"How to Live in the Last Days" - 2 Peter 3:1-10 - Living in the Last Days: A Study in 2 Peter

(soft music) - Welcome, morning Brook Hills. It's a joy to open up God's Word with you this morning. We're gonna be in second Peter chapter three if you wanna turn there. Well, if you've been with us prior to this morning, you know that Pastor Matt has been leading us through the gospel of Mark for most of this year. But on days like today, when Matt's out, we've been going through the book of second Peter together. And we've made it through chapter one where we see the necessity of faith and the importance of making every effort to grow in Godliness and to add to our faith. We've made it through chapter two where Peter warns against false teachers who will come into the church and lead us astray. And today we get to chapter three, which is a difficult chapter. And Peter has reminders for us this morning. One of them being that we are living in the last days. Meaning we are nearing the return of Christ. And maybe you hear that and you're not sure what to make of that, right? That we're living in the last days. Is Jesus really returning soon? Is that true? Well, throughout church history, there are many who have been fixated on wanting to know the exact timing of Christ's return. About 40 years ago, there was a brother who was a super smart guy, NASA engineer, also a Bible scholar, supposedly. And he wrote a wildly successful book detailing the exact date of Christ's return. Sold almost five million copies, super successful. But there's a good chance that you don't have this book on your bookshelf because it fell out of popularity. Once the date he predicted came and went, right? You can imagine. It feels sounds a little awkward for this brother, but apparently he doubled down, pushed the date back a year, and wrote another book, and did it a third and a fourth time. So I don't know who was still buying volume four. I have concerns for everyone involved in this. Who was publishing this? I don't know. But it's clear, this brother is not alone in wanting to know the timing of Christ's return. Millions have wanted to know this because if Jesus really is returning soon, this is of great significance for the whole world, right? And so this morning, we're gonna see some truths related to Jesus' return. I'm not gonna give a date, so I'm just gonna throw that out there. And we're gonna see some reminders for how we live in the last days in light of this. So let me read the first four verses of second Peter chapter three. He writes, dear friends, this is now the second letter I have written to you. In both letters, I want to stir up your sincere understanding by way of reminder, so that you recall the words previously spoken by the Holy Prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles. Above all, be aware of this. Scoffers will come in the last days, scoffing and following their own evil desires, saying, where is his coming that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation. So you heard Peter refer to the last days here in this passage in verse three, and he's not alone in using this phrase. The Bible regularly refers to the last days as the period after Christ's death and resurrection and before his return. So we are living in these last days now, right? Jesus has come, but he has not yet returned. And Peter has some reminders for us this morning and the first is this, in your notes, beware of scoffers, beware of scoffers. Scoffers will come in the last days. Now, if you've ever been scoffed at, you know the sting that comes with scoffing because scoffing is more than just disagreeing, right? It's meant to mock or ridicule someone. Scoffers don't want an honest conversation. They want you to feel foolish and insecure. If you've heard of the famous magician duo, Penn and Teller, Penn has used his public platform to mock Christianity, to mock those who would believe in God. He once said, it's fair to say that the Bible contains equal parts, fact, history, and pizza, meaning just as there is no pizza in the Bible, there are no facts, no history, right? He wants Christians to feel foolish, even though he's just taking a cheap shot, right? The biggest critics of Christianity would agree, the Bible has many facts, many history. The person of Jesus Christ was a real historical figure, but Penn doesn't care, right? He's mocking, he wants us to feel foolish, to doubt our faith. Many people in the world today still do this. If you spend time on social media, there are people who refer to God as our imaginary wizard friend in the sky, right? That's what they call our Heavenly Father. They want us to feel foolish, like we're believing a fairy tale, but Peter tells us exactly what's going on with these scoffers. Look at verse three, scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires. In other words, there's a course of wickedness, in evil they want to pursue. And so they come scoffing, not just because they disagree intellectually, but because they want to justify their own evil desires. Scoffers aim to weaken your faith, but they have their own agenda, right? They attack our faith, but what's really behind it is the evil in their own hearts. Their appetite for sin fuels their scoffing. The very first psalm in the Bible warns us about the danger of scoffers. It says, "Blessed is the man who does not sit in the seat of scoffers." It's as much a warning about being a scoffer as it is about being influenced by them, being in their company. Because here's what happens. When they scoff, we feel foolish. And we begin to loosen our grip on truths that we really need to hold to and to cling to, right? That's why Peter says, "Above all, be aware of these people. They will lead you straight into sin." In church, I think in today's age, we have to be on guard not just against the blatant scoffers, but also the subtle deceivers, right? In this day and age, we're always being influenced by others. People make a career of this, right? You've heard of influencers. In many times, we like these people, right? They teach us great things about fitness or they model great parenting advice or they have wholesome families or they're just entertaining. And it's not wrong to enjoy them and to light them, but we have to be careful about blindly following them and trusting them. Because just like what these scoffers, they can have their own agendas. They run contrary to the word of God and the will of God. They seem harmless, but their worldviews can start to shape our own, right? For better or for worse, they will influence us. There was an interesting psychological experiment done back in the 1950s, where they would get a group of people together in a room and five or six people, and only one of them was a real participant. The other five were actors, but the one didn't know that. And all they would do is play a simple game where the group of people was to look at a line of a certain length, and then they had to choose A, B, or C, which answered choice had a line of matching links, just a matching game, very simple. And for the first few rounds of the game, everyone would answer correctly. They'd match the right answer. But then, without warning, all the actors in the room would suddenly choose the wrong answer to see how the other person, the true participant, would respond. And the study showed that 75% of the participants, what at some point, conformed to the group's wrong answer. Not because they couldn't see the right answer, but because they were influenced by them, right? They didn't want to go against the grain or they began to doubt their own confidence. That's the kind of influence the others can have on us if we're not careful. And over time, we can abandon the perfect wisdom of God for the passing wisdom of this world. Our lives can start to look more like the culture instead of the kingdom. We can all be led astray by scoffers and deceivers. So church, how do we stand on guard against this? Don't give anyone's words priority over God's word. That's what Peter is going to show us in this passage. He's going to take the scoffers' words and he's going to hold them up against God's word. So here's what the scoffers are doing. They're saying, where is Jesus coming that he promised? Now, let's be clear about this church. Jesus did promise to return, right? John 14, Jesus says, I'm going to prepare a place for you. Then I will come again and take you to myself. He says, I'm coming back for you. Other New Testament writers taught the same thing. So these scoffers are basically just saying, look, Jesus said he was coming back. You guys said he was coming back. But here we are years later. And he ain't back, right? Then they say, ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation. So they say, look, go all the way back to our farthest ancestors, all the way back to the beginning and things just continue on as they have been. In other words, we don't see any evidence of God's activity in the world. It looks like it's just running on its own. Every day the sun rises and sets, things just continue on. Every year, spring, summer, fall, winter, things just continue on. Generations come and go and things just continue on, right? And then Jesus comes, and you tell us every. everything is going to change, but here we are and things just continue on. They're saying, "We don't really think He's coming back." Since the beginning, things have just continued on by the laws of nature. There is no divine intervention in the world. That's the nature of their pushback and this passage. And remember, they have their own agenda. We know that. But Peter's response to them in that day and his encouragement to us today is this, "Embrace the Scriptures." Embrace the Scriptures. This is where this chapter really started. We kind of jumped over the first two verses. I wanted us to see this coffers, but listen to how Peter opens this chapter. Listen to some of these words. He wants us to understand, He wants us to be reminded, and He wants us to recall. To recall what? The words, the prophets, and the words of Jesus, and the words of the apostles. In other words, the Word of God, the Scriptures. And why do we need to remember and recall them? Because God has told us all we need to know. We have all the knowledge that we need to have. And friends, this knowledge is a gift. This plays out in a funny way in our household. Anytime that our family plays a new board game, I want to know all the rules, right? And I want everyone else to know all the rules so that we can enjoy the game as it was intended. My wife, however, there is nothing that she loves in this world less than hearing me explain the rules of a board game. She says that I sound like Charlie Brown's teacher when I start explaining them, right? "Want, want, want, want, want." She just can't do it. She'd rather just play the game and we'll figure it out, all right? And that's fine. Maybe some of you agree with Danielle on this one. That's fine. You're wrong, but it's okay. But when it comes to Scripture, knowledge of God's Word is a gift, right? It gives us everything we need to know to navigate life in this world. That's why in this transition, at the beginning of 2 Peter 3, he's talked about the false teachers in chapter 2. He's warning about the scoffers in chapter 3, but sandwiched between them is diserging to know God's Word. I want you to understand, I want to remind you, I want you to recall. Church, if we want to live faithfully in the last days with scoffers and their evil agendas and false teachers and all sorts of worldly threats aimed our way, we have to cling to the Scriptures. And Peter's about to show us exactly how to do that. He's going to stand with scoffers on one hand in Scripture in the other, verses 5 and 6. They, the scoffers, deliberately overlooked this. By the Word of God, the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water. Through these, the world of that time perished when it was flooded. So, the scoffers argue, Jesus isn't coming back, right? God's not active in the world. Things just continue on. And Peter almost says to them, hang on, do you hear what you're saying? Like, say it one more time slowly, verse 4. Things just continue on since creation. How can you accuse God of being inactive in the world? When you acknowledge he created the world, right? The world has not always just existed without interruption. The world was in a state of nothingness and non-existence and God interrupted that to create everything we know. We can't just ignore that, right? God created the world out of nothing. He formed and shaped the world as we know it. Genesis 1 talks about how there's this watery mess. That's why Peter is referring to from water and through water here. God made the seas and the dry lands. So, God was active in creation. He interrupted the state of the world. In verse 6, Peter says, through these waters, the world of that time perished when it was flooded. So, God not only created the world, which was certainly interruption, but some 1500 years later, God interrupted the world again with this catastrophic flood. So, Peter is trying to emphasize to them. God did more than just create the world. God remains active in the world. We've seen his activity in history. And Peter could point to God's activity in a number of ways. The Bible teaches that God is sovereign over every detail. That nothing happens outside of God's plan and provision. In church, we get into trouble when we doubt this, right? And we begin to question God's activity or God's plans or God's presence or God's faithfulness. We can follow the path of these scoffers. And we begin to pursue what seems good in our own eyes and our own judgment. And we follow these sinful desires. It never ends well. Sin always leads to devastation and death. It never has anything good for us or our loved ones. Many of us have experienced this, right? Broken relationships because of sin, long-term regrets, long-term consequences because of sin. That's what the scoffers are doing. They've decided God's out of the picture, right? We get to write the narrative now and we have an agenda. We want to follow. And Peter's saying not so fast. God is still on his throne. He's still ruling and reigning and we can still trust him. That's what he tells them. God created the world, got a flood of the world, and God will very noticeably interrupt the flow of the world again on the day of the Lord with the return of Christ. And he tells us what's going to happen on that day, verse 7, "By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly." It's a very sobering reminder for us to points to this truth. God has appointed a day of judgment. The scriptures tell us this. Just as by a word from God, the entire heavens and earth were created long ago, so by a word from God, his final judgment will come upon the earth. And Peter's not unique in saying this. You'll find references all across the Bible. Just one of them, Isaiah 13, 9 says, "Look, the day of the Lord is coming." And Peter's going to borrow this language, the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is coming cruel with fury and burning anger to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners. Peter and others knew of these passages, the warned of God's justice and his just judgment against sin, and they took them seriously. He's already referenced the flood, right? That was an act of God's judgment. And if you know the story of the flood, you know that God promised that he would never again judge the earth in that way. He would never again flood the world like that. And true to his word, the Bible tells us when God judges the world again, it will not be by water, but by fire. And all those who stand guilty in their sin, we see their fate here. The destruction of the young godly is what verse 7 says. Again, it's a sobering reality. It's not something to mention flippantly, but it's something to take very seriously. And so I want to take a moment just to address any scoffers in the room or any in the room who are just unsure what to make the claims of Christianity, anyone who's unsure what awaits them on the day of judgment. Scripture soberly warns us that day is coming. And before you just brush that warning aside, I want you to consider what this passage is teaching us, that we live in a world that was created by a spoken word from God. He spoke and it was created. One day he will speak again in this time. It will be a day of final judgment. There's no other warning coming, right? There's not going to be an iPhone alert. There's not going to be a time square countdown. God's word is our final warning. And when God speaks again by a word, it will be time. We're that close to the return of Christ. We're living in the last days. In Jesus warns us. Just as it was in the day of Noah, when God judged the world through the flood, the once again many will be completely caught off guard by the suddenness and the seriousness of the judgment. Pastor JC Ryle explains it this way. He said the world will not be converted when Christ returns. It will be found in the same condition that it was in the day of the flood. When the flood came, men were found eating and drinking, marrying and given a marriage, as what Jesus says, absorbed in their worldly pursuits and utterly regardless of Noah's repeated warnings, they saw no likelihood of a flood. They would not believe there was any danger, but at last the flood came suddenly and took them all the way. All that were not with Noah in the ark were drowned. They were all swept away to their last account, unpartened, unconverted, and unprepared to meet God. And so I would urge you, if you have scoffed at God, if you have been unsure of the claims of the Bible, please take this warning from God's word seriously. It's right there in verse 7, fire and judgment in the destruction of the young Godly, anyone who's found guilty of sin, and we all sin, anyone found guilty of sin will perish in their sin. However, this is not the greatest message of the Bible, because God in his great love and mercy and grace and compassion has freely offered salvation. to anyone who would put their faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross, a sinner's death rose on the third day so that all who believe in Him might not perish, but be saved, be rescued from their sin. As we sang this morning, it was finished upon that cross. Our salvation was secured when our Savior died in our place. So if you've never done so, I would invite you to turn from your sin and trust in Jesus Christ and yield your life to Him as Lord and Savior. If you hear His voice calling today, don't resist. May today be the day of salvation. I promise you there is no greater joy in this life or in the life to come than knowing the salvation of Christ, knowing fullness of life in Christ. Jesus is our only hope of salvation. Just as it was in the day of Noah, only those who were in the ark were carried safely through the waters of judgment. And so it will be in the day of Christ. Only those who are in Christ will be safely carried through the fires of judgment. Jesus is God's plan for the salvation of the world. And this leads to our third point. How do we live well in the last ways? Beware of scoffers, embrace the scriptures. And third, await the Savior. Await our Savior. Verses 8 and 9 reveal a beautiful glimpse into the heart of God as we await Christ return. Peter writes, dear friends, don't overlook this one fact. With the Lord, one day is like a thousand years. And a thousand years like one day, the Lord does not delay His promise as some understand delay, but is patient with you. Not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. Now, if I had to guess, I would say that probably every single one of us in this room has questioned God's timing at some point in our lives, right? Why is this hard thing going on for so long? Or why is this good thing being delayed for so long, right? And we're told in the scripture that God's ways are higher than our ways that we won't always understand, that we can trust Him, but we don't always get answers, right? But here, Peter gives us a profound insight into the timing of Christ's return. He tells us that His apparent delay is not a delay, right? His delay is not a delay. And yes, I did feel very smart writing that out. But listen, when it comes to the return of Christ, it feels like a delay based on our timing, right? It feels like it. But Peter says, the Lord does not delay His promise. There is no delay here. Because a delay means something has gone wrong, right? Something unexpected came up. We're eating Thanksgiving lunch at 6 p.m. again because grandma made some miscalculations, right? The plan that was supposed to happen didn't happen. The Peter says, that's not what's going on here. With God's timing, what feels like a thousand years to us is like a day to God. So if we take that literally, it's been less than two days since the death and resurrection of Christ. Now, I don't think we're meant to take that literally, right? Peter's not giving us a formula to follow here, like the dog, math, formula that people love to do every seven years is one year. It's not what he's doing here. He's helping us see that our view of time, though, is very small, very small compared to God's. Our simple minds can't grasp eternity like He can. So Peter clarifies, there's no delay here. Nothing unexpected happened on God's end. If there's anything unexpected, it's that we didn't expect just how patient and gracious God is. He's patient and gracious. The Lord does not delay His promise as some understand delay, but He's patient. And so Peter clarifies, it would be a mistake for you to evaluate this and to see it as delay. Don't scoff at God and question His timing, but look at His heart. He doesn't want any to perish when He justly judges the sin of the world. But He wants all to come to repentance. Now, maybe you hear that, though, and you say, well, hang on. I don't understand. If God doesn't want any to perish, He wants all to come to repentance. Well, why doesn't He just do that? I mean, He's God, right? And yes, He is God. He can do whatever He wants, but we're seeing God hold something intention here. We see God's heart. He wants all to be saved. And according to His gracious nature, He has made salvation possible through Jesus Christ. God doesn't want anyone to perish, but He also does not force anyone to bend the knee to Christ. He offers salvation freely as a gift, but we must receive that gift by faith in many rejected. But God remains patient with them. And don't miss the irony of the scoffer situation here, right? They're scoffing at God, they're pointing out His delay, they're questioning His activity in the world. They turn their back on Him, but they don't realize this delay is for them. While they mock God and scoff, He loves them, and He yearns to see them come to saving faith. And so what feels like a delay to us is really a demonstration of God's love and grace. And so again, I would plead with any scoffers in the room, do you see His grace and His love for you? Do you hear His warning that a day of judgment is coming, and most importantly, will you trust His offer of salvation for you? Because when the day of the Lord comes, only those who have trusted in Christ will be ready to stand before God and meet our maker. We will have nothing to fear on that day because our confidence is not based on our righteousness. We would be found guilty that our confidence is found in the one who died for us, by Jesus Christ, the perfect, righteous Son of God who never sinned. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world through His sacrificial death, the risen King who triumphed over death, Jesus Christ. He is our good shepherd who will lead us safely into eternity, Jesus will return for His church. That's Peter's answer to the scoffers. They say, "Where is His coming that He promised in Peter's sense He's coming?" And we call that day the day of the Lord, verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day, the heavens will pass away with a loud noise. The elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed. So the day of the Lord, the return of Christ, that marks the day of final judgment. And for those who trust in Christ Church, this will be a day of great glory. In Matthew 25, Jesus explains what will happen on that day. He says, "He's going to separate everyone just like a shepherd separating sheep and goats." He says, "Those who are righteous through faith in Christ will go on one side, and those who are guilty in their sin on the other." And Jesus says, "Then the king will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Christ will return and usher us into His glorious kingdom. And we know what it's like there. Scripture tells us it's a place where every worldly sorrow that you've ever felt, every ache in your heart, every disappointment, every physical pain, every tear, all of those will be no more. And we are right to look forward to that day with great confidence and great hope because of our Savior. But we're not told the timing, right? Some of the details of that day are just not ours to know. This chapter tells us some things. The heavens will pass away with a loud noise, right? Or some translation say, "With a roar." And the way these things will pass away is through burning. The earth will be burned up and dissolved, right? So again, it's not water, as in the day of Noah, but fire. It won't be a judgment that leaves the earth standing, but the earth will be consumed with it. But here's the deal. We can be uncertain about what some of these things will look like or the timing or the order. But Scripture is clear that history is heading toward this final judgment. That's for certain. And it leaves us with the last words of our passage. The earth and the works on it will be disclosed. Or as some translations say, "The earth and the works done on it will be exposed." It's a tricky phrase to translate and understand. It's some meaning it's talking about the earth itself passing away, as we know we're preparing for a new heaven in a new earth as Revelation 21 tells us. But also this line is referring to the works of the earth being disclosed. Everything you've ever done in private revealed. All the works of your life exposed before a Holy God, your whole life laid bare before Him, adjust judge, and you know you've broken His law. Your life is at the mercy of His judgment. About a week ago, literally one week ago today, my family was down at the beach and there was bad weather last weekend, just like this weekend. and it was a stormy day. And we got a notification on our phones. There was a tornado warning, and it seemed pretty serious. So we all turn on the news. And they're drawing the polygon on the screen. And I said, in my confidence, oh, look, we're literally in the bottom left corner of the polygon. It's probably totally safe. And the lady on the news literally says, this tornado's coming for the bottom left corner of the polygon, right? And so they're literally circling our neighborhood on the screen. So we take our kids to shelter. And you're at a beach house. So it's not a great situation. But I decided I'm going to go stand on the back deck and look and see if I can see this thing coming. Because we had a great view of the direction it was supposed to come from. And literally, the lady says, again, this is not the kind of tornado you want to go outside and watch, right? She was watching me, I think. But I'm standing out there. And it was a very surreal moment. Because my head's on a swivel, right? And I'm searching, I'm dreading seeing that spinning force, right? Because I was just so aware of my helplessness in that moment, right? If this thing comes for me, there's nothing I can do, right? If me and my family are in the path of this tornado today, there's no great refuge for us here. It's too late for that. I am just going to have to face the wrath of this storm. I'm going to be laid bare before this storm exposed at the mercy of the storm. And so it will be on that day. Many will be unprepared, like a thief coming in the night. It will be sudden and terrifying. It will be too late to seek a refuge. But friends, God is our refuge. He is the only safe refuge from this storm. He offers salvation to all who would trust in Jesus Christ. This is the greatest gift the world has ever known that has saved your died in your place. So that on that day, you need not fear the storm of God's wrath against sin, right? You can be confident that you will enter into eternal joy with God forever because of what Jesus has done for you. Praise God, church. This is such good news. Superkills, what do we do with a passage like this one? A few takeaways for us first. Be confident of what awaits you on that day, right? If you have never put your faith in Jesus, let's today be the day. Come by the connection point after the service. We would love to talk with you about what it means to trust in Christ and follow Christ. For those who have trusted in Christ, we now become conduits of God's grace to others, right? We get to carry this message of good news and hope and salvation into our schools, in our classrooms, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, in all the way to the ends of the earth, telling the story of a glorious God who loves his people and gave up his life to rescue them. Who do you need to share this good news with? This passage also helps us how to remember how to live in the last days. Peter says above all, be aware of scoffers, right? Watch out for those who will lead you astray. They will cause you to question your joy and your hope to mistrust God. And when we lose side of God's promises, we will turn towards sin, which will never satisfy us. It will only lead us to further pain. And we resist this by knowing and treasuring the scriptures, right? They tell us everything we need to know to live well. I wish that NASA Bible scholar, I wish that brother had considered the full council of God's word. I wish he had spent more time in Acts chapter one where the disciples asked Jesus about the timing of some things and Jesus says, it's not for you to know the timing that the God has appointed, right? That's God's name, stay out of it. We need to know the full council of God's word if we're going to wait faithfully for Christ's return. In church, I know the waiting is hard. And now some of us have been waiting a long time and have experienced great suffering and have seen great evil in the world around us. And you're tired of waiting and you maybe don't understand what God's doing in your life. Why has he allowed certain things? Why is he waiting for other things? Why does this feel like such a delay? Doesn't God care? But Peter would urge us to understand and remember God has good purposes. Even when we don't understand them, that's the perspective we need to cling to as we navigate the difficulties of this life. I love what Pastor Mark of Rogop said. He said, waiting on God, and we're all waiting on God. Waiting on God is living on what I know to be true about God when I don't know what's true about my life or about my circumstances. In other words, when we question God's activity or timing in our lives, we're meant to look past the circumstances and remember God's character. That's what Peter is leading the church to do here. He says, you don't understand the timing, you don't understand the circumstances. That's okay, but you know the character of the one who controls them, right? He is patient and gracious and doesn't want any to perish. That's what Peter is leading them to do. And so, Brook Hills, let's remember the character of our God and His glory and His goodness that He loved us so much. He laid down His life for us. We can trust Him. This passage is meant to give us hope. It reminds us God has not forgotten. He isn't delayed. He hasn't lost control. He's trustworthy. His promises are still true. Christ will return for His church. He has gone away to prepare for us an eternal weight of glory beyond anything we can imagine. To church, let's fix our eyes on Christ and wait for the return of our King.