2 Peter 3:1-5THE HOPE OF HIS COMING

Call to WorshipTo you, O people, Wisdom calls.

She calls out to each of us, beckoning us: to experience peace in Christ, to discover the truth of life, to know true love as it is

poured into our hearts.

Wisdom calls.

As we gather this hour, let us answer her call as we celebrate faith in the One who leads us into life.

Jesus Christ as Lord.

Opening Prayer (Proverbs 8, Psalm 8)

O Lord, you reveal wisdom and spiritual insight through your presence in creation.

When we look at the heavens, we see your vastness.

When we look at seas teeming with fish and the fields painted like a canvas, we see your creativity and your bounty.

For all of this and so much more, we praise your name. Amen.

Question

How might we know the difference between genuine Christian teachings vs. false teachings?

Introduction

The return of Christ is the fulfillment of an unconditional promise of Christ given to His church over two thousand years

ago when He said, "I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:3).

Introduction

The return of Christ is the blessed hope of the church (Titus 2:11-14), a time of resurrection and reunion with departed

loved ones (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), and a time of judgment for the enemies of the cross (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).

Introduction

It has been said that people often need to be reminded than informed. And that is what Peter does in this text.

After a direct and powerful rebuke in 2 Peter 2, the apostle now turns to words of encouragement and hope. His words

are not based on sentiment but Scripture.

Introduction

Although Peter's readers had truly been converted it is important to remember they had been taught all their life

that Messiah would come as a political and military ruler and establish His kingdom on earth.

Peter's words answers their questions and calms their fears.

2 Peter 3:1

This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by

reminding you

2 Peter 3:1

In order to guard them against the seductions of false teachers, he calls to their remembrance the doctrine of the ancient prophets and the commands or instructions of the

apostles, all founded on the same basis.

2 Peter 3:1

Daniel 12:2 (HCSB) 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake,

some to eternal life, and some to shame and eternal contempt.

2 Peter 3:1

Philippians 1:10 (HCSB) 10 so that you can determine what really matters and can be

pure and blameless in the day of Christ,

2 Peter 3:2

2 so that you can remember the words previously spoken by the holy prophets, and the commandment of our Lord and

Savior [given] through your apostles.

2 Peter 3:2

Peter points to specific prophecies of the prophets as an argument against the false teachers.

2 Peter 3:2

Luke 1:69-70 (HCSB) 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of

His servant David, 70 just as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets in

ancient times;

2 Peter 3:2

Luke 24:27 (HCSB) 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He

interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

2 Peter 3:3

3 First, be aware of this: scoffers will come in the last days to scoff, following their own lusts,

2 Peter 3:3

The apostle having in the former chapter cautioned these saints against the more subtle enemies of the gospel,

seducers and false teachers, here he foretells them of more open enemies, profane scoffers.

2 Peter 3:3

2 Timothy 3:1 (HCSB) 1 But know this: difficult times will come in the last days.

2 Peter 3:3

Psalm 1:1 (HCSB)

1 How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of

mockers!

2 Peter 3:4

4 saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have been

since the beginning of creation.”

2 Peter 3:4

These scoffers did not consider the power of the Almighty, by which the whole can be annihilated in a moment, as well as

created. Since they saw none of these changes, they presumed that there would be no such change.

2 Peter 3:4

1 Thessalonians 2:19 (HCSB) 19 For who is our hope, or joy, or crown of boasting in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? Is it not you?

2 Peter 3:5

5 They willfully ignore this: long ago the heavens and the earth existed out of water and through water by the word of God.

2 Peter 3:5

Peter addresses the larger disdain of man for any biblical offer of creation involving water, the great flood as they are

incredulous about the possibility of the earth being destroyed and reformed by fire.

2 Peter 3:5

Psalm 24:1-2 (Darby) 1 The earth is Jehovah's, and the fullness thereof; the world,

and they that dwell therein. 2 For it was he that founded it upon seas, and established it

upon floods (currents).

2 Peter 3:6

6 Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded by water.

2 Peter 3:6

The apostle alleges against the scoffers, who said that all things continued as they were, when the floods at God’s

command has so changed the world.

2 Peter 3:6

2 Peter 2:5 (HCSB) 5 and if He didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected

Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when He brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;

2 Peter 3:7

7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth are held in store for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and

destruction of ungodly men.

2 Peter 3:7

From all this it appears that those mockers affected to be ignorant of the Mosaic account of the formation of the earth, and of its destruction by the waters of the deluge; and indeed this is implied in their stating that all things continued as they

were from the creation.

2 Peter 3:7

From all this it appears that those mockers affected to be ignorant of the Mosaic account of the formation of the earth, and of its destruction by the waters of the deluge; and indeed this is implied in their stating that all things continued as they

were from the creation.

2 Peter 3:7

Ezekiel 38:22 (HCSB) 22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone on him, as well as his troops and the many peoples who are

with him.

2 Peter 3:7

Amos 7:4 (HCSB) 4 The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured

the land.

2 Peter 3:7

All natural laws have no will of their own, but are a mere statement of the way in which God produces the changes

which occur, the methods by which He operates who “works all in all.”

At any moment he could suspend them; that is, he could cease to act, or withdraw his power and the universe would

cease to be.

2 Peter 3:8

8 Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: with the Lord one day is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years like one day.

2 Peter 3:8

All time is as nothing before him, because in the presence as in the nature of God all is eternity; therefore nothing is long,

nothing short, before him; no lapse of ages impairs his purposes, nor need he wait to execute those purposes.

2 Peter 3:8

Psalm 90:4 (HCSB) 4 For in Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday that

passes by, like a few hours of the night.

2 Peter 3:8

The apostle calls upon all of us to understand the limits of our comprehension of God and His eternal nature and purposes.

2 Peter 3:9

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.

2 Peter 3:9

The apostle wants to set aside the scoffers second argument that Christ is delaying His return so as to challenge the

certainty of God’s will and rule.

2 Peter 3:9

The apostle holds to the unchanging plan of God to intervene in judgment in His fullness of time. He is not delaying but has

in His plan allowed time for men to repent and return.

2 Peter 3:9

Habakkuk 2:3 (HCSB) 3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it

will certainly come and not be late.

2 Peter 3:10

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.

2 Peter 3:10

He will come, "as a thief", in the dark, indiscernibly; it will not be known what hour he will come; he will come suddenly, at an unawares, when he is not expected, to the great surprise of men, and especially of the scoffers; when awful things will

be done.

2 Peter 3:10

Matthew 24:35 (HCSB) 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never

pass away.

2 Peter 3:10

Micah 1:4 (HCSB) 4 The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax near a fire, like water cascading down a

mountainside.

2 Peter 3:11

11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, [it is clear] what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and

godliness

2 Peter 3:11

We should not as the scoffers, who put away this evil day far from them, but as men, who have their lights burning, waiting for their Lord's coming; watching, praying, hearing, reading;

living soberly, righteously, and godly; guarding against worldly mindedness and every worldly and hurtful lust.

2 Peter 3:11

2 Corinthians 1:12 (HCSB) 12 For our boast is this: the testimony of our conscience that

we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with God-given sincerity and purity, not by fleshly

wisdom but by God’s grace.

2 Peter 3:11

Hebrews 13:5 (HCSB) 5 Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave

you or forsake you.

2 Peter 3:12

12 as you wait for and earnestly desire the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be on fire and be

dissolved, and the elements will melt with the heat.

2 Peter 3:12

Titus 2:13 (HCSB) 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the appearing of

the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3:12

Jude 1:21 (HCSB) 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of

our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.

2 Peter 3:13

13 But based on His promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will dwell.

2 Peter 3:13

Isaiah 65:17 (HCSB) 17 “For I will create a new heaven and a new earth; the past

events will not be remembered or come to mind.

2 Peter 3:13

Revelation 21:27 (HCSB) 27 Nothing profane will ever enter it: no one who does what is vile or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The Blessing

Through grace and peace, may we have the wisdom to be transformed.

For suffering leads to endurance, endurance gives rise to character, and character produces hope.

In true hope, hope founded in God, we are never disappointed. Amen.