When The World Is On Fire!

WHEN THE WORLD IS ON FIRE!

2 Pet. 3:5-14

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: THE FERTILITY PRAYER

1. A Pastor standing at the church’s door welcomed a lady who’d been raised there and was now married. “Hi Kathryn! It’s nice to see you’re married. How many children do you have?"

2. "Sadly, Pastor, we’ve not been blessed with any children."

"I’m sorry to hear that," said the Pastor. "I’m going to Israel next week and I’ve heard there’s a special blessing for putting a prayer in the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. I’ll put one there for you to have children.” “Thanks Pastor.”

3. Several years later, the Pastor meets Kathryn at the mall and, remembering their last meeting asked her, "So how is your family, How many children do you have?"

4. "Well Pastor, your prayers for us were answered. We’re now blessed with 11 children. We have one pair of twins and three sets of triplets."

5. "Praise God!" said the Pastor. "That’s awesome! I’d like to congratulate your husband. Where is he?"

6. "He’s currently in Jerusalem," replied Kathryn. "What’s he doing there? Is he on business?"

7. "No, he’s not there on business, Pastor. He’s there trying to find that note you had placed in the wall five years ago," Kathryn replied.

B. TEXT

5 For this they willfully forget: that by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, 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 which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless…” 2 Pet. 3:5-14; NKJV.

C. MARK TWAIN STORY

1. Mark Twain was told by someone, “I’m afraid the world is just going to end!” Mark Twain replied, “That’s Ok. I think we can get along without it!” The truth is, we can, because there’s a new world coming!

2. How will it come?

a. Not by intellectuals;

b. Not by politicians.

c. Not by generals on the battlefields.

3. Why? Because a wise woman a long time ago said, “You can’t make a good omelet out of bad eggs, no matter how much you stir it.”

4. A NEW GODLY WORLD WILL ONLY BE BROUGHT IN BY JESUS CHRIST!

D. THESIS

1. In 2 Peter 3, Peter talks about 3 worlds:

3:6 Past Antediluvian “world that then existed;”

3:7 Present world - “heavens & earth which are now”

3:13 Prospective world , “New heavens and a new earth” of the future, wherein dwells righteousness.

2. Today we’re going to look at these three worlds, their connection to the coming of the Lord, and what kind of people we better be if we want to inherit the last world.

3. The title of this message is “When the World is on Fire!”

I. FIRST WORLD: WORLD OF NOAH

A. IT WAS A CREATED WORLD

1. God spoke and it came into existence. It wasn’t created by the big bang, but by the Word of God. This is very important.

2. If you’re wrong about the world’s origin, you may be wrong about its destiny! If you deny the past, you’re going to distort the present.

3. If you don’t understand how it came into being, you’re not going to understand how it’s going to wrap up.

B. IT BECAME A CORRUPTED WORLD

1. Genesis 6 says the Earth was filled with violence.

2. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” Gen. 6:5-6.