Why am I doing this End Times series? When I was young, preachers preached messages on the Second Coming all the time. Today, the devil has successfully gotten Christians so divided over details of the second coming that the church dodges the subject all together. We must be teaching the next generation about the End Times. God’s people have a way of forgetting what is important. Jesus said in John 14:26, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.” Peter also writes his letters to remind us. He says, “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 Pet. 3:1). What does Peter remind us about when it comes to End Times?
Listen to Him
Frist, Peter reminds us we need to listen to God. “…so that you recall the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles” (2 Pet. 3:2). We have looked at the End Times according to Jesus and the apostles (Paul, Peter, John), but the Old Testament prophets also spoke about Jesus’ Second Coming. There were two purposes for a prophet in the Old Testament. They were primarily forth-tellers—boldly addressing sin, telling the people to repent and turn to God. The other purpose for a prophet was to be a foreteller: Judgment is coming. Predicting the future, we see God’s sovereignty in history. In Acts 2, Peter mentions what the prophet Joel spoke (v. 16-20). In Acts 3, he mentions the prophets again (v. 21). Here are five benefits of studying prophecy: 1) Prophecy is a great motivation to live godly, 2) Prophecy comforts and calms God’s people, 3) Prophecy gives God’s people urgency for witnessing, 4) Prophecy helps verify the Gospel, 5) Prophecy given in the book of Revelation promises blessing to the reader. The bottom line is that God’s word is proven and can be trusted. Listen to Him not the scoffers!
Learn From Him
In 2 Peter 3:3-4, Peter warns that scoffers will come. They don’t deny the Second Coming because they find it hard to believe. They deny the second coming because it does not fit their lifestyle. They don’t want to be held accountable. They don’t want a judge or a judgment day. They argue that the world is like a wheel. It is an unending cycle. The wheel keeps on turning (a Hinduism and Buddhism view of time). But the Biblical view of time is the world had a beginning and will have an end. Peter says, “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. Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded. 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” (2 Pet. 3:5-7). By God’s word He brought creation, and by that same word God will bring destruction.
Live Like Him
“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. 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” (2 Pet. 3:8-9). God is not working on our clock! What is taking so long? In our world of instant gratification, we need some perspective. How many years from Malachi to Mathew? 400 years! According to the Jewish calendar there are nearly 4000 years from Adam to Christ. 2000 years have passed since Jesus promised to return. That is less than half as long as the Old Testament saints waited for His first coming. Now don’t misinterpret that to mean His coming is a long way off. We do not know when it will be. His first coming inaugurated the last days. We are living in the last days. Live one day at a time. Be patient with one another. Every day He delays is an opportunity for people to be saved. Pray for people to be saved. Who will be in heaven because you invited them to come?
Look for Him
In 2 Peter 3:10, he says, “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.” This is found all throughout the Old Testament in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Amos, Zephaniah, and Zechariah. The day of the Lord stretches from the Lord’s return to the end of the millennial kingdom when Satan is finally judged once and from all. So it is a day that stretches for over a thousand years. Peter may actually have that in mind when he says, “A day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day.” Just imagine the entire universe in a nuclear explosion and the earth and everything in it burned up in an instant. Man will not push the button. God will push the button! World leaders and the new world religion says, “We’ve got to preserve the planet.” You can’t preserve this planet! The Lord is going to judge sin, remove the curse, and bring a new heaven and new earth! We don’t want to save this fallen planet even if we could. We look for the new heaven and new earth to come! God is going to recreate, remake, and reshape the heavens and the earth. If He can do that with the universe, He can do that in you…your world, your life, your marriage, your relationships.
There is more to this life than this life. What you believe about the Lord’s return determines how you live today. Is what you are giving your life to going to show up in eternity? Is what you are living for destined to go up in smoke? What are you living for? Who are you living for?