2 Peter 3:9-13 Preparing for the Last Day
Good morning! We are going back to 2 Peter 3 this morning, we are going to look at verses 9-13, that’s on page 1019 in the pew Bibles.
I want you all to know that I am not unaware of what time of year it is, I know that Christmas is just around the corner, just because we are not hearing sermons about shepherds and angels and silent nights and all that doesn’t mean that there is no “Christmassy application” for our text in 2 Peter.
In fact, Peter’s main point is echoed in a very popular Christmas hymn. I’m not going to sing it but I will recite it for you.
You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why: Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!
What does this have to do with 2 Peter? It’s a song of preparation, to get ready, to get your behavior in line in preparation for Santa Claus.
Well, Peter doesn’t have much to say about Christmas and Santa Claus, but he has a lot to say about how to live in preparation for Advent, specifically the Second Advent.
Let’s look at the text of 2 Peter 3:9-13.
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.
Let’s pray.
Peter has been warning the church against false teachers and scoffers and now he turns his attention to encouraging the believers.
You’ll remember back to chapter one, verse thirteen where Peter says, “I think it right, so long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder…” And again in verse one of chapter three, “I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles…”
Here in verses 9-13 Peter is reminding the church that this age has an expiration date, a day where all things will be brought to an abrupt end and so, we ought to be prepared.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:36,
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 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. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
As I considered this prediction and the words of Peter I couldn’t help but wonder, if we knew the date that Jesus would return how would we live our lives, would anything change?
If the coming of Santa Claus is enough to spur kids on to good behavior, how much more should we be motivated to good behavior knowing that Christ is returning and returning at an hour that we don’t expect?
Peter makes a powerful statement in verse 9, 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.
This is a powerful reminder of two things, number one: that the Father does not operate on our timeline but on His, He stands outside of time; and two: in His great love for the world, for all mankind, He doesn’t wish for any of us to be destroyed but to come to repentance, to turn away from our wicked ways and follow after Him through faith in Jesus.
This is not merely a New Testament idea either, God is immutable, unchanging, and His desire has always been for the wicked to turn to Him in faith.
God said in Ezekiel 18:23, “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”
And also Ezekiel 33:11, “As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”
Paul echoes this thought in 1 Timothy 2:4, …God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all…
You may be wondering, “If God wants everybody to repent and be saved, why aren’t they? Why do people still die without faith in Christ?”
The Father doesn’t want any one of us to perish, He wants us all to be saved, and He has provided the means for our salvation- faith in Jesus Christ. Sadly, not all choose the way of salvation. Even though God wants everybody to be saved, we will all still be held accountable for whether or not we reject Christ.
Peter doesn’t bring this idea up so we can have a theological debate on the doctrine of predestination but because of what follows in verse 10.
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.
I would remind you again of Jesus’ words from Matthew 24, “43 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. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
So what is Peter trying to communicate to us? The Lord is coming back, He’s coming suddenly at a time we won’t expect, and when He comes all the works that are done on earth will be exposed to judgment.
Peter is telling us the same thing that Jesus told him, “you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
It is far too easy to get distracted, to take our eyes off the Lord and His coming and focus on this world, this life, and on the pursuit of happiness.
This world is going to be burned up, and all the work we did to ensure our happiness and ease and comfort will be dissolved.
When we take our eyes off the coming of Christ we stop preparing for it and we get back to living as if happiness is our goal and not holiness.
And that’s Peter’s main point here.
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.
What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God?
JP Lange wrote, “You must evidence yourselves as persons of more noble origin, as citizens of the heavenly kingdom that are only strangers here on earth.”
We must live lives of holiness and godliness as we wait, eagerly expecting that day, watchful, prayerful, and zealous for evangelism and so hastening the day when our faith shall be sight and the clouds be rolled back as a scroll.
Paul wrote of this day in 1 Thessalonians 4,
15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
The Lord said Himself through the prophet in Isaiah 65:17,
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
And again in Isaiah 66:22-23
22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain. 23 From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the Lord.
What a wonderful reminder that this world is not our home, we are waiting for a new world that is being prepared for us to live in for all eternity face to face with the Lord.
…according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
In order to dwell on that on that new earth where righteousness dwells, we must ourselves be righteous, and the only way to be declared righteous by God is through faith in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
