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Advent - 2 Peter 3
A sermon preached by Ian Garrett

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A few years ago, one of our students promised to take his girlfriend - now his wife - out for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner. He booked with the restaurant, arranged a meeting place, and the evening came when his young lady was waiting in town. Only he forgot. And mid-way through leading his CU Bible study that night, the phone rang. The conversation went something like this:

'I've been at the Monument half an hour.' 'Why?' 'Waiting for you.' 'Why?' 'We're going out to dinner, remember?' Awful silence. And then the sound of the phone being dropped and of feet barely touching the carpet - en route to the florists, who'd been shut for hours but were persuaded to open by talk of unlimited cash.

How long do you give someone who's made you a promise? Before you begin to question whether they'll keep it? The apostle Peter's second letter is all about God's promise that his Son Jesus will come again to judge the world. Which is a promise that people have always mocked. Surely only cranks believe that. Verse 3:

First of all, you must understand that in the last days [ie the days between Jesus' first and second comings] scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised?' (vv3-4)

And it's a mocking question. So that in v9, Peter argues back:

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.

And in v13 he says:

In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

To be a Christian is to live by faith (ie trust) in a promise from God. Just like being engaged is mainly to do with the future, so it is with being a Christian. It's mainly to do with the promise of a future beyond judgement in a renewed world. And if we live by faith in that promise, we'll be vulnerable to two things. The scoffers around us. And the doubts within us. And that's what 2 Peter addresses. I've got three headings:

1. The promise of Jesus' second coming
2. The mockers of Jesus' second coming
3. The implication of Jesus' second coming

First, THE PROMISE OF JESUS' SECOND COMING

The first thing to say is that the whole Bible promises this coming. It's the main theme from cover to cover. So, 2 Peter 3.1:

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. [I take it that the first one is 1 Peter.] I have written both of them to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Saviour [ie Jesus] through your apostles. (vv1-2)

So turn back, would you, to Malachi 2.17. Here are some of those 'words spoken in the past by the holy prophets':

You have wearied the LORD with your words [says the prophet Malachi to God's people - who were at that time doubting God, cynical and sceptical].
'How have we wearied him?' you ask.
By saying, 'All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them' or 'Where is the God of justice?' (Malachi 2.17-18)

You see what they were saying? 'People do evil and seem to get away with it. No-one is struck down by lightning. There are no divine interventions. So, 'Where is the God of justice?' And in reply, they get a promise. 3.1:

'See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,' say the LORD Almighty.
But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? [ie, how do you think you'll come off when judgement does begin?] For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap…

[Verse 5:] 'So I will come near to you for judgement...'

[Verse 18:] 'And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.' (Malachi 3.1-5, 18)

The basic problem in the world is that by nature we refuse to serve God. We rebel against God. And he allows people to do that - so they think they're getting away with it. They think there is no judgement or even no God. But he won't allow the rebellion to last forever. 'I will come near to you for judgement,' he says. That's a promise.

Then, turn on to Matthew 24.36. Where this time it's not God speaking through a human being, but the Son of God himself speaking as a human being, here on earth 2000 years ago:

No-one knows about that day or hour [ie the day of judgement], not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man [ie Jesus]. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man…

[Verse 42:] 'Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come…
[Verse 44:] So you must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.' (Matthew 24.36-39, 42-44)

Back to. 2 Peter 3.2:

I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Saviour through your apostles.

Which is what we've just done. The 'words' are this promise of judgement. The 'command' is the command to be ready. And the only way a rebel can be ready for judgement is if he or she has stopped rebelling, turned back to God and been forgiven for rebelling in the first place. And that's why Jesus came that first time, ahead of his coming to judge. He came to die on the cross under the judgement we deserve so we could be spared judgement when he comes again. That's the promise. Jesus is coming again to judge. But we don't have to trust it blindly. Because he came a first time 2000 years ago. Really lived as a human being. Really died so we could be forgiven. Really rose from the dead and is alive the other side. So we will meet him. Either as rebels who'll be judged. Or as forgiven people who've changed sides in this life, and who'll be welcomed in.


Secondly, THE MOCKERS OF JESUS' SECOND COMING

The second thing is that this promise has always been mocked and will always be. Verse 3:

First of all, you must understand that in the last days [the days between Jesus' first and second comings] scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised?' Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation.' (vv3-4)

I looked up 'scoffing' in the dictionary and apart from 'eating voraciously' it means 'to mock, jeer, to hold up to ridicule or contempt, to flout or defy'. So the questioner in v4 isn't an open-minded inquirer. But someone who doesn't want Christianity to be true and therefore rubbishes it. And the reason they don't want it to be true is in v3:

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

And people following their own desires, living their lives without reference to God, don't want judgement to be true. Because they know they'd be in trouble if it was true. They want God to judge the Hitlers of this world. But they don't want God to judge them. So they're forced to rubbish the idea. But that doesn't make it untrue. You can rubbish the claim that Jesus rose from the dead and is coming again. But that doesn't change history; it doesn't change the truth. Look again at what the mockers say. Verse 4:

They will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised?' Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation.'

Ie, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised? After all, (1) we've been waiting quite a while. And after all, (2) there have been no signs that it will happen - the world just rolls on, uninterrupted. And Peter answers those points in reverse order with two 'But's'. The first 'But' is v5:

But they deliberately forget [literally, they wilfully ignore the fact] that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.

This universe looks to us to be amazingly stable and regular and predictable. Verse 4, 'everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.' In fact it's so stable and regular and predictable that we can do science and talk about 'laws of nature'. Eg, things fall to the ground so regularly that we talk about the 'law of gravity'. But then with our naturally God-rejecting minds, we talk about the 'laws of nature' actually governing things and 'initial conditions' actually starting things. Whereas in reality God is governing things and the laws just describe what he does regularly day in day out. And in reality, God started things. But, v5, they deliberately forget that. They ignore the fact that light didn't just start shining. But God said, 'Let there be light' and there was; God said, 'Let the waters… be gathered and let dry land appear,' and it did. (Genesis 1.3, 9) Onto verse 6:

By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.

Ie, the world has not just rolled on uninterrupted. They also deliberately forget the Genesis flood. Granted, it didn't end history the way Jesus' second coming will. But it was a massive act of judgement within history. Which shows that a judgement which actually does end history is perfectly believable. Verse 7:

By that some word [the word that announced creation and the word that announced the flood] the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men.

These scoffers look at the universe like you might look at the picture on a TV screen. The picture looks so solid and real. But moment by moment it depends for its existence on that cathode ray tube behind the screen. And just one flick of the remote control and the picture goes. And likewise, the universe looks so solid and real. But moment by moment it depends for its existence on God who's behind it all. And just one word from him, and the universe as we know it ends. The second 'But' is in v8. The scoffers are saying, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised? After all, we've been waiting quite a while.' Verse 8:

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (vv8-9)

The mockers are really saying that the longer a promise goes unfulfilled, the more reason to doubt the promise. Now that's true of a promise with a time attached - eg, 'I'll meet you on Valentine's Day at 8pm at the Monument.' But this promise never had a time attached. Jesus says so explicitly in Matthew 24.36f. All we know is that it will happen. We haven't been told when. But you might still think, 'If I was God, I wouldn't have left it this long. I wouldn't risk my credibility like that.' To which Peter effectively says, v8, 'But you are not God.' 'With the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day.' God is outside time. I have no idea what time looks like from eternity. But basically, what looks a long time to us doesn't look that way to God. A thousand years are like a day. So from God's perspective, Jesus came a first time just last Friday morning. And the promise to Abraham was made around about Wednesday lunch time. But it's not just a matter of God's perspective being different. It's also a matter of God's patience. Because he is delaying. But, v9:

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. [ie he's not dragging his heels or incapable of keeping his promise] He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (vv8-9)

Peter knew he was writing to a mixed group - just like every time we meet here we're a mixed group. Some of us are ready to meet Jesus. We've stopped rebelling and turned back to Jesus as Lord of our lives (that's repentance). And we're trusting his death for our forgiveness. But others of us are not ready - and that includes some who would call themselves Christians. And God is delaying. To give each of us time to come back to him ourselves. And to give each of us time to help others come back to him - which is what Mission '99 is all about. And whichever is you - ready, not ready, or unsure, please do make the most of Mission '99. Do bring yourself along. Do invite others along. So, yes there is delay. But delay doesn't mean doubt that it will happen. v10:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Thirdly, THE IMPLICATION OF JESUS' SECOND COMING

The implication is: live in the light of the fact that it will happen. Verse 11:

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. (vv11-13)

We don't live holy and godly lives in order to earn our place in heaven. We live holy and godly lives because through Jesus' death we've been forgiven and given a place in heaven.

If you'd bumped into me in Gatwick airport back in April, you'd have found me practising my broken Spanish out loud as Elisabeth Smith, author of Instant Spanish, tells you to. (It's effective but embarrassing.) Now, I wasn't trying to speak Spanish in Gatwick in order to get to Mallorca. I was trying to speak Spanish because I knew I was going there. The flight was paid for. All I had to do was trust myself to the hands of Britannia Airways or whoever it was. And I wanted to start talking now as I knew I'd be talking then.

If we've turned to Jesus as Lord and trust him for forgiveness, then we're going to a new heaven and new earth, the home of righteousness. And we're not trying to live God's way now in order to get there, earn our way there. We're trying to live God's way now because we know we're going there. The necessary price - for the forgiveness of our sins - has been paid by Jesus in his death for us. And -albeit brokenly, imperfectly - we want to get used to that lifestyle of the new heavens and earth now. Well, that's 2 Peter 3: the promise of Jesus' second coming; the mockers of Jesus' second coming; the implication of Jesus' second coming. And the implication boils down to this. If we're not ready, we need to get ready. If we are ready, we need to stay ready.