It seems that Peter has said enough about false teachers. So now he goes on to a second issue.
Mind you this second issue may be related to the first. It may be that the false teachers who were encouraging these Christians to turn their freedom in the gospel into licentiousness were also saying that Jesus second coming wasn’t going to happen. It hadn’t happened by now so maybe it never would. Do you see it there in v4: “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!”
Jesus seemed to say that he’d return while those he was with were still alive. But now they’re starting to die off. So maybe they got it wrong and it wasn’t going to happen.
If that were the case then their argument for doing whatever feels good was strengthened. If the judgment day was delayed then they could do what they liked.
It seems to me that we have the opposite problem today. We’re not thinking Jesus failure to return gives us freedom from judgement. We’re more likely to be asking “Why doesn’t God do something about all the evil in the world? Why doesn’t Jesus come back to put everything right again.
Peter answers both these questions here in chapter 3.
He says this is the second letter he’s writing to them and his aim is to “arouse your sincere intention”. That is to remind them of where they’re heading, what sort of character they need to be developing. He wants them to be reminded of the commandments spoken by the prophets and by Jesus himself. He wants them to pay attention to the things the apostles have passed down. This is a follow in from what he said at the end of ch 1. The writings of the prophets and the apostles are reliable and need to be listened to.
He also wants them to be careful of those people who will try to lead them astray. He says “You must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts 4and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!’” This is not unlike the scoffers of today who poke fun at us when we say we believe in miracles, in the supernatural, in the resurrection; let alone in the second coming of Jesus Christ.
But what these teachers ignore, he says, and what our modern day scoffers refuse to believe, is that the universe came into being by the word of God alone; that God spoke and the dry land was separated from the waters and the continents were formed. Not only that but God sent a great flood to cover the earth.
Do you see where he’s going here? He wants us to see that God is first of all powerful enough to make the universe so he can certainly destroy it and make another; but he also wants us to remember why God sent the flood on the earth? Why was that? Well because they refused to obey God. Gen 6:5-6: “5The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” We think that the earth is this stable, unchangeable thing. We think, despite the natural disasters that come along regularly, that nothing can go wrong the world. Sure there’ll be the occasional bushfire or flood, but as the Beatles sang, nothing’s going to change my world.
But God has already done it once; and he’s promised that the next time it’ll be worse: next time the world will be destroyed by fire: “7But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.”
That’s what we cry out for at times when we see injustice and evil at work in the world. Why can’t Jesus return right now to destroy the evildoers in the world? What’s keeping him? Why is it taking so long?
Well Peter has an answer for us and it comes from Psalm 90:4: “4For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night;” or as Peter puts it: “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.” On that reckoning Jesus has only been gone a couple of days.
But if that doesn’t satisfy you as an answer Peter has a better one. “9The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”
How can God stop the terrible things we see happening around us? How can he stop terrorists from shooting up a magazine office; or a lone gunman from killing people in a coffee shop; or a mother murdering her own children?
The only right way to do it would be to get rid of evil from the world altogether; the way he did in Noah’s day. But can you see what that would mean? All those people you know who don’t know Jesus, who are still living in rebellion against God, who are living their lives as if they were the only people with the right to make decisions about their life; all those people would be wiped out, destroyed, lost without a chance to repent.
Did you see how the day of the Lord is described? “10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” How does a thief come? He doesn’t announce himself does he? He just appears suddenly without any warning. He creeps up on you and catches you unawares. And that’s what the day of the Lord will be like. Jesus put it like this: “34I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left." (Luke 17:34-35) Totally unexpected and without warning.
And what will happen on that last day? 2 things will happen: the universe will be destroyed; and everything that’s been done on earth will be disclosed, though that verb could possibly mean “burnt up”. Either way the end implies a judgement on what we’ve done on earth.
Do you find that a scary thought? That one of these days the earth will be totally destroyed, along with the sun moon and stars? That we’ll be given no warning beyond what God has given us already?
If so, you need to pay attention to what Peter is saying here. He isn’t telling us all this to scare us. Rather he’s doing it to warn us.
In fact he’s already said a similar thing in his first letter, in 1 Peter 4:7-13: “7The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers… 12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.”
This is the sort of thing we were looking at when we did our series on Virtue Reborn last year. If Jesus’ return is imminent and if it’s going to come without warning then now is the time to start preparing.
We have a friend who organised a bike tour through Germany last year for a group of friends. Well one of those friends was a bit overweight and not very fit so he told her she needed to start riding her bike around the streets near her home some 6 months before they left. He saw her a month or so later and discovered she hadn’t got her bike fixed up yet so hadn’t done any riding. So he told her again that she really needed to get going or she’d never be able to make it once they got to Germany. But she didn’t listen. So by the time they left it was too late. She’d missed out on the bike ride. Instead she became the driver of the hire car that carried all their belongings so she wasn’t too disappointed. But in our case there are no positions for drivers in the kingdom of God. We need to be ready.
So Peter says: “14Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; 15and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” What sort of Christian character do you have? Is it a character that will translate into heaven without a major change? How are you relating to your brothers and sisters? Are you living at peace with those around you? Are you demonstrating the mercy and grace of God in your relationships?
Are you living a life of holiness and godliness, a life that’s without spot or blemish? Is your Christian character such that it’ll fit into heaven?
And what about the things you do day by day, in private as well as in public? Are the things you do the sorts of things that you’ll be happy to have made public? Are your works things that will be burnt up in the fire or that’ll last, as Paul asks in 1 Cor 3?
You see, this is the implication of our expectation of the second coming. It isn’t just that we long for God to come and make things right, though that’s certainly true. But it’s also that we need to work on getting fit for God’s kingdom, preparing ourselves.
And let’s not forget the serious implication of his explanation of why God is delaying. If God is delaying Jesus’ return because he doesn’t want any to perish, what should we be doing about it? Is it just an annoyance or does it give us a task to do? Surely we should be doing all we can to tell people about Jesus, shouldn’t we? Shouldn’t we be sharing the gospel at every opportunity? Shouldn’t we be inviting people to come to St Thomas’ to experience what it’s like to be part of the community of God? Shouldn’t we be inviting our non-Christian friends to our small group, where they can meet other Christians in a less threatening context; where they can see what a difference faith in Christ makes to someone?
Peter repeats this message in v15: “15and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” Not salvation for you but for your friends and family who are still waiting to hear the gospel. Then he adds one of my favourite statements: “So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.” Do you find it encouraging that Peter found some of the things that Paul writes hard to understand? But that difficulty mustn’t stop us from following what he says. We mustn’t allow those who want to twist the meaning for their own ends mislead us.
Rather, we need to heed this warning so we’re able to withstand their influence and not give up the stability of our understanding of the gospel.
How are we to maintain our stability? By believing the message passed down to us through the prophets, through the teaching of Jesus and through the writings of the apostles: in other words by studying the Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim 3:15)
Yes, Jesus appears to be very slow in keeping his promise to return, but we know that God does keep his promises. So we wait. And while we wait we do all we can to prepare; by working on our own holiness and godliness; by developing our Christian character and by telling as many people as we can about the great salvation that Jesus has prepared for us when he finally returns. And until that day let’s listen to what Peter says in finishing his letter: “18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.”