5. Remember That Jesus Will Come Again

Introduction

General: Walking your dog in the park, do you clean up its mess if no one else is around?

In 2011, a group of scientists at Newcastle University conducted a field experiment in the university’s main cafeteria to see how different posters affected people’s behavior in how well they cleaned up their tables when done eating. They found that when they hung posters with eyes, twice as many people cleaned up after themselves (https://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/daniel.nettle/ernestjonesnettlebateson.pdf).

The feeling of being watched or seen by others actually affects our behavior. Knowing there are consequences to our actions also has an impact on our behavior.

Personal: Many people in the world today live as though there are no real consequences for their lives—as if God were not watching. Christians have been saying for 2,000 years that Jesus is coming back to judge the world, but he hasn’t returned. How often do you think about the return of Christ? And how often do you think about how his return should impact the decisions you make today?

Biblical: Interestingly, this is exactly what some people were saying 2,000 years ago when Peter wrote his second letter.

Subject

The Lie to Reject: Jesus isn’t really coming back. There is no final judgment. There are no eternal consequences for your life.

The Truth to Remember: Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Body

In light of Christ’s return…

Remember to trust God and do what he says.

Exposition

2 Peter 3:1-4… Scoffers mock the idea of Jesus’s coming and judgment, and follow their own evil desires.

2 Peter 3:5-7, “They deliberately overlook this fact...” By God’s word, he created everything. By God’s word, he brought judgment on the evil in the world through the waters of the flood. 2 Peter 3:7, “But by the same word...”

2 Peter 3:2… Remember that Christ will return, and therefore, remember to trust God and do what he says.

Here’s the secret to living a successful Christian life: Trust God and do what he says.

Sin is not trusting God… Faith is trusting God enough to do what he says.

Do we trust that God knows what is best for us?

Application: Examples from Ephesians

Ephesians 4:29 NIV

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 4:31–32 NIV

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 5:3 NIV

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.

Ephesians 5:18 NIV

18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,

Ephesians 5:22 NIV

22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:25 NIV

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Ephesians 6:4 NIV

4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Remember God’s mercy and live by it.

Exposition: It’s been 2,000 years since Peter wrote this letter. Why hasn’t Jesus returned?

2 Peter 3:8… 2,000 years really isn’t all that long from God’s eternal perspective.

2 Peter 3:9… Jesus’s return has been “delayed” because of his patience and mercy in desiring as many people as possible to turn back to him and receive life.

2 Peter 3:10… When he does come back, it will be sudden and unannounced, and judgment is coming with him.

2 Peter 3:11-13… In light of this, what kind of people should we be? The kind of people who will live in the new heavens and new earth, where “righteousness dwells.”

Illustration: Scene in the old Spiderman movie where Uncle Ben says, “Peter, you’re becoming the man you will be for the rest of your life. What kind of man are you becoming?” You are becoming the kind of person you will be for the rest of eternity. What kind of person are you becoming?

Application: Romans 12:1 (NIV)… Be now who you want to be for eternity.

Final Reminders

Be diligent in confessing sin (2 Peter 3:14)

Be at peace (2 Peter 3:14)

Be thankful that God saved you (2 Peter 3:15)

Be strong in the Word (2 Peter 3:16-17)

Be growing in the Lord (2 Peter 3:18)

Conclusion

2 Peter 1:10b-11…

Communion

Revelation 19:6-10…

Revelation 21:1-5…

Thank You, God, for Saving Me