Remember - 2 Peter 3:1-10
INTRODUCTION:
This past weekend my family and I were at a family retreat at Shiloh Bible Camp and a song that we sang over the weekend was a song about remembering the truths of God’s Word. This morning we want to look at a passage where the apostle Peter tells us that we are to remember God’s Word and what it has to say concerning the future, what the prophets of the Old Testament wrote concerning the future and what our Lord and Savior and His apostles said concerning the future. But before we continue any further let’s pray and ask God to speak to our hearts from His Word this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
If you have a Bible turn with me if you will to 2 Peter 3:1-10 our passage of Scripture for this morning. Please stand as I read God’s Word this morning and follow along as I read.
2 Peter 3:1-10,
“This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’ For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:1–10, NASB95)[1]
REMEMBER (2 Peter 3:1-2)
Peter begins chapter three reminding the Christians he is writing to that they are loved, loved by him and by God because they are members of God’s family. Peter then reminds them that this is his second letter and he is writing it that he might stir up their minds so that they will remember, specifically we will see that he wants them to remember the words of the Old Testament prophets and the words of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that has been carried to them by the apostles of Christ, their words specifically concerning the future and what was foretold by the prophets concerning Jesus and that was confirmed by Jesus’ own words and the words of the apostles in their teachings and writings. Specifically, that Jesus would come again to this earth and bring judgment upon the ungodly and that He would set up His kingdom and reign here on this earth for 1000 years. At the end of that time there will be one last revolt by Satan and those who are willing to follow him against Christ at which time Christ will defeat Satan and his followers and they shall be thrown forever into the Lake of Fire and the heavens and the earth will be destroyed to make way for a new heavens and a new earth where only righteousness will dwell. The Old Testament prophets spoke of this much, Jesus and the apostles also spoke of it and Peter calls upon his readers to remember this with a sincere mind, thus knowing that it is true.
MOCKERS (2 Peter 3:3-4)
Peter wants his readers to remember this because of what will happen in the last days, this phrase “last days” is a phrase that describes the time between Christ’s ascension back to heaven and His bodily return to this earth as Conqueror and King. Peter tells us that we must know and understand first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts. Peter tells us not to be surprised, they are going to come and they are going to deny the Word of God, they are going to mock God, they are going to mock His Word and they are going to mock you who are His followers. They will deny that Jesus is returning, they will say, “Where is the promise of His coming?” They do not want Him to come, they do not want us to believe that He is coming, because they want to follow after their own lusts, their own sinful desires. They want to do what they want to do and not believe that someone is coming that will judge them by a standard. They do not want to be judged, they want no standard or their desires become sin. So they deny that He is coming. They deny His Word so that they do not have to give up their sin. “There was a famous atheist who confirmed this in the last century, his name was Aldous Huxley and his writings were widely read during his lifetime. Late in his life he freely admitted that his dislike for the Bible and his derisive attacks upon the Christian faith stemmed from his desire to be free to sin. His objections were not philosophical or theological, his underlying intent was to escape feelings of guilt. He wrote, ‘I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently assumed that it had not; and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning for this world is not concerned exclusively with the problem of pure metaphysics; he is also concerned to prove there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to…For myself, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation, sexual and political.’ (Aldous Huxley, Ends and Means, New York: Garland, pp. 270ff)”[2] Like Huxley those who mock and ridicule the return of the Lord do so because they want to be free to sin and not worry or think about the possibility of judgment. This fact cannot be overlooked because it is important. We as parents must understand that it is not easy for our children to stand up for their faith, when they are ridiculed and told they are “unscientific” or the Bible was something believed back in the Dark Ages. It is our obligation as parents to make sure our children understand that people who mock the Bible do so primarily because they do not want a moral standard in their life, they want to walk in their sinful desires and not feel guilty. When we understand this, when our children understand this we can stand firm in our faith. These mockers want us to think that the world just goes on as it always has, it just continues as it has since the fathers, the patriarchs died, actually since the world began. Thus the Bible cannot be true, it cannot be trusted, its moral demands do not mean anything. It is a book of myths.
REMEMBER (2 Peter 3:5-10)
Peter answers the mockers from the very Word of God that they want to deny. My version says that when the mockers maintain this it escapes their notice, but a more literal translation would be, “these mockers are willfully ignorant of this fact…” In other words, they choose to ignore the facts before them presented clearly in the Word of God, life does not just go on with no intervention by God, the world and life have meaning. Then Peter cites two facts that the mockers have been deliberately ignorant about: First, that by the Word of God the heavens and the earth existed, the beginning of this universe was brought about by God, by Him speaking it into existence. The earth at the beginning was a watery mass, but out of this water God brought forth dry ground and vegetation and life. Second, Peter reminds these mockers that man sinned and became so sinful that God wiped out all life by a worldwide flood, he did not have to mention the ark and Noah because he already had in chapter two. Two instances in the first 11 chapters of Genesis where God had intervened in history, first God created the earth and the universe, next He intervened and destroyed all life when the earth became so sinful, God judged the sinfulness of man with death.
Peter goes onto say that by God’s Word we have recorded for us in the Bible the present heavens and earth are being reserved, are being stored up and kept for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. Just as sure as God created this universe, just as sure as He judged it by the flood, so now it is reserved for fire, God will judge and destroy the ungodly again on the day of judgment. You can choose to be willfully ignorant, but you can be sure that judgment is coming.
Then Peter tells us beginning in verse eight to remember, to not be ignorant about this one fact, a fact made known to us in the book of Psalms, from our Scripture reading this morning, Psalm 90:4, that fact is that God is eternal, He is not bound by time like we finite humans are. God is eternal which means that He neither has beginning nor end. Man is immortal which means that we have a beginning, but not an ending. We will live forever either in heaven or hell. But God is eternal, without beginning or end, and He dwells in eternity. Eternity is not just “extended time.” Rather it is existence above and apart from time. Peter without doubt was thinking of Psalm 90:4 when he writes that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. With this in mind, we cannot accuse the Lord of delayed fulfillment of His promises. In God’s sight the whole universe is only a few days old! He is not limited by time the way we are, nor does He measure it according to man’s standards. God views all of history past, present, and future as one whole not divided into segments of time, He is eternal, not bound by time. Peter wants us to remember the eternality of God and when we do we will not listen to the mockers who say, “Where is this promise of His coming?” because we will remember that what may seem slow to us, is not with God and not only do we understand God’s eternality, but we remember that any delay is an act of God’s mercy and patience, or a better translation His longsuffering. Longsuffering is a word that means we are patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others. God has been longsuffering as this world has reviled and offended Him with their sin. Why is he longsuffering? Because He does not wish for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. His longsuffering is so there is an opportunity for others to recognize their sinfulness before God and agree with Him that it is only by Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf that we can be saved, that our sins can be forgiven and we can become a part of God’s family and know that we will spend our eternity in heaven and not hell. The Lord is not slow, but He is merciful and longsuffering so that more may come to Him in repentance.
Just as in the days of Noah while the ark was being built Noah preached of God’s judgment and forgiveness for 120 years. When the ark was finished and loaded and Noah and his family went aboard and God shut the door the time of repentance and forgiveness was past, and judgment came on the earth and all life on earth perished except for Noah, his three sons and their wives.
Verse 10 reminds us that the day of the Lord will come like a thief, no one will be expecting it and God’s judgment will fall upon the earth. The day of the Lord must not be confused with the rapture and resurrection of the church. That will happen at the very end of the last days, then the day of the Lord will begin, it is the time that the judgments of the Lord will be poured out upon the earth in what the Bible call the Tribulation, the day of the Lord includes the descent of the Lord with all His saints to execute judgment on His foes, and to take possession of the kingdom so long predicted, and to reign in righteousness for a thousand glorious years in this very world where He was once crucified. Peter tells us that as the day of the Lord comes to an end that the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. This will make way for the long awaited New Heavens and New Earth where we will dwell with God for all eternity, and there will be no sin, but it will a place in which only righteousness dwells.
CONCLUSION:
As we look at the truth presented to us by Peter, the truth that he said we must remember it would be wise if we paused and considered, or asked ourselves the question: Where will I be when God destroys the world? Is all that I am living for destined to be burned up with the earth and all that is in it? Or am I forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and will I spend eternity with the Lord? We must answer these questions for ourselves.
Peter goes on to say to those of us who are Christians, those of us who have come to repentance and found forgiveness for our sins through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter writes in verses 11-13, “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:11–13, NASB95)[3] Peter says that by remembering these things we will seek to conduct ourselves in holiness and godliness, at all times looking for which I believe means that we are prepared for it if we are looking for it and hastening the coming day of God by our being a witness for Him. Our desire is to see His promise fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. Are you looking for this, are you prepared for His return? If you are not you can be today, you can know without a doubt that you are going to heaven, that your eternal dwelling will be with God. You can know this by agreeing with God that you are a sinner that can in no way make yourself right with God, this is called repentance, and then believing that Jesus died on the cross paying the penalty for your sin, and that after being in the grave for three days rose from the dead guaranteeing your future resurrection from the dead and your living forever with Him. When we put our faith in this we are forgiven, we are saved from the judgment to come on ungodly men, we become a son or daughter of God.
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]De Haan, Dr. Richard W., Studies in Second Peter. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1977
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995