Well friends, we’ve spent the last few weeks looking at 1 Peter. It’s been both challenging and uplifting. We’ll continue in that letter next week, but for this week, I thought we’d take some time out to discuss an issue that has been talked about a lot lately. Unless you’ve been living in a cave recently, then you’ve probably heard of Harold Camping and his recent prophecy that the world would end on May 21st, 2011. Well, as you know by now, that prophecy did not happen, at least not the way he originally said. Originally, we were all supposed to be raptured on May 21st, and then God would return to destroy the earth and give the Final Judgment on October 21st. Now, Camping is saying that Jesus came on May 21st, without our knowledge, and pronounced judgment on the earth. Everything is now sealed off. Camping is saying that nobody can be saved between now and then, the Great Commission is no longer in effect, so don’t bother with evangelism. We’re either saved or we’re not, and we will all either be raptured or destroyed on October 21st. Some people just can’t admit when they’re wrong, can they?
I’ve never really understood this obsession with trying to figure out exactly when the end of the world will take place, and what exactly will happen. Ever since the church began, folks have been setting dates. Some thought it would be 381 A.D. Then there was 500 A.D. Then 1000 A.D. A friend of Martin Luther liked 1533. The great scientist Isaac Newton predicted 1715 AD. And Jehovah Witnesses have predicted His coming several times including 1844 & 1914. In 1988 a man wrote a book “88 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming in 1988”. Guess what? Didn’t happen. So the next year, he wrote a sequel: “89 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming In 1989”. It didn’t sell nearly as well as his first book. Even 11 years ago, wasn’t the world supposed to end with Y2K?
Some people spend their entire lives trying to figure out everything they can about the end times and the second coming of Jesus. They’ve got charts and graphs and all sorts of Scriptures memorized. They can tell you who the two witnesses will be, where the antichrist will come from and who he will be and so on. Quite frankly, I don’t get into all that. I don’t mind telling you I don’t have it all figured out and honestly I’ve never felt compelled to try to figure it all out. As far as I’m concerned, when we get today under control then we’ll worry about what happens tomorrow. But even though I’m not one who likes to search the Bible for hidden codes and meanings, I do think it’s important that we know what the Bible does actually say about the end of time. So today, I’d like to look at 2 Peter 3:3-18
(vv 3-7) Peter talks about the scoffers who mock the idea of Christ returning. Do we have that going on today? Absolutely! Let me ask you something: why do you suppose the media made such a big deal out of Harold Camping and his predictions? Why didn’t they just write him off as a religious nut and ignore him? Could it be that they actually enjoyed casting Christians in a negative light? I believe so. Though they never came out and said as much, I imagine in their minds they were thinking something like, “Look at those Christians! They’re still waiting for Jesus to return! It’s been 2000 years people! He’s not coming back!”
The ironic thing is, what these people don’t realize is that by mocking the idea of the Lord’s return, they are actually fulfilling the prophecy that Peter gives in verse 4. Their presence is proof that the Word they deny is the true Word of God! We should not be surprised at the presence of these mockers. Why do these people mock us? Because they want to continue living in their sins. Peter makes it clear in 2:10 and 2:18… (read). These people mock the doctrines of judgment and the coming of the Lord. What is their argument? (v. 4) “Nothing catastrophic has happened in the past,” they argue, “so there is no reason to believe it will happen in the future.” They take the “scientific approach” by examining evidence, applying reason, and drawing a conclusion.
Peter cited two events in history as his own evidence to prove his point: the work of God at Creation (2 Peter 3:5), and the flood in Noah’s day (2 Peter 3:6).
God created the heavens and the earth by His word. The phrase “and God said” occurs nine times in Genesis 1. Not only was Creation made by the word of God, but it was held together by that same word. Peter’s argument is obvious: the same God who created the world by His word can also intervene in His world and do whatever He wishes to do! It is His word that made the world and that holds it together, and His word is all-powerful.
The second event Peter cited was Noah’s flood. He had already referred to the Flood as an illustration of divine judgment (2 Peter 2:5). The Flood was a devastating event. The people living on earth had probably never seen a rainstorm or the fountains of the deep broken up, but these events happened just the same. The people were not concerned about the coming judgment. We read in Matthew 24:37-39… The people were going about their business, thinking life would go on as always, but then God disrupts their world by destroying it with the flood.
I think it must have been a sad day when God flooded the earth. Noah had been warning people for years to no avail. Jesus said they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. In other words, they went on with life as though nothing was wrong. “We don’t want to hear that doom and gloom stuff! There’s too much life to live.” But when the flood came they were singing to a different tune. But it was too late. They’d been given a chance, and when God shut the door it was shut.
Why is the return of Christ troubling to some people? Because there are many people who have heard the gospel message over and over and over but have refused to get in the ark of Jesus Christ. You see, there’s a judgment coming one day – Harold Camping did have that part right. And the only way to escape the coming judgment is to get in the ark of Christ through repentance of our sins and by putting our faith in Him to save us.
Having established the fact that God has in the past “interrupted” the course of history, Peter was then ready for his application in 2 Peter 2:7. The same word that created and sustains the world is now holding it together, stored with fire, being preserved and reserved for that future day of judgment. God promised that there would be no more floods to destroy the world (Gen. 9:8–17). The next judgment will be a judgment of fire. (v. 10)
Everything that mankind has ever done, all of our short-lived glories, will be burned up and destroyed by the fire of God’s judgment. The whole universe will be destroyed by fire; and the fire will be so hot that every element will melt from the extreme heat. But keep in mind: it is all so that God’s eternal purpose for the universe can be fulfilled. (vv 12-13)God is going to create a new heaven and earth in which only righteousness will exist. The righteous, those who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for righteousness, will be the citizens of the new heavens and earth. The new heavens and earth will be the home where God’s people will live and serve Him for all of eternity.
But the question that everyone has been asking since Jesus ascended into heaven is, “Why hasn’t this happened yet?” Well, to answer that question, we have to look at verses 8-9. I titled this sermon, “What Harold Camping Missed.” And what he missed was the true message of verse 8. Verse 8 uses figurative language, but he interpreted it literally, that one of God’s days equals a thousand of our years. In case you hadn’t heard how he arrived at May 21 as Judgment Day, I’ll tell you briefly: In Genesis 7:4, we read… He coupled that verse with this one in 2 Peter, and arrived at the conclusion that God would destroy the earth 7000 years after the flood, which somehow came out to May 21st of this year.
But this verse cannot be taken literally, and here’s why: God is not bound by our sense of time! God is eternal, and He dwells in eternity. We do not understand this. As humans, we can only operate with a linear sense of time, with a beginning and an end. We have 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and 52 weeks in a year. This is the only way we know to operate; it is all our minds can comprehend. We can say that God lives in eternity, but we don’t really comprehend what that means. Eternity is not just time with no beginning or end. Rather, it is existence above and apart from time.
Therefore, to ask why Jesus Christ has not yet returned after two thousand years is ridiculous because God does not operate out of our understanding of time. The point is this: we must not be discouraged because Christ has not yet returned. God may want a lot more to take place on earth before He sends Christ back to earth. Our job is not to question or figure out when He is returning, but to watch and be ready in case He returns before we depart this life and go to Him.
Since a thousand years are as one day to the Lord, we cannot accuse Him of being late in fulfilling His promises. He is not limited by time the way we are, nor does He measure it according to our standards. When you study the works of God, especially in the Old Testament, we can see that He is never in a hurry, but He is never late. He could have created the entire universe in an instant, yet He preferred to do it over a period of six days. He could have delivered Israel from Egypt in a moment, yet He preferred to invest eighty years in training Moses. For that matter, He could have sent the Savior much sooner, but He waited until “the fullness of the time was come” (Gal. 4:4). While God works in time, He is not limited by time.
Why is God delaying the return of Christ and the coming of the Day of the Lord? It is not because He is unable to act or unwilling to act. He is not late or off schedule! Nobody on earth has the right to decide when God must act. God is sovereign in all things and does not need our advice. God delays the coming of Christ and the great day of fiery judgment because He is patient and wants to give lost sinners the opportunity to be saved.
God’s “delay” is actually an indication that He has a plan for this world and that He is working His plan. There should be no question in anybody’s mind whether God wants sinners to be saved. God “is not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9). God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 33:11). He shows His mercy to all even though not all will be saved.
It is worth noting that God revealed this same patience in the years before the Flood. He saw the violence and wickedness of man and could have judged the world immediately; yet He held back His wrath and, instead, sent Noah as a “preacher of righteousness.” In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, God patiently waited while Abraham interceded for the cities and He would have spared them had He found ten righteous people in Sodom. God is even patient toward those who mock Him today! They need to repent and He is willing to save them.
Why has Christ not yet returned to earth? Because God loves us; He does not want any person to perish, not a single person. God is not refusing to fulfill His promise nor is He powerless to return and judge the earth. He has not returned for one reason and one reason only. He wants more and more people to come to repentance. Very simply, God is slow to give in and to judge and condemn us. God loves and cares for us despite our sin and rebellion, cursing and rejection of Him. This is the very reason He sent Christ to save us. He loves and cares for us; therefore, He is patient with us.
God wants no person to perish. To perish is a terrible thing. It means to be utterly lost and destroyed. It means to lose eternal life and to be cut off from life forever and ever. It means to be spiritually destitute, completely empty of all good. It means to suffer the judgment, condemnation, and punishment of separation from God forever and ever. It means to perish; to be in a state of suffering forever and ever apart from God. The point is this: God does not want us perishing; He does not want us cut off and separated from Him. God wants us to be in eternity with Him not apart from Him.
So what do we do with all this? God’s judgment didn’t take place on May 21st, and it might not for a long time yet. But it is coming. What should we do in light of this truth? We should Live Godly Lives (3:11–14) Because we do not know the day or the hour of our Lord’s return, we must constantly be ready. If we start to neglect the blessed hope of Christ’s return we will gradually develop a cold heart, a worldly attitude, and an unfaithful life. If we are not careful, we may even become like the world and laugh at the promise of Christ’s coming.
Our conduct should be characterized by holiness and godliness. We are called to be holy as God is holy. The word holy means “to separate, to cut off.” Israel was a “holy nation” because God called the Jews out from among the Gentiles and kept them separated. Christians are called out from the godless world around them and are set apart for God alone. The word godliness could be translated “piety.” It describes a person whose life is devoted to pleasing God.
If we are attentive to watch for His return, and to live holy and godly lives, then we will not be afraid or ashamed. We will meet Christ “spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him.” Jesus Christ is “a Lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19), and we should be careful to follow His example.
Second, we should focus on spreading God’s message of love (3:15). Verse 15 ties in with verse 9, where Peter explained why the Lord had delayed fulfilling His promise. God had every reason long ago to judge the world and burn up its works, but in His mercy, He is patient with us, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Peter made reference to Paul’s writings, because it is Paul, more than any other New Testament writer, who explained God’s plan for mankind. Especially in Romans and Ephesians, Paul explained the relationship between Israel and the church. He pointed out that God used the nation of Israel to prepare the way for the coming of the Savior. But Israel rejected its King and asked to have Him crucified. Did this destroy God’s plan? Of course not! Today, God is doing a wonderful new thing: He is saving Jews and Gentiles, and making them one in Christ in the church!
For centuries, if a Gentile wanted to be saved, he had become Jewish. This same attitude persisted even in the early church. Paul made it clear that both Jews and Gentiles stand condemned before God and that both must be saved by faith in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, saved Jews and Gentiles belong to the one body, the church. The Jewish nation was God’s great testimony to Law, but the church is His witness for grace. Law prepared the way for grace, and grace enables us to achieve righteousness.
It is up to us who have experienced the grace of God to go to those who have not and to tell them the wonderful news that God wants to be in eternity with them! Yet often times, we fail to do this. Why? Some people are afraid that they won’t know what to say, even though the Bible has promised that the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say when we are asked to give a testimony. Other people will say that they’re afraid of failure, but in my opinion, when it comes to evangelism and telling others the Good News of the Gospel, the only failures are those who do not do it at all.
Finally, we must grow spiritually (3:17–18). What special danger did Peter see? That the true believers would be “carried away by the error of the lawless”. He is warning us against breaking down the walls of separation that must stand between the true believers and the false teachers. There can be no communion between truth and error. How can we as believers maintain our commitment and avoid being among those who are easily led astray? By growing spiritually. We should be in a constant experience of development.
We must grow “in grace.” We were saved by grace, but grace does not end there! We must also be strengthened by grace. God’s grace can enable us to endure suffering. His grace also helps us to give when giving is difficult and to sing when singing is difficult.
Our God is “the God of all grace”, who “gives grace to the humble”. As we study His Word, we learn about the various aspects of grace that are available to us as children of God. There is grace for every situation and every challenge of life. Paul writes, “But by the grace of God I am what I am”, and that should be our testimony as well.
We must also grow in knowledge. It’s easy to grow in knowledge but not in grace! Many of us know far more of the Bible than we really live. Knowledge without grace is a terrible weapon, because it can lead to legalism. Grace without knowledge can be very shallow. But when we combine grace and knowledge, we have a wonderful tool for building our lives and for building the church.
But note that we are challenged to grow, not just in knowledge of the Bible, as good as that is, but “in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” It is good to “know the Bible,” but it is much more important to know the Son of God, the central theme of the Bible. The better we know Christ through the Word, the more we grow in grace; the more we grow in grace, the better we understand the Word of God.
The judgment of Christ is coming, and that is why it is all the more important live holy and godly lives, to spread the message of His love, and to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. He has told us that He is coming, and this is how we can be prepared.
There’s an old story about a small country church that was holding a revival in a packed building. It was so crowded that they had to put up chairs everywhere, right up to the pulpit. The evangelist was preaching about the second coming of Christ and had really warmed up to the subject. He was one of those fire and brimstone kind of preachers that marched up and down the pulpit. At one point of his sermon he leaned over toward the audience and shouted out Jesus’ promise: “I am coming soon!”
He marched up and down the stage some more and then leaned out again over the edge of the stage and cried out, “I am coming soon!” Several minutes went by and again he shouted out, “I am coming soon!” But this time, he stepped too close to the edge and lost his balance. He fell off the stage, and he landed right on the lap of a couple sitting in the front row of chairs. The husband looked at his wife and said, “Well, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. He warned us three times!”
The Bible tells us that Christ is coming back one day. I know people have been preaching the return of Christ for 2,000 years. But don’t ever let that keep you from believing it to be true. Time means nothing to God. He promised in His Word that He’s coming back and I want to tell you that when He returns it’s going to be one of two things for us. It’s either going to be a glorious event or it’s going to be a troubling event, and it’s up to us to choose which one it will be for us.
Although he was wrong about the date, Harold Camping was right about one thing: Jesus is coming back. The question is, will we be ready?
