1997-03

SERMON NOTES

TEXT: 2 Peter 3:1-18

INTRODUCTION: Peter here tells the church that the Day of the Lord will come. Though these words were written nearly 2000 years ago, the certainty of the Lord's coming remains a truth the church needs to hear and recognize. As He has promised, so He will come.

The Day of the Lord Peter refers to here is the day when the Lord returns to catch up the faithful of the church, His bride, to meet Him in the air. The Day of the Lord covers a period of time, and ends with the destruction of the present heaven and earth, and the creation of a new one. The date of the Day of the Lord is unknown to us, though we can know the season; it will be marked by an unexpected suddenness. Matthew 24:42, 44 say: "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." and "So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." (NIV)

You remember that the angels told the believers in the first chapter of Acts that this same Jesus, whom they saw leaving them and returning to Heaven, would come again in like manner. Now we have all heard and read that countless times. But I ask you, "Do you really believe that? Are you living as if He could return at any moment? Do you realize that He could, or do you believe that He could not possibly come now, or at any time in the near future?" May I remind you that Matthew said He would come at an unexpected time.

What does Peter have to say about the coming of the Lord?

I. Mockery in the last days, but the certainty of the Day of the Lord. 3:1-10

1. First Peter tells them that this is his second letter to them. Some feel the first is what we regard as 1 Peter, but we cannot be sure because there is no recipient listed for either letter. Also, 1 Peter 1:12 and 16 give indications of a personal ministry to the recipients, while this letter does not. Also, the description of the letters as reminders does not fit both of the letters well. None of these is conclusive in itself, but are enough to raise doubt in the minds of some. However, most feel these are the two letters referred to.

2. Peter says that he wrote these to stimulate their thinking, in a wholesome manner. He tells them that they are to look into the words spoken in the past by the prophets; they were to take into account the commands given by our Savior, and those added through the apostles. These contain the truth as revealed by God.

3. He also tells them that in the last days, scoffers or mockers will come. Now in our time, there seem to be an increasing number of people who fall into this . Today, more and more people are coming, who live by their own standards. They do not want any other standard applied to them; they do not want anything that is a concrete set of rules; everything must be situational, so that they can make their decision about what to do based on the circumstances. Nothing is always right or always wrong. They want to follow their own evil desires. In our day, men and their evil desires are certainly on the increase, not only in number, but also in the intensity of their desire to live evil lives.

4. Peter says that they will question His very coming. They will point to the fact that this promise has been quoted for hundreds of years now, and He has not yet returned. They will say that everything seems to go on as it had in the beginning. However, this is not even true, for things are getting worse and worse. They are not staying the same, nor are they getting better. In view of the situation we see today, we can say with the Holy Spirit, "Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus."

5. Peter reminds the church that the things we see, the earth, the heavens, all that is, was formed long ago by the Word of God. It did not come about by happenstance; it did not come into being from green slime by the process of evolution.

6. Peter says we also forget, on purpose, that the evil world became so bad that one time in the past, God destroyed all living things. He then indicates that by the same God, speaking with the same voice of authority, everything we now see is being kept. Why is it being kept in existence now? Only to preserve it for the day of the judgment of the Lord. Mankind is being kept at present so that the evil ones can be punished for their sins.

7. Peter tells us to recall something. Time is of no consequence to the Lord. He operates outside the limitations of time and space. Note that he says that a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand days as a year with the Lord. He does not say a day is a thousand years. What he is doing is emphasizing the fact that time does not matter with God. God can do in a day what we think should take a thousand years, and He can also choose to do in a thousand years what we think He should do in one day. The choice is His. God's knowledge of what is going to happen is so sure and true that He views things as having already having been done, though they are still future. What He has said will come to pass.

8. Why does the Lord delay His coming? Only because He is patient, and delights to show mercy. He does not want anyone to perish, so gives everyone all the chances they can be given. He is not slow in keeping His promise, nor has He forgotten it. He will come.

9. Peter says in verse 10 that the Day of the Lord will come. What will happen then? He says the heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and all that is in the earth will be destroyed. You might say, "It would take a powerful God to do all that by His Word." Well, the Lord is powerful, more than we can realize. He is the sovereign ruler of the universe. But did you ever stop to think that mankind himself has the ability right now to totally destroy the world as we know it with atomic power. If mankind could do this, how much more could the Lord.

II. Manifestation of the Day of the Lord, and its ethical implications. 3:11-16

1. Peter now begins to apply what he has said in a practical sense. First, he says that since we know this kind of judgment is coming, what kind of people should we be. He then answers his own question. We should be holy, living godly lives here on this earth as we look forward to the coming of the Lord. Are you able to look forward with anticipation to the coming of the Lord today, based on the way you are living your life here and now?

2. The day of the Lord will certainly come; we can perhaps speed the fulfillment of all that must be done before it comes if we truly live as we should; if we live as witnesses in this world, in truth, in deed and in our talk. We know that the Day will bring destruction on a large part of the earth; we also know that the destruction is coming because mankind has chosen to serve other gods than the Lord God Almighty.

3. Peter reminds us that we are not to look forward to this day with dread or fear, but should rather look forward to it, for we know that a new heaven and earth is going to be made then for those who have accepted Christ as their Savior. And in that new heaven and earth, righteousness will reign; there will be no sin, no evil, no sickness, no tears, none of the bad things of this life, for the Lamb of God will rule in that city.

4. Peter again applies what he is saying to the everyday lives of Christians. In verse 14, he says that we should be making every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Christ. Because things are as bad as they are, we should be as good as we can.

5. Peter, as well as Paul, stresses that God's patience is working for salvation. The longer He waits to return, the more will be saved. He says that he and Paul both wrote in this manner, saying that Paul writes this way in all of his letters, though sometimes he is hard to understand. Because of their lack of knowledge, he says that some people distorted what Paul wrote, as they also did to other Scriptures. However, they must be aware that they are doing this to their own destruction. We must be sure that in our interpretation of God's Word that we are right in what we say. On any occasion when what we think a passage of Scripture says flies in opposition to what many others down through the centuries have found it to mean, we must check what we think. We may be wrong, and what we think, if wrong, could lead us to destruction.

III. Maturity needed in view of the Day of the Lord. 3:17-18

1. The need to guard against error in doctrine. In his closing section here, Peter says that doctrine is important, and that we must be on guard so that we will not be carried away by the teaching or error of lawless men, and fall from out position of security.

2. The need to grow in grace. He says we need to be progressing in Christ. This is what Paul wrote to Timothy when he told him to "study to show himself approved of God, a workman who did not need to be ashamed, for he could handle the truth of God's Word correctly." If there ever was a time when we needed to try to progress into a position of maturity in the Body of Christ, it is now. Now this will not happen by chance, but by hard work. We must, by our hard word and diligent application, progress in our knowledge of the Lord, and grow in grace. The Christian life is somewhat like riding a bicycle; if you stop, or fail to move forward, you will likely fall off. It is when we quit growing as Christians that we are most in danger of falling.

CONCLUSION: Peter concludes this letter by giving glory to the Lord, both now and forever. We must likewise do that. He was, He is, and He will always be, the Sovereign God, the Holy God, Creator and Ruler of all. He is our Savior because He loved us. We must make Him our Master because we love Him, and because we want to please Him in all things.

We must remember that the time is close when He will return. At that time, we will either stand condemned, or saved. We make the determination now. What is your choice going to be?

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