Can The Devil Answer Prayer?

This seems like a rhetorical question, but I believe it’s one worth exploring. First of all, I do not believe the devil can even hear our prayers to God. Why? There are no scriptures I have found that would support this type of belief.

Some that espouse that the devil can answer prayer has as their premise those who are operating in disobedience; meaning that if someone is petitioning the Lord, and is in sin, the Lord will not hear them so the devil intercepts the request and provides an answer to their prayer. The person then believes the answer came from God when in actuality, it’s a counterfeit. This is a weak supposition of  Satan’s ability at the least, and heretical interpretation of scripture at the most.

There are those that are given the devil too much credit and power.

It is this writer’s one hundred percent persuasion that the devil can not answer prayer, because he is not in the “blessing business”, but in the “killing business”!

Scripture clearly bears this out.

                                        

                                                What is the devil’s Modus Operandi

The devil is a liar – Then the serpent (i.e. the devil) said, “You shall not surely die. For God knows in the day that you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:4).”

This was clearly a lie. God specifically commanded Adam not to eat from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, yet the devil said to Eve that she wouldn’t die (Genesis 2:17).

Jesus said regarding the devil when speaking to the religious leaders, “You are of your father the devil, and the lust (desires) of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

The devil is the tempter -  Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-10; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13)

We read in I Chronicles 21:1 that “Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.” Unfortunately, Satan prevailed against David in getting him to commit sin; David relished in the size of army instead in the power of God who provided the army. The result of David’s sin, seventy thousand Israelites were killed by an angel of the Lord (I Chronicles 21:14).

The devil is a devourer – “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). 

Part of the devil’s plan is to rip God’s people to shreds; to kill, steal and destroy them (John 10:10).

The devil is a sinner – We generally do not regard our enemy as a sinner, but he is the first and chief sinner of all creation. Remember, a sinner is anyone that breaks God’s law which the devil was the first creature to ever to do so.  This is proven in scripture:

11 Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared. 14 Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth: and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee. 16 By the abundance of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore have I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I have cast thee to the ground; I have laid thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 By the multitude of thine iniquities, in the unrighteousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of thee; it hath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the peoples shall be astonished at thee: thou art become a terror, and thou shalt nevermore have any being.

Ezek 28:11-19 (ASV)

Here we get a glorious description of the devil prior to his fall. Because of sin he was cast out of heaven down to the earth. The reason for this fall is sin. Some believe this event took place prior to the creation of man.

In I  John 3:8 we read this: “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning (emphasis added). For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.

                                         

                                      

                                                                    Conclusion

As the aforementioned accounts prove, the devil does/can not answer prayer. Even if it is some type of material benefit that appears to be a blessing, see if it comes with repercussions. What do I mean by that? Scripture tells us the blessing of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow with it (Proverbs 10:22).  If one is acquiring things by ill gotten gain, you will experience sorrow eventually, and rightfully so, because you sinned to get something you had no right to.

Imagine the tragedy of those in the body of Christ who live sinful lives and still receive what they perceive as blessings  from the Lord. They will  have no desire to live holy because good would come by being evil. Those type of acquisitions do not come from the devil; it’s a result of their own lustful desires at which point God can allow Satan to exploit them like he did with Judas Iscariot. This was a case where the devil was successful; he caused Judas to commit suicide; in essence the devil killed Judas which I mentioned earlier is part of his evil nature (Matthew 27:5;Luke 22:3).

As John 10:10 says, the thief only comes but to kill, steal and destroy. For that’s all he can do. Jesus came to provide the abundant life of blessing.

If God does not answer the prayers of the disobedient Christian, certainly the devil is not granted the power to circumvent God’s prevention and provide a “blessing” against God’s will. The devil is only interested in stacking up bodies in his killing fields. God is the only one who stacks up benefits for His people in His fields of blessing.

What about Horoscopes - Are they harmful?

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines horoscopes as: a forecast of a person’s future, typically including a delineation of character and circumstances based on the relative positions of the stars and planets at the time of that person’s birth.

A short forecast for people born under a particular sign as published in a newspaper or magazine.

Horoscope is a compound word. It comes from the Greek hōroskopos, from hōra which means time, and skopos which means observer. So it’s one that studies and gazes at the stars or an observer of times.

Generally people will pickup the morning paper and read what their “horoscope” says under their astrological sign to get some idea of how their day will go and what they believe is their future. Something as “innocent” as a horoscope reading is a clear violation of the word of God. Why?

It places faith in man’s corrupt wisdom instead of God’s infinite wisdom. It’s also divination; one is trying to determine the future based on the stars and planets position in the heavens. God has declared all of human history from beginning to end (Read the book of Revelation entirely).

Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

James 1:5 – If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God (emphasis added).

These two passages alone let us know that God is the object of all wisdom, and His word provides the direction for wisdom.

All accurate future and man’s destiny is contained within the pages of scripture. Consulting another source, whether it’s a psychic, a witch, a wizard, tarot card readers, or some modern day wanna-be prophet to divine one’s future is dangerous and MUST be avoided by all especially Christians at all costs (Leviticus 19:26,31; Deuteronomy 18:10-14; I Samuel 28:7-19).

Astrology does not have influence on anyone’s life in that the alignment of the stars and planets will affect your life and destiny.

God created the stars for times and seasons (Genesis 1:14) not to be worshipped or determines one life today or for the future. These practices are demonic and are forbidden by the word of God. They’re practiced by those involved in the occult.

We’re to give glory to the one who created the heavenly bodies, not the bodies themselves (Psalm 8:3; Colossians 1:15-17; Revelation 4:11).

You can not drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you can not partake of the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to anger? Are we stronger than He?

                                                                                                                           ˗ I Corinthians 10:21-22

Where will you spend eternity?

Be honest with yourself my friend, do you ever wonder where you’ll end up when you die? If you haven’t thought about it, you should RIGHT NOW!! The bible tells us in Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment”. I know I’m not the first person that has preached the word of God to you; so what that means is God is trying to arrest your attention. If you’re not listening to his voice, you need to begin listening today!

Perhaps you’re the type of person that believes you’re  “good” in your owns eyes and you don’t need God. None of us are good (Psalm 14; Psalm 53). According to the bible it says, “he that trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he that walks wisely will be delivered”, Proverbs 28:26. Every word of God is true.

Another passage in the bible says this, “now or today is the day of salvation”. Another verse says, “if you hear the Lord’s voice, do not harden your heart” (2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 3:15).

You DO NOT have all the time in the world you think you have. Every time God’s word is rejected, you harden your heart against his grace and mercy; your chances for salvation in Jesus Christ grow slimmer everyday. Are you willing to take the chance and presume on God’s grace and say, I’ve got plenty of time for God and Jesus, I’ll get saved later!”  

Your later may be today, and right now! This could be your last night on earth!

The life you’re living now may be great for you, but I absolutely guarantee you, it will come to an end.

Where will you spend eternity? Jesus is coming back!

Have you seriously thought about that?

If you haven’t done so, repent of your sins today, and receive Jesus Christ today as your personal Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10). What in the world are you waiting for! If you don’t, you’ll spend an eternity in the Lake of Fire (i.e. Hell fire). That’s forever and ever!

Sin is a spiritual disease of the soul, and the only cure is confession of your sins and asking God the Father to forgive you of your sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  When we commit sin, we transgress God’s law.

You may be asking, what laws have I broken? We’ve all broken the ten commandments (Exodus 20). Have you ever told a lie, stolen, hated anyone (murder at heart), lusted after someone (adultery at heart), taken the Lord’s name in vain? The obvious answer to these questions is YES! So, by your own admission, you’re a lying, thieving, murderous, adulterous, blasphemer!  How do you look in God’s eyes now? If you’re honest, you should feel ashamed.

We know that all lawbreakers should be punished wouldn’t you agree? No earthly judge in his/her right mind would exonerate a convicted pedophile, rapist, or murderer would they? We all know they deserve to imprisoned or executed. We as humans all deserve damnation for the crimes we’ve committed against a Holy God. And because God is a just and perfect judge, he must punish sin!

The wonderful news is Jesus has provided eternal salvation to all those that believe in his accomplished work on the cross. Your sins through Christ will be cleansed forever and never counted against you again. Jesus took the punishment we deserved and bore our sins himself (Isaiah 53:4-5; I Peter 2:24-25). This act satisfied God the Father’s wrath against sin. There was a great exchange! God took our sins and nailed it to the cross, and in exchange He granted us his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).That is why we must believe on what he did or else we’re lost. Please keep in mind, your sins are only forgiven if you confess them to God! Jesus death on the cross and shed blood for sins only applies to those who believe!

Hopefully God the Father is drawing you to the Son through this note (John 6:44).

Ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins and believe on the blood sacrifice of Jesus on the cross! He is the only way to salvation friend (John 14:6). There is no other person that can save you (Acts 4:12).

Salvation is the greatest gift of all time. Nothing can exceed it (Ephesians 2:8,9)!

Where will you spend eternity? Jesus is coming back again (Revelation 19:6-11).

The Book Of Hebrews – Part 1

Chapter 1 – The writer declares Jesus greater than the angels (vs. 4). I n fact, He created them (vs.2). The Father declares Jesus the Son of God God himself affirming his deity (vs. 8-12). Verses are a direct quotation from Psalm 45:6,7.

The writer is clearly making the distinction between Jesus and the angels Vs. 13 is another O.T. reference to the Messiah (See Psalm 110:1).

Chapter 2 – The writer urges us to take heed to the things we’ve heard (the gospel) so that we do not drift away from them. If the O.T. children of Israel were punished for disobeying their gospel, how much more will we suffer if we disobey a greater gospel? (vs. 1-3)

Jesus was made (humanly) a little lower than the angels so that he could die for his people (Matthew 1:21) – (vs.9).

Jesus had to become flesh and blood like us – the seed of Abraham in order to die and destroy him who has the power of the death, the devil (vs. 14).

When He did this we were made free forever. Jesus incarnation displays his love in that he fully identified with us in humanity and weaknesses.

Chapter 3 – Jesus, greater than Moses

There is a comparison going on, the children of Israel who did not heed God’s word in Moses’ day died in unbelief in the wilderness. They did not enter into God’s rest; the promised land of Caanan. The writer quotes Psalm 95:7-11 twice in the chapter (vs. 7-10, 15).

The only one’s that will enter God’s rest are those that will remain faithful. True believer’s will do this. Vs. 12-14 are an admonition to believe the gospel so that sin does not get a hold of you to the degree that you’re blind to the truth.

Chapter 4 – Writer begins again stressing the importance of heeding the gospel so that we can enter into “THE REST OF GOD” (Vs. 4). Writer reiterates those in the O.T. did not enter the land of promise due to disobedience/unbelief (Vs. 3,7).

Verse 8 deals with only an earthly rest through Joshua – the promised land of Caanan, but it’s not the final rest that comes in accepting the gospel and having eternal rest.

God’s word is a double edged sword. It’s cuts into the inner man, to his thoughts and his heart. Our lives are never concealed from God’s holy word (vs. 13-14).

Jesus feels all that we do and are. He’s a loving, caring savior who always identifies with our weaknesses because he was tempted in everyway – not with every temptation without sin or even the capacity to sin (vs. 15).

Let us go to the Lord to find help when we need it (vs. 16).

Divorce and Remarriage

“For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence”, says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit that you do not deal treacherously.” – Malachi 2:16.

              

It’s been said that the divorce rate among evangelicals is as high as the secular world. According to recent studies, this statement is false. Married couples that attend church regularly and practice their faith seriously, divorce rate is at 38 percent. Those who are nominal in their faith, and do not attend a worship service regularly and/or do not spend time in personal prayer or with their spouse, read their bibles consistently divorce rate is at a whopping 60 percent!

Since it’s so easy to divorce and remarry in our country, even some so called Christians do it on a regular basis.

But what does the bible have to say about these matters?

In Matthew 5:31-32 Jesus said, “Furthermore it has been said whosoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except for sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery (Italics added).

This truth is ignored by all in secular society, and the writer of this article would daresay by most in the evangelical community. Often times we read what the word says, and if it doesn’t fit within our theological construct, we ignore, or better yet disobey that particular command. When one is seeking a divorce, they’ll for anything to be discontented with about their spouse so that they can use those situations to break their covenant of marriage. So we have plenty in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ who are currently in adulterous, marital relationships.

Why is this the case?

Simply because if a man or woman divorces their spouse other than for fornication and marries another,  that person has committed adultery because your former spouse is still alive and you’re bound by that person in marriage as long as they live (Romans 7:2). In the eyes of the law your marriage is no longer legally binding, but in the eyes of the Lord it still is; So, what should one do?  Well obviously if the love between the two has grown cold, reconciliation is most likely impossible otherwise a divorce would not have occurred in the first place. The writer believes that for the sake of peace between two disgruntled people, divorce is a permitted, but not a God honoring choice since He hates divorce (I Corinthians 7:15).

It’s apparent that God meant for marriages to last unto death separated us. The two become one flesh (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5). He made that clear when he said in Matthew 19:6, “Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Italics added).

In the final analysis, God permits divorce in regards to infidelity; and even in that, divorce should be the last resort if all other options have been exhausted, and no reconciliation can be made. The writer realizes that that is not the route that most will take if they have been betrayed in their marriage. They’ll want a divorce and they have the biblical right to make that choice.

Those that fit this category who are Christians are allowed to remarry in the Lord; that is you MUST marry a believer (I Corinthians 7:39).

                                                A believing and non believing spouse

There are instances were you have people get married and they’re both unbelievers. However, over time one becomes born again after hearing the truth of the gospel and the other remains unsaved. What do we do in these instances? Fortunately, the bible provides the answers.

In I Corinthians 7:12-16 it reads, “If any brother has a wife who does not believe, if she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever departs, let them depart; brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?”

These are straight forward answers to these marriage dilemmas. I will try my best to provide sensible commentary on the aforementioned verses.

Summing up the matter, the onus is on the believing spouse to be a witness to their unsaved partner so that they may hopefully one day turn to the Lord in true repentance and faith and be saved as they are. There are of course no guarantees because the unbelieving spouse may refuse the invitations to repent and may become so exacerbated by their spouse’s radical transformation lifestyle, their love turns cold due to the darkness in them vs. the light in their spouse and decide they want to dissolve the union. You have what I call a spiritual indifference or you become unequally yoked by default. God grants the divorce in such cases for the sake of peace he’s called us to (vs. 15).

The unfortunate result for the unbelieving spouse is that the sanctification they unknowingly enjoyed because of the saving grace that rested on and in the believer has been removed, and now they are in complete and total spiritual darkness; whereas the scenario for the believer is much better, they’re no longer bound to the union. They’re free to marry again, but only in the Lord (vs. 39). You must not be unequally yoked (II Corinthians 6:14-17).

On the flip side, there are occasions where a non believer wishes to remain with their mate because they loved them before they believed, and may even love them more because they’re saved and are endeavoring to please God by pursuing holy living although they have no desire to pursue God themselves. The unbeliever realizes that they’re blessed because of their spouse who loves God and faithfully serves Him; the peace of God is resting on that house for the sake of the believing spouse. The word of God tells us to stay with your spouse. What greater evangelistic prospect can you have than your own spouse who loves you and is willing to listen to you? Your chances are greater to lead them to eternal life in Christ because of the saturation of the grace of God that’s resting on your life. Pray that God the Father will draw them to the Son (John 6:44).

Concluding, God only grants divorce in two cases, infidelity, and abandonment by an unbelieving spouse. Notice God does not sanction the believer to abandon the unbelieving spouse. Their assignment is to pray, love, and evangelize their spouse so that they come out of darkness and be transformed into God’s marvelous light (II Peter 2:9).

Divorce for any other reason is not God honoring as hard as that may be to accept. However, I believe if someone (usually women) are in a physical abusive marital relationship, they need to separate from their husband for safety sake until he seeks professional help. The abused should also seek counseling to try to get to the root of the problem. Scripture tells us, “In a multitude of counselors there is safety and victory (Proverbs 11:14; 24:6). Once there is a consistent pattern of reformed behavior; he’s contrite for what he’s done, and he’s promised never to do it again, return to him. Seek biblical counsel together. The husband should remain in some sort of spiritual biblical counseling group where he’s held accountable to Godly men who can monitor his progress and spiritual growth, like Pastors or Elders in the Church. If he values his wife and family, he’ll be willing to get help. If he is unwilling to seek help and remains abusive in other ways, such as drinking, smoking, cursing, gambling, outbursts of anger, fighting, laziness, etc, do not return to him; that type of person is most unstable and unsafe to be around.

In cases like these, you need to pray and seek the Lord on how to proceed. If you divorce and marry again, you’ve caused your new spouse to commit adultery because your former spouse is still alive. You are now an adulteress in the eyes of the Lord. It let’s us know how strongly God despises divorce. Can/will God give grace to you in these instances? The writer believe He does if one truly repents and seeks forgiveness for violating the word of God. God knows the weakness of our flesh and it’s insatiable lust to gratify itself even at the expense of obeying His word. God also knows those who are seeking true love and happiness in a marital relationship and sometimes that doesn’t occur in an initial marriage due to ungodliness with both husband and wife, lack of patience or endurance, and immaturity. Definitely seek pre-marital counseling if you’re marrying for the first time. If you’re divorced, seek counseling also. Try to determine why the relationship failed. Do not be so quick get involved in another relationship, least of all marriage. Pray to the Lord on how you should proceed with your life. I believe it’s wise to have a cooling off period before engaging in another committed relationship. Commit your relationship to the Lord first; let Him become your first love above all else, and then you’ll be spiritually, and emotionally fortified to be involved in a romantic relationship with a believer so that your union will over time blossom into a life long love affair (Proverbs 3:5-6; Matthew 6:33).

Be truthful with yourself and the Lord. If you have truly repented of the sin of divorce and remarriage (exception clause-adultery), the writer believes you can have a fruitful second marriage even with the adultery stigma. The opposite of this is someone who’s callous regarding marriage and foolishly marries another because they’ve grown tired of their former spouse and divorces them for no legitimate reason at all (c.f. Matthew 19:3). That type of person is reckless and should be avoided until they get biblical counseling, changes their ways, and renews their mind (Romans 12:1-2). God knowing all things uses even sinful situations without condoning them to fulfill his divine plan in the lives of mankind in our relationships.

Does James 1:13-14 contradict Hebrews 4:15?

Perhaps you’ve wondered like I have about these two verses of scripture; if they contradict one another. Let’s look at both of them and see if we can determine what each one means.

James 1:13-14 says this: “Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God can not be tempted by evil, neither does he tempt any man. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.”

The word tempted in the Greek is the word peirázō which means to test or prove. In this text it’s negative, because notice the temptation is from within the person. That’s why (vs. 14) says that a person is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. That’s also why James says that let no one say that when they’re tempted (to sin), they’re tempted of God. God never tempts anyone to sin; for that’s against God’s nature. God through Jesus Christ delivered us from the power of sin, so why would he tempt us to do that which he delivered us from (Romans 6)? He doesn’t. The temptation comes from the wickedness that dwells within our flesh.

So, how does this flow with Hebrews 4:15? Let’s read it.

“For we have not a High Priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted (Greek word peirázō) like as we are, yet without sin.”

The difference with the temptations of Jesus is that the temptations always came from without. Why? Because Jesus was/is perfect in his humanity and does not have any internal evil inclinations like we do.  He was totally full and influenced by the Holy Spirit which empowered and energized him. (Luke 4:1). His flesh unlike ours is perfect and no sin dwells in it. Jesus was never drawn away of his own lust and enticed because he’s perfect, but he was able to be tempted in his humanness by Satan and the religious leaders. How? By three fiery darts: The lust of the flesh; make these stones bread. The lust of the eyes; the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. The pride of life; devil told Jesus bow down and worship me displaying his insatiable need to elevate and satisfy his wicked ego over the Lord  (Matthew 4:1-10; 22:18; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13) yet he had no capacity to sin-ever!

                                                          Reconciling the two verses

So, in the final analysis these two verses do not contradict one another. In James 1:13-14, the writer is expressing the fact that God does not tempt anyone to sin, neither can he be tempted by evil because he’s divine and evil is antithetical and separate from him. It can not dwell in his presence.  However in Hebrews 4:15, God the Son, Christ Jesus was tempted in his perfect humanness, not in his divinity (for both natures resided in him, a mystery), yet without sin. There wasn’t even a possibility that he could have sinned otherwise he couldn’t be a perfect sacrifice for mankind’s sins.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (II Corinthians 5:21).

“Who committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9; I Peter 2:22).

Explaining II Peter 3:9

This is one of those verses that if the reader  isn’t careful and fails to read it in it’s context, you can come up with an incorrect meaning.

So, let’s read it.

It reads, “The Lord is not slack as concerning His promise, as some count slackness,  but  is longsuffering toward us not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9).

The apostle Peter is writing and talking specifically to believers. The reason we know this is two key texts; II Peter 2:1, “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Only believers have true faith so Peter is talking to believers.

II Peter 3:1 says, “this is the second epistle or letter (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior.” Once again, the audience of Peter’s first epistle is the same as his second epistle-to believers.

The questions we need to answer are who are the “us”, the  “any” and the “all” in (vs.9)? On the surface, it appears the verse is making reference to any and all people without exception; in other words, most believe that God desires all men, that is every man on the planet to come to repentance. Well, if this is true,  then why are countless souls dying in their sins and going to hell? Is it that God was hoping, crossing his fingers that dead men lost in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) would somehow dig deep within themselves to find enough strength and virtue to come to life, accept the gospel and be saved?  Or could it be that God is talking about the “any” and the “all” in a limited sense?

           

      Let me explain.

The us, the any, and the all in (vs.9) is making reference to Christians only not to unbelievers. In the beginning of the chapter Peter discusses scoffers/false teachers in the last days mockingly will say, “where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (II Peter 3:3-4).

Peter declares things have not continued since creation. The old world was judged by water (i.e. The Flood), and the current world is being reserved for judgment by fire (II Peter 3:6-7). Peter was disputing the nonsense of these mockers who was saying the Lord wasn’t returning. Peter declared that Jesus is coming, but the delay of the Lord’s return is for the sake of his elect not for the unsaved. Once all of the regenerate elect that He decreed for salvation before the foundation of the world have come to repentance, then the earth will be judged, destroyed, and Jesus will return. Does it make sense for the Lord to desire that every person on the planet come to repentance when he knows that isn’t what he decreed? No.

So we see now why the Lord is delaying his return, all of his chosen from the foundation of the world have not been saved yet, hence the longsuffering of the Lord (vs.15). The Lord is patiently waiting for all of them to come to the point that they receive the repentance provided for them. This is point of the letter.

                                                                    

                                                                     

                                                                  Conclusion

Peter had to reassure the hearts and minds of the saints since there were liars saying the Lord was not returning at all. No doubt some of them believed this evil report and were distressed. The believers in that day believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime. For him not to have returned yet caused doubt and anxiety. Peter told them that God’s delay in returning wasn’t for nothing. The Lord was/is exercising patience toward all of us (the elect of all time), that we all come to repentance and be saved. That is the revealed will of God that Peter was conveying to his readers so that they would fully understand the delay in the Lord’s return; as aptly as Peter put it, it’s God desired-decreed will that none of his children perish. Those words were the comfort of those contemporary saints and for us. Each day we live and the Lord delays his return is because there are more saints that have to be added into the kingdom of God.