeah, okay, thank you, shane, loud and proud. So this it that matters.
Speaker 1:Does that mean Peter doesn't care about unbelievers? No, of course not, but he is giving specific direction to those of us who have faith in Christ. That's very important for you to know, because a lot of the things that we're gonna look at Peter pointing to this morning we would assume in sort of our Christianese conversations. He's talking to unbelievers, but I want you to realize Peter is saying to the believer I am stirring you up, I'm stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, and this is important, because we just spent two weeks talking about how knowledge is insufficient. We need faith more than we need knowledge. Peter says now let me talk about your mind, now let me talk about your knowledge, let me talk about what you know of the Lord, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. He's saying I want you to remember the Old Testament, I want you to remember the life of Christ, I want you to remember all of the things that God has given us in his word, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing following their own sinful desires. There's a very deep theological context to this. But when it says last days, many theologians interpret that to mean the days between the resurrection of Christ and the return of Christ, that, however, many years are packed into that. When you take a step back and you see all that God has done in creation, you and I are living in the last days, this last era of redemptive history, before the moment when a trumpet sounds. We just sang about it and here comes Jesus and everything changes forever. Now I want you to notice this because I have been convicted of this and simultaneously encouraged. I don't know about you, but, as Christian conviction and encouragement don't always sit side by side, for me, if I'm convicted I'm usually irritated at myself, frustrated, discouraged, depressed, angry, but in this case I have. Will has personally been convicted and encouraged, and it's this idea of I am stirring up your sincere mind. I don't know what the sounds of summer are for you, but I will give you one of mine from a childhood and you tell me if you relate to this or not A plastic pitcher filled with water and a wooden spoon always wooden, never plastic and the sound of that wooden spoon banging against the plastic, while what was poured into the bottom?
Speaker 1:Three, two, one, yes. I don't know if that's like you grew up rich or you grew up poor, I don't know, but I grew up with Kool-Aid. Some of you were like there's no protein in that. No, I grew up with Kool-Aid. Some of you were like there's no protein in that, no, no. What are the healthy things you put in water, now Electrolytes. I don't know. I grew up with Kool-Aid, cups of sugar and Kool-Aid, 90% of the time red. I don't know why, but that's just how it worked. And the sound of that wooden spoon if it was a glass pitcher, it was sweet tea the sound of that wooden spoon hitting the sides of the plastic. That is what makes me think of summer. But if mom decided that a kid was going to help stir the Kool-Aid, there was a problem on the first pour. The problem was that those little baby arms that were stirring didn't do a good enough job. And if you got the first pour of Kool-Aid, compared to the lovely last pour of Kool-Aid, it was a very different experience.
Speaker 1:Y'all know what I'm talking about. If you don't, it's the same thing if you've ever taken a pre-workout at the gym and you're 20 minutes in and you hit the bottom and you just want to rip your tongue out of your mouth and throw it off to the side. You've gotten a coffee before at Starbucks. You were supposed to stir the thing and you didn't and you get to the bottom and it dries you out completely because you let all that stuff drop to the bottom. What is it that Peter is wanting you to do? Here is what he's wanting to say. If you miss this, you're going to miss it also. Don't miss this. Both cups have something in them.
Speaker 1:Is Peter writing primarily to Christians or non-Christians? One, two, three Right. That's why I circled beloved. The question is not Christian in the room? If you're not a Christian in the room, I'm going to talk to you in just a moment.
Speaker 1:Christian in the room? The question is not. Do you have some knowledge of this? The question is is it sitting in the bottom of the cup to where what you're sipping on today you can't even taste it anymore? Or are you being stirred up to the point that all of the knowledge, that the spirit of God, that the word of God, that the people of God that the preachers of God have been dumping into your plastic pitcher is stirred up? Can you taste that sermon that led you to Christ? Can you taste that song Be Thou my Vision from 15 years ago? Or have you settled and when you go to the Lord it tastes like water, with just a hint of anything valuable, delightful, enjoyable.
Speaker 1:Peter is saying of anything valuable, delightful, enjoyable. Peter is saying I am not. I'm hopeful. Peter's saying I wanna give you a word that stirs you up. You may be here and, if you're honest, you would say well, I remember being excited about the Lord. I remember being excited about walking with him. I remember being excited about singing in worship and now I don't make the first song, if I'm honest. I remember being excited to crack my Bible open to talk to people, to pray for others. But Will? What happened to that thing? What if it didn't have to be that way? What if there was a way for you to, every time you sip, have something that has not fallen to the bottom? I think this is what Peter wants for us, but there's a warning he gives us on the front end that scoffers will come in the last days.
Speaker 1:Why talk about scoffers in the midst of stirred or unstirred souls? You can look up whatever definition you want for a scoffer. I'll give you my definition of it One who doubts out loud to spread and justify their own doubts. That's what I would call a scoffer. All of us have doubts in life. All of us even have doubts of scripture, of the Lord, somewhere in us. We are not fully formed and fully developed. All of us have doubts. But a scoffer is somebody who doubts. They doubt out loud. They doubt to justify their own position, like, hey, we all kind of struggle with this, right, like I'm okay, and they would become what I would call a doubt evangelist. Not a faith evangelist, but a doubt evangelist. If I can cause you to doubt, then I can feel better about my own doubts and I'm more concerned about how I feel than what you feel.
Speaker 1:There are going to be scoffers who come in in the last days and when Peter is pointing to this, it is nefarious. Some of us scoff just because we have bad attitudes, we haven't had a quiet time, we are insecure in our own faith, but some people scoff simply because they do want to lead people astray. It might look something like this thought Now let me be honest with you. I'm going to show you three thoughts today. I have thought every one of them, so don't feel like. Well, I am beyond the salvation of the Lord. If you have ever felt the sun rose yesterday, it rose today. It'll rise tomorrow too. Judgment Doubt it. I mean. What are the odds Will? We were here a week ago. We're probably going to be here in a week. Should I really navigate life like this? Do I need to be stirred up that much? What are the odds of judgment?
Speaker 1:But if you have thought that, I just want you to understand that is one of the thoughts of the scoffers, or the doubt evangelists that Peter is talking about. This is what we see in verse four. They, the scoffers, will say where's the promise of his coming? And they go way back on this, by the way, for ever since the fathers fell asleep. They're in Peter's day and they're not talking about hey, where's the promise of Jesus is coming. It's been 30, 40 years. How much longer is it gonna be? They're talking about Abraham. They're talking about Isaac. They're talking about Moses. They're talking about Elijah, isaiah. These guys have been talking for thousands of years, will?
Speaker 1:All things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. I'm not gonna ask anybody to respond or to raise a hand on this one. Have you ever had that thought? I'm not going to ask anybody to respond or to raise a hand on this one. Have you ever had that thought? Do you realize that Scripture condemns that thought? Do you realize that Scripture would look at that thought and it would say you've got knowledge. It's just dropped to the bottom of the pitcher. It's no longer an active knowledge in you. You've tucked it away. Given yourself a little bit of credit. Hey, I've done what I've needed to do Water, sugar, that beautiful Kool-Aid packet right, save one to dye your hair at camp in three weeks. I've put in the picture what I need to put in the picture and Peter's saying, yeah, but you're still stirring the thing up, or are you just sipping off of the top? This is what they would say.
Speaker 1:All things are continuing as they were from the beginning, continuing in verse five, god's word would say they being the scoffers, they deliberately overlook this fact that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water, by the word of God. I'm underlining water and the word, because I want you to notice a connection that Peter's about to make and that, by means of these, by the means of water and by the means of the word, this same world that was created using those two things verse six by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perish. What is Peter saying? The same stuff that created this world is the stuff that God used to destroy it. What old Bible story is he talking about here.
Speaker 1:It's the second time Peter's brought it up Noah. He's talking about Noah. He's saying what do you mean? You're doubting judgment. Can I remind you of Noah? Can I remind you of Sodom and Gomorrah? Might I be able to remind you of Jonah? Had the Ninevites not repented? And he says look, here's the deal, verse seven, but by the same word. The same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up.
Speaker 1:What was the promise that the rainbow pointed to? Never again will I flood the earth. Which means, if this world is gonna go the earth, which means, if this world is going to go through a second judgment, if this world is going to go through a second renewal, a second overthrow, is it going to be by water? No, but what is it going to be? By the word of God. And this is what Peter's saying. The word of God brought all things into creation. In the past, he used water to create it and to uncreate it. In the future, it is stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly. They are, according to Peter's word. They are deliberately overlooking a fact, deliberately overlooking a fact this world was made and unmade. It was remade and it will be unmade again. I think Peter might put it this way If you are sure that this world exists, pause.
Speaker 1:There's some people who doubt this. Okay, now that we have all kinds of like AI and simulation runnings I have conversations with people on the weekly what are the odds? This is real. What are the odds? We're not in a simulation and they didn't realize. This is what the matrix has been trying to tell us since the 90s. Okay, just so you know. They figured it out in the matrix. By the way, it's philosophy that goes all the way back to Plato, but nonetheless, you hadn't figured something out, right? If you feel like, don't blog about it. You're not as impressive as you think. It's kind of what I'm telling you. Humanity's been wondering this for a long time. But if you think that this world exists, be just as sure that it will end. As sure as I am that this is here. I am sure that it will not be as sure as I am that this is here. I am sure that it will not be, because God's word has guaranteed both it's guaranteed creation and it has guaranteed the fall. From that.
Speaker 1:Peter is writing that God preserved this thought, this fact for you today. Why? That your mind would be stirred up, that your mind would be stirred up so that you should do something. You see, when we look at this concept, the settled person is going to say this nothing's been different for ages. If I'm honest, I'm not expecting anything. I'm the person who has settled. Remember, they've got stuff in the bottom of the cup. This isn't somebody who's not a believer. They are going to say what are the odds Jesus returns before I die? Again, no show of hands. But I'm betting a few of us have been there.
Speaker 1:Some of you may be actively operating off of that. Do you realize? That's what God's word would call settled thought? But a stirred person would say this according to scripture is a fact. They deliberately overlook this fact that judgment is real, that the Bible is so clear on this, that the day of the Lord is absolutely coming, that things have definitely changed before and they will definitely change again.
Speaker 1:The concept that I mean to give you the two, the settled thought, is everything's the same as it's always been. But anybody who would actually wrestle with the facts would say that can't be true. There was a day when the world existed and then a flood came. There was a day when the world existed and God has done this, and God has done that, and God has done that. Do you know what you are living in right now? One of the reasons I pointed out, scott, and the fact that Logan is in the midst of Bible translation. Do you know that? Where you are, in human history right now massive revival in Africa, asia and South America. Massive revival. Africa went from 9% Christian about a hundred years ago to 50% Christian in about the past 100 years. Now just think about how long humanity has existed. And in about 100 years, less than 10% to 50%. We are living in a different time. Nearly the whole world has the Bible or is going to have it soon.
Speaker 1:Anybody want to guess what percentage of languages we have some of the Bible translated into? Not the whole thing. Anybody want to give me a number One, two, three, 99.5. Okay, don't get too encouraged. 99,. Okay, don't get too encouraged. We still need missionaries. Hold tight. 99.5% of languages on the planet have asterisk. Number one some of the Bible Could be the book of Matthew. That's still huge progress. They have it in their language. That doesn't mean they have it in their hands. Okay, the expectation is that all of the known languages on the planet, by the early 2030s, will have some of the word of God in their own language. Can I just tell you that is a very different time than humans have ever been in before. We still need people to take it to them. How many of you guys have the YouVersion Bible app? Y'all know what I'm talking. Yeah, you said not digital. No, I know You're fine. You're fine, I'm just messing with you. It's been installed 800 million times in every country in the world, and that's just one app.
Speaker 1:And, interestingly, here at home in the United States, do you know what's happening? For the first time in decades, young men are showing up to church. I don't know if you know this or not. Church when I grew up was a lot of ladies. It was a lot of women running a lot of stuff, and we love that. But boy, do we love seeing young men show up to church asking questions like how can I live a godly life? How can I say no to sexual sin, pornography and addiction? How can I get my life on the right track so that I can lead and love a woman and raise children that are on the right path and will not walk away. Do you realize? We haven't had that happen in my lifetime. Young men are showing up to church more than young women are showing up to church. We are not living in the same time. This is a very, very different thing. But some of you may have this question.
Speaker 1:The Bible says Christ is coming soon. But if this is soon, what exactly does slow look like? Well, this would be one of the other thoughts of the scoffer. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness. This is verse 9. Don't overlook this fact beloved that with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise.
Speaker 1:Although some are going to count what they see as God being slow, what is he actually? He's being patient to you. Patient to who? Is this? A believer or a non-believer? It's a believer, be honest. Most of us read this for the non-believer, and I'll tell you why because of what happens next. But it's patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. Not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. What's happening? It seems like God is being patient with believers and patient with people who know enough to be believers. But the stuff is settled so much that there is a legitimate question as to whether or not they are believers. And God is not being slow. Scripture says no, no, no, no, no. I'll tell you what God is being. God is being patient and he's being patient toward you Verse 10,. But the day of the Lord will come. Like a thief, heavens will pass away with a roar, heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Did you notice this in verse 5 and verse 8?
Speaker 1:There are two facts pointed to in this scripture. The scoffers deliberately overlook the fact that judgment is real, that Christ is returning. So Peter looks at believers and he says do not overlook this. Another way of putting it would be this You're probably going to overlook this, right. That's why Peter writes it's like I can look at Christians in AD 60 and they're like sure, has been a long time. It's like hi, welcome to 20, like 25, right, it is 2025. Okay, that's how old I am. I can't keep up anymore. I'm just like well, it's not the 90s anymore. I know that this Peter says is a fact that you are going to be prone, that your soul is going to be prone to overlook that you're going to let the good things settle. The Lord is not slow, he is patient. The settled person will say this God is slow.
Speaker 1:What are the odds that these days matter? How many of you can tell me what you did three days ago in 30 seconds or less without pulling out your phone? I'm going to say less than half of you. You don't even know what three days ago was. You're doing back math right now and you're on Friday. It was Thursday and now you're working from Thursday. What's a normal Thursday? When that's the way we see the world? There is this sort of systematic thing that happens in us where the only day that sort of seems important is this moment right now. The past is the past, the future is the future. This is the only thing that matters. But how much does this even matter? This is going to become one of those days Two weeks from now. I'm not even going to think about it. You're right.
Speaker 1:If you're settled, if you are living a settled life, expect this day not to matter. Expect today not to be full of memories. Expect to not see the goodness of the Lord. If you are settled in your spirit, expect it to be a day that just goes in the calendar further to the left. But if you are stirred, do you know that God has intended things for you today? Do you know that he is speaking, goodness, to you today? If you are stirred, you will be able to hear sense move and maybe it's not audible. But you can grab the book, you can get in it, you can choose to have a spiritual conversation with somebody, you can step out of your comfort zone and stir up your soul and make every single day matter. Why? Because God's not wasting any of them. There's not a day on the calendar where God goes. Really, really shouldn't have taken the day off on that one, not one. And if you are his person, if you are his people, are you not in the same family business? Yeah, the stirred person is going to say every delay, if I can even call it a delay, is grounded in God's goodness and his grace, not his inability, not his reticence. God is not wasting a moment. Disturbed person is going to say God's being patient with me, quick timeout.
Speaker 1:When do you become impatient? Don't answer out loud. What causes you to become impatient. Some of you are going to go categorical and big sin. And some of you are going to go much smaller people who wait at yellow lights. Okay, I don't care which way you go. What I mean by yellow light is not you speeding through. I mean you can take a left on yellow and they're just like, oh, it's kind of scary when it's yellow. And they sit there, those people, I'm sorry, if you're one of them, you can be in an MCG. It probably won't be mine.
Speaker 1:But when I think of God being patient toward me, this is what comes to mind Psalm 103. The Lord is merciful and gracious, he is slow to anger and he is abounding in steadfast love. I think there are two ways that I get impatient with folks. I get impatient at recurring sin Not even recurring sin that affects me, just recurring sin that continues to affect them and they can't, they won't, they struggle, they continue to choose it. My heart breaks for them, it breaks for their family, it breaks for their loved ones. My heart breaks for the gospel message that they could be proclaiming. My heart breaks for what their life could be accomplishing, but they are so caught up in the sin and not trusting in Christ and not opening the doors in the closet and inviting the spirit in and inviting other people in to call sin, sin and move. That is where I see God being slow to anger.
Speaker 1:The fact that you're breathing is evidence that God is slow to anger. All right. The fact that your eyes are operating and blinking is God being slow to anger. Do you want to know why? Because your very first sin should have been your very last. Your very first sin should have been the chapter of your life opening. You sinning and God saying not this one, and that'd be it. But he's slow to anger. He has allowed you to sin and remain. Angels struggle to understand that. Just so you know, I hadn't seen that you have. Why? Because the Lord is merciful and gracious. He is slow to anger.
Speaker 1:I think of this as sin God being patient in our sin. Maybe God is being patient with you because you continue to sin the same way and you haven't fully repented, because repenting isn't saying I'm sorry, it's turning and going in a different direction, and you haven't done that. I told you if you were an unbeliever, I was going to talk with you in a minute. Can I talk to you right now, the fact that God has brought you here, the fact that you are hearing the good news of Christ, the fact that he died to forgive you of your sins. That's the whole story. To forgive you of your sins, yeah. But what do I need to do? Receive it, yeah, but do I need to walk down? Do I need to fill something out? Do I need to stop cussing? Do I need to quit watching R-rated movies? What do I need to do? What you need to do is say God, and you don't have to come down the aisle, you can do that right now, while you are sitting.
Speaker 1:I think this is also God being patient with many of us as Christians who keep going back to salt water and drinking it and being surprised. It doesn't satisfy. But the second way I think God is patient is with his steadfast love. Ten points to the camp store If you can tell me the first definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13.
Speaker 1:Love is Okay. If you're new to the church and you're like how did they know that answer? It's okay. You've probably heard it in a wedding probably 50% of them that you have ever been to. 1 Corinthians 13 is called the love chapter and it's not nearly as good as Song of Solomon on that point, if I may be honest but it is a definition of what love is. Love is patient, love is kind, love is good, and on and on it goes. The very first definition of love is patience, which means God is abounding in steadfast patience.
Speaker 1:If you take this concept of his steadfast love, him being slow to anger, it comes from a Greek word, erikopion, and slow to anger means indulgent of nose. Wouldn't have guessed that, would you? It means check this out, dual nostriled. Let me explain, because this is awesome. Okay, this happened to me recently, I won't say when, because it would allow people in the congregation to know when I was frustrated and I do not want them to know that. I walked into a room in the past week and I looked at myself in the mirror and this is what I did I went. You been there before. You know exactly what I was feeling Overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious, whatever it is. Did you see what I just did?
Speaker 1:When we talk about God being slow to anger, what it's saying is this he has been doing the first part of that for longer than you can imagine. Do you know when you feel better in that exercise. The exhale, it's the. That's when the heart rate drops. God is still inhaling. That's what this text means when it says that he is slow to anger. It means that God has continued to just. That's sinful. Why did that? I can't even do it, my lungs fill up. I can't even make the illustration accurately enough. But God is still inhaling. Why? Because the exhale is the return of Christ. He's being patient with you.
Speaker 1:I get patient with people not only when they sin, but when they move too slow. I was not kidding about the yellow light. When I walk through stores, I look at my wife and I look at my children and I always ask them this question why are you single filing me? We're a family, we're a family. Why are y'all in a line? I want to talk to somebody. Do you want to know why they're single filing me? Because they think I'm running through the store. That's why? Because we can't keep up with you. We're just trying to figure out what aisle you're going to hit next so we don't get lost and kidnapped. Since we were three years old, that's what we're trying to do, dad, I move very quickly. When do I get frustrated? When people move slow, which means if God is being patient with you, it might be because he feels like you are moving too slowly.
Speaker 1:This is written to the believer. It's not just are you struggling with sin? I think this is God saying come on, man. You've been saying you're gonna do that thing. Forever You've been saying you're gonna take that step, make that move, have that conversation grow in thing. Forever You've been saying you're going to take that step, make that move, have that conversation grow in. This thing You've been saying forever you're going to take the step. And God's just like are you going to move or are you going to be settled? This is what it is pointing to. He is slow to anger and, in the event that this catches you, that God would not wish that any would perish.
Speaker 1:Can I just explain it to you? I didn't tell you we had any theological lifts. Today. We only have one, and this is it. How can God not wish that any would perish, knowing that some are going to perish? If you wanna understand this, you have to understand the two wills of God the revealed will and the determinate will. And I'm going to explain this to you abundantly quickly.
Speaker 1:In Exodus 20, god said you shall not murder. Is it God's will for people not to murder? Yes or no? Why did y'all get reticent Like? That should be an easy one. All right, let's try that again. I'm concerned about the coming week. All right, is it God's will for you not to murder people? Okay, All right. Then explain Isaiah, where it says yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Jesus, for him to be murdered. Explain to me how, in Acts 22, it says this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and the foreknowledge of God. God didn't just think of the cross, it was his plan. So how can God simultaneously say do not murder, and sovereignly ordained that his son would be murdered, because there are two wills in God and it doesn't rip him in half? This is the revealed will of God and the determinant will of God, and you experience this in your own life. Though, if you want to go deeper, I would be happy to.
Speaker 1:The day of the Lord will come, and Peter says it'll come in four different ways. It's going to come like a thief. Things will pass away, things will be burned up up and things will be dissolved. It's going to come like a thief when you least expect it, quickly and quietly. This is why Peter wants to stir up the Kool-Aid in the bottom of your cup, because a thief comes without warning. In fact, they're near you without you even realizing it. Until it happens, what you know will pass away, everything that you now know, even the things that have settled and the things that are stirred. They are going to pass away and when they pass away, they will be burned up and dissolved. In other words, this world is going to be seen as wholly insufficient for the one that God is making.
Speaker 1:When I go to the next slide and you see verse 13, what it's going to say is the next world is going to be filled with simply righteousness. That's it, goodness and righteousness, and warmth and wonder, not all of the brokenness that we have brought in, and everything will be exposed All that you have done, all that you have said, all that you have thought, but especially that which you have believed. What you have said, all that you have thought, but especially that which you have believed, what you have beheld is valuable, what you have become as a person, and if that terrifies you or scares you in one sense, I'm going to say good. In another sense, I'm going to say but in Christ there is a way where you walk to this day very differently than even those of you who grew up in the church. Imagine it.
Speaker 1:I was praying with Sam and Melaina and we were talking about this passage and Melaina said it changed her perspective when a pastor preached that the day of judgment you will walk to Christ on a red carpet and the carpet will be made red by the blood of his sacrifice. In the midst of all of the things that will be exposed in you, you will simply be standing upon. Christ said he would forgive me and I am trusting that he will. Christ said you would see his goodness and not my best attempts at it. Is that true? And on this red carpet you will be Christian ushered in. The last thought you may be thinking is okay, I guess I'll just wait and see and I would close as Peter closes and I would say if that is your thought, just recognize it's the final thought of the scoffer and the doubt evangelist.
Speaker 1:I will wait for the coming of the day of God, except that's not what Peter calls you to. He says says waiting for and hastening. I am waiting for and bringing about the coming day of God, since all these things are gonna be dissolved. What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? There is more than just waiting here. I want you to think about this. There is a way to wait that also brings about the kingdom, when we talk about the revealed will and the determinate will of God, god has revealed that all nations, all people, should hear the good news of Jesus Christ, and he has determined that you are going to be the ones to do it. Hear the good news of Jesus Christ, and he has determined that you are going to be the ones to do it. He could, right now, speak with a trumpet in every tongue across the entire planet. Why not do that? Well, he's being patient with you. He's being patient with some of you that are in your sin. He's being patient with some of you that are being slow. Some of you he's like I want you to be a part of this. You're in the family.
Speaker 1:Stir the Kool-Aid up, taste the goodness of me and go about the thing that I have put inside of you the settled person. They're going to wait and see. The settled person is going to say since this may not happen in my lifetime. I can always just work on holiness or godliness. Later I'll wait until I'm closer to the time. This, by the way, was 90% of youth ministry convincing an invincible 16-year-old that he wasn't invincible so that he would respond to the gospel, instead of getting high and sleeping around with his girlfriend and drinking and doing whatever and then becoming a boring 42-year-old and being like now we'll settle down and love Jesus. Right, that was gnarly right, like you're one of my youth kids, aren't we, lily? What's up? Right? So this is the conversation, but it is a youthful conversation. It's an ignorant, it's an immature conversation.
Speaker 1:The stirred person is going to say I could meet Jesus in a moment. It could be right now. It could be right now because he returns, or it could be right now because I could take a left out of the parking lot. Funny, and that be the game. And if that is the case, since that is the case, I want to live like. I trust his promises, these facts which are easily overlooked. But even if Jesus doesn't return in a moment, even if I don't die in a moment, I am only better off for a life of godliness and holiness. I miss out on nothing, I gain everything. There is no downside to holiness and godliness. Today, I believe I play a role in the determinate will of God. I believe that he has adopted me into his family. He has according to 1 Corinthians 12, given me gifts. He has called me to be a part of this. Guys, do you realize what a big deal you are to God, that he is being patient with you because he wants you to find the joy in stirring the Kool-Aid and sipping from the goodness of him daily and being about it? That is why I started with this question.
Speaker 1:When you think of these words the day of the Lord, the last day and the day of judgment what word or feeling comes to mind? I wasn't sure what you guys were gonna say. Oh great, I had it logged in. I promise time out. Don't examine my password and if you do, just don't give it out. Thank you, apple. Auto login. This is what you guys said. Hang on Present. The bigger the word is, the more of you said it. It's supposed to have a profanity filter on as well, hopefully. All right, I can't trust some of y'all. Some of y'all think you're too cute. All right, some of y'all just aren't trusting in Jesus, but some of you are and you just think you're too cute.
Speaker 1:Judgment, the end, fire, fear. Do you know there are very few questions I could put in one room and have such different answers. Do you know there are very few questions I could put in one room and have such different answers? Excitement, hope, glory. How is wrath and relief side by side? When Peter looks at this day, he is anticipatory, he is excited. Now, those of you who are like, yeah, but what about the unbeliever? I'm with you on that. But for those of us to whom the Kool-Aid is stirred, we should look at this day with great excitement because God is being patient. God is the one who is caring for the unbeliever. When you see by the way quick pause. Has anybody found anything squirrely on there yet? I'm just wondering. I never know what's always happening behind me.
Speaker 1:When we look at this reality, how ought you to think about the end? Well, you're gonna think very differently if you're stirred than if you're settled. And this is what I'm pleading with you today as we get raised. Stokesy, if you wanna come on up, hannah, if you wanna come on, I'm not sure, I'm just begging you. If there's nothing in the cup. Come to Jesus today. If you're like man, I don't have anything to even stir. The good news of Christ is he has been patient with you to bring you to this point. And if you have stuff that's in the cup and it is dropped to the bottom, stir it up. Pray that the spirit of God would stir you, because there should be an excitement for Christ returning. For those of us who are not excited, there's probably a reason, and it's probably either God being patient with your sin or him being patient with your slowness. There is a way to navigate life with that excitement, but you are going to have to do what Peter has called you to do and be stirred up.
Speaker 1:I give you a few questions to ponder. As Stokes plays in the background, maybe for a moment, if you would Stokes to give us a moment to reflect, and then we'll stand and we'll worship a God who deserves every bit of it. If you wanna talk, we'll have a couple of folks down. If you wanna to talk, we'll have a couple of folks down. If you want to talk to celebrate good things in your life, if you need prayer for anything in your life, man, we would love to be able to pray for you. When Stokes tells everybody to stand up. It's not a command, it's not declarative. If you need to kneel, if you need to pray, if you need to stay seated, if you want to go walk out in the back, you do whatever it takes for you to pursue the Lord.