“The Promise of Christ’s Return” - Pt 2
Notes
Transcript
(2 Peter 3:1-18)
I. The SURETY of His Return – (3:1-7)
I. The SURETY of His Return – (3:1-7)
Jesus is coming again because God keeps His Word!
II. The REASON for His DELAY – (3:8-9)
II. The REASON for His DELAY – (3:8-9)
God is waiting for AS MANY AS POSSIBLE to be SAVED! – (v.9)
III. The EVENTS of that DAY – (3:10, 12b)
III. The EVENTS of that DAY – (3:10, 12b)
I would like to begin by challenging you to carefully consider what Peter writes and what he does NOT WRITE!
In other words, I would ask that you resist the impulse to ‘fill in the blanks’ (as is the tendency in the study of things eschatological), but instead to focus purely on what the Spirit moved Peter to write!
There is a time for a more systematic approach, where you take what you learn here and compare and integrate it with what the rest of Scripture teaches concerning the Day of Christ.
However, in order to do systematic theology well you must first allow this passage to speak for itself; to understand what Peter said, what he meant and how his readers then might have understood this text.
Peter makes four general comments concerning the actual event itself
A. The ASSURANCE of that Day: It WILL COME! - (v.10a)
A. The ASSURANCE of that Day: It WILL COME! - (v.10a)
John Stott – “This is the precise counter-balance to what Peter has just said: that God will be patient, but he will come, and both the patience and the coming have been promised!”
B. The WAY it will come: It will be UNEXPECTED – “…like a thief”
B. The WAY it will come: It will be UNEXPECTED – “…like a thief”
This will come as a bit of a shock to those false teachers who taught that because Jesus did not immediately return (as the early church expected), His promises must be interpreted in a less literal way…
They are like home-owners who casually leave doors and windows open!
36 “Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels of heaven nor the Son—except the Father alone.
37 As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.
38 For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.
39 They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be.
40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.
41 Two women will be grinding grain with a hand mill; one will be taken and one left.
42 Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.
43 But know this: If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into.
44 This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you.
15 “Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.”
1 About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you.
2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
3 When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.
5 For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.
35 “Be ready for service and have your lamps lit.
36 You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.
37 Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them.
38 If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, blessed are those servants.
39 But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
40 You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
C. The DESTRUCTION of that Day: It will involve COSMIC DEMOLITION!
C. The DESTRUCTION of that Day: It will involve COSMIC DEMOLITION!
WHAT? – “...and then the heavens (ouranoi) will pass away”
HOW? - “…with a loud noise”
14 the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
WHAT? – “…and the elements (στοιχεῖα) will be dissolved (λυθήσεται)”
στοιχεῖα – commonly thought of in the NT times as air, earth, fire & water.
λυθήσεται – lit., ‘loosed’
Edwin Blum – “Some have seen the splitting of the atom or atomic fusion in this verse, but that is certainly eisegesis.”
HOW? – “…with fire” (cf. 3:12b)
D. The DISCLOSURE of that Day: Nothing will be HIDDEN!
D. The DISCLOSURE of that Day: Nothing will be HIDDEN!
There is a textual discrepancy on the final word in this verse (which is noted in most Bibles): “…will be disclosed”
NIV “…laid bare”; NLT “…will be exposed to judgment”; CEV “…will be seen for what they are”
From the perspective of the BELIEVER: Pay attention to HOW you build and WHAT you build with!
10 According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it.
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.
12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw,
13 each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.
14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.
BELIEVERS in Jesus Christ—even though we are saved, we will still be held accountable for what we do!
From the perspective of the UNBELIEVER: You will not be able to hide!
IV. How Then Shall We Live? - (3:11-18)
IV. How Then Shall We Live? - (3:11-18)
A. The END - (vv.11-13)
A. The END - (vv.11-13)
1. A life COMMITTED to HOLINESS - (v.11)
ἐν ἁγίαις ἀναστροφαῖς - Lit., ‘in holy lifestyle’
καὶ εὐσεβείαις - ‘reverence’ or ‘worship’ - Lit., ‘well before’
Eusebia is a life well lived before God!
2. A life ANTICIPATING ETERNITY! - (v.12)
Normally (at least in English), “wait” and “hasten” are not used together (unless you are at the DMV - ‘Hurry up and wait’)!
Here the meaning is “to wait for something in suspense!”
NLT - “You should look forward to that day and hurry it along…”
3. A life MARKED by FAITH! - (v.13)
17 “For I will create new heavens and a new earth; the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
B. The WAY - (vv.14-18)
B. The WAY - (vv.14-18)
“What does it take to live that kind of life?”
1. I commit to RIGHTEOUSNESS - (v.14a)
2. I commit to PEACE - (v.14b)
3. I commit to EVANGELISM! - (v.15)
4. I commit to SOUND THEOLOGY! - (vv.16-17)
5. I commit to CONTINUED GROWTH! - (v.18)
CONCLUSION: (Revelation 22:7ff)
CONCLUSION: (Revelation 22:7ff)
