2 Peter 2:4-9  

⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; ⁵if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

$30,000.00  

There was fictional story about a violator and a judge. The judge was told, “There’s a complaint against your son.” “Let’s hear the case!” the judge said. The court clerk announced: “Accordingly, the defendant lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the building owned by the plaintiff or petitioner. The damage was estimated to be $30,000.00. The plaintiff wants to be paid for the damage. He agreed to a condition that if he is paid in cash or check today, he will withdraw the case so that the defendant won’t have any violation record under his name.”

“Do you admit the charge against you defendant?” the judge asked. “Yes, sir!” the defendant replied. “Are you willing to pay the amount that the plaintiff required?” the judge asked again. “Yes, sir! But I have no money right now,” the defendant replied remorsefully. To the surprise of everyone in the court room, the judge stood up and approached the defendant and gave him check amounting to $30,000.00. The judge returned to his seat and instructed the defendant, “Now you’ve got a check amounting to $30,000.00 in your hand. Go and pay the plaintiff so that your violation won’t be recorded under your name.”

Similarly, we have sinned; we deserved to be punished. But, God let his Son Jesus Christ died on the cross to redeem us from eternal punishment. It explained rhetorically in Romans 8:32-35: ³²He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Truly, God is love. He wants us to be saved from eternal torture through faith in Jesus Christ. However, God is also just. He had already decreed that sin will eventually be punished eternally. No one is exempted. Believe it or not, even angels when they rebelled against God, they were put in chains of darkness.

1. Put

⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

God has set a time for judgment. Angels who rebelled against God will be eternally punished; everyone who sinned is not spared. But by faith, Christ will take believers with him into his heaven. Someone may want to know, “Angels were supposed to be living with God in heaven, and some of them sinned against God; if that is the case, is it possible that Christians can still commit sin after they enter and live in heaven?” Have you pondered on such question?

It declares in Hebrews 7:24-25, ²⁴But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

When by faith we accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, does it include being saved completely? We believe that Christ has paid for the penalty of our sins, and that includes past, present and future sins. We believe that Christ has saved us from the power or pressure of sin, so that sin cannot influence us to commit sin anymore. We believe that Christ has saved us from the presence of sin which will happen when we enter heaven. Sin does not exist in heaven.

Therefore, once we enter heaven, we are no longer tempted or pressured to commit sin. The angels who rebelled against God were put in chain waiting for their final sentence. Angels that committed sin before the crucifixion of Christ served as warning that God has already set a time for eternal judgment.

Prisoners 

There was show about prisoners who had no idea how long they stay in jail. The prisoners spent many years in jail and waited to be released; but, they were forgotten. They don’t know what to do. No lawyer wants to take their case. One day, a lawyer volunteered for free to take the case of anyone who may trust him.

Similarly, there was no hope for sinners to be saved until Christ Jesus came to save anyone who believes in him. Christ saves completely anyone who believes in him. He has prayed for all disciples in John 17:15-21, ¹⁵My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. ²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 

Christ is the truth. Whatever he says is true. Whatever he prayed for is true. His word sanctifies, consecrates, purifies and blesses obedient believers. He wants all sanctified believers to be with him forever. He protects us so that we won’t be separated from him, now until forever. The Scripture has records on how the Lord has protected the righteous Noah during the great flood.

2.  Protect

⁵if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 

When the people of the earth lived in wickedness, God sent the great flood. Noah was the only righteous person in his generation; he preached righteousness. For 100 years, Noah built the ark. People may have curiously asked, “Why are you building a ship in the middle of nowhere? Why not build near the sea?”

Surely, before God sent the great flood that destroyed all living creatures, Noah told them, but he was ignored. The great flood destroyed every living thing on earth except Noah and his family including the living creatures in the ark.

In the time of Abraham, his nephew named Lot endured the immoral lifestyle of Sodom and Gomorrah while he traded and sold livestock among them.  The Lord made sure that Lot and his family could flee before the angels destroyed the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. But, the wife of Lot looked back; she may have desired the luxurious life in Sodom, so God turned her into a pillar of salt.

It is a sad reality. God instructed Lot to escape the destruction of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, but his wife cannot believe that her luxurious life in Sodom had come to an end. Similarly, we wish and pray for our family, relatives, and friends to be saved from eternal punishment. We may warn them of the coming of Judgment Day. Some of them believed and accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Sadly, not everyone will believe the gospel of salvation in Christ.

What can we do? We pray and ask God to help us pray continually for the salvation of our love ones. There is still opportunity for them to be saved.

We pray that sooner, they realize their need of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Nobody is so sure of anyone’s safety. Anytime, anywhere, tragedy may happen.

Mass Shooting

Mass shooting is a horrible reality that may happen anytime, anywhere. You may have heard or read about a mass shooting at a Christian school. The police officers who bravely confronted the active shooter were commended.

According to initial investigation, there is no evidence of specific issues or reason why the shooter chose the school or her victims. It’s just random incident.

The clear lesson of random tragedy is that, when our time comes, we leave this world, either by old age, accident or just plain random tragedy. So while we wait our time to be transported into eternity, we are advised in Jude 20–25:

²⁰But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. ²²Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. ²⁴To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

God has record of everything we do in this life, obviously or secretly. The Lord had already prepared rewards for obedient believers. He had also decreed punishment for those who may deserve it. Believe it or not, to trust in Christ and receive his commendation is far better than to be punished forever.

3.  Punish

⁹if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 

The Old Testament narrative had recorded how the Lord saved righteous people from tragic calamity. The Scripture proves that God is concerned about our safety. He rescued the godly and punished individuals who were found to be unrighteous before him. Of course, it is by faith that we believe the Scripture.

Have you ever try to warn anyone against the imminent Judgment Day?

Listen carefully: We have to be aware that if they don’t have faith in Christ, they will just consider a warning of Judgment Day as fear-mongering stance or deliberately causing public alarm or fear, and resistance to it can be expected.

Social Media

A young person may have personally realized his spiritual need; he followed a spiritual group who actively publishes warnings about the imminent return of Christ. At one time, he was concerned; he may have personally sensed the need of his friends and subscribers to hear or learn about Judgment Day.

He copied an article about punishment of unbelievers and published it in his social media account. To his horror and dismay, one follower rebutted, argued and disproved that the article was not biblically consistent. The young person had no clear explanation but replied that he just copy-pasted the article, that’s all!

Have you encountered angry opposition when you published articles that you assume as credible without thoroughly realizing if they are biblically correct or not? Or, do you know someone who just republishes anything without taking proper verification of its authenticity or biblical background?

As Christians, our responsibility is to testify of the transformational work of Christ in our life. If you are tempted to publish biblical articles, make sure you’ve got sufficient understanding of the Scripture. If you try to impress others but you cannot defend what you published, it only causes embarrassment to Christianity.

But first and foremost, make sure that you have grown strong in your faith in Christ. How do you personally interpret what it says in 1 John 3:1-3?

¹See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ²Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Life in purity is the best practical defense we can present to anyone who wants to inquire about our faith in Christ. Keep praying for firm confidence in him and seek inspiration of his Holy Spirit. Christ will return sooner than expected.

By faith, we live in godly righteousness and expect his commendation.

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus Christ!!! Amen!!!

><((‘> .. ><((‘> … ><(((“> tmec\2023 <“)))>< … <‘))>< .. <‘))><