2 Peter 3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 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:
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 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.
5 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:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 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.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Indeed, many are scoffing and mostly because of their own heart of unbelief. Yet, I wonder if we have been like the fable where the boy cried wolf so often that people do not hear us anymore.
Matthew 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
The frenzy about Jesus coming back in the last century has had many Christians making false prophecies, second guessing God and just making people dubious about our claims.
Many things have fit into or appear to fit into what is prophesied about the end times, but Jesus did not give us specifics about how much time occurs between the events and He said that He did not know the day or hour, but many have tried to tell us when it was to happen and it did not.
Wesley had it right when he said to plan your life like Jesus is coming in a hundred years, but live it like He is coming back tonight.
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
If we truly see the day approaching then this passage should become high on our priorities. We should be meeting more and provoking each other to love and to be about His business doing good works.
We were given all we need to know about the future in the book of Revelation and it did not tell the size of the AntiChrist's sneaker or who he will be. To spend our time in speculations when we are not doing the specific things He tells us to do is vanity.
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
We are called to grow up and serve in love while be able to discern false doctrine not running all over the place seeking a word when He gave us the Word we need to do what we need to do.
If we had been doing this, people would have seen full grown and full blown Christians living a life of righteousness in the Spirit's power bringing forth much fruit. This would have made them more curious to inquire about how that is happening as well as having a thirst for the true prophetic Word rather than chasing sunshine soothsaying.
We are to do the work of the ministry and that is to win souls, make disciples and edify saints. People need to see Christ in the nasty now and now if we want them to escape the Tribulation and Hell.
They need to see a unified Body rather than the confusion and division of 1 Corinthians 3:4. We need to dump many traditions and dead theologians and ask God to show us His meaning of what He said.
Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
He did not chastise them for tithing the herbs, but for wrong priorities and missing the more important things. We are in a similar situation. We need to keep our priority on judgment, mercy and faith while not leaving end time teaching undone.
Because we have overdone the prophecy and end time teachings few will respond to that. We have numbed them like the boy who cried wolf. Sound doctrine and holy living will speak louder to more people even though we are in an age where many Christians want nothing to do with either.
1 Cor 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
We live evil and adulterous generation far worse than the one Jesus was speaking to back then. Many things we even see if "Christian" circles are not true signs and wonders hence discernment is needed.
If we get back to the main message given in the power of God so that souls will be won maybe we have time to play prophecy speculation. It is said that when Constantinople was being overrun the theologians were in a room arguing over what color eyes Mary had. Evil is overrunning our world, let us not be them. Maranatha!
