December 10th | 2 Peter 3

This is a sermon manuscript from June 26th, 2022

When I was in the 8th grade, I was scrawny, awkward, and very shy. So when it came time for the 8th-grade dance, I was petrified. There was a girl that I liked and wanted to ask to go with me, so I started mentally preparing myself. I knew this event was coming up soon, so I had to act because if I waited too long, someone else might ask her. So I figured out what I was going to say and went and asked her to the dance, and she said yes! I was so excited, but there was still so much to do and prepare for. 

The dance was coming up, so I was doing certain things to be ready. I had to get a new shirt and tie, so my dad took me and bought my new clothes. I went to the barber and got a haircut so I would look nice. I made plans with my friends who were going, and we all planned to eat at a restaurant before the dance (it was Chili’s, and it was about as awkward as you can imagine with a bunch of 8th-grade boys and girls on dates). 

So the dance was in a couple of days, and I was nervous. This upcoming event was affecting my attitude and actions. There was one thing, in particular, I was nervous about. Dancing with this girl that I liked. I had no idea how to dance, so I asked someone who had so much wisdom and knowledge about the subject… my brother, who was in the 9th grade! He had been to the 8th-grade dance the year before, so surely he could give me some pointers. I knew I couldn’t keep up with the fast songs and dancing, so I planned to wait until the slow dance, and my brother showed me the complicated moves. Stand in front of the girl with your hands on her hips and sway back and forth. I was nervous but felt I could at least do that. 

So the day of the dance had come, and all my preparation had come in handy. Everything went off without a hitch. We made it to the dance, and the music was playing when it transitioned to a slow song. I made my way over to my date, and we went to the dance floor. I remembered the move my brother had shown me, and we were successfully swaying to the music in the middle school gym. One thing, however, I didn’t take into account, because I was an 8th-grade boy and all of them are completely oblivious to life, was that my date was the principal’s daughter. So he was at the dance as a chaperone with his wife. 

So while we are on the dance floor, here comes her dad (my principal) dancing next to us with his wife. They both had HUGE smiles, and my date (an 8th-grade girl) was clearly mortified. Then the principal pulled a camera out of his pocket, held up a selfie so that he, his wife, daughter, and I were all in the shot, and took a picture. At that point, his daughter, my date, yelled, “Oh My GOSH Dad!” and stormed off the dance floor. So then, after all of my preparation and hard work for this moment, I was left stranded on the dance floor next to my principal and his wife. Not how I thought this was going to end!

So I know you’re thinking, what in the world is the point of this story? Well, there was an upcoming event I knew about, so I changed how I lived my life to prepare for it. I bought new clothes, got a haircut, and made dinner plans. It affected my attitude, and I practiced dancing to prepare for this event. The message from 2 Peter is very much the same. An event is approaching, and we need to prepare for it. The day of the Lord is coming when he will judge the world and create a new heaven and a new earth. Peter is urging his people to get ready for this event by asking a question in v. 11. “Since Christ is coming back, what kind of people ought you to be?” 

So let’s dive in and see how we are to live in light of eternity. 

1. Remember God’s Promise (1-7)

1-2) Peter had spent the previous chapter condemning false teachers for leading unholy lives and leading people astray. In that chapter, he used very harsh language but here he uses very gentle language calling the people of the church “beloved” or “Dear friends”. He’s begging the people to remember the truths of the Bible and commands of Christ to live holy lives in expectation of his coming. He has seen the devastating effect of losing our grip on the Promises of Scripture to pursue other things. 

• My son is two and loves running away everywhere wide open. But when we are in a parking lot I always hold his hand because he is important to me. If I were to let go of him in a parking lot or street something devastating could happen. In the same way, we need to hold on to the Word and God’s promise. If we loosen our grip on it we will end up like these false teachers Peter was condemning. 

What is the promise we are to remember? Jesus is coming back!

3-4) So what were these false teachers saying who had lost their grip on God’s promise? “Jesus isn’t coming back.” “He said that but we haven’t seen anything happen.” “Live however you want. There is no Day of Judgment coming.”

5-6) Peter rebukes this teaching with what we have already seen from God. The earth was made long ago by God’s word and water. Then those same tools were used to destroy the earth with the flood. You say nothing has happened yet that doesn’t mean it isn’t coming. It already happened with the flood but Peter says this next time the same God will destroy the earth in a fire. 

Peter says that they DELIBERATELY overlook this fact that God has executed judgment on the earth before and can do it again. 

We don’t have to deliberately reject God to fall into this false belief system these teachers fell into. “Well I’ll go to work tomorrow, I guess technically Jesus could come back but probably not.” With this attitude, you begin to live for this world and not for an eternal kingdom. 

By rejecting Christ’s imminent return we are insisting on our way of life over God’s. What’s going on tomorrow at work is more important than pursuing life for the kingdom. 

• Now I’m not trying to put a guilt trip on you. I think it is important to go to work. To live in this world and to function. I’m not saying go quit your job and stand on the streek with a megaphone yelling the world is going to end. 
• But it doesn’t take much to shift your thinking to things above. Go do your job and live in this world. But each day say, “What is one thing I can do for the kingdom today?” Maybe I could help this coworker out who I know has been struggling financially. Maybe I could start a Bible Study with some people during my lunch break. Maybe I could prayer walk my neighborhood in the mornings before work. Keep the end of the world in front of you!

2) Trust God’s Faithfulness (8-10)

In these three verses, Peter rebuffs the false teachers by pointing out God’s nature. There are three attributes about God that we see which help us understand the second coming and the purpose of our lives. 

1. 
   God is Timeless: The people were saying how can you continue to believe in Jesus’ return? It’s been 50 years since he said that and still, nothing has happened! And now people could say, “You’ve been waiting 2000 years, how could you still believe that?” But Peter refers to God’s timelessness. He created time and is therefore not bound to it in the way we are. He says a thousand years is simply one day for God. Peter is not pulling this out of the air. The psalmist says, “For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past or as a watch in the night.” Ps. 90:4. Throughout the Bible, we have trusted that in God because he is far greater and more powerful than us. So to refuse to live holy because we think it has been too long sounded ridiculous when we consider God and his existence outside of time. 
2. God is Merciful: We can think that when nothing is happening that can be inaction on God’s part. That he is in heaven and simply doing nothing about our problems and suffering down here on earth. I would encourage you today not to confuse God’s patience with inaction or indifference on his part. God loves you so much and he is tarrying so that all should reach repentance! God’s desire is that no one would perish and he is giving time for people to come to faith. When you are struggling with doubt about whether God cares for you and your problems look here. His patience is an active one where we are called to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” and to “be diligent to confirm our calling and election.” He is giving believers this chance and then he is giving non-believers the chance to repent. To accept this incredible gift of the gospel that Christ has died in your place, that he has risen to destroy death forever and offer you eternal life. So sometimes we wait and cannot understand God’s timing and different situations in this world but we need to remember his mercy and his love for us. 
3. God is Just: God’s mercy is great but he is a just judge and while he waits for people to come to repentance he will not wait forever. There is a day coming when he will judge the wicked and condemn them forever. Also, Peter uses a familiar term to describe God’s imminent judgment. He says it will come like a thief, harkening back to Jesus’ words in Matthew 24. We don’t know when this day of judgment will come so we need to stay on guard. 

Recently we visited some friends from college and while we were at their house I noticed my friend had a new car. So I asked him what happened to his old car? Now, this is not funny but its actually really funny and we laughed about it while we were there. My friend went to a gas station in his old car and pulled into the very front and ran in to get a drink. It was the middle of the day and he said he was in a hurry and knew exactly what he wanted. He was gonna grab a drink real quick and get back on the road. Well, my friend left the car running while he went inside the gas station. He said he couldn’t have been in the gas station for more than 2 minutes and when he came out his car was gone. Just like that a thief had come and stolen his car. Now my friend was obviously not prepared for this and it happened so fast he couldn’t do anything about it. Now Peter uses this term thief so we will think about Christ’s coming and judgment in the same way. What will you be doing? Will you be ready? 

So Peter describes the second coming in this way and then transitions to his final point.

3) Live for God’s Glory (11-18)

Look at verse 11. Peter asks the question. “Since…. What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness.” That is the question I ask you this morning. If all of this is true. If we really believe Jesus will return and he will destroy the wicked and establish new heaven and earth, then should we live any differently? 

The main character in the Day of the Lord is Jesus. He will be the one to return, to judge, and to gather the saints together. So when we talk about the second coming we come face to face with Christ.  He is the standard of holiness and godliness by which we will be judged. Now, I don’t want you to leave here thinking I need to live holy because I am in constant fear of being destroyed in the end. This is a powerful language because God is powerful and we should fear him. But I believe our motivation for holy living and our ability to grow in godliness is found in verse 13.

God’s promise is that there will be a new heaven and earth where righteousness dwells. We can’t gain access to this new heaven by our own effort. We can’t simply come to church more or try harder not to sin. But God in his mercy has sent his Son to take our sins on the cross and give us his righteousness. So now if we believe in Christ as our Lord and Savior we can spend eternity with him in this new heaven and earth. No we cannot be holy in our own strength but it comes from abiding in Christ every day. By dying to ourselves and being filled with the spirit. 1 John 2:28 says, “Now little children, abide in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink at his coming.” Michael Green in his commentary on 2 Peter said it best when he said, “All down the ages it has normally been the case that men who have their hope set on the returning Christ have lived holy, attractive lives.” 

So if you are here today and are a Christian I ask you to live in light of eternity. Christ is coming so spend this life abiding in him. Spending every day thinking of how you can live with a kingdom perspective with your eyes set on eternity. 

If you are here today and you are not a Christian you can have this hope of a new life in Christ. You can experience his mercy as we talked about earlier. He is patiently waiting and offering salvation. But he won’t wait forever. Come today and experience the new life only Christ can give.