2 Peter 3:12 Display Chapter and Footnotes   12 While waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of Christ,3 in which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? [Notice! If you can hasten the coming of the day of the Lord, then obviously it is a personal experience. Waiting for God hastens the day of Christ, when Jesus appears in a purified heart, when you are translated out of the physical dimension to the Kingdom of Heaven; the world passes away and disappears. 1 John 2:7. To wait on God is to listen, watch, and obey.] |
3 While waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of Christ, This verse gave the translators fits because they had no alternative to choose, other than the word "hasten." They could not understand how anyone could hasten the coming day of Christ because they didn't understand what the day of Christ was to a believer; with their understanding of a one-time, physical return of Christ to the whole world, they rationalized all manner of symbolic reasonings to explain the word "hasten." But we know that the day of the Lord occurs as Jesus appears in the hearts of individuals who have purified their hearts through the power of the Spirit killing the lusts and passions of their sinful nature. And we know that an individual can hasten that day by spending every available moment waiting on God, listening, watching, and obeying; eventually being able to abide, (dwell, remain), in the light and word of God, Jesus.
Christendom lost the keys to salvation, which is to heed and obey the commands of God heard while patiently and persistently waiting on God:
Those who are persistently and patiently waiting on God, see Jesus appear in their hearts, and see Jesus bring their salvation, which is to be delivered (freed) from all sin. To wait on God is to persistently sit in humble silence, listen for his voice and words, watch for his revelations, hear his commands, and then obey Him; only those who heed and obey Him receive eternal salvation. Heb 5:9
Salvation is to be delivered (freed) from all sin, even the desires, through persistent obedience to the Spirit that mortifies the selfish human spirit on the inward cross of self-denial. You must persistently and patiently wait for Him in silence to hear his commands, as you listen and watch; then heed and obey Him.
If a man doesn't see Christ appear in his heart, bringing salvation, then he will see Christ after he dies; and that will be a dreadful experience, as Francis Howgill describes in his writing SOME OF THE MYSTERIES OF GOD'S KINGDOM DECLARED.
But if a man does heed and obey the commands he hears, as he persistently and patiently waits on God, that man will experience a beautiful, wonderful appearing of Jesus to bring his salvation, which Francis Howgill also describes in his writing SOME OF THE MYSTERIES OF GOD'S KINGDOM DECLARED.
Despite the fact that the Bible is full of testimony regarding waiting on God both in the Old Testament and the New Testament; and that waiting as the key to salvation in Old and New Testaments was also referenced many times; Christendom reads this verse and thinks waiting for Him is to wait for prayers from their carnal mind to be answered, or waiting for Him to physically come to the earth to judge all; so Christendom's waiting is singing about Jesus coming, hoping for war in the Middle East that might signal his soon return, speculating on how the mark of the beast will be forced on everyone, speculating on who is the antichrist, going to sect services, reading the Bible, etc. For many centuries Christendom has missed Jesus, waiting to reveal himself in every man who heeds and obeys Him, just like the Jews missed Jesus because they were looking for a physical king to come and rule. The New Testament is full of references to the second appearance of Jesus being then, not thousands of years later. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus is recorded saying that some then standing with him, 2000 years ago, would see his glorious coming in the clouds with the Kingdom before they died. In addition Paul, Jesus preaching, Jesus in Revelation, Peter, James, and John, — all said, soon, the time is near, a little while, he stands at the door. Christendom blithely ignores this gaping incongruity between what the Bible plainly states vs. what they are taught by their blind guides. It would be a cruel hoax to be waiting on Him to appear if the past 100 generations of believers actually had no hope of ever seeing Him.
There is an entire web page on this site devoted to this second appearance: The Second Appearance of Jesus is Within the Hearts of Purified Believers.
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