2 P eter 3:1-13
2 Peter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Sermon Style Sheet
Sermon Style Sheet
Write that down in your formation Journal
Illustration
Sermon Text
Sermon Text: Scripture
Sermon Text: Scripture
Call to Worship
Call to Worship
test
test
I exalt you, my God the King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
I will bless you every day;
I will praise your name forever and ever.
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Passage:
Passage:
Formation Journal Page Number: 11:03-11:54 2:45-3:36 5:18-6:04
1 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, 2 so that you recall the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles. 3 Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, 4 saying, “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.” 5 They deliberately overlook this: By the word of God the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water. 6 Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded. 7 By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed. 11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness 12 as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. 13 But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Opening Illustration:
Opening Illustration:
Van breaking down, back going out
I think God allows cars to break down, money to run out, our bodies to get sore, all of those things to teach us that even the best things in this life are just cheap imitations of the eternal glory to come.
Even the best things in this life are just cheap immitations of the glories to comes - we are called to live with that in mind
time
Getting into the Sermon
Getting into the Sermon
time
1 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, 2 so that you recall the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles. 3 Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, 4 saying, “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.”
False teachers and now scoffers - where is Jesus?
Jesus promised 40 days - seen by over 500 people
For the Christian, the real fun starts after Jesus come back.
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
it makes every sacrifice worth it\
scenarios -
Really there are two things: 1. When is he coming and 2. nothing has changed
Now it may have made more sense in those days to think that nothing has changed. Surely, less had changed but even then there were signs of change.
Remember this was after the fire on Rome which was blamed on the christians. That means that Christianity had grown large enough to make them a viable scapegoat
why the romans hated the Christians
So it was a lie that nothing had changed.
but people still try to make that same argument. They act as if its just human evolution that has lead to the advancement of science in our lives. Many people have no idea that so much of what they think is just common sense came from Christianity.
For example, common sense morality is christian morality - husbands and wives, child protection.
Loving your enemy is uniquely christian
but even more than that our modern lives and modern science is only possible because of Christianity.
Book code
Where Job says, “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?” and Jeremiah “the fixed order of the moon and stars”
bible verses
God designed the world to run in an orderly, dependable way through what we call physical law.
Cause and effect is based on the idea of a natural law. That God created the universe distinct from himself and he has planned the seasons and laws to govern it. He can break in with miracles -but they are exceptions.
Muslims, ancients, none of them had this. So it was only once we broke free from those superstitions that we started to dig deeper and ask deeper and deeper questions.
Nicaragua volcano
Things have certainly changed for them!
The irony is that science started on the basis that God created rules and then people used that rules and say - oh, they just came by accident. There is no God.
a god of order created a world of order - but now that we understand the world of order we claim it came from chaos
that the world wasn’t chaotic - it was created with an order, that caused people to look into the engineering and now people look at that engineering as proof that it was made out of chaos
5 They deliberately overlook this: By the word of God the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water. 6 Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded. 7 By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
modern day turkey and they understanding of Noah - in fact, there was an ancient roman coins with Noah on it.
They deliberately overlook God’s hand, ignoring him because they want to live unaccountable lives.
a god of order created a world of order so there should be a moral order
If God engineered a physical law - it makes sense that there is a moral law.
Scoffers were trying to avoid the judgement that is coming - because they want to live unaccountable lives. That doesn’t mean that they want to be as evil as possible, it just means that they want to make rules.
They hide the from the fact that God promises to judge the world.
credit card company - ignore bill- ignoring it doesn’t make it better, it doesn’t make go away. It doesn’t save you from the consequences.
People have a great capacity to shield themselves from the reality of God’s judgment
8 Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
God is not lazy in his return. God exists outside of time and isn’t controlled by that.
I told you about my 40th birthday - years ago - the older get, the quicker time goes by. 2%
God is not lazy - he’s merciful.
he wants repentance
He knows what he is doing. There’s people at Mercy Hill, where if Jesus returned last year you would have been lost. Or 10 years ago.
He waits because He is gathering every person He intends to save.
We talk about salvation being a work of God where he draws us to Him. And what this is pointing to is that God knows who will become Christians and then he waits for them.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.
Its going to be a surprise when he comes. We aren’t going to know.
he knows our hearts in the corruption of sin - we don’t understand how good living for God is.
We don’t get to know. Some people try to wait till the final second.
Even if you knew - you don’t know when you are going to die
They say, I’ll get serious about God when I grow up. When I get older. When I retire. When I…
St Augustine, give me chastity and self control but not yet.
Gospel - Invitation
We still love the world. We still desire for that, we often can’t imagine the fullness and glory of living in a vibrant relationship with God. We can’t imagine the peace. It will always be mixed with sin in this life, but it si going to be great.
When we leave a godly life - if you are married, and your spouse is godly - you get to enjoy an unique intimacy.
If you live a life of integrity and generosity - you will have a unique taste of status.
If you live self-controlled and disciplined - you will feel better.
To the Christian, heaven starts now - it’s the prologue
It’s the wisdom of starting the good life now.
11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness 12 as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. 13 But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
But it is all temporary.
How do you know something is cheaply made - it breaks. It breaks.
quick and easy but doesn’t last, its an imitation
Labooboos’ vs Lafoofoo
Pornography is just an imitation of the fulfilment possible in marriage which itself is just an imitation of the unity that we will have in Christ.
Slander and back biting are just an imitation of the status that you can get from living a life of integrity which is itself an imitation of the glory we will have in eternity.
Gluttony is an imitation of how you well feel good if you live a lifestyle of self control which is in imitation of how you will feel in eternity without sickness or pain.
when he says to live holy he is saying-
Enjoy the portion of heaven that’s available now- looking forward to the real thing!
So that’s what our focus should be.
If you are tired of suffering in the world, you should be working to make the day of God come quicker.
that desire should move us to action
12 as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat.
14 This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
This is the same type of verse about God’s waiting.
this takes time- because the technology wasn’t there -and the science wasn’t available to make it quicker becuase that science needed christianity to exist.
There were steps, there needed to be roads, healthcare because a lot of the early missionaries just died of sickness, they needed planes and the internet.
The technology for the global expansion of the gospel didn’t exist before Jesus because the science needed Christianity to exist.
So we “hasten” means to urge it on, to do what we can. To make sure that we are pushing back the darkness.
a God of order, who created a world of order, has a plans for his kingdom to grow in an orderly way.
God works through an engineered system - natural law or normal methods - the old timey way to say it si through “ordinary means” , systems or methods, that he uses, he doesn’t just typically zap people
We are participants - its according to God’s plan, but his plan involves our participation. His plan is for your participation in his second coming.
This is our dreams at Mercy Hill - to be a discipleship factory, to help immigrants and special needs family, to plant new churches and to impact the world - all of that is to push back the suffering of the world.
You want to end suffering and world hunger? You want wars to end? You want people to stop being exploited?
Let’s be all living all-in for God! Let’s devote ourselves to his word. Let’s start preparing now for the prayer challenge in January.
Because it is the small, incremental victories of individual christians and churches, combined with the other small incremental victories of all other christians that together push back the darkness, work out the order of his plan, hasten Christ’s return and changes the world.
At Mercy Hill we want to be a church, that is doing our part in that mission and we want to invite you, to join us in that same mission.
So let’s do our part together.
Lord’s Supper:
Lord’s Supper:
On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Benediction:
Benediction:
The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD makes his face shine upon you and be gracious to you:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
