With each passing year and the
beginning of a new one, we should be more mindful of the shortness
of time, the brevity of this life. The scriptures say, what
is your life but a vapor, a fog, like the morning fog that comes
up here for a while and quickly gone. And we should, for the
believer that is, should be mindful of the imminent, or that is,
soon and certain return of the Lord Jesus Christ and be watching
for his return. We are in the last of the last
days spoken of so often in God's Word, especially 2 Timothy chapter
3, which clearly described the last of the last days and read
like the front page of our modern day news. Peter says in chapter
3 of 2 Peter, I'm reading 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 1, he says,
This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you. In both,
that is, the first and second epistle, which I stir up your
pure minds by way of He's writing this letter as he did the first
one, to believers. He calls them beloved. Over in
chapter 1, he writes and he tells us who he's writing to in verse
1. It says, to them who have obtained
like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and
our Savior, Jesus Christ. He calls them beloved. It's very
important. Because he uses this term four
times in this third chapter of 2 Peter. Beloved. Beloved. Those for love by God. Those beloved of God and beloved
of Peter. He said this second epistle or
letter, Beloved, I write unto you in both, that is the first
and second, I want to stir up your minds by way of remembrance. So that is, I want to get you
thinking. I want you to think about some
things. Verse 2, he said, that you may be mindful. That is,
have on your mind the words which were spoken before by the holy
prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior. So Peter says, first thing, I
want you to always be mindful of the words spoken by the prophets
and of us, the apostles. God's word. God's word, he said,
I want you to be mindful of what the prophets said and what we
are saying. Now, what the prophets said and
what the apostles said was the same thing. The prophets of old
in every single prophecy you will find a prophecy of the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament from Genesis
to Malachi says someone is coming. The God-man, the Christ, the
Holy One of Israel, the righteous Son of God is coming to save
His people from their sins. Someone is coming, the prophets
said, Daniel, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Jonah, all of them said, someone
is coming. The Christ is coming. Let me
just read one prophet. One prophet will suffice. I'm
reading to you from the book of Malachi, who was the last
of the Old Testament prophets except for John. Malachi 3, I
read verses 1 through 3. Behold, I send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord, whom
you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger
of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of Hosts." Now, he's speaking of himself. He's speaking
of the Lord. He's speaking of Jesus Christ,
the God-man. He shall come. He says, I come,
quickly. Verse 2, Who may abide the day
of his coming? Who shall stand when he appeareth?
For he is like a refiner's fire. and like Fuller's soap. This
description, this prophecy of Jesus Christ coming to the earth
is much different than the Jesus most preached today. He says here he is like a refiner's
fire, and that is exactly what the Lord Jesus said. He said,
I am come to send fire on the earth. So Peter says the prophets
of old prophesied of Christ's coming. He said, I want you to
be thinking about that. They said he would come, and
he did. And he says, the apostles, we
say that he's coming again, and he will. Same Christ, same world,
same purpose in coming. Christ came the first time to
save his people and to condemn or judge those who believe not.
And the next time he comes, the second coming will be for the
same reason, to take his people to himself, to save his people
and to judge the world. In 2 Peter 3, verse 3, Peter
says, Now know this first, keep this in mind first, that there
shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lust
or evil intentions and desires. He says, scoffers shall come.
And they will say this, verse 4, where is the promise of His
coming? Well, since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning
of creation. Where is the promise of His coming? We don't believe
He's coming. Why, it's 2003. Three years have
gone by since the turn of the millennium. He didn't come then,
and He hasn't come yet. Why, we don't believe He's coming.
Well, neither did they believe for 4,000 years before he came.
But he did. He did. And they didn't believe
him when he got here. When he came, they didn't believe
he was the Christ. In spite of the marvelous miracles
he performed, in spite of his impeccable character, his sinless
character, which no human being had ever lived on this planet
with an impeccable, sinless character, a holy character and thought,
word and deed as the Lord Jesus Christ, proving who he was. In
spite of his profound wisdom, which no one could refute, which
no one could stand against, though many tried, though councils gathered
together to take him at his word, they could not stand against
his profound wisdom. Even his enemies who were sent
to capture him, captives themselves when they heard him speak, saying,
No man spake like this man. His profound wisdom proved who
he was. In spite of his miracles, in
spite of his impeccable character, in spite of his profound wisdom,
in spite of the fact, the absolute fact, that he laid down his life. No one took it from him. He laid
it down. miraculously took his own life
by willing to do so, was laid in a grave for three days and
walked out of that grave, rising from the dead, seen by over 500
men at one time. Undeniably true, factual, that
he rose from the dead. In spite of all that, none believed
him, that he was the Christ, except those whom he revealed
himself. And now 2,000 years later, men
don't believe He's coming again in spite of the fact that He
said He would. But some do, by God's grace and
mercy. Some whom He hath chosen to reveal
Himself, they believe. They believe that Christ is coming
again. And Peter says here in 2 Peter
3 that those who scoff and reject His coming They say this in verse
5, Peter says, they are willingly ignorant that by the word of
God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the
water and in the water. In other words, they are willingly
ignorant, Peter says, of creation. Though it is very plain, though
it is very obvious that this miraculous creation, this miraculous
place called planet earth with all its with its myriad life
forms that are such marvelous and complex things, especially
man. David said, I am fearfully and
wonderfully made. The creation clearly tells his
Godhead, Romans 1 says. The invisible things are clearly
seen. proving his eternal power in
Godhead that he did indeed create this planet and everything upon
it. Only an absolute fool, the psalm says, would say, No, God. A thumbprint reveals God is,
because there is no two, just alike. Well, creation clearly
reveals that God is, and God made this, and The flood reveals
it. Verse 6, he says, the world that
then was was overflowed with water and perished. Time will
not permit me to tell you all the factual evidence that tells
of the flood. But I'm not here to try to prove
God. God doesn't prove himself to
man. No. God reveals himself to his
people. And then through scripture and
by giving eyesight to look around, God proves himself to his people,
but he doesn't prove himself to the unbelieving. Well, the
flood meant though many, many, many evidences to prove the flood,
yet men are willingly ignorant, it says. Willingly ignorant,
they refuse to believe that God created this planet and God destroyed
this planet. There's a couple of reasons why
people refuse to believe this. Number one, if God created this
planet. That means he owns it. Whatever
you create, whatever you make, you own it. You can do with it
what you will. And you're the judge of it. Whatever
you create must answer to you. You are absolute control of that.
So it is with God. The scripture says, Hath not
the potter power over the clay? And the fact that God destroyed
this planet reveals his judgment. against sin, his hatred against
sin, how that he destroyed life on this planet. That destroys
the notion that God loves everybody. No, God, the righteous Lord,
Scripture says, loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity and all those
who practice it. And he will destroy sinners from
it. And he did so. But people are
willingly ignorant of that. not wanting to believe that,
that God destroyed this planet, saved for eight souls on Noah's
ark, which is a picture of Christ, they willingly ignorant. And
he says in verse 7, the heavens and the earth, which are now
by the same word, that is, by the upholding word of God, by
the sovereign will and word of God Almighty, are kept in store,
reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment perdition of
ungodly men. The same God who said, ìLet there
be light, let there be planet earth, let there be life.î The
same God who created man upon this earth. The same God who
said, ìI will destroy man,î and destroyed him from the earth
save for eight souls in the ark. The same God upholds all things
right now, and all things are kept in store, reserved unto
that day which God has said he will destroy it completely, save
for those who are in Christ by faith, the ark of safety, Christ. It is all by his divine command,
it is said. Well, but he says in verse 8
to his people, don't be ignorant of this one thing. that a day
is as a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years as
one day. In other words, God is not subject
to time. We are. We live for the moment.
We pass the time and wait for time to pass. Not God. Everything is right on his will
and in his schedule and in his will. And there is a verse of
scripture I want to close with. In Ecclesiastes it says, because
sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed. In
other words, since God doesn't immediately execute judgment
upon those who do what they do and shake their fist in God's
face and say things like, see, lightning didn't fall, I got
away with that. Nope. The verse says, because sentence
against an evil work is not speedily executed. Therefore, the hearts
of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil. But be
assured of this. God is on his own schedule. He is not subject to hours. He
is not subject to time. A day is a thousand years, and
a thousand years is a day. He is not slack, Peter said,
concerning his promise to his people. He is long-suffering
to his people. To usward, Peter said, to the
beloved. He is not willing that any of
his people should perish. But all should come to repentance.
That's what Christ said in John 10. None of them, that is His
beloved, shall perish. But He'll bring them all safely
home. Well, until next Sunday, may the Lord bless this Word
for His glory in your understanding. Amen. Thank you.