She did not want the store manager to know she had recently got married, because he might comment on her youth and inexperience. She said, "These eggs are awfully small." The store manager said, "Yes, I know, but that's the kind the farmer brings me. They are fresh from the country this morning though"
To demonstrate her vast knowledge and experience as a housewife she said, "Well, that's the trouble with these farmers, they are so anxious to get their eggs sold that they take them off the nest before they are fully grown."
If you listen to some people talk long enough you can learn a lot about what they DO NOT KNOW.
Illus: For example, Vice-president Al Gore gave a big speech on the campaign trail during the 2000 year election about how his faith was "important" to him. During this time he announced that his favorite Bible verse was John 16:3.
Of course, he meant to say John 3:16, but nobody in the Gore camp was familiar enough with scripture to catch the error.
John 16:3 says, "And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me."
As people speak publicly, if you listen to them closely, you will hear a lot of ignorance come out of their mouths.
For example, we daily hear lost people speak a lot of ignorance. We can gather from what they say, that they think they have everything about life all figured out.
• They do not need to know what the Bible says. They would have us to believe that they have wisdom this Bible does not have.
• They do not need to attend Sunday School, or listen to some preacher, they know more than all of them put together.
They think they have it all figured out, but the tragedy is, this is not the case!
They live every day as if they are their own gods and do not have to give account to God, their Creator, or anyone else!
But let’s not be to hard on them, lest we be judging ourselves. Why? Because, before you and I were saved, we were the same way.
WHY DID WE LIVE SUCH A FOOLISH LIFE?
We lived in darkness and could not comprehend our terrible condition.
Since the Lord Jesus has saved us, our eyes and ears have been opened to the truth, and we know things we never knew before.
Look at two of the things we have come to know. We will deal with one of these things in this sermon, and the other in the next message.
I. LET’S LOOK AT THE SINNER CONCERNING THE LORD’S COMING
Look at verses 1-7. We read, “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. He will appear unexpectedly, when the present frame of nature will be dissolved by fire For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
Notice, in this passage God's Word tells us some things about the SINNER.
A. THERE SHALL BE SCOFFING
Look at verse 3, we read, “...there shall come in the last days scoffers…"
This verse tells us three things about the ungodly in the last days before Christ returns.
Notice, it says, “there shall COME IN THE LAST DAYS SCOFFERS.”
We have always had scoffers on the face of the earth, but never have we had such a great crowd of scoffers as we have today in these last days.
One of the reasons we know we are living in the last days is because never have we seen such SCOFFING AS WE SEE IT TODAY.
Illus: For example, comedians, like Jay Leno, and David Letterman, can appear on national television and make a mockery of spiritual things, and their audiences will respond with laughter and applause.
But those same comedians can take a cheap shot at some movie actress/actor and the audience will boo them.
All across this country we have evil men and women mocking the things of God.
But sad to say, some of the SCOFFING that is taking place today is not by comedians, but by men and women who profess to be MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL.
Illus: You can attend some of the liberal Bible Colleges, Seminaries, and churches, and you will actually find these wolves in sheep’s clothing making fun of the miracles of God’s Word, stating that they never actually happened. THIS IS MOCKING THE WORD OF GOD.
God's Word says these "scoffers" would come. If you look around you these days, you will discover these mockers are everywhere.
We see it in the entertainment world, in the liberal churches, and also in daily life. They are scoffing at everything they can find to scoff at.
Illus: A fellow called a friend of his to tell him a joke on the telephone. He said I have a “sick joke” I want to tell you. It had to do with a mechanism that allows elderly folks to call for help when they fall. This mechanism is advertised on television, where a lady fell down and could not get up, and she said, “I can't get up!” He took the idea that she fell down and could not get up, and made a joke out of it. After he got through telling the “sick joke”, the man rebuked him and said, “That’s not funny!”
And it is not funny! People today are sick in what they think is funny. They are mockers of righteousness and decency.
People who would mock the elderly show how ignorant they really are.
But, the MOST IGNORANT person in the entire world is the person who makes a mockery of the things of God.
God’s Word says THERE SHALL BE SCOFFING. But also the Word of God says-
B. THERE SHALL BE SIN
The Bible says, "...walking after their own lusts."
Sinful men "scoff" at the teachings of the Bible. They want to live their own way instead of God's way.
Illus: When you and I hear a person say something derogatory about another person, we can rest assured that the one doing the talking does not like the person he/she is talking about.
He may say he does, but if he really did he would not be saying those kinds of things about the person he is putting down. The reason he is putting them down is because he uses words like rocks. He throws them at that person time and time again, because he hates that person. THAT IS WHY HE IS DOING IT!
But it not only hurts the person being TALKING ABOUT, it also hurts the person being SPOKEN TO.
HOW DOES IT HURT THAT PERSON BEING SPOKEN TO?
Because they know the person they are passing the damaging information to is not a thinking person.
That is, a person might bring some harmful gossip to you, and you might think this person must really think a lot of you to pass this information on to you.
But the fact is, it is just the opposite, they think so little of you that they know you do not have enough brains in your head to think with. They think so little of you, they know they can tell you anything they want to tell you, and you will believe it.
And if you listen to the inaccurate information they are spreading with out any facts, THEY ARE CORRECT!
For example, in a court of law, when someone is accused of something, they will bring witness after witness before a jury to reinforce the evidence they have. But only after the jury has heard all the evidence are they able to render a fair verdict.
But in church, someone can be accused with some of the most damnable accusations, and the person who is being accused is not even there to defend themselves, and these people who do not have a brain in their head will say, “I did not know that!”
They would not dare pass that false information to some people in the congregation, because they consider them to have a brain in their head. Why? Because they know those people would say, “Where is the evidence to back up what you are saying? And if you can not prove it you should not be spreading such stuff!”
They make a mockery of the people of God.
It should be obvious that when people attack others behind their backs, they are gutless, and they personally are trying to destroy that individual.
You can mark it down, when a person does this, they hate that person. They might say they do not, but they would not be doing what they are doing if they loved them.
Also, one may claim to love the Lord, but his mockery, in actions or in words, shows that he/she does not.
For example, there are people who say they love God, but sometimes in church, when they can’t have things their way, they do everything they can to destroy the work of God.
Why? Because they really do not love the Lord. They say they do, but their actions speak louder than their words.
WHAT WOULD CAUSE SOMEONE TO DO THIS?
His love for sin, along with his hate of righteousness. Peter says people who do this are, "... walking after their own lusts. "
Listen, do not TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THE LORD, SHOW ME!
God’s Word says, THERE SHALL BE SIN. Also-
C. THERE SHALL BE SKEPTICISM
Look at verse 4, we read, “And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
In all areas of life, there are many things that mankind does not understand. And, skepticism has always been around as a hindrance to everything that is good. For example:
Illus: We are told that when they built the first locomotive, a skeptic walked up to those who were building it and said, “I'll bet it won't go, I'll bet it won't go!” They completed it, and the day came for them to fire it up. It took off, and the old skeptic said, “I'll bet it won't stop, I'll bet it won't stop!”
• Man does not deny the wind exists just because he cannot see it
• Man does not refuse to turn his light switch on because he does not understand the operation of electricity
• Man does not refuse to drive his car because he does not understand how it operates
• Man does not refuse to watch television because he does not understand how it operates
We know very little about many of the things we use every day, but we place a great deal of trust in those who do know about them.
For example, I do not know how the rapture is going to take place, but I KNOW WHO DOES, and I have my faith in Him.
Peter says the scoffers claim they will not place their faith in the Lord's coming, because they have heard all their lives, (like their fathers before them), that Christ is coming soon, but all they see is that things are still going the way they always seem to go.
That argument simply is not valid.
Illus: For example, we have heard all our life that if the Lord tarries we are going to die. The next time we hear that, we could say, “We have heard all our life we are going to die, and we do not believe it because everything seems to be going on as it always has.” But, the fact remains, it matters not whether we believe it or not, we are going to die!
By the same token, it matters not whether scoffers choose to believe Jesus will return. He is coming again!
THERE IS A REASON THEY SCOFF
1. GOD’S REVEALING
Look at verse 5. "For this they willingly are ignorant of...”
They scoffed then, and they scoff today! Why? Because they desire to be ignorant and refuse God’s revealed truth!
2. GOD’S RETRIBUTION
Look at verses 5b-6, “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:”
Notice that Peter gives an example of their ignorance. They choose to forget that God once destroyed Noah’s generation because of sin.
The Bible clearly tells us that the reason the flood came was because they chose to be ignorant about sin.
Often folks suffer the judgment of God being poured out on them, and they refer to it as "bad luck", or call it an "accident".
When God sent the flood to destroy the people of Noah's generation, if ABC, NBC, CNN, CBS and the Fox News Channel had existed, those journalists covering the story would have reported it as a natural catastrophe.
But it was not a natural catastrophe; it was the wrath of God being poured out, resulting in supernatural destruction.
God did not deliberately destroy all mankind after creation. It was almost two thousand years after man had sinned, and kept on sinning, that God had all He was going to put up with.
People chose to be willfully ignorant of the things of God, and God chose to punish them.
3. GOD’S WARNING
Look at verse 7, we read, “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
In this verse we see God giving a deliberate warning. He is not sending out a false threat. This is something lost man can count on.
Illus: I have heard parents tell their children, “If you do not straighten up, I am going to take my belt off and tear you up!” And all the while, the child knows, from past experience, that it is a meaningless threat, and they ignore it.
Illus: A preacher was at a shopping mall, and he noticed a little boy riding a sidewalk merry-go-round. When the ride stopped the mother said, “Let's go.” The child did not move because he wanted to ride again. The mother gave in, and when the ride stopped, they went through the same routine all over again. Finally the preacher walked over to the little boy, looked him square in the eye, and whispered something. The little boy immediately jumped off the ride and ran and got in the car. The mother was amazed at how fast her little boy obeyed the man. She said, “I don't understand. He would not listen to me. What did you say to him to make him obey like that?” The preacher said, "I simply told him that if he did not get off that ride and get in the car immediately, I was going to snatch his pants down, and tear him up, and give him something to really cry about!”
God means to do all He says He will do. We know that He will do that, because all the things He said He would do, HE HAS DONE PRECISELY!
Conclusion:
Lost men do not have to listen to God's warning today, but one day they will find out God meant what He said! The heavens and earth are being "stored away", waiting for the day God chooses to unleash judgment.
Part #1
I. LET’S LOOK AT THE SINNER CONCERNING THE LORD’S COMING
A. THERE SHALL BE SCOFFING
B. THERE SHALL BE SIN
C. THERE SHALL BE SKEPTICISM
Part #2
I. LET’S LOOK AT THE SAINT CONCERNING THE LORD’S COMING
