Sermon Tone Analysis

Being Prepared (3 of5)

Urgency of the Hour Series

INTRODUCTION

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been studying and talking about Prophecy and specifically the Coming of the End Times.

I recall seeing a poll of Christians that were asked for their hardest and most pressing topics.

One of the top 5 topics mentioned was: “How do we prepare for the end times?”

I’ll just tell you straight off.

Buy a bunker.

No joke, for just $35,000 a person, you can reserve your space in the Vivos underground shelter in Indiana.

Vivos Indiana is a one of the most fortified, nuclear hardened shelters within their network.

Built during the Cold War to withstand a 20-megaton blast, this impervious underground complex accommodates up to 80 people, for a minimum of one year of fully autonomous survival, without needing to return to the surface.

(Show pictures of the bunker: https://www.terravivos.com/secure/indiana.htm)

I feel like this plan breaks down a lot.

1) Does the Facebook app they have for residents still work after the apocalypse?

2) Does the fact that people don’t have a reservation to get in really going to stop someone during a nuclear war?

Like, can you imagine people with guns trying to run in there, and then going, “Oh, my name isn’t on the list?

Well, then, I’ll take my rifles and my family and die out hear in the radiation”

But seriously, how do we prepare for the end?

It’s actually a more commonly asked question than you might expect.

In fact, I did some research, on this, and 41% of Americans believe that Jesus Christ will either, definitely or probably, return to earth by the year 2050.

That’s not really that far away.

When the poll was reduced to just evangelicals, OVER half believe that Jesus will be back by 2050.

Maybe you’re newer to this whole Christianity think, and you’re just thinking, “Is He coming back?”

What does the Bible actually say about this?

Let me give you just a very fast overview, since HOW He’s coming back isn’t actually our primary aim today.

The Bible talks about the end times a lot.

There are over 300 verses specifically related to it.

AND also, the Book of Revelation, which is about the end times.

The Bible tells us that in the end times, there will be much tribulation and suffering (a lot of bad things are going to happen…wars, earthquakes, you name it)

But along the way, there will be some very clear signs that the end is near.

And as we discussed two Sundays ago Matthew 24 outlines many of these signs.

If you want to learn more about those signs, I suggest you write down that chapter (Matthew 24)

After all of the tribulations and signs, Jesus will clearly and visibly return to earth for His Millennial reign, thus ending everyone’s time on earth, and really the earth as we know it.

Once Jesus returns, the Bible says there will then be final judgment, and God will create a new heaven and a new earth.

People will then be sent to their permanent eternal states: Heaven or hell.

That’s a bit of important background, but again, our real question today is “How do we prepare, not what exactly will happen?”

If the end could come like a “thief in the night” (an expression the Bible uses often), then how do we make sure we’re ready?

Even if it doesn’t happen in our lifetime, but we need to be ready regardless.

Let’s remember, even if we think we can interpret all the signs and we say that it’s not time yet, that the Jew’s of Jesus’ day thought that they could correctly interpret all of the signs of what the Messiah would look like.

Yet, most of them missed it.

Thankfully for us, the disciple and apostle Peter addresses pretty much our exact question today in his 2nd letter, 2nd Peter.

We’re going to be in chapter 3

WHY PEOPLE AREN’T READY

Most people don’t live as if Jesus could come back at any time.

Even in Peter’s Day this was true.

So as Peter answers our question today about how do we prepare, he also is going to address some objections that people had to the idea that Jesus could come back in the first place.

He covers both moral and intellectual objections

Moral Reason

Let’s look first at the moral reason for why most people don’t want to think about the world ending

Why are they scoffing and mocking this doctrine?

Peter says it’s because of their own evil desires.

What does that mean?

Well, think about it, if Jesus is really coming back to JUDGE the world…and he could come back at any time…then we better make sure we’re ready.

It’s kind of like this:

Say you’re 17, and you decide (foolishly) to throw a massive house party at your house while your parents are out of town.

And while the enormous party is in progress, your dad texts and says, “Had a change in my flight.

I’ll be home at 11 PM tonight”

No 17-year-old carries on as usual at that point.

They wouldn’t say, “Hey guys.

Carry on with the beer and fraternizing and all that…my dad will be here soon.

He’ll be so proud!”

No, the teenager goes into full panic mode because he or she knows that there will be “a day of parental reckoning” when dad gets home.

But see, if the world can pretend that the idea of Jesus coming back is nonsense, then we can trick ourselves into believing that living out all of our fleshly desires is a great idea.

But when you live like he could come back today, you’ll live a different way.

And it’s a way that’s actually closer to reality than how we normally live.

And it shouldn’t be out of fear.

For the Christian, because we know we’re forgiven, His return is not a scary day, but a glorious day.

But again, many don’t think that way…especially non-believers.

Some people don’t just object to the concept of the end times because of their fleshly cravings, for some it’s an intellectual objection.

Peter covers this objection in verse 4:

In other words, people have been predicting the world is going to end for the last 2,000 years, and it never happens…people keep dying, and the world keeps on going.

But Peter brilliantly points out that this type of thinking is illogical.

Look at the next 3 verses:

Here’s what he’s saying:

“Yeah, you may not believe that God can just come and end our time on earth, but who do you think started our time on earth?”

If we were not an accident, if we have a beginning here, then we can have an end on this planet

If God started it, it’s no less plausible that He can end it.

Just because something hasn’t happened yet...is not a logical reason to prove that it won’t.

Just because the Vikings have never won a Super Bowl, does not give anyone the grounds to say they can 100% guarantee the Vikings never will.

Others, have milder objections to Jesus’ return, and they just simply say, “It might happen, but we have time, so it doesn’t really matter”

But time is not guaranteed.

Both in the number of your own personal remaining days, or in terms of when Jesus will return.

I’m going to skip verses 8 and 9 for a minute, and let’s look ahead to verse 10

We alluded to this earlier.

Jesus’ return will come like a thief in the night.

It will be unexpected.

Which means we have to be ready

Interestingly enough, Peter earlier used the example of Noah & the flood to say that “if God started the earth, remember, he can end it at any time”

But Noah is also a good parallel example for preparing for the end.

Jesus himself uses this example in Matthew 24

I’m not sure we think much, as adults, about the story of Noah’s ark, but it’s striking example as we think about preparing for the end.

There’s imagery in the Bible of Noah building the ark, and the people of the town are laughing at him.

And why wouldn’t they?

But what about you?

If you did live like he could come back today, wouldn’t you live a different way?

And yeah, people might even laugh at you for taking God seriously like that?

Yeah, they might.

They might laugh and scoff.

But our call, like Noah’s, is to believe in God, not in what’s culturally palatable.

It doesn’t mean you quit your job and sell your house and follow creepy people around in a van.