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Peter’s message here is for the church. The fact that Jesus is going to return is not something that is new to us, but this morning we want to be reminded about Jesus’ return for the church.
There will be (are) scoffers and mockers who deny that Jesus will return. “Where is the promise of His coming?” Not only do they say this with their lips, but also with how they live their lives. They walk after their own lusts. Regardless of what scoffers say, Jesus will return again.
Peter reminds these scoffers that simply by the spoken word God brought the earth into being. By the same word, he says, they can be destroyed.
But dear church… one day with the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years as a day. A reminder of the delay of Jesus’ return. Just because He delays His return does not mean that He will not return. As Jesus delays His return we have time… time to repent, time to serve the Lord. He is giving us opportunity after opportunity. When Jesus returns the door is shut, no more opportunity, no more time.
God’s heart is that no one would perish. That does not mean no one will perish, but God’s desire is that we choose not to perish, that we turn to Him.
The dreadful day of His return… the Lord will return with terror for the unbeliever. A dreadful day for those who are not ready for His return. The foundations of the world are going to quake and shake.
As we think about the Lord’s return, for us to escape this awful dreadful day there must be another power at work within us. The power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot be walking after our own lusts, there must be the work of the Holy Spirit within us.
The deliverance at His coming… When Jesus returns for His church, He is going to deliver us. Those who are cleansed, who have Christ in their lives, whose conversation is godly, He is coming to take us from this world. We must continue to look up.
Deception before His return. Jesus says there will be a perversion and twisting of the scriptures. Especially as it relates to the writings of Paul. The Word of God has become “market-driven.”
Decay before His return. Before Jesus can return for His church there will be a falling away from the truth.
The developing church. Jesus is going to return for a developing church, one that is growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior. We must never underestimate the possibility of growth. All living things must grow from within. If we are to grow in grace and knowledge there has to be spiritual life within us.
Scriptures used – 2 Peter 3:1-18, Matthew 24, Joel 2:30, Psalm 15:3, Joel 2:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Luke 21:28, 2 Thessalonians, Exodus 12:37