2 PETER 3:3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, "Where is this ’coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Oh, boy! He’s gonna preach about the rapture.....again. Well, kinda. We look around the world today and see chaos. Un-Godly people, sin running rampant. Seems like that man of lawlessness has already been loosed, doesn’t it? There are a lot of scarey things out there today, but we Christians don’t have anything to fear!
There was a newspaper headline recently stating that, "Everything is spinning out of control." The underlying sentiment seemed to be that we should pin the tail on the worst issues going on in the world today. Quite frankly, there may not be enough tails!
Then to add to the distress, The New York Times printed an article, "Are you ready for the next disaster?" All natural disasters in the last 6 to 12 months have been preceded with headlines such as "unprecedented" or "record-setting." We just had a hurricane in South Texas this week. This may sound depressing but keep listening. It isn’t just gloom and doom.
Today, prices are skyrocketing and home values are abysmal. Fannie May and Freddy Mac...airline costs, college tuition, and health care are becoming unaffordable. There seems to be no answer for our oil problem. Iran wants to kill everyone, it seems. They are even causing trouble for the Saudi’s now. They want to wipe Israel off the map. They call Israel little Satan. You know what they call the U.S.? The great Satan! If they want to wipe Israel off the map, imagine what they want to do to us!
If they continue in their devolpment of nuclear weapons, Israel and the world community will have no choice but to attack Iran. If Iran is attacked, they will virtually close down the Strait of Hormuz, which is where as much as 40 percent of the world’s crude passes thru. If this nation has to go without oil, well.................
Both U.S. presidential candidates want to add a sense of order to all of this and have their own solutions. No one has the slightest idea if any of their suggestions will make things better or worse and if God is maneuvering the world for His greater purposes, what world leaders do or say matters very little.
We live in an age of risk assessment and risk analysis, when doomsday scenarios have become daily anxieties, and planning for improbable but world-changing events has become a focus of disaster policy. Yes, we actually plan for disasters TO happen....not IF they will happen! Now with renewed jitters about a post-election terrorist attack, government officials are urging us to plan for the next catastrophe. Nobody said it would be easy to be born for such a time as this!
There is a lot for us to be concerned about, isn’t there? For those that are unsure of their future, it should scare them........to life! But I have good news today, and maybe a different perspective on the "end of the world". Let’s think of it this way...Maybe what the 21st century is all about is the great unraveling of some things long taken for granted.
The Bible indicates in out text that right before the Lord’s return many things will spin out of control. Most scoff at such suggestions as predicted in II Peter. And it does not help to have church pulpits totally silent on issues that relate to the predicted "end-times" and some of the things that will unfold in those days.
I maintain the unbelieving world cannot connect the dots when it comes to much of this. They will blame it on man-made global warming, whoever is in the White House, Rush Limbaugh, and a host of other issues. It is difficult, if not impossible, for the unsaved world to arrive at a satisfactory answer to life’s great mysteries. While this is not a suggestion that the unsaved world has no hope, they surely do not have the "blessed hope"
TITUS 2:11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 15These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
Pay close attention to vs 15. Today, the rapture is NOT being taught in enough churches... and that is in direct conflict with vs 15. I want to show you something else 2 THESS 2:9The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
Some churches today are more concerned with trying to imitate signs and wonders that they forget to preach the truth of the gospel....and the return of Jesus! Look at this passage closely. These are NOT sinners only who are believing this delusional lie. Paul wrote this letter to the elect....christians! Our eyes have been taken off the true goal, the prize that Paul writes about in PHIL 3......But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. That "goal" is NOT an earthly kingdom, as some would have you believe (kingdom now doctrine) but as Paul says here, God has called us "heavenward in Christ Jesus!"
Much of the church today is sleeping, waiting on God’s Kingdom to come to them here on this earth...manufacturing "miracles, signs, and wonders"...that’s what the Bible says, not me...and what we really should be doing is having our minds set upwards!
Now, I’m not saying that we can’t have some measure of kingdom here on earth...God wants us to be happy, peaceful and content. We should be happy and useful in our time here on earth. God gave us life to enjoy. JOHN 10:10 says I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.....and I believe that means that christians can and should be happy and productive here on this earth. If you’re not happy, how will the world come to know Him, since you are His representative here on earth?
1 THESS 4:13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.
This is an encouragement....not a discouragement. We are instucted to talk about these words, not ignore them! We just saw in our study that prophecy and tongues will pass away...but where we’re gong is eternal! What a glorious eternity awaits us! 1 COR 2:9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. We can’t even begin to imagine what glory God has for us.
We should honor this life here on earth that God has given us....life is a gift from God.....but we should not be so much in love with our lives here that we lose focus on the real prize. JOHN 12:25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. This world is NOT my home, but while I’m here I will do my best to be an imitator of Christ, as we are instucted to do in 1 THESS 2:14.
And if that means that the earth will be a kinder, gentler place, then great! But the main thing it means to me is that I am in submission to God’s will for my life and if I am lifting up my Jesus, then He is drawing all men unto Him.
The world is shaking and groaning.....the doomday naysayers are at the door.....and I can hardly wait to see what tommorrow brings! I’m excited to see what God is gonna do next. Are you? Or are you worried or uncertain about your future? Now is the time to join His kingdom....I’ll leave you with this in JOHN 14:1Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also
