"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. (I Peter 2:9) There are many things that human beings ponder. They just do not have the answers to many questions. Many speculations are made because men do not know. The above scripture states that God knows and that God knows how to do two important things: A) to deliver the godly out of temptations, and B) to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. God places a great deal of emphasis on "know" and "knowing." He says "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) In all he uses the word "know" 763 times in the scriptures, the word "knowledge" 172 times, the word "knew" 169 times, and the word "knowing" 51 times.
1. He uses three examples of how he knows what to do with the wicked.
A) He spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down to "Tartarus", reserved in chains of darkness unto the judgment. (II Peter 2:4) Even celestial beings cannot get by with sinning. Sin is a thing which will condemn us. With God it is rebellion against him. He has told us how to live and we are not listening to him when we sin. If he didn’t spare the angels he will certainly not spare us if we sin.
B) He spared not the old world. In Genesis 6:3-5 we read of God looking on the wicked condition of the world in the days of Noah and saw that every imagination of the thoughts of men’s hearts were only evil continually. God decreed to destroy wicked men from the earth with a flood but he gave them 120 years to repent. Noah was the only righteous person then living and he was commissioned to build the ark as well as to preach righteousness to the wicked people of that time. They did not listen but he did manage to save his family in the ark. When they entered the ark along with the prescribed number of animals God closed the door and the flood waters came destroying all outside the ark. The entire earth was inundated with water and the tallest mountains were at least 22 feet under water.
C) God rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah after delivering just Lot who was vexed with their wicked deeds. Their sins of homosexuality and lesbianism were too much for God. (Genesis 19) Aren’t such sins repugnant to God today? Read Romans 1:24-32 for the answer.
2. We must keep in mind that God knows all about people of the world today.
The psalmist asks, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and they right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me." (Psalms 139:7-11) Solomon added, "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3) The Hebrew writer also said, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." (Hebrews 4:13) It is beyond us to understand how it is that God sees every action of every person in all of this world of six billion people. However it is definitely so and we need to be very careful as to what we think, what we say, and what we do. "The face of the Lord is against them that do evil." (I Peter 3:12)
3. God also hold us responsible for our actions.
"For God shall bring every work unto judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14) The only hope we have is to accept Christ doing his will because he is the mediator of the new covenant (promised by Jeremiah the prophet), in which God says, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8:11 and see also Hebrews 8:6-13) By going to Christ we can have those old sins forgiven and forgotten by God. That means he will no longer hold us responsible for them.
4. God knows how to save us.
He promises this salvation by Jesus Christ and according to his grace. Christ lays it out in the Great Commission given to the apostles with instructions to all mankind. They gave those instructions in the 27 books of the New Testament. Christ has been given all authority and he saves us when we hear, believe, repent, confess, and are baptized according to the scriptures.
5. God knows hoe to deliver the godly out of temptations.
There are many trials that people face in life. God has several great avenues to deliver us from falling from our faithfulness as we go through these trials. One is the scriptures themselves. When Jesus went through the temptations Satan put upon him he overcame every one by "It is written" then quoting the pertinent scripture. (Matthew 4:1-10) He is our example in righteousness. If he could use the scriptures to overcome the temptation of sinning we can also use the word to overcome the temptations to sin. Another avenue of being delivered from temptations is prayer. The Lord taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." (Matthew 6:13) Another avenue the Lord provides are our Christian brethren. We are all in fellowship together in the Lord’s church for the purpose of encouraging one another to do right. "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works."
(Hebrews 10:24)
6. God knows how he wants to be worshiped.
"But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him." (John 4:23) What is worship in spirit? "Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrews 12:28) What is worship in truth? "Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth." (John 17:17) The conclusion is that worship in truth is worship according to the word. What does the word say about praise services? "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 3:16) God wants us to sing, pray, preach, give, and have the Lord’s Supper in worship. (Acts 2:42)
Why should we worship in any other way than what God wants? - C.D.