Power Revealed

2 Peter 3
 
Welcome! Today we are going to talk about all kinds of interesting things: mortality and immortality, nuclear particles and forces, the nature of time… like I said, all kinds of interesting things! To start, I would like to ask you to raise your hand if you know you are going to die. Well, this is kind of a trick question, because it tests what you really believe about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. If your first response was to automatically raise your hand and think, "Of course I am going to die!" then this reveals that the second coming of Christ is either something you don’t truly believe or it is something you think will happen in some far away future. Well, if this describes you, I hope that today’s message from 2 Peter 3 will give you the biblical way to think about these things.

We simply don’t know when Jesus will return. It may well happen before we die, in which case we will avoid death. But there is one person who absolutely knew he would die before Jesus’ return. Do you know who this is? It is Peter! During Jesus’ meeting with Peter after the resurrection, the meeting in which Jesus restored Peter and called on him to take care of Jesus’ sheep, to feed Jesus’ lambs, Jesus told Peter this:

"Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. – John 21:17b-19a

I cannot imagine how it would feel to know that Jesus’ return, something you long for, cannot happen why you are alive. Yet this is how it was for Peter. I think this makes what Peter shares in today’s passage particularly poignant.

This is the final chapter of 2 Peter, the final chapter of the second of Peter’s two letters. Over the past few months, we have gone through these letters back to back. I Peter chapter 1 spoke of our living hope in God to save us, a fruit of God’s mercy and a result established by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also called us to live holy lives. I Peter chapter 2 spoke of Jesus, the living stone and also called us living stones being built into God’s "spiritual house." It also called on us to live a life of submission, not only to God but to our proper authorities. Chapter 3 continued the theme of godly submission as it looked at wives submitting to husbands and husbands being considerate and treating their wives respectfully as co-heirs of eternal life. It also called on people to do good and even be willing to suffer for doing so. Chapter 4 called on us to not live as the pagans do, living for selfish and carnal desires, but serving one another with God’s gifts. It also encouraged those who are suffering through trials for their faith to rejoice because they are sharing in the sufferings of Christ and will experience joy when Christ’s glory is revealed. Finally Chapter 5 gave instructions to old and young men to shepherd and to be humble, and it warned everyone to be self-controlled and alert, resisting the devil, standing firm.

What about 2 Peter? The first chapter spoke of how God provides all we need through the Spirit to live godly lives, and called on us to be something like choir-masters, starting from faith to add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and agape love. Peter also wrote of how we was an eyewitness of Jesus, that these were not stories, but truth, and he reminded them that Scripture also spoke the truth of God. Then in Chapter 2, Peter spent the entire chapter warning about false teachers and the destructive heresies they bring. He explained that these people were motivated by greed and the desire to live ungodly, corrupt lives. And so this brings us to Chapter 3, the final chapter.

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. – 2 Peter 3:1-2

"Dear friends" is a little tame compared to the Greek. The Greek word is agapeton, based on the word agape, which is that deep, sacrificial Christlike love. Perhaps a decent paraphrase would be "You who I love, you who I would do anything for." You see this again and again in Scripture. There are no "professional friendships" among God’s people. You see this in Peter’s letters, Paul’s letters, and John’s letters – they deeply love those they write to. And it is a model for us of what our love should be for one another.

Now, the Greek word for "stimulate" is literally to "stir up." It is used when describing the sea being worked up in stormy weather, for example in John 6. I picture a little kid playing in the tub with his toy ships, moving his legs back and forth to make stormy seas. He is stirring up the sea. We should be stirred up. We are here together today in part to be stirred up. But during the week we should also be getting stirred up, through our personal times with the Lord in the Word and in prayer, and also we should stir one another up, making occasions and opportunities to call or text or, best of all, to visit one another. And then Peter calls on them to remember what they have been taught, and as we shall see, he goes in depth into one very important application.

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." – 2 Peter 3:3-4

When is the "last days"? Scripturally, it refers to the entire time from the ascension of Jesus into heaven until the day of His return. That is, from the times of the book of Acts until now, all of this is the "last days." We are living in the last days.

Now as in earlier chapters, Peter again emphasizes that rejection of Christianity is often not simply over intellectual disagreements. Tom Short, an evangelist in our association of churches who often engages skeptics on college campuses, has said that usually there is another reason why those who are most hostile to Christianity have this hostility; they may have lots of intellectual arguments, but that is not really the source of their anger. There is usually another reason, and that reason is that they want to do one or another sinful action without feeling sinful. It makes them angry that there are others walking around who call their actions sinful. As we can see from this passage, this is nothing new.

Now what about their argument? Has everything gone on as it has since the beginning of creation? No. To say so is to ignore at least two major events, the fall and the flood. The fall changed everything, not just man, but all of creation. The ground was cursed, and man now had to toil painfully for his existence. Also he was now a creature that died, as was the rest of creation. And as for the flood, the next few verses will address this directly. But it is completely wrong to say that everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.

Now it is true that Jesus has not yet returned. Undoubtedly some of the early believers thought that Jesus’ return was only a few years away; probably most would be surprised to learn that 2000 years later, Jesus is still yet to return. But it is nonsense to argue that since Jesus hasn’t come yet, He never will. That’s not a proof; that’s emotional manipulation.

But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. – 2 Peter 3:5-7

This is a really interesting passage. What does it mean when it says they "deliberately forget"? Today we sometimes call this being intellectually dishonest. It is what someone does when they bring up one side of an argument knowing full well that there are gaping holes that they are choosing not to mention. This approach to winning an argument says that it is more important that you win your argument than that you "play fair." You see this all the time in politics. And you also see it frequently among the most vocal atheists. Why do people do this? It is because they have an agenda, and that agenda is more important than truth. Again, that was true of these mockers; they wanted to feel justified in their eyes continuing to do whatever sins they were currently doing.

As Christians, I do not feel that it is ever right to "deliberately forget." We should be truth-seekers. I consider myself a Christian skeptic even today. Yes I have faith, and this faith carries me through questions I cannot answer, but there is also a bedrock holding up my faith, and that is truth and reason. And I think we all should have confidence that truth and reason support what we believe. If you don’t, there are many resources that can help you. And I also think this should apply to how we behave in all things – our positions in politics, how we operate in the workplace, and so on, we should be sincere and honest in all of our dealings. "Deliberately forgetting" should not be the way we operate.

Now this passage says that things are not the same as they always were. And this is true; as we have said, the fall and the flood changed things. Here there is an emphasis on water. If you go all the way back to Gen. 1:2, it says that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And in Gen. 1:6, God separated the waters, the water under the expanse from the waters above it. And then in verse 9, God further gathers the waters so as to separate water from land. So as the 2 Peter passage says, the world was formed or reformed, both are valid translations, of water and by water.

Then, in Gen. 2:5-6 the world is described as not yet having rain, but instead springs came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. This is obviously very different from today. And when you look at the flood account in Genesis 6 and 7, it says that the springs of the great deep burst forth and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And so, by these same waters, the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. Today people live much shorter lives. Today things are watered by rain. Today we are on Earth 2.0.

As for Christ’s return, the key word here is not water, but fire. You find this throughout Scripture. Again and again it says the Lord will come in fire. Some examples: See, the Lord is coming with fire, and His chariots are like a whirlwind; He will bring down His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. – Is. 66:15

Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the Lord Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. – Mal. 4:1

As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of His head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before Him. – Dan. 7:9-10a God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. – 2 Thess. 1:6-7

What will it be like when it happens? Well, perhaps it will be somewhat like the way things happened with water, from above and below. We are heated by the sun, a source of fire so hot that fire may not even be the right word to describe it. When things like meteorites enter our atmosphere, what happens? We get fireballs. Those are some possibilities from above. And what about from below? Well, we sit not on a cold rock, but on a ball of fire surrounded by a thin crust.

We don’t normally think about it, but it is kind of weird and unsettling when you really do think about it. Anyway, God has no shortage of material for producing fire from below or above. And then there is the stored energy in the atom. As the nuclear reactor situation in Japan reminds us, there is immense power that can be unleashed at the atomic level. Imagine if God were to release this power all out once throughout the universe! Talk about an all-consuming fire!

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:8-9

Now we are given another response to the argument against Jesus’ second coming: God’s timing is not like ours. God is in fact, beyond time; He is "doubly eternal." What do I mean? Well, we are eternal, but only singly so: we have beginnings but no endings. But God has no beginning and no ending. He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. Two thousand years is a long time to us, but it is nothing to God.

And then we have one of my favorite verses: He is patient with us. He doesn’t desire than any perish. He wishes that all would come to repentance! How awesome! Now, God won’t force anyone – He won’t destroy their free will, but He will be patient. But there is a limit. There is a time in which this age ends, just as there was a time that the flood came.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. – 2 Peter 3:10

What a powerful verse! Like a thief means it will be a time that cannot be predicted. Thieves don’t send you notices in the mail letting you know when they plan to rob your houses. "Please be away on Tuesday evening; I plan to take your TV and computers around 8pm. I should be done by 9. Thanks!" No, that is not how thieves operate.

By the way, if you are wondering about the sequence of all these end time things, let me just say that the "day of the Lord" need not be a single day. Just as we are in the "last days," it is more descriptive of a situation or sequence of situations. Could it simultaneously refer to when the saints are gathered up to Him in the clouds and when the universe is unmade, an event described as the end of the Tribulation? Yes. The purpose of this passage is not to try to give you a timeline; it is to pronounce the certainty of the return of Christ, the certainty of the day when the heavens disappear with a roar and fire destroys everything.

The word for "elements" is stoichion, from which we get stoichiometry, a word that describes basic calculations involving elements in chemistry. The word means building blocks, rudiments. What we today call elements is actually quite close. The idea in this passage is not so much scientific but descriptive – it is describing the totality of this fire, the utter undoing it will cause, the completeness of the destruction.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. – 2 Peter 3:11-13

Now Peter talks about how we are to apply this sobering truth to our lives. The scoffers are wrong; the Lord will return, and the world and the universe will end in fire and judgment. So how should this affect us? By the way, this isn’t actually a question in Greek; it’s more like an exclamation. What kind of people out you to be! Knowing what you know, the certainty of it, how you should be! People living holy and godly lives. Not out of fear! Not out of some sense of trying to pay back God! We talked about these errors two weeks ago. No, we should live this way because any other sort of living is insanity in light of the future. As believers, we are the treasure of God. God Himself, via the Holy Spirit, lives in us. God is preparing a place for us, a new heaven and new earth, a place where righteousness reigns, a place where we will be with God and enjoy Him forever, where our understanding of love and our ability to love will grow a million-fold, a future so incredible that any attempts we make to imagine it fall as short as they would if we seriously tried to imagine the full glory of God. We can’t do it. But this is reality; this is our certain future.

If we really believe it, how can we even think about going back to living sinfully, selfishly? I’m not saying we won’t have battles; we will. But the more we believe and understand the nature of the future of creation, the more we grasp the certainty of it, the less of a battle we will have. I have said this before – fighting the battle of temptation at the point of temptation is fighting it at the wrong place. The real battle should take place over our faith, our trust, our understanding of who God is, who Jesus is, His love for us, and His certain future for us. This is why Peter is going through this explanation in this chapter. It is critically important that we get it, that we believe it.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. – 2 Peter 3:14-16

Dear friends. Agapeton. Beloved. Just like in verse 1. Peter, in my opinion, is trying not to gush with emotion. His love is showing.

I don’t remember where I first read this, perhaps it C. S. Lewis, but someone has noted that it is far easier to write a really bad character into a story than a really good one. Why is that? It is because we just have to imagine being really bad to create that bad character, something that is inside each of us, because each of us have in us still that fleshly urge to sin and rebel against God.

That fleshly part of us is actually dead, but it doesn’t seem to know it yet. I like to think of it like a chicken running around that has already had its head chopped off. I’m sorry if I’m being too graphic, but I understand this can happen sometimes at places where they process chicken meat. But this new part of us, the part that is fueled by the Spirit, that is the Spirit in us, we tend not to know very well; we only know it as well as we have lived it. Peter here is exhorting us to live it! Make every effort. Don’t ignore the Spirit when He points out your sin, but respond immediately to Him. This is what I think it means to be at peace with Him. Keep short accounts with God. Spend time with God, worshiping Him, seeking Him, learning about Him from the Scriptures. And then take bold steps of goodness, of self-sacrifice, of agape love. Not in your own strength, but hand in hand, step by step with Him.

Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen. – 2 Peter 3:17-18

Dear friends. Agapeton. Beloved. It just makes me smile.

Be on your guard. Watch yourself. There is no way to grow in Christlikeness without liking Christ, without loving Him. Be on your guard that your heart remains tender to Christ. Take your relationship with God to a deeper level. Take it to a much deeper level! Greater worship, greater love, deeper, more real prayer. Go to Him. Be in Him. This is what it means to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I am afraid that we are like some of my students who from the first day of class simply want to do what it takes to get a C, to pass. That’s not "making every effort." That’s not really growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing Christ, pursuing Christ, growing in Christlikeness should be our highest goal, our highest priority.

I love how C.S. Lewis describes growing in Christlikeness in Mere Christianity. In closing today, I want to read an excerpt. The background is that how God desires perfection in us; that is, He desires to make us perfect. Here is the first quote:

"On the one hand, God’s demand for perfection need not discourage you in the least in your present attempts to be good, or even in your present failures. Each time you fall He will pick you up again. And He knows perfectly well that your own efforts are never going to bring you anywhere near perfection. On the other hand, you must realize from the outset that the goal toward which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal. That is what you are in for. And it is very important to realize that. If we do not, then we are very likely to start pulling back and resisting Him after a certain point. I think that many of us, when Christ has enabled us to overcome one or two sins that were an obvious nuisance, are inclined to feel (though we do not put it into words) that we are now good enough. He has done all we wanted Him to do, and we should be obliged if He would now leave us alone. As we say, "I never expected to be a saint, I only wanted to be a decent ordinary chap." And we imagine when we say this that we are being humble."

"But this is the fatal mistake. Of course we never wanted, and never asked, to be made into the sort of creatures He is going to make us into. But the question is not what we intended ourselves to be, but what He intended us to be when He made us. He is the inventor, we are only the machine. He is the painter, we are only the picture. How should we know what He means us to be like? […] Here is another way of putting the two sides of the truth. On the one hand we must never imagine that our own unaided efforts can be relied on to carry us even through the next twenty-four hours as ‘decent’ people. If He does not support us, not one of us is safe from some gross sin. On the other hand, no possible degree of holiness or heroism which has ever been recorded of the greatest saints is beyond what He is determined to produce in every one of us in the end. The job will not be completed in this life; but He means to get us as far as possible before death [or His return]."

"That is why we must not be surprised if we are in for a rough time. When a man turns to Christ and seems to be getting on pretty well (in the sense that some of his bad habits are now corrected), he often feels that it would now be natural if things went fairly smoothly. When troubles come along – illnesses, money troubles, new kinds of temptation – he is disappointed. These things, he feels, might have been necessary to rouse him and make him repent in his bad old days; but why now? Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level: putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving, than he ever dreamed of being before. It seems to us all unnecessary: but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us."

This struck home with me yesterday. I have had significant eye problems and problems with pain in several areas of my body recently, and at a music recital yesterday, I caught myself looking at the other people in the audience and thinking that I bet they didn’t have these problems. I don’t think it is a sin to wish to be free of physical ailments, but begrudging God for the trials in our lives is something different. To me it is the first step into following into the error of lawless men. The mindset that says, "Where is your God? Why hasn’t He returned?" Is the same one that says, "Where is your God? Why isn’t He helping you?" The correct answer to both questions is that He loves us, and He is doing what He is doing (or not doing what He is not doing) because of that love. This is why pursuing Him, knowing Him, growing in faith and trust, and learning to walk with Him step by step, moment by moment, is everything.