THE Day

2 Peter 3:1 CSB

Dear friends, this is now the second letter I have written to you; in both letters, I want to stir up your sincere understanding by way of reminder,

INTRO—

2 Peter 3:1–2 “Dear friends, this is now the second letter I have written to you; in both letters, I want to stir up your sincere understanding by way of reminder, so that you recall the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles.”

…W H Y ? ? ?…

“We Shall Behold Him” — Dottie Rambo; Sandy Patty & Larnelle Harris

The sky shall unfold preparing His entrance / The stars shall applaud Him / With thunders of praise / The sweet light in His eyes shall / Shall enhance those awaiting / And we shall behold Him, then face to face

We shall behold Him / We shall behold him / Face to face / In all of His glory / We shall behold Him / We shall behold him / Face to face, our Savior and Lord

The angels will sound the shouts of His coming / The sleeping shall rise / From their slumbering place / And those who remain / Shall be changed in a moment / We shall behold Him, our Savior and Lord

We shall behold Him / We shall behold him / Face to face / In all of His glory / We shall behold Him / We shall behold him / Face to face, our Savior and Lord

In other songs we sing—“There Will Be a Day; What A Day That Will Be”…

As Peter turns to speak of This Day in his second letter to his brothers and sisters in Asia Minor, he says to them…

THE Day is…

Mocked. [2 Peter 3.3-7]

[[“THE Day is Mocked…by many who hate the thought of it.”]]

((Above all… = Firstly…))

Does this sound familiar? — “Where is his ‘coming’ that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” (v. 4)

‘Scoffing’ — mock; deride; make fun of

…Because they are sin-focused (v. 3; ‘following own evil desires’); whether false teachers, ‘passive’ atheists, etc.

[[Alongside this mockery, I’m concerned with dismissiveness…a “whatever” (from the ‘80s) attitude, or a “not important” perspective/position]]

Oops! — [especially those claiming to speak for God, et al.] ‘Conveniently’ forgetting THE Flood (vv. 5-6)

…AND, ‘by-the-way,’ this time around = FIRE. (v. 7)

What is this mockery?? — A sinful response to delay (This hasn’t/isn’t happening on my time frame, so it isn’t legit.)

In this regard, The Day of the Lord is…A Day of Judgment.

What, then, is the right response to God’s delay regarding his promise to Return?

We should never be ashamed, and also remember…

THE Day is...

Expected. [2 Peter 3.8-10]

[[“THE Day is Expected…by those anticipating the fulfillment of promise.”]]

((Dear friends = now…; next…))

“Don’t overlook” = Don’t fail to recognize, don’t forget.

God’s perspective & purpose (vv. 8-9)

1 ~ 1000 — Perspective [He has not forgotten his promise]

Patience -> Repentance — Purpose [He is filling his house]

But the expectation is not without challenges (from our limitations… ‘will come like a thief (in the night)’ [[and not the scare-you-to-death movie & series from 1973; A Distant Thunder - 1978; Image of the Beast - 1981; & The Prodigal Planet - 1983]]

Unexpectedly.

[[v. 10 — for me, rather than frightening, it would be like fascinating (like the storm watching I mentioned before)]]

What, then is the right response to God’s delay regarding his promise to Return??

We should never be ashamed, have continued hope, and also remember…

THE Day is…

Motivating. [2 Peter 3.11-13]

[[“THE Day is Motivating…for those waiting, who need to live another day—today.”]]

((‘What sort’ [a question] = “So what”; the most solid application we have regarding the return of Jesus is NOT to make charts and figure out the time…, it IS to answer the question Peter raises here))

“Should be in holy conduct and godliness” (v. 11)

Holy conduct — in primary view of others; actions & attitudes

Godliness — in primary view of God; actions & attitudes

[[…everything required for life and godliness! (2 Peter 1.3) ((AGAIN!))]]

Additional motivation, we…” (v. 12-13)

wait for—and hasten—THE Day! [Not sure what this means: might be that time passes quicker when your doing something waiting rather than just sitting waiting; might literally mean speeding up the arrival of the day.]

wait for—a new heavens & new earth [promise, re-promise, etc.]

What, then is the right response to God’s delay regarding his promise to Return??

We should never be ashamed, have continued hope, and daily live honoring God in all attitudes & actions.

CONCL—

When we experience delays…do we get impatient?…frustrated?…discouraged?…

Because WE DO, God reminds us in his word (right here in 2 Peter 3.1-13 AAAANNNDDD other passages)—that he is coming back…

He has a perfect time to do so.

It will be definitive judgment.

It will be amazing reward.

So let’s make it our aim

2 Corinthians 5:9 “Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him.”

to live each day—in his presence, looking forward to an even greater experience of his presence, for eternity, in our heavenly home—(live each day) in such a way that demonstrates our love for him and our desire to honor him!

INVITATION:

Salvation

Reassurance

Determination

2 Peter 3:13 CSB

But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.