DISCLAIMER: Due to tech issues, we were unable to record the sermon. The entire sermon manuscript is made available at the end of this post for your use.
Sermon Summary
Big Idea: Live in the light of Jesus’ return, by patient hurry.
We finish our 2 Peter series, where Peter summarizes the key themes of Jesus’ promises and trustworthiness, living godly lives in keeping with Jesus’ promises, and warnings against false teachers with a final promise and a final call to live in light of that promise: Jesus is truly coming back as He promised, so we ought to live in godly patience for it. However, this patience is an active vigilance and obedience to Jesus and trust in His promises: a live lived in trusting and being faithful to the Gospel.
Sermon Outline
Jesus is coming back—promise! (vv. 1-10)
So live by patient hurry. (vv. 11-18)
Sermon Text: 2 Peter 3:1-18
2Pe 3:1-18 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, (2) that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, (3) knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. (4) They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (5) For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, (6) and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. (7) But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (8) But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (9) The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (10) But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (11) Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, (12) waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! (13) But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (14) Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. (15) And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, (16) as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (17) You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. (18) But 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. Amen.2Pe 3:1-18 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, (2) that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, (3) knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. (4) They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (5) For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, (6) and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. (7) But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (8) But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (9) The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (10) But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (11) Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, (12) waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! (13) But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (14) Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. (15) And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, (16) as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (17) You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. (18) But 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. Amen.
Discussion Questions
How does 2 Peter encourage us in this life of difficulties?
How does Jesus’ 2nd Coming impact how we live in our day-to-day lives?
How does Jesus’ 2nd Coming in justice comfort our souls?
How does Rev. 19 help us further understand Jesus’ 2nd Coming?
What does Scripture say as to why we are waiting for Jesus’ return? How does this impact how we live?
How does 2 Peter 3 tell us to live with patient hurry? What does it look like in our daily lives?
What is the purpose of patience in our lives?
How does Matthew 24 and 25 demonstrate and instruct us on how to be active in our patience?
What does it look like to be patient in the Lord with diligence in our everyday lives: work, home, families, friends, school, etc.?
How does the 2nd coming and looking to the 2nd coming change us?
What does it look like to live faithfully and grow in the knowledge of the Lord?
What does it look like to trust in the Lord with our lives when it is difficult?
Sermon Manuscript:
“Are we there yet?” 4 simple words that have haunted the waking moments of every parent who dared to take their children on multiple-hour trips for holidays and vacation—maybe even as recent as this week. Good news: you don’t have to hear it for another 3 weeks or so. I don’t know about you, but much of my prayers this past year have been made in that same spirit. The Lord has taken my family and me on multiple life trips this year, as it were, and just like a kid in the backseat whose patience ran out in just 5 minutes after leaving one’s block, I kept asking the Lord, “Are we there yet?” Haven’t we learned our lesson already? Haven’t we gone through enough? Why isn’t Jesus here yet?
And maybe this morning you find yourself in the same situation. The same life trips and lessons over and over again, as if nothing has changed, progress and answers to prayer (if it ever happens) are slower than glaciers. After a while, you may start asking, “Is it even worth it anymore?” Even worse, you have people coming out of the woodwork, starting to say, “I told you so.”
Peter’s audience was no stranger to such experiences. After all, it’s hard to be patient when we find ourselves buckling under the outside pressures of persecution and crumbling with the inside fissures of false teachers. What is the only remedy? As Peter and I have been asking the past 2 weeks, “What did Jesus promise you?” And this Sunday, as we conclude our series on 2 Peter, I pray we see Peter’s answer as our answer when the life trips we take don’t seem to end, when we continue to spiral in the whirlpools of this fallen world:
Main Idea: Live in the light of Jesus’ return, by patient hurry. With this, the apostle Peter distills not just all the themes of 2 Peter so far (promises of God in Christ, the truthfulness of the NT and the OT, and the dangers of false teachers), but also 1 Peter: sure hope in the midst of suffering. Final promise indeed, and that of course is:
Body:
1. Jesus is coming back—PROMISE! (1-10) Ch. 3 begins as if Peter was anticipating our leftover questions from ch. 2, “Sure, we get the danger of false teachers and their living lies, but could you give us specifics on the false teaching itself?” So Peter answers with…all together now—a promise: “Scoffers gonna scoff—pfft!” These scoffers, which most likely are the same people as 2 Peter 2’s false teachers and the “unsteady souls” they ensnare, live in denial of Jesus’ coming: “Promise? What promise? The only things that are the same yesterday, today, and forever, is life. No matter how many prayers we utter, how many commandments we try to obey, and how many promises we find, Rome is still out the door, almost all the apostles are dead, and no Jesus in sight. Might as well live the way that’s true for us. Besides, didn’t Paul promise that grace will abound anyway? You do you, Peter, and we do what we do.” Let’s park here for a sec: why is there a connection between scoffing at the promises of Jesus’ return and sinful living?
It’s because if you lose the Second Advent, you lose the final key to all life and godliness. If the promises of Jesus are the means for our life and godliness, denying this promise is to deny the central promise of God in Christ: He will dwell with His people, we will be His people, and He will be our God, forever and ever. To deny the second coming is to deny everything else (“it’s all been the same since our fathers died”).
Second Advent isn’t just about the redemption of God’s people and the cosmos—it’s final judgment and the fiery destruction of sin, death, and the devil. If there is no second advent, final judgment is questionable if it really will happen. That’s why the scoffers and false teachers live the way they do in 2 Pet. 2: If Jesus isn’t coming, judgment isn’t coming, and if judgment isn’t coming, wolf howl and snake hiss.
There’s no real hope without Second Advent. Sure, Jesus came back from the dead never to die again, but He’s the only One so far who has. If there is no second coming, do we really have hope of resurrection like He did? What real hope would Peter and the fledgling Christian church have in the middle of persecution and false teachers? Jesus’ resurrection ends up being a cruel joke: I get to resurrect in glory, but not you. I get to be with the Father, but not you.
But the promise of scoffers and their scoffing isn’t the final word, but ultimately, “What did Yahweh promise you?” I say Yahweh, because Peter sees Jesus’ NT warnings and promises as continuations and blossomings of the OT buds of warning and promise, which we see in vv. 5-10. He counters the scoffers with another OT argument: contrary to pagan myth (and 21st secular cosmologies), it hasn’t always been the same since the fathers fell asleep—reality isn’t a constant cycle of life and death. There is a definite beginning from a definite Creator, who creates and destroys with the very forces we fear and dread: the waters, which the ancients saw as destructive chaos incarnate. That’s the God you scoff at, but don’t worry, God won’t destroy you with the waters. He’ll use fire instead, just as both the major and minor prophets promised. The day of the Lord will come. Our God and Savior will bring justice.
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” (Rev 19:11-18) Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
Justice against scoffers and evil is all well and good, but that still doesn’t answer our biggest question: why is Jesus taking so long then? Peter goes back to OT teaching and promises like a light in a dark place:
For one, God is eternal and timeless, “a day is a thousand years, and 1000 years a day,” a direct reference to Ps. 90:4. We cannot and should not expect such a Being to be boxed into time and space. God is never late, Frodo Baggins, nor is He early. He arrives precisely when He means to. He will come like a thief in the night, just like Jesus promised, just like Paul taught. The fiery unraveling of the old and the glorious revealing of the new will come—when you least expect it.
But more importantly for us, the reason Jesus hasn’t come back is because He LOVES YOU AND ME. Yes, really! We’ve known this since Isaiah and Ezekiel—and all the way to the first 5 books of the Bible: God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and that’s why the Day of the Lord hasn’t come. That day, as we read from Amos today, is a day of judgment, where God will put everything right. But if God just brought about His day with no warning, no way out to speak of, where would we be? Not just that no one would be saved apart from God’s mercy and grace, but cosmologically, if Jesus returned, I don’t know, let’s say Nov. 30, 1896. That would have been the end of history, but that also means, NONE OF US IN THIS ROOM would have existed in the first place, let alone know the joys and mercies of God in Christ. Think about it: Jesus has waited, and is still waiting, because He wanted you and me involved. He desired that you and me would not perish but come to repentance. In short, God’s patience towards you and me is salvation—the Gospel. What does this entail for us then?
If you are a non-Christian, a would-be scoffer, I beg you, please listen: Jesus is coming back. He’s given many proofs, many eyewitnesses, and character witnesses throughout history. And if His promises have all come true so far, so is His coming, and His coming will bring judgment. Trust Jesus while there is still time. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, and Jesus’ waiting may end at any moment. But what about us who have been waiting for our whole lives for Jesus’ return?
2. Live by patient hurry. (11-18) I love how Peter is that uncle who says what we’re all thinking but too scared to say: yes, Paul’s letters are hard to understand. Finally, someone said it! I feel seen and loved—thank you, Peter. But given some of the things we’ve seen in 2 Peter, and now v.12, now I’m like, “that’s rich coming from you, Peter!” Sure, given Jesus’ sure promises, especially His sure return to bring both judgment and the new cosmos, we get that we ought to be a certain kind of people, a people living diligently in light of that future promise, spotless, unblemished, a kind of people that supplements faith with virtue and good works. You could even say we ought to look like “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Pet. 2:9) We get all of that, but v. 12? Wait for the day of the Lord, I get that. But hasten it?! Paul’s letters are hard to understand, and apparently, so is Peter’s. But it just so happens this “patient hurry” is the very picture of a life lived in light of Jesus’ promise of return.
This kind of paradox shouldn’t be surprising to us, by the way. Our God is a God who transcends our limited frames of reference: He’s only One God, but He’s also 3 Persons. God is eternal and timeless, but He works within time and space. So in this paradox of patience and hurry, God is sovereign, and whatever He righteously and perfectly decrees and wills to happen, will happen (the Day of the Lord, patience), but this decree, as Christians over the centuries have confessed, establishes, works within, and doesn’t violate the personal will and responsibilities of humans (hastening). God is outside our boxes, but works in them, too—get used to it!
In light of this paradox, we see that our patience is a picture of God’s patience towards us—the same patience that leads us to our salvation. We’ve already mentioned that earlier, but here’s the thing. Patience is actually a virtue, and a divine one at that—we saw it already in v. 9—meaning that to experience God’s gracious patience and to live in patience for Jesus’ coming, is partaking of the divine nature, as 2 Pet. 1 would put it. But this divine patience isn’t passivity, but active faithfulness and vigilance. Remember Jesus’ teaching: Matt. 24:42-43— Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. If Jesus’ return is like a thief that strikes out of nowhere, we ought to be vigilant watchmen, on the lookout for his coming and ready to warn everyone of it. We also have Matt. 25’s parable of the ten virgins: all ten were waiting, but the difference between the foolish ones and the wise ones was that the wise ones were vigilant and ready to serve, while the foolish ones were passively and lazily waiting.
Patience is also patient for God’s vengeance against the wicked. Yes, it’s tempting to either retaliate in sinful vengeance against false teachers and persecutors or capitulate to them, but remember the Lord’s promise in Jesus and the OT: His Day WILL COME. If all the other promises have already come true, you can bank on this one too.
But how do you hasten the coming of the Lord? Here’s how I understand it: We “hasten” the coming of the Lord “by being patient.” HOW?!
Again, what does patience in active waiting and vigilance entail? We trust in Jesus by living in His promises. We believe in the Gospel (especially His promises of future judgment, second coming, and new creation). We live in faith and obedience, sharing the Gospel to all, in patience and full expectation of Christ’s promises to be fulfilled. All of this of course is accomplished and done by God in us through His promises in Jesus by His Word and Spirit. But notice then, when we do so, God is actually accomplishing His eternal will and purposes in us and for us, and the more He does it, the more His “advent countdown checklist” is ticked, as it were. In short, trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus and His second coming!
The only we can continue to live in this “patient hurry” is to nourish ourselves with the Scriptures. So read it carefully and in context! Apparently, you can read Paul in such a way that you can deny the second coming and live like it isn’t happening. And since denying the second advent leads to denying life and godliness, it’ s more than likely the that the false teachers, the unsteady, and the scoffers were also twisting Paul’s teachings on justification by faith: just believe Jesus and live the way you want (easy believism). But remember 2 Peter 1: Faith ought to be supplemented by virtue and good works. Faith in Jesus’ return ought to be supplemented by active obedience, patience, and vigilance as well. If we don’t, at best we’d be like, as Ptr. Phill remarked to me, a Christmas Tree without ornaments, yes we know it’s intended and made to be a Christmas Tree, but it just looks naked and wrong. At worst, we’d be scoffing our way to destruction.
In other words, listen to Peter’s advice: LISTEN TO PAUL!!! We just read 1 Thes. 5:1-11!
In short, we live in patient hurry by growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus our Lord and Savior. That’s how we are saved, and that’s how we live. It’s that simple. As simple as trusting Jesus and His promises. Are you tired of waiting on God’s promises to be fulfilled? Hasten them by trusting in Jesus (His life, promises, death, resurrection, ascension, and second advent), by patiently living in His Gospel promises, by being vigilant against falsehood, by making His coming known to all—by giving Him the glory, now and to eternity. And as you do, His promises will empower you, secure you, and purify you. It was true for Simon Peter as he awaited his own exit. It was true for the church throughout the centuries, in persecution and in plenty. It’s true for us now. And just as humanity had to wait for the first advent, and it coming in the least expected way, so now we wait patiently for the second, in a time we don’t expect. But that’s okay: Jesus’ promises are true then, and they’re true now. He will return, and so I pray we grow in patient hurry in light of that truth. Let’s pray.